Wow, what a week!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 4:45 AM
Wednesday was pretty fun. We played some American and European football on a grassy area near the London Eye. We also saw Parliament. Obviously we couldn't go up next to it because it's across the river which is out of our mission, but it was still cool.
E. Martin and I across the river from Parliament
E. Harding and myself

My mission family - E. Gardner who trained E. McConkie who trained me and is now training my mission brother E. Herbertson
My district (E. Harding, E. Church, E. Martin, E. Warner)

I stayed the night in Peckham and worked with E. Talbot. It was a pretty sweet night and day there. We were fed a couple times. Wednesday night we were fed by some of his investigators a dish called coos coos (I have no idea how to spell it). I'm not sure where it came from but it was really good. Thursday we had lunch with some members from Jamaica. They made some amazing food too. It was a pasta with sauce, a couple veggies and...are you ready for this?? Shrimp! It wasn't too bad.
When I got back into Catford we taught James and had an amazing teach with him about the Plan of Salvation. He loved it. Friday was Zone Conference in Crawley. I was able to have a nice little reunion with E. McConkie and met my mission brother and my mission grandpa. Because of trains getting back we didn't get back in the area till about 8:30 so that was pretty much our day. Saturday we saw James again and we talked about the Book of Mormon. He loves it. It's interesting because he was brought up in another church and even studied to be a priest in it, but never was able to find answers about the bible and other things (i.e. Adam & eve). Then he met us, we introduced him to the Book of Mormon, and it has been answering questions that he's had for years that even some of the most learned men in other churches can't answer. It's really rewarding to see the Book of Mormon light up people's lives. Sunday was a special day. E. Martin and E. Church had a baptism before church. E. Martin volunteered us four to sing a musical number as part of the program. We sang Come thou fount of every blessing. I recorded it on my tape. I'll let you think of it what you will :-). President and Sister Swinton showed up at our ward and stayed for all three meetings. It was fun to see them again, even though we just saw them on Friday. We started teaching a man from Uganda named Isaac that night as well.
Monday was interesting because E. Church wasn't feeling too well so I held District Meeting in our flat with just the three of us while E. Church slept. We gave him a blessing and he's fine now, just a small stomach issue. E. Harding and I visited James and committed him to be baptized, but not for a date because we didn't get a chance to pray about it and he accepted. Afterwards we went to a member's house for dinner with Isaac and it turns out that they're both from the same part of Uganda so that connection is pretty cool.
Yesterday was amazing! We taught a lady named Angela and her son Torek which went well. It was a little different teaching a 9 yr old but I liked it. We saw Stacia as well and taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she liked it. We hurried and visited James after our Correlation with the Ward Mission Leader and committed him to be baptized on the 17th of August. That morning E. Harding and I prayed to know a date and as soon as we finished praying we both knew. James was excited for it and is now preparing for that day. Today is going to be a lax day. We’ll be staying in our area and hopefully I’ll be able to write some letters.....we'll see :-). I did attach some pictures, however. Sorry I don't have more. I haven't really been taking much. I'll try to do better. Anywho, I better wrap up. Hope all is well. I look forward to reading some good e-mails next week. Love you all!

Elder Kyle Warner

Hiya!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 3:39 AM
Well, not the most eventful week to report about, to be honest, but it was pretty good. Thursday night we picked up a couple new people to teach and had a really spiritual teach with them. Friday, we pretty much just travelled all day from appointment to appointment and got flogged quite a bit, but that's alright. We did pick up a new person to teach named James from Nigeria. He's a really nice guy who is searching for truth. We taught him in a park just sitting on the grass. Even though there were kids playing footi nearby we were still able to feel the spirit. We ride double decker buses all day and they're kind of interesting, especially on the top. Saturday we had a really spiritual teach with a lady named Stacia from Jamaica. Most people here are from Jamaica, Nigeria, England(obviously, but not too many), Ivory Coast, or other African countries. It's really cool. Some missionaries go to Spain to teach the Spanish. Some missionaries go to Brazil to teach Brazilians, but we missionaries come to England to teach the world :-).
Sunday was an interesting day. E. Harding and I got to church and were asked to help pass the sacrament. It was fine though because we only have about 90-100 people each week. Then in Sacrament Meeting E. Church (the new missionary) spoke and I followed him. It went alright, not too bad. We only spoke for about 10 minutes. After that E. Harding and I taught the Gospel Principles class on the Book of Mormon. It went pretty well even though I pretty much had to wing it.
Monday was my first District Meeting. E. Harding and I had to run some things to an investigator beforehand so we ended up being late. I think it went alright, even if I was a little nervous. I'm sure they'll get better in the coming weeks. Monday we taught James again, but this time at the church and watched the Restoration DVD. Again, it went well and we had a really good discussion about faith afterwards. We've been able to have a lot of spiritual teaches with some people since then. We've taught Stacia and James again as well. London is almost like a new mission. There are so many people here to teach, it's crazy. The city itself isn't too much like what I expected, but I'm not in the heart of London. We'll be going to the London Eye to play American football in a bit with the zone and the neighbor zone so that'll be fun. Sorry no pictures yet, next week. I promise. I hope you all are enjoying your summer. You're in my Prayers.

Elder Kyle Warner

Hello from London!!

Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:07 AM
So I've been moved to London, serving in Catford. It's been a crazy last week in Portsmouth. Our P-day on the Isle of Wight to see Carisbrooke Castle was really fun last Wednesday. I'll have to do pictures next week. I was supposed to work with E. Zundel in Portsmouth, but E. Dutson forgot his proselyting clothes so I ended up staying on the Isle wearing E. Zundel's shoes and trousers, E. Dutson's belt, and E. Lovell's shirt and tie because E. Dutson couldn't fit into their clothes. It was fun though. It kept me on my toes.
Friday we taught Matt our baptismal date for this Saturday and committed him to stop smoking on Monday. Saturday he showed up to take us to our ward picnic at Portchester Castle and ripped his last pack of cigarettes! It was so cool to see him want to give up sooner. We taught him again on Sunday and taught Martin as well. Both are still committed for their dates. Tuesday we picked up 4 new investigators, 2 from Zimbabwe and 2 from Nigeria. They were all pretty spiritual teaches. E. Dutson and I got a call from Pres. Swinton Thursday night. E. Dutson got called to train and Pres. called me to be a District Leader here in Catford. It was crazy. I wasn't expecting a calling, but I guess I'm doing it :-) (extra prayers would be appreciated).
So Wednesday was my last day in Portsmouth. We found most of the day and Margaret took us to the Carvery for lunch. It was amazing. We ended up teaching Martin one last time. It went really well. We just read from the Book of Mormon with him. We went and saw that family from Zimbabwe, Betty, Sandra, and Samuel. It was a nice visit with them. I pretty much bore my testimony for about 20 minutes. Last night Matt came by to be taught in Margaret's lounge. It was the last thing to teach him before he's baptized on Saturday. Because I was to be leaving this morning we knelt in prayer one last time. It was really cool. I'm sad I won't be there for it, but as long as it still happens, that's what's important. I stayed up till about 12:30 packing and fell asleep around 1:00. We woke up at 5:00 to get ready then I caught a train for London while E. Dutson went to pick up his Greenie.
It's not too bad here so far. My companion is E. Harding from Cache Valley, UT. I'm in the flat with E. Martin (we came out together) and he's training E. Church from Las Vegas. While we were waiting for Martin and Church to get back to Catford we cleaned the flat and now here I am e-mailing. It's a busy, busy city. I'm not in the heart of London, but it's still London nonetheless. I don't have much time. Perhaps I'll send some pictures home next week. Take care and I love you all.

E. Kyle Warner

P.S. New Address:
# 9 Highland Terrace
Algernon Rd.
Lewisham, London
SE13 7AB
England

Hard Working Missionary

Now if this isn't a sign of a hard working missionary, then I don't know what is. All this and just after only 4 months!!



OK...so maybe something is wrong with the shoe. Needless to say, new shoes are on the way!

Definitely in England

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 3:40 AM
Well it's finally feeling like I'm in England now. That's because it's done pretty much nothing but rain the past few days. I love it though. It makes things interesting. E. Dutson and I are going to the Isle of Wight today for a few hours and we have had kind of a busy week so I'll get started.
We got a chance to see one of the families from Zimbabwe on Wednesday night. We watched the Restoration DVD and talked about baptism. The spirit was so strong, it was amazing. We taught a lady from the Philippines on Thursday and watched the Restoration DVD in Tagalog, which was really neat. We've picked up a few baptismal dates this past week as well. Matt is still going strong for the 19th, Zechie is now committed for the 26th and Shaun (pretty new investigator) is preparing for the 2nd of August. All of which I might not be here for. Next week is moves week. I can't believe how fast this cycle has gone. I'll be e-mailing next week regardless whether I move or not on Thursday, it just might not be from Portsmouth. We had our Zone Meeting on the 4th(Friday) and during my interview with President Swinton I told him that I would do whatever he wanted me to, however, I definitely wouldn't mind staying in Portsmouth. We'll see what happens.
We taught Zechie the Plan of Salvation after church and he really enjoyed it. He had a friend that was from Nigeria as well that was there, but he was just listening. Zechie told his friend that he was confused and that the missionaries are there to help get you on the right path so it was cool to see him practically testify to his friend that we are servants of God. We checked on our bikes afterward and we might get them today, possibly tomorrow so that's good news. We had some good teaches in the evening on Sunday as well. We taught a man named Martin Fisher the Plan of Salvation as well and it was kind of a lot to take in for him because of past events in his life, but it was quite spiritual. We taught Matt at the Taylor's home afterward. It went really well too. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he's doing quite well with it.
Monday, after District Meeting, I went with E. Schunke to Chichester on exchanges. We talked to people on their High Street there for a while before knocking. It was really fun. I got to speak a bit of Spanish to a guy from Madrid. I bore simple testimony in Spanish to him and I could tell he was feeling the spirit. As soon as we went knocking the rain really started to come down. By the time we got back to the flat we were both drenched. I loved it. I took some cool pictures of what I could in Chichester, but I'll send some later because of time.
That was pretty much my week. I hope yours is dryer than mine :-). Next week will be interesting. The next time I e-mail I might be in a different city, hopefully not, but we'll see. I love you all and God bless.

Elder Warner

4 months??/

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 7:59 AM
Wow, just over 4 months now. It's crazy. I could be leaving Pompey in a couple weeks too... I'm thinking I want to stay another moves. It'll be 6 months in my Greenie area, but I am really starting to like it here.



Our week was pretty good. I'll just go over some highlights. On Thursday we had a DA with the Wilkeys in Waterlooville. It was really nice. They even had A&W Root beer! Man, I missed that drink:-). Friday we were asked by Margaret to give her a blessing because her granddaughter got married on Saturday and she wasn't feeling well. As soon as she asked I knew I was going to do it. It was really interesting. E. Dutson did the anointing and I did the blessing. I was a little nervous, but all was well. I blessed her that she'd get better and she had a wonderful evening with her family on Saturday. The power of the Priesthood is amazing. Sunday was really special. E. Kieron of the Area Presidency came and spoke in our Sacrament Meeting, which doesn't happen pretty much ever. He spoke about overcoming trials and even a little bit about the missionaries. It was very spiritual. After church we taught a young guy from Nigeria named Zechie. It went really well. We might give him a date to be baptized tomorrow. We'll see. Monday we exchanged with the ZL's in Southampton for the day. I worked with E. Dunaway there. We spent most of the day in a massive park. It was probably around 3-4 miles long. I got back in Pompey around 5. We taught a guy named Martin who used to be a pro-footballer up north. He was really cool and I think he'll enjoy the Plan of Salvation(who doesn't???) Monday was an amazing start for the day. We were blessed with 4 new people to teach!! Our week is full of appointments. I can't believe it. Tuesday we picked up another person. Her name is Jenny. She's half English and half Venezuelan. We made sure she knew that the Book of Mormon is about her ancestors ;-). We taught Matt the Plan of Salvation and committed him to be baptized on the 19th. He was happy to accept.
That's pretty much my week. Today we loaded up our attic with exercise equipment so I should be getting in shape soon. I hope all of you have a great week. Till next time.
Elder Warner