Week 61: Christmas is here!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

This past week was fantastic! We had a great P-Day, a powerful district meeting, all complete with a...

BAPTISM!!!

Yes sir-ee!

Peterlee was once again blessed, for the second week in a row, with another addition to the Branch family!

This time, Norman, a VERY long-term investigator, finally took the plunge ;) Norman was originally referred to us by a member during our first week here in Peterlee. He has been coming to church on and off for about 10 years (according to himself) and finally felt ready to make the commitment. A little bit about Norman's history, Norman was one of the strongest of strong roman catholics, in fact, if you would have looked at him a few years ago, you would have said there was no way that he would even thing about joining the church! Norman has met the pope about 3 times, and used to personally work with Mother Theresa of Calcutta for many years. He often speaks of his friendship with her, and the advice and wisdom she gave. But overtime, he began to see flaws within the church he was a part of, and this caused him to seek elsewhere for truth... Which is why he decided to pray about Joseph Smith, and find out for sure if the message of the restoration was true. He received his answer, and although many people said it wouldn't happen, on December 17th, 2011 Norman entered into the waters of baptism, and made that covenant with his Heavenly Father! He was confirmed the following day :) Ah, how happy the branch was that he finally made that step! (Most of them considered him a member of the branch anyway) He was so happy, and he even finished off his baptismal service sharing his very own testimony :) (See first picture, he's the older one on the left) Norman was baptised by his very good friend, Paul, who was absolutely key to Norman's baptism. (Nevermind the funky moustache)

Now, what else!

District meeting was this past Wednesday, and boy was it an experience! I had originally prepared my district meeting with some scriptures in mind, but all throughout my preparation, it just didn't seem to click, ya know. Anyway, long story short. As we were waiting for our bus to take us to the meeting (which would be about a 40 minute bus ride) I began reading the Book of Mormon, hoping to gain added insights into what I was going to give instruction on. All of the sudden, my mind took off! I started reading in Alma 17, and so many new ideas and concepts flew through my mind and onto my notepad. I spent the next 40 minutes changing my entire lesson plan for instruction and focused on using the Christlike attributes listed in the second to last verse of D&C 4, to combat opposition in the mission field and to empower us as missionaries. I later found that with the story of Ammon in Alma 17, every single attribute was displayed by the misisonary, and as a result, he fulfilled his purpose. The lesson was one of the most powerful lessons I have ever taught, and each one of the missionaries in their testimony spoke about something that they were inspired with. I felt so humbled and thankful that the Lord opened my mind to help my district, and I am so thankful for the spirit in my life :)

Really quick, before I have to run to catch a bus, this past P-day was amazing! We invited some other missionaries and went to the coast of Peterlee in search of some caves around the area. It was fantastic! We found tons of huge caves (most of which didn't go back past 10 or 20 feet) and we even, to our surprise found a WW1 bunker that was hidden on the hills of the coast! It was so much fun and definitely one of my favourite P-days :) (See pics!)

Well, gotta go! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Gabriel G Spencer

PS Second picture is of the sunrise of Norman's confirmation. Your can even see the coastline!

Third picture is on me inside the bunker!

Fourth pic is of me outside one of the bigger caves :)

Week 60: Another Baptism in Peterlee!!

That's right, folks!! (see subject line)

This blessed area, otherwise known as 'Zions cousin', has once again added another member to the fold!!

On Saturday, December 10th, 2011 our good friend Kitty (14) entered into the waters of baptism!

Kitty was actually referred by her mother, Honour, who was originally found street contacting by Elder Brewerton! A nice interesting fact as well, Kitty was taught for the first time on Elder Brewerton's last night in Peterlee, where she was scheduled to be baptised on the above date! Ha ha I'm sure Elder Brewerton will be so stoked to hear that Kitty was baptised :) The service was unlike any other Ive experienced... Elder Smith and I arrived at the chapel about 3 hours before the service to prepare and the building mechanic/rep Brother Richardson had already been there for quite some time and informed us of some bad news... ''The water boiler is out'' This did not sound good to us at all. Especially with the fact that it was FREEZING COLD outside, and the water would be coming from underground, which would make it even colder. So, since I was the one performing the baptism, the tough side of me said ''Man-up! Its just a little cold water! Whats a little cold water compared to having Kitty enter into her first covenant?? Besides, back in the old days, that's how cold it used to be anyway.'' So, after exhausting all other options, we began to fill the font with unheated water (although we were also pouring pots of boiling water into the huge font, hoping it would take the edge off). After the water rose to about the first step, I dipped my hand in to feel how cold it would really be...

It felt like instant hypothermia. No joke. It was freezing cold. I was later told that the water itself was actually colder than the North Sea. So what did I do? I went straight to the phone and called up the Hartlepool missionaries (the neighbouring branch building) and asked them to start filling up their font ha ha. So, that night, we had the whole of the baptismal program at the Peterlee chapel, and then for the actual ordinance, we all took a 15 minute drive over to Hartlepool and performed the baptism! It went perfect, and Kitty was confirmed the following day :)

Other amazing thing that happened!

On Tuesday, the north zones met up at the billingham chapel for a specialized training meeting with President Lindley and the Assistants. We were instructed on several ways of being a bold missionary. These words inspired me, and by the end of the meeting, I was stoked and ready to get back and get the ball rolling! It just so happened that after we had gotten back, our first appointment was with Kyle, one of our investigators who regularly attends the Salvation Army Church. We had heard rumors that his grandparents were Salvation Army officers, specifically with the rank of Major (the bishop/branch president equivalent) when kyle opened the door, his grandfather Michael approached the door and talked with us for a bit. Eventually he let us in and we began discussing our religions. We found out that he was, in fact, the clergyman in charge of the Peterlee church and also that he had studied the LDS church while he was at university. We then asked him the big question ''While you were studying, did you have the opportunity of reading the Book of Mormon, and then asking God if the book was true?'' He informed us that he had read the book, however he stated that he did not feel there was a need to pray about the book itself. Now, going back to what we had learned from specialized training, President Lindley instructed us that at the end of each first lesson, we are to invite the head of the household to offer a kneeling prayer. So, with Michael, that's exactly what we did. It was a bit uncomfortable, but we invited him. After the head of the household accepts, we then are to tell them to ask specifically if the Book of Mormon was true. We did this as well. So Michael prayed (a most beautiful and sincere prayer) but FORGOT TO ASK THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION!! Now when this happens, President Lindley instructed us that we are to congratulate the prayer on a job well done, but then to invite them to pray again, specifically asking the question ''Is the Book of Mormon true'' Now this was one of the toughest, most intimidating things of my mission experience (it sounds simple, but in reality, its not) after he had finished his first prayer, I took a deep breath and said ''Thank you very much for that prayer Michael. That was wonderful. Now, if you could say one more prayer, this time asking Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true, that would be great. Go ahead.'' And Elder Smith and I bowed our heads, closed our eyes, and waited for him to start. To our relief he did start, and this time he asked ''Father, is the Book of Mormon true?'' At that exact moment, the Spirit bore witness to me that the Book of Mormon was true, and that Joseph Smith is in fact the prophet of the restoration. Inexpressible joy filled my heart and the feeling of God's love pierced my soul as if Heavenly Father in his own way was telling me, his servant in the vineyard, ''well done''. I will never forget that moment :) As we were leaving, Michael invited us to attend the Sunday night service at his church, and we accepted. On Sunday we attended, and afterward were given a tour of their chapel :) I will forever be grateful for the witnesses of the spirit in my life :)

I know that God answers prayers, andI know that God loves me :) He loves all of us!

Also this week, we went caroling as a zone in Middlesbrough City Centre! It was fun! A bit cold, but we enjoyed it :)

Now I'm off to P-day! Elder Smith and I, along with the missionaries in the surrounding areas, are checking out some famous sea caves on the coast of Peterlee today! Its gonna be fun! :)

For those of you at BYU, good luck on your exams! (c)

Ha ha I cant say in jealous ;)

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS After receiving several donations from the local branch (and lights from the Miller family) our Christmas tree is totally decked out! Check out the last pic!

Week 59: December begins!

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas!

I hope you all are enjoying the spirit of the season as we approach the celebration of our saviours birth.

Things are really kicking up here in the England Leeds Mission, and we are all pushing so much harder to reach our end of the year mission goal!!! So everyone over here is working extra hard for these next few weeks :) I don't have a whole lotta time this week to email, so I'm going to have to make this one brief. I also forgot to bring my camera, so I wont be able to include any pictures... Sorry!

This past week was a blast! We taught some new investigators, some of which were members of the Salvation Army, which I had no idea was a religious organization until I came out to England! Shows you how much I knew lol. It was a great experience, they taught us about how their church started out, and we taught them a bit more about Joseph Smith and the restoration. We set up another time to meet with them, and we'll be seeing them again sometime soon :)

Also, we were able to teach this new woman named Elaine, and her 9 year old grandson Josh. They mentioned that they had not been baptised at all before, and we promptly invited them to make that covenant, to which they accepted! We are very excited to see their progression.

Things are definitely getting busy here in Peterlee with the Christmas season coming closer. Families are going out of town, the weather is getting colder (snow will be coming this week, which is my prediction) so its getting a bit tougher to get members out with us. But we will prevail!

Elder Smith and I are still keeping up with our goal of achieving standards each week! We got standards this week as well!!! The Lord is definitely blessing us (for some strange reason) and we're loving every minute of it :)

We should have another baptism on our hands in Peterlee very soon! We will keep you updated :)

I am planning on taking my driving test this Friday at 8:10am England time, which for you Utahns will be Thursday night, at 1:10am. Please pray for me... I have only taken a few lessons, and I'm going to need all of the help I can get. Most American missionaries do not pass their first time, so please pray!

Thank you for all of your love and support! I can certainly feel each of your prayers strengthening me and my companion :) I couldn't do half as well without them!!

Today is Zone P-day, and we're all heading to Durham Cathedral in the snow (if it hasn't melted yet) Its going to be fun!

I hope you all stay warm and well, happy and healthy! I'm thinking of you! (c) Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Gabriel Gaylen Spencer

Week 58: Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you wanna know something funny? Nobody celebrates thanksgiving over here... No, really, NOBODY! How tragic, right? Well, all I can say is that its a good thing that there were some American missionaries to save the day! (After all, it was the English who first started Thanksgiving!) And so how do missionaries celebrate best??? WITH FOOD!!!

Lots of food!

So much food, in fact, that there was not enough room within the lens of a camera to take a picture of it!

That's how much food!

All of the missionaries within the stake were invited on Friday night to the Stake President's house, where President Anderson and his family (also Americans, working in England for Jon Huntsman) cooked us an amazing traditional turkey dinner, complete with pumpkin pie and brownies at the end!!! It was magnificent :) The food was absolutely delicious and the company was even better :)

I hope your Thanksgiving meal was equally enjoyable :)

After that we all knows what happens after thanksgiving is finally over.... CHRISTMAS!!!

So we cranked that Mo-Tab Christmas music and started gearing up for the best time of the year!!!

We were so excited that Elder Smith and I decided to buy a 6-foot Christmas tree!!! (okay, well, Elder Smith bought it, I bought the lights and baubles for it) and we went to town! Oh boy you really have no idea how excited we are for Christmas as missionaries! Its going to be a blast! See all photos!

So you may remember how last week I mentioned how Elder Smith and I had made a goal to achieve Standards of Excellence for every week of the transfer? We accomplished our goal our first week together (last week) we are still very much on track! As of our very last appointment last night, we once again accomplished Standards for the second week in a row! And trust me, we ain't slowin' down!!!

Well, I think that's about it for the events of last week... December starts this week, and I take my driving test in about two weeks... So I'll have to let you know when to start prayin' for that ha ha. For right now, I just need to make sure I'm getting all of the small and simple points down in my driving lessons!

Merry Christmas!! (I'm going to be saying that a lot for at least the next month)

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

Week 57: New Companion, New Adventure!

Heya, Peeps!

It was another foggy week over here in Northern England! Elder Brewerton has left to go near Leeds and Elder Smith has come all the way from Billingham (About 10 miles away from Peterlee) So far serving with Elder Smith has been a blast :) We've had so much fun, and in the short time that we've been here, we've seen quite a bit of success!

From our first day of working together, Elder Smith and I made some goals that we wanted to achieve for the transfer, one of which was to achieve Standards of Excellence each week of the transfer (a goal we missed by one week in Leeds). We also set a number of baptisms that we wanted to hit as a companionship. With our vision in sight, we hit the ground running and as a result, Peterlee has achieved Standards of Excellence once again! We had the most successful week yet, even with a transfer in the middle of it! So take that, opposition! :-P Satan doesn't stand a chance with Elders Spencer and Smith on the battlefield!

Hmm... Lets see, what else happened this week... Ah yes! You may have heard we started teaching a lady named Honour a few weeks ago? (You might not of, I don't particularly remember saying anything) well, on this past Monday before Elder Brewerton left we had a lesson with Honour and she brought along her 15 year old daughter Kitty to sit in and see what she thought. Kitty really enjoyed it, and was more than happy to accept the invitation to come to church! When Honour and Kitty came to church, they both LOVED IT! and Kitty in particular really enjoys reading the Book of Mormon! Which is great! We are planning on seeing them both tonight and teaching them further :) its so nice to have investigators who are excited to read the book and come to church! Talk about a breath of fresh air :) They are excited and working towards their goal of baptism on the 10th of December :)

I'll be starting to drive again! I'm signing up for driving lessons (not that I need them, just to tell me how to pass my driving test and what I'm doing wrong and stuff) so that's exciting! And I should be taking my driving test within the next 2 to 3 weeks. I'll let you know when to start praying for me! (Needless to say, I'll be very relieved when this whole driving license thing is over with)

Pictures!

#1 Elder Smith! We had district lunch last Monday, and here is the great and powerful missionary, eating Chinese! ha ha :)

#2 The last picture of me and my son, Elder Brewerton! Aw, they grow up so fast!

#3 Epic Fog picture, I call it ''The Rod of Iron in the Mist of Darkness''

Pictures!

#1 Elder Smith! We had district lunch last Monday, and here is the great and powerful missionary, eating Chinese! ha ha :)

#2 The last picture of me and my son, Elder Brewerton! Aw, they grow up so fast!

#3 Epic Fog picture, I call it ''The Rod of Iron in the Mist of Darkness''

Good luck in the cold everyone! (Its officially thermal-wearing weather over here in England)

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS If any of you would like anything from England for Christmas, let me know soon, please! (c)

Week 56: The Fruit of Many Prayers

Hello everyone!

So, Ive got some big news! But I'll say it in chronological order just to build the anticipation... Muah ha ha ha!

First! On tuesday we had our quarterly Zone conference! This one was all about the temple, which was amazing! I learned to much about the symbolism of the temple, and especially the salt lake temple! Ha ha if you like I could probably give a few tours when I get back ;) See first picture, me and my good friend, Elder Gravallese at Zone Conference:)

Also last tuesday, Elder Brewerton and I went out searching for some new people to teach... We were walking down an old darkly street, when I looked in a window and saw pictures of a family! So immediately I thought, hey! Lets go teach this family! We knocked... and they let us in! We taught for about an hour, and invited them to be baptised, and a mother and daughter named June and Courtney accepted the invitation! But wait it gets better, at the very end of the lesson, we invited one of them to pray before we left, and the dughter, 9 year old courtney volunteered! We gave her some ideas of what she could pray for, and this is what she came up with on her own:

''Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for my day.

Thank you for my house, and my bed, and my Halloween treats and money.

Thank you for my dog, and please keep him safe.

(Then she paused and thought for a little while)

... I love you very much God. You are my favourite person in the whole world. You are my number one.

... And my mom is number two.

But dont tell her I said that.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.''

One of my favourite prayers EVER! Ha ha the mom just laughed a bit and kissed her on the head :) Tender moment :)

Okay, next! I know you all are probably wondering... You've been hearing about it for a while and, well... as a result of much prayer and studying...

I PASSED MY DRIVING EXAM!!!

Ha ha yay! Miracles DO happen. And honestly, I could not have passed that test on my own. Divine intervention was COMPLETELY necessary as the test study material was pretty outdated and there were several questions I had no chance of studying for... So, the result? There were 50 individual multiple choice questions I had to answer in about 60 minutes... In order to pass, I had to correctly answer 43 out of the 50 questions... So I bet you can guess how many I got right? 50!

No, just kidding. And for those of you who guessed I got 50 out of 50, thank you for your incredible faith ha ha.

I scored 43 out of 50!!! Ha ha if I would have missed one more question, I would have failed and had to take the entire test again, with completely different questions! So thank you thank you for your prayers! As you can see, they worked!!! Now all I have left is to register for and pass my practical driving exam, which is the one where I drive with an instructor in the car... So that will probably happen in December, but I will let you know!

Next big thing,

The cold is really starting to roll into the coast of England these days, and when the cold comes off the North sea, we get tons of fog! And thats exactly what happened for the entire weekend! See second picture :)

One last big thing!

It was transfers last night, and there are some BIG CHANGES that have happened! First off, my baby boy, my second-born in the wilderness, my Canadian Companiero, Elder Brewerton is leaving the nest and going to Leeds to be follow-up trained! And coming to replace him and spend Christmas with me in Peterlee is Elder Smith, from American Fork, Utah! Its actually quite ironic, Elder Smith was also in my district and the most recent person I went on exchange with, which happened to be in Peterlee about 3 weeks ago! And now we'll be serving together! I am very excited to spend Christmas here in the coastal town of Peterlee : ) It will definitely be a change from celebrating Christmas in Leeds, but Im ready for it!

Well, here I am starting a new adventure! Wish me luck!

Happy Transfers,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS Funny thing, just happened to street contact into a Storm Trooper from Star Wars on Saturday... Interesting Experience. The white one of the left actually said to me he had read the book of mormon before, no lie! (See Third picture)

Week 55: A miracle in Peterlee, the first one in years!!

Hello every one!

Wow! So many amazing things have happened this past week! But where to start, where to start... Oh yes!

BAPTISM!!!

Yes, that's right! For the first time in literally several years, Peterlee Branch's own missionaries have been blessed to baptise and confirm a new member of the church! On the 5th of November, 2011, Chris was baptised by Elder Spencer, followed by her confirmation the following day by Elder Brewerton! It was a fantastic service, and many people attended, even several investigators! We found Chris through street contacting about 2 weeks after we had opened Peterlee for missionary work. Chris, however, was not quite ready yet, as it was an unfortunate time. Her only daughter was right in the final moments of her first pregnancy. So we got Chris's contact details, and she asked us to call around in about a month. Several weeks passed, and we were in the area of where she lived again for a different appointment, the person wasn't home, and I remember getting the distinct impression to look though the contacts portion of my missionary planner for the name Chris. We found the address, which we found out then was right across the street! So we knocked at her door, and said who we were, and she happily let us in! We taught for about an hour, and at the very end of the appointment, we invited her to be baptised in about 3 weeks, (November 5th). She thought for a moment, then said. Alright. Sounds good! And it basically went off from there! From that day forward, she read the Book of Mormon every day, and prayed every night! She willingly gave up her tea and coffee, and sacrificed part of her weekly Sunday lunch at her mothers home to come to church!

So by the time the baptism came, she was nervous, but ready to enter into that covenant with our Heavenly Father! She seems so happy now, always smiling :) Ah, it is so nice to find and teach golden investigators, would you say? I certainly would. :)

Not only that, but we were talking with some of our investigators after the service had been performed, and one of which, named honour, we had been teaching for a few weeks. Every time we invited her for baptism, she denied it, saying she wasn't ready yet. We felt very prompted after the baptism to explain to her the process that Chris had gone through to get baptised, which we did, and she seemed very positive about it. We then invited her to be baptised on the 26th of November, to which she gladly accepted! AH! Another miracle! We were very excited :)

Also last week, of course, was Halloween! We had our zone P-day and had a water-pong tournament. Elder Brewerton and I lost in the championship match with Elder Gravallese and Elder Mecham by ONE POINT!!! Arg. So close :-/ Ah well, it was fun! (see third pic)

Well that does it for this week! I was quite excited to send this email, actually :) So there! Hope you enjoyed it!

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS Congrats to Zac and Sarah on their wedding! And congrats to Michelle on entering the mission field!