Hey everyone! I finally made it to the field. First area: Braintree in Essex. My trainer, Elder Seely, and I, whitewashed (both of us are completely new to the area) the Whitham ward in the Ipswitch stake. The Whitham ward covers the city of Whitham, as well as the city of Braintree, which is where we are located. The area we have is actually pretty large, and used to be covered by two companionships, instead of just one. With the area being as large as it is, we have a car here. Normally my companion would be the one driving because he is the senior companion and also the district leader, but his license is no good anymore... So I get to drive because my American license is still valid. Per mission rules, I have to do three hours with an instructor before I can start driving, so we are working on getting lessons for me so we can finally have use of the car. We have a Vauxhall Meriva. I am slowly starting to get used to the idea of being on the opposite side of the car and road, but when I drive I will have to pay so much attention.
Braintree is such a beautiful place. The town is nice, and it is surrounded by farmland and countryside. Whitham is the same way. We already have one investigator, Sam, that is on date (July 25) to be baptised. On Thursday, we met an older man named Peter in a park, who we are visiting tomorrow (Tuesday, June 16th). We also met William on Saturday on the street by the library. He says he is 7th day Adventist, but he was out going to the pub on a Saturday, so oh well. We introduced the Book of Mormon to him, and he asked us to keep it! He said he was eager to read it. He also wants help overcoming his addiction to tobacco and alcohol, and we promised that we could help him and he can help himself through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, by which all things are possible. I'm really looking forward to seeing him tonight.
The other highlight of this week was getting to shake hands with, and hear from Elder Holland in the Hyde Park chapel. That was so powerful. The two main points that stuck out to me were that we should embrace every single moment, both the good and the bad. Everything is a learning experience. The other was when we read out of Mosiah in Mosiah 27:11-12 which says "And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood; And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them." We, as missionaries, should teach with thunder and earthquakes in our lessons because we have the authority to do so. That struck thunder with me. You can really feel of how genuine he is. That was an experience I hope to never forget.
Yesterday we did a little bit of tracting on the east side of Braintree, off of Rayne road. I was writing a note on a card when a kid, probably around the age of 6 or 7, approached us on his bike, asking what we were doing. I told him I was just writing a note on a Mormon.org card, and I gave him one. He brought us over to the rest of his friends in the street, and I loved talking with them. Kids are so open minded, unlike their parents, who we met later. I loved having the kids guess where I was from by my accent (one of them said Scotland haha). They were great and I gave them all a Mormon.org card. Then I met momma, and she was mad. We almost got the cops called on us for "approaching and talking with kids" (even though they approached us). Oh well. Needless to say we left fast after being told off by momma Snorlax.
Tip of the week: 2 Nephi 4 (psalm of Nephi) is a great chapter to read if you are feeling discouraged with anything.
Cheers until next week!
- Elder Ammermon