Chas Mar Indeed (Week 29)

flipping heck its been another week, and it's been a pretty good one out here in the motherland, let's get it!

RESTORATION OF HEALTH...well kind of

So I finally went to the doctor last week and good news...I DONT have a gluten intolerance!?! the doctor said that there was something wrong with stomach acid, something called GERD I think so he gave me omepriole to take every day for ten days to a month and said I should feel better. I don't feel 100% yet but boy, that medicine has helped so much so far. I've had a nasty cold this last week too, I just can't win with health out here haha, but it's all good cuz nothing is stopping me from rising and grinding, and overall the medicine is actually working! Just gotta be patient with it.

Birmingham Love

I have a love for big cities, like a giant love. Well since my doctors appointment last week was in Birmingham, we got to eat in city centre. My words, as my good friend Elder Gilbert would say, as I walked through this celestial city centre were "Chas Mar!" Chas Mar, indeed. Of course I chose to eat at Five Guys, some may say it's an obsession, but I say it's my American Love.

Pancake Day

I don't even know if that exists in America, but it does here, so we went with the young men for mutual for games and pancakes, I love how involved we are getting with the young men here, we are even working on doing a mini mtc here! These young men are legit!

Exchange with a Scott

Last week I went on exchanges with Elder Campbell, from Scotland, he's a lad. It was a pretty fun time going to Birmingham with him and going over to PJ and Sonya's. We brought that Jyyy Bxxxxp guy with us, he's hilarious, and his conversion story is crazyyy, he's awesome.

The Grind

This last week, as always, we knocked doors and on Saturday we were getting so many people who just weren't interested in the slightest, and I won't lie, I felt a bit discouraged after awhile, but as soon as I got over those feelings, bam! two new investigators came, Sophie and Tom, I'll talk more about them next week after we see them again. We visited a less active lady, Zyyy Cyyyts, her family aren't members, but her son is interested and she is super cool and we are going back on Wednesday night to see them again! We've been meeting with a guy named Alex too, he's way cool and has been keeping his commitment to read the Book of Mormon every day, and his testimony is visually changing, there is power in the book! PxxxJxxx and Syyyya came to church yesterday too which was exciting. We had a conference thing that was broadcasted to all Northern Europe and the speakers were Whitney Clayton, Linda Reeves, Elder Dikes, and Russell M Ballard, it was a really good conference, and it was super cool cuz it was directed at the people specifically in this side of the world. 

Officially a Missionary

as of last Friday, I am officially a missionary cuz we finally started using bikes as our main way of transportation. it is so tiring, but way faster, plus I'm down to lose more weight. I came out on my mission around 210 pounds, and now I'm under 180 and the biking has just begun. 6 months to sexy? More like 24 months to sexy haha, that's a program a lot of missionary's do out here where the last six months of their missions they actually try to workout and stuff.

Coming in CLUTCH

Dave Roberts, from Swansea, went to America a few weeks ago for his sons wedding and while he was there he got me TONS, and I mean tons, of chick fil a sauce and snickers and kool aid, I got a giant box from the Swansea zone leaders last week with it all, so clutch! I was beyond stoked!

Random

The members in this ward are still beast as always. Connor and Rosie Ogrady gave me a copy with the English Cover of the first Harry Potter book cuz it's the philosophers stone, instead of sorcerers, and the cover art is cool too, that was sweet of them. We had lots of flogged appointments but still had fun! District meeting and district finding happened in walsall, pretty typical stuff. One funny story before I go though, so we were knocking doors on Saturday and we were talking to this catholic guy for awhile, he was cool but not interested, and we were knocking a door next to his after and all of the sudden he opens the door again and just says "wait are you guys the ones who have multiple wives?" And we were like "nah different guys". I totally picture it in my head where after talking to us the first time he went back in and his wife probably asked him who he was talking to, he said the Mormons, and she was probably like " are they the ones with the multiple wives?" And he probably said " I don't know let me check" and then that happened haha. I was dying.  Oh and Elder Kinard was kebabtized by someone holding the kebab authority last week. He was kebabtized in a way better place than I was, the kebab shop we went to was actually good. Kebabs aren't the same here as they are in the States, I thought they were just meat on a stick, but here it's like greasy meat with sauce and other stuff either on top of fries or on pitta bread. 

My spiritual thought is really directed at some of you today who I care about deeply, but the message can be used by everyone, President Uctdorf said in conference a few years back "I am reminded of a time in the Savior’s life when many abandoned Him. Jesus asked His twelve disciples: Will ye also go away?

“Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”

There are times when we have to answer the same question. Will we also go away? Or will we, like Peter, hold fast to the words of eternal life?" This world we live in is filled with doubt, having doubts and questions aren't bad, but when we let them hold us back of blessings that we need, they can be spiritually destructive. In the world we live in, it's hard to be a Mormon, it's not easy, and we all have to ask the question "will we also go away?" Or will we stay and hold tight to the gospel, I promise each of you peace, comfort, and joy as you hold fast to the words of Christ. If you have doubts and questions, keep studying prayerfully the scriptures. If your plant (faith) was dying, you wouldn't stop watering it (praying and reading the scriptures). 

it's been another fast week and I'm looking forward to another one out here. crazy that we are in March, but I'm finally not gonna be 18 soon which I'm hyped about haha. have a lit week and remember that Elder Varner loves you!

Elder Varner

pics 1-3:birmingham love

pics 4-6: squad pics be like

pic 7: elder kinard and I with PJ about to scare Campbell and Galagarga

pic 8: CHICK FIL A

pic 9: kebabtism

pic 10: holbrook and wallace, flippin lads

pic 11: elder jensen and i in front of a weird door knocker thing

pic 12: almost there

video: fun @ mutual