I love my mission so much! I love just talking to people and then when we share the Gospel we're giving them something that if they take it, it makes them so much happier. I've seen people change so much.
Sounds to me like you had a terrific Thanksgiving Day! I realized on Thanksgiving that it was Thanksgiving! It was weird we had sort of forgotten about it.
My week was good. To be honest it was pretty much the same as most weeks, we do the same things every day, but it doesn't get boring if you do it right. When you talk to people then it’s fun. Because everyone is different and has a different story (even if someone slams the door, or yells at us or something). I like it, I sort of just laugh I think, because some people just act so weird when someone says two words...Jesus Christ.... for some people that's all they hear and then they're like "No!" It's really immature to be honest, but fair enough, I did my part in sharing it and it's not my fault they said no. You know I've come to realize that no matter how many times that people say no, it wasn't our fault. It's only our fault if we don't share the gospel. If we share it and they say no, then we did everything right and it was a success. I think that if more people realized this then, they would be a bit less scared to share the gospel. We don't see a whole lot of success, but I think that we are becoming better people in the process.
We met a lady who has one cat, but all the neighbors cats come into her house as well, so she usually has a few cats, that aren't even hers hanging around. She's in her 70's and shares a lot of stories. I think that some people just like to be listened to. If everyone did a bit more listening there'd be a lot less contention I think. We gave her a Book of Mormon and told her about our church. She was very interested in what happens after this life. I think that if we share more of the Plan of Salvation with her, she'll hopefully take more interest.
That Polish family came home from their trip to Poland. We went by on Sunday, and they had just gotten in at 1:30 that morning, so they were tired. But they still remember us, so that's good, and they seem to not mind us coming by, so that's a plus as well. I hope they read a bit of the Book of Mormon. We'll find out on Tuesday.
Leeds is a lot bigger than Hull. It's not a ton different, but it is different. Leeds is HUGE! It's ton's bigger that Salt Lake City. In fact I think that Salt Lake City is about the population of Hull. But it's nice. I only have a section of Leeds to work with.
The food is not too different. But they eat something called sausage rolls; they're not that great, because they are cold.... :( But I've gotten used to them since I've been in England.
This last week, was really, really fast! I can't believe that it's already December. Time is going by so fast and this month is going to go by super fast as well. This week is the only "normal" week that we'll have this transfer. Next week we're having a mission tour. That is when the Area Presidency comes and sees how the mission is doing. So we've got a meeting of some sort.
Then the week after is a Christmas party. It's sad because I'm in Leeds, which meets up with some of the other zones up north. Leeds is classified in the Northern zones. Elders DeShazer and Owens and Olson all are in the Southern zones and so I don't see them at meetings. Also the Christmas party got split up to three different days, and so they'll be in a different day as well. I'll survive though. Elder Ball is going home in about three weeks, that's so weird. I'm going to miss him a lot, but I think we'll meet up after our missions because he's going to BYU, I think. Then the next week after that is Christmas, and then the week after that is New Years, then its transfers again. That's so fast!
I've really changed a lot on my mission. I can't say that I'm the same person that I was at the start of it all. I've learned so much. And even the hardest moments of it all I've learned from. I guess that's what a mission does for you. I heard somewhere that even if no one in the world, ever got baptized they would still send people on missions. I think that it really does turn us into who our Heavenly Father wants us to be. I think that I'm at a stage in my life where I need to become the person that God wants me to be. He knows the man I can be and all I need to do is trust him enough, because he'll help me get there.
Q&A
What is the hardest thing you've done on your mission? When we've taught someone who was about to be baptized, and then for family reasons dropped us, meaning they stop meeting with us. It's really heart breaking.
Do you get a lot of snow in England? Do you have any yet? It depends on the year, but we don't have any yet, which I'm grateful for. I like it when I don't have to be out in it for long hours of the day.
We're doing well and all is good.
Love you,
Starszy Ressler
