February 23, 2015 Pictures

 It's got some amazing sites.

Menai Bridge over the Irish Strait.

 Spoof Selfy. Good thing I don't need glasses.

   My New Ride!  Haha just kidding. There is a member here from Cali that we did service for. They own a bed and breakfast and this nice little Lotus.

MMMM  The candy sushi turned out better.

February 23, 2015 Crazy News!

Pals around the block,

Well, another curveball for transfers! I am going back to Lancaster on Wednesday! I will take Elder DiPeri's place as District Leader as he is going home and my companion will be a Chinese speaking missionary named Elder Harris. While I was gone, Ming got baptized and they started teaching the Gao family weekly and they even came to church. So good things are happening there. Elder Lybbert is staying in Gaerwen to train a new missionary.

It will be fun to go back and I think I have some unfinished business there. The path of my mission is so crazy, I have still never served with the same companion for two whole transfers. I really have come to believe that the Lord has a plan for every trial and experience we have. I took the greatest dive of faith and hope in my entire life this transfer and had to hold onto bare threads for most of it, but I have come back with a stronger testimony of the Savior and His light than I have ever had. To quote a wonderful talk given this Sunday by an older member from Holyhead about the locusts and seagulls, "That is our job as Saints, to eat up our enemies." Hahahahahaha

Oh yeah and we'll be in a different flat than last time, one close to the University:

Elder James Webb

107 Court View House

Aalborg Place

Lancaster, LANCS

LA1 1AU

England, United Kingdom

I never thought I'd say it, but I actually missed England a lot so it will be good to go back. Also, my mission president asked me to get my driver's license so I'll be working on that. The procedure is a lot harder than in the states and holding one will actually lower my insurance rate! Hahaha but I may be driving in a few months.

Other fun news, I found out I am lactose intolerant. Ever since two Christmas's ago I have had these strange burp noises that anyone who knows me is familiar with. In Elder Lybbert and my diet we cut out milk and they completely went away. So I won't be much of a dairy man anymore unfortunately.

This week was pretty normal. We went proselyting in a town on the Isle of Anglesey with the most ridiculous Welsh name I have ever heard, let alone any language. It is called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiligogogoch. Look it up if you don't believe me. It translates to "The church of St. Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel Trees near the Rapid Whirlpool near St. Tysilio of the Red Cave." This place is like a dream world.

That's about it. I have a feeling that Gaerwen may be my last area come two years, not sure why. I've met a few people that have been fun to get to know and learned a lot of personal lessons. The attached picture is a meal some Chinese recent converts made for Elder Lybbert and I. It was sooooooooooooo goooooooooooooooood! Jason and Hong on the right are members.

Mom, I don't jog in the mornings anymore. Elder DiPeri just wanted me to be more disciplined and get used to the cold when we did.

Dad, Brother Kelson told me the ward never sees you anymore. I hope you still get hometaught!

Love,

Elder Webb

February 16, 2015 Fish Tacos

Elder Lybbert loves to cook. He also can't stand if someone tells him he can't do something. I wanted fish tacos for some reason, so I told him I didn't think he could make them haha. He could.

February 16, 2015 Zipidedooda!

Hellos,

I can't think of titles for my emails anymore. Also, this week I realized my speech patterns have completely changed. This came about when I told Elder Lybbert that he was "right nuts" rather than "totally crazy." Food is not "very good" here, it is "well nice." Pretty bizarre.

We had a fun activity with the mission this week in Manchester. It was an Olympics type thing and I got to see Elder Curtis again. He is still serving in the YSA and seems to be okay. Manchester feels like home to me and I love going there, especially with all the different cultures.

On Saturday Elder Lybbert and I decided to go to a new town to try proselyting there. It is called Bethesda and was about a thirty minute bus ride. If I can compare anything in the UK to Park City it would be Bethesda. All the people we met reminded me of ski town folk or our old neighbors, the Linvilles. But it was really pretty and I wished I had my camera, and they had a trout river! Ogwen trout, I'll have to catch one one day.

Sunday was ward conference and I got to meet the stake president. He is really on board with missionary work. The stake is part of England as well and is in a big growth period. Joseph Smith's last prophesy was actually to Dan Jones that he would take the Gospel unimpeded to his home country of Wales.

I've had a pretty good week overall. I decided that I want to buy an English suit soon, maybe a blue one. Nice ones are not nearly as expensive as the states, which is strange. This transfer with Elder Lybbert has flown by quicker than I could imagine. There is a new missionary coming in next week from Chengdu, China, and President Ulrich hinted that I might be his trainer. That would be crazy fun! Chengdu is the hometown of Panda bears and where Sister Mangelson's Chinese exchange students were from that one summer.

Anyway, I don't have too much to say. Love you all a lot and I'm definitely out here to grow. We're still not really teaching anyone, for the first time in my mission, but I suppose I'm here to learn patience. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We had a classic missionary story yesterday.

So we knocked on this door and a man started talking to us. He pulled out the typical Atheist complaints against our beliefs and started to get sort of angry. I usually don't like to waste my time with this, so I was preparing a goodbye statement for him, but Elder Lybbert had a different idea. He pointed straight at him and just bore his testimony in full sway. I knew Elder Lybbert had a really strong testimony, but I'll never look at him the same. He was nearly crying on the doorstep and I thought he might explode spiritually. The man basically could say nothing relevant after that; it was pretty powerful. You can only get experiences like this on a mission!

Love you all,
Elder Webb

February 9, 2015 Whoosh

 Near the library, typical Welsh looking site.

 I realize the awkward angle and nature of this picture, but I just had to share. This doesn't happen very often.  Rain Trousers.

 My best attempt haha.

Here's a lopsided sunset castle tower taken from our flat window.

February 9, 2015 TA TA!

Hello all.

Another week down in Wales. Elder Lybbert is developing a callous on his hand from knocking so many doors. This transfer has almost been straight finding and we still don't really have any investigators, but there are a few people that we feel like will start progressing soon. The Gaerwen Ward has just enough Priesthood to not be a branch, so they really want things to grow.

I'm looking at my planner for what we did this week and it's basically just the names of Welsh roads that we knocked, so there you go. There are less clouds lately though so I think spring is not too far off, so that's nice. Time has really flown here though. We went by Joleen again this week, the lady my email was mostly about last week, but she didn't answer the door so hopefully we catch her somewhere else soon.

The ward situation is kind of interesting here. Because the area is so large, everybody lives pretty far away and if we don't catch a bus or get a lift from the other elders with a car, we don't see the members too often. There are a few strong families that are helping everything move forward, and they have a high vision for the stake here to eventually split off from England and be the North Wales stake.

As usual, I really like the Chinese converts. There is Hong that Elder Lybbert taught and Jason who was baptized about a year ago. They are getting ready for Chinese New Year and are fun to teach. Hong has taken the Gospel in really well and definitely makes up that leadership stock for the future church in China.

Well, that's about it. Hope you enjoy the pictures. The one attached is of me, Elder Hill or District Leader, and Elder Lybbert.

Love,

Elder Webb

February 2, 2015 Crazy stories!

Family,

I have some crazy stories from this week, and one from last week I forgot to tell you all. I think these border the white handbook's mandate to not say anything negative about the country in which you serve, but I figure you may as well know what really happens out here sometimes.

So there is this creepy little town called Maesgeirchen. Because of my time in the dodgier parts of England I have a deep pride that makes me want to work where missionaries usually don't want to go. It's the former assistant companion blood that runs in my veins, they do things to your mind. But anyway, it's sort of situated in the mountains and has a very exclusive culture and feel to it. The following story happened last week and one this week is even better.

We decided to knock a street. It felt like normal tracting except at one house the owner walked out on the porch before we walked up and basically his glare told us his interest level in the restored Gospel hahaha. So we moved on and at the next house no one answered. It was weird though because there was a little window above the door that rustled and as we walked away we heard a big splash. The people tried to pour water on us! Elder Lybbert and I honestly just found it hilarious and knocked the rest of the street. I guess you could say that was my greatest "persecution" story, but nothing like what some missionaries have haha.

Then the next week (Saturday) we were back in Maesgeirchen. We had a morning of almost completely no success where everything went wrong and a few pretty slow days before that. Both Elder Lybbert and I were about done. We sat down on a bench and I decided there are no people in this country ready to be baptized haha. Wo unto the faithless! Usually when there is opposition somewhere it is because blessings are on the verge, so after our little break Elder Lybbert felt like we should knock some bungalow style homes that weren't in our plans. 

Not to sound too romantic, maybe English literature elements are just getting to me, but for a moment in that little village with the sun lined clouds and white mountains in the back and quaint flow of missionary work, it really hit me what we do as missionaries to come out and sacrifice our time. I have never given more of myself over to Heavenly Father and I have also never endured so much for it. I know so many missionaries who sacrifice everything to come here and serve, and it is all because of the simple testimonies we have and the hope to share them, to see someone embrace the Gospel. We knocked one more door and a lady called Joleen answered.

There is a special feeling as a missionary when you know you are on the Lord's errand, when somebody is prepared. The Spirit would not rest as we taught her and gave her a Book of Mormon. It was a simple but powerful exchange. We will contact her again sometime this week and perhaps there is more to the story, perhaps not, but all I can say is that the sweet feeling of helping one of God's children in a time of need washed away all the bitterness of the day. He will always remind us He is there.

This week was very important for me as a missionary and in my life. Our zone had interviews with President Ulrich and he gave me some pivotal counsel and a priesthood blessing and helped me see things and trust in the Lord more than I ever have. I know the time is not far distant where I will be able to say I have lost myself fully to this work. Before my mission I was convinced I had the Gospel pretty well figured out, but all I can say now is that I am completely changing. There is something everyday to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ and I love Him with all of my heart. Of His divinity, sacrifice, and the reality of miracles through His hand, I can truly testify. I will never regret coming to serve in this country because through it I have come to know Him and experience His matchless grace.

Love,

Elder Webb

PS Not to spoil the spiritual ending but a drunk man tried to kiss me this week. Yuck.