Christmas, Boxing Day, and Moves 2014

Wow! The last week of 2014 is now approaching and it will start off great!! I received the call from President last night on what will be happening for the next six weeks! 

I WILL BE................................GOING!!! I will be going back to London North and be the Zone Leader there with ELDER ADRIANO!!! Crazy huh? We served together exactly one year ago! I was so surprised but I know that it is for a reason that it is happening this way!! I am really happy. 

This last week was amazing! 

On Christmas Eve we were taken to a proper Chinese Restaurant with this woman Elder Hein met on the Street! It was great!

On Christmas morning we woke up early to open our presents and then we left to drive around to pick up all the missionaries and bring them to the chapel for breakfast. We ate breakfast then took a trip around London in the van to tour all the sights with Elder Nolan, Hutchins, Hein, and Torgesen. It was so much fun and we had a blast! Then we went to different members homes to watch Toy Story 3 and Frozen. Frozen was really good and now I could understand why all the little kids sing those songs. They are so catchy!! 

Boxing day: We woke up really early and rode Barcalys bikes through London to get to our destination. Everything in London was half off and so it was just a mad house!!! We spent the whole day just looking around and seeing people go crazy for clothes. 

On Saturday we had MLC all day long and Sunday we had church!! 

Everyone has just been too good to me here and I will miss it but I am only 30 minutes away on the tube. 

Love you all and will send pics next week!! 

Love,

Elder David

MERRY CHRISTMA-RAMA-KWANZAA-KUH

What a life!

So last week we did a lot of fun things!!

On Tuesday we went out to a Porteguese restaruant named Nando's and ate some nice chicken and we thought it would be fun to try the x sauce. No once knows what it is inside because the bottle is black and it has no information on the front. It was the hottest sauce on this whole planet. I decided to pour some into a container and take it home so I could pour it into Elder Hein's Curry. He thought it was hot too. 

On Wednesday we had our Christmas Zone Conference. President Jordan gave the greatest training on the Atonement and my testimony was strengthened. Really we could do nothing if it were not for Jesus Christ. We played games, sang songs, and had a white elephant gift exchange. I gave away our fruit shape cookie cutters :( but I received a giant chocolate Gruffalo. Yum. The night before Zone Conference we were asked to prepare a song. We sang the song "Hallelujah" but with Christmas lyrics. It went really bad. We didn't have enough time to practice to nail the harmonies. Ugh it sounded really bad haha. 

On Thursday night we went to teach Jing and Arjay. Jing is Malou's friend that she brought to church. We show up to her house and she has a feast prepared for us! And Arjay, the 8 year old boy, is dressed in a collared shirt, tie, and a jumper. He told us that his Mum made him because he must respect people of God. We ate some delicious Filipino food and then taught them a lesson. They are planning on getting baptised next month. 

On Friday morning we got a call to go pick up the Brazillian Sisters and to take them to Zone Conference because one of them just broke her leg. We spent the whole morning stuck in London traffic. Then that night the mission choir went to Watford for a performance. I drove Presidents car there with a few other missionaries. 

Saturday night we drove to St. Albans for a Performance as well. 

And Sunday we drove to Canterbury for a Performance. On the way back we had to drop some sisters off in London North so Elder Hein and I got to drive through our old stomping grounds. It was so weird to be back and to talk about stories and experiences we had there. 

Now I promised you all pictures so here ya go!! HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!

On the Red Carpet

So today was incredible! During the day our zone went to take a christmas jumper photo in Covent Garden. They are being edited so I will send them next week! We walked around for a a few hours looking in a few shops and exploring London. As we walk up to Leceister Square we see the night of the Museum Premier going on! We were trying to get a good view. There were no celebrities yet so we start to walk down and we hear some security guard say,"Who ever wants to come in and stand on the side of the red carpet for tonight can come line up now. So we all look at each otther and do our nod and start to head in. While we were standing here Elder Hein say's, "Guys I don't think we should be here." We all looked at him with shock and ask him why. He just says I don't know, just don't feel like it is good. And to explain there was no music at this point and it was fairly quite. All I thought a premier  was is when Celebrities just walk down the Red Carpet. So we didn't anything was wrong with it especially since it was Night at the Museum, a movie for children. By this point we were in a lock down meaning as soon as you come in, you can't come out. BAD BAD THING. All of a sudden this dude comes out of the theatre and yells," Let's make this party start!!" We all look at each other with our, "Uh-oh" faces on. Elder Hein is like, "I told you all! I told you all and now we are stuck!" So we start to plan our escape. I yell for the security guard and ask him if we could leave. He was hesitant but the spirit of the Lord descended upon that man and he agreed. So we walked away and dodged a bullet there but almost saw Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Fat Amy. So that is pretty cool I almost saw them right? 

Yesterday we had the Christmas Performance for Hyde Park and it was a great night! In between the songs there were videos played. I hope you all have seen the new piano guys video. If not here is the link  http://goo.gl/7VIJ13

It is such a great video but must be listened to with the volume turned up! 

Yesterday Malou brought three of her friends to church and we are teaching all of them at some point this week! She is the greatest! 

Also here are some cool slang word from New Zealand. When some thing is cool you say, "Sweet as." Or when "Choice."

We baked cookies and cinnamon cake with the Sisters for the ward and yes we did do some of the baking. We used the car to drive through London to deliver these treats while singing Christmas carols. 

It was a good week and we are so close to Christmas time!!! HAPPY CHRISTMAS!! 

Pictures will come next week when I receive them!! 

Christmas is a brewing!

So this week I don't really remember much of what happened. I apologize haha. I will try to find some things to tell you about.

Malou (who got baptised last week) got up and bore her testimony in Sacrament Meeting! It was a definitely a proud moment for my companion and I. Tears may or may not have been shed. 

Today I bought a Christmas Jumper. A jumper is a sweater for all you Americans out there. I have been working on my accent and the English girl in the zone says it is quite nice. So get ready family for Skype in like 3 weeks. 

Tonight we are going to our ward mission leaders house for some dinner. 

Um the new Christmas video is pretty good eh?

We met a man on the street and invited him to be baptised and he accepted. We are seeing him this week. 

London is awesome as always during this time of year. Walking our of Piccadilly Circus, through Regent Street and until you Reach Oxford Street is magical. I wish you all could be here to see it. But my words will have to suffice for now. I am sorry I don't have the most time tonight! I wish I did but things are getting Crazy around here! 

Merry Christmas from ME! 

Love,

Elder David

Monday Again?

What a week!

So as I mentioned last week we were having a mission wide conference with Elder Cook of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles and it was such an amazing day! He told us stories of his mission and how much her just enjoyed his experience. He served in this same mission and was companions with Elder Holland at one point while serving in Romford. He shared such sacred things with us and the spirit was so strong. A few of us Elders got to sit front row because we were singing a special musical number called, "Come unto Christ." It is the Youth theme song for 2014. It was a beautiful moment and so many great things were shared. 

After the meeting we had another meeting talking about the new Christmas Initiative the church is starting called,"He is the Gift." We have special pass along cards and are using the video to find people to teach. If you have not seen it here is the link. http://www.mormon.org/christmas

It is beautiful. So share it with your friends. 

On Thursday I had a surprise surgery! It was out of no where! But don't you all worry I am fine. You can ask my mum about it but since this is going up on the internet for all to see I will not go into too much detail. All you need to know is that it hurt. Really bad. The used needles longer than the rulers I had in school and knives that would cut through granite. I may be exaggerating but it was bad. I am so much better now and back to full strength! 

I totally forgot that Thursday was Thansgiving! Well, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It was probably my most interesting one so far. We had no plans to have a thanksgiving dinner so we were pretty chapped. But out of sympathy, President and Sister Jordan invited us over for a Thanksgiving feast with all the fixings. Thanksgiving at the Jordans on Exhibition road, can you say classy? Haha it was delicious and even though I wasn't feeling too great it helped a lot. Here is my thankful list.

1. My Family. All of you crazies out there in the states.

2.The relationship I have with my Saviour.

3.My Mission

4. Private health care. 

5. A nice cup of Redbush Tea with a Biscuits and assorted cheeses. (Cheese Connoisseur) 

6. A properly ironed white shirt.

7. Music

8. Sister Jordan's Pumpkin Pie 

9. Forgiveness

10. Pretty much everything else. 

On Saturday we had MLC which was great and that night we had the cultural evening! I am not sure if you remember last year that the same thing happened in the Hyde Park Stake. All the people from different Cultures present food dishes and performances and we come together to share with one another. It was a really fun time. 

On Sunday Malou was Baptised! She bore the most powerful testimony ever after her baptism. She has a wonderful story. She was on the bus and some missionary started talking with her. She agreed to meet but for some reason it didn't work out. She meets another missionary on the street and he invites her inside the chapel for a tour of the place and to learn more. She has a lesson and agrees to meet again. She lost contact with the missionaries again. The third time she was on a bus and some member started talking to her and invited her to come to church. She asked, "Which church?" "Oh the church in South Kensington. Across from the science museum." She couldn't believe it and finally agreed to come to church. On Sunday morning the member called to make sure she was coming and Malou gave the excuse that she woke up late and wouldn't be able to make it and so the member said oh don't worry! There is another service at 11 so you have 2 hours to get ready. She thought to herself,"Well great. Now I don't have any excuse for that so I have to come." She came and loved it. We met her after church and set up a time to meet. She was then baptised three weeks later. So the service on Sunday was great! She really loves the gospel and has sent the missionaries to meet with her husband and daughter in the Philippines. So much a come from simple invitations to come learn more. "People are not likely to change, unless you invite them to do so."(PMG).  So go invite someone you know or someone you meet during the day. It makes a big difference. 

It has been a great great week and it will only continue to get better. I have many photos to send to you so be ready! 

Love you all,

Elder David

1. Manson getting baptised last week! 

2. He is The Gift with the Girl who plays Mary in the Bible videos and who is also in "Wicked".3. Elder Cook 

3. Mission Conference

4. The whole mission in front of The Royal Albert Hall

5. Malou and I

6. Malou's Baptism! 

7. Tonight we happened to walk right past the where the World Premier of the Hobbit was happening!!

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

Free Dinner?

Four weeks ago Elder Torgesen and I were walking down Exhibition Road to the Chapel one night and next to us we see a Chinese girl and boy walking together in the same direction. I have been practicing my Chinese and wanted to practice with them so we edge over to walk closer to them and then I say," Nee shu jung gua ran ma?" Which means, "Are you Chinese people?" They looked shocked at some white kid speaking to them in Chinese. They respond in english with a yes! Then again in Chinese,"Wua da minztu Zhao David Jung lau. Wu shu Mormon Zhao da tranzyow shu!" They finally realize I am speaking there language and then start speaking to me in fluent chinese. Then I had to tell them no more Chinese. English please.  We start having a good conversation and walk by the church and I invited them in but they weren't too interested. But we before we parted ways we just told them that every Thursday night there is a free dinner that they are welcome to come to. 

Thursday rolls around and guess who actually shows up. MANSON! The Chinese guy I met a few days prior. He met with the Missionaries in the YSA ward and just yesterday he was baptised! It was so cool to see that a simple invitation to come and see makes all the difference! it really does! 

Next week Malou is getting baptised though! She is from the Phillipines and is so amazing. She has been found by 3 different missionaries and invited to church by a member and she came. Sometimes it God just makes sure that you run into the right people more than once. She referred her family that are in the Phillipines as well. I will send you pictures of her baptism next Monday. 

Tomorrow Elder Cook from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles will be coming to speak to our mission tomorrow and we will be singing him a song as well. It should be a really great day. And of course I will include more info on what the meeting was like next week! I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder David

I'm Sorry Cake

So last Monday we had a crazy P-day. Just singing. All. day. long. And I lost my planner. I don't lose many things while on my mission which is suprising because back home Dad would always say,"You would lose your head if it wasn't already attached to your body." But everyone loses something sometimes, right? This me trying to console myself. But after singing we went to go email and in the middle of emailing all of you, we receive a call from our Ward Mission Leader asking, "Are you guys close?" We then remember with deepening sadness and regret that we were supposed to go to his house for dinnner..... The only explanation of how I felt is recorded in the Book of Mormon, "But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins." We felt so bad and it ruined the night. I have never hosed a member. And I will never again. So to try and make things right. We decided that the only thing we could do that would pay them back would be to "bake them a cake of somefing"(Napoleon Dynamite.) So we did. I baked my first cake. We were nervous to give it to them because this was our first cake we baked. We knock on the door and sing "Apologize" on the front step. They let us in and we eat the cake together. IT WAS DELICIOUS! So of course they forgave us. Oh and to top it off we printed out the saddest pouting puppy face picture we could find. It would be one of the pictures you see on the Sarah McLaughlin commercials. So sad. "Girls like guys with Skills. Numb chuck skills, karote skills, cake baking skills." (Napoleon Dynamite) I quote this movie to much lately but my companion is literally the funniest man I have ever met in my life. He would play a better Napoleon. He even did the dance in the 5th grade for a school talent show. He means business. 

By the way we are both staying together for another transfer!! Christmas in Central London Round 2!! All the things are getting decorated here and it looks beautiful! 

This week we had another Filipino party! In the course of 5 minutes we sang "Happy Birthday" 6 times. They could not get enough of it! 

Elder Quintin L Cook will be coming to visit our mission and speak to us next week which will be great! I am really excited for it. We are singing a song for him a song called "Come Unto Christ." 

Well this is all for the week. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Elder David

The Wedding Singer has Fake Ipads

This week was a really busy week!!!! It was the longest, slowest, fastest, craziest week I have had in a long time. 

Tuesday: We had Zone Training Meeting and decided to play a little prank on the Zone. The rumor is going around that we are getting I pads soon. Which is true but we are not sure when. So we thought it would be fun to surprise them with I pads. On Monday we put together an apple box with the Church logo and name and made it look semi nice. It wasn't the greatest but it was made just right to fool someone. Then there was a senior couple missionary who had an I pad and let us put it inside with its original box. We filled the box with Hymn books to fake the weight and then placed the bubble wrapped I pad box on the top. After we finished talking about Facebook and how we are doing using it as a tool, told them that we have recieved another tool to assist us in our efforts. All the missionaries started to look around. Elder Hein got so excited because he didn't believe us when we told him earlier but now his wildest dreams were coming true. We go into the back room to grab the box and bring it out. Missionaries start to yell," This is the best day on my mission yet!" We then open the box and give the first I pad to Elder Hein who is shaking. He opens the box and finds a real ipad. Now everyone in the room believes it is really happening. We let him turn it on and as it then turns on we walk over and say, "Just kidding we are not getting Ipads yet." The room went silent. No one wanted to believe us and they did not think it was funny. However Elder Torgesen and I were dying. We are evil but now there is a mark on the back of our heads in the zone. We are on our toes. I have a picture of the box we used. 

Wednesday: We are teaching a woman named Malou. She was referred to us a by a member who met her on the bus. She agreed to church and is planning to be baptised on the30th of November! She is wonderful. So Wednesday was a good day! Wednesday was also Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night. So many fireworks are set off on this night We got to see some good fireworks on that night. I have a nice video on that will go on Google Drive. 

Thursday: We had interviews with President. Great day. 

Friday:  Met Magnel and Mina. They are preparing to be baptised on the 30th of November as well! One is from Giana and the other is from Jamaica, mon! Good day. 

Saturday: We were invited to sing at a wedding for a couple that was getting married in the chapel. Good wedding. We are wedding singers. Got our Adam Sandler on. Pretty great day.

Sunday: The Sabbath is always a great day! We had 8 different friends come join us for church and it was just a great day. We spent that evening with a member who builds, designs, and sells skyscrapers. London just fosters interesting people. 

Well that is our Crazy weeek. Today we went to see Tower Bridge at night along with Tower of London. I will post some pictures as promised of the week. Love you all!

Elder David 

Oh yeah and Elder Torgesen and I got caught in a London Typhoon. So much Water!!!!!!! 

MAN FLU

In England they have a sickness called, "The Man Flu" which is pretty much the flu but they only call it this when the men catch it haha. I guess that they call it this because men alwyas over react when ill so they just name it something manly as a joke. Pretty funny. This week I had the man flu. I have never felt so terrible in my whole life. (See how the name fits). It was pretty terrible. Until last week I haven't been sick on my mission and I was actually thinking that two weeks prior so I guess it was on it's way. It was really hard to stop people on the street when you feel like dying. During Lunch I would make a quick lunch take a nap for a bit and then go back out. We were blessed for it and a few really good things came our way! 

Elder Torgesen's Birthday was on Tuesday. He was pretty excited for his 21st and so we decided as a flat that we were going to pretend to forget. So all wake up and go exercise, eat, and study without saying really one word. I started to notice he was getting a bit irritated that no one remembered. Then right before we start companionship study we always sing a song. We picked nearer my God to thee and as we started we changed it to Happy Birthday and blasted him with silly string and anything else we could through at him. His face was priceless. He looked so confused and was not expecting it. 

This last week we were in a trio with a missionary who was having a surgery on his collar bone. He fell off his bike. So one of the members came down to visit him and took us all our to eat at the coolest pizza place in London. It is where all the celebrities go for pizza. The whole restaraunt is filled with pictures of people that have eaten there. Too many famous people. It was such a good night. I ordered Leonardo Dicaprio's favourite pizza. Good stuff. 

On Wednesday night we were invited to go eat with a family at Nando's. Nando's is a Portuguese restaurant. The members who took us brought friends of theirs who had so many questions for us! He was so interested. We hopefully will be starting to teach this new family this coming week! It was a good night. 

Thursday was at the peak of the Man Flu and was the day we had an exchange. I was with Elder Hein that day who happened to have that same sickness. We were both sharing the pain. It stunk but that evening I got to go visit Margaret and Chaminda again. Elder Adriano and I baptised them last February. They are doing great and it was a really fun time being able to meet again in their home! 

Friday was Halloween and we had Mission Leadership Council. The room was decorated for the occasion. That night after the meeting the Hype Park Chapel was putting on a silent film accompanied by the organ. The film was the 1920's classic, "Phantom of the Opera." My first silent film. We only watched a few minutes of it because we had to go start planning for our Zone Training Meeting on Tuesday. 

Saturday night we met a really interesting woman. Our approach, "Excuse me ma'am? Would you like to know more about the life of Jesus Christ?" Her response in a really thick african accent, "Young man I know more about Jesus then you will ever know. I love Jesus more than you love Jesus and I promise you that." Finishing with a "hmmmm." Like she was agreeing and proud of herself. "That was very bold miss. I can tell you have a lot of Christlike love for your fellow men." She then went nuts and just started pentecostal preaching at us. It got real loud and all the neighbors in the estate came outisde to see this big black woman preach at these two white kids. After she finished she stormed off in a sass walk. Funny woman. 

Sunday was fast Sunday and Elder Torgesen and I were having a special fast for new people to teach!  And a few members introduced us to their friends at church and we will be teaching them this week. I do know that fasting works! 

It was a good week in the mission and now that I over the Man Flu I can't really remember how terrible it was. I only remember the good stuff. That is really how I feel about my mission. I really don't remember much about the bad or hard times as much as I remember the good times. 

Have a great week and I will talk to you all in a short while! 

-- 

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

Fruit Shaped Cookies to Put in Our Flower Jar

This week we helped one of the members in the ward move out of there house. They are luckily still in the ward boundaries. They took us to a Lebanese Restaurant for helping. YUM! While helping them move they found some things that they have never taken out of the package but knew they were never going to use. "If it is free get it at all costs." So we gladly took some things home. 

1. The Worlds Sharpest Knife (Actual name of the knife). The name of the Knife made me want to burst through a set of doors and yell, "CONGRATULATIONS! The worlds sharpest knife!! (ELF)

2. Fruit Shaped Cookie Cutters. It is obvious why one would want these. 

3. A florescent yellow jar with oddly colored flowers. For our fruit cookies.  

It was a successful afternoon. 

President Jordan was in Portugal last week for the annual Mission President's Seminar. He had his birthday while being there and was going to arrive on Friday evening! So we planned a surprise party for him when he would come home! We decorated his flat and baked some goods for him (when I say "we" I mean the Sisters in the Zone. The Elders did not do much.) We all hid and turned off the lights yelled a big, "Surprise!" He was really surprised haha. He walked in with another area 70 who was also surprised. Sister Jordan loved it and was in on it as well. We had cake and sang songs. 

By the way, I don't know if I told you this but I live with Elder Hein again. The Elder that was in the same flat with me in London North for 6 months! We have way to much fun. So on Friday Elder Hein was making a homemade pasta sauce and it smelt quite nice. But I thought it need a bit more spice. The week prior, I bought some scotch bonnet peppers so that I could somehow put them in Elder Hein's food. So this was the opportunity to use them. I took the peppers into the room and cut them into really small pieces then took them to the kitchen while cupping them in my hands. When he wasn't looking I threw in the peppers to his sauce and out of generosity, I offered to stir the sauce for him. I couldn't hold in my laughter so I had to leave the room and just wait. Elder Hein treats his companion, Elder Hansen, and himself to his nice pasta. They begin to feast. Half way through their meal I walk into the room and they are both sweating and drinking so much water wondering, "Why is this pasta so hot?!?!" Elder Hansen then exclaims in his thick German accent, "Every single bite gets hotter and hotter!!" I told them they shouldn't have used so much ground pepper. They agreed to that. I left the room and then about a minuter later I hear, "ELDER DAVID!" Elder Hein comes running into the room laughing/crying/sweating with his accusations pointed right at me! Of course his accusations were all true. We all died laughing. I made a good decision to buy those peppers. Good times. 

Elder Hein got me back the next morning by tying my basketball shoes together. And let me tell you, untying basketball shoes at 6 in the morning is a challenge that deserves to be on any game show. 

We had stake conference this weekend and it was so great! We participated in the YSA choir and it was really fun. Another 70 was present for to preside over the meeting. 

So on Friday afternoon Elder Torgesen and I got on the bus and sat down in different places to talk to different people. While being on the bus for 10 minutes a man gets on the bus and sits near me. He then looks me in the eye and points to my badge asking, "What is that about?" I thought he was being smart with me so I gave a short response. I am a missionary for this church. He then become more interested. I then realized he was genuinly interested. I then showed him the Book of Mormon and said, "We would like to teach you about this. Can we see you tomorrow?" He agreed and then after exchanging info, he got off the bus for his stop. We saw this man on Saturday and invited him to be baptised next month. He accepted and came to church the following day on Sunday. He loved it and we will be seeing him tomorrow! We asked him on Saturday why he decided to talk to me and he said,"I usually never sit on the bus. I always stand but I felt like I needed to sit and I saw you and felt I should sit next to you. Then I saw Jesus Christ on you badge and knew why I needed to sit next to you." Jeff is his name. After Jeff left church he went to go tell his wife how wonderful the people were and how he loved his experience. We will hopefully teach her this week as well. MIRACLES! 

Sunday! Last Story. We had a fireside in Luton to perform at for the Young Men and Young Women. We loaded up the mission van. Elders Hein, Tan, Torres, Adriano with President and Sister Jordan were all in the Van with me driving. So driving a massive van in London is the worst and is really scary. The roads are just not meant for big cars. But with many prayers offered in my heart we made it safely. We had a great night and met Elder Nolan and Elder Hutchins at the chapel. It was just like the good ol times last year doing the same thing. It was just a great evening! 

Good things are happening and I love my mission!

Have a great week and I will talk to you in 7 days.

Love,

Elder David

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

Pumkins!

Good evening for me and good morning for you! 

Last week we had Elder Herbertson of the 70 come visit the mission for a conference. A few Elders were assigned to do a musical number so we chose to do a song called Jerusalem. It is an English song that says Jesus walked in England when he was on the earth. We don't know how factual that is but it is a nice song! We were practicing before the meeting started and as we finished we walked down to finish set up all. Just before the meeting started and everyone was about to take their seats President walks to me and says, "Elder David you will be conducting this meeting." Go get ready in the front." I took my seat next to Elder Herbertson and we began to talk for a few minutes before the meeting began. I was pretty nervous for this one because I didn't want to mess up with a 70 present. I prayed that everything would go well and it turned out alright. It was a really great time. 

So while at church on Sunday there was a quote shared that I really liked. "A man sees in the world, what is in his heart."  It made me think, "What is in my heart and how does that impact my outlook? Does it effect me in a positive or negative way?" It really made me evaluate myself and examine what I saw in the world. Some see all the nice clothes that someone else has on, the car they show up in at work, or how their family life looks from the outside. What we desire in the world is usually what we already desire in our heart. The way we look at people and how we perceive them comes from the heart. 

In the scriptures they prophesy that "in the last days, mens hearts shall fail them." From what I learned on Sunday it all made sense. The scriptures didn't imply there will be more people with heart failure as a medical condition but as a spiritual condition. What are our hearts set upon? "Where you heart lies, there will your treasure be also." 

The only way that we can cleanse our heart and truly have a "heart transplant" is throught the Saviour Jesus Christ and his Atonement. Healing is found there and how wonderful it is to experience it for ourselves. "Come unto Christ and be perfected in him." "Nothing entereth into His rest save it be those who have washed their garments in the blood of Christ." The Saviour can cleanse our heart and help us see in the world the positve things that come fomr our heart. "Remember faith, hope, charity, and love..." These are the traits we want to have. Eternal traits. 

As you study the Saviours life you will be more aware on how He would act in your circumstances. There is your assingment. 

Today we had a Zone P-Day! Woo Hoo! We carved pumpkins together. Really fun day. We also sang a few songs.  

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

(I carved the HYDE one)

Elder David

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

The Band is Back

The Band Started up again to start practicing for Christmas coming up. It was so great to have everyone back. The same group that was there last year minus a select few who have returned home. So weird. It brought back to many great memories. My favourite song is Some Children See Him. I love that song so much! I feel like my music skills have improved since being on a mission. Which logically does not make sense but I see it as a blessing. This last week was really busy with Moves and making sure everyone got settled in. We had a baptism on Sunday for our investigator Joseph! He is such a sweet man and will be getting the priesthood in the coming weeks. He has read all the way to Alma in the Book of Mormon and retells it like he has been reading his whole life. Impressive. 

This coming week we have a mission conference with a seventy who will be coming! It will be on Thursday and I am really excited about it! Halloween is coming up and inside the Hyde Park Chapel there will be the classic Phantom of the Opera silent film with the massive Organ accompanying it! So many good things are happening here. 

I am enjoying my new companion and he is really laid back. We get on well. I have gotten the hang of changing from companion to companion and I think I found the key to success. COMMUNICATION! When you talk more the better things go. It is so simple but now I know it is a true principle. It is sometimes not the best to hide what you are feeling and not express it. But when you council and just talk openly things work out. So my advice to you is communicate. Life just is better when you do. Whether that is with a husband/wife, brother/sister, or even a co-worker, talk it out. 

Love you all and talk to you in 168 hours!

Elder David

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

Moves Calls Night

Hello Everyone!! So I know you all are waiting in suspense to hear the results of what is happening next..... IIIIIIIIIII AAMMM STAYING! I will be staying in Hyde Park but Elder Jensen is unfortunately leaving. I am really sad about this but he will do well in St. Albans as the Zone Leader there. My new companion is Elder Torgensen. I don't know anything about his but this is his first transfer as being a Zone Leader. We have good things happening so I feel like it will be a good 6 weeks.

I have seen throughout my mission that as soon as you get comfortable the Lord puts your life in the shaker you use to play Boggle. A two year mission, I believe, ends at 2 years because that is when you feel comfortable with what you are doing and you feel you have figured it out. Elder Jensen and I were doing really well and just got on. Hence why we are now separated and moving on.

This is my 5th straight transfer in a row with a different companion! I am scaring them away!! Change is starting to be my sir name. So maybe this one will break that streak!! Who knows. 

Conference was pretty great. I don't know if it is the same for you but I feel like conference is like watching a national championship game..... Yep I am a missionary. Please excuse my weirdness when I come home haha. But the talks were great and as always you could sense the themes that were given. These are the themes that stuck out to me.

1. Developing your own testimony 

2. The Law of The Fast and Fast Offerings

3. Following and Sustaining the Prophet

4. The Sacrament

It was a great conference. We had a few of our investigators come and they really enjoyed it as well! This last week we had many meetings. 1 every single day so not to much to report back to you on. Moses is doing well and has received the priesthood now! It was good to see that. Also at General Conference there were so many members who were from the London North Ward that I got to see. I saw Lawrence again (the man I met at the bus stop a year ago) and he is still strong in the church. So good to see. I love this work!! 

Listen to Elder Bednar's talk on Missionary Work again! I loved it. Pay attention on how he describes how the members and missionaries work together. Go share this awesome gospel. We don't do it out of obligation. We share it because we want others to feel the happiness we have experienced in our lives. I love you all and will share more next week. Today we will go cite seeing so I will attach the pictures next week!!

Elder Talan Haynes David

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London, England SW7 2PA

 

Surprise

 Actually I do have some pictures to send....

1. Christmas lights are already being put up in London. This is what happens when you don't have a good Halloween and when you don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Skip right to Christmas.

2. Most delicious Chinese food in South K. Chopstix

3. 2 Sisters will be going home tomorrow so we help a funeral for them after Zone Meeting. Peace be upon them.

The Book of Mormon is True

This past week we had Zone conference. By far the best one I have attended. I was asked to conduct again. I wasn't as nervous to do it this time which was nice to save some stress. President Jordan gave a training on Evidences of the Book of Mormon. It was really cool to listen too. As a closing quote he  read this, “All the scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, will remain in the realm of faith.”  Elder Maxwell taught this vital principle. I love hearing about the cool historical facts and how it was brought forth and what not but it is even great to have a spiritual witness of it's truthfulness. The Book of Mormon is true. "No evil man could write such a book and no good man would, unless he were called by God to do so." So get reading your Book of Mormon. It is powerful and has so much to offer to our lives. 

In Zone Conference a few of us performed a song that was to the tune "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. It was a hit. It was talking about baptism instead haha. Sister Jordan is going to record it tomorrow and I think then it will be on sound cloud. I will keep you posted on it! 

This week there were so many baptisms in the Zone! I am really proud of the missionaries. There was a very special moment on Saturday Evening. A Brazilian couple got married 2 days prior to getting baptised. The wife was baptised first and she stood watching her new husband being baptised as well. As he came out of the water she gave him a big hug and kiss with tears streaming from her eyes. What an amazing way to start off a marriage. Families can be together forever1

Earlier in the week we taught this woman who is quite posh. She seemed to have it all and during the lesson she began to just ball. We were shocked and we sat there and both said nothing for what felt like 10 minutes. We let her think and think and think. I have never been in such a intense moment in my mission. The spirit was so strong and I could tell it was trying to speak to her but out of the silence came, " I don't think I want't to take this any further. I can't take this any further." She needed the gospel so bad in her life but made the choice not to accept in that spiritually heavy moment. Her whole life she was brought up in a family that heavily didn't believe in a God. She has been relying upon her own strength her whole life and came to the breaking point of exhaustion. We invited her to lean on the Savior and to give us a call anytime. Money does not bring happiness. Only the gospel will enlighten your life with understanding and give you the strength to fight through this already tough battle we call life. 

On Friday we taught Peter. Peter is a new investigator we found on the street. He works for the Underground. He had so many questions about religion and after we finished the lesson he told us that a lot of his questions had been answered. He accepted a baptismal date for this coming October and we will begin to hopefully start teaching his girlfriend this coming week. Family!  

This coming week will be a good one and I cant wait to tell you all about moves calls next Tuesday!! Am I staying or going? Cast your votes. 

Elder David