Transfers

Wow this week was crazy. And as the last week of the transfer we had the madness of moves and everything that comes with it on Sunday. You'll just have to read the email to find out what happened! Also this week has been miraculous because we had a dinner appointment every single day this week. In fact, we have one tonight and that makes 10 days in a row with dinner appointments so man we have truly been taken care of recently it's great. 

Tuesday (Jan 15): This morning we had our flat check and we passed with a perfect score and also got brownies. then we headed to district meeting and that was awesome. On our way back we were getting to the train station to catch our usual train but turns out it was 50 minutes delayed so that really sucked because we just had to sit and wait for that train to take us home and man it was freezing. 

Me waiting an hour in the cold for our delayed train

By the time we finally got back we had to travel over to Bexhill in our area which is about a 45 minute bus ride for a dinner appointment that we had and boy it was fun. By the time we got home we did our studies and went to sleep.

Wednesday: Today we didn't have much planned until the evening so we had a usual morning/afternoon routine of street contacting, then having lunch, then street contacting again. The weather wasn't the greatest and nobody really would talk with us. Latter on in the afternoon at about 4 we went and stopped by this older guy named Bruce who we see a lot in the street and he is always out and about taking pictures of the area. So we asked him to email us some of the pictures he has taken recently and boy these are like some high quality photos it makes Hastings not look like a dump! Then we went to Bexhill again for another dinner appointment and this time we went out and had steak, wow amazing!

Thursday: Thursdays have been our service days with Brother Hobbs and with the potential of this being the last time for one or both of us of course we had to serve all day. 

Us with Brother Hobbs at his house

We got a lot done today and I really enjoyed it like always. For lunch we had lasagna and garlic bread and man it was tasty. Then we went back out and worked until dark and went to KFC with Brother Hobbs. Wow this guy is a legend. Then we went to youth and played risk. Honestly today was so much fun and I love the great members of this ward. 

Friday: Today we had the zone leaders come to Hastings for an exchange only part of the day, and I was with Elder Hogg from Scotland again. We did some finding in the morning, did some studies and had lunch, then we spent the remainder of our time together stopping by less active members until about 5. By then the zone leaders had to leave and go back to their area because they had an appointment to get to. Then me and Elder Stoddard got back together and went to (you guessed it) another dinner appointment! Haha this family has smaller kids and they are a lot of fun. I think they really liked me as well because one of them drew me a picture and Elder Stoddard didn't even get one so I felt pretty special.

Haha funny thing that happened today while stopping by less actives, we were talking with one and somehow got on the topic of ties and he said "A dress is basically a big tie." Oh my gosh I tried so hard not to bust up laughing. Man today was great as well.

Saturday: This morning we went finding and man today was bitterly cold! We did bump into a couple of members on the street like we usually do on Saturdays so that's always fun. After we did some studies and ate good lunch. Then we spent the rest of the day day stopping by less active members and inviting them to come to church tomorrow. We then traveled clear out to Bexhill again and got flogged which really sucked because that's a long way to travel for someone not to show up to the teaching appointment. Then we went to another dinner appointment where we enjoyed some tasty rice. I don't really feel like we did much today to be honest but moves calls are tomorrow and that's crazy!

Sunday: Wow it came again! The day of getting a call to find out where and who you will be living with for the next 6 weeks. And I can tell you, there was some change! But what kind of change. Well, Elder Stoddard is moving to a place called Grey's which is pretty close to London. He will be living right next to the Thames river. And I am staying here with my new companion coming in who is from Japan! His name is Elder Hori and interestingly enough I met him a couple weeks ago at our mission party so I actually have a picture with him that one of the senior couples took, so I will make sure to send that! Wow I'm both sad and excited for this next transfer but I know that it is going to be great! 

 This is a picture from the mission celebration. The elder to the right of me is Elder Hori my new companion.

This week was a whole lot of fun and I probably gained some weight with how much the members fed us but hey, can't complain! Love you all and thanks for the support. I hope you all have had a fantastic week and will have another one this last little bit of January! Stay warm!

Elder Orchard

Us, Fernando, and part of the Hobbs family

Questions from mom:  Did you have Elder Stoddard sign your laundry bag?  Is that still something you are going to do? Is your cold gone? How many teaching appointments do you have set up?  Is the work picking up?  yes he signed my laundry bag and he has a tie that each of his companions have signed so I signed that as well. Yeah my cold has pretty much gone now so that is really good. We have a few people who we have appointments set up this week but half the time they just don't show up so you never know what to expect. I just pray everyday that I can do my part to find any one who the Lord is preparing to receive the gospel. The work has been about the same for the last month or so and it appears that it will stay that way for now. 

What does the day look like tomorrow?  Where do you travel to get your new companion? Tomorrow we need to travel into London to the office by 12 and then get with our new companions and then head back to our areas. It will be a long day of travels haha but it gives me time to talk and get to know my new companion better so it should be great. 

What do you and Elder Stoddard have planned for your very last day together? Today we are going to enjoy playing basketball with Ed and some of his friends one last time and then we have a dinner appointment tonight with the ward mission leader so it should be fun. 

An email from Elder Phillips:

Mur,

Just a quick note, brother.

You may have already heard, the England London Mission had a goal of baptizing 444 disciples of Christ. This goal was established with President Checketts and his Mission leadership Council in early July right after he and his wife arrived in the Mission.in a fairly low key way he mentioned that if the Mission were to meet that goal, in January the Mission would get together for a celebration. 

The Mission met its goal by mid December, and in fact exceeded it, and the President told the missionaries would all get together and set the date eventually for January 7. (You may have already heard the story. Sorry if this is a repeat.)

The 7th came and all the Mission had the same Preparation Day. President Checketts had bought tickets for everyone in the mission to meet in a devotional and then those that wanted to, to be able to ice skate or visit the museums, have lunch together and finally compete in a series of Minute-to-Win-It games. Everyone competed.

There were a lot of pictures taken, but we caught a glimpse of a couple you might have interest in.

Elder Orchard is going strong, still competitive and all around, getting better..


............................Jim & Kayla

Another picture from the celebration