what the frizzle flip (Week 83, Leicester, England, Elder Johnson)

so transfers came in and I’m ducing out to glenfield, which is literally the next area over. I’ll be whitewashing in which I’m actually a bit excited about, but definitely mixed feelings about only moving over an area. itll be all good though, the lord is in charge!

this last week here was crazy, like so much stuff! we did a Chinese blitz day at the uni where we gave away over 200 Chinese leaflets. and lemme just tell you all that they aren’t a fan of the colour turquoise, they weren’t having those at all, but it was a fun change! we learnt more about family History this week and plan to use that more in our Finding efforts! The spirit of Elijah is so real! I was getting way hyped while learning about my ancestors! we had zone conference, it was sweet to see some homies and receive some great trainings!

we had plenty of experiences taking out members this last transfer and have also sparked the ward Facebook page. our ward mission leader Jxxxack told me yesterday that I was leaving the area much better off than I found it which was a massive blessing to me. i have loved serving in this area with these amazing people. I’ve had a blast on the uni as well, one day last week I spent 5 straight hours talking to people on it! im grateful to have served with Elder Johnson as well, he’s such a stud! One of the hardest workers out there, we had a blast! This has been one of my favourite transfers of my mission.

two things in closing: the UK put out an Easter initiative called #AlwaysThere and it’s so cool! I’ll add it on here! Also, today is the 12 year anniversary of my mom passing away. it has been such a hard trial, and I miss her, it’s hard to hear others talk about their moms and having mine pass away at such a young age. My mom was one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met, and I wish I could have gotten to be with her longer. I am lucky though because I’m one of the only missionaries who has been blessed to have their mom with them on their mission! Also, I have been blessed with an amazing second mom who I love and am grateful for. I am so grateful for God’s plan for us. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. Because of Him, I will see my mom again and live with her. He “shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” No matter what we have gone through, are going through, or will go through, we can be confident that he always has been there for us, he is here for us, and he always will be here for us. 

i love you all so much, i pray for you all and i do miss you guys. go have a lit week, I’ll try to do the same.

i believe that there is light up ahead. look unto Christ in every thought, doubt not, fear not ️

Elder Varner

guess who's back... (Week 82, Leicester, England, Elder Johnson)

she’s back. emma came back for seconds and knocked us with snow and ice again this last weekend. it was wild, there was a twenty five degree temperature drop in less than 24 hours. what a rollercoaster of a week! also thanks for all the birthday wishes! 20 years old!? im getting old over here! you homies are the best!

well, rxxxxaja decided to stop meeting with us, it all ended on a good note and we are still friends but he just doesn’t have time at the moment and it’s taking longer for him to get an answer to his prayers than he wants, we are encouraging him to still pray and that it takes time for answers to come. elder Johnson and I both feel good though cuz we feel like we did all we possibly could with him. when there’s nothing left to give, that’s the best feeling. we taught some lessons with some members which all went sweet! we had some great dinners at members houses, here’s some more highlights:

• last pday we went and checked out this giant moon exhibit inside the cathedral, balled out and had interviews with President and sister Leppard!
• some “Christian” guy came up to us and tried to start bashing us, and I asked “why is it so bad to believe in the Book of Mormon and modern prophets if they lead me to grow a greater love and knowledge of my saviour Jesus Christ?”, then I bore testimony and he was literally speechless. his whole countenance changed, it was crazy
• there were several times where I felt prompted to talk to someone or go somewhere and let me tell you, one of the best feelings in the entire world is to recognise and ACT on a prompting! don’t let those impressions go!
• while knocking doors near the university a bunch of black girls opened the door at the same time that we knocked and it scared them so bad that they jumped back and slammed the door, but then they opened it and we were all crying laughing and they took a Book of Mormon and invited us back. it was weird, but kinda cool
• we were talking to people at the uni and it started raining as we passed this black homie and he looked at the sky with the most disgusted look on his face and said “oh fetch no” he didn’t say fetch tho, it was hilarious...
• our dinners included roast dinners featuring Yorkshire puddings, mash and baked beans, burgers, Costco pizza and more! the members here are awesome! one cool family is actually headed to Cali and Utah this week!
• we went to this new doughnut place from Nottingham called Doughnotts, and I got the best donut ever, it was a ‘billionares’ donut which had fudge, shortbread, and the best salted caramel filling

this was a good week. god is so good. even in the hardest times out here, he somehow makes everything ok. not that I’m too wise or anything but with my 20 years of wisdom, one key principle I hope and I think I’ve learned is how there is purpose in everything. the lord told Joseph Smith in the midst of severe trials “know thou my son that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good”. It might be hard to see the good in a less than ideal situation. Some of you are struggling with family issues, health issues, the consequences of sin, etc. Whatever you may be facing, always remember that we can choose to learn from hardship. it’s a choice to learn from something negative, but if you do, you’ll be so much happier. This life is a short time in the grand scheme of things. As hard as trials are I’m grateful to God for them and how they have allowed me and pushed me to grow in ways I wouldn’t have without them. God truly will “consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” through His perfect son and our saviour, Jesus Christ.

thanks again for the bday wishes, they mean loads! wanna do your boy DV a favour for his birthday? go find someone who is having a hard time, and make their day brighter, expecting nothing in return. i love you all, seriously you’re all the true homies, each of you! shoot me an email when you can cuz I’d love to hear from all of you! 

look unto Christ in every thought, doubt not, fear not ️

Elder Varner

stuffed! (Week 81, Leicester, England, Elder Johnson)

hey hey hey! this week was been another baller week out here in the city of leicester. elder johnson and sister smith were kebabtized and to be fair, the kebabs were actually kinda legit. usually they are super greasy but the place we went to was pretty fancy. 

we did loads of work with members this week which was a blast! we got to teach rxxxa (rxxxr) twice this last week, both times with members and we taught the restoration and the gospel of Jesus Christ. when we asked him what he knew about prophets, he practically taught us about prophets. he says most of what we teach just clicks with him. when we taught the priesthood, I showed him my priesthood line of authority and he loved it! he told us when he finds out if this is true he wants to be baptised, which is way cool! our teaching pool is actually pretty good right now! still meeting with fxxxxi and we went with him to one of his church events on Saturday which was nice but so obvious that there was something missing there-the spirit! but it was an enjoyable time and we met a lady from Texas as well, crazy!

typical finding near the university, we met this homie from Africa who told us he had a dream the night before that he was going to meet us, that was interesting.

random, but honourable mentions

• our ward mission leader’s wife brought homemade cinnamon rolls and I’m sorry mom, these were the best ones I’ve ever had! it was sick!
• balled out with some African and Canadians at the park and I stuffed one of them pretty hard, always good to get the hoop sesh in
• dang I’m sore, we went running this week and are planning on making that a regular thing, and then we were playing some football and I took an elbow to the chest and boy that knocked me down, it’s all good tho cuz what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. kinda like getting hit by that car...

other cool stuff happened but I can’t remember all of it. ive been thinking a lot lately about the importance of goals. president m russell ballard once said “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential.” Setting and achieving goals allow us to reach our potential. Whether it’s a goal for sports, work, school, religious, anything, setting goals and holding ourselves accountable will help us to become who god wants us to become!

happy birthday to my aunt candice and all the other homies! I love all of you and hope you have a rad week across the pond!

Elder Varner

Snow Storm Emma is "the whore of all the earth" (Week 80, Leicester, England, Elder Johnson)

emma “is the whore of all the earth”(1 Nephi 14:10). there were two crazy storms from the east (#beastfromtheeast) and the south (storm Emma) and they teamed up and hit us like a ton of bricks! the beast and Emma hit us so hard! we had to be in by 8 every night because of the weather and we weren’t allowed to bike. by far the coldest week of my entire life, it was -15 one day. but we smacked the beast and Emma, this week was by far one of the best weeks of my life. if any of you knew how hyped I am right now! it was such a good week so let’s get it!

wednesday was fetching cold, we were talking to people at the uni and decided to stop in the student union and grab some hot chocolate (thanks dad!). we spent some time there and then went out into the storm and did a few laps around university road, and literally 5 steps before we stepped onto campus property again (where we can’t talk to people about the gospel), we stopped this guy named Rxxxr. He walks past our church several times a day and he was super interested in chatting so we went in a cafe with him and taught him and answered his questions for over an hour! then we walked 40 minutes with him to the chapel area (he lives next to the chapel, like what?!?!) and then we gave him a chapel tour. he studies law at the uni by the way! we kept in good contact with him and then he came to church, all 3 hours, and loved it! he was participating in the discussions, asking good questions, and wanted to stay long after to talk with us! we taught him a bit about the plan of Salvation and the three kingdoms of glory rather than a heaven and hell and he loved it, he’s always believed hell is a state of mind so it just clicked with him. and if we were 10 seconds ahead when we walked by him, we wouldn’t have met him. he’s a miracle.

other notable events:

• we ate at a baller bagel place called ‘bagel break’ and it was legit-I got a chicken tikka bagel sandwich 
• our whole flat complex alarm went off at 230AM and Emma was just screaming, it was freezing but apparently it was a false alarm that was set off because of how cold it was
• we were doing some online proselyting at McDonald’s and two people started up a convo with us and we were chatting with them and all of the sudden some guy comes up to us and starts trash talking us, I started to pray in my head that he’d go mute so he wouldn’t take the spirit away and no joke, this homie was dead silent after I finished that silent prayer and didn’t say another word, it was unreal
• I saw a guy in what I thought was a clippers hat, so I stopped him super enthusiastically and it wasn’t a clipps hat and it was so awkward...ouch
• we went with Fxxxxi to the Bxxambury’s (member couple) house and had dinner and a lesson, we taught the plan of Salvation and the spirit was so strong! undeniable!
• We met a [] homie who transferred from Purdue university to Leicester university. He actually played American football at Purdue and we had a sweet conversation about American sports with him, I was beaming!

there are too many notable things that happened this week. honestly it was the most bitter cold week of my life, but by far the best and happiest week! we still had challenges here and there but the highs outweighed the lows by far! elder Johnson is a beast! we have a ton of fun and he’s such a hard worker! I feel way blessed!

i was reading a great talk by elder Holland called “place no more for the enemy of my soul”, in which he talks about some points useful for all of us as we strive to overcome temptation:

• “start by separating yourself from people, materials, and circumstances that will harm you. the pull of proximity can be fatal”
• “Pray without ceasing. Ask for angels to help you.”
• watch what media we are taking in. what might seem harmless may have spiritually dulling effects on us which could lead to sin. “An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.”
• “Whatever thoughts you have, make sure they are welcome in your heart by invitation only. As an ancient poet once said, let will be your reason.”
• “Cultivate and be where the Spirit of the Lord is”

And i would add the counsel to look unto the lord in every thought, doubting not, fearing not. I testify that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we CAN overcome temptation, and if we have slipped off the path leading to eternal joy, we can hop back on because of Christ Jesus. His love, mercy, and enabling power is extended to all.

major bday shoutout to the cousin Trenton! i love you all, have a legen-wait for it and I hope you’re not lactose intolerant because the next word is-dary, LEGENDARY week! 

Elder Varner