Hey everyone! So I have a lot to talk about but the problem is I don't have enough time! All of the library computers in the Birmingham area are crashed.... We're at a members house using two iPads to email so it's a little hard to type. I guess I'll just start off at the beginning of the week as usual. That seems like ages ago!
So on Monday after emailing ElderSteel and I went to Derby after emailing. We just wanted to do some shopping and get out of Eastwood. That night was 'dodge night'. Where we find out about transfers and all of that. So as you know I'm in a place called Sheldon which is literally in Birmingham. My companions name is Elder Hoffmann. He's from Utah. I'm actually killing him this transfer so I was scared that he was already 'dead' which means he's too trunky to want to work. I'll talk more about us later. ("killing him" means his time is up and is heading home!). Not the case, though!
So Tuesday was my packing day. That morning we went so I could have a last Eats n Treats breakfast. It was so sad telling Claire and Rachael that I was leaving. Amy wasn't there yet but I told her on the phone and she hung up on me. It was really upsetting. Anyways I ate my bacon and egg cobs and had to go pack some more. I packed and packed and packed and packed a little more. I still managed to forget my TONYS! You should send me some (: Tuesday night we had ward coordination so that was hard saying bye to Ruby. She has done so much for me. She's the best. Also other members like Bill Marinas (who said that I'd be back). And Peter Morrison said some really nice things. Alan Stinson said that Gemma was going to be gutted. She had asked if I could be in the confirmation circle when she got the Holy Ghost on Sunday. She just turned 8. That night we had young single adult family home evening where we ate pizza, made cake and played Jenga. I had to say bye to Amy, Rachael, Claire and Martin which sucked. Hopefully Rachael will get baptised soon. She knows she needs and wants to. Claire is going on a mission later this year so that will be exciting.
On Wednesday we had transfers so Elder Steel and I woke up early and got a train to the mission home. I basically just stayed there and hung out all day. It was nice seeing all my missionary friends like Elder Harris and other people from my MTC group. Elder Hoffmann and I made it to Sheldon pretty late at night after a lot of stressful train rides with two things of luggage and a bike. Walking through Birmingham town center was nice though. It's a lot different than Eastwood so far.
Thursday morning we went and taught our only investigator. His name is Salin and he's from India. That's cool! Sheldon is very multi cultural. We did some finding and went to see a lot of potentials we didn't have too much success but we had fun. We've been working hard and having a good time. He hasn't had a baptism in like 18 months so it's my goal to send him home with one.
Friday was a really good day! We had the mission Christmas conference in Harborne. It was great having the whole mission together. Singing hymns with all 260+ missionaries was powerful. We had a good dinner and a good devotional by President and Sister Rasmussen. President gave us a temple recommend holder with pictures of us from our trip to Gadfield Elm chapel so that's really cool. Maybe that's why I could never find one that I liked. Remember? Again it was really great to hang out with all my mission friends and to see how they're doing. I got 3 packages. I only opened one because it didn't have a name or anything. It's a bunch of hand warmers so I'm assuming that's from you? I'm glad I openned it before Christmas because they're handy! <--- get it? Handy.... Anyways I'm saving the rest for Christmas.
Saturday morning we went "white board finding". We wrote on a whiteboard 'what does Christmas mean to you?' Quite a few people stopped. We got a couple solid potentials. One of them was really great. His name is Martin so hopefully you'll hear more of him later. Saturday night we had the Sheldon ward Christmas party. That was fun and it was nice to meet some ward members. We ate food and sang christmas songs and things like that.
Sunday was good too. Sheldon ward has sacrament meeting last which I don't like much. I met a lot of people but now it's a struggle to remember their names. The ward is also a lot smaller.
So it's been good so far! I've spoken to a couple of people in Arabic! There are more Arabs/Indian here than English people is what it seems like! It turns out my mission call was to Pakistan and not England. Just a small mix up. (; that's what it seems like at least. I'm loving it so far though! A huge change of pace from Eastwood. At the same time though I miss Eastwood so much. My relationships with the members there was amazing.
So to answer at least a couple of your questions. On Christmas we Skype. I don't know the exact details yet though. Sorry. I'll let you know. I don't have a car. There are only two areas in the mission with cars unless you're a zone leader or ap. I do like the area and the new companion. My flat is small. Very small. It has a nice bath tub and a fake fire place though so that's amazing. Also carpet floors. It's been nice and warm so that's a plus.
Hope you're all doing great. I love and miss you all! I hope you're having a great Christmas season.
Love,
Elder Evan Pogue
PS typing that much on an iPad kills!
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