Monday, March 30, 2009

Short one

Monday, March 30, 2009 7:20 AM
Well it’s been a bit of a slow weekend... Not much has happened since Thursday. We've been trying hard to get new people to teach. We've picked up a few, but they haven't been too interested since. We had a good experience on Saturday. We met a young guy from Zimbabwe who's a student here. We shared with him a little bit about the Restoration and the 1st Vision. He felt the Spirit and accepted the invitation to come to church. He came, enjoyed it, and we taught him after church. We'll be seeing him again on Wednesday and he should be coming to Conference this weekend. Unfortunately he'll be going back to Zimbabwe next Tuesday for two weeks, but he should have an amazing experience to leave with and ponder over for two weeks. I'm really excited for General Conference this week. It's my second to last one in the field (a bit scary). We're quite blessed to be able to go to the Oxford chapel and watch it. Well I'll attach a couple more pictures and see how many e-mails I can respond to. Love Ya!!!
Elder Kyle Warner

-The Trio at the Visitor's Center at the Temple.
E. White, Wojtkowski, me, Lindsay, and Keeble on the top of Magdalen Tower.
Me with the key to get in and out of the door to the tower-it was a really heavy door.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Unfinished business?

Thursday, March 26, 2009 5:37 AM
Allrighty. A lot has happened since the 16th.

I'll be quick because I've got a few e-mails to read. If I don't respond to all of you, thanks so much for your support.
First off, last P-day was really cool. Elders Lindsay and Wojtkowski came up from Newbury and we toured Christ Church College and went up a really big tower at another college. I'll attach a couple pictures.

The Lord wants me to be in Oxford for at least another 5 weeks (hence the subject)! It's pretty exciting. I love Oxford so I'm alright with that. Sadly, Elder White has been moved to Brighton and left this morning bright and early. It's going to be a weird adjustment at first since I spent half of my mission life living with him, but change is constant in missionary work. So it’s just Elder Keeble and myself now. We're excited to stay together. I've also been called to be the District Leader again so I'm going to be quite busy this moves. Side note-notice that I said 5 more weeks. This moves is a short one, we get one every year.
Clemencia and Chris' Baptism and Confirmation went really well.

I did the baptisms and Elder Keeble confirmed them. They gave the three of us Setswana names. Mine is Lefika (salvation), E. White's is Ceabelo (gift), and E. Keeble's is Kaleboga (thank you). They also had a great experience at the Visitor's Center and Temple. We got to go down with them. I loved it. We watched the Joseph Smith film and it gave me such a deeper realization of how true Joseph's calling to be a prophet is/was. Clemencia didn't want to leave. The feeling on Temple grounds is amazing. I've got lots of pictures to attach of our day on Saturday. I'm so grateful for these experiences I've been given.
Sadly, we've kind of lost contact with Brenda over this past weekend. We're not sure why, but now her baptism is cancelled. Our teaching pool is pretty much gone. We've worked hard and have found a few people so we should be picking up a few new ones in the next few days.
That's pretty much the highlight of our week or so. I love this work. I know it's the work of the Lord. I know that Joseph Smith is and was a prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is truly another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and is very mindful of our needs. I love you guys. Thanks for your prayers and support. Talk to you Monday!
Elder Kyle Warner

Monday, March 16, 2009

Quick one

Monday, March 16, 2009 7:02 AM
Well we've got a busy day planned today and I've got a few e-mails to read so I'll be brief. Unfortunately our week was quite slow as far as finding new people to teach. Clemencia and Chris are really excited for their baptism on Saturday. We'll be taking them to the Visitor's Center at the Temple before it so that should be really neat and spiritual for them. Chris is so cool. I'm not sure if I've told you already, but we gave him the Book of Mormon Stories book and he loves it. He remembers the stories almost perfectly and he is always asking if there are primary activities during the week.
Brenda and Yamu (South African couple) are doing quite well too. Their understanding of the Gospel is really good. We've been quite blessed with some great people to work with. Yamu hasn't accepted a baptismal date yet, but we'll see if he'll be baptized with his wife on the 28th. They too are going to the Visitor's Center on Saturday. We're really excited for them.
On Thursday we had our Zone Meeting in Reading (as usual) and it was really good. We discussed a talk by Ezra Taft Benson from decades ago that was about pride. I never realized how many different ways we can be prideful in our lives. It was a good way to evaluate myself and the progress I want to make.
That's really the highlights of my week. I was a bit ill most of the week, but am pretty much over it now. I'm going to attach some pictures then start writing back, if possible. Love you all. The weather here is really nice now. Hope it's getting close to spring for ya. Take care.
Elder Warner
The pictures are good this week! One is of us three after Zone Meeting in our comp. ties.

The other two are still frames from a video I did last p-day. We were walking down the high street and a guy was doing a magic act so we stopped since we had time. He asked for a volunteer so we encouraged E. Keelbe to do it and he did.


The guy had E. Keeble wrap him up in a chain, put the red cloth over him then the guy escaped. It was pretty cool and funny to hear this guy call E. Keeble Elder like it was his first name. He sounded like a member.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Fast week

Monday, March 9, 2009 6:17 AM
Well this week past quick too. Becky's baptism was really good. I've attached a picture.
It was an interesting week on top of the baptism.
Monday we picked up a couple new people. One is from New Zealand and is really trying to figure out truth. He came to Church and enjoyed it. Tuesday was interesting. I went to Newbury on exchange with E. Wojtkowski. We taught their friend Betty who is going to be baptized on the 15th. She's got a solid testimony and is more than ready for baptism. The weather was awful, ha-ha. It was really windy and we got completely drenched, but it was ok. We didn't get discouraged at all. In fact, we were singing "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today."
While I was gone Brenda and Yamo were taught by E. White and a member and Brenda accepted a date for baptism on the 28th. That's pretty exciting. I got back into Oxford in the afternoon on Wednesday. We've taught Clemencia and Chris a few times this week. They've accepted everything well and have started to gain testimonies of their own. When we taught them the Word of Wisdom Chris was so happy he didn't have to drink tea (Clemencia used to have him each cold morning) that he stomped on the boxes of tea then binned them. It was pretty funny. He's really smart for a 10 year old.
We've taught a few other people here and there that are new, but I'll keep you posted on whether they progress quickly. Saturday morning we did what's called Ox-clean and cleaned up the car park across the street from our chapel then had a BBQ. It was good fun. We saw Clemencia and Chris before they came to the baptism and they've now bumped their date to the 21st of March. It's going to be a fast few weeks preparing them and Brenda (hopefully soon, Yamo) for baptism.
Becky was confirmed and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. It was the first time I've confirmed some one so it was extra special for me. We had some interesting experiences in the afternoon that ultimately deepened my testimony of the reality our Heavenly Father and the fact that this is HIS work. I'm so grateful to be a small part in it. I know that it's the true work of Christ and this is His church. I love you guys. Take care.
Elder Warner
The three of us after our service project on Saturday

The Elders in the Zone last P-day after playing football. Top row: Coombs, Lindsay, Wojtkowski, Fowler, White, member from Farnbrough, Evans. Bottom row: yours truly, Barker, Roberts, Keeble, and Martins.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Three's company

Monday, March 2, 2009 4:01 AM
Well this week went by really fast. I forgot my connector for my camera in the flat so you'll have to wait till next week for pictures. I'll just touch on the highlights.
Tuesday after District Meeting in Reading I headed back to Oxford with E. Lindsay for an exchange. It went quite well...About an hour after being back in Oxford I realized that I only got the phone from E. White, not the keys to the flat. They were with him in Newbury! We couldn't really do much because we had teaches in the evening. We saw Becky and she's doing great. During the teach I got a phone call from President Swinton and he informed me that we were getting a new companion. His name is E. Keeble from up north in Halifx, Yorkshire, my first British companion. It was an exciting night. We also saw our Hindu friend, but we've since lost contact with her. Afterwards we tried to break into the flat, but it just wasn't working so we ended up having to drive to Newbury to get the flat keys from E. White and got home just before 10:30 :-).
Wednesday morning, E. White came back. We did a bit of finding then we had to rearrange the flat a bit to make room for a third bed in the bedroom. E. Keeble arrived around 4 then we spent the rest of the evening teaching. We saw Clemencia and Chris who are doing great! We saw them again on Saturday and they're now going to be baptized on the 28th of March. They came to church and loved it. We also saw the South African couple in the evening and they're alright, but were away for the weekend.
Thursday we helped a member and her husband move house. We saw Becky again then did some finding. Becky is getting all set for her baptism on Saturday. She's just got to be interviewed and she's good to go. It's been interesting being in a Tri. I was quite nervous for it because I wasn't sure how it was going to work, but I like it. We've gotten a lot of work done since he's been here. E. Keeble is a good missionary so it makes it a lot easier.
We had a good turnout at church. Becky came, of course, Clemencia and Chris, and another investigator and her daughter. It was a pretty good day. We're working things out quite well as a Tri and we all get along easy. Today we're going to Reading for a Zone P-day so that's why my e-mail is all over the place. I'm in a hurry. I'll have pictures next week. Love ya! The Church is true!
Elder Kyle Warner