Super Exciting Week!!!

So super exciting this week we have our baptism this Saturday and it is going to be awesome!!! It was really cool for me because on Sunday we were talking about it and he asked me to perform the baptism and so it is really exciting. I hope these white trousers I brought still fit and don't fall off me or I might have to borrow one of the jump suits from the church.
So as for this week things went really great it started out pretty scary but ended up really good.

To start we had had our investigator on a date for the 28th of march for a while and it all seemed to be going so well and then he was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and so we weren't able to meet with him and that set back our plans to commit him to give up his cigarettes early this week and so we thought that we would have to push his date back because they have to be clean on everything for at least a full week before the baptism. We weren't sure when he would be well enough to meet with us again. but by Wednesday things were good and we had received a email from president encouraging everyone that we had on a date for this month to keep there date and for those that were on for the first of next to ask them to move forward a few weeks. At first we thought he was a bit crazy and didn't know if it would work but then on Wednesday we got a text saying can we talk about baptism next time we meet. We saw him at games night and we set an appointment for Thursday and we talked about it with him and. basically told him that if he wanted to be baptized on the 28th then he needed to stop smoking and he said I think I can do that and so we have been helping and encouraging him every day to stay with it and he has and we double checked with him Sunday before church and he said ya so we announced it in church and so now we are having his baptism at 6 on Saturday. Please pray with us that he can keep off from smoking for good. The rest of our week has just been a blur for me besides that other cool stuff happened to.Our less active member got back together with his old girl friend and she was the one that really wanted them to get back together but he said that she had to at least listen and try out coming to church with him if she wanted to be with him because he has a really big dream of being married in the temple. She said yes and we had a lesson with her on Saturday and it was really good I think she liked it we are meeting with her on Thursday this week.

As for that guy that walked into church the other week he moved to Gloucester and said that he isn't comfortable with meeting with other people and so he didn't want us to ask the elders there to see him but we might have a try next time we are in Gloucester for a meeting and try to meet up with him and do a gentle pass off to the elders there.

Well that's pretty much it for this week and we have to go. I will send you some cool pictures from the baptism.

Love and prayers

Elder Poll

 Still in Worchester

 So this week has been pretty normal. Elder D and I did not change we are still together for another transfer so no real change for us, but the sisters changed and so did the elders in our district Elder Clarke my New Zealand friend is training a new missionary from Pleasant Grove Utah and then sister M is finishing training a sister from Leeds area so a pretty new district but that's all good. but everything seemed to be pretty normal this week we met with most of our investigators and had an awesome games night we played murder in the dark at the chapel and it was great everyone loved it. We had mothers day yesterday because here it is on the 15 of March. They asked Elder D to speak and he pointed out that it wasn't actually mothers day for us but he gave a great talk anyway. Our investigator is doing great he is still struggling with being able to quit smoking but he is really trying so we are just encouraging him. his baptismal date is coming up soon so we are going to try to make a push this week to help him to stop but I think it will go well. we also had a lesson with tony this week at the Nolan's and that went okay I think. We taught two single guys about family and eternal marriage so it went as well as can be expected. Rory I think is doing okay we taught the law of chastity this week and that went about as well as you would think. We think he understood and accepted it but we will have to cover that again just in case.

We have a great week planned this week we have loads of dinner appointments set up for this week and we are feeling so blessed. Also since we will be together for another 6 weeks we bought all the big stuff in our groceries that we get to last us the whole transfer so full cupboards and fridge and freezer this week.

Wow mom you are growing Katie's hair out that's going to be interesting to see when you send pictures. speaking of pictures thanks for all of them it will be easier to explain some of the stories that I have told to elder D now that he can see who I am talking about. and wow everyone is getting so big. 

General Conference is coming up pretty soon and I am really excited it is a get spiritual experience. but our time are a bit messed up and when we watch what and at what time is still yet to be determined.

Sound like the barn is full of hooligans don't let them bring the thing to the ground before I get home I want to see it again when I get back.
Well that's it for this week.
Love you guys

Elder Poll

So this week has been pretty normal for us we saw pretty much all of our investigators this week so that was solid. and transfers are coming up this week so it was good to see everyone  just in case it is the last time. It probably won't be for me but elder Devitt we are pretty sure is getting moved but we won"t know until tonight. So if I move I will let you know tomorrow.

Tuesday we got our oven fixed and then as we went to leave after the guy fixed the oven the door handle broke off so that was great.We had inspections from the mission couple this week. When we got to our flat they were waiting for us. We almost forgot they were coming but when they got there we went to open the door and since the door knob was off we carry it in our back pack so we can still lock our door. We pulled it out of our pack to open the door and I think that was a little weird to them. We did pass our inspection with flying colors though. I really am a lot cleaner now then I was when I was home. Then we had a lesson with A and it went really good we then had Antony and then Rory with some finding in between those so it was a good day.

Wednesday we had coordination then we went and saw a member of the ward who is pretty old and he wasn't at church on Sunday so bishop asked us to go by and see him then we had games night. It was good the P family came and it was cool to have them there a then we had A and R there and they really love the games and the interaction.

Thursday we had zone meeting and that was really good then we went straight to our lesson with Tony and then we went by Patricia's to try to set up a lesson with her for this week. We spent at least 3 hours on trains between going to and coming back and going to Malvern so that tires you out a bit all that traveling even if all you have to do is sit there. Friday we were asked to go up to Bembow Pond and help with the parking for a commemoration that they were having up there.That is the place where Wilford Woodruff spent some time and many of the first members in that area were baptized in Bmebow Pond and other ponds in the area. Elder Holland was going to come but he or his wife had some health issues so he sent a video talk for the event. He is a descendent of some of the first people baptized there. Saturday all of our plans fell through so we did a lot of finding and less active stop byes. Sunday we had church and a lesson with Liam that went good I think he is starting to progress now and he is over 18 now so we don't have to worry as much about his parents now. We still don't want to get on there bad side but it wont stop us from teaching him now. And A is really moving along his date is the 28 of march so that is really exciting and he loves church and games night so it should be really good. Rory's baptism is off for now since it should be next week and he still has some things he needs to learn. We will reevaluate a date for him this next week.

Love you all and pray for you. Thank you for your support.

Elder Poll

March 2

So family this week had been pretty normal it has been busy but that's because we like it that way and try to plan it that way. some days after we think we have finished planning we look at our schedule and and wonder where we are going to fit dinner in. Most times lunch gets planed in because our mornings aren't that busy but some days our evenings are so packed that we have to split dinner into two parts.The first is snacks to tide us over until 9 then we eat dinner. At 9 when we get into the flat we put dinner on to cook and then we plan and then have dinner some time around 9:30 ish. Don't think that every day is like that but some times usually Wednesdays because we have games night at the chapel and it take about an hour to walk there and it starts at 6:30 and we have to be there early to unlock the car park so people can come in so we leave our flat at about 5 to get there and 4 is usually our lesson with one of our investigators so we go from there house straight to the chapel and then have dinner when we get back. There are also the times that all of your plans fall through and you have plenty of time for dinner at a normal hour. Some days I wish that things would just even out and you can just plan things in perfectly but that seldom happens. This week we had a few days of both. Monday night everything fell through so there was to much time. Tuesday we had a great day had a lesson with A who is doing really well and I think will probably get baptized next transfer then we went to our sign lesson/dinner appointment with Antony, Then we went to ward council and when I was in ward council I wondered if it would be any different all over the world and how things would run or if they would be more or less efficient than it is here. It was good we were able to update the ward on our progress and ask for specific help, not just the someone to come teaching with us that they all read and ignore on our progress records. We were able to ask them face to face and get answers so that was good. Wednesday we went out to a little village in our ward boundary. We rode out there on an old rickety bus that I thought at times as I saw the next rise in front of us that it would not make it but it did and we got out to Tenbury, a cool little town that reminded me of some were between Mountain Green and Morgan to big for Mt. Green to small for Morgan but it was cool. we went out there to visit some less actives and we had fun with that but none of them were home so we will probably head out there maybe next week and try again. Then we went straight to games night were we had loads of fun we had a great turn out both R and A were there and we also had the support of the members so it was a blast. Thursday we had exchange with Evesham and I stayed here with Elder C and we had some fun we had coordination and then we had a great lesson with Tony. (I was supper worried about the lesson because Elder D usually does the majority of the lesson when it comes to signing and he wasn't there) but Sister N came with us and she has been signing for years so she just translated what I said and I didn't even have to worry about doing the signs and so we taught him about family history it was good. Then we went to the Nolan's for dinner after and they are just loads of fun they remind me of our family in a way.

Friday we had district meeting and then a load of lessons planned but all of them cancelled on us and so we went to visit a less active member. We were able to talk with him for a while so that was good. but we were glad to just talk on his door step because I finally understand what dad was talking about with houses that you don't want to sit down in and his is one of them. He is such a nice guy but he has major cleaning issues but the chat on the door step was good we talked with him for about an 1/2 hour. Then we went back and had dinner and did some late night finding. oh ya and elder D did a baptismal interview for one of the sisters investigators. Saturday we had his baptism and it was really cool Sister S who got transferred received permission to come back for the baptism and she was really excited for that, and Rory came to the baptism and I think that got him excited so we are going to talk about that with him tomorrow at our lesson. Sunday we had A at church and that was really good and then out of the blue a guy walks in and says that he has seen the light and that he want to be Christian so we talked with him for a bit and then he came with us to sacrament meeting and he even got up and bore his testimony about how God has already helped him in his life and stuff, it was interesting but good. Then we were able to participate in giving the gift of the holy ghost and that was really cool it was like I could feel the spirit flowing through me it was really cool. I haven't felt like that since in the special prayer in the temple my first time. Then we went and had dinner with a member and that was great especially because we missed all the rain while we were in there.
Love you all
Elder Poll

Last week of Feburary

Congratulate Emma on her baptism for me I will try to send a card I just really am rubbish at remembering stuff like that I have been meaning to send you guys letters for about 3 weeks and I bought stamps i just haven't written the letters don't worry they will come.

That's cool to hear about Carina I just wish that I could find a way to say thank you to the face book missionaries for giving us the referral. We finally have a referral that I am confident will get baptized. He has such a desire to know the truth it's awesome, and he reads the book of Mormon every night. We didn't even have to invite him to he just did. It is so cool. we thought that it might be bad that he was reading so fast that he might not get the spiritual aspect of it, but then he asked us some really good questions about the tree of life and what he thought all of it meant and he was spot on for most of it it was really exciting. Will you ask if it was the England Birmingham mission that she gave the referral to. It sounds like a referral story that I have heard from one of the other missionaries. They said that all they did was go back over everything give him a baptismal interview and then baptized him.

The sign language that i am learning wont do me much good in America because the British and American sign languages are so different that nothing carries over and as a matter of fact I have heard some of the signs here are offensive  and swear words in America.

This week has been pretty great we had a lesson with a guy named from Vietnam and was a doctor in Japan, then he quit his job so that he could come to the UK and study nutrition to see if he could find something that could help his patients more because he had seen some die and that made him really sad He was wondering if we could help God help his patients and so we taught him about prayer and the Book of Mormon and he seemed to take it well. That was Monday, Tuesday we spent the whole day at zone conference in Wales and that was cool I got to see a lot of mission friends that I hadn't seen since the mtc or from previous transfers that had moved so that was cool. that's when I meat Elder S. I also got to see Elder K who was like my best friend in the mtc and so that was cool. The best part is he is from Kaysville Utah so really close by and so will see each other after the mission and hang out.

Wednesday we had a lesson with A and it went great we taught him the restoration and then we invited him to games night that we were having that evening. We had pancakes, British ones just so you know they are a cross between ours and a crepe and they are really good they reminds me of our rolled up ones but they taste way better. In my next package I might have to send you a mix for them. The mix is not as good as the real thing but not to far off the real thing. Wednesday we went to our lesson and had dinner with A so that was really good. On Friday we taught a lesson again and then had coordination and dinner with the N's. Then we had to rush back for our lesson with R and we missed our train so we were late so we kept our lesson short but it was good. R is so awesome but he his getting discouraged because he doesn't understand English very well so his progress is slowing but I think he will pull through. Saturday was a bit of a slow day for us but we put our trust in the Lord because all of our lessons cancelled so we did a lot of finding. and Sunday we had a great time at church A came with us and that was really good and then we went by some former investigators because we received a challenge to go by at least one former a day for the next two weeks and see if that will increase our teaching pool. That was our week.

It was really good and really busy except for Saturday but then we made it busy so a really good week. If all of our appointment had kept we would have taught about 13 lessons which is really good for our area.

Love and prayers Elder Poll

February 16

Sounds like the normal stuff is happening at home. We have zone conference tomorrow and our train is at 5:59 so that mean waking up at 5 to get there in time and that is a killer on sleep.  As for Megan and closing the doors I think that she would like English doors most of the doors in peoples houses have a chain spring on them that close the doors automatically but all the ones at our flat we have disabled because we don't like them. 

Well this week has been pretty awesome!!! Tuesday we had a dinner with Anthony and sign language lesson. I learned how to do the sacrament prayers in sign. It is really cool. I can also pray now in sign as long as I keep it short. We also had coordination on Tuesday and that was good we were able to update our ward mission leader and he also gave us some insight into the ward and what we can do to help things go better. 

We had zone meeting on Wednesday. We also had a lesson with Rory then we had games night. After zone meeting we went on exchange and I stayed in Worcester and Elder Devitt went to Gloucester and so I was with Elder Woodland one of our zone leaders for the rest of the night and Thursday morning. 

Thursday morning was good we did a lot of finding  When we exchanged back the other elders brought me a new bed frame that they had at there flat for me that they had picked up from the mission home so we still need to get that put together then I will have a new bed frame that will be nice. Right after we exchanged back we went to our lesson with Tony, Anthony's friend and that lesson went really well I felt like I could finally get my point across with the amount of sign that I know and bear him my testimony. We had a DA with the Maclaverties and that was really cool there son is about the same age as Katie and Megan and also has some mental disabilities so we were able to get on really well, and there son Luke is really cool. 

Friday we went to Cheltenham and then Elder D left for his meeting and I stayed there with Elder S, he is from Idaho and we taught a few of there investigators and did some finding there. then we got the last train back to Worcester and went straight to our lessons in Malvern with P and then back to Worcester with R so it was a crazy and cool day. P is finally making some really good progress which we are really excited for. 

Saturday we had weekly planning and then went to our lesson with this guy who stopped us on the street and said "can you and God help me quit being an alcoholic" When we got there he was drunk and had friends over and had gone into the hospital the day before and some of his friends weren't to nice to us and he could see that. He was really humble and asked us if we could come back another time so we are going over there tonight. After we went there we went to go and find the new referral that we got and he wasn't home and we also went and visited some less active members and finish our AUF's which stands for "address unknown file". Somehow the church has found people they think are members that moved and didn't transfer their records so they send us out to confirm and most are right and some are not. Most are super less active and want nothing to do with the church so we get yelled at a lot of the time but we finished those and then went back for dinner. 

Sunday was awesome we had most of our investigators at church and so we were so excited. T was there with A because A's home teachers invited him to there sons baptism that was after church. T was able to be there with A because he had work off and he also has next Sunday off and so he should be at church next Sunday as well. We also walked there with Rory from his house in town and then our referral was there waiting for us on the couch and it was a miracle!!! He is super cool. He found Mormon.org some how and got on Facebook with some missionaries and it was awesome. They invited him to church and they even sent him a video of what to wear so that was cool we have a lesson with him on Wednesday so that should be awesome. And we had a baptism after church which they all stayed for and they all really liked it so that was great. Then we went home changed and did some finding until it was time to come in for call ins so ya that was the week. 

It's crazy we already have 10 lessons set up this week and we haven't even set return appointments with some that we teach twice a week so we are looking at a epic week. I am super excited. Also we have zone conference tomorrow and I get to see lots of the missionaries that I was in the MTC with and I am super pumped for that. So a great week in the making.

I love you all and pray for you with all my heart

Elder Blake Poll

February 9

 

This week was pretty good we had some fun stuff. Tuesday we had dinner with a less active member and it was so good and then we went to a elders quourm activity and we brought our investigator Rory. Dad you will like this he speaks Japanese, though he is Chinese. Anyway the activity was great and we laughed so hard and we really bonded with Rory on the way back talking about just about anything. Now I think that he see's us as more that just religious teachers and more like his friends so that was good. Wednesday we had a lesson with a family of investigators that we haven't been able to get into contact with in a while, but it was right before our games night so we took the bikes. They live on a massive hill so we walked the bike up because we weren't in a hurry to get there but needed to get from there house to the church in under 20 minuets which the walking distance is about 1and 1/2 hour walk so we got going scary fast down that hill and we made it there in record time we were only late by about 5 minuets. But man did we go fast. games night was pretty good, the sisters here have and investigator named Andrei on date for baptism as well and he is awesome. It feels like he is a member already and he hangs out with one of the members here all the time and so things were great. We got to know him better as well. then on Thursday we had district meeting and that was fun it's always fun when you get a group of missionary's together. Speaking of that we have zone meeting this week which I am excited for. any way after district meeting I went on exchange to Evesham with Elder Clarke, he is from new Zealand and he is awesome we had a great time we ate at a members house. The house was massive for England and it was really old. Still the same building from like 2 or 3 hundred years ago. So that was cool. Then it was a bit weird the Evesham elders volunteer at a charity shop on Friday mornings so I got to go do that and we worked the till. The till was the same make and design as the one that was at Steph's so it was weird for me. We came and switched back and then we went to a lesson. We missed our train because we were running late and didn't get back to our apartment till just before we were supposed to come in for the night so we had to reschedule our other lesson for Saturday. It was probably better that way. because we were able to meet up with the sisters and get a Chinese book of Mormon from them to give to Rory. We also had dinner with a couple of members and it was really good she is from Portugal and so the food was different and really good but they changed the time on us and so it was like having a second lunch so we weren't able to eat as much as we would have normally because we were just so stuffed. Later we had our lesson with Rory and taught him the plan of salvation and he really liked it and drank in the information so that was cool. Sunday we had church and were finally able to meet with Liam and invite him to church and he said that he couldn't come this next week but the week after. Later we went and visited with some less actives. That was the week.

Love you and Have a great week and know that you are always in my prayers
Elder Poll