An Optimistic Attitude Helps with Everything!

Just so you know, Mom, I got everything in the packages alright. I was extremely appreciative of the burritos...Really! Tito's burritos here in England! Mexican food is so amazing! (Apparently this was a miracle that frozen burritos and salsa cleared customs...but the package sailed right through...I guess this missionary mom was lucky.)

Portsmouth Zone Conference. President and Sister Millar are right in front,
and I am behind the elder with the bright red tie.

This week was another week of just crazy weird miracles. We started out with Zone Conference, which was absolutely fantastic, as always. I'm amazed at just how much simple things that people have said there apply exactly to what we need in our area. We're working hard on getting to know the members a lot better now, as we realize just how important that is. If we can establish a good relationship with the ward, then we can begin to help less-active members return more easily. Once we do that, we begin to make a bridge to new investigators. Plus, it really is so nice having a good ward family to rely on. Missionaries miss having family members they can turn to, and so the next best thing is a good supportive ward.

We came up with a few good ideas that we're working on implementing to get closer to ward members: spending P-days with them, taking part in doing service for them, and the "Reverse Dinner Appointment" where we essentially invite ourselves over to cook them dinner.

We've also been pushing forward trying to utilize the zone's Preach My Gospel Area List that Elder George came up with. It's a fantastic idea. Basically, it involves prioritizing where our efforts will return the most results. It's really helped for us to get to know which less-active members we're working with, and really getting to help them better.

On Friday we helped out at Sister Edna Jones' memorial service. I only had two chances to meet her, but from what I know about her, she was such an amazing woman. She and her husband served in a bishopric, stake presidency, temple presidency and mission presidency. Their son is in our mission presidency as well. It was a great service, and really made me feel appreciative of our knowledge of the Plan of Happiness. Those who spoke at the service were so optimistic. It turned the funeral from a sad occasion to a glad celebration of her life. I can't believe how grateful I am to know that this life is not the end, but merely a part of a greater plan that's pushing us towards our greatest potential.

Following the memorial service, we were able to give further service by giving a blessing to a man in Chichester Hospital who is a member of the Worthing ward. It was so cool, though, because not only were we able to give this man comfort and help him in this time of difficulty, but he happened to be the father of one of the less-active members that the Chichester elders have been trying to contact. Furthermore, the man who asked if we would come with him to give the blessing has a connection to our family friends here in England, as his wife works with one of them.

It's just amazing how these little things add up.

Saturday was spent on exchange with Elder Cullen. We went down to Wittering, and holy cow was it stormy... A huge storm rolled in this weekend, and so walking around Wittering (which is right up against the coast) was quite an experience. Brought back a bit of homesickness, though, to walk into "Wittering Surf Shop" and pick up a bar of surf wax, and then to walk down to the beach and actually see people surfing.

Surfers on a stormy day in Wittering!

On exchange with Elder Cullen in Wittering.

If there's one thing I've learned this week, though, it's how much an optimistic attitude helps with everything. Uncle Ben wrote me the other week, and said that the three things that helped him out on his mission were being Positive, Obedient and Working hard. I can testify that those three things help us so much not only on a mission, but in life in general.

So glad to be out here serving the Lord.

Love you,

Elder Green

A Week Full of Miracles...

Can I just take a second and talk about all the incredible miracles we've seen this week? So, on Thursday, we just saw one after another... It started when we went to the bus station, and were trying to figure out which monthly bus pass we were supposed to buy. This woman walked up to us and asked if we were Latter-day Saints. She then told us about how she had seen us out on Hayling Island, and how the church had literally saved her life. She had been in a coma, and everyone in the church prayed for her and raised money for her operation, and now she and her son are alive. We told her where the church was, and she wouldn't stop thanking us. After that, we had an appointment cancel, and just in talking to some people on the street, found a woman who hadn't been active since she was a child, and was somewhat interested in coming to church again. Then, we met this guy, and tried to tell him about the Book of Mormon. He said it wasn't for him, because it wasn't the Bible and then walked away. We continued on, and not a minute later, he ran down the street trying to catch us. He told us he hadn't given the Bible a chance at first either, and wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon. We're coming by this week.

There were more that day, and more throughout the week, but wow! I'm so glad to be a missionary.

I haven't had as many opportunities to use my music here yet... I'm going to frustrate you, Mom, but I've already got a guitar and ukulele that are mine. I'm working on getting a Mandolin... Hahaha, just kidding. The guitar was only £20 from a member in Newton Abbot, and the Ukulele was a gift from Ashley and Jade. Every once in a while I stick the uke in my bag and take it proselyting with me. I should be playing this week at this lunch club thing a member wants us to go to. He's really hoping it will open some doors for us, and I'm praying it will be good.

Here are a few pictures I took this morning. I don't know what happened, but none of the pictures that I have taken in the last 3 months are showing up on my SD card. I hope they can be recovered...but I have a feeling they won't. Good thing I've sent a few pictures home.

19 Leigh Road...Where I live.

The outside of our flat.

At the train station, this morning.

Haircut day!

Well, I love you all, and can't wait to hear back from you.

Elder Green

"The only thing I miss like crazy is Mexican food..."

We've had a great week here in Havant. We're working our very hardest. It's a little bit hard being in such a new area, and not having any clue what to do with it, but we're working it out quite quickly. You know, the Lord is going to bless you with the knowledge you need to really do anything, but especially to do His work.

Havant is a bit rougher than I was used to in Newton Abbot. Not like it's a sketchy place or anything, but it's definitely not beautiful countryside. It's also not been as easy finding people to teach, but it's picking up quickly. The Lord provides us with miracles every day, and it's so amazing to see these things coming to pass.

I'll share a cool story with you. So this week, we went up to Petersfield to visit a woman who hasn't been out to church for a while. When we left, we asked if there were any roads in the area that she would recommend we knock. She gave us a few of them, and we set off to go knock one. We prayed to teach three lessons and to find a family to teach. We were only able to really teach two lessons, but we found a family that has been so prepared to hear the gospel. I'm so excited about it. We'll be seeing them this Saturday.

Sorry this isn't too long, we don't get a ton of time to Email here in Havant... The computers at the library only give us an hour (instead of the two we got back in Newton Abbot) and the computers are super slow... I'm doing my best to get all my emailing in.

I don't think that I need anything from home... The only thing I miss like crazy is Mexican food, and I'm not going to ask you to put gas station tacos in a package and send them to me. (I know he loves to hear from friends and family though...so if you would like to write, here's his current address...)

Elder Braiden Green
5 Elmleigh House
19 Leigh Road
Havant, Hampshire, UK
P09 2ET

Here are a few pictures...I will try to send some better ones next week!

A picture of our beautiful flat...which is even more beautiful when it's clean!

My new companion, Elder Sorensen with his Rindfleischsuppe
(or Rind Flesh Soup, as we Americans interpret it.)

From our trip to the Portsmouth Historical Dockyard.

Love you!

Elder Green

Area 2: Havant (pronounced like "haven't")

Havant is a little seaside town located between Portsmouth and Chichester.

The new area is fantastic! We're in more of a city area, which is kind of strange to me. We walked down the street from our flat the other day, and I started freaking out because we passed a shopping mall... I guess that's what living in the country has done to me.

Elder (Miles) Sorensen is a great guy. He's from Parker, Colorado, and is a great missionary. He's only been here one transfer, so neither of us know the area as well as we wish we did, but we're working through it. He reminds me a lot of Tahoe, for some reason. We have a lot in common, and though I'm going to miss Elder Blackner and everyone else in Newton Abbot, I'm not going to let that stop me from working hard in this area.

As you guys know, General Conference was this weekend. Honestly, it's so amazing watching it as a missionary. When I can, I'm going to put it all on a USB so that we can watch it in our flat over, and over again. I'm so grateful for the messages about missionary work. I can testify as to how much of a difference it really does make when members get involved with the missionaries.

But I've noticed it's not just going out with the missionaries that does the job. One of the biggest things that members can do is their home and visiting teaching. I could go on and on and on about how dang important this is! Oh my days. (Must be like "Oh my heck" in England...I've never heard him say this before!) I don't want to sound preachy, but when home teaching numbers are down, less active numbers go way up.

Anyway. We're still by the seaside, which is nice. Today we're headed down to a naval museum with the rest of our district (AKA our district leader and his companion). It's a small district. And I didn't think that anyone could live up to the McMurtry's, (and no one can), but it's nice to know that we've got another fantastic Senior Couple in this area. The Powell's are so good to us, and it's cool to know that I can get all the embarrassing stories about Elizabeth Powell (a friend from BYU) from them. Just kidding.

Anyway, I'm so grateful for the blessing of the gospel in my life, and even more grateful for the opportunity to share it with others.

Saying goodbye to the Turney's..."Farewell Newton Abbot!"

Love you all,

Elder Green

"I'm off to Havant!"

It's been quite wet recently, but that's just fine. I don't mind the rain in the slightest. We actually had thunderstorms the other night, which was wonderful.

 This week has been easier in some respects, and harder in others. It's been easier in that we've not had anything crazy happen, as has happened in the weeks before, but it was hard in two respects--one, we had a two day exchange (which is a lot) and two, we didn't know what was happening with transfers.

The two day exchange was because of baptismal interviews that needed to get done. It was a long process, and I'm sure it felt longer for Elder Dyck who had to perform them, but Stella and her family are all doing fantastic. The baptism was Saturday, and the confirmation was Sunday. I had the opportunity of baptising Brandon, the son, and Alisha, the little girl, and confirming the two of them. I was quite nervous about the confirmation, but it really was quite fine. The words came easily. I suppose that's what fasting and prayer will do for you.

We've got a new family in the ward--the Doherty's. They're from southern Ireland, and their son Michael's off on his mission to Provo in a few weeks. We took him out to see the first member of our ward who's in a care home out in Dawlish. It was really cool, because his son, who hasn't been as active, was there, and we were able to speak to him. I don't know that Michael thought too much of it, but it was a great experience in seeing just how much the Lord really does prepare situations that way so that His children can have opportunities to return.

We also have started doing music lessons in the ward, kind of. Sister Hockaday in the ward asked if we would start coming over on Tuesdays and teaching her children the hymns. It's a cool experience, as they are a part-member family, so hopefully we'll see what music can do there. Sister Hockaday's amazing though, and so I'm grateful to do that for them.

So, the big news: I'm moving. I guess I'm off to Havant now, in Portsmouth zone. President called us this morning on our way out the door. I'm excited, I suppose. I will so miss the wonderful people I have come to know and love in this area...and my companion Elder Blackner...but I am happy to serve wherever the Lord wants me to!

The Julian's, one of the families that have been so wonderful to me while in Newton Abbot!

Love you all,
Elder Green

Three Months!

The view of Teignmouth from Shaldon, a village located on the south banks of the River Teign.

Isn't it crazy? Officially three months on Friday. I can't believe it's going by this quickly. Sister Nelson in Teignmouth goes home next week, and I may very well move. Who knows. But, I'm pushing hard regardless.

I'm glad that there's some work going on there. I'm excited for that work to be moving forward. And I'm glad Uncle Ben--sorry, Bishop Grasteit--has been pushing that. I knew he would.

The first half of last week was actually quite good. We've been seeing Steve and Terena a lot more, as well as our investigator Brandon. Brandon's scheduled to get baptised (english spelling) with the rest of his family this Saturday! He's a super cool kid, and we're way excited for him. He even asked if I would baptise him, which is really nice.

We got to go on a tour of one of the Church of England churches in the area. We see one of the readers from the church quite often, and he offered a couple of times, so we took him up on it. It was really interesting hearing about the history of their church from a member of the congregation, rather than from a history book. We told him a bit about how our church started, and he even said that he wanted to dust off the Book of Mormon he had at home. Pretty cool.

The rest of our week was difficult, to say the least. We've been asked to give a ton of blessings... I mean, it's weird. Between Elder Blackner and I, we've given or assisted in at least seven blessings in the past two weeks. It makes me feel quite glad to be able to exercise the priesthood I hold, but many blessings aren't easy to give.

Our plans have also been falling apart a lot of days. Which isn't always a bad thing. We've seen so many miracles from following the spirit rather than the plans we set, but after a day or two of your plans kind of going all over the place, it can be a little hectic.

Despite any stress this might cause, though, I've been doing well. The Sisters have been super supportive, as has our Ward Mission Leader and District Leader. And, I've been finding so much comfort in reading the scriptures. This morning I was reading in 1st Nephi 21, which is one of the chapters in which he quotes Isaiah concerning Christ. It wasn't until the other day that I really could understand what a word in the chapter meant, and it wasn't until today that I understood just how significant it is in my own life. We're all going to face trials--that's just life. But knowing that Christ is always there, and I mean He is always there, is the most amazing thing.

I'll just quote one of the verses from that one in closing: "For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;" (1 Nephi 21:15-16).

Love you all,

Elder Green

More pictures from our trip to Shaldon.

I Love Blessings, I Love Prayer, and I Love these People!

The view from the bus stop up in Dawlish (North of Teignmouth.) You can see Weymouth far off in the distance.

First off, I am super excited about Kyle. Iowa Des Moines will be awesome! And I'm only slightly jealous about the weather. (It's been almost 100 degrees at home this weekend, and in the 50's here.) Though I would prefer the ninety degree weather in a t-shirt and board shorts, it's not as enjoyable in shirt and tie. But oh well. And I'll get those trousers myself. (The ones I tore on our trip to Dartmoor.) It was my khakis. It's not a problem. Though I might have you get me some Altoids on Amazon.co.uk. I'll let you know if I find anything that's a good enough substitute here.

The week has been quite good. Elder Blackner and I keep getting to the end of the week and feeling like we haven't done much, and then we look at our numbers, and they're not bad at all. We're really accomplishing a lot, but there's always more we can be doing. But I suppose that's life.

We played volleyball on Monday with the Sisters in Teignmouth, the Elders in Paignton, and the McMurtry's. It was definitely fun, but my wrists are all bruised up now from it. Afterward, we had a fantastic family home evening with Steve and Terena. We went up to their loft afterward and got to play with Steve's model train set. It's actually way sweet. Elder Blackner and I kept racing different trains around the track, and Elder Blackner ended up breaking one of them... Oops.

We've been trying to figure out how I can use music more in missionary work. Since President Millar counselled me at Zone Training to do so, I've been trying to find new opportunities to. I've brought the guitar in our flat out to visit less active members, and that's been really good. A lot of them really appreciated it, and singing hymns with them has really brought the Spirit into our visits. Still, I know that I was given these talents partially to help people out--it says so in my patriarchal blessing--and so I'm trying to think of new ways to use them in the work. Busking was an idea, though it hasn't been terribly effective in the past. If anyone out there has any ideas, do let me know.

Elder Blackner and I had the opportunity to give blessings to a family that the Sisters are teaching currently. Giving blessings is honestly one of my favorite things, because of how strong and clear the Spirit's voice is. This family has been through a lot, and it really humbles me to see that, but what's so amazing is how willing they are to move forward. We're teaching their son now, and will be having Family Home Evening with them and the Sisters tonight. I'm excited for that.

We had such a miracle yesterday. So, Saturday night, we were doing our planning, and we saw that we had a follow-up appointment with a guy Elder Blackner had met on splits the other day. We thought about it, and decided that even though we had no one lined up, that we would pray for a member to come on the teach with us. Elder Blackner had done it in his last area, and he said it was amazing. So, we prayed, and said we'd do what we could. In attending to our duties, we didn't have a chance to ask anyone until about an hour after church had ended, and the only person we could have asked at that point was Bishop, who is busy enough. So, we went back to the flat and got something to eat. All of the sudden, Dann (who was on splits with Elder Blackner when he met this guy) texted asking if he could come hang out with us. We went out with him, and though our appointment fell through, we were able to teach two other guys on the street. I love prayer.

Also, the people in this area are so incredibly generous. Sunday one of the members of our ward bought us three steaks and mushrooms to go with it. Then Steve and Terena called and said they wanted to bring something by, and came over with a ton of groceries for us. We were sent home with the best brownies after a dinner appointment that night. Seriously, I love these people.

Groceries delivered by Steve and Terena...thanks so much!

Love you all,

Elder Green