DUSTON WEEK #7

Howdy!

This week was really good and I actually have an update on somebody we are teaching! #rare
But anyway, we have been meeting with Nancy and she is great!  She came to church on Sunday and I realized that she is the first person on my mission that I was in the first companionship to bring to church.  Everybody else had been to church before with other missionaries, even if they hadn't been in a long while.  So that's cool!  She soaks up everything we teach her, though we invited her to be baptised which sadly she didn't accept but just because she doesn't feel like she has enough knowledge about the church yet so we will keep teaching her and try again.  She has two really funny kids named Reggie and Chelsea and they are so great.  Chelsea was just making me turn to different hymns for almost all of Sacrament Meeting yesterday.

We also went to the Milton Keynes District Council on Thursday and then we were on exchanges with the Milton Keynes Elders after that, which was good fun.  I was with Elder Davey from Australia, who I was with in the MTC.  It was a good time and there was a carnival/fair going on in town which increased the regular mayhem of the city center, so that was interesting!  It has also been absolutely freezing this week.  haha  I've been wearing a jumper like every day because I made the mistake of not wearing one one day and it was awful.  I have learned. The rain hasn't been too bad, thank goodness, but wow it has been freezing!  The colors are pretty here, but I don't see them too much because I am in the city most of the time.  Nothing like the Forest of Dean, sadly.  (Mom note:  jumper is the British word for pullover sweater.  He's not wearing women or childrens clothing.)

This week we get our flu shots, or flu jabs as they call them here, so wish us luck!

Not loads else happened this week, but life is good!  If you all would pray for Nancy that would be fantastic.  She just needs a little help realizing she is ready for it.  Thanks so much!

I haven't done a spiritual thought in awhile, so I'll leave a couple of scriptures here...

Joshua 1:9
Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord they God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 3:5
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves' for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.


Love you all!  Have a wonderful week!  Celebrate Halloween a little extra for me!

-Elder Lott

Milton Keynes District Council.  

For some reason Elder Tollestrup and I are glowing 

like Celestial beings.  Not bad if you ask me!

Exchange with Elder Davey

A cool Obelisk we found in our area

DUSTON WEEK #6

Hello All!

It has been a really good week here!  Nothing crazy has happened but we've been busy and it has been a good one.

We have a new friend named Nancy who we are going to start teaching tomorrow.  The Sister missionaries in Northampton found her but she lives in our area so that's nifty.  We unfortunately had to cancel on her last week because the member we were going to bring with us fell through.  But she looks really solid!  We are hoping that this goes somewhere because we don't have a lot in the way of teaching right now.

We came up with a way to help the Zone make and follow up on daily goals.  It was originally a pdf, but everybody wanted a physical copy of it, so our Ward Mission Leader figured out a way to make a copy of it for everyone.  It was quite a process and it took him ages.  Brother Ford is a legend!

I'm so glad that you and Dad were able to go to Temple Square and meet Sister Woods.  It was fun seeing the pictures with all of you guys together. It's a group I never thought would be in one place at the same time at the beginning of my mission.   Her family was one of the reasons I loved serving in Forest of Dean.  There were so many great people there.

My provisional license has come!  Which means I can now take the written test.  I'm booked to take it on November 13.  Hopefully that goes well!

We're making a transfer calendar for our Zone and the tradition in the Zone is to put peoples faces cropped onto images of a picture.  Last transfer we did the whole Zone, but it took so much time that this month we just did Elder Tollestrup and me. We had two options to choose from and in the end chose The Lion King.

Those are the biggest things this week.  Keep being good and do something nice for another person!

-Elder Lott

The new Zone Goal Cards!

The New Zone!

Calendar Background Option 1

Calendar Background Option #2

(we chose The Lion King)

We went to visit Sister Woods, who is from Whales.  

Her family lives in Zach's first area and took wonderful care of him while he served there.  

She is currently serving in the Salt Lake Temple Square Mission.  

We were able to find her and take her and her companion, Sister Drennan, to lunch this past week. 

DUSTON WEEK #5

Hi Everyone.

Just a short note this week - I'm out of time.

We've had a good week.  I have been sick the past couple of weeks but am starting to feel better.  We are going to be getting our flu shots soon - not excited.  I'm kind of dreading the day but it will happen sooner or later though, so might as well get it over with.

It sounds like lots of fun with the Prescotts in town - sorry to have missed their visit.

Exciting to hear that we have a new Bishop in the ward.  Bishop Brady was a great Bishop, and Bishop van Dijk will be an awesome Bishop as well!  It sounds like he has chosen some great counselors.

Our Zone is doing really well.  The work isn't super busy right now, so some of the missionaries get a little sad and feel like what they are doing isn't always worth it, but we still have a lot of good missionaries who are working hard.

I'm working on getting my British drivers license.  It's a much bigger process than in the States.  It is still early days in the process, but I'll be taking my theory test in a few weeks.  I'll get my provisional license (same as a permit) in a couple of weeks hopefully - it depends on if I filled out the forms right- and then I'll be able to take the multiple choice test.  After that I'll take the driving test.  We will see how it goes!

Have a good week everyone!

-Elder Lott

Photos from DLC

DLC

Our Bishop's classic Mini Cooper

DUSTON WEEK #4

Hello All!

It has been a good week.  Wow!  We have been here, there and everywhere so it's been a bit crazy!

We had a chapel tour with Lily and Wayne last Monday evening which was pretty good.  Lily is a member referral and Wayne is her Dad, but we think that a little interest sparked in him as well throughout the tour.  It was a good one!

We also had an exchanged with the Assistants on Tuesday so I was in Birmingham with Elder Kinard for that.  We spent pretty  much the whole day in the city talking to people and it was loads of fun!  I think the coolest thing that day was that we just sat down by a random guy to eat our lunch and we ended up teaching him and his wife the whole Plan of Salvation over the next 45 minutes, so that was pretty neat.  We also ran out of supplies because we were handing stuff out like crazy and it has been awhile since that has happened for me.  I love cities!  The Conservative Party had a conference in Birmingham that day so there was loads of security and we walked past some protesters.  I think we even got on TV when a Member of  Parliament walked by.

On Thursday we were on exchange with the Ramsey Elders in our Zone.  I was with Elder Stock who was in my MTC District so it was fun to be with him again.  We were together over our year mark as well, so that was cool.  It was a good exchange.  Crazy to think that I've been out here a year now.

Friday we had MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) in Birmingham and that was really good.  President Hughes is such a champ.  He's an amazing guy and the leaders in the mission are all great as well.  It was a fun meeting.

General Conference was great too!  Crazy about 2 hour church though.  I think it's a great thing because it puts more responsibility onto the members for their own spiritual welfare.  One thing I've noticed recently is that the Church is doing a lot to make members more personally responsible for a lot of things and I think it is great.  It helps everyone learn to stand on their own two feet.  President Nelson is making moves over there!  He came in and is getting some work done!  It's really cool to see.

I love you all!  Have a great week!

-Elder Lott

Exchange with Elder Kinard

Exchange with Elder Stock

The MTC one year ago!

Elder Staheli!

With half of my first District @ MLC

(the other half is home now)

MLC  October 2018

DUSTON WEEK #3

Howdy!

This was a good week, really busy but really good too!  We had Zone Conference, which is always a great time, and a spiritual one.  We did a training for our Zone as well and that went pretty well. haha  It was was wild giving a training to so many people - never done that before!  We were assigned to speak on the Book of Mormon and we had a little presentation with it. 

We also had an exchange with the Kettering Elders, Elder Bluth from California and Elder Ferreira from Brazil!  I was with Elder Bluth for the exchange and he is such a champ.  He's hilarious and it was loads of fun to be with him.  Elder Ferreira is the happiest person of all time and he is super funny as well, so being with them for a couple of days was a lot of fun.  They got to stay an extra day because we drove them to Zone Conference the next day.  There was a lot of Uno played.

I've recently discovered that I can cook some amazing fried rice.  Just though I would let y'all know because I really have nothing else to say.

Love you all!!!

at Zone Conference with

Elder Misalucha

at Zone Conference with

Elders Bluth and Misalucha

DUSTON WEEK #2

Hey Guys!  This was another really solid week and it flew by so fast.  Holy cow it was crazy.

We had exchanges on Tuesday with the Milton Keynes Elders, who are Elder Vuki from Tonga and Elder Davey from Australia!  Elder Davey was in the MTC with me so it was fun to see him again.  It was a good exchange.  We did some service for an older family in the ward and then we did some finding in Northampton Town Center and had like a 30 minute sermon given to us by an evangelical preacher, so that was an experience.  Overall it was a good time though.

We also did some service on Saturday for a guy in our ward who then took us out to a Mandarin Buffet for the second week in a row and it is so good there I could honestly go at least once a week for the rest of my life.  Aside from that not much else has happened.  The area doesn't have lots of people to work with right now but we keep busy with other stuff so that's good!

My testimony of Spirit-led scripture study has grown a lot lately.  My study has been loads better and I've seen a major difference as I've made a bigger effort to be taught by the Spirit when I study.

Love you all.  Have a great week!

-Elder Lott

Exchanges in Milton Keynes 

(L-R:  Elders Tollestrup, Lott, Vuki and Davey)

Exchanges with Elder Vuki

Duston District

DUSTON WEEK #1

Howdy!  This has been a really good week!  My new area has been great so far and the ward is really good too.  There are around 180 people out on an average Sunday which was really strange to see after so long in a ward that got 30 on a good week.  The ward is great though.  They've been really welcoming and feed us loads. #blessed

I'm still getting caught up on everything in the area but it looks like the work here is going quite well too!  We've got a lot to keep us busy and we're always doing something which is great.  I really like having stuff to do. 

Sorry I don't have much more but it's just been a crazy week and I don't really know what else to say!  Sorry I don't have any pictures either.  I'll get some next week.  Love you all!

PACKING UP AND SHIPPING OUT

Hello everybody!  We've had a really good week in Cannock!  We got transfer info last night and I'm leaving to go to Duston in Northampton Zone.  My new comp is named Elder Tollestrup and I'm pretty sure he is from Alberta, Canada.  I also think I'll be getting a car in my new area so hallelujah!

But anyway, as for this week!  We taught Jamie about temples and he really liked the concepts of ordinance work for the dead and eternal marriages.  It was a really good lesson and I'm going to miss teaching him a lot.  We've seen him progress loads from when we first started teaching him and he has such incredible faith!

There was an activity this week at the Lichfield chapel which is in our District.  Chloe and her daughter Neveah came to that!  It was a "Western Night" because both of the Sisters in that area are from Arizona and in England that equates to them being horse riding maniacs who can lasso with the best of them.  (Fun fact:  British people say lasso like "lassoo".)  The activity was really good and I think Chloe is realizing more and more that she wants a better life than what she has now, and that the church is where that better life lies. Chloe can't get over how happy and kind all the members are.  When she met the Sister missionaries at the activity she couldn't believe how nice they were.  She said that all the girls she has ever met just try to cause fights and problems except these ones. haha It's been really good seeing her progress as well. I love it when people realize the blessing that the gospel can be in their life. I hope she is able to stay focused on the things that really matter!

More exciting news with Isaac too!  Antony, our Elders Quorum President, who Isaac lives with, let us know this week that Isaac has decided to go on a mission! He needs to do another year of school before he can go, but he seems really excited about it.  Over the last week I think he's said, "When I'm on my mission" about a million times, which is so good!  It's been loads of fun to see him progress while I've been here as well!

To be honest, I don't really feel ready to leave Cannock.  I've really loved my time here!  We've had loads of stuff happening in the work.  The people we have worked with are so great and their faith has grown so much.  I'm sad to leave the members as well, because there are some really incredible people here who I've grown very close with over the last couple of months.  But such is missionary life.  I'm excited to go to Duston and see a new part of the country!  I might even be south enough to get a posh accent!  It's a Zone that is new to the mission too, so that's exciting!

Love you all!  Have a good week!

with Isaac

with Antony and Maddie Jones, 

legends of Cannock

with Brenda, and awesome and hilarious

lady in the Cannock ward

CANNOCK WEEK #11

ANOTHER ONE GONE!!!

This week was stellar!  We had some really cool stuff happen and it was a good missionary week as well.

We had Zone Conference on Thursday and we had Elder Sabin, one of the members of the 70, there and it was a really good conference!  I really like having conferences and hearing the testimonies of other people because that is where my testimony started.  It's a good reminder about where I came from and also how far I've come, to the point where my testimony can stand on its own.  I'm really grateful to all the testimonies that I leaned on until I got to this point.  It was a really good conference and we had half the mission there, which was wild.  We had like 100 missionaries.  It was fun to see so many people.  We also got to stay the night with the Wylde Green Elders (Bahena and Snoozy) before the conference and that was good fun as well!

We taught Chloe again this week and she came back to church!  She even brought her daughter Neveah!  Right before they left Chloe was talking about how she had such a good time and felt so good, so we were like, hey man, that's the Holy Ghost that we were talking about in Sunday School!  So that was pretty good.  When we taught her we had a really good conversation on how she has seen her life improve since she met the missionaries in February.  It was really good and she is making progress.  It may be slow, but it is progress.

We also got a referral from some Sisters in our Zone this week.They have been teaching a lady in Tamworth but she actually lives in our area so we are going to start teaching her.  Hopefully that all goes well!  The work here is going really well and it is so good to see!

Something that was really cool was that Isaac got up and bore his testimony yesterday in Sacrament Meeting and it was so good!  It was great to see because when I got to the area and we started teaching Isaac about a week after I got here, he would have never done that.  Seeing the progress he has made has been really great.  He's done most of the work, all we've done is help him realize the potential and faith that he already has.  It was a great moment though, where we got to see the results from the work we have been doing, something that doesn't often happen over here. 

Good stuff is happening in Cannock and life is very good.  Good comp, good area, good ward, good people we are teaching.  I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

-Elder Lott

MTC Friends at Zone Conferennce

with Elder Orr at Zone Conference

our District on P Day

Cannock Week #10

Hello everybody!  This has been a good week!

On Tuesday we had interviews with President  Hughes.  He is such a stud and I like him so much.  Interviews were pretty intense for everybody that I spoke to though. haha  He was pretty much calling the whole mission to repentance and obedience.  I think I got in like 10 sentences the whole 15 minutes we were talking.  It was pretty good.  Motivating for sure.

After that we did exchanges with the ZLs in Wolverhampton and it was good fun.  I was with my good buddy Elder McKenzie and it was a great time.  We found like 4 new people for his area in about 3.5 hours.  It was wild.  By far the most productive finding I've ever done in my mission - it was insane.  We also had BBQ pizza from Domino's and it was good.  I liked it.

We were able to meet with Chloe again this week and she got a job which is fantastic!  Hopefully she can figure some stuff our now!  Jamie got hurt and we weren't able to meet with him this week.  He was swimming in a quarry and he got a big cut on his foot and he needed to chill out for a couple of days but we will meet this week.  Isaac has been in Manchester on holiday and we weren't able to meet with Stefan - we aren't really sure what is going on with him.  Exciting news though!  We are going to start teaching a member's partner, Peter, who has been planning on getting baptized for awhile now!  Stuff is going crazy in Cannock and it is really exciting to see.  When I got the news I was coming here, all I had heard about Cannock is that it was a really dead area and everybody said how hard it was.  It has been insane over here and it's so exciting!

Love you guys!  Have a good week!

Cannock Week #9

Hi Everyone!

This has been a good week.  We've had some cool stuff happen!

We were able to do a chapel tour with Jamie, so that was good.  He even downloaded the Gospel Library App!  He is such a stud he even changed his Whatsapp profile picture to a picture of the painting of Moroni burying the golden plates.  The man is super elect - he just doesn't realize it yet so we'll keep working on that!

We also had a good lesson with Chloe and she opened up about the things that are holding her back and it was good.  She needs to exercise a little more faith and trust that the Lord will take care of her when she does what He asks her to do.  She's at a crossroads right now so if you all could pray for her it would be really good.

That's pretty much all that has happened this last week.  We weren't able to teach Stefan or Isaac sadly, but we will keep working with them, of course.  Life is good in Cannock!  Elder Misalucha is a stud and my District is exciting so  I can't ask for much more.  I haven't been taking loads of pictures, unfortunately, but I'll send what I have.

Love y'all!

Chapel tour with Jamie!

The District

with Elder Misalucha