A dead badger, five pheasants, and loads of cows and sheep!

Merry Christmas! Thank you for all the cards and packages
and for the messages on our Christmas tree!

It was so great to see you guys on Wednesday. It feels so strange for me, because it honestly doesn't feel like long since I've spoken to you guys. It's kind of bittersweet to recognize how fast it's going for me out here...

We did have a nice rest of the week. Boxing Day was good -- we had a few members invite us over for lunch and dinner, which was nice. It's hard getting things going sometimes with four elders, but we saw that when we did step it up and go out trying to work we saw miracles. When we got home from Brother Coronado's house, we had twenty minutes before our lift home was going to get there. I felt twenty minutes was way too long to be sitting in the flat, and so I grabbed Elder Dyck, and we went outside contacting. Lo and behold, the first person we saw walking out the door was golden. We walked up to him, and he was off somewhere, but willing to talk to us for a few minutes. He studied at a University down in Devon (where both Elder Dyck and I had just served) and, while there, had a very good Mormon friend. Coincidence? Hopefully Chichester will be meeting with him soon.

Move calls just came. Elder Sorensen and I will both be staying another transfer, but Elder Cullen's taking off for the Digital Zone.

This week's been really good, otherwise, though. We've been working with one Fijian family that's really cool. Sister Vatubua's been a member her whole life, but her husband isn't. We've been working with him a bit, and he's just such a solid guy -- totally open to reading the scriptures, and most of the commitments we extend to him, he's already doing. It's pretty cool. He even came to church on Sunday without us inviting him. It's really exciting.

We had a few other cool experiences this week trying new things. We decided we'd go up to East Meon, as we'd never been out there before. What a great day -- I saw a dead badger, like five pheasants, and loads of cows and sheep. It was so nice being in the countryside again. And the people are so friendly! Holy cow. Totally threw us off our guard. We got lost, because we'd forgotten the map, and so we just kind of tried to get our bearings. We stopped and asked some guy who was out with his horses if he needed help with anything, and instead of saying no and going back to what he was doing, he came up to us and talked for five minutes. And we asked another guy if there was anything that we could do for him, and he invited us in for tea and cake. Turns out, he works with the guys up in Aldershot ward to teach Gurkhas (Nepalese soldiers for the British army) English in their chapel. Neither was very interested, but it was just so nice having people that were so friendly.

We've been trying to see if we can make it to another church's service each Sunday, just to get our name out there and look for service opportunities, as well as to understand the people a little better and hopefully break down some walls. We missed the Church of England Evensong last night, but we're hoping to make it next week, and we'll be hopefully finding other churches to go to as well.

I'm getting my haircut today so don't worry. Also, hopefully it'll get fixed later today, or tomorrow, but we've been having the wonderful experience of our ceiling leaking! The guy came this morning, and it should be fixed soon. It's just wind and rain like crazy here.

Our pots and pans collecting the rain that is inside our flat.

This is supposed to be my "Joseph Smith" picture. I forgot to tell you, but since Stella (AKA Louise)
pointed it out, now everyone has twigged to the fact that I look like Joseph Smith.
Elder Brown won't even refer to me as anything but Elder Smith.

 Well, love you guys.

-Elder Green

Catching up...sorry Mom's been busy!

From December 16th...

Elders Sorenson, Dyck, Cullen and Me at the the London Temple.
This week we were blessed to attend a temple session and then enjoy a Christmas Dinner at the mission office. It was fun meeting with missionaries from all over the mission.

Sorry to hear you've been sick mom. I had a bit of a cold last week as well, but by overdosing on clementines, cough drops, this "Lemsip" stuff (which is so disgusting) and taking a few naps at lunch, I was able to rid myself of it. So, try doing that...especially the naps!

This last week has been extremely rewarding. Steve and Terena took Elder Sorensen and I out to the aquarium and to dinner. It was good fun spending time with them--it really helped me to refocus my desire to help more people. I was just jealous that I didn't get a chance to stay in the haunted hotel they spent the night in.

We saw a lot of blessings in strange places, this week, though. We found that many days, we weren't finding many people to teach, and that things weren't quite going the way we planned them. It was honestly kind of annoying for a little while. But I learned so amazingly much.

One thing that came to me quite clearly came as a result of our trip up to the temple. While there, we ran down to the distribution center, as we had to pick up some things for some less-actives we've been working with. Looking around, I saw the mini Book of Mormons that they had for about £2, and decided I'd pick one up, as I wanted one I could carry around with me. I've started from the beginning again, and have been trying to mark all the little things that I learn in my reading of it this time through. If you look at the very first verse in the entire Book of Mormon, Nephi gives a quick background of his life. He speaks first of his parents, who have done so very much for him in teaching him what he needed to know regarding the gospel and regarding things of the world. That really made me appreciate you and Dad and how much emphasis you two have put on learning. But then, he talks about how he himself has faced "many afflictions in the course of his days". I looked down at the footnote for afflictions, and it gave three topics: affliction (duh), blessing, and gifts of God.

If I've learned anything on my mission, it's that hard times need not be feared. Ever. Of course, let's not bring them upon ourselves--that's not worth doing. But, it's through our hard times that we learn so much. And we gain so much. Honestly, I am such a different person from the Braiden Green who left on that plane nearly six months ago. But, none of that is my doing. It's all because of Him. It's Heavenly Father who has done these things for me in my life. We can't do anything of ourselves, and that's why when we give everything we can to Him, we gain everything He has in return.

I love you guys so much, but I'm glad that I'm here. I love the States, and I love the UK. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior.

Happy Christmas, guys,


Elder Green

From December 23rd ...

The Christmas program here was quite nice. We had the Bishopric speak, and instead of Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society, we had a nice Nativity for church. Brother Taylor in the ward is a carpenter, and so he made up an entire stable, which was quite impressive. We were able to throw it all together in about ten minutes, and then the Nativity Program (performed by the primary and Youth) proceeded. It was really quite nice. I've really grown to love this ward.

Well, we've been contacting quite a few potentials this previous week. With focusing on knocking around every member's house for the past while, we've not been able to keep up with our potential investigators, but we're starting to work through that now. We've seen a bit of success, but we're just waiting for our little harvest to explode. I understand, though -- it's awfully hard around Christmas for a lot of people, as there really is so much to do. We know that we'll be seeing good success soon.

We did have one miracle working up in Petersfield, though. We were knocking around before an appointment, and met a woman who knew a little about the church already. She lives in what used to be a very small church, and is herself Church of England. However, she was very very interested in the Book of Mormon, and after a little while was asking how she could get one herself to read. We'll be following up with her, and a few others up in Petersfield, after Christmas.

As for what's going on this week -- we only kind of get Christmas "off". We've still got to maintain the same study schedule, and such, but we'll be off to the Grants' home at about 9:00. I can probably call you from there just before we leave... I don't want to have to wake you too early, but we'll be there until about 3:00 (or 5:00 AM your time), and with Sister Grant having the majority of her relatives in New Zealand, she has unlimited international calling on her plan. So, a quick call then, and then we'll probably Skype two hours later at 7:00 AM your time while I'm at the Powell's, if that's okay. Sorry, time change is difficult. But, I think we should get around 40 minutes to an hour... Not quite sure. White Handbook says preferably no longer than 40 minutes, but I'll wait on Elder Dyck's word.

Oh! We also had a Christmas Carol concert on Saturday. Big surprise here: I actually didn't do much. I've been so used to the Musical Firesides in Newton Abbot where I performed on every other number because they needed me to, and now we've got quite a decent choir here, and a number of musical people. So our choir sang for the majority of it with readings and a few solo acts in between. They wanted "one of the American missionaries" to sing the solo on The Christmas Song, though, and so I was asked to do that. It was alright. I think I overdid it. Oh well.

Well, this weeks going to be lots of food. We've got at least one dinner appointment everyday but today and Sunday -- two on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So... we'll be doing quite well. The ward has been so good to us. I want to cry because of the many gifts they've bought all of us. Know that your son is being taken care of.

And yes -- we did get the package. Thank you so much. I've been telling anyone who will listen about it. Elder Sorensen was quite grateful as well. Gratefully, the Lord has blessed us with desire to work, and less homesickness than we might otherwise expect.

I love you so much, and can't wait to see you Wednesday.

Happy Christmas, Ron.


-- Elder Green

No rain, a great surprise, and a trip to London...it's going to be a great week!

Looking pretty 'English'...Elder Dyck, Elder Green, Elder Cullen and Elder Sorensen
posing outside St. Faith's Church on the High Street in Havant. This church was one of only two structures left in Havant after a fire in the 1700's destroyed the town. The oldest, undisturbed parts of the church date back to the 13th century and some of the foundations date back to Roman times...amazing!

I'm sorry to hear it's so cold there. It has been here, but there hasn't been rain for weeks (knock on wood), so we've been alright with it. Plus, that jacket I bought a few weeks ago is perfect for being out all the time. It's got little armpit zippers for ventilation...Yeah!

Work's been going great here! We've been trying our best to finish doing all the 10 doors aside each member, and we did a workover with the Chichester Elders up in Petersfield on Saturday to get a lot of it done. It was a huge success. We've got quite a few people up there to visit now. And with us coming to the end of this list (not really, we've still got nearly forty to do....) we're actually able to spend more time meeting with the people that we pick up from the knocking.

We've also seen a few really cool miracles lately. Elder Cullen and I were going on exchanges last Monday, and swapped over after P-Day was over. On our way from the flat, the four of us were talking about things, and we happened to walk past this woman. Elder Cullen felt impressed to say hello to her, and because of his 'Australian-ness,' struck up a conversation. As we neared the bus station, we finally got to the topic of the gospel, and she just broke down crying. She expressed how difficult this last week had been, and how she's been struggling a lot lately, and just how much of a sign she took our meeting her to be. She was so excited she gave us a hug, which can be a frightening experience for a missionary. But, in a judgment call, we figured it was okay. I've got to call her today, and we'll hopefully see her this week.

Also, we're finding random less-actives again. A woman texted us the other day asking if we could come down to Thorney Island and visit her and her family. She is a member from Fiji whose husband is serving here on the military base down on Thorney Island. We'll be coming by again sometime this or next week to see what we can do about getting her a lift to church.

It's so funny you mention Steve and Terena. They're actually just waiting for us to finish Emailing so we can go to the aquarium together. They decided to spend a day of their honeymoon visiting, and man, are they the greatest. I was a bit worried that their coming might distract me from the work, but it's just given me more resolve to do all that I can to serve people, because I know what an amazing difference it's made for them, and what an amazing difference it can make for everybody, whether in Newton Abbot, or Havant, or West Hills, CA. (Steve and Terena are a couple from Braiden's last area, Newton Abbot, that were just married on Saturday and will be getting baptized soon. They stopped by Havant to suprise Braiden and took he and his companion for an outing to the aquarium in Portsmouth for P-day. Braiden was so excited to see them!)

"The Green's"...Elder Green with the new couple Steve and Terena Green from Newton Abbot.

It's starting to feel like Christmas here too. Last Friday we attended the ward Christmas party...unfortunately, due to our having to be home at 9:00, we only had enough time to make all the food for the party (I will have to check with Braiden if that means they actually made the food for the party or ate the food...I can't imagine him making it???), watch some people embarrass themselves trying to line dance, and then take off. But, it was still fun. We've got our Christmas tree all set up, and other little decorations around the flat, and it has really made it feel good. Sure, I'm missing you guys, but I'm really grateful to have a ward family that's taking good care of us.

Oh, and we're off to the London Temple on Thursday. They'll be having a session for us in the morning, and a big Christmas dinner. I can't wait.


Love you,

Elder Green

I am thankful for my Savior

A random little garden we found in the middle of Havant.
It was hiding right behind some shops on the High Street...who knew?

Hi, by the by. I'm glad Thanksgiving was so much fun for you guys. It was weird being here in England, because no one really thought anything about Thanksgiving. We were invited over for a DA that night, and had Sausage and Mash, which is delicious, but I can't say that it was the same.

We attended Zone Conference this last week, and it was really good. We had Elder Teixeira, the Europe Area President, running the entire conference. He was a great speaker, and introduced us to a lot of new things that we can do to improve our missionary work. I was really quite grateful for his help, and we're going to be doing our best to apply these things and improve our own work.

We've not really got any new investigators. We have tons of potentials, but we're in kind of a rush to finish knocking 10 doors on either side of all the ward members houses, so we haven't had as much opportunity to go back and teach too many of them, which is a bit of a shame, but oh well, the Lord knows what he's doing.

So I learned a very important lesson this week that I'd like to share with you guys. Being on a mission can be difficult. How many times have I said that already. When I set out, I decided I was going to be hardworking, and diligent, and exactly obedient...basically, I was going to be the perfect missionary (though I didn't so much phrase it that way in my head). But what I forgot about is that I am an imperfect person. I'm not meant to be perfect now, and asking perfection of myself is...well, insane. But, looking back, I've realized that I've asked for perfection far too often.

About two thousand years ago, something amazing happened. There was a woman named Mary who gave birth to a child named Jesus. He grew up and became a great teacher, helping many people to become their very happiest. But his greatest work wasn't his teaching. When he was only 33 (which is quite young, even if many 33-year-olds wouldn't say that themselves) he knelt down in the middle of the night in an olive orchard, and prayed to his Father. In this prayer, he ended up taking on a lot of pain, and suffering, and grief, and sickness, and hardship. He suffered these things, so that we would never have to suffer as much.

When I remember that He already took all this for us, I remember that I don't have to do things on my own, and frankly, I shouldn't. I was sent here to earth to be happy. I was sent here to England to help others to be happy. And now, I'm much happier. I don't need to worry, because it's all taken care of. That doesn't remove my responsibility to do all that I can, but I know that my Heavenly Father never expects me to do more than I can.

I'm really glad to know that you guys are doing so well back home. I can't wait to Skype you in a few weeks. I love you guys so much, and am so glad that you always pushed me to come out here, because I know that there is nothing I'd rather do right now than be out here.

Love you all,

Elder Green

Cutting across a football field up in West Leigh.
Thank you Elder Sorensen for taking pictures...since Braiden isn't.

The Little Things...

Things have been going really well here. We're starting to see miracles all over the place, but I'll get into that in a minute.

That's so fun about Thanksgiving. I don't know that we're really doing anything for it here... We have a dinner appointment that night, and she's a fantastic cook, but I don't know that she'll be doing anything for Thanksgiving. We'll just have to catch a pheasant or something and eat that ourselves.

 So, we've really been feeling quite good this last week! We've seen numbers of miracles and it's really exciting. We've started trying to memorize a scripture every day to focus ourselves more on the work, and the one that's stuck with me most so far has been Mosiah 28:3 - "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." Reading and memorizing that really made me desire to put forth more effort, as these really are my brothers and sisters out there that I'm seeking to help. When that attitude changed, we got eight lessons in one day. Most days we get one, maybe two. And I know that numbers don't mean much, but the fact that we were able to do that much more work really shows that the spirit will be with you when you really desire to help others.

We really don't deserve the opportunity to do such great work for the Lord, but I am so grateful that he allows us to do it.

It's so apparent to me that the little things are what's going to get this work going, too. A story was told in Priesthood yesterday of President John F. Kennedy. Throughout the campaign before the election (I'm not sure whether Presidential or Senatorial) President Kennedy found himself busy running from one event to the next. Wanting to help, his mother decided she would try to arrange a tea evening in every city that he went to, where people could come and meet the candidate personally. In these short tea evenings, Kennedy was able to make contact with 50,000 people, which isn't much for an election. However, he won the election by 50,000 votes. Those tea evenings made just enough difference to get him into office.

As a missionary, I've noticed that it's through following the small rules that I've gained the most strength. Nearly every missionary is good about going out and teaching lessons, trying to keep busy, etc. However, it's really easy to slack off a bit when it comes to exercise at 6:30 in the morning, or getting to study on time, or not singing Jack Johnson songs in your head. But that is where the strength lies. That is where we're given the power, and put in the right places so the Lord can work miracles.

For the everyday person, it's in being a good example. It's in calling up that friend that you haven't seen in a while. It's in stepping out of your everyday routine to help someone that you wouldn't normally. It's in smiling. You don't know what smiling can actually do for others.

I know that these things are what make all the difference.

Anyhow, Love you guys so much,

Elder Green

A beautiful English sunset.

Elder Cullen and I on exchanges down in Bognor Regis. This 'selfie' is for you Mom,
since you love them so much...not!

Bognor Regis is a British seaside holiday town between Portsmouth and Brighton.

"If you want something you've never had..."

I love sheep!

Well, I am sorry to report that our 16-year-old investigator dropped us this week. We had a cool experience, though, that came out of that. We stopped by a bit early...hoping to be able to get back home on time since our bus passes had expired...and she was in the middle of dinner, so we went up the street to a less-active/part-member family and visited with them for a while. When we came back down the street, and she said that after some thinking she had decided the church wasn't for her. We took it as a pretty good blow, and headed on our way home. As we were walking, we realized we were very close to a potential investigator who we'd been unable to meet with before, and felt prompted to try by him, despite how late it was. When we knocked, his father came to the door. We talked a minute, and he said that they'd be happy to have us meet with the whole family in a couple of weeks. So, we'll try our best again!

We do actually have one new investigator who's doing well. Her name's Velda. We met with her last week, but weren't quite sure what to think, as she listened to all we were saying with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. She said at the end of the lesson, "Wow, you guys have opened my eyes so much [and she didn't mean literally]. I'm going to stop reading all of my other books, and read that book that you guys gave me. I've just felt so warm inside through this whole visit." It's really faith promoting to see miracles like that.

But, at the same time, I've recognized that faith is not, and should not be dependent upon miracles. Yes, miracles are often a result of faith, but they are not the evidence of faith. Often Heavenly Father really does have better purposes for us, and is trying to stretch us, and to help us grow strong. It's definitely hard sometimes, but I don't know that I can expect anything else from a mission. I don't know if I've quoted it before, but I thought Dad might really like this quote by Thomas Jefferson, "If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.” If I want to help people, I must be willing to devote myself more fully than I've done before. That, is true consecration--giving yourself completely.

Our district...Elder Sorensen and I are the bookends...and our wonderful senior couple, Elder and Sister Powell.

Love you all,

Elder Green

Q & A

Mom needed some more information, so I sent Elder Green a list of questions...here are the answers...

1.  You said your flat has 2 bedrooms and you have a queen sized bed, does that mean you have your own room?

No, I don't have my own room. The white handbook says that companionships are to sleep in the same room, probably to foster unity, and to make sure you aren't just trying to get away from your companion all the time. As any missionary will tell you, the only way to get away from your companion is taking a bath. I've been blessed with such great companions, though, and so I've not felt a need to get away too often.

2. Do you have to walk far from your flat to bus/train?

It's so nice, we only have a two minute walk down the road to the train station, and maybe five to the bus station. What takes the most time is the actual waiting for buses and trains. So far, I absolutely love train travel. It's so relaxing. I'm always sad when Zone Conference is done with, because that means that we don't have any more train rides that last more than fifteen minutes.

3. What is your ward like...is it very big? Many youth?

Our ward is pretty small actually... Maybe 50-60 active members. Our Youth are composed of the bishop's family, and a few others... Unfortunately the majority of the ward is less-active, which is something we've been working on.

4. Is church different in England, than here?

Church is the same pretty much worldwide. The only differences I've seen are that my last ward did church in reverse (Priesthood/Relief Society, then Sunday School, then Sacrament Meeting) and that they sing four hymns in sacrament rather than three. The choir doesn't perform as much either.

5. What do you eat, when you cook for yourself? Are you eating enough?

What do we eat? Hmm... Lots of rice. Rice with soup. Rice with Curry from a jar. Pasta with some kind of sauce I manage to make up. Beans on toast. Frozen Pizza. Omelettes. I've been trying to be creative, so we made beef stroganoff the other day. If you've got any quick, fun recipes, send 'em my way. Or, crock pot recipes. We've been wanting to use our crock pot.

6. Do you eat much with the members in Havant?

We haven't eaten much yet with the members... The problem is that we had our first two Sundays as General Conference and Stake Conference, so we had maybe one DA each week for the last three weeks. But, we've got plenty more lined up, so we'll be fed well soon.

7. Is the island in your area?

Yes, Hayling Island's in our area, though we don't get out there too often. We've just started working with some less-actives out there, though, so we'll be back at least once a week.

8. Have you seen any cool old places in your new area?

Hmm... Well, there's the wall outside the Chichester flat that was built by the Romans, and the Chichester Cathedral (sorry, I forgot to take pictures...) I found out that Jane Austen's house is not too far away, and we've been meaning to try to get out to some castles in the area. Our flat's pretty old... I think someone said 1600's or 1700's.

9. Best thing you've eaten? Worst?

Best thing we've eaten: Collette Julian's ham. Oh my days. I miss that family so much, and miss going over each Thursday for dinner there. Worst thing: Barley cup. It tastes like burnt popcorn water.

10. Have you gained any weight? 

I don't believe so. I'm on my way to a six pack, though.

11. Are you staying dry?

No. England is wet, end of story.

12. Do you know your release date?

I don't know my exact release date, though I would assume it's the 25th of June, as that would be 17 transfers after my entry.

13. Have any General Authorities come to visit?

I know that a few General Authorities visited while I was in Newton Abbot, but I didn't get to see any of them, because Plymouth Zone is in the boonies of the mission, and doesn't get invited to anything.

14. Will you get to celebrate Thanksgiving?

I sure dang hope so!!

15. Coolest thing that has happened to you? Worst thing? Scariest thing?

Coolest thing? Seeing a miracle take place in the life of one of our investigators after I gave her a blessing. Worst thing: Having Charlie tell us he couldn't keep meeting with us. Scariest: Refer to the story about the spiritualist man.

16. Best thing about being a missionary? Least favorite thing about being a missionary?

Best thing about being a missionary: really seeing people progress, and seeing that the gospel does bless every single person in their life. Least favorite thing: Well, just that I can't seem to measure up to where I feel I ought to be all the time. Thank goodness for the Atonement.

17. What can we do to make the holidays special for you?

Just send me letters from people! As much as I appreciate the packages and things, I much more appreciate hearing from family and friends. Oh, and pictures are always appreciated.

18. Best thing you heard at Zone Conference?

"The Atonement was accomplished when one god prayed to another god. That is how important prayer is--even gods do it."