Sightseeing and The Work of The Lord

We went to Gloucester Cathedral again--pretty awesome.

1. Harry Potter Walked these halls

2. This is me learning that spell that makes feathers float (and sometimes troll clubs)

3. I feel like this looks pretty cool.

4. How do I get them to let me play this?

5. This is pretty cool also.

6. Look familiar?

7. Missionary wardrobe: Ties, Suit, suit, trousers, trousers, trousers, white shirt, white shirt, white shirt, white shirt, white shirt, white shirt, white shirt, white shirt and there's a blue hoodie over there in the corner. Don't worry, I don't proselyte in that.

8-9. Gadsfield Elm: This is me at the first LDS chapel in the world! That right, it wasn't in Salt Lake or anywhere else. It was here in England. Basically what happened was Wilford Woodruff baptized this whole congregation so they gave the church their chapel. I believe they later sold it so they had money to make the trek to Zion. He baptized an estimated 4800 British saints total. He talks about it in that book we have witth excerpts from Wilford Woodruff's journal. I just found out this last week how close it is to my area haha. Also it was members of my ward that saw it for sale a few decades ago, formed a trust to buy it (at the time the church didn't want to pay for it), paid for it to be restored and the broken parts rebuilt, and then deeded it back over to the church. Pretty awesome! Unfortunately I wasn't wearing proper missionary clothing because we were there doing a service project. So I don't look as cool as I could have. But then again it was really hot that day so I was glad to be in a t-shirt and shorts. I don't know how you guys are still alive there. You must be melting. Regardless, it was a really cool experience to be there.

Well all that sightseeing and stuff was grand and all, but it was nothing compared to doing the work of the Lord this week. That was what was truly amazing. We got to help David make a lot of progress in understanding the spirit and having faith. Our friend Jessica is making leaps and bounds toward baptism. She went to a relief society activity on Friday and absolutely loved it--she is so full of the spirit. She is also getting on really well with Jenny, who was baptized in April, which is really good for both of them. On Saturday we taught her the Word of Wisdom (after she spent 20 minutes telling us about how amazing the relief society activity was, how thankful she is to have God in her life more, etc). We basically just pulled out the Word of Wisdom pamphlets we have and read the first two pages together. Then we asked, "do you see yourself having any problems in following this?"

"No, not at all" she replied. I was sort of worried/confused for a second. In my mind I was thinking "wait a minute--I have seen you drink AND smoke." But she was totally serious. She said she will have not problem in never doing any of it ever again. She and Jenny (who we had at the lesson with us because she overcame a WoW problem herself) talked about how having the spirit of God in your life is so much more amazing and fulfilling than drinking alcohol, etc. Oh my goodness it was amazing. The miracles of the Lord are great. And when her mother gets back from being at her brother's funeral in Jamaica, she will see the amazing things the Lord can do in changing the hearts and desires of people, and her faith will grow that God can do the same for her. The work is so good. God is so Good. 

As to that missionary broadcast...I haven't gotten to see it yet but I will sometime. We did get an email from the president quoting the part about using facebook etc. Who would have thought that I would not use facebook before my mission, but then on my mission I would haha. They will be phasing it all in slowly, so we don't know when exactly we will begin all that fancy new stuff though--but since it will be phased in over the next year I'll be using it before the end of my mission. 

Jesus Loves You. So do I. 

Elder Poulsen.  

ps. we find out about transfers tonight. Scary!