Correlatio​n in Hyde Park

This week went by really fast for me.

This week we had a correlation meeting during lunch in the middle of Hyde Park. Our Ward Mission Leader brought and we enjoying this summer weather. I always have those moments where I check myself and say, "Wow. I am in London." It never gets old. We met some really great people this week and are doing well. My companion had a cool experience where he found someone to teach in an unexpected way. 

Early in the day we had to get a Book of Mormon in Tagalog and while in the supply room Elder Pereira thought to grab a booklet that shares 3 tips to have a happier family. Later on that day when we were stopping people on the street he felt he should pull it out and use it. The first woman he stopped was really interested in it and as they began to talk she said," My daughter has been asking me all these questions about God and I don't know how to answer them. I am really happy to have met you." We are seeing this woman and her family this coming week to share more!

On Sunday after church we were invited to a lunch in the Philippines. We have many members in our ward who are from there and once a month they gather after church to feast. It was wonderful. They are so nice and love teaching the missionaries phrases in Tagalog. There was this little 1 year old who was my best friend for the night. She kept following me around and as I would sit on the couch she would come climb on the couch and sit next to me like it was no big deal. It was so great haha. It made me miss all my little cousins! So all you little cousins of mine, I miss you all like crazy and can't wait to see you again! 

Today we went to the Victioria and Albert Museum and to Harrods as well. Fun day!! I will talk to you all next week!

Love,

Elder David  

Gold Plated X Box at Harrods. Ridiculous

 

Maricel was baptised this last Saturday in Norwich. Elder Nolan and I were the ones who taught her! 

 

 

 

Tracting Into Celebritie​s

Hello Everyone!! This week has been an epic week! Life just moves so much faster down in London. This week has flown by but some really cool things have happened!

So this week it has been around 30-35 degrees Celsius. That is around 85 to 95 Fahrenheit! Now that may seem like nothing but it is the WORST!! The humidity just is incredible and the heat chases you. I can feel the water in the air. Wearing a shirt, tie, and trousers on all day makes it just a little unbearable. Water is my best friend. I just have to open my mouth and walk a few feet to get a mouthful haha. No but it is so hot. The tube is another method of torture during these summer weeks. Everyone is packed in and there is no air conditioning on most of the tubes so it is roasting inside. I look as if I just ran a marathon after getting off. I have this problem where the only part of my body that sweats is my face. So people see my face and think that problem is happening everywhere else also. I look like a freak. I carry around a towel. I am telling you it is sooooo hot!  

The first day I got here was the hottest day of the year but that didn't last long because the next day was then the hottest. "I had all my luggage packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight...."(Billy Maddison) I know Janeen and Derric would get that one. It was an adventure carrying all of that around the underground. That morning on Wednesday we had to wake up at 3:15 in the morning to start driving down to London to beat the traffic. I was the one driving since it would be my last time to drive for while. We got into London early so we decided to take Elder Paul and Elder Butterfield on a London North tour. Where Elder Nolan and I both served. It brought back so many good memories. The first 6 months of my mission came flying back into perspective.

After we switched compaions we then were off to our new flat in Earls Court. All I can say about this flat is Posh. It is the coolest flat ever. We live in a really nice part of London. Only 2 tube stops away from South Kensington. We were told that we live in the most expensive missionary flat in the whole world.... I will send pictures of it at the end.

When I got there I was not impressed becuase it was a mess! Today we spent 3 hours of our P-Day to deep clean. I am really pleased with how it looks!

After I got to the flat and dropped off my luggage we were off to work. We went to a place called Shepherds Bush. We were stopping people and Elder Pereira was talking to another man when I stopped this woman named Ioana from Romania. We had a wonderful conversation and she was so interested to learn about what we were teaching. She began to cry as we spoke about the importance of family in our church. She then asked "I am off tomorrow can we meet then so you can teach me more." We agreed and met the next day at the Chapel. We gave here a tour and sat down to teach her. She is now being prepared to be baptised on the 17th of August. She is 27 so we reffered her to the YSA Missionaries who will now continue to teach her. She is coming tonight to the church for family home evening with the YSA's and is bringing a friend who would now like to learn more! It was within 15 minutes of working back in London and it was a great welcome home present.

Later in the week we received a media referral. It gave us the name of this man named Mohammad. Now usually when we get media referrals with this name they usually are some one from the Islamic faith who wants to argue about Jesus Christ being only a prophet and not the Son of God. So we gave this man a call to see what it was about. We begin to chat on the phone and this is what he tells me, "Hello David my name is Mohammad. I used to be a Muslim but recently I have discovered that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is my Saviour. I really would like to learn more about him from you missionaries." I was in shock and could feel the sincerity of his testimony through the phone. I then asked him, "Sir why did you contact us specifically?" He replied, "2 weeks ago I watched this program on the television talking about your church and I really felt inside me that I needed to learn more about this church and I really felt it." So to explain what TV show he was watching. In England 2 weeks ago there was a program released called "Meet the Mormons." This was a documentary based on the life of a Mormon Missionary serving in the Leeds Mission. The church had approved for this documentary to proceed. So this aired on national television here and lets just say it wasn't the most flattering documentary about us. They stretched a lot of truth and made us seem pretty crazy. I was not happy about this release but I guess I did not have enough faith in how powerful God is. This documentary, even though how negative it was, has been the tool to introduce many people to the church and to eventually join! Mohammad is a true testimony of that. Even though what he was watching wasn't the most correct view of the church he was able to feel the Spirit testify to him that he needed to learn more. So we scheduled an appointment and sent a couple of missionaries in our Zone to go teach him (since he lived in their area). He is now preparing to be baptised on the 10th of August and came to church on Sunday as well. He was very prepared for the gospel.

This week we went to visit a member that is in the ward. Brother Cruz is his name. He is from the Philippines and works as a chef for this really rich man! So give you some context this member lives in the basement of this 10 million pound house in central London. It is posh. His neighbors are the Prince of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Sadam Hussein used to own a house a few doors down and now it is an embassy. Very very wealthy people live in this area. We were talking and he told us that Simon Cowell lives a few houses down as well! I was pretty excited thinking this is my big chance haha! So after we had finished seeing the member we were off to Simon's house. We were taking pictures of us pretending to ring his door bell since there is a gate around the house. While doing so some man walked out of the house and said "Hey what are you doing?" We told him what we were doing and he laughed and said, "okay okay." I then had to ask him, "So does Simon Cowell really live here?" The man responded with the most straight face, "I can not tell you whether or not he lives here.." haha. It was awesome! I will attach the pictures of it all!

Last but not least church on Sunday. It was so good to be back at church in Hyde Park. I was able to see all the members and they were so suprised to see that I was back! Chaminda, who I baptised in January, saw me and ran up to give me a hug. It was awesome  to see that he is still doing great. Then Barbara, a Jamaican woman I taught, tried to do the same but I had to awkwardly avoid the hug haha. It was great to see everyone. But I am not in that same ward I am in the Hyde Park 1st Ward. It is always difficult to start from scratch to getting to know all the members but it is a challenge definitely accepted!

Enjoy the pictures!! I love you all and will talk to you soon!

--

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

SIMON COWELL'S HOUSE 
ELDER PEREIRA

1. Driving from Norwich at 3:30 in the morning. And no we were not getting in an accident...

1. Elder Ho from Hong Kong

2. Our back patio. This is where we do our studies when its nice in the morning!

The London Magnet

Hey Everyone!

So I got the call last night and........ I AM LEAVING! I will be going to HYDE PARK again but this time as Zone Leader. It was a real shock to me. I thought I was definitely not going to Hyde Park because I got my license and there is not car in this area. I am happy about it because being in a car all day is not so fun! I am really sad to be leaving Norwich. This is the hardest transfer so far. I really put my heart into this area and it hurts to leave it so soon. I was really enjoying being with Elder Nolan! We have been singing all around and now we are being separated! My new companion is Elder Periera from Brazil! It will be a good time though and I have faith that it is all for a reason! 

Church News says that we will all be getting I Pads soon which will be pretty cool. President has not said anything about them yet but by the end of the year or early next year we will get them! It would make work so much easier! 

It is time to say goodbye to the blessed land of Norwich and I will have to come back to this place at some point. There is nothing as certain as change whilst on a mission. Change is always a constant thing. It is overwhelming having to start from scratch again. New companion, new area (Kind of), new ward, everything. I really do think this next 6 weeks is a grow your mane kind of transfer! I am short on time today because I have a lot to get done!! I love you all and will let you know how my new area is in London! 

 

I Feel My Saviours Love By Elder Nolan & Elder David - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0V2TVv3s2JXcHZubDg3QUZoanc/edit?usp=sharing

Love, 

Elder David

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norwich Ward!

This week was pretty amazing! On Tuesday we had Zone Conference with President and Sister Jordan. I was able to conduct the meeting which was a pretty neat experience. After lunch Elder Nolan, Elder Paul, and I performed a musical number. It was an amazing day the spirit was so strong as president was teaching us about the principle of repentance. He said "We are not teaching the doctrine so that our friends may join the church through knowledge, we are teaching the doctrine to help build their faith to repent and be baptised. This is the only way. We need to teach repentance and then will they feel a forgiveness of sins and then want to follow our Saviors example and be baptised." I loved the things he was saying. 

I am really loving the Norwich ward right now! The members are trusting us with a lot of their friends to share the gospel with and meet. On Tuesday evening after Zone Conference, Bishop invited us over to meet his daughters friend! His daughter is serving her mission in Salt Lake City, Utah Mission. We met her and she really wanted to know what Jess was doing all the way over in America so what better way then to meet the actual missionaries in England! We had a wonderful discussion and she agreed to come to church. She enjoyed church and we will be seeing her at Bishops again next Tuesday!

On Wednesday I spent my day in Dereham on an exchange with one of the Elders. His name is Elder Moreno from Spain! He plays professional indoor football (soccer) for Spain! I really enjoyed my day with him. We did some service and had chicken nuggets for tea. It has been a long time since I had chicken nuggets. It was a spiritual experience. 

Thursday we saw Neil who was baptised last week and is doing great! He is the greatest and was confirmed yesterday. He brought one of his classmates to church and we will be teaching her with him this Wednesday! He played a chinese song for us on the guitar! I have the video but it might be too big to send over email I will try to send it though.  We ended the night teaching a family from New Zealand. They fed us and we taught her sons who are preparing to be baptised in 3 weeks. 

Friday was the 4TH OF JULY! Which is not a big thing here. Hopefully you know why. But honestly they don't teach the Revolutionary War in school here. My companion said he was never taught about it and we asked others and they said the same thing. It is funny how that is the first thing you learn when going to school. Those Americans. I hope you all had a good time blowing stuff up. The day was pretty average but one of the members had us over and cooked some Hamburgers for the occasion. 

Saturday morning I took my driving test..... AND PASSED!! It is much harder to get a license here but it is all done now and I am happy that it is finished. It was a miracle thought. We drove all the way up to Kings Lynn and got lost trying to find the place to we drove all around and finally found it. When I was doing the actual driving test the instructor took me on the exact same route that we traveled when we were lost! I already knew what was coming because we already drove it on accident haha. It was a tender mercy from God. 

Last but not least Sunday! It was a good Sabbath. 

Next week is moves calls week and so I will be emailing on Tuesday instead of Wednesday! I have been here for 4 1/2 months now so what are your predictions. I think I am leaving because now Elder Nolan and I can both drive so one of us will be moved and I have been here longer so who knows! I love you all and here are some pics! 

   

  Here is a bible video too! Enjoy. 

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/jesus-declares-i-am-the-light-of-the-world-the-truth-shall-make-you-free?lang=eng

--

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

 

picture of Elder Moreno and I

I Love Chinese People

We had a great week and just exhausting as well. On Wednesday night we went to eat at a the Carters home and taught one of there friends who has been coming to church! Right after the lesson we had to drive down to Colchester which takes about 2 hours from where we were. We stayed the night there so we wouldn't have to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to drive to London. On Thursday morning we drove into London for Mission Leadership Council. We started driving back at 6 and had to start planning for the meeting we were going to hold the following morning. We had the drive home to prepare and while I was driving, Elder Nolan was struggling to stay awake so not much was able to get done. Luckily by the end of the trip mostly everything was taken care of. Friday morning we Zone Training Meeting and it went so well! I love our Zone. They are doing some great work and just awesome missionaries. I really am enjoying my time right now.  

OH YEAH!! On Thursday was my 1 year mark! I can't believe how fast time has gone! It was cool being able to spend my One Year in the Hyde Park Chapel with President and Sister Jordan. 

On Friday we had Dinner with the Wilkins! They are so great. There son just left on his mission to the Scotland/Ireland Mission and they treat us so well. 

Saturday was a day of baptisms! Danielle was baptised for the other set of Elders in Norwich and she is Chinese student studying at the UEA. She bore the most powerful testimony I have ever heard and brought 12 friends to the baptism. A few also came to church on Sunday and one of them is now preparing for baptism! So amazing. Elder Nolan, Elder Paul and I sang at the baptism. After that we went to another baptism in Dereham and participated in the program there. It was a really good day. 

Sunday was just a great if not better. We baptised Neil on Sunday. He is also a Chinese student at the UEA and is so amazing. He read the whole gospel principles book and was teaching us by the end of each lesson. He brought 5 friends to the baptism and on came to church who we will see this week! I can't wait for China to open its doors to Religious Freedom. When that happens there will be so many leaders already in the church that are Chinese and it will just spread to rapidly. They have to most sweet and pure spirit and are just waiting to hear the gospel. 

Here is a funny video for my little cousins! I apologize in advance to you adult because it get stuck in your head quite easily. You will know what I am talking about when you watch it! 

http://www.mormon.org/amos?cid=HPMO062314269

Have a great week! 

I will send pictures soon....

Love,

Elder David

Good Things to Come

I had a hard week!

Wednesday I had my driving test to get my British Driving License and failed. I was quite angry with the driving instructor. One of our investigators wasn't able to be baptised this week and just other things added and added on! By Thursday night I thought this was never going to end. I did not see the blessings  that were right at the door step, literally.  One of the YSA's in our ward gave us a call and showed up with a free pizza for us. That was awesome. She just felt that we could use a pizza and she was right. I really needed that pizza. Not because I was hungry but because I felt down on a couple of things and really needed a pick me up. That pizza was a sign that I am never on my own. I thought it was pretty cool. 

I spent my Friday in London on an exchange with one of the Assistants. I just love London. I love it so much. The dirty homeless people, Big Ben, The Eye, Harrods, fast cars, suits, fashion, drunk dancing Irishman,  all of it. It is just a wonderful place. We spent our day around Tottenham Court Road talking to people and doing so errands for President. It was a pretty good day. I also got to be in the flat that I lived in previous to Norwich! It brought back so many good memories and even though that flat was rubbish, it was good to be home. 

On Saturday we spent our day traveling across England. We had to go to Gorleston in the morning to interview someone for baptism. After, Elder Nolan and I went to have Fish n Chips on the beach. Later on we traveled to Dereham to do another interview. 

 

Sunday was just great as well. We had a lot of our friends at church and some member brought their friends and we will be teaching them this coming week!  From Wednesday to Sunday our week had a completely different feel. I truly know that Good Things are to Come. My week was proof of that for me. I had the thought that the Lord had to bring me so low, so I could experience the high He had in store for me. I am thankful for the hard week. I am thankful to be out of last week. Really thankful. DId you watch the video last week? I hope it worked because I am doing another one. WATCH IT!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-05-12-good-things-to-come?lang=eng

Here are some pictures. I am really bad at taking them because I just forget but my companion is good at it.

1. The District

2. Please make a caption for this photo and send it to me... It has potential. 

3. Fish and Chips

Go on a Mission!

I am slowly creeping up on my year mark and it has just come way too fast. I was able to see the new missionaries last week in London and it just brings flash back every time. We help them experience their first day of finding and London and see the fear that comes into their eyes when it is their turn. At least the fear I was feeling was pretty real to me 1 year ago. The growth that has happened to me is quite weird. I never thought or could have imagined what a mission was like.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into but the Holy Spirit has testified to me that I am where I need to be. So to all you young men and young women reading this I would just say, "Go on a mission."

I finished reading the New Testament just last night and it was a really great feeling to had it read through. Now I am starting the Old Testament in Joshua.Whilst talking with Elder Nolan he noticed something that I have never noticed before. When Jesus Christ was baptised we are not told too much of his experience before the actual ordinance. But the significant part of what is recorded is what happens after the baptism is performed. After coming straightway out of the water, the Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove and The Father himself says,"This is my Beloved Son. In whom I am well pleased." It was not until after  that he received a witness that what he had done was correct and was honoured by the Father. 

I feel that we sometimes want to receive the blessings before keeping the commandment or want to know it is right before taking the step of faith onto a roaring ocean floor. If we continue to exercise our faith in Jesus Christ we will not go astray. I would like you all to watch this video and see how it relates to the decisions you want to be guided in from your day to day life.

 https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-09-016-wrong-roads?lang=eng

I know that sometimes we are allowed to go the wrong way so we may quickly learn and change course. Always "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doing and he will direct thee for good." Alma 37:37 

So you youth wondering whether or not to go. GO! You will experience the Holy Ghost testify to you that it is right maybe before you go but definitely after you go to serve. Or you adults stuck on some decision. Or all of you students, you know this applies to you too. Pray, listen, act, listen, repeat. 

This coming Saturday Cecillia is getting bapised! WOO HOOO! She is making us Chinese food this week to celebrate. When she wants to express herself and can't do it in English she gets mad and starts speaking Chinese at us hoping we can understand. We can't. She is fantastic and is really excited. 

Yohanna is doing good and we taught him about missions. He is really considering going on one and says he would like to impact peoples life like we have impacted his. He will be a great friend of mine. 

I will talk to you in a week! Until then keep safe!

Love,

Elder David