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

Mhoro

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 4:09 AM
Makadii(how are you)? (subject-hello, both in Shona). I had an amazing week. It went by really quick, as they usually do now. We didn't really have many teaches since last week, but the ones we did have were amazing. We had a couple DA's as well. One with the Penningtons and one with the Herridges. There's quite a bit to say this week so I'll just give you the highlights.
On Sunday Jamie and Deon came to Sacrament meeting and they enjoyed it. They're a really cool couple and we'll be seeing them on Friday. After Church we went with Wayne Herridge to see a man from Zimbabwe named Dennis. We met him a couple weeks ago, but finally got to see him. We also taught his two children, Takura, he's 13 and Thindi-she's 7. Both were very bright. We taught them about the Restoration and they enjoyed it. Dennis said he'd felt peace when he talked to us before and felt it again when we walked into the home. It was a very spiritual visit. We also had some really good laughs. They had a very close relationship together as a family. Unfortunately, the kids are very much involved in tennis tournaments and training that we can't see them again until the 13th of July. We made dinner that night with E-man and Alison. We made some Jalaf rice which was pretty tasty.
You can try to look up some recipes (there are hundreds) online, however, it requires palm oil and I think you can only get it in certain countries.

Me getting the onions and garlic ready for the Jalaf Rice at E-man's.


E. Lovell and I worked together Monday and part of Tuesday. We had a good time and got some quality finding in.

I picked up E. Dutson from the harbor and we took his stuff back to the flat before going knocking.


(This is where we started to see miracles). We went and knocked one road and had quite a bit of success as far as call-backs go. We then went to a street we've been trying to finish knocking over the past couple days. We knocked about 5 or 6 doors and a younger African girl opened the door. I started to talk to her and E. Dutson interrupted and asked where she was from. She said Zimbabwe. He asked what language she spoke and she said Shona. He told her (and me. I didn't know about this at the time) that as he was leaving our flat he felt impressed to grab a B.O.M. off of our desk and bring it with us tonight, not knowing who we'd meet. That B.O.M. was in Shona. She couldn't believe it (neither could I). She asked what the book was and we gladly told her. We asked if we could teach her and her parents about the book. Her mom was out for about another half hour so we told her we'd be back. We went back and taught them about the Restoration and why we were carrying the B.O.M. in Shona. They read part of it and were quite pleased with the visit. I've never felt the spirit in so strong in my life. They were astonished that we gave them the book for free too. After the teach I realized how this event had started two weeks ago, possibly before I got to Portsmouth. Let's go back a ways so I can explain.
When I first got to P-mouth I looked through all the Books of Mormon in our flat to see all the different languages. Shona was among them, but I didnt' think anything of it at the time. A couple weeks ago I spoke with a man from Zimbabwe on the High Street. I showed him the B.O.M. and he liked it. I also found out that he spoke Shona. I remembered seeing that book in our flat and told him we could get him one soon. So I got his number and the next morning I pulled the B.O.M. in Shona out and called him. The number turned out to be a fake number. I was a little upset, but left the book on the desk being a little disappointed. I forgot about that experience until last night. For time's sake I won't go into the many other details and reasons why I know that God was working "behind the scenes" to guide us to that family even to the very hour last night, but I know without any doubt that we were meant to get the Book of Mormon in Shona to that family (Betty, Sandra, and Samuel) at the time we did. I can't really describe the Spiritual feeling before, during, and after the teach (especially not in e-mail), but I do know now more than ever that this work is God's work and he is directing it, sometimes in ways we don't even realize until we see the greatest Miracle. I hope that experience and explanation wasn't too confusing, but I wanted to share it. I feel so blessed to be able to witness these kinds of miracles.
I suppose that's it for this week. It was an amazing one at that. I hope you all have a great week and I'll talk to you soon.

Elder Kyle Warner

Time just keeps on passing by

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:55 AM
I think the time is starting to pick up. I think the longest part of my mission is starting to come to an end. I can't believe we're at week two in my next moves already. Time flies when you're working hard. We've had quite a busy week of appointments. On Thursday we had Zone Conference in Poole. It took pretty much all day. It was about 8:15 when we arrived back in Portsmouth. E. Dutson and I rode with the Wheelers from Southampton station to Poole and we took the scenic route through what's called New Forrest. We went through a couple villages called Burley and Lyndhurst. They were amazing. Small streets, flower baskets hanging on the outside walls of the pubs, we even went into an authentic sweets shop. It was like travelling back in time 50 years. They had jars full of so many different kinds of sweets. Every wall was lined with them. The roads we went on were so small too. They were about the size of a biking path back in Utah. They were lined with pastures for wild horses and cattle. It was amazing. I didn't take any pictures. It was too much to take in; you'd just have to be there. Look it up online. It's worth it.
On Friday we picked up an Albanian investigator named Arben. He's really nice and quite interested in the Book of Mormon. Saturday we had an amazing testimony builder of prayer. We'd prayed a couple nights previous to know which street to knock. E. Dutson and I looked at different maps and were impressed to knock the same street. When we got there we prayed that the people we were about to meet would be prepared and that we'd be able to get in and teach. Well we were about 3/4 done with the street until finally we met a family from Ghana who gladly let us in and we taught them. They have 7 kids total, but we taught the mother and 5 of the children. It was a really spiritual teach. Unfortunately the next day the mother said she didn't want anything to do with us anymore for some reason (probably spoke to her pastor, it happens a lot) and refused to even read the Book of Mormon. It's sad when people do that, but they have their agency. Sunday after church we taught a young couple named Jamie and Deon. Jamie is in the Royal Navy and is from St. Helena Island off the coast of South Africa. Deon is a Portsmouth native and a stay-at-home mom. They'll be coming to church on Sunday. Yesterday we were blessed even more. We taught a lady named Sandra (different one than before) and she'll be coming to church as well. We also taught a woman named Julie at the church with Margret. It went really well and she is now preparing to be baptized on the 14th of July. She'd met the church in Hong Kong whilst travelling so she knew loads about the Church. We had an appointment with a guy from Ethiopia afterwards who turned out to be a preacher at a small, local church. It was a great meeting, however, without any contention. We just taught him about the Book of Mormon, gave him a copy, and now he's committed to read and pray about it.
We've been so blessed with so many people to teach. There were a few other new people that we were able to teach as well, but for time's sake I'll wait to see if anything develops. My testimony of the power of prayer has grown so much. Obviously we don't get ALL the answers we want, but we do get some, if they're righteous ones :-). Well that's my week. I should be sending a DVD and tape home this weekend or maybe early next week. I hope you all have a good week. Thanks for all the support. I've got a Plethora of e-mails to read so I'll talk to you all next week.

Elder Kyle Warner

Summer....

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 7:00 AM
Wow it's been really nice in Portsmouth the past few days. We've had quite a bit of sun and humidity(which I'm not used to yet). I've got nice tan lines from my shirt, watch, and CTR ring :-)
I hope everyone had a good week. Mine went by pretty fast and odly enough I didn't do that much. E. Dutson and I have been working really hard. He's a few inches shorter than I am and walks about 3x as fast.

My comp's name is Brad Dutson from Hyde Park, UT(in logan somewhere?) and he's been out for 6 months.
It's great. We've only had a couple of teaches since thursday and the rest of the time was spent finding and at church. We've done almost 23 hours of finding since thursday, it's crazy. The blessings of new investigators should be coming by the end of the week. Some bad news- Anya's baptism is on hold for a while because of some complications so we don't really have a date anymore, but she is still very committed and is doing really well. We actually just finished teaching here a couple hours ago. She made us lunch and gave me a small massager that looks like a frog. It'll come quite in handy. On Sunday we taught her about Tithing, Fasting, and how to donate tithes and offerings. Sis's Browne and Herridge were there and both shared very powerful and emotional testimonies. It was great! That's pretty much all we've done since I e-mailed last week. I've attached a couple photos of E. Dutson and me about an hour ago so I hope you enjoy.

I hope you all have a great week and I'll talk to you soon.

Elder Kyle Warner

Staying in Portsmouth

Thursday, June 5, 2008 7:31 AM

Hello everyone!
You guessed it. I'm still in Portsmouth, but E. McConkie is gone to Brighton to be a District Leader. He left this morning and E. Dutson, from Logan came in. E. Di Iulio left the Isle of Wight so Dutson is the new DL. E. Lovell from my group got sent to the Isle so now in my district there are three of the original four that came to my mission, it's crazy.
This past week went by quick. We saw our Anya a couple times and all is well for her baptism date on the 14th of June, as long as we have permission from her husband. She's amazing. To be able to see the change that has occurred in her since E. Mortenson and I taught her how to pray is such a blessing. She reads and prays often now and feels bad when she misses church. I love it. We didn't get to build the wall for Ethel on Wednesday; however, we did finish it as you can see from the pictures.
Before.....







...and After.









We're pretty proud of our handy work. Ethel made us an authentic African meal when we were finishing up the wall. It was really good. We had beef sausage, plantain (BIG, wild bananas), potatoes, and African doughnuts (doughnut holes).

She's one of the nicest people I've met out here so far-very grateful and hospitable. McConkie and I had a good final day together. We taught Anya in the morning and had a sad goodbye then went to the Toby Carvery with Margret. We then taught an investigator named Kevin and saw a member, Vic, and his dad (recent convert) Roy. We visited them for a while then headed to see Ethel. We chatted for a bit then headed to meet Sister Parkes to go to dinner. She fed us nicely and we went to see E-man and Alison. They offered to feed us, but between the Carvery and the Parkes, there wasn't any more room in my stomach. We discussed the two-week challenge with them and McConkie and I got to play a little Wii (shhhhh...). We stayed up quite late packing and I even fell asleep in the middle of it. This next moves should be great. E. Dutson is a great guy and I think we'll have a lot of fun together. I hope you're all great and I'll talk to you next week!

Elder Kyle Warner

3 months already????

Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 09:37

We had quite the week. It was full of miracles, that’s for sure. Last Wednesday our district got together and bowled a couple games then went to an amazing restaurant called Nando's. It's a Portuguese bbq place that's really popular in England. It was kind of expensive, but well worth it.




This one's for you, Dad!



Elder Di Iulio was in Portsmouth with me on exchange that night and we knocked into an amazing family. They're from Zambia. Ethel(the mom) is a single parent of two, Koshita(co-shta) he's 10, and Muzhinga(moo-shinga) she's 8. All three of them are really nice. We saw them a few times last week. E. Di Iulio and I taught Ethel about the Restoration Wednesday night and she enjoyed it. She even prayed in Bemba for us. It was amazing. We saw her the next day and gave her a Book of Mormon and agreed to put up some blinds for her and also build a new wall in her home because she wants to foster a child. That's what we'll be doing today. Elder McConkie and I, with the help of the Isle of Wight Elders (Di Iulio & Zundel) are putting up the wall today. I'll take some before and after pictures of our handiwork.
Friday was an amazing day. We got a call in the morning from the office giving us two referrals of University students in the same building. We thought they were pranks because the first one I called said he changed his mind and the second one didn't answer. Later in the day we stopped by the chapel to use the bathroom and I decided to call the guy who didn't answer. I talked to him for a bit. His name is Martin and it turns out he has friends in the Church and was very interested. We had planned to find that evening so I offered to bring him a B.O.M. and teach him that evening. We went down there and taught him in the library. It was a very good teach, despite the surroundings. He was very excited to read the B.O.M.
Saturday E. McConkie and I went with Bro. Taylor to look at Ethel's home to see exactly how we were going to construct the wall. He's a builder so his help was great. We showed Ethel and Muzhinga the DVD on the Restoration afterwards and they both really liked it. We haven't been able to teach Koshita, but hopefully later this week. We picked up a new investigator named Steve. He was really nice, is married, has two kids, and we'll be seeing him again on Saturday. After Steve we saw Martin again. We went to the library, but it was packed so we went to his student housing and watched the Rest. DVD. He enjoyed it and agreed to come to church.
Sunday was a busy, busy day. We met and walked with Martin to church. Anya also came to church and enjoyed it. Our Sunday School lesson went really well, even though we didn't have much time to prepare. After church Steve Taylor invited E. McConkie, Martin, and me over for lunch and to teach Martin some more. After eating we taught Martin the Plan of Salvation and he enjoyed it. We committed him to be baptized on the 7th of June and he accepted it. In the evening E. McConkie and I went to see E-man and Alison. We had dinner with them, talked a bit about testimonies, and offered a two week challenge to Alison. The challenge is to live all the commandments and to study them for 2 weeks and we promised her that if she did so diligently and sincerely she would receive a testimony. It was a lot of fun to put together. We made a two week calendar of what she was to do and gave her pictures of temples and such to put up in her flat. We even gave her some MoTab CD's.
Tuesday we taught Anya the Plan of Salvation at the church. She really enjoyed it. Afterwards she gave us both some small gifts, little hand-made bracelets and some postcards of where she lived in China. They're things we'll keep forever. She too is committed to be baptized.
That's pretty much my week, to me, one of the best of my mission so far. Daily I am feeling a lot of joy from what we as missionaries do. I love you all and I look forward to hearing from you next week.
fyi-it's moves week next week. My P-day will be Thursday regardless. There's a good chance E. McConkie and I will be split up so we'll see how things go.
(A hint to everyone!!)

Elder Kyle Warner

Ole... Ole, Ole, Ole. Ole....Ole(football chant)

Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 10:25

Wow, what an eventful week. Time just flies(I'm pretty sure I say that a lot. Wednesday was really fun. We got to see a lot of old and new warships and even take a tour of the harbor on a boat.


We saw the Mary Rose, which is coming up on 500 years old in 2011. It's not all pieced together. It capsized back in its day and has since been recovered out of the bottom of the harbor. They keep it in a massive room that's temperature and moisture controlled. It's quite dark in there, but I'll attach the best photo I have.
They are constantly spraying a wax-like preservative on it too. I had quite an eerie feeling in there looking at it.


It was a well spent P-day.
(Missionaries will preach to any captive audience!!)

On Thursday we had an appointment with an investigator who dropped us for a few weeks at the church. Fyi-appointments at the church rarely go through. As we were leaving the flat in the morning I prayed that Anya would make it and about 3 seconds after I said Amen she called to say she was at the church and was waiting for us! She was 10 minutes early so we ran(for about 80 yards, then speed walked) to the church. It was an amazing teach about the restoration. She loved it.
Saturday was a big day for Portsmouth. Their football team was in the FA cup final. We worked all week to fill the day with appointments, but the time during the game was left open, unfortunately. We went out when the game was on and the town was empty, like ghost town empty. No cars and only a few people here and there. We went to see a recent convert who, coincidentally ;-) loves Pompey (Portsmouth FC's nickname) so he was watching the game. After the first half we taught him then left to see bill. They won the game and the town went nuts, and still is today. People all over town were chanting, singing, driving around honking, getting drunk if they weren't already- it was amazing. Obviously not safe for us, but still amazing to see the atmosphere.
Monday we went to the High street for a bit and met a guy named Mike. He has been recovering from over 30 years of all sorts of addictions and has been free from them for 2 years now. He was so cool and friendly. He got us some bottled water and we sat down to talk for about an hour. His life experiences were incredible; especially what he was able to come back from. Hopefully we'll be able to teach him soon.
Yesterday we were out contacting in the morning before seeing Anya again at the church and we saw Sandra. We asked her if we could teach her for a bit at the church since she lives nearby. We ended up going over the plan of salvation again, but a little more detailed. She remembered so much of it and almost taught us, it was amazing! She said she loved learning about it all, which is convenient because we love teaching it. Anya is from China so we got her a Chinese Book of Mormon and she loved it. We watched the Restoration DVD in Chinese too. Although we had no idea what they were saying, the spirit was still the same. She said she felt something different while watching it too. The work is Amazing! I love it. I've never experienced something so rewarding.
Today we're having a district P-day and going bowling again. E. Tuttle from Chichester is going home at the end of this move. I believe it's on the 5th of June? I can't believe my 3 month mark is in just 7 days. I swear I was just bragging about my 2 month mark. I'm writing down a lot and talking a lot in my tapes so hopefully with everything being saved I'll be able to remember all of these great experiences and the little funny things in between. Anywho, I love you all. Thank you for all your support in e-mails, letters, prayers, etc. even though I'm not the best at replying. The church is true. This is God's work and it is the most worth while thing anyone my age can do. Till next week....

Elder Kyle Warner

Heat Wave

Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 10:44

Well hello again. It's been a while :-)
It's been an interesting week. As you can see from my subject it's been really hot lately. I'm not used to the heat yet, maybe in a week or so, but by then I'm sure we'll have some more rain.
The week was quite eventful. Obviously we had a baptism. Luke and Dean were baptized on Saturday, confirmed on Sunday, and next Sunday Luke will be ordained a deacon. It was so cool to be apart of it all. The baptism went really well and all E. McConkie and I had to do was take care of the font and offer the prayers. There were a lot of people from the ward there too so it made it a little more special for them. I attached a picture of us at the baptism.

Dean is next to me, he's 11 and Luke is next to him, he's 12.
The other picture is for you mom.

I tried to send it last week, but the computer that I was using had broken USB ports.
On Monday we had a DA with the Wield family. The meal was really healthy and tasty. I ate cucumbers, tomatoes, and a few other veggies you wouldn't think of me eating. It's crazy how my pickiness in food went out the window when I got here. You guys won't even recognize me when I get home. :-) Last night we taught the investigator from Trinidad at the Parkes'. The house was chaotic and loud as usual and I loved every minute of it. We get fed so well when we go there. Ben, he's the youngest @ 5 yrs old, is hilarious. He blessed the food at dinner and his prayer went something like this. "Dear Heavenly Father, please help Jared(his brother who he was fighting with before the prayer) and I to stop fighting, please help me to not be mad at him. We're thankful for the food and the missionaries,(at this point E. McConkie snickered along with Jared) and please help people not to laugh during prayers, in Jesus' name, Amen." He was serious the whole time, everyone was laughing afterwards. After dinner we taught Hayden about the Restoration and it was quite spiritual, one of the best firsts we've had so far.
Today we're going to go tour the warships down in the Harbor so E-mail will be short today. Sorry. I really enjoyed talking to you all on Sunday. I love and miss you all. Till next week.
-Elder Kyle Warner

Mother's Day

Date: Wed, 07 May 2008 11:18

Hey everyone!
Yet another week has gone by. I think the time here is starting to pick up a bit, which is both good and bad. I had a few things happen this week that were pretty great. We had Zone Conference on Thursday in Poole. It was kind of a long trip, but still really good. We talked a lot about how we can try to get a bigger effort from members to help the work. President Swinton even did "show and tell". He told us a story about a couple that he taught back when he was in England on his Mission. The guy is black and at the time he was being taught the blacks weren't allowed to have the priesthood. This guy's faith was too strong to worry about that. President told us about a prayer that the guy gave after they discussed the priesthood with him and he said something to the effect of "I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to join your church and if I receive nothing else(meaning the priesthood). I am just happy to be able to be baptized a member." Shortly after President lost contact with him and just over a year ago the guy was able to find President and they met up for the first time in over 30 years. The guy had been very strong in the church, eventually received the priesthood, and had served in various callings. President even invited him to come speak at our Zone Conf. It was so spiritual to see the two of them crying out of joy together. It was a joy that I'm looking forward to have in 30 or so years.
After the Zone Conf., I exchanged with the ZL's in Southampton and worked with E. Cusick from Orem. We were able to teach a couple people. One of them was a lady I taught on my last exchange in Southampton so it was cool to see and teach her again. The ZL's have recently moved to a 4-man flat with the other 2 elders in Southampton so in the morning the 4 of us ran to a nearby cage and played football. It was a lot of fun. It felt good to play a little bit again. We got to see Emmanuel and Fallon again this week. Every time we go over there we have a good time. Emmanuel showed us a video clip of his sister's wedding in Ghana and on it we got to see a lot of his home. Ghana looks like a really cool place. On Sunday we had such a miracle happen. McConkie and I got to the Church about 5 min before it started and there was a new guy sitting with our Ward Mission Leader. We were quickly introduced to him and sat with him during the meeting. He was so cool. His name is Hayden and he's from Trinidad. He's engaged to a member who is currently in the Philippines and he's in the navy here in Portsmouth. They're getting married in June. He's going to pick her up from the Philippines then go to Trinidad to get married, but before he does he wants to get baptized first! He looked up our ward building online and everything. He even paid tithing!! How blessed are we?
We had a DA this past week with the Jones family. Sis Jones is American, from CA, and Bro Jones is English. They made us authentic fajitas. Wow, they were tasty. We had another one with E-man and Alison. McConkie and I made them Chinese curry which was pretty good as well. They're fun to visit and we're teaching Alison. Dean and Luke are coming along well for their baptism on Saturday. They've got it all planned out too. All McConkie and I have to do is say the opening and closing prayers, fill the font, and witness the baptism.
So Mother's day is Sunday. Yea! Because of the time difference here we've got to call in the evening here. I know everyone has church at different times, but I'll be calling around 7:30 my time so 12:30 your time. I hope you all can make it. If not, there's always Christmas in 6 months...:-) I'm looking forward to it. It'll be nice to talk to you all again. That's pretty much my week. I hope all is well and I'll talk to ya Sunday!

-Elder Kyle Warner

chiesht???

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:18

Hello everyone! Man, that last week went by really quick. I'm sorry about that e-mail. I'm still a little upset about it. I'll be much more careful this week with what I click. f.y.i- my subject is how I think you spell hello in Polish. There are loads of Polish people here.
Not too much happened last week. On Sunday we had to meet an investigator, Louise, for church beforehand and walk with her and her two kids. They live about 25 min. from us and then back another 15 or so to the church. It started raining about 10 min. away from the flat and I forgot to grab my umbrella on the way out so my suit was drenched for Sacrament Meeting. I had to let my jacket hang up in the cultural hall all throughout church. On Monday we got to see Julian again!! We finally made contact with him and kind of reset a baptismal date for the 10th. We also have two others for the 17th so hopefully things will go as planned. On Monday we found out that a couple that we've been teaching is engaged! It was so cool to hear the news. They're going to get married in Ghana over the summer. Yesterday was so rainy. We were walking in it all day and rarely would anyone stop, that is if we found someone on the streets. We got quite wet and so did our bags and things inside of them. My camera got wet and almost ruined too. The lens couldn't focus at all. I was quite worried. I'd say we had our first real rain day in a while and it wasn't too fun. When it rains here the wind blows too so practically everything, but your face gets wet if you have an umbrella.
We had a really nice DA with a guy in our ward named Luke, and his girlfriend, Nicole. That's pretty much our week, not too eventful, but still alright. I hope you're all doing well. I'm going to try responding to everyone's e-mails individually this week so we'll see how it goes.
We're a little worried about the post. Some kind of tax hike has happened on the postage and everything costs a little more now. We think the Royal Mail may be holding some of our stuff because there isn't enough postage on them, but we'll try to get to the bottom of it.
Take care for now. I love you all!
Elder Warner

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Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:08

Right then..... So I just spent the last hour and 15 minutes typing my E-mail and accidentally clicked the wrong button and deleted my e-mail. I'm a little upset. I'm still here in Portsmouth with McConkie though.
Well let's see.... On Friday the 18th I got to do my first blessing. It was amazing. I've never felt the spirit like that before. It was literally speaking for me. It just kind of took over and the words just flowed, I loved it. All of our investigators are great! So many good couples. We had a DA with the Parks family the other day. They have six children, most of them little. It was so loud there but it reminded me of home. Yesterday as we were walking to a DA we saw a little 13 yr old boy get hit by a car. We were about 30 yards away from it. We saw him get hit from behind, flip back, hit his head on the windshield, do a flip in the air, and land on the street screaming. It was one of the saddest, craziest, somethingest things I've ever seen. It took us a few to realize what just happened then we ran over to him. The windshield had a massive spider web-like crack in it from his head. There were a few people comforting him as McConkie called the ambulance. They got there quickly and helped him on the street. His left leg was practically blown open and he had a softball sized bump on his head. We were a little shaken up after. I still can't believe it happened. As far as we know he's ok now, but wow how crazy.
So I responded to everyone's e-mails, but have no time left.


Here's a picture of me in the snow.




Thank you for the package. I listened to the tape and started a new one. Good luck with everything on Saturday. I love you all. Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers. You're in mine. Till next week.
-Elder Warner

Great Thanks

Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:12

Man, what a good week! We had a couple exchanges that went well. Elder Mortenson came over from the Isle of Wight and we taught a guy named Karim from France. He is a chef at a local restaurant so hopefully he'll make us some food when we teach him again. He was so receptive and wanted to know about Christ. He found the right people to help. On Thursday we had Zone Meeting and it was really good. Sister Swinton talked a lot about President Monson because she and President Swinton are close acquaintances. He's such an amazing man! No wonder he is the prophet. You can really see how different he is now that he's prophet too. On Saturday the assistants came down to do exchanges with McConkie and me. We did a bunch of finding and it was a lot fun. We found a really cool couple named Emmanuel and Fallon. They have a 15 month old daughter and a 7 week old son. They came to church with us on Sunday and it was amazing. Because of the time difference we got to watch the last session of conference after the sacrament. I couldn't believe how good it was. They really enjoyed it. Elder Bednar and Elder Holland had such good talks. Especially Elder Bednar's when he talked about how the missionaries are full-time teachers and the members are full-time finders. If every member would work on that, the missionaries would be full of appointments, but unfortunately people are really busy. Yesterday was crazy. We had 5 appointments set up for the 1st lesson. We were so sure we were going to get all of them as new investigators. Every one of them flogged (weren't home, cancelled, etc.) us. It was so disappointing. We all need our patience and faith tried every once in a while. For us, yesterday was the day and we definitely got a little discouraged. But God knows and loves us and as we were walking through the high street (outdoor shopping mall) some guy yelled to us and asked if we had a DA. It turned out he was a returned missionary who was in Portsmouth for the day. He went to an ATM, took out some money, and gave it to us for dinner. I didn't really know what to do. It completely caught us off guard, but our moods changed almost instantly and we realized that God was mindful of us enough to help that RM see us when he did and offer us dinner. Our spirits were lifted and we became more positive throughout the rest of the day.
Thank you all for the letters I've gotten over the past couple weeks and thank you for the prints. It's crazy how much the nieces and nephews are changing every day. Kaiden has changed so much. I love hearing the little stories about them. Kami-tell Brooklyn thanks for praying for me, I need it. Every prayer helps. Braiden & Kathryn-thanks for your letters. I love and miss you too. How's the rest of the little one's? I'm sure Emilee and Kendall are walking all over the place now, yah?
So I’ve been asked for some details about the ward. Our building is pretty much like any other-ish. It just so happens to be the Stake Center so it's quite large. Our ward members are really nice. There are about 60-80 every week that come. McConkie and I are looking to increase that number though.
We have, I think, 155 missionaries in my mission. Things are going to change quite quickly though. Next Thursday is moves (transfers) and we'll find out if we're getting transferred then, on Wednesday morning. If you don't get an e-mail from me on Wednesday it's probably because either McConkie or I have been moved. I don't really want to move yet, but it's not really up to us. Our area is the Portsmouth area. McConkie and I are the only ones in our area. Our district consists of us, 2 Chichester elders, and 2 elders from the Isle of Wight. We have 2 districts in our zone. The other district has 4 elders in Southampton (that includes the zone leaders), 2 in Hamble river, and 2 in Winchester.
The food here is fine, I suppose. Yes, it is quite bland, but it isn't horrible and you get used to it. The DA's are all nice and I really can't complain. My pickiness with food went out the window from the MTC on so no worries there. I eat everything. We only get what's called "Sunday Dinner" on Sundays of course, and that comes from Margret's daughter who lives next door. It usually has some tasty meat, veggies, and of course gravy, which I love. We get or make what's called Yorkshire Pudding. They're little cup pastry-like things that are made pretty much from batter like what you'd use from pancakes and you put gravy in them. Other than that we just eat what's quick and easy. Mostly baked beans on toast, pasta, or grilled cheese. Every Tuesday night we get Kebabs and if we have time we'll make a bit nicer of a meal. One night last week we made Japanese Curry and it was really good. I'll attach pics of all of them. I forgot to mention that I've had 2 battered and deep fried mars bars (Milky Ways). We call them heart attacks because lets face it, not too healthy. It was just a celebration for a good teach is all. They're quite tasty because the chocolate and caramel is melted and warm and the batter is what holds it together. No pics of them, sorry.
Dad- I'm so proud of you for being diligent in your running. I wish I was. I bet you could beat me in a race now. I'd run in the mornings, but it's really hard. Ask Kurt, being a missionary is tough work and sleep is very valuable. Thank you for doing my taxes, I owe you a nice gift from Portsmouth, I should be sending you and Mom something sooner or later.
Mom- It sounds like you've still got your hands full. :-) I bet you and Dad are looking forward to your well deserved getaway. Thank you for your letter. I'm glad you finally got the package. I was a little worried that they lost it somewhere. Our area is huge. You should Google Earth my address and see my flat :-). It takes us about an hour to walk to the beach. And we ride a bus every so often northward. How's the Hoskins family? I haven't heard much from them.
That's all for now, attached are some fun pictures of my food and a project I've been working on. I love you all. Thank you so much for your continual support and prayers.

-Elder Warner

P.S. I can't get this darn computer to work; I'll have to make a CD of pictures again or something. Sorry.

Ello Ello

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:08

So not a whole lot happened this past week. I did get to travel quite a bit though. Mom, I'm mailing a small parcel to you today so you should get it on Monday at the latest(hopefully). Thursday was zone conference. It was in a place called Christchurch which is near Southampton. We had to take a train at 6:30 to get there. The trains are quite nice and the view is alright, not too much to see, sorry no pictures. Our investigator, Julian, isn't getting baptized this week anymore....:-(. He's going home to Reading (Reding) to see his family, but is still committed to be baptized on the 26th so that'll be cool. Monday was fun. We have our district meetings at our chapel every Monday. After this last one, I exchanged with the district leader who's on the Isle of Wight. I went out there for Monday and Tuesday morning. It's so cool there. I wouldn't mind going there for a moves(transfer).

I got to ride a giant hover craft there and a massive boat called the fast cat back on Tuesday.

p.s. I would love prints of what's going on at home.....I hope Dad and Emilee had a good b-day. Happy early anniversary Kayti & Cory on the 15th.
Kayti- I'm sorry about Kendall. I promise there are blessings somewhere for that little guy for me serving.;-). The weather is getting warm here too. We had two sunny days last week!! I even got sunburned!!!
McConkie and I eat a ton of sweets(candy, chocolate, etc.) I feel I'm getting a little fat. We finally started running this morning though and I got to wear my cool jersey too. We're on a chocolate diet. P-days are a little odd. Last time we just went around to a few shops and such on the highstreet(outdoor shopping mall). Today we're meeting up with our district and going bowling.
Mom- wow what the heck is going on with the family? Why's everyone sick? I guess I need to work harder so you all can get better, yeah? You'll get a good package, like I said earlier, from me. Just wait. You'll like it.
Kami- wow the kids are cool. McConkie and I talk about our nieces and nephews a lot. It made me realize how much I missed all of them. I look at the calendar everyone made me often. You should send me prints. I have a really cheap photo album or two that have 200 slots each so I've got room.... thank you for the attachments though. Braiden looks like he's quite the footballer. The weather here reminds me of early season play :-( I miss playing a lot. McConkie doesn't like to unless there are other missionaries. Brooklyn looks so much like you it's crazy! I miss them.
The lack of response about me saying I hope someone recorded Easter Sunday's sacrament meeting makes me assume that it didn't get recorded......I've searched everywhere for a recorder that uses tapes. It's hard because everything is going digital now, but I'll get one.
Thank you for your love and support.
I miss and love you all!
Please send picture prints!
-Elder Warner

part 2

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:10:38

Ok then, got more time. So about the snow thing, the only time I've seen snow down here is during a teach. It's happened twice now. It had been snowing, blizzard style, but we'd go outside after a teach and it would stop. Someone truly loves McConkie and me. None of it has stuck, but I think I saw somewhere that up north they got some. It has been pretty cold here, however. This past Easter was odd. It didn't really feel like Easter to me. I didn't get to watch the little ones try to find eggs, I definitely didn't get a basket and I didn't get a nice Easter dinner, but it's worth it. I'm glad to hear that you had a good Easter everyone. I'm sorry about Kendall and Emilee being sick. They just can't catch a break. It's ok. Do what you can and be faithful that God will take care of his little ones. It's been a funny experience today. McConkie and I have been getting e-mails about our families talking to each other and making connections. It's a small world. I sent the video to Elyse because I was afraid I would get chastised for it by you Mom, sorry. :-). I did, however, let you know about my p-day so I suppose that's something. I really liked that quote Mom. I miss you. Cooking my own meals is no fun... we live with a member named Margret. I'm not sure if I've already mentioned her or not. She lives on the main level and we're up above. She is really nice and a great cook. She's fed us lunch and a dinner before and it's amazing food. I even ate all my veggies like a good boy(broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, yum). Having her around is like having a sweet little grandmother again. I'll be making prints today to send home in a package. I'm still waiting for yours mom. If it's at the mission home I'll get it Thursday at zone conf. Karli- I'm so happy for you. You're so close to making the family complete. Who'd a thought that a little piece of paper with some signatures and a bar code would mean so much? Although I think you could have left the crying part out because now I'm teary eyed and getting looks from the lady next to me, I love it. I'm so proud of you guys. Kami- Wow, I'm sorry about the ring, but isn't Braiden cute? I wish I could have been there to see the talks. I hope someone recorded it to send to me!??!?!?!? I'm sure I'm getting a tape player today. So if you missed it this time....I forgive you, but I wanna HEAR these things. It's so wonderful to hear about letters. It's a competition to get post between McConkie and I. I think I'll be sending a package home full of sweets and such sometime next week. Dad- I knew I got my skill at procrastinating from you, ha ha. PMG and True to the Faith are such wonderful resources. The best thing to do is to do your part then rely on the spirit to teach. I love it when I can feel it work through me. I love you all, thank you so much for your support. You're all in my prayers daily. Until next week,

Elder Warner

1st Official Week

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:39:10

Dear wonderful family and friends-
The field is great! I've been humbled quite a bit. Bill's baptism on Saturday was really....interesting. We waited 45 min. for a bishopric member to show. We couldn't believe that Bill didn't leave, but all is well, he stayed and we had a good service. He got confirmed on Sunday, which was really neat to be a part of.


Also we had an investigator who came to church with us, Julian. He's a black guy from Reading(redding) and is at Portsmouth Uni. He's so golden. He wants to be "born again" and is really receptive. We even have a baptismal date set on the 5th. I know it's conference weekend. We're doing it between sessions. IT'S CRAZY. We're so blessed here. People like Julian are great. They help us keep going after you meet so many harsh people street contacting. It's weird that so many people can be so bitter and so close minded. To some people we're invisible. One guy accused what McConkie and I do as a non-charitable thing. I hate misunderstandings with people out here. It's hard to love some of these people, but I'm a work in progress. Teaching can be scary, but I'm getting better. I know the doctrine, just not so much how to teach it, if that makes sense. Well I just tried to get more time. It's not going to happen. I'll try to make it back in later today, but if not, I love you all. Sorry I couldn't get through all e-mails. You all have my address so start ringing in the letters :-). Till next time(hopefully today).

Elder Warner

Greetings from Portsmouth

Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:04:53




Sister & President Swinton
with Elder Warner
at the London Temple


OK the picture- top row: McConkie, Wood, King, and Tuttle.
Bottom row: ME!!!!, Lovell, Martin, and Shunke.
Tuttle and Shunke are in my district in Chichester,
Wood and Lovell are in London, and King and Martin are in Plymouth.

So ya, my first area-my training area-is Portsmouth. I’m in the city and it’s a little crazy. I’ve only got 10 min so I’ll be quick. Happy Birthday Cory! The ride down was crappy. We got up at 4:30 yesterday and left at six. It took a little over 4 hours to drive to the London temple going an average of 90-95 mph. The taxi driver was nuts and his car was tiny. My legs still hurt from the ride. I got to do a session yesterday with President and Sister Swinton. This morning we all found out our trainers. Mine is E. McConkie. He’s from SLC and yes he's related to Bruce R. McConkie. He’s his grandson. He’s really cool and nice. Our flat is with a member named Margaret and she's really nice. The living conditions are really low key compared to what I’m used to, and I’m told that it's one of the nicer flats in the mission so it should be fun.

My address is:
#70 ORIEL RD
NORTHEND
P02 9EQ
PORTSMOUTH
ENGLAND

I hope to hear from some of you soon. Mom tell Lance and them to write me by post, e-mail is just too hard with only a half hour right now. We’ve got my first appointment tonight at 8 and a baptism scheduled on Saturday. The guy has a size 56 waist, which should be pretty interesting. I love you all and hope to hear from you soon. I’ve also been told to have packages be sent there too.

-Elder Warner