Hello everyone! We had an interesting week here in Essex. We had a relaxing p-day in the park last week, we got invited to be Masons, washed a car,
had an exchange, and so on.
So about the free mason invitation... We were walking up Bradford street (one of the oldest streets around here) and we saw the Masonic temple. We walked around the outside because sometimes they have museums. As we were walking out of the parking lot, we met Colin, one of the guys that attends there. He offered to give us a quick tour, and we accepted of course. It was so cool inside! Lots of symbolism in everything, but he couldn't really tell us much. He more or less invited us to be masons at the end, but you need to be 21. Oh well. It was still a really cool experience.
From Thursday to Friday I had an exchange with one of our zone leaders, Elder Hesen (who is actually from Malibu, CA). With him we were able to meet a new investigator, Jim, in Whitham. We also had a great time with Phillip later that evening. We ended on Friday morning and I picked up Elder Seely in Colchester.
We spent yesterday in a smaller town called Kelvedon, in the east part of our area, above Whitham. It was such a nice little town! And we had perfect weather as well, which really helps us because people are so much nicer when the weather is good. On the way back we stopped in Whitham to see if Bernadette was home. As we were driving down Maldon road towards our chapel, we actually saw her pushing a stroller up the sidewalk towards the park. I couldn't pass it up so I just stopped the car in the road and we talked for a little bit. She invited us to come to the park with her so we parked around the corner and walked with her, and her niece and nephew. Side note: she has 21 siblings, and has 67 nieces and nephews! We had a great time with her and she is eager to meet with the missionaries in Ireland. We got a picture with her and I will get it for the blog once she puts it on Facebook.
I had an interesting realisation this week while walking in Braintree. Alma 26:12 came to mind, as it says "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things" that passage made me realise that we are like chisels. A chisel is not what turns a chunk of rock into a sculpture, that is the job of the sculptor. In this sense, God is the sculptor, because He sees the beautiful sculpture within each of us, but we need to be sharp enough to make that sculpture. Sharpness comes through being aware of those around us and always being prepared to help in any way we can.
Coming up this week we have zone conference with President Stevens tomorrow, and lots of dinner appointments... Yum.
Cheers!
Elder Ammermon