Ballin with Johnson! (Week 79, Leicester, England, Elder Johnson)

ballin’ with Johnson!

fam what’s on the up and up! this week has been jam packed, ups and downs left and right! it was sad to say goodbye to the homie Stock, we had a ton of fun. elder johnson, from Ogden Utah, came and we’ve worked our tails off this week! he’s one of the hardest working missionary’s ive served with! and on top of that we are having a blast!

here’s a few highlights from the last week:

• we balled up big time throughout the week. we were with the other elders and we saw two homies shooting around so we played basketball with them and then on Thursday we had a basketball night at the chapel and I was just dropping 3’s on everyone. my team was the dream team! 
• as usual we went to the Uni a lot this last week and we had so many good touches, I think we gave away over 15 copies of the Book of Mormon and met so many cool people! we spent some time in town as well and we met a lotta weirdos, town centre on Saturday was so weird...
• we got let in by this Indian guy yesterday and he’s had a rough few weeks trying to support his young family, we bore our testimonies and taught him the plan of Salvation, we handed him a Book of Mormon and he seemed honoured to take it
• Lots of good dinner appointments! 

tons more happened this week but I just can think of it all right now, but it’s been lit out here. i just wanna bear my testimony this week that I know that this gospel is true. I’m so grateful to know of God’s plan for each of us, and for the knowledge I’ve been blessed with to know that God loves us. i know that central to that plan of his is Jesus Christ. i know I couldn’t get through life without him. i know that he lived, died, and rose from death so that he may help us in our lives. he is the author of our salvation. he is our perfect example. he is my Savior and he is my best friend. i know He lives.

Major bday shout out to my awesome sista McKell! hope you have a great day! I love all of you! have a lit week! look unto Christ in every thought, doubt not fear not 

Elder Varner

i actually got hit by a car (Week 78, Leicester, Elder Stock)

well this week was even weirder than last week. it was packed from start to finish and I hit 18 months of being in the UK. by far the hardest 18 months of my life, but the best 18 months. words really can’t describe the last 18 months. to find out more about the title of this email,  you gotta read to the end...

here’s a few highlights from the last week:

• football golf last Monday. your boy DV shot 4 over par ️️
• we were unlocking our bikes last Monday evening in city centre and some drunk guy came up to us and started speaking another language at us, then he put his hand on my bike and said it was his bike, we did a stare off for like 5 seconds and then he bailed. guess I’m just too intimidating for him
• we had zone conference which was heavily focused on using the book of mormon 
• we ate dinner on Valentine’s Day at a newly wed’s house, but it wasn’t as awkward as you think it’d be
• met with rxxxyan, he’s had a rough week, but he recognises that the days he prays are always better so we’ve called him at 7am to pray with him-cool deal
• did the Book of Mormon highlighting method at the uni and had tons of “good touches”
• on Friday I went to Birmingham for my ‘self reliance’ meeting which is a meeting for people going home within six months and preps them for readjusting into normal life and school-got some 5 guys shakes to celebrate 18 months out here
• we were talking to people and I made eye contact with some guy who looked at the Book of Mormon and then back at me, and crossed his chest, I don’t know if he was cursing us or praying for us, but I’m guessing he has no clue what we believe
• read 1 nephi 1 with fxxxawzi
• BREAKING NEWS: this morning I walked into McDonald’s with elder kataja and some woman approached us asking if we had some time, we said we did and she took us over to a table to taste test 2 new products for McDonald’s and we got to take a survey for it and we even got paid for it! #highlyfavoured or should I say it was #highlyflavoured

president Thomas S. Monson once said “The Savior taught His disciples, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish--and in effect save their lives.” This week I had a few moments where I felt so unmotivated and so crappy but each time I forgot about myself and served someone else, my problems seemed to dissolve. So whenever you are struggling, some good old fashioned service might be the answer to your problem.

and yes I did get hit by a car. I was riding my bike and I looked to see if I could cross a mini side road and a car turned into it WITHOUT flippin signaling and he didn’t even slow down. next thing I knew I was on the ground, and the homie just drove off, luckily it wasn’t too bad but sister Leppard told me to go to the ER, they x-rayed my elbow which was in a lot of pain and luckily nothing was broken, I’m all good, just pretty shaken up and sore. seriously don’t worry I’m totally fine, I was out working within a few hours of getting hit. and there were so many tender mercies along the way. god placed people in my path to help me and it could have been a lot worse, oh and my bike is fine!

elder stock is ducing out tomorrow to wales and I’m getting an elder kade Johnson, I’ve met him once and he’s legit, it’s gonna be one lit transfer out here in Leicester! I love you guys! If you made it this far, double golden star for you.

Elder Varner

Dream Team! (Week 77, Leicester, Elder Stock)

this week was an interesting one, probably one of the weirder weeks I’ve had in awhile! ups and downs along the way, but throughout it all the Lord was blessing us! god is so good!

so we were in city centre talking to people and on the way back to our flat we thought we would have a friendly convo with our homies, the jehovahs witnesses. well we were having a great convo talking about how the world needs god more than ever, when some random guy walks up to us four and just starts trying to bash with them. he was telling us “these JWs sit there at their stands and don’t ever say a word to anyone” and we said “clearly this conversation is proof that they do talk to people” and he was speechless for a few seconds and then he started to try and bash us, but the JWs had our backs and were standing up for us. us four were the weirdest dream team ever! 

as far as our teaching is going, we are meeting with a few people. we’ve got some new people up and coming this week which I’m hyped about! we are gonna see Rxxxyan again which I’m stoked for cuz he’s been reading the Book of Mormon on the daily! we also met with fxxxawzi and he invited us to a church event of his, so we went and it was really cool but at the lunch after two guys tried to bash but we just shut them down and kept turning differences into similarities. as we showed love instead of being contentious, they gained some respect. we met a really cool homie named JxxxJ, and we met him as we were walking in the park and we felt like we needed to go left so we did and bam! met JxxxJ within seconds. He’s super interested in learning more about having a modern day prophet!

other than that it’s been a typical week in the motherland. yesterday it was sunny, then snowed, then was sunny and clear, and then chucked it down with snow. the weather here is as indecisive as a teenage girl. anyways I just finished the Book of first nephi in the Book of Mormon and if I had to choose just one thing I learned this time around it’s the importance of remembering spiritual experiences. Laman and Lemuel were humbled by the lord multiple times, they saw angels and saw the power of god, yet they would quickly forget those experiences and become prideful. when we have spiritual experiences, we ought to write them down and frequently reflect on them. if we don’t remember god’s goodness, our conviction of the truth will decrease and we are at risk of letting pride seep into our hearts! So don’t FREDETTE your spiritual experiences! start today by recording how you saw the lord’s hand in your life each day!

this month has a few bdays-happy birthday to brad cook, Riley Glenn, the homie Jimmer, and everyone else! Have a LIT week and don’t fredette that Elder V loves all of you!

Elder Varner

Return of the Gypsies (Week 76, Leicester, Elder Stock)

the sun is going down out a chilly afternoon in leicester. we are grinding it out on the university talking to people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ when for the second time in my life I saw...gypsies. the last time I saw one was during the “attack” on our football game in cardiff last summer, and again I saw some, but this time they were walking on the actual road with a pony and a cart/wagon with stuff hitched on the back. and I saw them settled at the park an hour later. this time they came in peace though. what a time to be alive.

this week was a pretty good one. we taught some lessons, one of which was to ryan who we met last week, he loved the plan of salvation and also the book of mormon and how it testifies of Christ. he was honored to accept one, it was humbling to me! we continue to grind and search for those who are ready to accept the gospel, it’s hard, but oh so worth it, every bit of time I put into this work is so worth it. I love being a missionary. I love being a representative of the Savior. I feel His love, and I know He does indeed live. Missions are so hard, but I would say this is the best time of my entire life.

one thing I’ve learned and shared with you all before is how happiness is a choice, but I want to say some stuff on it again. in the midst of severe persecution and suffering, the prophet Joseph Smith wrote “Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.” We don’t get to control all that life throws at us. Sometimes we get thrown into some pretty crappy situations, but we can choose to be happy and to cheerfully do everything we actually have control over. We can trust that God will take care of all that is out of our control. He won’t forsake us. Elder Wirthlin once said “come what may and LOVE IT!” choose today to be happy! don’t wait for circumstances to change or get better! don’t wait for a special someone to come into your life to be happy, don’t wait for school to be over to be happy, don’t wait for a promotion to be happy, don’t wait for a trial to dissolve to be happy, stop waiting to be happy, be happy today! in return, others around you will be happier as well! god created us and sent us here to experience JOY! (see 2 Nephi 2:25)

words couldn’t describe how much I miss all of you, but words couldn’t even come close to describing how much I love it here. I LOVE being a missionary, I LOVE how the trials I face are bringing me closer to my saviour, I LOVE these English and Welsh people, I LOVE my Heavenly Father and my saviour, I do know that they live, and they love us, and I LOVE EACH OF YOU! have a lit week! go find someone who’s struggling or is sad and lift them up! I promise you’ll be lifted from your sincere act of service! Look unto Christ in every thought, doubt not, fear not ️

Elder Varner