September 29, 2014

 The Kid!

 Sewing on my first button.  This was a big moment.

We swapped the ties we liked most of the other's collection. Dangerous move.

September 29, 2014

Dear Ancient Inhabitants of the Americas,

So this week has some crazy news! After I emailed you last week I got a call that night that I would be training one of the new Chinese missionaries and that they were coming in the next day. So basically they got here on Tuesday and came over to the area on Wednesday and Elder Sidhu left for another area today. He's going to a place near Preston. The last week has been weird with Elder Sidhu saying goodbyes and also Elder Jin from Beijing came into the YSA ward to train the other Chinese speaking missionary, Elder Harris from Ogden. We call them the lost boys because they look a bit confused at how to do things here haha.

So my new companion is Elder Eli Curtis. He is from near Logan and he was companions with Elder Harris in the Provo MTC learning Chinese for the last two months. We have so many weird similarities like the same journal and he has a beagle and he loves fishing and hunting. So it will be a fun transfer and although he doesn't know it yet, he'll be a great missionary. It's crazy to train just after I finished my first 12 weeks which is the technical training period so I hope I can figure out how to do everything and teach him and help him. Mostly they just need someone to emotionally rely on until they adjust to things here. It's funny to see myself in him as I was so bugged by the little things like British vocabulary and gross water that I don't even think about anymore.

And guess what?! I apparently have a British accent now. Elder Curtis says that when I talk to British people I automatically switch and sound British. Then I switch back when I speak to Chinese people and simplify my grammar. Haha it's so funny. GIFT OF TONGUES!!!

Oh yeah I should tell you about all the people we teach. So there is Joulia who used to be Muslim and then Ella who was baptised in London. They are really solid and we just help with retention by teaching them weekly. Then we have Tom from China who finally came to church and has a deep desire to know about Jesus Christ. There is Varind, the Indian shopkeeper, but with Elder Sidhu gone the connection might be lost. The Mongolians kind of dropped off the grid with us but maybe a later day will bring them back. Meryem from Turkey goes back home tomorrow sadly but she really felt the Spirit at church and hopefully she finds some missionaries back in her home country,

There is a missionary in our district who stayed at our flat who sleeptalks. He gets really mad and starts singing and then yells at us. It was super scary but really funny to. He goes back to an earlier place in his mind so we were all his old companions as we talked to him as he slepttalk. Crazy!

Otherwise the best part of the week was our Brazilian investigator Amanda. We got her to fast with us yesterday to see if she should be baptized on October 23. It's so amazing as you teach a lesson that thoughts and impressions just flow into your mind to know how to work with people's concerns. She is so sweet and made us this Brazilian dessert called Brigadeiros. But anyway we promised if she would fast she would know what we are teaching is true so I'm excited! There is this deep, deep feeling for investigators that are progressing when all you care about is their spirituality that I don't know how to describe. Hope it all goes well!

Not much else for the week. It will be a good transfer as Elder Curtis is committed to working hard and we hope to see some good things happen.

Love you all and I love reading you emails!

-Elder Webb

September 22, 2014

We put this on display for the Fresher's week for all the tours. Arabic, Teleguu, Greek, Zulu, and plenty else.

 I can't remember if I send this picture already but I broke and got some. Good for the rain.

 Missionary selfies.

Study and proselyting gear.

September 22, 2014

Family (and close friends),

This email may be a little short as I'm sacrificing time to send pictures this week, but I don't have a whole lot to talk about. The time in this area is really flying now and it feels like I was writing you two days ago. 

This week was fun with a lot of students coming in. There are members that came in for university from all over and lots of RMs that can help us fellowship and whatnot. The members sometimes go street contacting with us which is kind of fun. 

I finally had an investigator make Chinese food for us this week. Actually he's a member called Ethan from Hunan. He made pork and peppers and garlic green been beef with a mushroom soup and salmon salad. It was all amazing. 

Fun part of the week, probably playing basketball. We went to the court and there were all these Mongolians there. I thought they were from Hong Kong at first because I couldn't understand their language but then we figured out that they know our Mongolian investigators. They were actually pretty good at basketball, luckily one of the other missionaries played in high school.

Man, student lifestyle is crazy. There are all these flyers for parties and I'm just happy to say I didn't apply to anywhere except BYU and the U. It really isn't a scene I could live in as a student. But it's kind of fun and scary to be a missionary amidst it all. I think everyone who goes to England has to come home with a very strong testimony. It's hard to explain but to reach people's hearts here you have to be so bold and put up with a lot of rubbish from people. I haven't had the craziest things, but you know those mission stories everyone loves of someone yelling at missionaries or rebuking them or whatever? I think if you are a good missionary here it will happen at least once a week, at least in the big cities. Joseph Smith and Enoch are good examples for us all haha

As far as investigators, we have a kid from China named Tom who is dated for baptism! Woohoo! He had to go back home after being taught a month or so ago but he is back and he understood the Plan of Salvation really well. Hopefully it all works out, it's hard for him to get to church though.

That's a wrap folks and I hope you enjoy the pictures. What other questions do you have?

Mom, I don't really tailor these emails with stuff I don't want other people to know because I don't have anything that I want to share with the family and not everyone else. The package was the best thing ever! I loved the pictures and the photobook and the journals are all perfect! I was an excited boy that day. Thank the Mayletts for me and thanks so much. My companion better enjoy that beef jerkey. It's so funny looking at all the pictures of my life before now, it's like a totally different world.

Phil and Matt, so we have a Brazilian investigator named Amanda that I think will be baptized. And there is a man named Mario from Brazil who helps us fellowship and teach. These people are so amazing! There is something special about their testimonies that I love so much. I imagine you saw this so much more deeply on your missions but I have loved the taste of it.

Dad, we ride buses sometimes but no subways or trains. I have been to maybe four conferences with loads of missionaries, it's fun to see where they are all from. The Chinese missionaries are supposed to come tomorrow or next week, so we'll see what I do.That sounds crazy fourwheeling. Just enjoy those mountains while you have them! You and Mom are getting a taste of waiting for a mission call haha it's long waiting. The Preston Temple has the new film so I got to see it. I think they only do English here though. 

Love you all,

Elder Webb

September 15, 2014

Family,

I am just laughing at the computer right now with all the random stuff that I learn about your lives back home. I can now say I am an uncle to eight! That is crazy as it comes. Keep those kids safe for me. They are so lucky to grow up in a Gospel centered home. I realized that in Utah church leaders play a much smaller part in our lives because of the strong Priesthood families. Without this the ward has to be much more of a family and it really is a blessing to live in an area where the Gospel is so widespread.

So Sister Sun left this week, Sister Mangelson's niece. It is so weird because I remember her announcing her mission call in mission prep two years ago and thinking how strange of a mission call that was and now I served around her in her last transfer. She was an amazing missionary and sort of like my trainer, she walked away a mission legend. I hope to do the same! There is a clear difference between missionaries who understand their work and those that don't.

So did you all know my mission is called the cradle of the Restoration? There is this mission song we have that I listened to the other day and I realized I will really miss this place one day. The most special part is that where the original Saints came from, Liverpool, Preston, Manchester, and Wales, is where I will serve to lay the groundwork of the Saints in China one day. It is so powerfully symbolic and I am overwhelmed with gratitude to be here.

I realized this week that I can finally say I would rather be on my mission than back home. Don't take that to mean I don't love and miss you all, but it really is such an important time. There is nothing like being a missionary; it is an exalted lifestyle. It is odd that the aspect of my mission that I was least excited for, all of the trials and hardships, is what has made me love it. Everything in this like is about redemption through Jesus Christ and His doctrine. Please focus on these things!!!

As for the activities of the week, I honestly don't even remember. This week is when all the freshman come in and they are sending ten companionships down each day to work the universities. Pray that we might find those who are prepared. There are supposedly 50,000 students at least moving in this week, so it should be pretty crazy.

Mom, your pictures came in the mail and the stories. I am so excited to read them and I think I will get my package from the Mayletts on Wednesday. The office has it right now. I couldn't stop laughing at all the pictures you sent me hahahaha. I usually don't have time to read Spencer's emails so I don't know what goes on. I hope to get a letter from Kaden! I hope the ward is talking about how handsome I am in my mission plaque picture. Hey also can you call BYU and see if my AP test scores from 2013 will expire by the time I get back. I can't remember if I sent them.

Dad, maybe you can take up fly fishing with Brother Holley haha. I am jealous you got to go to Mirror Lake. Mom's pictures of you working at Matt's were so funny, I can just imagine all the drama of getting things down.

Scott, I can't believe that is what your workplace looks like. Make sure you go fellowshipping to those recent converts, they need just as much help as investigators! I see now what you mean about wards outside of Utah, they really are so much fun. Also they love the fact that they aren't in Utah. I haven't seen sunshine in 2 months so enjoy those clouds! Haha just kidding but I have forgotten that it's always sunny in the US.

Love you all and go out and find someone who needs to feel God's love in their lives. Take a retrospective chastisement to myself before my mission, if you think you are too busy to serve or share the Gospel or there is no one around you who needs help, you are missing out on one of the most important parts of following Jesus Christ.

-Elder Webb

September 8, 2014

Heya,

So this was a good week. Sorry this email will be really short but my email time was encompassed by deep thought and pensiveness and imagined burritos so I hope to be able to write more later in the day. Probably the best part of the week was teaching a girl named Amanda from Salvador, Brazil. She is so sweet and we got a Brazilian family in a nearby ward to come help teach her. We have a casual date for baptism for her so I hope that goes through. Then there is Vicky from Beijing who looked like she had seen a ghost when I started speaking Chinese to her. I was told this week that I hardly have an accent and someone told me I have the best Chinese of any foreigner they have met, so I'm feeling a little pompous at the moment. Haha too bad I can't say most words of the language, even if I can speak it well. But Vicky said we were her angels this morning when we helped her move flats haha so hopefully we can teach her more. The further I get into my mission the more I think about the people I am helping and care about little else. But it's not easy and there are so many distractions. Many missionaries are unhappy and I think it's because they don't understand what they are teaching. Elder Sidhu made curry for a family this week that was tasty and we are together another transfer which will be good. But the new Chinese speaking elders come in mid transfer and the assistants told me I am likely to start training them. Wish me luck :) Sorry I haven't responded to personal emails, I really am distracted right now because of A CERTAIN SOMEONE'S mission call that I am trying to wrap my head around. That was an inside message, sorry to everybody else.

But anyway I am hoping to step up my game as a missionary and really try to understand this work. It is all a learning curve and I have realized a simple thing about myself that makes all the difference. The God I know has never failed me and we can put all trust in Him. He will always be there to deliver in the hardest moments and for that I am ever grateful. Matchless is His love and His Gospel is asking to be dedicated to. Please look for ways to uplift those around you and know there is a story to every scar and a tear to every wearied face.

I love you all,

September 1, 2014

Friends and Loved Ones Afar Off,

Chalk another one up, as Grandpa would say. I can't believe this is the last week of the transfer. Time flies when you're doing the good work! I was thinking about how I would be going back to school right now if it were the last like eleven years of my life and I'll easily say I'm not jealous of them! 

I don't think anything too interesting came up this week except for continuing to teach our Mongolian investigators. We gave them copies of the Book of Mormon in Mongolian and taught them about the Atonement and prophets and dispensations this week. Random stuff sort of. As for any Chinese investigators we're a little short but hopefully the freshman week will bring them in by the boatload. Chinese students are really afraid of Christian missionaries sometimes and they don't like to talk to you if they are around their friends. Usually it doesn't work to talk about the Gospel the first time you meet them, maybe just tell them you will teach them English or play ping pang haha. 

The flat Elder Sidhu and I live in is like a Chinese missionary legend. I think almost every Chinese Elder in the mission has lived there except the first few. We were looking at their progress records and no offense to the past but I have higher expectations of myself haha. Elder Lybbert, the Michigan man, will be an amazing asset to the Chinese work as well. He bears an Elder Holland-esque testimony.

I decided this week I would map out my days and what I do because some of the questions I get indicate I haven't explained it well enough. But before that, Elder Sidhu and I figured out that in this transfer alone we have taught at least a principle to people from:

Peru, Russia, Portugal, China, England, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Tanzania, Romania, Greece, Turkey, India, Nigeria, Mongolia, Brazil, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cypress, and Mauritius.

Isn't that crazy? I am so privileged! Everyone needs His light and truth, but there is so many false ideas out there that plague our spirits.

So my days go as follows. Wake up at 6.30 and pretend to exercise for half and hour. Shower and almost fall asleep/eat cereal and soymilk and muffins if it's a good day till 8. Then we do personal study in the which I mostly read the Book of Mormon or Conference talks or study Preach My Gospel. Then we do an hour of companion study which basically means a prayer before we talk about the day and maybe listen to a talk, read from the white Bible. We're pretty bad at using that time haha. Then I do my Chinese study for an hour, which is either really entertaining or I stare blankly at my desk wondering what to study about. Then we eat lunch, maybe some fajitas or chicken and rice, the usual. If I take a nap during this time my motivation sours like old milk so I try to stay awake haha.

Then it's time to hit the streets! We usually are out proselyting by 1, which is pretty late for missionaries but England doesn't even wake up until then anyway. We go out on Oxford Road and talk to people, or sit at a little desk talking about family history. If it's raining we lie in wait underneath the subway to pounce on the innocent Asian who happens to be walking by or just hope people are attracted to our umbrellas. Dinner time comes around 5 or 6 and we head back to the flat for whatever is lying around. It's a ten minute walk to the flat from the YSA building, so that's about all the travel we do in this area. Usually there is an activity at night like YSA FHE or Ping Pang Tournaments that we go to if we have an investigator.

We come in at 9 to 9.15 usually and do our planning for the next day, hoping we turn the page and have at least one appointment in there. It's a pretty simple area and you don't have to be too creative to use your time, and we teach most lessons at the building, which is really nice. At 9.30 about I get into my PJs and write in my journal or we listen to a talk or something until 10.30, at which time we sleep. I have never in my life been so tired every single day. By the time my head hits the pillow my body feels like I'll never move again and I always wake up with plenty of little kinks to stretch out. 

So that's the life and it gets easier everyday. We can adapt so well as humans. My feet have thicker soles and what would have bothered me a month ago just rolls off now. It really is the best lifestyle. Except for those days where I can't believe how long my mission is going to be haha I really do love it. Something about dedicating almost every minute of the day to other people fills your heart with a new power and satisfaction and joy that comes in no other way, and it accelerates learning, growth, and healing. Missions are an amazing time of healing, nothing else like it. I feel so much stronger everyday and "set apart" has a new meaning to me now. 

Love you all and go do some missionary work! 

-Elder James Manchester Webb