Hey Momma,

 

I'm glad you got the call from Brother Dowling!  I told him to ask if he could talk to Remy, cause I thought that he'd like to talk to her, but it sounds like he said something else.  Oh well.  I did tell him to tell you that I love you.  And he's lying about Tuesday.  I refuse to say chooseday.

 

Yeah, I'm in the same stake as him.  It's all part of Lichfield Stake.  I'm at the farthest west that I could be in the stake boundaries, and Tamworth is like an hour's drive ish from Wolverhampton.

 

Conference was so sick!  You should be really really excited about Priesthood session.  It was probably my favorite so far.  I haven't listened to the last session of conference, but I will soon.  Probably my favorite talk was Elder Holland's.  Surprise, surprise.  I think he should share Brother Brigham's nickname.  I think Elder Holland is a great Lion of the Lord.  He's just the man.  Period.  But I loved all of conference.  It was all good.  I was hoping a little bit that they would announce a temple in Birmingham, but alas, it's not meant to be. Yet.

 

The week was good.  Strange, but good.  The zone leaders had to move this week, and had to be out by Friday afternoon, so they called us on Thursday morning and asked if we could come help.  When we got there, they had done close to nothing, so we stayed there all day and helped them clean and get things sorted.  They bought us McDonalds.  Which is good because McDonalds Monopoly is on right now and I'm tired of waiting for an iPad so I'm just going to win one instead.  Or a Mini Cooper.  Either way.  I also went on a really really good exchange with Elder Turney who is one of the zone leaders.  He's a really good guy, and we had a good talk.  His Dad has an unreal past.  He spent something like fifteen years in prison for pretty much everything except rape or murder.  People in the slums of London apparently still know his name, and are pretty scared of him.  But he came out of prison, went to rehab for his drug problems, fell in love with one of the girls helping him, who was a less-active member, and then married her.  A few years later her granddad sent the missionaries over and his dad got baptized and his mom was reactivated.  Since then, he's served as a bishop and has done all sorts of drug-related inspirational firesides and he's like the head of the addiction recovery in the UK or Europe or something.  Really really cool.  Apparently he's written a bunch of books.  Look up Bob Turney.  I bet they're some dang cool books. It might be Robert Turney, but look up like Bob Turney LDS or something.  I'm sure you'll find him.

 

Not much happened this week.  Sad news: Matt and Hailey texted us and told us they didn't think that this was the time for them in their lives.  I think they thought that if we came over than we'd just persuade them to join our religion.  Good news: I had a really strong feeling when Elder Bednar was speaking that I should leave like a box on their doorstep with all our materials and just explain that I know that it could really benefit them in their lives, and just bear testimony and tell them I know they're supposed to be sealed as a family in the temple.  Because I do.  That's the coolest thing.  So I hope that my prompting will punch them in the face with the Spirit.  Pray for that.  Maybe use better words.

 

Our Indian Pharmacist is still really cool, but he hasn't gotten his answer, so nothing is really happening.  We've taught him the big three lessons, but I really don't think that teaching him about the Law of Chastity or Tithing or the Word of Wisdom will help him right now.  He needs to know that God exists and loves him before any of that even remotely matters.  We're going to try and help him stop smoking.  It'll be good.

 

Why on earth didn't you let the boy just puke in your rubbish bin?  Haha, "when I decided he wasn't lying.."  I think the rule on that is just believe him the first time.. always.  Unless you want him to ralph on your shirt.

 

The challenges are kind of dwindling.  We got a bit behind, and then saw that the sisters in Wylde Green had done every challenge and gotten every bonus point, which meant that we couldn't do anything to win, so we just stopped.  The challenge was to have a thumb war with some one on the street, and I doubt we'll do it.  We've lost.  Wah wah.

 

Most of the trees are in bloom, and now it's started to rain again.  Usual.  Oh well.  Life's good now.

 

I remember seeing some real dog-poop cleaning services advertised at the vet when we went last.  I bet you could get some one that would actually do it instead of the little boys that never did it.  Then you wouldn't have to clean anything up, and Hank could poop to his heart's content.  Which is probably a lot.  I miss having a dog.  I would love to have him over here with me. Alas, no pets.  Although, at the moment we have a pet spider.  We feed him flies.  The mission does weird things to you.  I'm going to be like the birdman of Alcatraz when I get released.

 

I went suit shopping and I found one that I liked, but they only had it in one size too small for me.  I was majorly disappointed, because I was set on buying one that day, and then after I had decided on that one, all the other suits paled in comparison, so I just gave up that day.  It'll happen eventually.  Stop worrying about it.

 

I think I'll be getting transferred out of Wolverhampton after this transfer.  I think they'll have Elder Baker die here.  (Finish his mission here.)  President basically only lets the APs choose their last area after they're done being APs, and only if it's an area that's struggling, and they have to train a new missionary or get a really dead companion.  I'd love to go back to Tamworth at the end of my mission though.  I think that would be amazing.  I'm hoping that if I move this next transfer that I go somewhere either far in the east or far in the west.  So either Lincoln, or Nottingham, or Cardiff or Pontypridd in Wales.  I want to get out of the flippin Midlands.  That's all I've seen of my mission so far.  A change of scenery wont hurt either.  It's easier to step up more if you get moved.  And that's what I want to do.  We'll see what happens though.

 

Life is good right now though, and I think I have a clear mind for the first time in a long time.  I don't have to worry about anyone other than my investigators and the Lord, and really I think that means I only have to worry about my investigators.  I've been thinking a little about my life as well, and I've been thinking about a few things.  I'm not sure about what I want to do when I'm older, but I know it's going to require a lot of math and science.  My original plan is to do aerospace engineering and help design planes or parts of planes.  But I've been thinking a lot about brains as well, and how cool I think they are.  So Neuroscience sounds interesting to me.  The other weird thing that I've been thinking about is kind of in the middle of the two, and it's working on prosthetics.  I think it would be the coolest thing in the world to help design a hand that could be controlled with brain waves or help a deaf person hear for the first time in their life.  I really like the idea of making a difference in people's lives for the better.  I think that was what I loved most about the Philippines and regardless of what I end up doing in life, I hope I'll get the chance to do a lot more humanitarian aid.  That was amazing. Mom, I love the Philippines.  We should go over there and I'll show you the tiny village I was in while I was there.  Flip.  I'd go back to that in a heart beat.

 

The goal this week is to find three new investigators.  Pray for that.  Uncle Steve told me that at the end of his mission his mission was baptizing 1500 a month with 80 missionaries.  That's unreal. Our mission is doing really really well to get like 50 or 60 a month, and we have almost 300 missionaries.  I don't think England and Mexico are very similar.  Haha, oh well.  Three investigators is what we want by the end of the week.  I think we can do that.

 

Anyways.  I should probably write to some other people.

 

I love you Mom!

See you in a bit!

 

Love,

Elder Smart