One last picture with my hair like this! Since we are starting a new transfer this week and my hair is getting a little long for mission standards, I am getting a haircut later in the day. Did I mention that we are already starting a new transfer (6 week time period)? My first went by so fast, and I've been told that the first feels like the longest. So, what are some of my memorable times of this transfer?
One of my personal accomplishments this transfer has been driving. In these six weeks I have driven about 1,000 miles around our area, to Colchester, to Chelmsford, and to Lpswich. I can say that I have gotten pretty used to the narrow roads and round-abouts that are very characteristic of British roads.
As I have said before, I will always knock a house with what looks like a ham radio antenna on it. Doing so I have met Nick, M3IMR, Melvin, G0EMK, and Edwin, G0LPO. I also have gotten information on the Braintree Amateur Radio Society, and I hope to get to a meeting of theirs on a coming p-day. I also met Neil, who is an avid CB radio operator and has lots of friends with ham licenses, both in the UK and the states.
Some of my favourite days so far have been playing golf in Chelmsford on a p-day, the day we spent in Finchingfield, and two days ago on Sunday, when we got to spend some time in a town in between Whitham and Braintree called Silver End. More to come on that later.
I am learning many lessons with patience and optimism that will continue into the transfers to come. Though things might seem like they are always positive in the field, they really aren't. While in Finchingfield no one was interested, every day we get doors slammed in our faces, rejected, and so on. Elder Seely and I definitely went through a rough patch this past week where we got locked out of our flat in the morning one day, no one was interested and almost everyone is rude, and more. My point is not to complain, but rather how these rough points make the good days feel so much better, and how I learn to pull through them.
Like I talked about last week, stopping to smell the roses has been key to making the tough days feel better. I have also noticed that even though we have bad days, it really only takes one good day, or really a few good people, to make the bad days seem worth it. On Sunday, Elder Seely and I decided to do a one meal fast to help us figure out where to do some finding on Sunday, and it worked. That is how we decided to go to Silver End, and we found one new investigator, a potential family that wants to come to our ward barbecue, and a couple other potential investigators.
More on this week now, but first, a flashback to the beginning of the transfer. The days after we got here, we found William outside the Braintree library, and we gave him a Book of Mormon to read, but sadly we lost contact with him until last p-day, when I spotted him walking through Braintree town centre, and were able to get his address, and meet with him on last Tuesday. I taught him with Elder Hesen, one of our zone leaders (we were on an exchange) and he accepted to work towards a baptismal date of August 23. The other highlight of the week was having our miracle of going to Silver End. We decided to tract a road called Temple lane, and the third door we knocked on we met our newest investigator. We could tell that her and her family have gone through some hard times, and we felt we should say a prayer with her at the door. Afterwards, she said that was one of the nicest things anyone has done for her. The power of prayer is real. We could tell she felt better afterwards. That made the week for me right there.
And surprise, Elder Seely and I are staying together for another transfer. Game on!
Cheers until next time,
Elder Ammermon
