Mom,
I've lived in some really nice places and some dumps out here. I don't think there's much I can't handle in terms of housing, so make pricing the criteria that holds the most weight.[Ever the pragmatist]
Ugh, basically, someone just walked into the office and a lot of our plans were just changed because of it. This email may end up being a bit shorter than I anticipated. It's been quite the week in the mission.
Let me keep going with your questions. Ronnie received the priesthood yesterday, and will be going to do baptisms at the Temple on Wednesday! I'm so happy for him, he's just dived right in and hasn't stopped swimming. His brother, Gary, is doing well. He's coming along slowly, and having Ronnie there as a support makes everything so much easier. Right now, he's also working on overcoming smoking, so keep him in your prayers.
This week has been a great one for missionary work. We've been trying so hard to keep our area running and also sorting out all of the extra things we've been having to do around the mission. I'm worn out, and it's been very difficult, but we're still keeping up a good example to the missionaries we serve, and fulfilling our other duties. The Lord has provided so much this week.
In the Zone, we've set a goal to ask for a miracle on a daily basis. Let me share with you three of the miracles we received, just by asking in faith :)
1) This week we endeavored on quite a manly service project. It required us to remove a large stump from the garden of a member's home. Without any really proper tools, we worked an hour or so on it, and left a good dent before we had to leave. This was our mistake; for when you make a hole in England, expect that hole to be a lake the next day. So, we returned to finish digging, and embarked on an underwater-root-cutting adventure. Earlier in the day, we prayed that we would be able to get this thing out of the ground, and be able to share a message with the family we were doing the service for. Miraculously, in the absence of tools and the great presence of mud, the stump came out and we taught the family :)
2) Ronnie and Gary ended up not being able to come to a ward activity that we had put together (table tennis and dart night; now that's proper English, minus the boos). We prayed that we would be able to meet someone new at this activity and begin teaching them about the gospel. One of the members of the ward brought his Hungarian, Osteopath friend, who commenced to fix my "bad elbows", as he called them, by inflicting a great amount of pain on my arms. It was a good bonding experience, as it turned out :) And my arms feel great! We took him to the Visitors' Centre at the Temple the next day, and we'll be seeing him this Wednesday at his clinic.
3) Lastly, we prayed Sunday morning that one of the families we were eating with that day would feel inspired to invite Gary over for a dinner, to get to know him. During our dinner with them, they pulled out their planners and said they really felt they needed to get to know Gary, and we set a day to have dinner altogether.
The Lord really hears our prayers. The answers are always there, but when we ask for very specific things we are able to see the answers more clearly, because we actually know what we're looking for.
Anyway, I hope that gives you some insights into our week :) I love you, and thank you all for your support and love.
Cheers,
Elder Foster
I've lived in some really nice places and some dumps out here. I don't think there's much I can't handle in terms of housing, so make pricing the criteria that holds the most weight.[Ever the pragmatist]
Ugh, basically, someone just walked into the office and a lot of our plans were just changed because of it. This email may end up being a bit shorter than I anticipated. It's been quite the week in the mission.
Let me keep going with your questions. Ronnie received the priesthood yesterday, and will be going to do baptisms at the Temple on Wednesday! I'm so happy for him, he's just dived right in and hasn't stopped swimming. His brother, Gary, is doing well. He's coming along slowly, and having Ronnie there as a support makes everything so much easier. Right now, he's also working on overcoming smoking, so keep him in your prayers.
This week has been a great one for missionary work. We've been trying so hard to keep our area running and also sorting out all of the extra things we've been having to do around the mission. I'm worn out, and it's been very difficult, but we're still keeping up a good example to the missionaries we serve, and fulfilling our other duties. The Lord has provided so much this week.
In the Zone, we've set a goal to ask for a miracle on a daily basis. Let me share with you three of the miracles we received, just by asking in faith :)
1) This week we endeavored on quite a manly service project. It required us to remove a large stump from the garden of a member's home. Without any really proper tools, we worked an hour or so on it, and left a good dent before we had to leave. This was our mistake; for when you make a hole in England, expect that hole to be a lake the next day. So, we returned to finish digging, and embarked on an underwater-root-cutting adventure. Earlier in the day, we prayed that we would be able to get this thing out of the ground, and be able to share a message with the family we were doing the service for. Miraculously, in the absence of tools and the great presence of mud, the stump came out and we taught the family :)
2) Ronnie and Gary ended up not being able to come to a ward activity that we had put together (table tennis and dart night; now that's proper English, minus the boos). We prayed that we would be able to meet someone new at this activity and begin teaching them about the gospel. One of the members of the ward brought his Hungarian, Osteopath friend, who commenced to fix my "bad elbows", as he called them, by inflicting a great amount of pain on my arms. It was a good bonding experience, as it turned out :) And my arms feel great! We took him to the Visitors' Centre at the Temple the next day, and we'll be seeing him this Wednesday at his clinic.
3) Lastly, we prayed Sunday morning that one of the families we were eating with that day would feel inspired to invite Gary over for a dinner, to get to know him. During our dinner with them, they pulled out their planners and said they really felt they needed to get to know Gary, and we set a day to have dinner altogether.
The Lord really hears our prayers. The answers are always there, but when we ask for very specific things we are able to see the answers more clearly, because we actually know what we're looking for.
Anyway, I hope that gives you some insights into our week :) I love you, and thank you all for your support and love.
Cheers,
Elder Foster