Looking for the Muffin Man

Well, this week has been awesome. I've even got some pictures. 

1. Do you know the muffin man? This is in town here. I actually took this picture ages ago, so I don't know if I sent it yet. Even if I did, its still funny. 

2. This is some crazy Albanian soup that Elder Myrtaj made for us. It was super tasty.

3. Jan's baptism!!! It was so amazing. Possibly the most spiritually powerful baptismal service I have been to on my mission. It was so amazing to see Jan get baptized, its been a long journey for her. The member that baptized her is a guy who was just baptized himself about 4 years ago and he came to a lot of the lessons we had with her. It’s been a long journey for Jan. An older member of the ward who came to the baptism said that he remembered Jan coming to church decades ago as a teenager. (Funny enough, she may have been coming along to church with her foster family back around the time that Reed Van Wagenen was serving here) But she didn't believe it then. She does now. 

    After the baptism we were in the hallway talking to one of our investigators who came to see the baptism. He said that he has been with some different churches over time. Jan came up and said, "Ya, I used to be with another church, but this is the true church" 

     What an amazing, powerful, testimony. 

     As I sat in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, my joy was full. Julie was there as she has been for the past three months, sitting with members she has become friends with. Jan was there and was confirmed a member of the church by Elder Myrtaj, and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Nigel, another one of our investigators was there, preparing to be baptised in the coming weeks. And Peter, who we just met on saturday, was there, also absolutely loving the service. We have been blessed with such great miracles in the work here. I hope that it can continue to progress as the members get more involved as well, bringing their friends along and everything. God is so good. 

     I hope you all have an amazing week, full of the spirit. 

Love, 

Elder Poulsen

What a Week!

Its been good. A few mornings ago I tried to stop a young man so I could talk with him about the gospel. He did not stop, but rather he kept walking, stating that he was starving, and really needed to go get his breakfast. In the moments afterwards I reflected on the experience, I drew a parallel between this young man and Esau in the Old Testament, who sold his birthright for a bowl of pottage. Similarly, this young man denied the opportunity to learn about the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that he could satiate his hunger. What great blessings he is missing! One day he'll get another chance, and I sure hope he takes it. 

The other day we were able to watch "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of The Restoration" with a few of our investigators. Jan in particular was amazed by the great sacrifices the early saints made, changing their lives as a result of the prophetic council which they received. I was able to let her know that the steps she has taken to change her life including praying often, keeping the word of wisdom, and constantly studying the scriptures are comparable to the sacrifices made by the early saints. And we know that when we keep the commandments of the Lord, we are blessed. Jan passed her baptismal interview on Saturday, and she will be baptised this coming Saturday on the 8th of March. 

Well, anyway, as you can tell God is awesome and this is His work we're doing out here and it is pressing forward. I just read an awesome talk by M. Russell Ballard called "Trust in the Lord" from last General Conference. It taught me that we should all pray for missionary opportunities and then listen for the Holy Spirit giving us guidance as to what missionary actions we should take, intending to act on the revelation we receive. We will be given the comfort and strength to do these things. 

Have an amazing week everybody. 

Love, 

Elder Poulsen

Small World Moment

So about a month ago I had dinner with a couple in the ward here and upon my mentioning that I was from Fresno area, they asked if I knew Reed Van Wagenen. I said yes, and they informed me that he, Terry Reynolds was taught the Gospel and later confirmed a member of the church by Elder Van Wagenen 30 years ago. Crazy how these connections can happen. Also crazy that I am laboring in the same area as someone who we know did decades ago. Anyway, I thought it would be cool if you could give Reed their email address so they could be in contact again.  

The work here is going so well. Jan, our miracle door knock find, will be interviewed for baptism this week and probably baptised the week after that (if not that one, the week after that). We have another awesome guy we started teaching this week, a friend of a member in the ward. 

One thing I have learned so much on my mission and I keep learning more and more about it even when I already think that I have already learned a lot about it is loving people, really trying to understand them and their point of view, their situation. Being patient with them. Explaining things in a way that they will understand. Seeing not the bad things about them but the good, and helping them to overcome their weaknesses without focusing too much on them. One Elder in my district taught me about how constructive it can be to use "and" statements in helping people. For example, "I think you are great at x, y and z, and you would be even better if you were to a, b, and c." Above all, I know that God is awesome, He loves us and wants us to be able to learn and become better, so we need to be humble and let Him teach us. Its so awesome! 

Love, 

Elder Seth Poulsen

Julie's Baptism

I unexpectedly had a notice on my screen come on that this computer is about to shut off real soon, so I have not time to write anything. The baptism of Julie went well this week, enjoy the pics. I can explain them more later. 

The other pic is us with a mini-missionary who was with us for a few days, the other one is a reunion of our MTC district, almost a year later. 

Elder Poulsen

*Elder Poulsen's answers to these questions:

Boone: Hey Seth. I am sad to have you not here but it makes me happier when I read your letters. So here is my question: Have you ever cried of joy or of sadness?

Elder Poulsen: Boone, I feel the same way. I am sad to not be with you, but I am always so glad to hear from you whether it be a letter, an email, a picture, or anything. I have cried many times in my life, both of joy an sadness. I think both have happened on my mission as well, as we have many sad and many happy things happen. For example, it is sad that there are so many people that don't want to listen to us teach them about the gospel, but then we also have amazing things happen like J, our friend who was able to overcome her addiction to alcohol and on Saturday she was baptized! 

David: Can it be fun at sometimes while being a missionary?

Elder Poulsen: David, being a missionary is fun all the time. Being a missionary is like going out and making great new friends, and then you can baptize them so you can be friends with them in the celestial kingdom forever. Its so awesome!  We definitely had tons of fun with Alex Watkins, who we taught when I was in Wales. We would play sports with him on p-day and stuff. And even on days where no one really wants to listen to you, you still always have your companion to laugh and joke around with. Its awesome! You also get to do fun stuff like ride your bikes down big hills, ride on trains and on double decker buses, and more. Its different depending on where you go on your mission, but that's some of the fun stuff we get to do here. Today after I'm done emailing, we're going to go play football (soccer) and table tennis with some other missionaries. Its going to be a blast!

Show message 

Alex's Question

The only person that had a question for me to answer was Alex, so I will go ahead and answer his question, about what the deal is with the people that we have on baptismal dates. 

J: She's getting baptised this week! She was interviewed by one of our Zone leaders on Saturday and so she is ready to go. At the same time I interviewed a lady that the sisters are teaching, and they are both going to be baptised on Saturday! Double baptism in Rugby. It's going to be awesome. Hopefully the Elders in Banbury who are also in our district will be getting some members to drive them and some of their investigators over to see the baptism so that they will be inspired and they will get baptised too!

J: This lady was a total miracle, I told you about that already. She is currently set to be baptised on 1 March but that probably won't happen because she hasn't been able to make it to church yet due to a family situation. But soon that should be resolved and she will come to church and be baptised! She's in Mosiah in The Book of Mormon.

M: Super awesome guy, he's a retired art teacher. He's the one Elder Eldredge and I were painting with a few weeks ago. He is Church of England but said he would be baptised on the 8th of March if he knew it was the right thing to do and if he had a witness that The Book of Mormon is true. 

G: Really sweet Filipino lady. We haven't seen her in almost a week now though, which isn't good. We've had a bit of a hard time getting a hold of her. She is set for baptism on the 8th of March, which will happen given we are able to help her understand everything she needs to by then (and she comes to church). 

Ya that's pretty much it. Other than that we are struggling a bit for more new investigators. We met this awesome Polish guy named Radek the other day. He said he was atheist. But he also admitted that he isn't really happy with his life, so hopefully his heart will be softened to the impressions of the  Holy Spirit. 

That's all for now, everyone have an amazing week and remember that the Lord is always preparing people to receive the message of the restored gospel. 

Love, 

Elder Seth Poulsen

*Mother's note:  I felt awful because Sunday night I had drafted an email with questions from his little brothers and somehow forgot to push send!

Write Questions to Me

I really have no idea what to write this week. I'm coming up completely dry. Maybe you guys can all write questions to me that you would like answered and I can answer them next week. Then I'll actually write more haha. 

The other day I was cycling and half of my bike lock fell off. I guess it broke. That's okay though, it was a cheap one that I found in my last flat. 

The work is going really well now, we now have 4 investigators with baptismal dates. Hopefully they will actually get baptised! Julie is coming back from alcohol rehab this week, so hopefully she will be baptised next weekend. That will be sooooo awesome! 

Just remember always that God is awesome. What is important to us is important to Him, because He loves us so very much. He is so Good. Never fail to appreciate all of the things He blesses us with. 

Love, 

Elder Poulsen

I Got Another One!

So this week I got...a new missionary! That's right, another one. Funny enough, my trainer Elder Chardon is training another new missionary too, and my firstborn Elder Thurgood just got transferred to the same district as Elder Chardon and the Elder he is now training. Furthermore, my new companion is Albanian. That's right, another one. I never would have guessed, when I came on my mission, that I would have a companion from Albania, and I certainly never would have guessed I would have two. Elder Lapi was the first to come in, and Elder Myrtaj (my new companion) is the fourth to come in to the mission. So I just need to serve with the other two and I will have served with all the Albanians in the mission!

1. Me and Elder Myrtaj (pronounced Muir-Thai with muir as in John Muir and Thai as in Asian people)

2. this is Elder Eldredge and I painting last p-day

3. my painting

Elder Myrtaj is so excited to be here, which is awesome. When I asked him how long he had to wait after he got his mission call, he told me in days. Also, he just turned 18 last June, while I was already on my mission. That's pretty crazy. Also it means that he is closer to Connor in age than he is to me...

Julie is doing well, she will be baptised sometime in the next few weeks. She has been to church for 6 weeks in a row now, which is totally awesome. 

When I went to the mission home to pick up Elder Myrtaj, I ran into Elder Debeikes, the Elder who replaced me in Llanelli, who was also picking up a new missionary to train. So I was able to hear about how the Watkins family is doing! Alex is still as awesome as ever, I actually got a letter from him too. He still passes the sacrament every week and still hasn't missed a week of church since before his baptism. His mum (and my adopted welsh mammy) Fran was finally able to have a much needed surgery this week and so her health should improve dramatically, enabling her to attend church each week. 

I hope all is well at home, and keep on going in the work of the Lord. 

Love, 

Elder Seth Poulsen