Last Transfer

Friends and family!

            Well I have only been in Ashford for five short weeks and I am already moving!

Christian lives just a little bit southeast of the Olympic stadium

I got released as a zone leader and I am going to Stratford in London for my last transfer. It’s where the Olympic stadium is. I’m pretty excited! I was one of the missionaries that was a zone leader the longest so it was about time I got released. Should be fun – one more transfer!

His flat is the one with the white door

            I was really surprised to be moved but I suppose it is what the Lord wants. My new companion is Elder Harding from Pleasant Grove. Stratford is pretty much all Africans! Not many English people at all, so it’s very different than what I am used to. It is going to be a fun last transfer though. I am excited to go out with a bang.

            This week has been good. Elder Kopischke taught some great lessons. On Easter Sunday we had a fantastic lesson with a girl from Guyana who is here studying. As we bore testimony about the reality of Christ and the Book of Mormon the spirit was so strong, even though we were just sitting at a bus stop! It was raining, but amidst all of that we all felt the spirit. It was good. After that we had an amazing dinner with members who made us a very delicious Sunday roast. That is something I am going to miss about the U.K, having a roast dinner every Sunday! I will have to bring that tradition back home.

            Unfortunately this week my camera got stolen … straight out of my bag. I had it next to me sitting on a bench and then some guy snatched it and ran off. We went looking for him and we found my bag on the ground. Everything was in it except my camera, so all the pictures that I had from Ashford are gone.  I am not sure how I will sort that one out but it’s OK. I am just happy to be here and be involved in some amazing things! I’ll just have to steal some pictures from Elder Kopischke’s camera.

            I also had to sort out my ear this week. It turned out I did have an ear infection. The first doctor was terribly wrong. The second one I went to got me sorted out with some antibiotics and I am already feeling better.

            Well I have this final transfer and I am so excited to see what comes of it. It’s going to be pretty amazing and I am eager to get out and work hard.

Love,

Elder Purdy

The Perfect Model of Missionary Work

Scenes from London

          This week was crazy! Tuesday we had to wake up at 4 and go down to London. Takes a while to get down there. Once we hit the M25 it is pretty much traffic all the way into the centre where we had to go. Had a nice meeting with President Jordan there. Ate lunch, met some more, and then we made the long drive back up to Norwich. Harrods was all decorated for the Christmas season so I took a picture of it and Picadilly Circus from the car. On our way back up to Norwich a pheasant flew out in front of the car and we hit it ... peace be upon the poor thing. It was pretty big as well.

       

zone meeting

     We also had a meeting with our zone this week. It was a good time. I also had an exchange that day with Elder Orr from Canada. He was trained by the great Elder Mongelli. We had a good time. We went home teaching all over south Norfolk with a member. Had a lovely meal with a family and then went to the University to find some students to teach.

            Elder Cuche and I are doing well together. We have 17 baptismal dates in our zone which is good for merry ole England – two of which are ours. George, who is from China, and Neil, from China.  Neil is scheduled for the 28th, and George for later in January. Our zone is really enthusiastic.

            Tina the lady I found in Lowestoft with the elders there is doing great. She is so excited to be baptized and is reading everything they give her like crazy.  The only setback this week was some pretty crazy flooding in Norfolk. It’s a very flat place and some of the coastal places were hit pretty hard! Some sisters in Gorleston had to evacuate their flat. But nobody was hurt and all the flats are fine. No harm no foul. Life goes on. 

            Emma gave a talk in church yesterday! She did great. In her very limited English she said “before my baptism I did not sleep well, but after I was baptized I sleep very well every night.”  The ward loves her and she has a very nice testimony. We are working with her and the rest of the Norwich YSA very closely still. They are all very good and helping Neil to be baptized. We have a nice activity with all of them this Friday with some food. Should be a good time.

            This week I have to go to London again, and to Cambridge, and to Gorleston. So I don’t know what next week’s e-mail will look like. But I am looking forward to another busy, but spiritual week.

            Something I have been thinking of this Christmas season – how amazing it is that our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, humbled himself and was born in a manger. He was here to save everyone, but had concern for each of us individually. He is the perfect model of missionary work as we try and help people this Christmas season, and of course as we commemorate his birth

God Save the Queen!

Elder Purdy 

Lots of Curry and a Hindi Miracle

Well hello,

Visakhapatnam, India

            We are starting to see a bit less of the sun over here. Summer is fading away and here comes fall, which means, rain rain rain. Bring on the umbrella.

            As I have said in my last e-mail, my new companion is Elder Botcha from India – Visakhapatnam to be exact. His native tongue is Telugu, and he speaks Hindi and English as well. It’s good to have him here. We eat curry twice a day and my insides are feeling it. But I like eating it so it’s good.

            I will start with a cool miracle we had together. Yesterday we had a potential person that did not show up for our meeting. So we looked at the ward list and I saw an Indian name, Eisha, a less active lady. We decided that since she and Elder Botcha are Indian, we should head over there. So we went and knocked on her door in Letchworth and a guy answers.  He is Indian as well and speaks poor English. We asked him if Eisha was there and he said no and started to close the door, then all of the sudden Elder Botcha turns on the Hindi and the guy gets really excited and lets us in. His name is Ashwani, and he is Eisha's husband. We sat down in his living room and since he doesn’t speak English the two of them were talking in Hindi.  I just sat back and tried to look like I was part of the conversation. It turns out he investigated the church in India for a number of years.  He has a Book of Mormon and reads it all the time. He asked Elder Botcha how to pay tithing and where the closest church was. He is sooo prepared.  He asked us to teach him so we did.  Well, Elder Botcha did – and I pointed out good scriptures. We are going there next week. The guy is rock solid. We will also be meeting with Eisha who is excited to see missionaries again.

            Pretty cool. We are also still teaching I- and E-.  E- will be getting baptized in two weeks, on the 7th. I am excited for that and so are the members. Things are good.  

            I have been studying the Book of Mormon a lot this week. What a book. I love how it relates to our day. We can get so much out of its teachings if we really pay attention to what we are reading. So good. I was reading the part where Nephi is going to go try and get the plates from Laban after a number of failed attempts, in a verse where he is walking by the city walls he says "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." 
            I like that. In life we can’t be worrying too much about things or be too scared to do things. We need to just get from point A to point B and have faith that the Lord will take care of whatever we are doing. 

            I gave a baptismal interview this week in Essex to a lady named L-  – really really nice English lady, was not raised religious at all. She married a South African Mormon and decided to find out what we believe by reading the Book of Mormon. She read it, decided that she believed it, and got baptized. That is the power of the restored gospel.

Love you all.

Testimonies from Around the World

From Jen:  Many of Christian’s friends are finishing their missions and returning home.  They bear their testimonies in almost every letter, but especially in their last letters before leaving the field. Here are a few excerpts from this month's letters written by his friends serving all over the world:

               It is my testimony that this is the Kingdom of the Lord, preparing the world for the second coming of the Messiah. I find that it is easy for the Lord to change someone physically, but a spiritual change greatly depends on us and the state of our heart. I hope to soften my heart enough to let Christ change me.

            I love the mission life. I love the challenges, and the surprises. I love it when it goes right, and when the trials come. I love the people here, the culture, the food, and my friends. I love my president, and my companions, but more that all of that, I love the Lord. He is my God, my Shepherd, my Master, my Messiah, my Friend, My King, My Father, My Brother, and My Christ. Of all those things, he is mine. I can only hope to be strong enough to be called his as well. To be gathered with the children of Israel worthy to be saved by his grace, through the Law of Justice and the Law of Mercy, which only through the Great Jehovah, are brought to a balance.

            I plan on falling to his feet and kissing the terrible marks in his skin that he has for my fault, and when the armies of darkness come forth to accuse him of lying, using the words of the Jews, of Pilate, of many others: “Art thou the Christ?” My testimony will be beside thousands of the Holy Prophets, Apostles, and servants. “He is.” And he will answer with the same answer that he gave on mount Sinai, to the crowds of  mocking Jews,  to Joseph Smith, and to the world, the actual meaning of the name Jehovah: “I AM.”

            I love you all and will see you shortly, and leave my mission in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

            Elder C.

           Chile Santiago North

            God lives! He loves us! He has placed His church on earth in our days once more to help us know how to come back to Him. I know this is true and I want to make the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ the basis of my future. Good things are in store!

            See you soon,

            Elder G.

            Chile Santiago East

            I really can't express how much my mission has meant to me and how much it has changed me. I am so grateful to Jesus Christ, for trusting me with His sacred name for the time I have been out. 

            I love y’all! Take care! 

            Elder D.

            Texas Houston

            I love missionary work! I love Ping Dong, and I love God. I'm grateful to witness his tender mercies in my life and in the lives of those we share the gospel with.

            I'm grateful that I can communicate with my Father in Heaven anytime of the day. I can never deny that power that I feel every time I kneel down to my Heavenly Father and pray to him.       

            I love the work. This is Christ's church, and it's a privilege to be a part of the great work. I love you all.

            Elder B.

      艾長老

            Taiwan Taichung

I love you guys a ton! KEEP FIGHTING! TIME'S RUNNING OUT!!! SHOW THE LORD WE MEAN IT!

            Elder P.

            Costa Rica San Jose

            I can't believe Elder Cook is already home!  You were the pioneer for us, and I can tell that you gave it your all.  Thanks Spence.  Love you.  

            But, Hey Boys, everything is awesome here in New Jersey.  My English is doing a lot better, and we are seeing miracles.  I don't know what to say but you are all doing the right thing, and thank you for that.  I love you all, and I know the gospel was restored.  We are here to gather Israel.  How crazy is that? Us. Keep up the good work!  

            Love, 

            Elder L.

            New Jersey Morristown

            This is the Lord’s work and he is hastening it but we as missionaries and members need to be prepared and find our part in his plan. I know I am trying my hardest to be the sharpest tool in the shed for when the Lord of the harvest needs me most.  I have a testimony that this church is true. Jesus is the Christ and the Savior and my personal Redeemer. I know he knows me and everyone personally and we can get to know him through prayer and repentance which we all desperately need. His grace or otherwise known as enabling power is sufficient to save us, to lift us, and to strengthen us through (not out) of our trials and we will be so much stronger on the other side because of that. I know everything is a learning experience. I love the Lord and all of you so much.

            Elder S.

            Denmark Copenhagen

            It's so important to share the gospel in every single aspect of your life that you can. Share it with everyone. Give out a Book of Mormon. Bring someone to a family home evening. Invite someone to mutual or church. Change their lives. That's what I've been called to do and I'm so happy to do it.

           Elder J.

           Arizona Tempe

Wow.  I feel inspired.  Don't you?  -- Jen

Testimony of Joseph Smith

I want to bear my testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  I have been studying a lot about him and early church history recently.  I remember when I was like 6 or 7 we were watching General Conference as a family and I wasn’t listening ... I was only young, but then I think President Hinckley got up and after his talk he bore testimony of Joseph Smith, and I remember feeling so good! Dad, I don’t remember if you remember this, but I think you made me write down what I felt. That experience has stuck with me for a long time.  The church is true y’all!

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

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

            I had a really cool thing happen this week.  This happened the same time Elder Badger got here.  I just finished reading the Book of Mormon and I have been thinking about it a lot.  One time we were talking about the Book of Mormon and I told him that I had just finished it.  He asked if I had prayed about it yet and I said no and then he said, "Well, let’s pray about it right now."

            When he said this, I got kind of mad because he had

annoyed me.  But nonetheless I agreed and we both knelt down and I prayed about it. Well after I had asked if it were true and what not I closed the prayer and then I sat at my desk again. After like 30 seconds of just sitting quietly the spirit just full on embraced me and I started crying really hard, and I mean REALLY hard. It felt like I just had the warmest hug in the world. It was one of the coolest experiences.  

           So that just goes to show you that the Lord works in mysterious ways. . . I strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon through a prayer with a companion that I don’t always see eye to eye with on everything. Heavenly Father decided to really humble me. 

           

Baptisms!

         

            Our baptisms were yesterday!   We baptized Christine and Mark. Chris got baptized by her brother, and I baptized Mark.  It was great. 

            When I dunked Mark under the water he really wasn’t expecting it, so when he came back up he was coughing haha, but it was still spiritual.

            Mark bore his testimony. It was really really good.  Here is an excerpt of it.

            “Simply put, the ultimate meaning of our lives is to love fully – that is, we ought to have love towards everyone we are connected to.  This obligation to love implies the ability to love. Faith tells us that God is love manifest; He who embodies unconditional love.  Loving God is in and of itself the process of learning to love. Doing thus, we learn to understand and love others. . . . "

            It was a really neat experience.