I am Grateful to be Here

Another week of lots of meetings! 

             Tuesday I was in Kings Lynn, which is in west Norfolk. Was really cold out there. We had to take a bus out there and I was able to have a really good conversation with a lady about the gospel. We spent lots of time finding in Kings Lynn and helping the elders out there.

            We spent Wednesday in Norwich. Stopped a lady on the street and spoke with her for an hour right there. Her name was Dara. She is a student here at the UEA, but is originally from Nottingham. She literally had NO belief in anything, but we had a really good conversation. It was one of those instances where I really felt like the spirit was putting words into my mouth. She ended up being pretty interested and wants meet up after Christmas. 

            Thursday we went into Cambridge and had a meeting with Elder Dyches of the Seventy. President Jordan also spoke and talked about having the spirit in our work. It was a perfect topic because of our experience with Dara the day before. What I took from the meeting was, what missionary work is, is being obedient and worthy to have the spirit, acting on the promptings we get, and praying fervently to recognize opportunities that come our way. Later I was studying in D&C 62 where God says, "it mattereth not unto me; only be faithful, and declare glad tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth, or among the congregations of the wicked."  As long as God is in our actions we will be fine. We don’t have to have God tell us what to do in every decision we make. God will trust the faithful and wants is to think and be creative!
            Friday we had another meeting with Elder Dyches in London, where we spoke a lot about free agency. A lot! It was a good meeting as well and by the time we got back to Norwich we had to go to a member’s house and help them set up their Christmas tree. They also fed us which was nice. (picture included)

Elder Cuche and Christian

            So needless to say it has been a busy week! We also went to the ward Christmas party, where a member told me, “Elder Purdy it just feels like you are part of the ward” which is good news to hear! I love it here and I love the people we work with.

             I am grateful to be here, and to have the experiences that I have. It is a blessing to serve the people of England and to be involved in this amazing work.

Happy Christmas!!

Elder Purdy 

Norwich, Norfolk

from Jen:

I looked up Norwich and learned that it is in the East Anglia part of Britain.  That area has been inhabited for centuries by many different people – Celts, Romans, Saxons, Vikings, Normans, the French, and many groups of friars.  And now it is inhabited by … Christian!

Other assorted facts:

Norwich lies on the River Wensum, 
It has a medieval centre of cobbled streets.
Norwich has historical as well as modern/contemporary architecture.
There is a 6-day open air market.
It is the county with the lowest crime rate in England. 

Annnnd there you go.

the open-air market

the keep at Norwich Castle

Transfer: Off to Norwich

            So there I was, with a belly full of curry that our dear investigator Ashwani and his lovely wife Eisha prepared for us, walking down the street of Letchworth Garden City, a man drives past shouting something derogatory, we laugh and continue our walk into a little park.  Then we get a call from President Jordan. Elder Botcha answers, hands the phone to me and President Jordan says “Elder Purdy you are off to be a Zone Leader in Norwich.”

            Norwich! I am northbound.  I am off to outer darkness haha.  I hope I don’t pick up that strange Norfolk accent.

            So it looks like I’ve got a 3-hour train ride tomorrow to Norwich. I am looking forward to it. My new companion is Elder Doudou from Berlin, Germany. I think it will be fun. I will miss being around London but hey Norwich will be pretty wicked. I hear it is pretty different up there. I also hear they have some lovely beaches up there so I will have to check them out.

            I'll miss Hitchin. I really have loved this place. I’ll miss Letchworth and my black squirrel friends, and I'll miss this ward. This ward has been absolutely fantastic. They will all be missed. I am leaving at time when we are starting to see some really good success as well. Ashwani and his son Nathan are doing so well and they love having lessons. We taught them yesterday and then they fed us curry afterwards and while we were eating Nathaniel asked if he could have another lesson. He is 9 and he wants to get baptized this October. Ashwani is really sincere and wants to find the truth. We have taught him a lot about apostasy and restoration and he is really starting to pick up on the idea.

            Unfortunately I will have to leave that all behind. But hey ho!

            I am looking forward to a new adventure. Elder Botcha's curry will be sorely missed – and all of his little India quirks. But he is looking forward to teaching Ashwani and Nathan and furthering the work here in Hitchin.

            Well that’s the news from my end. Hope you all have a good week!

Love

Elder Purdy