Elder Mitchell's mission is coming to an end.....

This is his penultimate weekly email.  It has been a fascinating journey that we have all been on.  I would like to thank every one who has visited this blog - I never expected to have so many hits from so many different countries.  This has had over 3,500 page views from China to South America, from Russia to Vietnam and all places in between.  I hope you have all enjoyed the journey.  Just 2 more emails to post - this weeks and next weeks.  I hope that any one who isn't a member has learnt something about our church, and maybe the next time you see 2 smartly dressed young men or young women with strange name tags on, you'll stop them and talk to them.  They would like nothing better.

So here is Elder Mitchell's email:

Hey everyone!

Yes I know I am now into single digits, thank you all for reminding me! haha! It is good though, reminds me I still have 9 days to work! (well maybe 7 depending when I go to the temple)

Well our week has been pretty fun! Last P-day we played football and rugby with our district the Zone Leaders and the AP's. We didn't play full-contact rugby, so don't worry Becky. It was frustrating though as me being only a little guy getting picked up and put on the floor by our big welsh AP... was not a proud moment, but I was like the little-est (as in skinniest) guy there so I did pretty well.

Anyway, back to talking about missionary work. This week sadly we weren't able to see Kingston and Betty. We aren't too sure what happened but we had an appointment with them, and we went over but they weren't in. Hopefully they just forgot but I don't know. Hopefully we will see them again this week.

We did get to see Sophie and Chris though. They are doing well, and Chris has been reading the Book of Mormon which is great! Sophie hasn't been but never mind. We will hopefully be able to see them again this week, and hopefully they will be able to come to church.

We have found a few new ivestigators this week too. There is a guy called Enoch, he is from Ghana. He is catholic, but he really wants to meet with us. We are seeing him on tuesday morning so we will see how that goes.

We also met this woman called Maria, we met her and her mum. They are from columbia. Her mum doesn't speak english, but Maria does really well. She is a Jehovah's Witness, but they apparently have family back in columbia that attend our church which is cool. We will be going by to see them sometime this week so we will see how that goes. It's a shame I don't remember any spanish from when I served with Elder Castro.

So this is my full week as a missionary. I plan to work as hard as I possibly can so that, even though I am going home, the missionary that replaces me still has something to work with when I leave. I will also be trying not to get fat as we have about 7 dinner appointments this week... (3 of them on saturday!)

Also, on sunday, the ward has given me 5 minutes to share what I have learned from my mission... squeezing two years into 5 minutes... wish me luck! Also, it turns out President and Sister Millar will be there too and they will be talking after me... no pressure right?

Well, I hope you all have a good week, we are off to an all you can eat buffet! Our goal is to get kicked out for eating too much food!

I love you all!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

As you can see he's still working hard.

a small world

Elder Mitchell met Elder Preece, whose cousin, Elder Preece is currently serving in Elder Mitchell's home ward -
the Livingston Ward

For the birds

Elder Mitchell and Willow (and Aaron Burns, the member holding the owl) 

She is some type of Eagle owl

Elder Mitchell holding a Barn Owl called Boris

Elder Mitchell was crouched down painting a part of this aviary and he looked up to see this staring at him.... 

He also helped feed this little guy a mouse!  Oh, and his name is Mowgli!

Come listen to a Prophet's voice

Hey everyone!

I hope you have had a good week, and I hope that you all had a wonderful and spiritual experience at General Conference. I know that there has been some disagreements and contention over some of the words shared over conference, but just remember "Whether by mine own voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same." It may not be pleasing to the world, but that is the teachings, commandments, and revelations given to us from God, and we must live by them.

So our week has been pretty good. Pretty busy, which is always good, and we have been working hard.

On tuesday we were able to give some service to Aaron Burns (that's where the pictures of the owls came from) which was really good. They also have a tortoise that tried to paint itself green by walking over the paint lid. It is so good being able to give service though.

Then on Wednesday we went on exchange and I went to Epsom. It was really good. We worked hard and talked to a lot of people. They also got a referral of a brazillian family (I was with a brazillian Elder) and he taught them in brazillian which was difficult for me as I didn't really understand what was going on. But it went well though and the Son (about 16 years old) at the end apparently said that us going over that day had been an answer to his prayers.

While I was away Elder Oleson and our District Leader saw Kingston and Betty and they are doing well. They committed to live the word of wisdom and we tried to get them to come to conference, but they weren't able to make it sadly. They also say Sophie and Chris who we hadn't been able to contact for a while, but apparently that went really well also.

On friday we had Zone Training at Crawley which was really good. Our leaders were really inspired and I got so much out of it, and the spirit was so strong there. Afterwards all of us were pumped and ready to go out and work. That night after we got back, we just went out an contacted, and even though not many people stopped to talk to us, we tried to talk to everyone we could and it felt amazing. Oh, and just typical. We get back from such an amazing, spiritual and motivating Zone Training, and there are my travel plans home sitting at the door... not happy about that. Heavenly Father definitely has a sense of humor.

Then we had to go back to Crawley on saturday and sunday to watch General Conference. It takes us a while to get there, and on saturday night it took even longer. We normally go from Crawley to Horsham and from Horsham we can get a train all the way to Sutton, but we got to Horsham saturday night and realised that we had missed the last train from there to Sutton, so we had to get back on the train we just got off, go all the way along the way we just came and go to Redhill, where we had to get off and get another train to Dorking (deepdene) and from there walking to Dorking station and get a train from there to Epsom, and then from Epsom we had to get on another train to Sutton. Just sharing that so you know the hassle us missionaries have to go through sometimes.

Conference was amazing though, and there were so many good talks. I liked all of them really, and felt the spirit and got something out of all of them. I hope all of you did too.

Well, I am going to wrap this up here. I hope you all have a good week.

I love you all!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Mother Dear I love you so

Hey Everyone!!!

First of all, Happy Mother's day to all the mother's out there for yesterday (I forgot to mention that in my last email... sorry)

So this week started well. We had to take Elder Oleson to the Kingston Hospital on monday night because his tooth was killing him, and that was the only place with a dental unit open. He got an infection, but he is fine now, they gave him some anti-biotics and they have helped.

Kingston and Betty are doing well, we were able to see both of them this week. They still weren't able to come to church, but we had a really good lesson. We are hoping to get a member out to see them with us this week, so hopefully that will go well.

Thursday night we were able to go to youth. The Ward Council has asked that each week at least one group of Elders go to Young mens to support the youth and be an example to them. It was fun, this week it was joint and we played football. It got a little bit crazy, and all of the young women just ended up standing around because they were scared. Good reason though, one of the young women got hit about five times in the same place (I won't say what place, poor girl) so that scared them all away. So it was just pretty much us four Elders (there were all four of us there as the others had investigators there), the young mens leaders, the two young men we have, and bishop playing. It was fun, my team were totally kicking butt, until they said "next goal wins" and the other team scored. But we still won!

We also went out to an part of our area that we never go to. With good reason too! First, it is almost impossible to get there. We had to take a train from Sutton to Wimbledon (it was weird but cool being back there again) and then from there get another train to Oxshott (where we were going) and of course both ways, as we were pulling into Wimbledon our other train was just leaving so we had to wait another half an hour. Second, it is so posh out there!! One of the houses looked like a castle, no joke! So needless to say we won't be going back there!

We have done more then that this week, I swear, but I don't really remember. Well this will have to do.

Just gonna end with a little joke Elder Oleson told me this week... What does a tricycle and a duck have in common? They both have wheels, except the duck.

I love you all!

Elder Zach Mitchell

We are sowing....

Hey Everyone!

Wow triple digits! I can't believe that! Time is going by so fast! Don't worry, I don't normally think about how much (little) time I have left, except there is an Elder in my district who kindly, every time I see him, the first thing he asks is "Are you trunky yet?" Not happy!

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well. This past week has been pretty good.

We had three less-actives and an investigator as church yesterday which was great! We had Ashley and Amelia there which was great, and Ashley's daughter came too, who was our investigator. We just started teaching her this week which was good. She is 9, nearly 10. We thought she was a lot younger. Anyway... sad thing is she is only with Ashley every other weekend so we won't get to teach her much, and we aren't sure how the mum would react if she wanted to be baptised. She seems okay with her coming to church though.

We had a really good teach with Kingston this week too. He asked a lot of great questions which all led onto the next principle we were about to teach. The spirit was there, we could feel it, and he could too. He said he really feels good when we come over. He also said he and Betty have been talking about church and they have decided that they need to come, but this week they weren't able to make it. Hopefully next week.

Apart from that it has been difficult to find new investigators. We seem to be doing all we can, we are out talking to people but no one seems to want to talk to us, or if they do, they don't want to meet with us again. It is hard, but we are still working hard.

Well, I can't think of anything else to share from this week so I shall wrap it up here.

I love you all so much!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing

This week Elder Mitchell got the letter, the letter that officially tells him his release date. I'll let him tell it.

Hey Everyone!

99 emails from me on the page, 99 emails from meeee! sorry...

So this week has been an interesting week. First of all, I got a scary letter this week.... I got my trunky letter! You know, that letter you get at the end of your mission thanking you for all the hard work you've done... Yeah, I got that! It's okay though, the letter is dated 23rd April 2014, so that means it doesn't exist yet, right?

So investigator wise, we got some sad news this week. We got a text from Tom. He and his girlfriend have broken up, and he wants to take some time to get over it, and work things out, so he doesn't want to meet with us for the time being. He did say though that hopefully we would see us soon, so hopefully we can stay in contact and see him again once things have settled.

Our other investigators, we haven't really been able to see them this week. Kingston and Betty we were going to see them on Saturday but they had something come up. And the main problem with our investigators is that we commit them to come to church, and then they don't come. It is a little frustrating but never mind. Hopefully Sophie and Chris will be coming with their family this sunday though.

We were able to see that couple Ashley and Ameila this week though which was really good. We were meant to have a BBQ with them on Saturday, but their Dad was there so they didn't want to cause any problems. We should be seeing them this week at some point though.

Also something interesting I want to share from church yesterday. In Elder's Quorum the lesson was on sacrament, but the teach spent a lot of time going around the room and asking everyone one question. He simply asked "why are you here at church today?" Of course I was the last one he came to so I had a lot of time to think about it. It was an interesting question, something I would encourage all of you to ask yourselves when you are next at church.

Also, this sunday was one of the AP's last sunday. It was scary for me, because it means now that he is going home, that I am next... but it's okay, I'm not trunky.

Well, I better wrap this up here. I love you all!

Elder Zach Mitchell

ps. Attached is a picture of me with my trunky letter

Sweet is the Peace the Gospel Brings

Hey everyone!!

I hate how big the number of these emails are getting...

So this week has been pretty good. The weather has a least been nicer which is a plus. We have been pretty busy too, working hard trying to find people to teach.

Just to run you through our investigators. Tom is doing great, we haven't been able to see him, but we are still in touch and hopefully we will see him some time this week. He has said again that he really enjoyed church and he wants to come back. We have a few firesides coming up too that we are going to invite him to.

Kingston and Betty we were able to see them again this week. Some bad news, Kingston has lost his job until he can renew his visa. On the plus side, it means he could come to church on sundays for the time being. They weren't able to make it yesterday though.

Seeing Sophie and Chris on Monday went really well. They have 3 kids between the age of 6 and new-born. They are a really cool family and hopefully we will be able to see them again.

Christiana sadly we weren't able to see. We were a little late getting there as correlation took us longer to get back from than we thought it would. Hopefully we can get back in touch with her.

Another cool thing from this week though, there is a member here who owns about 20 owls, and this week he asked us to come over and help do some work on their enclosures which was really fun. It was cool to be up close with such beautiful creatures too. He had a snowy owl which kept looking at me all the time haha. And a barn owl nearly flew right into me once I got into the enclosure, and he also has an Eagle-owl named Zack which I thought was really cool. Zack is really funny too and kept hooting all the time haha.

Well that has pretty much been my week. I just want to end on a funny quote from the teacher of Elder's Quorum yesterday at church: "Going to church on sunday makes you a Christian as much as sitting in a car park makes you a car!"

hope you all have a good week.

Love you all!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Sweet is the work...

Justin Gets Baptised

Elder Tidwell's first baptism

Hey Everyone!!

So first of all I am going to start with some really good news. Remember Justin I was teaching in Woking? He got baptised this weekend. How awesome is that!!! And even better, Elder Tidwell baptised him. Apparently Justin was gutted that I couldn't be there, but I am happy to just know that he got baptised. I'm still counting this as one of mine haha!

So this week has been quite good. We had an amazing Zone Conference which was really good. Elder and Sister Smart were there talking about Family History which was cool, it was good to see them again. They were talking about a new, well... they used the word "program" but that isn't the right name for it. The basically have a goal to get all recent converts to the temple doing work for their ancestors within 60 days of getting baptised. Sounds a good idea to me.

Also, last Monday we had a great teach with Tom at the visitor's centre. The member we were hoping to come along with us couldn't make it, but the member we did get to come with us turned out to be perfect! He has been in the exact same position as Tom when he got baptised so it was really good that they were able to connect to well. And then, Tom was able to make it to church which was great! He had a really great time, and that same member who came to the visitors centre with us on Monday sat by him for the whole thing which was great! He really enjoyed it, and it was a really great testimony meeting too which was great. Tom said he wants to come again which is great.

Apart from that we have been working hard with all of our less-actives and recent converts. They are doing well. Sadly this week we also visited that lady we met a few weeks ago that just wanted to bash with us. First thing she did when we walked in was bring up a load of anti-Mormon stuff which is really annoying but quite sad. Especially because we have been explaining everything to her as simply as we could and she still doesn't get it. She still can't even grasp the fact that the Book of Mormon was written on a completely different continent from the Bible so that is why none of the names or places in the book of Mormon are mentioned in the bible. It is really frustrating, but we did everything we could as she still won't listen to us.

Anyway, to boost the ton of this email back up, we have had a few miracles this week.

First of all there was a couple in Addlestone that Elder Oleson was working with when he was there (he started his mission there). well they moved through to Sutton not long after he left and they haven't been back to church since (problems with family, long story) we met the wife a few weeks ago by another crazy miracle but hadn't been able to get in touch with them since as her phone didn't work. anyway, on friday we got a call from another missionary that they were really close with this week and he gave us their number and told us to stop by. well we were planning to go through to their area anyway, so we called them and we were able to meet the husband and wife it was great! We will hopefully be able to see them more often and help them get back to church.

okay, second miracle, and this one is crazy. So, yesterday, after church we spent some time trying to call investigators and potentials to arrange an appointment. After doing that we get a call from someone called Christiana saying that they just missed a call from us. Elder Oleson checked all the numbers we had called and it didn't match, and we didn't call her. She lives in our area and we got an appointment set up for Saturday. So this is where it gets really crazy. She said she met missionaries in Peckham. Well as we didn't have her number and didn't call her, we called the Peckham elders to see if they just handed over our number to her. so, crazy thing is, we spoke to all three sets of missionaries in Peckham, and none of them remember meeting anyone named Christiana. So we have no idea who called her, and how she got our number. Weird or what? Anyway, we are seeing her on Saturday.

Well, I better wrap this up here.

I love you all

Elder Zach Mitchell

The time is far spent; there is little remaining........

With just over eight weeks left before Elder Mitchell comes home, he is still working hard.

Hey Everyone!!

I hope you are all doing well. This week the weather has been kinder to us which is great! The people on the otherhand, not so much. Still not many people will stop and talk to us, but that's okay, we are still working hard, and still trying our best to talk to as many people as we can.

Me and Elder Oleson both just looked at each other and asked what we did this week. It has gone by so quick!

So I guess I will just run you through our investigators quickly.

Kingston and Betty are good. We had a really great teach with them this week. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it was great, they really enjoyed it and loved learning about it. They were meant to be coming to sacrament meeting though but they didn't show up. So I don't know why, but hopefully we can see them later this week.

Tom is great. We weren't able to see him this week, but later on today we are going to the temple to meet him at the visitor's centre again. He seemed really excited to meet up, and he said this week he is planning to come to church.

We have another investigator who we haven't met yet but have been keeping in touch, her name is Sophie. She has a husband and a few kids I think, but they are hopefully coming to church this week as well.

Oh, something funny that happened this week, after District Meeting, one of the Elders in the district made us pasta, but put two really spicy peppers in it. It wasn't as bad as we thought but it was funny to see everyone's faces haha. It was a Pepe pepper I think it is called.

Well tomorrow we have Zone Conference which should be good. I will get to see Elder MacKay there too which is awesome!

Well, I can't think of anything else to write so I hope you all have a good week.

Love you all!

Elder Zach Mitchell

The final weeks....

With less than 10 weeks to go before Elder Mitchell puts away his name tag for good, he keeps his shoulder to the wheel and keeps working hard.

Hey Everyone!!

This week we have been wondering if we were supposed to build an ark and it was no too late, or what was going on! The wind and the rain has been ridiculous. I'm positive that we haven't got it the worst but it has still been horrible. Thankfully though, this week our heating and hot water got fixed. It was kinda funny, our hot water got fixed, but then we found there was a problem with the shower, so I think Friday I had my first proper shower in Sutton (don't worry, I did still wash, I'm not that gross!) (sorry it that's too much information haha!), so that has been a positive. Otherwise we would have froze!

So apart from that, this week has been really good! This week we got a really cool referral. So we got a call from the sister's in the visitor's centre at the temple, they have been teaching someone that lives in our area. His name is Tom and on thursday we got to go to the temple with a member (Martin Wilson) to meet him. He has been being taught by the visitors centre sisters because he works at gatwick, and the temple is 15 minutes away. But he got in contact with the church because he was dating a member from crawley ward (I think) who is now on a mission and he has started taking the lessons. We had a great teach with him though at the visitor's centre and hopefully we will be meeting with him again on thursday. He is looking really hopeful though. He has been taught since november and he has kept every reading asignment the sisters have given him. We just need to get him to church that is all.

Also this week we got to meet with Kingston and his partner Betty. We taught the restoration again, and Kingston asked some really good questions. It was a really good lesson, and hopefully they took it all in. We just need to get them to church, but Kingston works night shift so he doesn't get back from work until 8am on a sunday which is difficult. We will see what we can do though.

Oh, on saturday we ended up getting into a bible bash with someone. Well we weren't bashing, but they were. It was a little annoying, but quite funny because they didn't know their bible at all. At one point (we started getting into the 12 tribes somehow, we were using Ezekiel 37: to justify us having the book of mormon) and she said that Joseph of Egypt was a descendant of Judah... I probably shouldn't laugh, but we found it funny. We did get an appointment to see her in a few weeks though. I dunno how that will go, and neither of us really want to go, but I feel if we don;t she will feel that she proved us wrong, which she hasn't. So I'll let you know how that goes.

Also, on thursday I got to see Elder Mackay! We all had interviews at the stake centre. It was good to see him again. He is doing great! Still sounds more scottish than me haha!

Well, I can't really think of anything else to share from this week.

I hope you all have a good week!

Love you all!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Last area?

Hey Everyone!!!

So, before I start of, I have to say, the L key on the computer I'm using doesn't work very well, so if I have spelt something without an L, it is not my fault haha!

Well, I started this week in Woking with my boy, and ended back in London again with a new companion in a new area. It was a little strange, as I honestly felt that Woking would be my last area, and that Addlestone would be my last ward, but it is not to be. I was expecting to stay right up until Monday lunchtime, just before we got moves calls, I just had this weird feeing come over me that told me I was moving. It wasn't what I wanted to happen, but I think it helped me accept the news when it came.

It was difficult to say goodbye to some of the families I had grown to love, you would think by now on my mission I would be used to saying goodbye to people, but it doesn't get any easier.

My new area is great though, minus the flat... I got here to receive the happy news from Elder Oleson that the hot water and heating stopped working the day before I got there... cold showers, yay.... doesn't hep motivate me to get up in the mornings. It is okay though, we are hopefully getting someone in to fix it some time this week. Apart from that though, the area, and flat are great. It is only a small area that we cover of the ward, as the ward has 4 sets of missionaries. The Ap's are in our ward too which is cool.

Me and Elder Oleson are getting on great! He is from Reno Nevada, he has been out for just over 10 months, and he is a great guy. The ward is great too, we have some really great members. Our Ward Mission Leader is great, and knows so much about the scriptures, its crazy. Also, the ward is doing really well, they have had 4 baptisms already this year (hopefully I can help keep that up).

One funny thing I have to mention from Woking though, we met someone special... we met.... "The Lord of the Manor of Glen Coe"... he was in scruffy jeans and a t-shirt but he showed us the certificate that shows he is a lord. It was interesting...

The work here in Sutton though is going good. We just recently had two baptisms a few weeks ago which is so cool. Apart from that we are just trying to buid up the teaching pool again.

We have a guy we are teaching called Ramish, he is from India. We aren't sure how much he is taking in as he just seems to nod along to whatever we say. He is still happy to meet with us though which I guess is a good thing.

We also have a guy called Kingston. This is a guy that the Elders had met a few times but had never been able to arrange a time to meet. And then Wednesday night we met him on the street and he said to come by Friday. Small miracle. Anyway, we saw him on Friday and we taught him the restoration and he seemed really interested. He was asking great questions like how you recognise a true prophet from all the false ones which we explained to him, and he just seemed to get it. We invited him to be baptised but he said he would like some time to study a little bit more, but we are seeing him this week so that is looking good.

Well, I can't think of anything else to say so I will wrap it up here.

I love you all!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

A father's advice....

At the beginning of 2014 I got this:

Hey Dad,

I have a question to ask as well dad. Towards the end of your mission, how did you keep your mind focussed on the work, and not on the fact you were going home soon? I am struggling a little bit with that, but I don't want to waste the last few months of my mission, I want to work harder then before, so any advice you could give?

I love you dad, and I'm so glad you set the example to serve a mission.

Love Elder Zach Mitchell

Dear Zac
Just a quick note back. I really can't remember how I coped. I think the best thing to do is except the fact your mission is nearly over and make the most of it. It's like just before Christmas, it seemed everyone was slacking off and kicking back while I tried to stick to the job in hand. With work though I may not have written it down, but I had some goals in mind as to what I needed to do before I finished for the year, so set some realistic goals and focus on them and enjoy these last few months because you'll never have them again! Hope that helps.
Love
Dad

thats great advise, thanks dad!

Love you!

Moves and a major catch up....

Monday 39 December 2013

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry this will just be a short one this week, it is moves week so we are only taking a little bit of time to email today.

Well I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. Our Christmas was great! I don't think I've eaten so much in my life!!!! I feel so fat!!! But it was good, spent a lot of time this week with the members. They are all so nice to us, and made sure we had plenty of food and goodies and such. It was good.

Teaching wise this week was hard as we had a limited time that we could do work, and all of our investigators said we could see them in the new year. So we have been finding people all week. We have had some good conversations and some good street lessons too, but no one seems to want to meet with us again, which is hard.

On the plus side though, we got back in touch with Osa. He has been busy working as he works for the Royal Mail and it is their busiest time of year, so hopefully this week we can see him again. We also got a text from Justin, he still seems to want to meet with us which is great. We also got in contact with Cristal again and hopefully we will be seeing her later this week.

Well sorry it is only short. I hope you all have a Happy New Year! Do me a favour and stay up til midnight for me, I'm kinda not allowed... haha!

Love you all!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Hey Everyone!!!

Happy new year!!!! I hope you all had fun staying up to see the new year in!! I didn't. I was not a happy bunny when I got woken up at 12.30 by fireworks from our neighbours! Anyways...

So the news with moves. Our District Leader had us worried for a minute, the conversation went a little bit like this:

Elder Johnson (District Leader): "So you know that President Millar doesn't normally like having trainers with their trainees for more then two transfers right?"

Me: "err... yeah?"

Elder Johnson: "Well Elder Mitchell, you will be staying in Woking, and Elder Tidwell, you will be..... Staying in Woking!"

So basically, me and Elder Tidwell are staying together for one more transfer!

Hope you all have a happy new year! Love you all!!!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Monday 6 January 2014

Hello Everyone!!!

Happy New Year!!! It feels so weird saying it is 2014! It is scary because this is the year I come home!!! I'm trying not to think about it too much, but it is always on the back on my mind.

Well I hope you all had a great New Years! I did, until I was woken up at 12.30 in the morning by fireworks right outside our flat. Not a happy bunny. Never mind!

This week has been good though, even with it being New Years, and the weather has definitely been against us! Before any of you ask though, no I haven't been affected by any flooding, except the flooding that ends up in my shoes after I walk through a puddle. We have had a few thunderstorms lately though, we were out in one last night. It was pretty cool, until we got drenched, but its all fun!

So we were actually able to get back in contact with some of our investigators this week. First of all I shall share a little miracle we had. So about two weeks ago, me and Elder Tidwell decided to pick two or three of our investigators we really wanted to see, and mention them in every prayer that we said, personal, companion, even if it was just to bless the food. One of those was Justin. So, on Thursday, we get a call from Justin, and he arranged to meet up on Friday. Prayer answered. Sadly though, the weather got in the way, and he cancelled as we were planning to meet him in town. so we haven't actually got to meet with him yet, but we at least got in contact with him.

We did get to see Cristal this week which was good. We hadn't been able to meet with her because she had family over, and her grandad is not well so she has been going to spend time with him. It was a good lesson though, and she accepted a soft commitment to be baptised which is great!! We didn't give her a date though, as her partner is causing some issues with her coming to church, and of course they need to get married first, but it is at least a step in the right direction.

Also, we got to see Osa again this week! It was good to see him again, but there is some bad news. Next week he goes back to Nigeria to be with family, as his Dad died recently so he needs to go back to help sort things out. The really bad news though is when he is due to come back... in May. So even if I stay in Woking to the end of my mission, I won't get to see him again before he gets back. Hopefully we are seeing him tomorrow though.

Well that has been our week. It has been good, and we are working hard.

Sadly I better wrap this up as Elder Tidwell needs to come on to email. Our Library cards expired so we had to come all the way to Addlestone to the chapel so we could email. And there is only one computer here... Hope you all have a good week!

Love you all!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Monday 13 January 2014

Hey everyone!!!

90 emails? Really? when did that happen?

Advanced warning, this one may be quick, it is going to be one of those hectic P-days again... We have somehow got a teach scheduled at 12 (in 10 minutes) and then we are going to Kingston for a District P-day. Busy, busy, busy... best way to be really.

Anyway this week has been quick good. We have worked hard, and we had a lot of street lessons which was quite good. I've been getting a little better at talking to people, but I am trying to do what our leaders are advising us to do and expect miracles. I guess that has just given me some more motivation to talk to as many people as I can.

We had a great Zone Training this week. It was great to see all the missionaries there, and to be instructed by our leaders. They are trying to instill in us a belief that each unit or ward can baptize monthly and are just trying to encourage us to get as many of our investigators to church as often as we can. It was a good Meeting.

I guess just a run through of the people we are working with. We weren't able to see Cristal as she had a lot of work to catch up with this week, but hopefully we can see her again this week. We also have a new investigator called Ben. He is just someone that we met in town in about november time, and we kept bumping into him before Christmas, and we were finally able to meet with him again and sit down with him. He is an interesting guy, and is always so happy which is great. And he says he loves talking to us as we are so happy too. We also have Paul, who we should be meeting with in a few minutes. We met him on the street and just gave us his address and phone number so we are finally getting to meet with him again today. I'll let you know how it goes.

We also had a strange miracle this week... We were walking back to the flat for lunch and this guy stops us and asks if we are from the church. It was a brief conversation but he wanted to join our church. He gave us his number and address and told us to call him sometime. When we got back we realised from his address that we was an investigator a few years ago. I'll let you know how that goes too.

I wish I could remember more to put in this email, and also I wish I had more time but we gotta get going. 

Hope you all have a good week.

I love you all!!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

ps. has anyone ever had Green Juice? A member gave us some yesterday and it looks nasty... cucumber and selery juice.... yum....

Monday 20 January 2014

Hello Everyone!!

This week has been pretty good. We have been keeping busy and have been teaching which is good. We have had quite a few more proper sit down teaches this week which is good.

So I guess I can just run you through how everyone we are working with is doing.

First of all, another little miracle... We got to see Justin!!! He text us friday morning and asked is we could meet up that day. So we met him in the library, had a good lesson, we were able to catch up a bit as we haven't really seen him since november. He has been through a bit of a hard time, but he is getting everything back in order so hopefully we can see him more often. We nearly got him to church yesterday. We even had a lift for him, and got to his house, but when we knocked on his door he told us he has an exam today that he needed to study for so he wasn't able to come. We are seeing him again on thursday though and he promised that next week he will come.

Stephen, our miracle for last week is doing okay. We did actually get to meet with him this week, and we were hoping to get him to church yesterday too, but from friday onwards any time we tried to call he wouldn't answer. Hopefully we can get back in contact with him.

We were also able to see Cristal this week which was good. She also said she would try to come to church on sunday, but she didn't make it. Her partner is causing some issues as he isn't happy with her meeting with us. From what we have heard he just doesn't like religion point blank, so that is a bit difficult to deal with, and that is what has been stopping Cristal coming to church.

Also there is Paul. I don't remember whether I have mentioned him before or not, but we were able to meet with him on tuesday and sat down and taught him the Restoration. It was a really good lesson, and he asked a lot of great questions. He said he wanted some time to think about it, but we will call him and arrange another time we can meet with him.

We haven't been able to see Ben this week, but we should be seeing him on wednesday, so hopefully that goes well.

Well today for P-day the district are meeting up and we are going bowling which should be fun. The end up the transfer is at the beginning of February so this is our 2nd last P-day of this transfer, and we reckon that the district will really get shaken up this next moves as none of us moved last transfer.

Well I hope you are all well.

I love you all so very much!!!

Elder Zach Mitchell 

Monday 27 January 2014

Hey everyone!!!

I hope you are all well!! 

Every week I get concerned by how high the number of my emails is getting, but if you think that is bad, last monday I got... "The Trunky Call!" So Elder Mitchell officially has an Expiry date.... 23rd April. I'm just getting that out of the way, but no reminding me when it is that I am coming home, I don't want to know!!!

Anyway, I shall tell you about my week starting with last P-day. We all met up as a District and we went bowling. We divided it into teams, we split up the companionships, and it just worked out that companions were bowling at the same time, which was quite funny. We were going by teams scores, and sadly by team lost both games, but looking at individual scores I won both games! (totally being humble about it!) And then we went for Gellato ice cream, which was good! (see attached photos)

So this week, contacting has been very hard. I don't know what it is lately, but no one wants to talk to us. Frankly a lot of people have just been outright rude, and that bothers me, but never mind. C'est la vie! (check me, I know French!)

We do have some good news though... We have a baptismal date!!! We were able to see Justin this week and we were talking a lot about hwo the church and the gospel can help him, and about Baptism, and we extended a date for the 22nd Feb and he accepted. He also came to church on sunday which was great! He was only able to attend for sacrament, but he really enjoyed it and next week he wants to come for all three hours. We are seeing him again on tuesday night, hopefully with our Ward Mission Leader.

We have been able to see a few of our other investigators, but I think Cristal is worth mentioning. As I am sure I mentioned last time, her partner has been preventing her coming to church and things. When we saw Cristal this week though, she told us that her and her husband and on a temporary break. Not just because of her meeting with us, but there have apparently been other things, but Cristal was telling us how she wants to come to church and she would really like to get married in a church and to get baptised. She is showing real disire to come to church and to get baptised which is great, we just hope everything gets resolved with her partner. Of course we don't want to break them up, but it is at least good to see that Cristal is willing to do whatever is needed to come to church.

Well, that is all I can really think of to share about our week. I can't even think of any funny stories to share... never mind.

I hope you all have a good week!!

Love you all!!!

Elder Zach Mitchell

Monday 3 February 2014

Hi Everyone!!!

So this week is moves week!... No news yet, except we got an inside scoop that at least one person from every companionship in the zone will be moving so... 50/50 chance. I have a feeling I might move but I don't know. We will see. I will let you know as soon as I do.

This week was great! First I have to tell you about Justin. He is just amazing! So he came to church on sunday, he stayed for the full three hours. He loved Gospel Principles and Priesthood, and asked lots of good questions afterwards. The best thing is though, that he got up and bore his testimony in sacrament! It was only simple, he didn't say too much, but it was very thoughtful and he simply said that he feels joining the church is the right path, that it feels right, which made me so happy to hear!! And he called us last night as well, just with a few questions, nothing major, just asking about our opinion on happiness, and how we can find the most happiness. So Justin is doing really well.

We haven't been able to see our investigators Cristal or Ben this week, they both had to cancel due to not feeling well or work meetings, but we should be seeing them again this week.

We also got back in contact with Paul. He has just been really busy, but we are seeing him on thursday which is really good.

Well tonight we should find out about moves. I'm not sure what is going to happen. Normally I have always worked out in my head at least what I think will happen but this time I have no idea. I will let you know as soon as I know though.

It would be sad if I left Addlestone, it is an amazing ward and I love it here. The members are just great and I love each of them. Either way, it will be sad to lose Elder Tidwell, but I guess he needs to see how other missionaries work. He can't stick with me his whole mission haha!

Well I had better wrap this up.

I love you all!

Elder Zach Mitchell

A bit later in the day we got this:

Hey everyone!

So just to let you know, we got moves calls earlier then we expected, so just letting you know what is going on.

First of all.... Elder Tidwell is.... staying in Woking. Which means.... I'm moving. So I am going to an area called Sutton. I haven't been told which ward it is in, but I think it is Epsom, from what I can work out from LDS maps anyway, but I have no idea because our District Leader didn't tell us, and the Zone Leaders didn't tell him either. I will let you know once I know though.

So my new companion is an Elder Oleson. I'm not sure where he is from yet. And Elder Tidwell is getting an Elder Sorenson, who I have served around before, and he is a great guy.

Love you all!

Elder Zach Mitchell

I just realised.... that means I'll be in the same stake as Uncle Alec! Do you know if they have a Stake Conference soon?