God's Children

This week has been great--we have spent a lot of time on the streets talking with God's children about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We hope to have more teaching opportunities as a result of our efforts, but we've not been seeing so much fruit just yet. Hopefully we will in this coming week.

We met a lovely guy named Paul the other day who was baptised a few years ago but fell out of the habit of coming to church due to working on Sundays. He really wants to come back because he knows he was happier when he was living the gospel more fully in his life, and so we hope to be able to help him to make the change.

It was a bit weird not having Carly around this week, but I'm sure she had a great time in Vegas. We'll hear all about it tomorrow when she gets back.

The church is releasing video for Christmas this year called "He is the Gift"--it will be on christmas.mormon.org and we're going to be using it a ton in the next month or so. It will be good.

I'm so glad to be a part of the Lord's glorious work of Salvation.

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

Chest Infection

Pictures!

1- Mom asked for some pictures of me looking like a missionary in England--I hope these are good enough. I hope the raincoat and brick houses are enough to make it look like England.

2- This is me with some other missionaries after a Zone Meeting that we had last week.

This week I was a bit sick--they call it a chest infection over here but I think its the same thing as bronchitis. Anyway, that wasn't really that fun. That should be all gone now so this week we should be able to work a lot harder than last week and find some really incredible people to teach.

The family we started to teach last week that we were so excited about said they're not really going to be able to have us over anymore, because they're too busy--that made us very sad.

Carly is still doing great, she came with us to teach one of our other investigators this week! That was cool. She's off to Vegas this week and is excited to go to the temple and to church with Aunt Jean! I'm sort of jealous that she's going to get to go to church in an actual chapel while we're still meeting in a school over here.

While resting this week I was able to read a lot of Jesus the Christ by James Talmage and I have been very glad to get to know more about the life of the Saviour. He is our perfect example, and I hope that each of us can do our best to follow Him.

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

The Swindon Missionary Team

1. Carly's Baptism!

2. District p-day mini-golf. Pretty much one of the best p-days ever.

3. The Swindon Missionary team! Funny enough, there are only two Americans in this picture--we are a diverse group. Last week we had transfers and we lost Elder Nickerson (the Elder furthest to the right) because he got his visa and went to his assigned mission, in Texas, and we gained Elder Smith, from Montego Bay, Jamaica. He is awesome.

Carly's baptism service was incredible. We put a lot of time into planning and making sure that the members were there and were involved. It was so worth it. Because the chapel here in Swindon is closed, we had to go to Yate, a town just north of Bristol, to use the baptismal font there. There were really good talks given by ward members on Baptism and on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm not sure how to express just how great it really was. Basically, the Spirit was there. I feel like that's almost all I can say.

We decided that being able to teach Carly in member's homes has been so great that we should just knock on tons of doors nearby where the members in our area live, so that they will be close to the members and we can teach in members homes. The members have enjoyed it too. We had a lesson on missionary work in priesthood meeting yesterday, and the fathers of both families who had us teach in their homes commented on what a good experience it was. Hopefully all the other members were listening and will want to have us teach in their homes now too! We are also going to have Carly come with us to visit some of our other investigators. It is going to be awesome.

Yesterday we had a really good first lesson with a family we met. Louise, Keiran, and Tina. They seem to really be seeking the truth. Hopefully there will be more on them to come.

The work of the Lord is truly amazing, I am so glad to be a part of it. I hope that you all have an incredible week and that you will be able to find opportunities to serve.

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

The Joy of Missionary Work

This Saturday will be Carly's baptism! She passed her interview after Stake Conference yesterday, and a few hours later she finished reading The Book of Mormon. Don't worry, she intends on continuing to read it, over and over.

I've see the joy of sharing the Gospel this week not just here, but I have also had the opportunity to give phone calls to some of the people who I taught in past areas. Last Monday I got to talk to Julie in Rugby and she told me about her calling helping plan Relief Society activities, how she loves getting her Ensign every month, etc. It was great. On Saturday I gave Alex Watkins a call for his 14th birthday! He is doing great as well. Last week he went with the youth in the ward to do baptisms for the dead in the Preston Temple (he told me that he felt the Holy Ghost when he was there), and this coming week he will be ordained a Teacher.

I am so happy for the difference that I have been able to make in people's lives. The gospel has continued to change me, as well, and I am so grateful for the Doctrine of Jesus Christ which not only allows us but helps us to be forgiven and change.

I love you all so much and miss you too. I hope you have an incredible week.

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

Missionary Work, of Course

We haven't had too many people to teach, but Carly has continued to amaze us. She came to church again yesterday, and brought her daughter with her this time too. She is still working toward being baptised the 8th of November. I had a really awesome conversation with Carly the other night about how as she continues to keep more the commandments she will be able to feel more and more the spirit she has felt as she has read The Book of Mormon and come to church. And once she is baptised she will be able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and have that with her all the time.

One of the missionaries in our ward here will be flying to Provo this week so that he can go to the MTC and then move on to his assigned mission, which is in Texas. He is an English Elder who was just here temporarily, waiting for his visa to come. We're not sure if they are going to bring in another elder to replace him right away, or if his companion will be but in a threesome for a week with us (three of all together trying to cover the appointments for both proselyting areas--could be crazy!) until transfers next week. We'll see what happens!

This week I began studying patience. It is so awesome. I learned that continually being faithful to the commandments of God and accepting His will and His timing is demonstrating patience. Remember, God is good.

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

Converted by the Spirit

Our friend Carly who told us upon first opening her door that she would "tell us all the reasons she would never join our church" has quickly become one of the most incredible and full-of-the-spirit people who I have taught on my mission. She has been converted through reading The Book of Mormon. She just absolutely loves the book. The more she has read it and felt the spirit, the more she has changed. She now has the goal of being baptised on the 8th of November. We really hope we can help her to make it. Yesterday she came to church and absolutely loved it. The ward here is incredible too, we didn't have to do anything once we got her in the doors--there were members coming up and talking her, sitting with her, taking her to the different classes, it was so awesome. Yesterday after church she was trying to describe how she felt, being so full of the spirit. She said so correctly, "I don't even know to describe it. To put words to it would almost be to take away from it." I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost as it is present in my own life, and that I am able, as a missionary, to help other people to experience the great peace that comes from living the Gospel.

I hope that we all continue to do all we can to have the presence of the Holy Ghost in our lives always.

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen

God is Good

This week we had our interviews with the mission President. That was a good experience. I had the extra opportunity of being able to have an interview to renew my temple recommend. The first two questions asked relate to our belief In God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Saviour. These questions touched my heart with such great power, I was nearly brought to tears. I realised that during the last year and a half of serving the Lord full time, my knowledge of and closeness to the Father and the Son seem to have grown so very much. Regardless of how frustrating this work can be, I must always remember how good God really is.

We've been teaching the lady who said she would never join our church--her name is Carly. Its been an experience. She has been reading the Book of Mormon though, and I have great faith in the converting power of The Book of Mormon. So we'll see how this goes. Tomorrow evening we will have a lesson with her in a member's home. It will be awesome.

I hope you all have a really amazing week!

Love,

Elder Seth Poulsen