Another New Companion

            So transfers came!

            Elder Badger is leaving and I am getting a new companion.  His name is Elder McCormack and he is from Dundee, Scotland.  I am really excited to work with him.  I’ve met him once and he seems nice.  I guess I have been called to the Southend-on-Sea Mission,  haha.

            I am really excited.   I think this area needs a guy from Scotland.  I just hope I don’t stay here longer than 6 months.  This is the only place I know.

Christian and his new companion, Elder McCormack

Eternal Families

Ahoy,

 

            Well this week has been pretty good. Here is a cool experience:

 

            I was on a workover here in Southend with Elder Hansen. He came over from Grays. We were having a pretty rubbish day and all of our appointments dropped us. But our very last appointment at 8 o’clock was a Lithuanian family called the Juchmakovs. They are a part-member family.  The mom is a member.  Her name is Valdona and she is a really cool lady.  Her son is a member, his name is Paulus and he is 15, and her daughter is a less active member named Greta. Her husband, Serge, is not a member and we have never had a good lesson with him.

 

            So Elder Hansen and I go there and are eating dinner and are just having a good time. I didn’t really know what lesson we were going to share but I felt like we should talk about eternal families, which is a super weird subject, because Serge doesn’t like the church, and he isn’t even a member.  But I really felt like we should and so we started to talk about it.

 

            We started talking about how important families are and how cool it is we can be with them through the eternities.  Valdona asked Serge if he wanted to be in an eternal family and he said yes, which was cool. Then we started talking about how we know we can have these families because of the restoration. Then Serge asked, "How do you know that he (Joseph Smith) was telling the truth, and that this is the true church?" I was absolutely awestruck.  This guy usually doesn’t say a word and just sits there and looks grumpy.  But I bore testimony to him that it was true, and that he can know for himself through prayer.  Then Elder Hansen bore testimony of it, and then Valdona bore testimony of it!  By the time she was finished their whole family was in tears and we said to Serge that he is feeling the spirit, and he was way stoked!

 

            It was a pretty amazing lesson.

 

            In other news, transfers are this week, which is pretty exciting!  I really feel close to this ward and I don’t really want to leave.  We will see.

 

            Well I am reading the Book of Mormon again. Right now I think I am in Alma 30.  I don’t even think I can describe how good I feel when I read it. It is truly inspired work.

 

            Well I hope to hear from you all very soon.  I love you all and you are in my prayers.

 

Christianus Purdius

Horsing Around



Christian, Elder Badger, Elder Hansen

 

 

This church is in Great Stambridge.  

Christian:  "I just thought it looked cool." 



Friends, Romans, Countrymen

Hey there Friends, Romans, Countrymen:

            We met a guy named J who we are teaching now. He wants to stop smoking marijuana and he wants to join the church. He is a cool guy.  He called the missionaries in Basildon, which is right by us, and was asking for help. We were actually with the Basildon elders while he called them. He said he lived in Southend so Elder White handed the phone to me and I set an appointment with him. It was pretty cool.

            You guys are in my prayers.

            Love,
            Christian Purdy

Elder White and Elder Purdy

General Conference and Looking Funky Fresh

Hey Errybody:

            How good was that General Conference? There were some really good talks.  I especially liked Elder Echo Hawk’s talk. He was really heartfelt and sincere about the Book of Mormon.

            How crazy are those general conference announcements? Those blew my mind.  I think this is going to change a whole lot of missionary work. I have an interview with President Jordan this week.  He emailed me and said he wanted to talk about these things. I think we are going to see more missionaries, and surely more female missionaries.  Tell Liam to read that scripture in the Book of Mormon that says "consider the lilies" When I read that at the beginning of my mission it just told me to relax and enjoy. Don’t fret.

            This week was a pretty good week. We saw some real improvements with our work. I have been trying to improve my planning. I am the one that plans everything we do and I am quickly learning that you need to put a good plan together and be organized to be successful. It has been hard sometimes but I am really learning a lot.  We are definitely learning by trial and error. On Saturday night we had to sleep on some other elders’ sofa because we missed the train back to Southend. So hopefully that doesn’t happen again. Things are going well though.

            It is so dang cold here now. Every morning I wake up there is frost and fog outside.
 

            Teaching is going well. We are teaching a girl named Kamisha. She has never believed in God, or any higher power, so we are really trying to get her a deeper understanding and concept of God. Right now she thinks God is a genie or grants peoples wishes....but I guess it’s better than nothing.

            I bought a tweed pair of pants here for really cheap. They are pretty slim fit and I think I am looking pretty funky fresh.

Cheerio

Elder Purdy

Haven't Seen the Sun For Awhile

            Things here are going OK. We are working a TON with members, really trying to get them involved with missionary work.  Our mission president really wants us to do it so hopefully we can see some cool things happen. I have had a super tough time this transfer getting things done and being motivated but I just want to work so I can forget about the rest of that stuff.

 

            It is starting to get really cold here.  A really cold wind comes off of the sea so being out on the streets all day will be interesting. I haven’t seen the sun for awhile, but hey, I guess that is how it goes in England.  Actually I can’t really remember the last time I saw it.

            Elder Badger and I are looking forward to a good week.  I can get along with anybody as long as they are willing to work.

            Things are going well.  I am really looking forward to General Conference, and I am looking forward to a good week of working.

            That’s all I got for this week.

Adios,

Love Elder Purdy

looking forward to a good week of working

 

Things are going really well.

Elder Badger, Elder Purdy, and Mark
(gotta love the socks drying on the radiator)