Weekly Update 23 April 2012

Hello!

Let's start off by talking about "the situation of the week", this Sunday the Warrington ward came to Church with us in St. Helen's because there chapel was being used for something and so we had twice the amount of people, which is quite a lot of people. We had also arranged for our Slovakian investigator to come to Church but the conditions were that we had to pick him up at about 12:00 from his Church, so Elder Lamb and I needed to do something because we were also by chance teaching the Gospel Principles class as well, so I had to teach it on my own. It was a little tough, I mean when you get set apart as a missionary you lose all fear for anything, that includes crowds or any manner of awkward situation that might arise, and so I had to teach a whole class by myself, I coped pretty well, if I have to say so myself... to start off I like to get to know my class, so we shared "random facts" about ourselves. One woman said "I have a condition where I'm always tired, I have something always on my mind, sometimes I can't go to sleep at night because I think about a lot, I over think things" to which I replied "wow, that's interesting, so do I! It's called being a missionary!"

I wouldn't trade being a missionary for the world! One of the most joyous feelings is when it's 10:30pm and we go to bed, and just the mere thoughts of "how can I best help _____?", or in the words of Jacob 5:41 "And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?" "What more could I have done today?" As a missionary my personality has really developed quite significantly, it's changed into an attitude of constant self evaluation, "What could I have done more?", there are always things that we can do to improve, there are always moments and situations we could have handled more effectively, there are always times where we could have run further than we have strength. I'm reminded of a song "To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe... this is my quest, to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far" Our roads to self- mastery all differ there are some temptations and trials that I will face that perhaps you might not. However, sometimes Sin might now be a form of a sin of commission, but perhaps a sin of omission.

My greatest fear as a missionary, is that Heavenly Father has placed someone who I am supposed to find, who I am supposed to teach and baptize, but somehow through my human frailties, perhaps through my weakness and my inability to run faster than is required, I miss out on that opportunity, and consequently that person misses there opportunity and so there future children miss there opportunity and so on, that is truly the reason why I run. But however we need to remember the words spoken in Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I love being a missionary!

So this week we have been blessed with some more great opportunities! A highlight of my week is teaching our Slovakian investigator, he is just so sincere and he really knows his Bible well, some missionaries may wish "I wish I knew my scriptures better" sometimes I think all of us wish we do, perhaps although a great lesson I've discovered is that we should know our scriptures well, but more important than teaching doctrine is teaching to recognize how to recognize and understand the spirit. Sure, I could prove the validity and actualness of the Book of Mormon using the Bible, I've come to know my Bible pretty well too. But more important than that is teaching how to gain a personal witness of the truth of the Book of Mormon through the Spirit. I can prove things to people, I can show things to people, but I cannot convert people, God does that for me.
We taught him and he even came to Church this weekend as well, he met the Bishop and was invited around for dinner at a member home already and it is his first Sunday visiting the St. Helen's ward... isn't that wonderful? The ward here in St. Helens really is supportive, I love it!

Another great lesson I've learn't as a missionary is sometimes the High Priest group leader says "temple, temple, temple" the Elder Quorum President says "home teaching, home teaching, home teaching" the Relief Society President says "Visiting Teaching, Visiting Teaching, Visiting Teaching", the Bishop says "Read and Pray, Read and Pray, Read and Pray" and the Ward Mission Leader says "Missionary work, Missionary Work, Missionary work"... they all approach it from different angles thinking that one is more important than the next, but truthfully they are all as equally important, it is one great work, there are not many different ways to the Celestial Kingdom but only one, which requires us to engage in all of the work, including going to the temple and missionary work... they are one in the same.

I love looking back at who I used to be, try it this week, my thought provoking question for the week is: "What are the top 5 Christlike attributes you have been able to develop in the past 12 months?"

I love you all!

Elder Sapaden

Weekly Update 16 April 2012

Hello!

Just to start off this e-mail, I want to share a success story about smiling. This week I have been playing a mind game with people, I am "Over-Doing" smiling, the objective of the game is to get everyone I talk to to smile... on the streets, members or investigators, just everyone. So, I've been doing this by really showing people how happy I actually am, it's like I have a smile glued to my face, not a "fake smile" but a real one, most people smiled back sub-consciously, a lot of people even laughed happily. Just visualize it... it's 6pm, you're coming home from a long day of work, you are tired, you really don't want to talk to anyone, your only thoughts are "what am I having to eat later?" you are slightly annoyed at your colleagues at work for some silly reason and then you are approached by a man who looks Filipino, has an American accent and won't stop smiling.

What are your thoughts? Would you be confused? Would you smile back "just because"?

my thoughts would be: "wow he is freakishly happy! Stop smiling, why are you smiling? Did he just say "Jesus Christ" I'm hungry, wow, he is still smiling. Should I just try and brush him off? Wow, he is still smiling, I wonder what makes him so happy? There is just something so different about his smile... am I inside an alternate reality? Stop smiling"

There is a reason why I smile, I just know how much difference this gospel has made to who I really am. So the success story:

Elder Lamb and I were just talking to a few people, it was a Tuesday morning and we were off to Southport to have an exchange with our District Leader, we were just talking to the people who were near the train station. We had a few minutes to spare so we started talking to everybody. In the corner of my eye I saw a woman. So I ran after her and Elder Lamb followed. I called after her with a smile, she turned around and was smiling back, rarely people smile back straight away and so my smile grew even bigger! As we talked I couldn't stop smiling, I love the principle "happiness invites more happiness" it is so true, I started sharing the gospel with her and she interrupted me "I love your smile" she said. I said "thank you" and started to continue with our conversation, she said "you have got a great smile", I just brushed off the comment again with a "thanks" we established that she had a belief in God and that we could help her strengthen it. She told me she "fell in love with my smile" and so I told her why I smile. We continued to have a great conversation, then out of the blue two drunk men came and started causing trouble, they started just saying negative things toward us, then by surprise this woman who we met on the street just started defending us, telling them to go away because we were helping her. The drunken men left us because of her and we set up an appointment with her. The miracle of smiling!

Of course, as tradition has started we have a picture of me as we are e-mailing, my companion Elder Lamb is with me. Here's a random fact: Look at my teeth, people normally have the bunny teeth in the middle, then some more teeth, and then canines. I only have the middle teeth and then Canines... so it really is a mind trick, there is something different about my smile! Have you ever seen a vampire smile, well... I'm pretty close to it.

This week we have been really able to work as well... running after people has just proven it's worth, sometimes Heavenly Father requires us to go further than we thought imaginable, you would think "I can't stop that person he is too far and he is on a bike, that is way top far for me", I ran after a person on a bike yesterday... it was fun, it was rewarding and the most important thing, we set up an appointment to see him later, sometimes if we look through the eyes of a natural man (we all do it) we only see the "Somethings are possible", when we look through the eyes of someone we can become we see that "EVERYTHING is possible" nothing is impossible. Impossible is nothing.

Well. It has been another great week! What a great time it is to be a missionary!

"one by one"
3 Nephi 11:15

Love,

Elder Sapaden

Weekly Update 11 April 2012

Hi Everyone!

It sure has been an interesting few days! I've grown in love with St. Helen's, I love it so much I could even live here after my mission (not that I'm considering it, but I could!) I am having an amazing time here and I'm still smiling!
We have had so much success with working with members, I love depending on members and through that relationship they know that we work hard and when they work with us we see miracles. Since receiving a new companion it sure is interesting because Elder Lamb and I haven't been out for a year yet of our missions and we are still both 19 years old, we have an interesting dynamic as a companionship, I'm the youngest companion he has ever had and he is also the youngest companion I've ever had... the faith that we have together as new missionaries is astounding, I love it!

It is also a rarity for two English missionaries to serve together (our ward loves it!) we manage to work hard together and because our understanding of the culture and the nature of the area of St. Helen's our investigators are being treated well!
I'm in love with St. Helen's not because of the area (in all fairness it is a great area!) but the members really do make the area. We have dinner appointments everyday, we are fed really well, the members get along well with us and they talk to us like we are just a part of the family, one of our neighbors washes and irons our shirts (I can't remember the last time I have ironed a white shirt in St. Helen's) the youth are great and everyday feels like "destiny"

I've decided to take a photo just before I e-mail as a new tradition so you can kind of see things live, plus we are e-mailing on some posh apple macs, it's a good deal if you ask me.

Thursday - Saturday this week was a blur, I got a little ill which aggravated my asthma a little so I ended up not being able to breathe properly so I got permission to stay in and recover, it was pretty interesting, because if you know me... I haven't really had a lot of experience with doctors offices and walk in centers and pharmacies just because I never get sick. So it was interesting trying to answer questions about what is what and who is who.
All that matters is that I am better now and I'm out and about.

Easter Sunday was amazing! We managed to get things done. This Sunday made me reminisce a little, the St. Helen's ward has many talented people and has people who can play the piano so it is never a struggle to get anyone to do it, I haven't really played piano for a sacrament meeting since Rochdale (about 4 months ago) and this Sunday all the pianists just seemed to not be there or were ill as well so I was privileged to play during sacrament meeting, I love the opportunities that we receive as missionaries to serve, because we are "called to serve" and that can happen in anyway we can... I managed to play for 2 musical items and a normal sacrament service! I love using my talents for good, it really benefited the St. Helen's ward and they were able to see that I'm just not "another Mormon missionary in a suit"

Something exciting that happened this past week was an activity called "Family Night with the Osmond's" some of the Osmond brothers came to Liverpool, before last Monday I really had no clue who the Osmond's were or even what they looked like. Well... I tell you I know now, some of the missionaries in the Liverpool stake were able to attend with investigators and less actives and non members, many of the people who were there were non members, there was a crowd of about 700 and it was an amazing amount of missionary work we were able to do there. In all it was a great activity that we were able to be a part of, people travelled far and wide to get to that concert and apparently even people from Denmark came!

It was a wonderful opportunity for missionary work!

I love you all, it is a great time to be a missionary!

Love,

Elder Sapaden

Weekly Update 26 March 2012

Hello!

Well... what another fantabulous week it has been in Sunny St. Helens! The weather here is so good! Can you believe I've gotten a tan in the north west of England? Miracles are possible!


This week we had a great opportunity to teach during Church about testimonies and how faith is like a seed, we were using a Church DVD showing a video called "A man without Elequence" where President Brigham Young outlines the principle of it doesn't matter how you can say things/ how you sound when you bear your testimony... but rather how even if you do not have talent for public speaking a testimony that comes from the heart is where true conviction lies. So we taught those simple principles and we taught how Alma compared faith to a seed (Alma 32) and how we need to continue to nurture our seed (or our faith)
We had 5 minutes left in the lesson and I received a prompting, that I should show a video about temples to end our lesson. Obviously a bridge between talking about testimonies our whole lesson and then just showing  a video about temples was a pretty big jump... but I received a prompting and so I did. Just before we ended, a hand rose it was a woman who had recently come back to church, she said "it's funny that you should show that, I've been dreaming about the temple now for 2 weeks" I just love how blessed we are when we pay attention to the promptings we receive, we all need to develop testimonies to enter the temple, and when we do... what a beautiful moment that is!


Anyhow, what a week it has been, so many wonderful spiritual experiences, let's start off with one:

Elder Raybould and I had just finished lunch and we had just a few hours to pass before our next teaching appointment, so far everything that day had feel through, our potential investigators weren't in or they had cancelled... it was pretty bleak to go talking to people on the streets on an average Monday afternoon. We were speaking to everyone. After a while we had gone around, speaking to everyone who was walking around, no one wanted to stop to talk to us for some reason (perhaps the timing or just the weather) and so we decided to talk to people who were sitting down, we approached a man who was sitting down on a public bench with two suitcases near his feet, he didn't look too happy but we spoke to him anyway. His name is John, John explained to us that he had just become homeless that day and that all his worldly possesions were in his two suitcases underneath him, he had no where to go... he was originally from Leister so he had come a far way... and he was litteraly stuck with no where to go.

We explained to him that there were no co-insidences in missionary work, and that we were just meant to meet him at that time, we sat down and he agreed that he would allow us to teach him and so we did, we taught that alot of bad things happen sometimes to good people, but it was all part of a bigger picture that we couldn't see yet. He is now one of our investigators and we took him to a local homeless shelter (because he didn't know the area too well) and carried his bags for him there, he was so grateful and so were we... Heavenly Father put us in the right place at the right time, sometimes we just don't initially see where sucess lies, but when we pay attention to the promptings we receive miracles happen!

We are also teaching a Slovakian couple, they sure are amazing... they were taught in Slovakia by missionaries, and we just happened to bump into them the other day... God really does "Prepare a way" (1 Nephi 3:7) for us to do much good, we just have to look for the way he has prepared for us.
I had a very strengthening experience this week, we had a potential investigator who was a single female and due to increasing legal complexities we cannot go into her home by ourselves alone, so her appointment was in an hour from when we last met her and we were stuck, we called many of our ward members, they were either busy or at work. I don't like the feeling of being let down, so I proceeded to call all our members one by one...I just went down our phone list... and during all my conversations with members I asked them who do they know who would be availible to come with us... and there was no luck. Until it came to the last name on our phone. I called the last name on our phone and it was a member who I had never heard of going out with missionaries before... I invited him to come out and he met us at the time and place appointed, well he was even 5 minutes early! I love how the Lord makes you go just one step further.

It reminds me of when Nephi had broken his bow, he had tried to continue to hunt... Nephi asked where should he go to Hunt... the Lord told him to go to a mountain. Now, it was probably easy for the Lord to put an animal infront of Nephi for him to hunt and for him to have a "quick fix" or it would have been easy for Nephi to just try without the Lords help. God told him to go "one step further" and he was successful in his hunt. I've developed such a strong testimony of this principle during my mission.

This week we decided to find somewhere near Liverpool and so we did... I had another Crazy experience! So I met a Chinese man, and I start off talking to him in English and I ask him if he speaks Mandarin, he replies "yes" and he asks me if I do, I reply "a little" I start off a conversation in Mandarin telling him what we share and asking him about his religious beliefs, he then presumes I am chinese and keeps on speaking, at this point I don't know what to say because he just went on for a couple of minutes and then it is silence I'm staring at him and then I reply "really?" in Chinese... he smiled and said "really" he probably thought I could understand all of what he said... I proceeded to ask him some more questions and I give him the website. I love Chinese people!



What a great time it is to be a missionary!

Love you all!

Elder Sapaden

Weekly Update 21 March 2012

Hello Everyone!

This week has been a total miracle! We have been so busy, but it is so good to be busy! We have been finding alot of people to teach this week and we have been going to many places for that, but mostly just pushing forward with faith. So we just started off the week with two solid days of finding, this week I can say I've spoken to about 400+ people, it sure is tiring, but it is worth it!
We have been having great opportunities to serve members in the ward recently, we have done some back breaking service! Digging up concrete posts, pulling up roots longer than my arms, and lot of manly stuff. I love being able to serve, it is a literal fulfilment of what we do as missionaries, we are called to "serve" and that is not just limited to finding and teaching. On my mission I have found service projects top be some of the greatest teaching opportunities.

In St. Helens we have alot of people who set up appointments with us, but aren't willing to take it any further, it really helps me know that we really are looking for the prepared. Oh... that reminds me, I haven't gotten transferred! Elder Raybould and I are staying together for another transfer in St. Helens, we really have been able to accompish new heights never before seen in St. Helens and we are so lucky not to be seperated to continue this positive flow upward.

This week I have had an opportunity to work with the Zone Leaders in Liverpool, I love working with the Zone Leaders, it's so exciting and you just learn so much. Our Zone leaders here in Liverpool are both Chinese speaking missionaries, so while on exchange I had an opportunity to teach alot of chinese students who have only been in the country for about 6 months and it really is exciting. A couple of them were under the impression I spoke fluent Chinese, it's really funny to have a Chinese person talk fast in Chinese back at you, trust me it an experience of a life time. Well, during my Zone leader exchange we had to do alot of unusual things, like get an M.O.T for their car, that's pretty unusual, I've never done that before on my own. We also got to go to a Chinese Warehouse to shop for a chinese activity they had later on in the week. I love doing new exciting, spontaneous things that you wouldn't picture missionaries doing! They had alot of Filipino things aswell.

Well, the miracle of this week is on Saturday!

We were able to do an hour consecrated to find people to teach, during that hour we found, we ran after everyone we saw in the distance, we knocked every door we saw someone in the window, we tried our hardest and there wasn't a moment I wasn't out of breath. At Fourty Minutes of the hour gone by it started pouring down, but we kept on finding, no one could stop us, not even the fiercest of rain. We were soaked and a part of me said "no one is going to stop to talk to us in this weather" the time soon passed and it we had found for officially 59 minutes, but we had to keep finding for that one extra minute, because Heavenly Father blesses us when we go that one step further, and he didn't let us down... at 59 minutes it was pouring down and we talked to a man with a hood on, we could barely see his face he told us to knock on number "302 ____ Street"  in a minute and so we did, he let us in, we taught him and his wife who were both very strong Christians from Slovakia, they had contact with the missionaries in Slovakia and had even received a Book of Mormon in Slovakian, how I love Miracles!

We had a good mothering sunday, we taught Priesthood and Gospel principles so it felt like Sacrament meeting was our "time of rest" and so it should be. I am having so much success with my Mormon.org profile, recently we have been visiting members during tea appointments and training/ teaching them about Mormon.org and the success we have had with it. I have given my Mormon.org profile to so many people, recently a young woman in my ward told me that she shared my profile with her friends!

I don't know how Mormon.org works but right now if you type in "London" I should be the first one to come up!

Miracles!
"have we not great reason to rejoice?" - Alma 26
Love,

Elder Sapaden

Weekly Update 5 March 2012

Hello!

This week has been Fantabulous! We have seen so much success and so much joy in the work. So we start off with last monday. The St. Helens ward have been working with a few part member families and we were invited to go around to this one home but now be "too preachy" and so we weren't it ended up being a total success, all of our conversations were about Church and it really was a testimony to me that if you really concentrate, and really listen there will always be a principle of the gospel you can relate to anything. The sun is shining and God lives, what more could you want?

On Tuesday were were able to really be dilligent, we were finding all day! I love finding people to teach. Sure it can get tiresome, it can be long, but talking to people about their lives and seeing the fire flicker in there eyes, just remembering a long time ago in a far off place we were once brothers and sisters really makes my heart beat faster. I love that feeling. I think it has made me such an extravert. I can't stop talking, even now as I type this e-mail, I'm talking. It's a talent if you ask me. You know something I love, I love being spontaneous, because it really is in those moments you see how much you have developed. Luck is when opportunity meets preparation, that has been my motto for the past week, I love doing something that I have prepared in my mind, I love asking questions that make people really think, and then they think, they think some more... they answer me with a perfect text book answer, it makes me smile and I testify to what they say and well they become an investigator and the rest is history. I used the word "love" alot, it just shows the type of person I have become... I "LOVE" my mission. I love coming home tired and saying "Elder, that was a great day!", not to my companion, just to myself in the mirror, and I love my thoughts of how I can better help my investigators keeping me up at night.

Wow, my e-mails have become my feelings on a computer screen than a weekly update... but I shall continue! Don't you just love this?

So... We really have been able to take opportunities of many things, something I have been advertising is my Mormon Profile, it is just such a great tool, I'm trying to refine it, like white gold, like... stainless steel, so that when I give it to people on the streets, to people we are teaching and to members of the ward they see that I am just more than a face in a suit, but something beautiful and purple (it's my favourite colour)
I have such a strong testimony of "positive self talk" sure it comes from having confidence and a nice "balanced" ego such as my ego. So I made an "attractive things about me" list so just keep on looking at my mormon profile over the next few weeks because if "long walks on the beach, sitting by warm fires with good company and looking for challenges" doesn't make it personal, it'll be refined.

I was in Southport on exchanges this week and it was amazing, I love being near the seaside, 90% of the people we talk to stopped for us and we spoke to alot of people. I love it when it's sunny, it really makes a difference. People are happy, people stop and people talk. I love all three of those things! I realise I am saying "love" way too much and not on purpose, this will go down in my journal as the "love" e-mail. I love e-mailing too!
We converted some people there, did some smiling, some uplifting and then I came back to St. Helens.

St. Helens is just the best area of the mission, I love it! We were teaching alot this week and I've really tried to take my excitement to a whole new level, I don't know if that is possible. The gospel makes people happy and I am happy sharing it! I am on top of the world right now. Nothings going to bring me down.

I need to write a positive self talk song on my Uklele later, hopefully this excitement/ enthusiasm/ energy is contagious and you all get it from reading this e-mail and it just doesn't look silly. The member here have been trying to catch me not smiling/ happy. It isn't going to happen.

I just feel like I need to say. I love you all!

Love, Love, Love

Elder Sapaden

Weekly Update 27 Feb 2012

Hello!

It has been such a wonderful week here! The weather is picking up, the sun is shining and the gospel is true. What more could you need? I am in love with St. Helens it is a wonderful place with such great members. I am always full, because they always feed us here. So alot of this week I was in Southport on exchange with the District Leader I love exchanges because you learn so much and you really are able to grow from other missionaries. Southport seems like a great area, but I only have a few names engraved on my heart and St. Helens is one of those names. We had an alright Pancake day, without any actual pancakes. I woke up had exercise and tried to cook some pancakes, and apart from the fact that I forgot how to make pancakes it just wasn't the right time to cook pancakes, there just seems to be a time and a place for everything, as we learn in the scriptures, it wasn't the time to cook pancakes, I love cooking!

We had so much success on our exchange we received two new investigators in two hours, it was the best! I love teaching on the spot lessons to people on the streets, I would say it is one of the best feelings in the world just knowing that Heavenly Father has prepared people who are will just to sit down for a few minutes to know how they can strengthen there family, or what ever they may be interested in. This week seems to be the week were we just find and teach people on the streets, we found a man staring at an old ward memorial, he was a young man in his late 20s and we talked for a little bit, he was searching for answers and we provided him with those answers. We taught him about baptism and he asked us the best question of the week! He said "When can I get Baptized?" Isn't that just the best question every missionary wants there investigators to ask, because when he asked that... well just try and imagine my smile.

This week I've really been working on my urgency and I've discovered a great secret, "The greatest secrets of missionary work is work", when I run from door to door knocking on them... It really keeps my mind focused on the next one, there is no homesickness, there is no sadness only... helping the next person I can. This gospel is so true.

What a wonderful time it is to be a missionary!

Love,

Elder Sapaden

P.S Check out my profile: mormon.org/me/87DG/Jared