December 30th, 2013

Hello family! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)

Christmas Package From the Wiser's

Everest's first Christmas - getting an American football 

Sterling, Elder Higham, Adam, and Everest

Hey mom :) haha i loved all of it :) I have everything set up and I can it take with me! The jump rope was amazing because I was looking for some work out stuff but I didnt havve the dalla to drop.... you saw my tummy!! haha im flabby now, so I'm planning on getting some more muscle :) I have some goals I just have to sent my mind on it. The only things I opened early was the blanket and the sweats :0 which I love!!! I love it! ha it was funny how our heater broke... it happened a week before Christmas. and I just love that blanky! its so soft. I really loved everything though ma :) thanks so much.

 

Katy :) yeah I absolutly love katy :) She served a mission in London south......she is such an amazing girl. remember the email with the "did you leave room for the spirit?" that was with her and Brother and Sister Henely... you will really like her :) I have learned so much from her! (Katy texted me (Laura) and mentioned that Sterling's name is very unique) yeah! good old Sterling. haha, my name means either currency or a cigarettes here. Everyone says I should start my business over here though.. sterling wiser :) it just sounds like a finance business or something haha.

 

ahhhh ping pong :) thats the coolest! how are the elders there? fun, boring? haha. its funny spending so much time with missionarys before I came out.. I feel like I sorta know what not to be like :) ping pong is the sickest though!! glad to hear it went well.

 

yeah Christmas was different.. but it was a good experience :)  sooooo? I had an accent? did I sound stupid? I really tried hard not to get one haha I wasn't putting it on I promise... was it bad though?

 

Oh boy! So i just got to the question part of this email :0 so ill answer all of them here we go!!

 

it was amazing to speak to you and I absolutly loved it... so this accent we spoke about.... hahah uhhhhh hmmm I guess I will just have to listen to myself somehow because it seems that I sound completely American! funny stuff though.. im not putting it on I promise ha

 

so cool story really fast.. this story is about prayer!

 

So, it was two days after Christmas, and being Christmas means that nobody wants to meet with us and the work is going sorta slow... so in the morning before we left I prayed and asked if God would put someone in our path or guide us to someone who needed service :) physical service.. so we went finding all day long and right up the the end of the day we turned a corner and saw this lady hitting the street with a spade.. ha, it looked funny as first but she was putting asfault in these huge pot holes in front of her house.. they had been filling with water and splashing her newly painted door and window frames.. so we chatted for a little and asked if we could help.. she said yes!! so I worked the spade and Elder Higham jumped on all the tar stuff. ha! we had a good laugh and she took pictures of us and stuff.. it was amazing! so that right there my friends... is an answer to a prayer :) God answers our prayers all the time but I thought this story was really cool :)

 

so list of our investigators... i'll just put the ones on dates..

 

Hannah, Elder Higham and Elder Human had taught her for a month before I got here, so we have been teaching her for around three months.. they found her on the street and I cant remember what interested her in our message but all I know is that she is amazing... she is so nice! she knows the gospel so well and always answers the questions in our classes at church, ha! she is the coolest.. when she went to Ireland for christmas, she went to church both times! and the second time she took her mom :)  solid!

 

Gabrielle: she was a media referal :) she was talking to one of her friends who is a member and telling her that she was looking for a church to join and her friend directed her to our website.. she loved it and asked to have us around. we have only taught her two times but the times we have, have been really spiritual. She is a choice spirit. we still have a few lessons to teach but she is so prepared..

 

there is a few others but ill wait till next time. see how things go!

 

The ward in Lincoln is really good. Really really friendly and I felt at home the first time I got here. People are so good to us missionaries and welcoming to anyone who walks through the doors :)  There is only one ward in Lincoln but we're close to splitting :) just need some more missionary work!

 

We teach gospel principles every few weeks and Bishop had Elder Higham talk two weeks ago in sacrament meeting. So we do a little bit but the ward does most of it :) we love helping though.

 

There are around 160 people in the ward, I think... The members are amazing though :) we get fed loads and we feel the spirit everywhere we go. I love the ward!   We have loads of people who are willing to come out with us :) 

 

Transfer calls are in four weeks.. Elder Higham and I could potentialy stay together for a third transfer.. we work good together so that would be good :)

 

Mission pres is good :) same old! ha having three hundred missionaries would make it difficult to have a good relationship with him but I support him and I know he supports me :)

 

Did I answer all your question ok? I know I'm not to good at details but I have don't have loads of time... and thirty more emails to read. haha! ahh time.......... I love you guys!!!!!

Love Elder Wiser

December 23, 2013

ah man what a wonderful week!!!! you guys are having so much fun it seems like :) christmas is such a special time of year.... i miss you guys so bad!!! its the sorta miss that i miss you almost all the time but i can still think and be a normal human ha i have heard of missionarys that go home because they are so home sick..... im glad i can still function fully :) im so stoked to talk to you guys though!!!! just a few days now!! ya feel free to text adam any time :) i might just give you a call christmas day and try and sort things out.. it shouldnt be to spendy if its just i phon to i phone right? adam will be one hundred percent fine if you text him though.. he is the coolest...

what ill do i hope you get on soon so we can talk about it but if not ill just call adam and he will take care of everything :) ill be with adam all day so im one hundred percent flexable.. and the think with shay is cool as well... man this is going to be amazing! im so proud of stant as well... he is going to take state no questions asked.. either this year or next.. i think he can both..... gosh i gotta see some of these vids though.. whenever i get out of missionary mode and im laying in bed before sleep..... i get wrestling trunky haha im to fat to actually do it but i miss it stil ha stant is going to kill me when i get home

December 16, 2013

hey guys!!! sooooooo i know i have been really bad with blog emails lately but im going to try to be better... next week haha sorry :(

i did get those christmas packages!! i didnt open anything like i said i wouldnt :) ha thanks for everything ma :) father christmas came!! its actually been hard not opeing it.. i almost did yesterday ha but i fought it... thank you!!! i sent some stuff home.. i hope it gets there :) the sucky part is is i had to use my missionary funds on it becuase my personal card wasnt working.. so i may have to get some food with personal this week.... i hate being in the middle of nowhere!! travel is so spendy.. we have had loads of meetings and stuff.. oh the christmas conference! we traveled to birmingham and saw everyone in the mission :) it was amazing!! i missed so many people so bad and i hugged some of my best friends good bye pretty much forever.. it was hard.. its nuts how close people get out here.... gosh that was hard... it was good seeing everyone though :) ill send some pics.. i met some people you may know :)

this past week was nuts... i felt like alomst nothing got done ha we just partied it felt like... and were going through a stage where all the investigators we find are not very good.... so our numbers have dropped like crazy... so we have a lot of work to do! man saturday though... elder higham and i got so sick.... he was sick in the morning really bad but then just got worse throughout the day.. then about half way i got sick and threw up about 12 times.... only good news about that is that i lost 8 pounds that day haha so im not as fat anymore!!  for the six month aniversiary.. i was going to burn a tie but we had to spend the night in notingham so i didnt have time... ill have to do that when i find some time :) that is a tradition here i just havent ever done it.. six months though.... how weird is that? now i have started a sisters mission ha another six months and i only have a year.... i wonder if i have changed at all.. does it seem like i have changed?

well im really exited to speak to you guys soon :) i really love you all.... i havent heard from dad for ages so i hope he is doing ok.. tell him i love him :) did you guys get a box from england? i really really really really hope that makes it... ill be gutted if it dosent... so let me know! :)

 i have a lot of cool pictures from this week though... so ill take you through those :)

this is bishop kens brothers son!! ha his nephew!

he is a complete stud.... tell bishop i said hi!!

ok this is the christmas conference!!!! all 300 or so missoinarys in the ebm met up and had a good time :) ah man it was amazing!! i feel like i have made so many real friends out here..... ok so here is a few of them... so this girl knew shayna.. her name is mekenna morsen or somthing.. i cant remember her last name for some reason.. ha shoot she is from ogden and danced with shana in ball room.

 These pictures were taken at a Christmas festival that is held in Lincoln each year.

 Yes - Sterling is eating a donut!  I asked him about it and he said he's only cheated a few times on purpose.  This was one of those.

Switching of the hats!!

my trainer is home as well.. how weird is that!! ha six months ago I was stepping off the mtc bus scared as a scared guy haha.. but here we are :) i still have so much to learn..

ill be better with sharing stories in the future but ill say this for the ending of this email.......

my testimony of the savior has grown so much.... i just feel like my testimony has grown all over... love is somthing that god has for all of his children and that we need to have for everyone... something shay said my parents have always said is life is what you make it... or the mission is what you make it... there is no point in going about life sad and miserable.... there is times when that happens but thats not how god wants us to be.. so he will help us out of it :) prayer is a way to communicate with god.. if we ever need anything we just have to ask :) ask and ye shall receive knock and it shall be opened unto you.. go scripture!!

 i love you  guys!!! ten days till we get to talk :)

love elder wiser

December 5th, 2013

hey ma :) were emailing again for a little bit today because i went on exchange up to boston.. and we had time and elder higham didnt have time so were usein it now!!! 

they have a thing called christmas market... so many people and its only in Lincoln!! im going to find some really really cool stuff :) yes yes yes!!!  Bad news though.. i wont be able to email this monday most likely... the librarys are closed.. ill see what i can do to let ya know im good but you may not hear from me till next week

everest has been coming out teaching with us and its so cool.. he just goes off in chinese and then he turns and says ok.. he understands haha its amazing... not only that he stops us sometimes and is like ok what you just said.. makes no sence hahaha how funny is that? ahh bless him  yeah he is the sickest.. the other day he pointed to his butt and asked what they call it in english haha i never run out of fun things to talk about with that guy! Everest was actually an atheist.. like most chinese are, and his family said he was a man and he could do what he wanted.. which is unusual for Chinese parents.. it was really cool.. . there are buddist here and there but most dont even know what prayer is...

we cant give him much because were poor but he is always so grateful.. he didn't have a tie so we gave him one and he was like.. I'm going to wear this everyday to uni (university) :) haha

oh ya another sorta cool story i just remembered... so yesterday we were walking to Everests so he could come teach some chinese people with us... which was so cool.... so cool.... but on the way we saw this dude muttering to him self.. i thought he was drunk or something so sorta jokingly i asked if he was alright.. he mumbled a yes and we just kept on walkin.. about twenty yards down the road he yelled "do you even care about me!" i was going to keep walking because people who are drunk say stuff like that all the time but he said "mate! you hear me!" so i decided i would go see what was up... so turns out this dude has had a really hard life.. he was really stuggling and he feels like nobody on this earth will help him.. he had a bunch of tattoos and from those i gathered he had a couple kids... he was a normal guy but he had gotten in a fight a few years ago and somone hit him in the head with a steel rod and now he looses his train of thought if he dosent say what he wants to say fast and he cant hear really well (he was really frustrated with himself) he said if he had the boys he would have killed himself a long time ago... all we did is bear testimony of christ and that he loves us and that god loves us.. we talked about how there is proof that he loves us..... i was feeling the spirit and i knew he was because there was tears in his eyes.. he said "you lot.. come over here from america, leave your familys for free to help people in lincoln... that is so special" by this time i wanted to hug this guy haha but were going to teach him in about an hour or so :) thats pretty cool huh? i have a bunch of stories like that but i never have time to share them.. things move so fast here... but so is life :) 

 

i think will smith said it good... "lovin livin, livin lovin, its all good     im lovin livin, its all good" haha yeah will smith!! remember that CD guys? ahh childhood :)

 

love you guys!! make sure to have a good day!

love elder wiser!!

this guys name is len.. so in boston they dont have loads of investigators and it gets sketch at night so we went to youth..we were supposed to go lazer tagging but when that fell through he just said he would suprise us... so we turned up at a pub haha idk if its a pub or a tavern but we played snooker for an hour and a half in there :) it was awesome!

this is who i played.. and i won!! barley

the tables here huge so its a little harder than normal pool we have at home

hmmmm not to much... well this one is of the match score (Sterling said this is how they score Snooker - I can't tell what it means but it looks cool.)

this is our last district meeting picture.. somone is going to get moved we just dont know who yet... just a few days till we will know!!!

 

we had a white elephant gift thingy and i got bubbles there are some there if ya can see em

December 2, 2013

 Ah man Thanksgiving was interesting, since I can't eat wheat the dinner appointment we had made chicken and potatoes :) it was sweet!!! not really the same but it was what it was, haha still fun.. we just shared spiritual thoughts about gratitude with everyone and I have been trying hard to be more sincerely grateful during my prayers. life is good!!! and I have a cool thing to tell ya but ill do it in the big one!  Mom ha upside down zip-lining :) your crazy!!

Hello family!!!! holy cow... yesterday was crazy ha! so I'm going to email today.. we had zone p-day and then I went on an exchange to Boston.. which is so so so far away from everything.. but I have some pictures to share with you guys

so this is what I tried to send last time but I ran out of time :) this is the ysa!! aaaaand two more were just added to the group!

 sooooo here is the big news!! there was two baptisms in Lincoln!! ah man we have been so blessed :) honestly God has put people in our path.. people who are so prepared...

 

So Everest :) Elder Highams mission miricle.. here is the story of them meeting: Elder Higham and Human.. it was the end of the day and they were just getting ready to undo the bikes and head home when Elder Higham was like.. hmm I'm giong to talk to one more guy and he stopped Everest.. Everest is one of the most solid people I have ever met, he has been in England, at the University, for only three months and speaks almost perfect english.. he is such a genuin good guy.. and his testimony is so strong.. he was baptised on December 1st!! it was fast and testimony meeting and I asked him if he would go up with me and he thought for a minute... asked me how to say a few more words in english and went up.. such a spiritual moment.... a spiritual wave went over everyone in the chapel.. he talked about his experience with prayer and how he knows that God gives us trials to shape us.. it was amazing ha :) I went up after him and I didnt even know what to say.... it was so cool :) he watches American stuff on youtube so he can learn english better. One day he came up to me and stuck his hand out for a hand shake hug that poeple do in high school.. and asked what it was? haha I told him it was a bro hug and now every time when we leave he just sticks his hand out and says "bro hug" haha ah man.. so cool

 

Then there is Chloe :) ah man im so happy to be able to meet people that are this cool :) she is a little younger than me and is from London... she is one of the first people Elder Higham and I taught when we were together.. the second day if I remember correctly... at first she just seemed really quite and nice.. (alot of people just agree to meet with us because they are nice) but we kept teaching her and we soon realized that she was soaking everything up... it was at a point where we had taught a bunch of new people and we were praying for them to have their prayers answerd and when all of them started to drop out she was one of the only ones that was like... I think this book is true. ha! which is great because it is!!!!

we have become great friends and I love her to death... choice spirits :)

 

I love Elder Higham as well.. this transfer has gone really really fast but it was really good :) it feels good coming in everyday and being dead tired because we ran around all day. mission life is good life :)

 

Shay said something before I came out and its so true.. your mission is what you make it.. no matter what is going on you can be happy.... no matter what!! just pray if your not happy and God will help ya out... when it comes to the mission.. being unhappy or stressed is something that messes with the spirit... so for stant and shelb and everyone, just keep being so happy!! dont let Satan get ya down because thats what he wants... stupid satan haha

But guys I'm learning so much... I have been out here for six months.... six months!!! thats 25% of my mission!! I can't believe it.. all I gotta say is Stant.. Shelb... you guys are going to love it :) this is such an amazing opportunity.. Stant when your in south america chopping your way through rain forests to get to appointments... haha I love that image.. but your going to love it man... Shelby your going to get sent off to like salt lake, so I can come take ya out to lunch when I get back haha, I'm just a kiddin.. I could see you being in Washington or Ohio.. idk why i think the states though... :) shelby your going to get sent somewhere where they lack love haha and your going to commit everyone to baptism :) yeah!!!!

 

Oh good i get another hour... whoooo that was a close one :) but again for the paper tree.. thanks so much :) that was a really cool idea and thanks for everyone that put so much effort into the little ornaments and stuff :) i love it!!! i'll admit I will miss you guys like crazy this Christmas.. but we getta talk!! I get to teach people about Christ!! Ma, those pass along cards you sent the ones about joy to the world... wonderful!!! we are going to a mission game next week with them i'll let you know how it goes (but they are sweet!)

 

man I love you guys so much :) you are way to good to me!

 

you guys are the best!!! if there is anything ya wanna ask me just let me know!!

love you

love elder wiser :)

hmmm lets see here

ok this one is at the chapel.. if you look hard you can see a tower complex thingy.... thats where we live.. yes its a far ride!!

 this is a picture where I turned up the brightness and was messing around so check this out!!

 this tree is the sickest!!! thanks so much family :) I absolutely love it and it's giong to stay there for a long time

 this is right next to where we find :) the Braford.. i call it the Braveheart

 this is chloe..  yeah!!

Everest and i! his real name is leu jiaqi... chinese is hard but its cool :)

Well this is amazing.. I love having time to email...I gotta email pres and then ill have to get off.. but know I love you guys :) your my most favorite family I have ever had!! Ha! keep being the sickest.. I cant wait to speak in 23 days!! what phone should I call to set it up? who is going to be there and such?

have a wonderful week!!!

someone in england loves you!

elder wiser

man what a cool week... God is good :)

November 25, 2013

this is the first time i have ever worne a scarf :) what do ya think? haha i dont know how i felt about the look of it but it was not as cold so that was nice :)

Hello!! so this email is going to be quite short... but here it is!

So this week we were so blessed :) I love having the opportunity to set goals and doing all we can to reach them.. sometimes it looks like were not going to make it but God has constantly helped us as long as we are dilligent :) we were blessed this week!!

We had a cool miracle this week as well.. so one of our investigators wanted to come to church but she was feeling ill.. but she is progressing towards baptism and it was sorta really important that she came to church.. so we said a prayer asking her to feel better and when we showed up at the door to get her she was completely fine!! how cool is that?

ah man life is good :) I feel like I have so many stories so little time but next week i'll be better. I really love you guys :)

keep being amazing!!!

love elder wiser

 

ps ma.. if you could write me letters with a few questoins that would be great.. I have lots more time to write letters :) love you!!

Bonus Pictures

I received these pictures yesterday from a member in the area where Sterling is serving.  It was a nice little surprise.  

 Sterling and his companion, Elder Higham, from Idaho Falls Idaho

Elder Higham and his birthday cake

Hey family!!! :) so good to hear from you all this week :) I love the emails and the pictrues :) sorry about last week... we had a really busy day and I didn't have loads of time to email... but i plan to make up for it now!

 

so this week.... normally I would try to start out with some smaller stories but this one has been on my mind hard core.... I had a mission changing experience! so I'm going to be fully honest here... Lincoln is amazing and I love it :) There are so many people who are prepared to hear the gospel and we have been so blessed :) we have been teaching loads of university students and it has been so much fun! the gospel can help everyone and I love being able to tell people about Gods plan for us :).. So this story happened last week..like I mentioned, we have been teaching loads of new investogators.. with new investogators you teach the restoration, but in a way that it applies to them :) and I found that I was really struggling just teaching the basic lessons about the restoration... like I had no direction.. my comp would look at me to say something and my mind would be completely blank.... it was the weirdest because I usually can think of something to say.. but for a lot of these lessons.. I just couldn't.. and it was killin me. I was praying so hard and studied things that I though would help..... including the lessons I have heard for my whole life and I thought I knew so well... so I was still struggling with this when we went to a dinner appt at the Henleys.. dinner was amazing and I love that family :) so time rolled around for the spiritual thought. which we dicided i would give.. I shared the story about 2 nephi 4:34 and what it meant to me and what I had learned from it... it started a conversation about how the gospel can bless us and we ended up talkiing about first impressions and stuff and what we all thought of each other.. one of the family members shared some wonderful stories and gave me and my comp some wonderful compliments :) she noticed though that I was holding something back, so she asked me what was going on. I told her that I was struggling with teaching and this is what i said.. "I have grown up in the church, I have studeid the lessons my whole life. I played nephites and lamanites when I was a kid but for some reason I can't teach it properly." They all thought for a second and then brother Henely just said.. "there is a whole lot of 'I' in what you said and not a lot of the spirit.. so when your studing and teaching are you leaving room for the spirit?"....... haha I almsot wanted to laugh because of how simple that sounded! this last little while I was depending completely on myself to teach and not the spirit. I had gotten to a point where I was feelin big because I had been out for five months and I forgot the only thing that can help us teach and touch the hearts of our investigators... the spirit! haha, so even though I have heard, "teach with the spirit" my whole life I was forgetting the only thing we need. This was such a cool experience! so now every time I go to teach or finding or something I always ask myself... are you going to leave room for the spirit? ha and our lessons have gone so much smoother..... I know that without the spirit, the reason we're missionaries sorta goes away. The spirit is what testifies of the truth of our message :)   

We taught a lesson after that and we really focused on having the spirit, it was so special. The crazy part is, I could teach with that every time! i just have to figure out how...... i dont know what i have to change to do it but i wanna find it! ha, i have  a few ideas....... but remeber how we were talking about wrestling and how much it sucks? well thats the only thing I can compare to what I'm doing right now...... everyone has always told me I can do so many great things and that I have the ability to be a leader... and even though I still find that hard to believe.. I trust that if God wants me to be something he will help me get to the point he needs me to be. How I compare that to wrestling is that I wasted so much time not doing my best..... the first few years I was ok at being ok...I told myself I was doing my best but I never really was. I was doing my ok best... it took me like five years to finally step up and try and do what I could have done all along. I just didn't believe I could... so comparing that to my mission is right now I'm still young... the mission may be hard and england may be a rough place but it doesn't make it ok for me to be ok with being ok.. just because i'll be accepted by everyone with not going all out... doesn't mean thats how I should be.. gosh I have tears in my eyes right now I beleive so much that if we just have faith that we can do anything I just hate how I let myself slump down where satan wants me so I can't do the  work how God wants me to.......

 

ah man well I hope you guys can understand this all i feel like I just rambled ha but I love being a missionary.. I love preaching the gospel..... I love Jesus ha :)

 

life is to short to waste time not doing your best! im sure I heard  that from dad or someone sometime in my life ha but its so true!

 

so the goals i have set is to find out how to be the best I can be and how to stay there.. I think a good example is shayna ha and you guys.. mom and dad :) I love you guys so much! thank you so much for the things you have taught me :) i would be such a slob if I didnt have you as examples.. i have been so blessed ha thank you thank you thank you :)

I really love you all :)

 

So my invitation to all is to remember the spirit! whether if it's teaching a lesson to a class to a friend or an investigator remember to leave room for the spirit :)

 

love you all

love elder wiser :)

 

November 11, 2013

hello family! :)

 

so this week in lincoln was the most crazy week of missionary work of my whole life.... we have been so blessed.. we ran into loads of people that wanted to hear what we had to say and it was the best! i learned so many things... some from good things some from bad haha i say the dumbest things sometimes... but its all a learning experience :)

  

so stories this week.... ah man its hard to put my finger one just one....

well like i said we have been blessed so much.. there was a baptism in the district this week.. her name is Tian Tian.. she is a chinese student from the uni.. such an amazing person :) i love seening the blessings from the church of jesus christ enter peoples lives.. the craziest is when a month or so ago they didnt even know how to pray! so cool..

 

I  don't have loads of time but something to just give ya an idea of the stuff that happend we taught a ton of lessons this week! in cheltenham five or six was good! we found 8 new investigators and we have five on baptismal dates..... God is so good though..... life is good the church is true :)

 

i have just learned that being diligent is one of the biggest keys in missionary work... missionary WORK! also.. never let human fear stop you from doing something god wants you to..  live life without fear!

 

sorry this week is so short but i dont have loads of time.... im writing down stories to tell you guys and ill try to include some next time.. but i love you all! continue to have a fantastic week!

love elder wiser

 

P.S. ma i loved the pics this week! tell deana congrates for me :) the tuffy ones killed me haha i needed those.. even though the work is good and its the sickest.. its sorta stressful... positive stress though :) ahhhh yeah! oh im also learing some words in chinese because we teach so many chinese people haha its so much fun.... i wrote my name on a letter i sent home in chinese :)

i love you guys though!

this is my new district! we never see each other becuase we live far apart but they are all really nice :)

November 11, 201

 Last district photo in Cheltenham

so i litterally walk past this everyday..... pretty much

 this is the cathedral right by our house :) its so weird to think i see these pics like oh those are cool.. and i walk past it every day haha

Ahh ma... this is the coolest email :) Gosh im glad you guys are doing so well... the gospel blesses lives!!! man i love hearing stories like that... you guys are amazing :) way to be!! you are missionarys!

 

I do wanna say thank you to you and grandma and grandpa though.. I cant tell you how much I love getting those packages :) the dried fruit was fantasic and I'm almost out already..... I'm sad about that and the candy. Grams snow flakes are beautiful :) I was so sad I didn't get those before I left cheltenham. So I'm going to send some back to the people that I love.. thanks Gram :) they are amazing!! and just thanks for everything.. the letter you sent elder palmer ( i ate his candy.. haha) i called him and read it to him and he was on cloud nine haha he is going to write you I think.. he probably wont remember but he loved it. That was pretty much the first bit of post he has gotten on his mission.. he mostly just emails :) those pass along cards are nice as well.. weird how they dont have anyone with Christs birth on it...... THANK YOU!!

 

So the new area.. I absolutly love it!! the people here are so nice we have tons of people we are teaching (they are all university students)  I love it here so much!!!! I really do. The ward is amazing and small and great things are going to happen here :) my goals are set so high this tranfer... and I know I will reach them :) we do work!!    oh and Lincoln is only one area away from being the farthest north... so its freezing! and it rains loads as well.. so that sucks but it is what it is..

oh also Amos Mcgreger.. however ya spell it.. he served in Boston which is the farthest north :) I'm going there on Wednesday so I'm going to try and track down some of the people he baptised there or something :) i'll send back pics!!

 

We set a Chinese investigator on a date yesterday and it was one of those very strong moments.. idk if anyone else was feeling it but I was feeling it, haha! it was sweet.. and the spirit totally guided what I was saying.. I still sounded like me but I just felt like I knew where I was going even though I didn't know... it was really cool and it happens a bunch :)

 

the flat is tiny though.. its the same size as the place we studied back in cheltneham..... so its so tiny... and we have to hang dry everything and we dont have a dishwasher, haha! So I guess I get to be a normal missionary now!! Cheltenham was just really nice I guess :)

 

i really do love it here though.. everyone is aweosme :)

 

here ill have Elder Higham say...

 

Hey there!  So I am Elder Higham, from Idaho Falls, Idaho.  I enjoy golfing the most, right behing being a missionary though!!  Lincoln is honestly my favorite place I have ever been in the UK.  My family has four other kids besides me.  I am so happy to be serving with Elder Wiser!! He is always so happy.  I really love that about him.  Anyway, have a good week!!  _Elder Higham

 

so there ya go! from the main man himself :) i think he want to shelly high school or shell high school or something.

 

with your packages.. hmmm i would say just still send em to the mission home.. unless there is only letters or something in them.. becuase they just put em by the door like they do at home.. its just people steal them here.. and we're normally not here when the post comes so it would be sittin there for a bit.. I would say just the mission home.. just because I know I would get it there. no matter how long it takes.... the zone leaders go to the mission home on the first tuesday of every transfer.. and sometimes randomly.. so they would be able to bring them then.. only problem is is they are an hour and a half away from us still.. so packages are something I wont see for ages.. but ill get stuff around christmas so no worries! :)

 

 I do need a few things though.. I got some gloves today.. just some little ones that will work for winter.. and I had a list but I cant remember now...

 

so this is really choppy :) ill try to do one that is more organized.. 

ma i love you :) thanks for all you do!!

have a good week

elder wiser

Hey ma!! so i got sent to a new area.. i was just getting on to let ya know! I'm in a place called Lincoln.. its almost as far north as you can go in the mission.. so I'm in the middle of nowhere. but it does have a huge city and a school and stuff.. my new comp is elder Higham. He is from idaho falls idaho. he has been out for seven and a half months and it a complete stud! He went district leader after three transfers and has stayed since then.. I was sad to leave cheltenham but from what i have seen Lincoln is really cool :) well i gotta go but i love you guys! thanks so much for the packages!! tell gram those stars are amazing! i wish i was able to have those back in cheltenham because i had some people i really wanted to give them to.. so I'm going to send some to elder palmer for him to give to some people.. the dried fruit was amazing as well :) i really really love you guys!!! oh and with emailing I'll probably only have 2 hours.. were in an apple store right now so we don't have long.... oh and elder mcgreger served in boston.. which is the farthest north you can go.. we're the second farthest north you can go! so i gotta get some gloves and stuff..  ah fun stuff :) 

love you!

love elder wiser

our address is 

46 deansleigh 

lincoln

LN1 3QB

soooo that is my flat! its tiny haha ah bless

October 28th, 2013

Hellloooo family :)

Another great week in cheltenham!

So, interesting things that are happening... we learn who is getting moved tonight.. I have a feeling that I am getting moved.. but we all have no idea so it is what it is.. I wanna stay because this is my home but anywhere God sends me is home :) I think im ready for some change as well.. just to see how I handel it :)

We did some good work this week.. but right in the middle of the week Elder Palmer got a weird strain of the flu or something.. so he was pretty much dying for a couple days.. we had to stay in the flat becuase he was really contagious so I put dads church videos to good use. haha that and wrote a few letters :) I also got to study a lot,.. one crazy thing is how I have read the book of mormon a few times..and im reading it now and there are so many good scriptures that I just read over!! so I have been marking and learning like crazy.. its been a really good experience... go book of mormon!

We did have one thing that was funny happen.. so we were talking to this lady named Zhen from china (pronounced like jen) and out of the corner of my eye I see this car getting really close... when I noticed this huge puddle right in his path.. so he continued to get closer till he hits it and completely soaks Elder Palmer and I... I managed to save the lady from most of the water.. ah man it was funny but I was soaked for the next few hours.  It looked like it was on purpose, but thats ok :) its a good story! haha and ya Elder Palmer got wrecked... I feel pretty bad at the moment so I think I'm getting the same thing..I just gotta wait for it to kick in.. os i'll keep eatin fruit and laughing!! that is the best medicine we have :)

About the busses and outdoor markets. The busses pretty much look like the normal ones at home butttt they have the big red double deckers :) I have ridden in them many a times! they are really cool :) have you ever google mapped cheltenham?  They give you a pretty cool view.  The out door markets just look like the ones in like dominica? remember those? I should take more pictures  but I don't always take my camera ha sorry ma.. its just a bunch of dirty farmers selling their stuff for cheap :) its the best!

The work was a little slow because of the illness going around but I feel like I strengthened my testimony and I feel like I used the time well.. Elder Palmer is all better now so life is good!!!

but I love you all and have a good week!

the church is true!!

elder wiser

October 23, 2013

this one is with suzy.. her family is so cool!! so one day i asked what she thought about mustashes because i used to have one ha so she drew one on my face :) then everyone did it was pretty fun.. 

soo! this right here is a medium chips... and it is very large. it costs one pound fifty. they are really good but i try not to eat them that much.. :)

Just got an email from Sterling - He wasn't able to email on Monday but got permission to send a little note right before District meeting - so here you go! -Thank you all for supporting him so much.

Hello family!! man it was so good to hear from you all this week. I love hearing about the fun you guys are having :) man I love you guys!

so this week... hmmmm oh man, funny im from utah moment... sooo we found this rootbeer that is really cheap. its called bunderburg i thnk and its from australia.  some ppl told us it was good so we decided to try it.. so on our way to buy it the lady asked for my I.D... i was thinkin wow thats weird.. but i didnt think anything of it.. till i got outside hahaha so apperently this rootbeer has less that .5 alchohol in it! so we tossed it but how funny is that... i havent ever had my id checked ha so i guess im really sheltered :) yay

ah man so this week was a true england week.. it rained soo much.. we had one storm where i felt like i was swimming.. i havent ever been that soaked in a rain storm... we were on our way to a dinner appointment after a teaching apt when it hit... whoo england rain is so thick.

 this week has been really really good.. phil our investigator on a date is doing so good and is so happy :) man i love it!! we have his baptismal date coming up soon and he is so ready! just the final home stretch.  its sorta hard to explain in words but this week i have had some lessons where the spirit was so strong.. the people we were teaching were involved there was no distractions and it was so good.

the most crazy part though is transfers is next week.. i cant beleive how fast it went.. and i have almost been out for five months.. man life is moving so fast. so i just try to hang on to it and squeeze as much work in there as i can :)

this week there was something i really focoused on.. and that is loving people.. i love helping people and i love loving! ha but as a missionary i noticed i sorta started going through the motions a little bit.. so this week i really focoused and thought of ways to make myself better at loving. everyone needs a friend and everyone needs to feel loved. so that is what im going to try to do is to make people feel my love for them.

church is the best! keep it up and you will be blessed.

i love you all!

love elder wiser..

October 21, 2013

Sterling wasn't able to email today he sent a quick note saying that he hoped he could get back on tomorrow before district meeting to send the family email.  He said he loved us and loves his mission and that he is doing well.  Transfers are next week and he hopes to stay in Cheltenham. I hope we will hear more tomorrow.  -Laura

October 14, 2013

elder turney! he is a missionary out of redding :) he is one of the boys :)

this is the pond where over six hundred ppl were baptised,,, crazy right......

sister reidhead and I get to chill quite a bit :) she is so cool!! were pretty good buddies.

hello family!!

first thing I would like to make an announcement.... as of yesterday I have officially been out for four months.. and that is a long time!

so this week in cheltenham.... the work has been pretty much the same but there is some cool stories I would like to share... so first one is about the trip to the Glendfeild Elm Chapel

which was a chapel founded by the early saints in England :) Wilford Woodruff.. did a lot of preaching there and as a result six hundred ppl were baptised in a small pond not to far away... tons of the ppl who came to america from england are the reason we have the gospel today :) so thats really cool! it was really spiritual and i learned a lot.. it was also really good being able to talk to some of my friends i have made :) i love talking to people!! its the best :)

 

oh i have a miricle! sooooo the other day we were coming home from a mission activity.. we had just gotten off the train and were cycling home when i heard a snap and some grinding........ so i pulled over looked at what needed to be done threw my bike on my shoulder and started to finish the few miles till i got home... so one of my mission mottos is everything happens for a reason... thats the second one behind there is something positive in everything that happens.. so i was thinking about that when i started to talk to this guy... we talked for about ten min just walking along and it truns out he is studying religion! so i talked about what we are doing in england and he said he wanted to learn more!! so it was like god broke my tire so i could talk to this guy :) pretty cool huh? and when i got home i had the tools to fix what was broken and now my bike is all better.... everything happens for a reason :)

miricles happen everyday!

 

this week was really good and im still learning sooo much :) i love the mission!!

love you all :)

elder wiser

October 7th, 2013

my first kabeb........ ok so my opinion... I like the flavor.... but its like eating a hot dog...pretty much its a bunch of meat they heat up and you eat :) Basically, they take a variety of unwanted body parts on dead animals (no one really knows what kind of animals...) put them all into a giant blender the size of Kentucky, then dip a stick in the mush, get some meat-ish stuff on it, then hang it on a contraption that makes it spin. it stays there until someone dares to buy it. So that could mean weeks.  It tastes ok but you have no idea whats in it and you have heart burn for an hour afterwards..... the only thing that makes it worse than a hot dog is that it litterally spins on a stick out in the open for who knows how long.... so i'll eat em becasue I'm a man and thats what men do... but I don't like thinking of all the gross stuff that sticks to it when someone walks by or something.. so there ya have it! Kabeb!! 

me being a model haha :) oh dad remember how you took the mic out of style glasses? well they are huge here.... this and like the retro hypster look.. all of that came from England.. 

sooo photo time! here is my new/really old bike ha! A new bike would just cost a lot.. the thing is though, I can be as careful as I want and it would still get stolen.. a lot of missionaries have been through like six or seven bikes... so I'd rather just ride a crap one till it dies then ride a different one till it dies.. I have the tools and the skills to work on them without spending much.

Just got a new haircut - English Style!!

Hello family!!!

man where to start. this week has been so crazy.. conference, lessons.. mission life!

it was really good to hear from you all though :) so I have some cool things to share this week.

So first thing.. this was on friday and again demonstrates the power of prayer...

ok so the front door to our flat has a pin that you can engage so you can't unlock the door from the outside... for some reason our door doesn't close very easy so we have to shut it kinda hard... we had a DA that evening with sean and juliana, so we went back to the flat to grab our bikes and get there on time.. slamming the door on our way out. Dinner was great and we had a really good spiritual thought and Juliana made some of the best african food ever. When we got home we realized that our door had been slammed hard enough so that the inside lock had engaged... so we were locked out.. I went around and tried all the windows and everything was locked tight. So I got my jimmy nutron on (sorta) and constructed this contraption out of a stick so that I could stick my hand through the mail slot and try to unpin the door.. I worked on this for a little while till Elder Palmer looked over and suggested we say a prayer.... my response was.. "bro the door is locked.. i  got this!" I continued to swing the stick around in there till he said it again shortly after.. we agreed and he said a prayer... right after he said it he put the key in the lock.. and pushed open the door..............

This story is really cool because, that my friends is a miracle.... I'm being a little repentant as I tell this because I was trying to do it myself when God was ready to help... it was just so crazy because the door was locked... prayer.. it wasnt locked anymore.... so that was a really cool testimony builder for me.. and a builder to my faith.

The thing thats crazy.. is we all are so blessed each and every day and it took something like the lock story for me to realize it.. as a missionary we pray for missionary and service experiences to pop up and for us to be able to recognize and have the courage to act on it no matter what it is.. we see those blessings every single day.. without a doubt... I noticed I was sorta starting to get used to it but I take some time every day to think about all the blessings God has given me and all the ways he has helped me.... I love it!

Conference was sooo good!  I loved it... the spirit was so strong and I learned so much..I honestly really loved it.. I took so many notes and I have so many new things to work on :) it's funny how I can sit back some days and think... I'm not too bad... I'm doing good stuff.. praying, reading my scriptures.. but there is always so many ways we can improve :) I love progressing though... whenever I feel like I learned something and then I have the opportunity to apply it, somehow it feels so good! I'm sure you know exactly what I mean :) ah man life is good ma :) I'm so happy out here serving.. even though I miss you guys a ton.. I am so happy.....

I want you to know ma though that I really love you... I have told that to everyone in the family today because I really mean it.. I love you all more than I feel like love can describe... but I love you :) thank you so much for all your support and for being so good to me... 

Well I wanna leave you guys with a quote and a scripture I read this week..

"I wont let back. let up, slow down. or be still. my past is redeemed, my presence makes sence, and my future is secure. im finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, cheap giving and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I dont have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on HIS presence, walk with patience. I am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, comprimised, detored, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the advesary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder in the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of the mediocrity. I wont give up, shut up, or let up untill i have stayed up, stored up and paid up for  the cause of christ. i must go till he comes, give till i drop , preach till all i know, and work till he stops me. and when he returnes for his own, He will have no problem recognizing me. my banner will be clear."

I dont know who did this quote... but it is intense..... I put it in here because it helped me raise my vision and goals :)

this is a scripture I spoted in the bible during study

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

13"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."

14 "let all your things be done with charity."

well guys its been another really good week here in Cheltenham :) I love you all and I hope this week is awesome!!

love elder wiser

P.S. Sooo my bike... yes I was really angry but I got over it pretty fast... my new bike.. I call her wendy falcon.. it took me so long to come of with that name.. she is old but she is good :) I love riding it.. I miss my old one for sure and since this one is a fixie my legs are going to get huge!!! I need the work out though.  I did have to take some money out but everything is good and I saved about a hundred quid doing it all myself :) how cool is that! I'm a bike worker guy :) and the sisters called me when they got a flat and I fixed it in like ten min :) yay!! so life is good I hope this bike lasts me for  a good while though its pretty old but I did some good work to it :)..