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 :)..

September 30, 2013

sister brassington made me a GF cake!! it was really good :)

it was for a dinner appt.. she is a member and we get along really well :) she has us over quite a bit.. her husband comes and teaches with us a lot :)  

so This little chapel has a key pad on it and its out in the middle of nowhere. This picture shows how you get in :) its really cool and the inside is all decked out with Jesus stuff.. statues and stuff.. oh Grandma Wiser! I found some Baileys in there!! I started to look through this big book and I found some so I took some pics.. I'll attatch them :)

this is our district :) and the members we went with :) they are called the francens.. they live in pleasent grove they are just over here for work

We will have to zoom in but here are the Bailey's he found while touring the Gadfield Elm Chapel

Hey family!! Wow sounds like a really exciting week :) gosh some weeks I read those and I just wish I could see it! ha I'm really glad everyone is happy though and that all is well :)

Stant! bro your race was sick! sounds like you would have wrecked me... eighteen miles is a long way.. plus hills, haha! there is a reason I just rode Down Hill, all I had to do was push my bike off a moutain and hold on, ha so props man :) your a legend!

Elk season... ah man its crazy how bad I miss everything here.. nobody has guns here and they all bash America for it..... ha ah man I love America :) no place like it no place better.. but I have really grown to love England even though I have only been here for a short time. I feel like I have gotten comfortable here and stuff :) Im educated!! :)

Sad news alert.... my bike got stolen.............. I was really angry for about an hour and I wanted to punch everyone that yelled at us. It means someone jumped over our ten foot brick fence grabbed my bike threw it over and ran off with it... so I'm trying to get another bike sorted for the mean time.. I have ripped apart some bikes we had in the back yard and I'm making like a Rodney bike :) off the show robots...I have become the bike mechanic out here :) in my spare time its what I do. ha I'm sorting out a old falcon right now.. its about twenty years old.. hand made in Belgium.... so cool....

Well I have a few really cool miracles this week I wanna share.

we had a really cool thing happen with one of our investigators that is on a date this week.... we have been through all the lessons with him and he is progressing really well.. during one of the planning sessions when we were thinking about what to teach him and we both thought to teach him prayer... so we went over prayer again and how God will help us if we put in an effort... later that evening we called the ppl that gave him a ride to church to secure his lift.. they said that their car had broken down and that they weren't sure what to do.. we were thinking of ppl to give him a lift when he stopped me and said I've got it.. lets just pray! so we agreed and I called phil and I invited him to say a prayer for the car to work so they could get to church... sure enough the next morning we walked up to church and there they were!! it was so cool :) we taught him that lesson and then Heavenly Father showed him that it works the same day!! he shared that experience in our gospel principles class and I think it really strengthened his testimony.. it strengthened mine as well.. it was defiantly a blessing and I'm so glad we were able to see it.
I love being a missionary :)

so a little more about elder palmer.  hmmm some of his hobbies are american football.. uhh guns, trucks, horses ha pretty much like a cowboy.. we get on really well though its been awesome, we teach really well together and just stuff is good!! he says he is going to come to meet you guys when he gets home so you will get to meet him then :) you guys will love him!! one of the things he brought with him was monopoly though... we play it every night after we plan... this game has been going since the first day pretty much.... so i was loosing and had half my stuff mortgaged and i was almost out of the game but then he got prideful and i started winning haha I'm joking of course its just a stupid Nephite/Lamanite joke we always talk about... oh missionaries and their church jokes :)

I love being a missionary :) I feel so much happiness all the time.... I really miss you guys a lot.. but this is so cool.. its so cool being able to just have one focous.... serving the lord by tending to a small part of his garden :) I love it!!

well I really love you all and I hope this next week is better than the last :)

love you!!

elder wiser

I really do love you guys though.. thanks for everything :)

September 23, 2013

Sterling & his new companion Elder Palmer from Syracuse UT

Playing Monopoly

Watching a football (soccer) game

Master Chef's

I learned how to boil rice!!! and hansen taught me this thing where you drain it.. then put oil in the pan.. put the rice back in and cover it with a lid and it makes it not sticky!!

Dinner Time

Watching a Living Scriptures Movie

Hey family!! it was wonderful to hear from you all today. p-day is the best for that reason :) hmmm so there has been a few big changes in Cheltenham.. my trainer, Elder Hansen left and went up to coventry... he will be missed... Sister Wengert left as well she went to Darby...everything else is the same though :) the new elder and sister we received are amazing though.. sister andersen got sister vance.. she is from canada she likes cats and wedding dresses.. haha .. elder palmer is my new companion, he is from syracuse utah, he loves american football and trucks :) elder palmer is awesome though we get on really well! So my new companion.. Elder Palmer.. is our new district leader - He is a lot like Nelson.. so he is really kind and charitable and  love him to death. and a little like Elder Bumby - lots of energy. I feel like I have grown more in these last few days in myself then my whole mission..... ahh man.. well Elder Palmer calls every girl he sees, love- like "hello love how are you?" then when they say hi, he looks at me and is like "ahh yeah!" :) hahaha so we just have a good time :)  We teach together really well as well.. on  the street he is one way but when we talk about the gospel he is really on top of things. He is a really solid teacher, and we switch off. This is going to be a good transfer :) We get up on time, study, and go to work!! we play a lot of monopoly though. its not my favorite, but its a way to pass the time whenever we chill :) its fun! he wrecked me the first game but I'm winning right now on this game. 

Ah man dad I feel like I have learned so much..... so I wanna thank you dad for everything.. I know people just say that but I really mean it.. I said this a few weeks ago and its true... whenever I'm teaching or something, things you and ma have said in the past just pop into my head... I love it because well its just awesome :) I love you guys so much and I miss you.... 

well prayer is the sickest!! Elder Palmer and I had a moment when we were talking and we started feeling chills and like dark... so we said a prayer and it was gone just like that :) ha seems sorta childish but it was sick! I think good things are going to come from this transfer..... I have some big goals and were going to hit them for sure :)

well this week we have taught some really cool lessons with Phil, Ian, and our recent convert Sean :)

Sunday was sorta a big let down because we were supposed to have three investigators there and not one showed up!!!! I just stared out the window thinking they were going to be late and they never came... it sucked.. but thats ok God gave us agency for a reason :)    Oh man something exciting happend!! so this is giong to be hard to beleive and I dont want you guys to take this as a reflection on our work... but Elder Palmer and I got our first potential investigator from tracting!!! I have knocked hundreds of doors and not one wanted us to come back until friday :) pretty cool huh? street contacting is the best though.. thats what we spend our finding time doing.

Its really dirty in my flat.. we clean as much as we can but england is just sorta moldy and gross... the sad part is we have one of the nicest flats in the mission.. we have a dish washer and a dryer.. so its sick! but somehow these huge slugs get in our flat... like as big as my fingers... they are just chillin.. we find them on the floor and in the utensil draws - all that good stuff :) so its sorta gross.. but its ok :) ill take some pics for next week! I have tried to send vids before but they can only be under 24 mbs.. and thats like ten seconds.... so it sorta sucks.... we found that couch haha, how gross is that.. one of them had a cat living in it but thats ok :) so we just have those sheets on it so we don't directly touch it.  Elder Hansen and Retzer found it one day it brought it home :) we have bunk beds we sleep on.. they are pretty nice :) memory foam mattresses.. I love my sheets though.. that was the best thing we could have ever done.

all is well!! 

love you guys!!!

have a good week be safe!!

love elder wiser

here is Sterling's email from September 16th - I was out of town and just barely got home to post it.  Sorry for the delay.  -Laura

Zone Conference

This is England

Soaked after a 20 minute bike ride in the rain.

hey guys!! so this week has been good :) we have one of our investigators on a date now his name is phil :) he has been progressing really well and his testimony is growing really well. Phil's sister is a member. Her and her husband bring phil out to church most Sundays. He has met with missionaries before but he didn't want to give up his habits so he sorta just stayed off the map.. but one day at church  Elder Hansen just asked him if we could come by.. so we have taught him three times, things have gone really well and when we invited him to be baptized he accepted, which was a big deal because he hasn't with the other missionaries... so his date is set for the 12th  of october.. problem is, he has been drinking and smoking for almost all of his life and its going to be hard for him to give it up... I have the faith that he can do it. 

Soooo I guess there is this mormon musical out? anyway so these guys came up to us the other day and were like "oh my gosh.. are you mormons? can we get a picture with you!!" so even though they were probably takin the mic it was fun posing for some pictures :) I wish I had watched that before I came out so I knew what they were talkin about but it is what it is :)

So like I said this week was good but I had something cool happen I would like to share.

So one night I was laying there thinking.. (like i do every night) and if im being honest I was a little frustrated. I didn't feel like I was progressing fast enough and I'm getting to a point where I have some bigger responsibility coming my way. So as I was thinking I had a memory pop into my head...this was a few years back. So our family had a Bassett family camping trip and one of the things that we would do, is go explore the forest :) Stanton, Cameron and I were out messing around, climbing things and what have you, when we got to this spot on a cliff that was sorta sketchy. It was an over hang that was over this big drop into a bunch of rocks and it had a crack in it so we could have enough grip to get around. So me, being the oldest and the dumbest went first and after I had made it I called for stant to come over... I can't remember all of the details but I remember when he was going across he got to a spot where either he couldn't go any farther or he was slipping or something but I remember just putting out my hand and telling him to take it.... so when he grabbed on he let go of the rock and only hanging onto me he got across and over to the other side... so that was a crazy experience but I was wondering why I thought about it at that point in time. So obviously I'm not comparing myself unto the savior but God loves us and is always there holding out his hand to help us... even though it would be better to just not be a teenager and find a safer way to reach him he will still always be there if we get stuck on a cliff and in a bad spot.. so what I leaned from all of this is, just that I'm relying too much on myself.... I'm expecting myself to just download some life experience and be the best missionary when all I have to do is work hard and get myself out there and God will take care of the rest :)

Heavenly Father and Jesus love us so much and are always there for us.. all we have to do is reach out and grab his hand :)

the church is true!

love you all

elder wiser

September 9, 2013

Hmm, so this week has been a good week... we did a lot of service and it was awesome :).. Good news I got my scriptures back!! Ian kept them all safe for me :)  

We found some really cool investigators as well.. one called Elishia.. she is from London. We have only had one lesson with her.. things are going well though and she is really open and fun to teach. She is a 35 year old black lady. ha! she is pretty funny and easy to get along with... we don't know too much about her, but she smokes, drinks, and grew up on the streets since thirteen.. she has had a pretty rough life but she believes in being spiritual... so we will see how it goes.. were trying to set up a lesson with her this week :)  

We had  a really good lesson with Ian number two this week as well.. so Ian is a mathmatician so sometimes he is sorta hard to teach because he breaks everything down and likes to have a conclusion.. when sometimes you just have to go on faith.. we get into some pretty deep stuff with him because he asks deep questions so sometimes our lessons get intense but its all in good fun :)  Ian is not married he is sooooo smart though.... you know the American nsa? well here they have something they call GCHQ... he works in the maths department and is just crazy smart... just the other day in our lesson he showed us a few of his skills... he can listen to songs and play them on the piano after a bit of practice!! how nuts is that.... and he is ranked number two in the world on mine sweeper :) I thought gram would like that one ha he is a boss :) on the gospel side of things he doesn't believe in God.... he hasn't established a faith  in God...... he prays and stuff and I'm pretty sure God is answering his prayers but he just doesn't recognize it, its killin' me! and Elder Hansen was teaching him from before I even got here! he has good intensions but he just hasn't accepted his answer yet, oh and Ian doesn't smoke or live with a girl! So that's good.

We built a ramp for mama chesters this week as well so she could drive her scooter into the little shed she has out front. Dad you would have been proud we did a pretty good job :) it may not seem like much but I took pride in my work.. ill have to take a picture so you guys can see it. .. when we finished the little ramp mama had made us an traditional African meal.. it was this stuff that sorta looked like rice and we ate it with our fingers.. you just dunk it in this sauce stuff it was really good :)   However, when mama was cooking she pushed herself a little bit to hard and she sat down.... and then passed out.. so we were all like uh oh! call the ambulance! so we fanned her and sat with her till the ambulance came.. when they checked her out and got ready to go to the hospital she asked for a blessing.. which we gave her.. and she went with them.. it was pretty scary but everything was ok she just got overheated and worked too hard..

Well transfers are next week.... I may have to leave my trainer!  :( we dont know anything for sure but I think one of two things will happen.. one, I just leave and go somewhere or Elder Hansen leaves and our district gets a new district leader who would be my companion. 

Well I love you guys a ton and I hope everything goes well this week :)

love you! 
elder wiser

oh p.s. hey Dad!! I got your package! thanks a ton! I was telling all of my mission mates what you do and how my childhood knowledge is based off of these movies and now I can show them! I'll use them for the kids as well but I had to watch one this morning before personal study, ha! it was a blast from the past :) thanks dad. We are teaching a family.. Mel and John.. they have three little girls that are really cool.. next time were teaching I'm going to occupy them with a church movie so we can have a good lesson with Mel and John instead of being jungle gyms :) ill keep ya posted..

September 2, 2013

This was at a water fight activity with the youth - we go to the youth activities when they bring investigators.

Elder Kerr's farewell dinner at Nandos

this is laser tag :) it was sick!! they painted us and we wore hats and stuff :) it was a really good time :)

hello family!! this week has been a good week as usual :) all is well! well lets see.. stories stories.. so this week we have a few new investigators so that is a blessing :) we have been really busy it seems like we did a lot of service this week.. so i got to use my spring cleaning skills quite a bit. the lawn mowers here are so weird! they don't have wheels its just like a little sled thing you push and it chops the grass.. its weird but it is what it is.. we played laser tag with the youth this week that was really fun :) we took some pictures so you can see that.

ok so nothing to eventful has happend this week but all i can say is the work is good :) something that sorta sucks I left my scriptures at a gnarly dudes house.. so there is two possible things that is going to happen well three :) one, he opens it and reads some of the highlighted ones and gets baptised.. two, he sells them to a pawn shop.. three, nothing ha so im hoping its number one :) but i want you guys to know that i really love you and i think that you are the best :) keep livin the dream.

so Ian.. the older Ian is the most dificult investigator Elder Hansen has had and I guess that I will have.. he works at GCHQ in the math department.. so everything he reads or looks at he anylizes it and studys it.  we leave him with scriptures and when we follow up he askes what certain words mean which opens up a whole different conversation. so its difficult teaching him but he is learning.. he has to come to a conclusion on everything but its happening slowly :) uhh the second ian is sorta sketchy.. we invited him to baptism but he dosent want much to do with us, its pretty much that were just american and elder hansen likes talkin about politics.. so we probably wont be able to teach him to much more.

missionary work is inviting people to be better.... is an important lesson because thats all were here for pretty much! have a look at our purpose, it is to commit people to follow Christs example :) I do have a story its about a guy named Theo..he beleives the book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet.. he told us during the lesson we were teaching.. so at the end of the lesson I asked him both of those questions again and when he said yes I invited him to be baptised... now this was my first time Elder Hansen didn't set it up for  me, I just went for it so I was sorta shaky and I didnt want to do something my trainer didnt want me to.. anyway, he didn't accept because he has been baptised already.. not with the restored preisthood.. and he doesn't understand why, it's so... frustrating! but anyway so after the lesson we were walking and Elder Hansen said two things to me that meant a lot... he said Wiser I'm going to tell you two things right now.. one, that was gutsy and I liked it.. two when you invite someone to do something you fetchin look them in the eye like a man. this is Gods work and we're here to do it, so be bold!.. so at first I was like wo.... wo there.. but he is a hundred percent right.

the service was for mama chesters.. she had a stroke and one of her arms dosent work.. it was a few years ago so I think she is pretty used to it.. she was in africa when it happend so she spent a year and a half in africa.. crazy eh? we sorted out her garden and elder hansen and I are building her a ramp for her scooter :) the Saunders moved so we helped them with that.. mark, her son, is a stud :) he has been working a lot and he didn't have a phone for a while.. so we couldn't contact him to much but we are going to lunch with him :) were doing something they call the three threes.. so we I have to eat a bunch of stuff - and if i can I eat\drink three main dishes, three desserts, and three pints of water... you earn respect :)

I have had battles with spiders here... some of em are just huge and everywhere... we're pretty involved in the youth. we only go if  we have some younger investigators there but they pretty much do everything we do at home just with the weather differences and stuff... but we have a really good time with them :)

I ride my bike everywhere.. we only walk if were street contacting or just moving small areas.. I have taken a few buses but we can usually just cycle.. plus we have to spend money everytime we take the bus.

but sacrament is so hard to pay attention! Its not really reverent, everyone just talks - its really hard not to get distracted. its hard bringing investigators sometimes when you know there is going to be a kid screaming in their ear when they are trying to find out what the spirit is... ah man ppl yell stuff from the congregation sometimes though :) like ppl say thanks or tell the speaker to be strong.. just funny little stuff :) the best.. 

elder wiser