Mansfield - March 24, 2014

I'm really good, we've had a great week.

Lately it's been sunny and warm, but also there's been weird rain and hail (even though the sun is shining). But it's been over all really nice and we're all doing well.

We are starting to teach English lessons again. We've made up some flyers and now we are putting them up in Polish shops. So this is fun. We've really just been keeping busy. I find that there is so much to do and so little time left for me to do it. We are teaching some really good people who are making some good progress. A girl who is nine and is our ward mission leader's daughter. She is really fun and energetic. Then there is a woman who is friends with a member who invited her to seminary and she came. And now even though that member has left off to the university she is still coming to church and now looking to be baptized, which is super exciting. Then also we are seeing a man who is a really good guy.

For conference we will probably watch it at the church. It's a lot different watching it as a missionary, I think it seems to click better for me, or maybe I am just able to focus more, or it could be because I'm a bit more mature. But I usually find things that I really like.

Food wise, I learned a new pasta dish from another missionary, it's really good. It's basically like milk, eggs and cheese, but it is really good. I also have been making some sandwiches lately. Polish sandwich meat is the best! We met this really nice shop keeper when we were putting up flyers for our English lessons and he gave us some Polish food, it was really good, I insisted on paying for it, but he gave it to us for free. He said that we were helping Polish people out, so he was going to do something for us. I wish he was interested in the Gospel because he'd make a really great member I think. Maybe we're planting some seeds here.

I'm going off to New Stead Abbey, I'm super excited, I'll try to take some pictures for you all.

Love you all,

Starszy Ressler

Mansfield - March 17, 2014

I'm good, we've had a great week. It's got to be spring here, I love it! The flowers are coming out. It's really pretty.

I love Mansfield. I told my companion I could live here. The Ward is amazing and the town is amazing as well. There are lots of Polish people, which is good.

I would love to come visit as well. There are so many amazing places and people. We are planning to go to Newstead Abby next p-day. I'm excited to go. Also to Sherwood forest one of these days. I'll take pictures.

I've read a lot here on my mission. I read Jesus the Christ and loved it. I want get a few other books from James Talmage. Also I've read the New Testament and am currently reading the Old Testament. There's so much background story to the other books in there I think.

I got to go to Sheffield for a while on splits, it was interesting.

We are teaching a few Polish people. We were fed Polish food last night, it was so good! We were fed something called Racuchy. It was like a pancake thing with apple in the middle and powder sugar on top. Really good. And we ate breaded chicken as well. Also there was this weird curdled milk we drank. It wasn't really that good. It was like sour milk. But it was sour on purpose!

I got your letters, thank you so much for those! I love telling people that I'm from Nottinghamshire about five generations back!

It's crazy I've got about a month left. But the thing is I've still got so much work here for me to do! So busy! But it's fun, I love it.

Love you much,

Starszy Ressler

Mansfield - March 10, 2014

Things are really good here in Mansfield.

I love the ward here, the members are so supportive and great. I loved Hull because I'd grown to love it after all that time and I have a lot of good memories. Leeds was big which was nice. Mansfield is smaller, but the people are friendly and the scenery is more friendly.

So Nottingham is just out of our mission, but we're so close to it! It's about a 30 min bus ride from here! I wish I could go down there. But I've been telling people that my ancestors came from Nottinghamshire, about 5 generations ago. I love it!

It's a bit different to me to be 21. I got a cake from Bev and Elder Mullen. I wasn't expecting anything for my birthday, so that was a surprise. It was a pretty good day though. I pretty much did missionary work on my birthday, but it was fun :) Bev is super nice, I would like to stay in contact, I think that'd be really good.

We are working on starting a Polish class and the ward is supporting it, to the point where there might actually be a member here who teaches it and I just support it....eventually. One thing I've learned from Mansfield is things just get done, instead of just talking about things and planning things, they just do it then and there, or plan to do it. It's hard to explain, but it's been pretty effective.

There hasn't been a time change yet. I don't know if there will be one, maybe later on.

St. Patrick's day is an Irish thing, I think a lot of the celebration is just going to a pub and drinking.

Elder Hill is super excited and happy about the spring. He keeps pointing out flowers and stuff. He's from California and says it's summer all year round for him so he doesn't experience spring (his first spring). It is getting warmer here which is super, super good. I'm hoping it doesn't snow. Mansfield area is made up of a towns and villages. I see a lot more scenery which makes me happy. I met an investigator who returned from his holiday in Cuba. He is really good and has a lot of potential. The ward members love him and he has a testimony in God helping him to quit drinking.

Also we went by a Polish investigators and he said he went on the web site I left him www.mormoni.pl, that made me happy. I'm glad things are going good back home.

Love you much,

Starszy Ressler

Mansfield - March 3, 2014

It's been a good week in Mansfield. Elder Hill and I are getting along great!

This week we taught a Polish man and it was probably my favorite lesson this week. He is 18 and works 40 hours a week. He is very humble and kind. I'm very excited to continue teaching him.

Yea it's sort of crazy that I'm 21, it doesn't really feel that way.

The ward here in Mansfield is really great. I've taken a lot of picture from leaving Leeds and up to now.

It's true, we really don't do too much knocking here, but we do some. There is a smaller village called Shirebrooke that is up a bit north that is filled with Polish people. There is a Sports Direct factory there that they all work at, so it's exciting. I've heard about 80% of the people who work there are Polish.

It's true though people speak a little different here. They call people "duck" and say "cheers me duck!" It's strange.

It was great, I got to see Elder DeShazer on Wednesday (I just forgot what it was called in English just now). But Sheffield is like 2-3 hours journey away from us, so we traveled to Sheffield, slept over at another missionary flat and then from there left for Hull. It was a long day.

The training was on finding and NOT GOING BACK TO EGYPT. President used the stories of the Israelites and how they thought things were too hard so they wanted to go back to Egypt. I wonder what I would have done if I were in their shoes.

I love serving In Mansfield, it's so great. The people are nice, the surroundings are nice. It's really great. And the ward is super. We already got one referral from a member and started teaching him (that's never happened to me before). This area has a lot of potential for growth and even there are lots of less actives who have potential of coming back.

Love you,

Starszy Ressler