I love you!

 

Mom!

 

I got the Halloween package :) I recieved it on Thursday, so I'm not exactly sure how long it takes to get here, because of the mission office and things.  I think they will send you a letter about Christmas packages, but they say to try to send it before the first week of December.  I loved the 'costume' by the way.  I've been wearing it running, because it is still dark in the morning and I think it makes me more visible than a USU shirt :)  I opened the package at specialized trainings because S. Low's interview went forever (as did mine, we love talking to President!) and all the other missionaries were like, 'are you a Trekkie?'  Well, yeah.

 

I also got a tape from Katie, Andrea, Chelsey, Carrie and Heather!  It was so awesome, I freaking loved it.  S. Low loves it too.  We especially get the Minivan song stuck in our heads.  But really, I hope I have a seat in the minivan.  Because if I do I'm strapping myself in and never leaving. 

 

Jenika is already going on another date!  Wow!  That will be fun for her to go with Nick, they will have a very good time, I have no doubt :)  I was telling S. Low about some of my dance experiences and things they other day.  Like how I went to prom in a 71 Firebird.  That was cool :)

Sounds like White Christmas is coming right along.  Seems to be ahead of schedule to me, but I'm not very good with time right now.  Every day is the same and different.

 

Jordy, getting ready to go on a mission!  I can't believe it honestly, it seems so foreign (harhar, laugh at my pun, please).  But really, he is going to have an entirely different experience than me.  And it is going to be awesome.

 

Hmm... E. Layton was in my MTC district.  And he was going to the Scotland/Ireland mission.  That is too bad that he isn't doing well.  That is really nice that you sent him a card, I'm sure he will appreciate it.

 

Haha, Stan, a recent convert was asking me about Mitt Romney last week at church.  Stan is 80 years old, and knows that he is a member of the church, but I'm not sure that he knows that it means he also classified as Mormon.  He was kind of disgusted about some one said in the paper about us, and by us I mean mostly Mitt.  Whatevs.  Brush it off.  Is John Huntsman still showing well?  I would really like for him to be President, honestly.  We'll see.  Elections are coming up soon... will I get a ballot?  It would be for city or county reps I think...

 

X FACTOR!!!  Everyone in England watches it on Saturday night!  And I am a bit jealous, I've watched bits through the window before, which is completely useless because you can't hear them singing.  And of course Simon and LA Reid would get the good groups, because they are the best producers.  I would probably choose LA myself, if I had a choice.  Either him or Clive Davis, because me and Clive are besties.

 

This has been such a week of blessings.  We needed it.  We were so blessed to have 8 new investigators this week!  It is so amazing!  To put it into perspective, last transfer we had 9 new investigators over 6 weeks.  We are so blessed.

 

It really is the YSA.  I told you about the experience we had last week with the German and the Muslim... we went back to the same student housing, and found so many amazing people.  These people are actually intelligent, and listen to us. They realize that there is truth out there and they have to be informed about it before making a decision.

 

Monday was like the day we imagined our missions to be.  We were going from door to door, having amazing conversations and setting appointments right and left.  We got through one door to these 3 YSA men 2 from India and one from the Mauritias.  We taught the restoration right there and then.  It was so amazing.  The two from India seemed mostly polite, but Ashwin, the other one, seemed really sincere about his quest for God, and not being agnostic anymore, but really defining who God it.

 

We knocked a couple more houses, still having good conversations, until a couple from Nepal let us in.  We didn't really get to teach a whole lesson, but explained a bit about Christianity, because they didn't know anything about it and had a ton of questions.  We seriously had an amazing night teaching the gospel. 

 

Tuesday we taught a Uni student from Nigeria who wanted to know about the Book of Mormon.  He is seriously the first person I've ever taught that actually understood what we were saying from the get go.  He didn't really appreciate that we were saying his church didn't have authority, but at least he understood what we were saying.  When he gets the answer he will at least know what it means.

 

That evening we went back to the student housing.  2 doors in another student let us in named Calvin from Malaysia.  He was shocked that he had never heard of the Book of Mormon before, and wanted to know all about it.  His flatmate (a Muslim) came in, but unlike others who distract he just listened and told us about his Mosque in London.  Calvin is Christian, but seemed sincere in wanting to learn more.

 

Uni students love hearing about the BofM.  Usually in a Restoration lesson the BofM is last, but we have had to put it first. We are really trying to 'teach to the you' and teach the entire Restoration lesson by teaching the Book of Mormon.  It is turning out sooooo great, honestly.  They all want to know about the Book of Mormon.

 

Wednesday we went back to the student housing, because we had set an appointment Sunday with a YSA from China named Lei.  He is a Chinese Christian!  WHAT?  Prepared.  He had a hard time understanding that it isn't just your belief in God that means you will be saved, but ordinances and things.  He believes that if you belive in God you will see God.  What are these Chinese Christian Churches teaching people? ;)  He is so great, but texted us the next day and has moved to London for 2 months.  We'll have to follow up.

 

We tracted the students again that night and met some named Alex, Lewis and Carlis.  Alex and Lewis are actually from the UK, which is a bit different for us.  Carlis is from Lithuiania, and anti religion, but is actually the one who let us.  They are really into philosophy, and wanted to debate religion a bit.  I gave them this big spchill about Decartes, and 'I think therefore I am', just to show them I was intelligent.  Then I was basically like, 'this is all irrelevant because of the Book of Mormon.'  They kept grilling us for proof, and I was finally like, 'Here it is, the Book of Mormon, there is a test in here, put it to the test.  Just be sincere.'  They all the sudden backed down, and said they would try it.  I hope they are sincere, we'll see.

 

Thursday we had interviews and training.  I love President Preston so much!  He is seriously an amazing man, and I'm so thankful to be serving under him.  I really think it will be a blessing for my entire life :)  Plus missionary meetings really get me going, and lift my spirits.  Its so nice to be around others that have the Spirit, and also the Priesthood.  It makes a huge difference, honestly.

 

Friday wasn't the greatest. It wasn't bad, but nothing super exciting happened.

 

Saturday was amazing.  It was seriously what we all think missionary work is going to be like.  We were teaching all day.  We had 5 member present lessons that day.  That is seriously so huge.  We were going from one appointment to another.  It was such a blessing.

 

We taught Lee in the morning.  He hasn't drank alcohol since Conference!  He thinks it is because he felt guilty when we called by one time and he was drunk, but we think it is because of the Spirit :)

 

We then went back to the uni housing, because we had set up a lot of appointments for Saturday because they doing have uni that day.  We went first back to the Nepal couple.  They weren't really paying attention, and didn't really want us to come again.  That was okay, because we didn't really want to go again, if they didn't want to take is seriously.  Interesting fact, in their branch of Hindu they believe that if they are married in a certain way they will be together for the next 7 human forms they take.  It seems like that would make them together forever.... unless they didn't take a Hindu human form, I guess.  Our Eternal Marriage is better :)

 

We then went to an appointment, and he wasn't there.  I wanted to Call By another Potential, but S. Low was a bit nervous about it, because Claire, our amazing member missionary was there, and she hates tracking.  I was like, 'don't worry, they'll let us in... they are uni students!'  And so he did.  His name is Julian and he is from near Lester (here in England).  And he is black.  So Katie could probably marry him :)  He had a hard time understanding why God forces us to do things.  We were trying to explain agency and he just wasn't getting it.  Claire explained how she ahd to realize how it worked before she got baptized, and it was amazing.  He was much more willing to listen.

 

Our next appointement was with another Julian.  He is from France and is hysterical.  I thought it was funny to have an English person do an American accent.  It is like 10x funnier to have a French person do an American accent.  We read the invite in the Introduction to the BofM and he was like 'I havz to invite you toz read it?'  We explained, no, it was inviting him to read it.  So then when we asked Claire to read a verse he was like, 'We arez inviting youz to read zis book.'  It was so funny.  He is really great.

 

We had to walk to our next appointment and it was pass tea time, so we stopped at the Esso Garage (gas station) and bought a sandwich before going and seeing the Sri Lankans.

 

The Sri Lankans are so great!  They were all prepared, had even moved the furniture so we would fit better.  We went over the Book of Mormon with them again, because we had taught them before we realized that it was good to use the Bof M when teaching uni students.  Afterward they were like, 'Wait... we prepared a hymn for you!'  Ravindu had learned a Christmas song on the keyboard, and Chitura sang along with it.  I had this huge smile on my face.  It was so amazing.  It was seriously like one of those 'perfect' moments.  I was in England, teaching the gospel to some Sri Lankans, and in their imperfect English they were singing to me about how Christ was born in Bethlehem.  It was so amazing.

 

Wow.  This is how I thought missionary work was going to be.

 

Yesterday we taught David again.  He tried to drop us on Tuesday, but I had him read Alma chapter 32.  He made some stupid joke about Muslims, and I honestly freaked.  I feel like it was 'righteous indignation' but how I portrayed that came out more angry than anything else.  He just jokes about stupid stuff, and it makes me mad.  I mean, who are the most made fun of religions?  Probably Muslims and Mormons.  We tried to follow it up with love, S. Low was a star, but we'll see how it goes.  I think he is really frustrated because he doesn't understand the Book of Mormon and God and so he is trying to hid it and cover it up.  Its really hard because he didn't come from a very loving home, so he doesn't have very good manners, and he also thinks he is a bad person.  It is really hard for him to realize or accept love.  I'm pretty sure David might be the one that was sent to Sister Hull for her to learn patience.  How exciting.

 

Well, here's hoping next week is as blessed as this week.  We keep praying that we will be able to take care of all our investigators and make sure they progress how God would want them to.  We have a large task on our hands, but it is going to be so good.  God will bless.

 

Thank you everyone for being there.  I miss you all more than you know.  Keep writing, and if you can't do that, I would at least love a prayer :)  I'll send some your way.

 

Sincerely,

 

Sister Jasmine Hull