Weekly update: 19th December 2011

Hello Family!

I hope you are all splendid! This week has been a great one, so I'll start off by talking about the weather. It is just so Cold! It is freezing all over, it has snowed and it is staying, in some parts of our area we have places which are over a foot or two feet of snow, it's crazy. It feels funny being wrapped up so much, I'll tell you what I have for my winter gear, so I'm nice and wrapped up with my scarf, I wear both pairs of gloves, one glove over the other, and a nice pair of ear-muffs. So usually I'm pretty warm, it's fun knocking on doors in this weather, people tend to give the excuse "it's too cold to stand here", I wonder if they ever consider how cold we actually were. But thats okay! Our smiles warm up even the coldest of people.

This week we actually went to the mission home over at Altrincham to have Christmas dinner with our mission president and his wife, travelling from Rochdale to Altrincham was fun I love talking to people on trams, it is much more open than talking to people on busses and trains and it's very easy to talk to them because they come and go, even just talking about how their day was, it must be nice to have a person to talk to about how your day is going.

So this week in Rochdale we have been focusing on alot of Less- Active work, I love visiting less- actives, it just feels quite different going to less- actives homes when you are a missionary, sometimes it's only a missionary who can bring that special spirit to their homes and bring them back to church. I have had so much success in Rochdale from visiting less- active members homes, we have just seen family to family come back to church, and now even some of the children whose family was less- active are getting baptised. Although I was not actively part of the teaching and baptising of that child, I do know I was part of that process. We got them back to church.

I was even given a nice little invitation to the baptism which is happening on the 31st of December. I came on my mission and I wanted to baptise thousands, I know even though I might not be actively part of the actual teaching and baptising, I know that I helped it happen. You know I might just baptise thousands in that respect, the little boy will go on a mission, that little boy will someday have a family, that little boy will someday be a bishop. I did baptise thousands. My new goal... Millions.

So from visiting some more less actives houses I went to a house where Irene lives, Irene is amazing she is from Zimbabwe and used to go out teaching with the missionaries quite alot. I had the privilage of going to her home for a dinner appointment. African food is amazing!

Another success that Elder Lintusaari and I are having is the amount of member refferals we are getting, I know that by asking members who do they know who would be interested in the message we share is something magnificent. We have received many contacts that our members have given us, something I firmly believe in is that the missionaries have to earn the members trust for that refferal and serve the members for that. Now you might ask: Elder Sapaden how have you served on your mission?

Well... I love the members so much, the love my piano playing, you put two and two together and you have a great tool to develop member- missionary trust. Every sunday before Christmas in Rochdale the primary put along a Nativity presentation. Unfortunately the pianist didn't show up for one reason or another. The primary president approached me, she looked very distressed and she needed someone to replace the missing pianist urgently. She called upon me, I hate sight reading (playing music without rehearsing beforehand) but I continued to do so, I know as I played those intricate and difficult pieces that my fingers were guided to the keys I needed to play, I played beautifully. The primary Nativity presentation was a success, and the spirit of God penetrated everyones hearts. I love being able to serve. In fact, I'm playing for a Christmas concert at an old peoples home this coming wednesday, wish me luck!

Matthew 25 teaches us this important lesson:
And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

If this e-mail ever gets around to bishop, I have a message. "Yes, Bishop, you could say I was "Tearing it up" in Rochdale!"

I love you all!

Elder Sapaden.