Stuff Here

The last week has been good! A few days were a bit rough, but overall it was good. We had some really cool experiences.

On Christmas we visited some people and sang to them and read scriptures. One member we visited gave us a referral! He said that after we left he prayed to know who we could share the message with, and this friends name came to his mind. Yesterday we went by and were able to set up an appointment with her! So I'll have to let you know how this works out.

We also had a really cool experience yesterday with a member couple who stopped coming to church about 10 years ago. We sang a few Hymns and watched the He is the Gift video, and we talked about our Savior Jesus Christ. They really felt the spirit. So did we. It was incredible.

Seeing you all on Christmas was awesome too. I really hope that I can do what the Lord wants me to do here in Newport--meet the people He wants me to and serve the people who I need to serve. I'm definitely here for a reason, because we know that "all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things" (2 Nephi 2:24).

I hope you all have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

Wales!!!/Skype!!!

I got transferred back to Wales. It’s great here. We live next to a river. Anyway, I'll tell you more about it on Thursday when I talk to you!!! Today is actually not p-day this week, so I don't have too much time to write anyway. P-day is going to be Friday, which is a national holiday here (Boxing Day!). I've made arrangements so that I will be able to Skype you at about 6:30 or 7:00 here, which is about 10:30 or 11 there I believe. Hopefully the smoke will have cleared by then. I'll see your lovely faces in a few days!!!

Love,

Elder Poulsen

People

People here keep on cancelling appointments, not showing up for appointments, etc. Its pretty annoying. Its ok though, we still love them because they are all children of God. We're not too discouraged about it though, we'll just have to keep at it and we'll find the one. I might get transferred this week--that will be fun! Staying here would be great too, I love Swindon. I'm sure Carly will probably Facebook you sometime tonight or tomorrow to let you know what's going on.

After church this week I took some pictures with people. Here's another good one of me with my companion Elder Farrici (the rr is a rolled r sound and the "ci" at the end is pronounced "tsi") one with Carly's daughter Maddisyn (so that when she's a full-time missionary in 16 years, I can prove that I knew her when she was 3), and with my ward mission leader Brother Smutek (he said his hair is white for the same reason that Moses' hair was white). The idea of leaving here is sad because I love it here and I love so many of the people here, but going somewhere new could be exciting too. I hope that wherever I am, I can continue to serve God's children and help them to receive the gospel. Being a missionary is great. I highly recommend it.

I want to share a simple yet lovely insight that I had while reading the scriptures on Saturday morning. These are the verses I was reading, from John chapter 15:

 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

So first, Jesus says that we should love each other in the same way in which He loves us. Directly afterward, he clarifies that the way in which he has loved us is by giving up his life for us. So basically, we need to give up our lives for one another. In most cases, this probably doesn't mean dying for each other. Its more along the lines of what President Monson said in October 2009 General Conference: "unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives." I hope that this was insightful, and I hope that you were able to feel the same spirit that I felt when I read these verses.

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

It's Cold Here

On Saturday morning we were sliding around in the frost on the road on our bikes. It was fun.

There hasn't been anything too incredibly exciting going on here, we're just chugging along, doing the work. We had one new investigator, Lou, last week, and we will teach him again tonight. Hopefully it will go well!

We had a pretty cool experience on Saturday morning (after we were sliding around)--we were in the town centre talking to people while we were waiting for someone who was supposed to meet us outside of a shop there. I approached a guy who was walking rather swiftly by just giving him a pass-along card. When he realised who we were he told us he downloaded the Book of Mormon so he could read it, and he totally accepts it as scripture! We were so excited. He lives out of our area though, the other set of Elders here in Swindon will be teaching him with a member tonight though.

Fast Sunday yesterday was great, I love feeling the sweet spirit of people's testimonies. God is so good.

I hope you all have an incredible week!

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

He Is The Gift!

Check this out!

christmas.mormon.org

You may have seen this already, but watching it again certainly won't hurt--its great! Be sure to share is with all your friends too.

All the missionaries in the world have been given special pass along cards to share this video with everybody, we're pretty excited about it. We hope to see some really incredible things happen because of it.

Carly is back! She loved the temple so much. She has also become a missionary herself! She's working on inviting her friends to meet with us and she went to church this week with someone the other missionaries here are teaching so she could show her how to get there.

We've had some disappointments this week with things not working out the way that we wished they would, but that's no matter, we press on. Hopefully there will be some amazing miracles this week as we labor in the vineyard of the Lord!

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen