Bold As A Lion

Hiya guys!

It sounds like this last week has been pretty exciting for all of you. Congrats, Adam on going to Regionals for wrestling. That's really cool. And Happy (late) Birthday! I meant to put that in my email last week, but I think I was so excited to tell you guys about everything else that I forgot. Oops. Sorry! Love you though! :) That's really cool for Sam as well, that he is the 1st Assistant. It's interesting how all of these seemingly small callings that we get as youth really help us to prepare for missions. I've come to realize since I have been on my mission that the callings of President and counselor when I was in YW has helped me to prepare to be a leader on my mission. Maybe on your mission, Sam, you will be the Assistant to the President! :) I'm glad that Daddy will be home for Christmas so that I can talk to all of you guys! By the way, because the time difference is like 8 hours, so if I call at 12pm your time on Christmas day, will that work for you guys? I am so excited to be able to actually talk to all of you on the phone! After Christmas I will only get to do that one more time! It's crazy how fast the time goes by.

Anyway, so I can't wait to go to the temple! I am so excited! It's been so long, and I really miss going! Luckily, next Thursday is the day!!! :) Our flat in Purley is nice. It has carpet instead of laminate like the Bracknell flat. They are about the same size, but they were both good. This is a newer missionary flat, so it doesn't have loads of stuff in it from the previous missionaries, so that is really nice. Thanks for sending the Christmas package! It should be waiting for me at the temple by the time I get there next week, so I am excited! :)

So, this past week in Purley has been average. We had a good teaching week, but once again, no investigators at church and no one is progressing. We are working on finding new people to teach the gospel to who are prepared to hear it. We are praying every day that Heavenly Father will help us to find the people that he has prepared to receive the message that we share. Since Isaac was baptized, we have fallen into a rut, and we need to get out of it. So, we are making plans and setting goals to be better missionaries and to be more BOLD! In the Bible, in Proverbs 28:1 it says, "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion." We have to be bold and talk to as many people as we possibly can every single day in order to make the work hasten here in this area. It is a good area with a lot of potential, we just have to find it! And we will! But that scripture not only applies to us as missionaries but to the member missionaries as well. Don't be afraid. The worst they can do is say no. That's it. So just do it. :)

Not much happened this last week, so there isn't a lot to talk about, but next week will hopefully be full of things to tell you guys! I'm glad that you are all doing well, and it's great to hear from you. I'm excited to find out what this week holds for all of you. I love you all, and pray for you every day! Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Connery

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey everyone!

It sounds like you guys had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Everyone had a lot of fun it seems, and there were big parties going on! We did have a really good Thanksgiving with the Tucker's (the American family). It was a lot of fun, and the food was great as well! It was a first for my companion as she has never even heard of Thanksgiving, so it was fun for her too. So, Temple Square at Thanksgiving! That's fun too! I actually met someone the other day who served her mission at temple square, and she loved it! But being in the field is such a privilege as well. I don't know which one I would rather do. They are both great options. We got to go to the temple last night with some investigators because they were turning on the Christmas lights and the Nativity at the London Temple Visitor's Centre on the temple grounds, and it was so lovely! Seeing the temple lit up at night was just beautiful! I can't wait to go inside this month for our Christmas visit! Just like you said, the Spirit is so strong at the temple! It's nearly impossible not to feel it there! It brings tears of joy to your eyes, Mama. My eyes too! :)

So, yes, Isaac got baptized and he was confirmed yesterday! It was great, and we are really happy! So is he! As a missionary, you worry a little about how well your converts will do after you go. You worry about them staying active, and it's hard, but I am not worried about Isaac. He is doing great! He loves the Church, he loves the gospel, and most importantly, he loves the Saviour, Jesus Christ. He has lots of good friends in the Church, and he is doing so well already! He will be just fine.

To answer your questions, we get to see President Millar at least once every transfer. Every other transfer we have interviews with him for a few minutes, but we don't see him a lot necessarily. I've seen him a lot this last transfer and this transfer so far as well, but once all the hustle and bustle is over then it will become less frequent that we see him. We had zone conference the other day, and Elder Tiexeira, the Europe Area President, was there and he spoke to us and gave us some more training! It was such a great conference! He shook hands and talked with us afterwards as well, so it was a great privilege.

Yes, we have started teaching the couple that came to church, and they actually were the investigators that we took to the temple lights last night, so they are doing good. She was really interested in the idea of eternal marriage, so we hope and pray that there will be good progress there!

Sister Oriaku and I are doing okay. (I have to be careful what I write because she is sitting next to me, and we can see each others' screens!) We still have fights (sometimes we can't go one day without fighting about something), but we are getting better at working it out, and it all comes together in the end so it's not too bad right now. We are okay.

So, I've already told you what has pretty much happened this week. Isaac got confirmed and we had zone conference, and that is most of the exciting news this week. We had 0 investigators at church yesterday, but we had 10 less actives there that we are currently working with so that was great! Not much else to report on this week so we'll see about next week.

I hope you guys have a great week and that everything  goes well! I pray for you all (by name) every day, and I love and miss you all! Have a wonderful week! Love you!

Love,
Sister Connery

Thanksgiving at the Tuckers

This is Elder Nielson (our district leader) and Elder Douglas; they're both from Utah

ISAAC GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!!

Hiya!

We are rejoicing here in Purley! I'll tell you why in a minute, but let me reply to the other stuff first. I am quite jealous of Grace as I am having to miss seeing Catching Fire. I keep seeing buses go by with the posters on it, and I want to see it so bad! But, this is a once in a lifetime experience, while Catching Fire will still be there when I get back, so I can wait. There is an American family here in the ward who is feeding all of the American missionaries for Thanksgiving, so that should be fun. :)

It's been absolutely crazy this week! We have been so busy with appointments and traveling, interviews, etc. We had interviews with President Millar, and it was great! I love interviews because they give you a chance to talk to him one on one and get advice and help with things. It's great! And we had four investigators at church yesterday! It was fantastic! Two of them have been to church before so it wasn't new to them, but a man we met on the street a few weeks ago came to church as well, and he brought his wife! It was a total surprise because he texted us on Saturday night and wanted to know the address of the church and the time. Then he actually came and brought his wife with him. They really enjoyed it and want to come again next week! We have never actually gotten to meet with him or see him since we met him back in October, but he came! We were pretty excited! And the most exciting news of the week...ISAAC GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!! It was Sister Oriaku's first baptism, and we were so happy! He was prepared to hear the gospel and accept the teachings. Now, he has been baptized and has entered the fold. I love being a missionary for this reason. Not to just have baptisms and baptize everyone in England but to see the people that you love and care about make changes in their lives that will bring about repentance and strengthen their faith in the Savior. Our faith is strengthened as well. We have helped someone come unto Jesus Christ and get on the path that will lead him back to live with his Father in Heaven. It is such a great blessing and privilege to be a missionary! I know it, I live it, I love it!

That's all the exciting news for this week, but it certainly was exciting! I'm glad that things are going well for all of you at home. I hope and pray that you guys have a great week! I miss you and love you guys lots!!!

Love,
Sister Connery

Sister Oriaku and I - we were really happy, can you tell?!

Brother William Poku-Obeng (from Ghana) who baptized Isaac and Isaac next to him with the crutches

My companion and I and Isaac (our first of hopefully many baptisms together!)

Christmas Mailing

Dear Family and Friends,

We are so excited to be serving here with your sons and daughters.  We love each and every one of them.  They are so amazing and are outstanding examples for the Church here in England.  Thank you for the wonderful job you have done in raising such wonderful young people.  We had a reporter ask us recently how you get young people like them, and we told them it was because they have such wonderful families at home who taught them to revere the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are already anticipating the Christmas season.  We are hoping to have a wonderful celebration with our missionaries.  In addition, we know that you will want to send Christmas gifts to your children.  Could you please send all packages to the Mission Office?  In the past, some of our missionaries received their gifts at their apartment.  Unfortunately for some, once the postman left the package, someone came by and stole everything.  More than one returned to their flat to find an empty box sitting in front of their door.  By sending your parcels to the Mission Office, someone will always be there to receive it and place it in a secure location.  We shall distribute the packages throughout the mission, and they will receive them in their assigned areas sometime before Christmas. 

The office address is: 

England London South Mission

The London Temple

West Park Road,

Newchapel, Surrey 

RH7 6NB

England

When mailing a package from North America, please indicate the value of the package as less than $40.00.  This is so the missionaries won’t have to pay 20% Value Added plus custom charges.

Thank you so very much for all your sacrifices.  We love you very much and enjoy our association with you as parents.  May God bless you.

Sincerely,

England London South Mission Office Staff

Pretty Legit

Hi everyone!

So, not much new here. We have entered the Christmas transfer! I am so excited to be able to go back to the temple! I miss it so much! Take note if you go on a mission: go to the temple as much as you possibly can before you leave because you will miss the temple so much! Just more advice for the future missionaries. Sister Ball returned home this last week. Her 18 months has come to an end, and she was so sad to be going home! I am going to miss her loads! Thankfully, she doesn't live too far so it won't be hard to see her when I get home. She was able to get permission to call and talk to me one last time before she left. I was so happy to hear from her!

Something cool happened last week that I forgot to tell you guys. Last week at church, I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting and all of the missionaries sang in Sacrament meeting as well. That's not the cool part. The cool part was that out of the six missionaries that serve in the ward, we had three less actives and five non-members at church! That was super cool! Another cool thing was that Shawn Bradley came to church too! Shawn is a former NBA player who is over 7 feet tall and had a role in the movie Space Jam. Google him to learn more. It was pretty legit, though. The Elders' were all sorts of excited. haha.

Other than that, life as a missionary is normal. We're just preaching the gospel to the people of England! I love it! How great is my calling! (That's a statement, not a question!) It truly is a privilege to be here serving a mission for Heavenly Father. I am truly grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve a mission! Thank you for letting me be here!

I hope that this week brings less excitement for you guys. lol. I pray for you always, and I love you guys so much! Have a fantastic week! :)

Love,
Sister Connery

Quality Over Quantity

Hi everyone!

So transfers are this week (today actually), however, nothing has changed with us. Sister Oriaku and I are both staying here in Purley! It's good because there is a lot going on in the area, and we should be having a baptism in a week and a half! :) It's really exciting! The work is going forth super quick here! We're praying that this next transfer will be super successful!

We haven't been teaching as many lessons as usual this past week, but we feel that the quality of our teaching is a lot better. Quality over quantity is our motto! We're here to prepare people for baptism to be able to enter the kingdom of God! I really think that the best part of our week was Sunday. It was such a great day! First of all, I had to give a talk in sacrament meeting (about the wisdom of performing service as good citizens), and then all the missionaries in our ward sang 'Joseph Smith's First Prayer' (there are six of us, four Elders and us, all in one ward!). We also had three investigators and two less actives at church! It was great! They all really enjoyed it, and it was such a successful week for us! It's amazing what you can do when you have the Lord on your side!

We are currently still preparing Isaac for baptism. He is absolutely golden! He is doing so well, and he has definitely been prepared to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. That is one of the best parts of being a missionary, being able to see these people make the steps to come unto Christ. It's such a testimony builder for me.

We also had a visit with a dentist on Tuesday. (It always seems that either me or my companions always have some type of medical problem...) Anyway, Sister Oriaku has been having a toothache for the past few weeks. It was really bad this last week, so we called our mission president and he said to go to the dentist. But before that, last week I took a look inside her mouth, and with the knowledge of the mouth that I have (from you, Mama), I was able to determine that her wisdom teeth were coming in. So, yesterday when we went to the dentist, they took a look and confirmed exactly what I had told her last week. Indeed her wisdom teeth are coming in. So, we'll see what President Millar wants us to do about that one.

But all is good here! Still loving it! My mission mum, Sister Ball, is going back to Idaho today! :( Her mission has ended, and she has to return now. I am really going to miss her, but thankfully she doesn't live too far from home and I'll see her in a year! Keep up the great work that you are all doing at work, school, play and especially at church! I love you guys lots, and I can't wait to hear what you've been up to! Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Connery

Exciting News

Hey everyone!

How's it going? It does sound like you have had a kinda boring week, but that's okay, because my week has been pretty exciting! We have a baptismal date! One of our investigators, Isaac, has a baptismal date for the 23rd of this month! He is progressing so well and has been prepared by the Lord! Hooray! That's the only exciting thing that happened this week but that's okay, because it is so exciting!

So, ideas for Christmas. I will need a new journal so you could send me one of those. It doesn't have to be the same one that I have now, so just pick one that you think I will like. I'm good on clothes so don't worry about that. I honestly can't think of things that I need. Part of the problem is that every time you move you have to haul around all of your stuff, and I already have a lot. But get creative! It'll be great!

Thanks for all of the love and prayers! Heavenly Father does answer them because I am feeling the blessings from your fervent prayers for me, so thank you so much! I love you guys and pray for you always!

Love,
Sister Connery

Mormon Champagne! haha! We had this at a dinner appointment with a member and she has dubbed it "Mormon Champagne". It's just sparkling juice though. lol. :)