15th Letter from England (Eastwood)

Hey!

I was sure to read Megans email first! (Note:  His friend Meg get her mission call to Helsinki, Finland)  So she told me herself where she was going!  I'm so stoked for her!  I hope she read that story I shared a couple weeks ago about how hard that Finnish is (:  She's going to love it!

That's interesting about your Friday.  I wish I could have been there.  Like you I had a really, really good Sabbath but I'll tell you about that when its time for me to talk about Sunday! 

I knew Taylor would be laughing about my bike! Honestly, I was laughing a bit.  Elder Harris was more cross about it than I was! 

This is probably going to be the most boring, uninteresting email because I look back on the week and nothing too big really happened with us, but lots of little blessings. On Monday we just hung out.  We went to a less active couple's house for tea and had a great time.  They're the Ellis' (the people lending me their bike).  We had a ton of fun.  We're going back tonight actually.  They're awesome.

On Tuesday we had an amazing lesson with Amy.  Amy is so fun to teach.  She's been reading the Book of Mormon and asking us questions and is wanting to know more and all of that.  It's just so much fun to have an investigator that's so excited to learn more.  We taught her on her back porch which overlooks hills and stuff and it's really just a beautiful view.  Unfortunately we weren't able to meet with her sister Rachael this week but we will soon.  They're just so awesome. 

I'm not going to lie, I have no idea what we did Wednesday.  We just did regular work.  That May have been when we  taught our investigator Jason.  He's cool, we're just not too sure about how interested he is.  But he said he read the Book of Mormon and if he likes it he'll probably 'just read it again!' 

On Thursday we had district meeting!  I always love district meeting.  Elder Patton is our district leader and he really is such a great guy and awesome missionary.  I look up to him a lot.  After district meeting we had a dinner appointment with the Leach's.  Brother Leach is the funniest man I've ever met.  His humour is the dryest and quickest I've ever heard and he just always says the most comical things. 

Friday was a fun day.  Elder Harris had to go to Nottingham with Elder Akebrand so I was with Elder Taylor for a couple of hours and we went to Heanor to talk to people on the street. (GQ)  We got really lucky and got two pretty good potentials.  They seemed to be coming to us and asking us what we were doing.  It usually doesn't happen like that!  After Elder Harris got back we weekly planned and just sat around. We did some garden work for the Evan's family so that was good.

Friday night we got a text saying that Sister Wengert (from our district) was hit by a car!  That was extremely scary but she's perfectly fine.  She's awesome. 

Saturday was a fun day.  We went and did some more finding in Heanor then went to Luis' house.  He's Spanish and has an awesome family.  He taught Elder Harris how to make rice and we ate this amazing rice meal.  It was great, we then helped his son Andy write his talk for sacrament meeting because he doesn't speak too much English.  Guess what!  I'm totally picking up Spanish... Luis' wife, Rocio (I dont know how to spell it) asked me a question in Spanish and without thinking about it I said before is fine.  After Luis' we had to go straight to Ilkeston to Claire and Shaun and they had a huge meal for us too!  We were so stuffed by the end of that day! 

Yesterday was probably one of the best Sundays of my life.  It was very bitter sweet.  The spirit was so strong all day but it was also extremely sad.  It was so sad because Elder Harris is most likely leaving this week.  Transfers are Wednesday and we find out tonight what happens.  He's been in Eastwood for 7 months now, and it's practically unheard of that anyone would stay in an area for longer than that.  At church he and lots of members were crying saying goodbye to each other.  We then went to Bill Marina's house for dinner and had Paella and Lasagna and the pudding was three different types of cake and ice cream.  We then played a game and then everyone shared their testimony about when they first k
new the church was true.  The spirit was so strong in there.  After that Ruby asked Elder Harris to say what he'd miss the most about everyone.  He was hestitant but he did.  He said, I'm not going to talk about Elder Pogue or else I'd just lose it immediately.  He talked about everyone and we were all crying by the end of it.

Right now I want to tell you all about how awesome Elder Harris has been.  I know when I first came out on my mission I was talking to President in our first interview together.  This was when he was assigning companionships.  I told President I wanted the best he had and someone who loved the work and would work hard.  President gave me that and so much more.  I know this is way cheesy to write about him like this but he really has been a huge blessing to me.  Elder Harris and I have grown so close and we just laugh and have fun all the time.  We work really well together and we probably get along better than any set of missionaries ever in history of missionary work.  In our whole time together we have not gotten in a single argument or even had cross feelings towards each other.  I know he'll be a really great friend for the rest of my life.  There's a quote from the best two years and it's Elder Rogers looking at pictures of his companions and Elder Calhoun asks him about one of the pictures.  Elder Rogers says that that was his 'first companion and [his] favorite too.'  I would not be surprised at all if at the end of my mission I'll be saying that about Elder Harris.  I'm going to miss him like crazy.

Now watch the call tonight we will find out that he's actually staying... I wouldn't be complaining.

So overall its been a really great week and I'm excited and nervous for this coming week.  I'll probably have a new companion next time I email.  I love you all.

Love,

Elder Pogue

 

14th

Guess what guys!?  This email I have NO BIKE! 

Okay, so I just want to express the irony of this.  My last email started saying how excited I was and how miraculous it was that I had no bike problems.  Anyways, Tuesday morning Elder Harris and I walk down our stairs, open the door, and find laying on the ground two helmets, one bike, and a heavy bike lock which has been cut by someone who must have been 400 pounds of pure muscle because that could have been no easy feat.  Anyways my bike was gone, I guess they didn't want Elder Harris'.  We went to the police station, got them on it.  We talked to our neighbor, he was ticked and he said he'd already called all his mates and they are on it, and Elder Harris and I got the Eastwood Chavs looking out for it too.  But in short.  Say goodbye to my bike.

Thats okay though, Elder Harris is much more upset about it than I am.  It's just sad that someone felt like they had to steal a bike. 

So that was pretty much my Tuesday morning.  After that we went to a carvery with Peter Morrison.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before.  Its called Hole-in-the-wall and its all you can eat of deliciousness.  It's pretty much you eat that at lunch time and you don't eat for the rest of the day.  We then went and taught a lesson with Amy (one of the Eats and Treats girls) and that went awesome.  She is so excited to learn more and really change her life.  She wants to quit smoking and she LOVES the book of mormon.  She calls and texts us all the time with questions about the book of mormon!  I'm excited for her to be baptized.  We put her on a date!  The 23 of November. 

We had Zone Meeting on Wednesday so that's where we all go to Nottingham and listen to the Zone Leaders.  I learned a lot there.  They gave us some good finding methods that I'm excited to use.  That takes up a lot of time though.  We also borrowed a bike from a sick family called the Ellis'.  They're extremely nice and fun.  She's 24 and he's 29 so they're young and stuff. 

On Thursday we went on exchange.  I was with Elder Shipp in Eastwood.  I'm glad I stayed here this time around.  We went to Ilkeston and went to check on a few potentials but none of them really were interested.  Then we were going up to Ilkeston town center to talk to people and when we got there, there was a huge fair!  It was packed and crowded.  By the time we got through the people it was time to go to the store and buy food because we volunteered  to make tea for Claire and Shaun!  Ahaha We ended up just getting frozen pizza and told them we were going to make them a real American thing next time when Elder Harris was in town.  We had fun and taught Louise.  Louise by the way is getting baptized this Saturday!!  I'm extremely excited for that! 

Friday was an interesting day, so we woke up at half 5.  We went to Nottingham and the whole Zone rode a coach to Benbow Farms!  That was pretty cool.  Tons of people were baptized there a whole long time ago.  We took picturese there and President Rasmussen talked to us a bit.  Then we went to The Gadfield Elm Chapel which is the oldest LDS chapel in the world.  It was pretty cool!  There have been many prophets and apostles who have spoken there.  We didn't get home till very late.  It was a nice break from the usual missionary schedule. 

On Saturday we couldn't teach English because we had a meeting at 2 that got flogged so that sucked.  We went and talked to a lot of people though and one was VERY interesting and VERY funny.  So we talked to a former investigator named Edward.  He's 72 years old and frankly, a little senile.  So we get to talking and he was talking about how he is going with his family to the States.  He said, 'I really want to go to Florida but my family wants to go to Miami!  So thats kind of awkward.'  He said they got in arguments about it!  So Elder Harris and I are chuckling already then Elder Harris says to Edward in the same way he'd like give a promise about living the Gospel and how it would improve his life. 'Edward, I have a really strong feeling that you'll be able to go to Florida.'  We both died laughing!  Poor man.  Then later this meeting we were talking to him about baptism and he said well I was baptized in the 60's and we were like oh really!?  And he say yeah!  Into your guys' church!  And he said after he was baptized three men stood around him and put their hands on his head.  We were so confused and we think we may have found a very, very lost sheep.  It was a good day.

This week has been a downpour.  Literally every day its rained a lot.  It's not too bad though.  The pictures attached are me eating a Kebab, which we have all the time.  They are delicious, then a blurry one of Elder Harris and I at Benbow Farm, then a picture of the 'crime scene.'

So I've been studying the Atonement of Jesus Christ a lot this week.  Its amazing what has been done for us.  Because of the Atonement, no matter where we are in our lives we can change.  We can be forgiven, and have eternal joy.  That is such an amazing gift.  There is a book (that I have not read) called the Continuous Atonement and in it it talks about a young priest blessing the sacrament.  As he says the prayer he messes up, and the bishop looks at him smiles and says with love, 'do it again.'  Once again the priest starts to pray, but doesn't quite get it right.  The bishop once again smiles and says 'do it again.'  One more time the priest starts to pray and messes up and one more time the bishop encourages him to give it another go.  The priest starts the prayer and does it correctly.  Never once did the bishop get upset at or embarrased for the boy.  The bishop did not say move over let some one else do it.  Every time he encouraged him to back up, slow down, and try it one more time.  This is comparable to the way the Lord is with us.  We aren't expected to be perfect.  We will make mistakes but every time the Lord will smile, and say 'try it again.'  As we really incorporate the atonement in our lives, as we 'try it again' and really refine ourselves and strive towards self mastery we will grow, we will gradually see ourselves come closer to Christ and we will better recognize the blessings we gain as we strive for these worthy goals.  What a great gift we have been given.

I really miss all of you guys and love all of y'all!

-Elder Evan Pogue

 The crime scene:

 Kabob:
Elder Pogue and Elder Harris

13th letter from England (Eastwood)

Guess what?! This email does NOT consist of bike problems!  Miracles man, miracles.

Okay, so Monday was obviously, P-Day.  We had district P-Day in Derby so that was a lot of fun!  My district consists of Elder Patten from St. George Utah, Elder Shipp from Arkansas/Texas, Elder Harris and I, Sister Wengert from Arizona, Sister Perronet from Switzerland, Sister Stapley from Arizona/Utah and Sister Eldredge from Utah.  We all had a great time eating Kebabs, then we went and played frizbee and football at a park.  We ended with a game of signs and went home.  We then went to visit Shaun and Claire.  I love being in their houses.  Its amazing the way the spirit of the houses has changed since we've started teaching them.  That night we got a text from a lady we taught one lesson to that said 'so when do you baptize.'  What a crazy text to get as a missionary!  Her name is Sarah and she is super funny.

On Tuesday we just basically had a normal missionary day, we went to a town called Heanor to find people to teach with little success.  There are several spanish families in Eastwood ward so we ended up going to Luis' house and talking to them in English for practice.  We had dinner that night with the Birch's and had Ward coordination that night.

On Wednesday we had interviews with President Rasmussen!  Our district was supposed to go at 3 to Nottingham but Elder Harris and I went at 11 because we had 3 teaching appointments set up for that night!  That's not a very common occurance, especially because we had members present for all 3 of them.  It's always a great experience meeting with President and Sister Rasmussen.  They're so supportive and loving. Our investigators Rachael, and Amy who are the sisters that work at Eats n Treats were the first of our appointments.  They made us like a home made paella that was really just a bunch of random things thrown into the rice.  It was extremely delicious!  We then ate Crepes for pudding and I definitely had too many (:  Immediately after that we had to cycle to Ilkeston to teach Sarah.  We brought Shaun with us and taught a great lesson.  Everything we teach seems to make sense to her.  It's also a great experience for Shaun to hear the lessons again.  Unfortunately by the time we were done with Sarah, it was too late to teach Louise.  As we cycled home that night, it was pitch black and we had no lights.  The stars were beautiful though and Elder Harris and I took a few minutes to admire them.  That's a memory I'll always have.

On Thursday we went on exchange so I went to Derby with the district leader Elder Patten, we had such a great time together!  We didn't have much time to find but we had an amazing dinner appointment with a really awesome family.  Guess what Dad!  The guy in that family's job is to climb those big radio tower things like that video you showed me a long time ago!  I couldn't believe I actually met someone with that job!  He says it terrified him when he first started but by now he's used to the heights.  I just thought it was crazy.  Then Elder Patten had a baptismal interview for a kid named Jack.  He's extremely funny and energetic.  He's baptized now.

The next morning was Friday and we made our way back to Eastwood to meet up with Elder Harris and Shipp.  I got the package from Saudi with the shirts in it!  We really like them and will be sure to wear them!  That reminded me though!  One thing I think I'd really like is one of those ties like Rusty Mosley has of the ghutra fabric!  If you find one send it to me!  Also, Mom, did you look at the triple combination unindexed thing.  I really could use that!
That day Elder Harris and I just weekly planned then went to Ilkeston.  We got flogged 3 times that day.  We had a dinner at Claire and Shaun's that night and enjoyed ourselves there.  Cycling back was freezing cold.  The weather here has taken a dramatic turn south and it's been extremely cold and windy and rainy every day.

Saturday was an interesting day, all of our morning plans got cancelled for one reason or another.  Basically the first thing we did all day was go to Luis' house for dinner.  That was at 2 o'clock and then after that we tracted in Heanor.  Elder Harris and I split up and were knocking house after house on opposite sides of the road.  It was pouring down rain and extremely cold.  We got one pretty solid person though.  Elder Harris practically taught him the whole Restoration while I was knocking on door after door.  It would have been the perfect day for a nice hot chocolate when we got back from our flat except it was fast Sunday...

Sunday came and church was fine.  We had three investigators at church so that was awesome.  Elder Harris and I watched the rest of conference that night.

This spiritual thought is for anyone who is deciding whether or not they should go on a mission.  It's from the June 2013 Ensign and I just want to share one portion of this article.

The Roundabout of Deciding to Serve a Mission
The prophets and apostles have made it clear that every able, worthy young man should serve an honorable, full-time mission. President Thomas S. Monson has also welcomed young women to serve a mission if they choose.  The Savior’s call is clear: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).  My mission in Finland changed my life. Because Finland is on the top of the world, it is often dark. It is also extremely cold; the snow melts in May and comes again in September. My first winter there I spent in Rovaniemi, a few miles south of the Arctic Circle. When the sun went down the first part of December, we rarely saw it again until February. The temperature was often below zero (-18°C).
We were asked to find people to teach. I would wear two pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves, a shirt, a sweater, my suit, a heavy coat, a hat, and a scarf. As we would leave our apartment, my eyes were the only part of my body not covered. After walking just 100 yards (90 m) from our apartment, I would be freezing cold. We would be out working from 9:00 in the morning until 9:00 at night. We had little success.
The Finnish people thought we had lost our minds; I wondered the same thing. All I could do was ask the Lord if the work really was true. He often answered me in no uncertain terms. It was in the icy winter of Finland that the fire of the Spirit bore witness to me of the truthfulness of the gospel. Had I not gone there, been pushed to those extremes, and had cause to truly find out for myself, I might have never received the confirming witness that came—the kind of witness that goes deep down inside and never leaves you.
During my time in Finland, I taught and baptized three people. Up to that time I had never experienced the great joy I felt as I watched someone accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the truth is, there was a fourth convert—me. Had I labored all my days and converted only myself, the experience would still have been worth it to me.
The Lord needs you on a mission, but perhaps even more important, you need a mission for yourself. It is there you will feel and understand the sweet whisperings of the Spirit and learn the lessons you need to know to be a good husband or wife, a good parent, and an outstanding member of the Church.
If you are worried about serving a mission, follow the Savior’s call. You will need to exercise both faith and courage to leave the roundabout of indecision, but choosing to serve a mission will be one of the most important decisions you make in your life.

Me again:
Okay, so I just want to testify of the truthfulness of this article.  Especially this week, it has been cold and rainy.  Not very many people are listening to us.  Some days it seems like we are doing nothing to help the English people.  But regardless of what success I have everyday, I grow as a person.  If you are not sure if you should go on a mission or maybe you don't think you want to, I promise you that going will be the best decision you ever make.  I'm only 3 months in and I can't believe how much more prepared I already am for the future.  My testimony of this gospel grows every day, and I can say now more than I ever could before that I recognize the blessings that come from it and I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church.

I hope you are all doing great, I love you all and miss you all.
-Elder Evan Pogue

12th Letter (Eastwood)

 

Hey everyone!

 

I did get Piper's picture and loved it!  I opened it up in district meeting and all the Sisters were jealous of Piper and Rhett!  I loved all the things that I can tell Piper made you put in the box, like a roll of tape.... ha!    Oh, can you please thank Brother Dille for me or give me his email!  He sent me some root beer extract so we can make rootbeer here.  They don't have it.  It means a lot to me that he took the time to do that!  Ask him what areas he served in.  Also, if he knows anyone that I should look up or something. 

 

It has been a really, really fast, great week! 

On Monday after we emailed Elder Harris and I really just chilled out and did nothing.  We didn't have any plans and really nothing to do.  It was nice though. 

 

Tuesday was the funniest day of my mission.  It was not Elder Harris' day.  First off we fixed my bike PERMANANTLY.  There was a nail in my tire that was tiny and practically invisible.  We took it to Mick the bike guy and he hooked me up and there have been no problems since.  Then we were cycling down a path to a dinner appointment we had at Bill and Nancy Marinas.  On the way there Elder Harris half fell off his bike and his foot sunk deep into mud. Then!  We get to our dinner appointment where we had this seafood pasta dish which was amazing.  So there were shrimp in it and being from the south I knew how to peel them and stuff but Elder Harris had not seen shrimp like that before so he asks Bill how to eat them and Bill tells him to peel them.  It turns out Elder Harris had already eaten two shrimps with the shell, legs, head, eyes, everything!  Everyone laughed pretty hard at that!  It was a pretty good day.  We did have two teaching appointments scheduled but both of them flogged which means didnt show up or answer their doors.  Flogging is a common theme of this week.

 

Going back to the seafood dish.  Missionaries that learn a language get the gift of tongues to learn the new language and stuff.  I'm a firm believer that all missionaries get the gift of tongues to eat food that the might not have necessarily enjoyed back home and love it on their missions.  That's happened several times, the most strange for me being the squid and muscles in the pasta, and a few weeks ago, a mushroom filled meat pie thing.  I still hate mushrooms though. (:

 

On Wednesday we went to Ilkeston to visit Shaun and Claire.  They have been redecerating their houses and painting the rooms and stuff and they really look great!  We stayed for just a short while because we had to teach a lesson back in Eastwood.  This was one of the best lessons of my mission yet.  We taught the Law of Chastity and were pretty nervous about it.  Rachael is way awesome and already has such a big testimony.  We taugh them and it went great.  We ended up calling Elder Smith who was transferred last transfers and he gave a hilarious analogy for the Law of Chastity that I'll use for the rest of my mission!  We had a dinner appointment at the Evan's house that night (:

 

The next morning was Thursday so that means district meeting.  At district meeting I got 2 letters from Mom (which by the way, Cameron and I are in touch and are sending each other our emails so you have no need to do that, also remember that I am in England and anything JK Rowling does probably gets to me first (:  I am excited about the films though, and also The Avett Brothers are so sick.  You better buy that album the day it comes out.) 

I also got a letter from Kelcy, the package and letter from Piper and Rhett, and a package from the Dilles!  It was great!  After District meeting we went to teach Louise (Shaun's daughter who is getting baptized on the 26th.) and then we had a meeting with the girl named Ketty, who... flogged us. 

 

Friday was a pretty good day, except we have to weekly plan on Fridays at that takes all morning.  We generally dont leave our flat till the afternoon.  We had a lesson with a past investigator named Sarah.  She was so funny and as our member present we brought Shaun!  So that was awesome.  She's a new investigator so hopefully she keeps her commitments and all of that.  We were supposed to meet with Ketty again that night... once again... she flogged.  We held a drop in night at the church though and we played wii and pictionary and ping pong with some people from the ward.  Elder Harris has a video of me dancing to Just Dance on the Wii.  Can't have much more fun than that!

 

On Saturday we had a flat inspection... ugh.  We spent all morning cleaning our flat.  It looks nice though now!  We then taught english class which went well as always.  We finally got one non member there which is the point of the thing really.  He taught Elder Harris how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families in English it was so awesome!  So then we had service for about an hour and then Elder Harris and I stopped by McDonalds, and went to the chapel and watched Saturday Morning conference!  It was so sick!  Elder Uchtdorf is the man!  Everyone needs to go and watch that talk.  They were all so amazing though.  Everyone in the world needs to hear conference.  It has been the best one I've heard ever.  I've also paid much more attention this time around though (:  After that we treated ourselves to nice Kebabs.  Oh yeah.

 

On Sunday we went back to the chapel and watched Saturday Afternoon.  When I say the chapel, I just mean Elder Harris and I.  We sit in the Clerks office and watch it on the computer there.  The ward doesn't show it.  We then went to Shaun and Claire's and then to Ruby's to have a delicious Sunday dinner and watch Sunday Morning session.  It all has been so great. 

 

This week really has been awesome!  I can't wait for this coming week.  Elder Harris and I have plans to do tons and tons of finding!  Hopefully we have success!  Please pray for all of our investigators and stuff;  Ketty, Sarah, Rachael, Amy, Louise!

 

My spiritual thought this week is Watch General Conference!  It's so amazing that there is a prophet on the earth and apostles who speak with us!  www.lds.org. 

 

I love and miss you all!
Elder Evan Pogue

11th (Eastwood)

Go to YouTubePlay video A modern-day Apostle describes the unwavering faith Church's founders showed, even in the face of death, to remain true to their testimonies of the Book of Mormon. Read the entire talk:… 00:04:40 Added on 4/01/10 427,630 views

 

Heya!

 

I can't believe that a week has passed since my last email!  This week has really gone by extremely fast!  This week was definitely very strange because we didn't seem to be doing too much, obviously we were working at every opportunity but just not much was happening but we were blessed an insane amount. 

 

Monday after we emailed we went to Derby and shopped around.  We bought a lot of winter gear which is good!  It got hot again since then though.  It had been pretty cold the week before.  The winter is coming though and I can't say I'm too excited for that.  Elder Harris and I got Companionship.... ONSIES.  ahaha They are union jack onsies and we ran into Elder Shipp and Elder Patten at the store and convinced them to buy some too!  It was a lot of fun and they are the most comfortable things ever.  I'm sure Elder Harris will send a picture home.  I know what's wrong with my camera so I didn't buy a new one.  It's charging right now.  Hopefully it will stay on this time.  I don't think its broken.

 

On Tuesday we did service a family in our ward named the Leach's and also for Rachael's mom named Elaine.  Rachel was Elder Pauly and Elder Smith's investigator but they were both transferred so we have her now.  She is sick.  Elaine owns a breakfast cafe called Eats and Treats and Rachael and Rachael's Sister Amy work there.  We drop by every now and then to eat breakfast.  They let us eat for free the next day because we did that service for them.  I think it was this week but I can't remember but we tried Black Pudding.... its rubbish.  Elder Harris thought it was okay and I didn't like it.  It wasn't the worst thing I've eaten though.  That night we went to see this guy we met named Gary who is really super depressed.  We had a good lesson with him and were excited to teach him again but he's already dropped us.  It's really a shame but he has a Book of Mormon in his home and we testified to him all that we could. 

 

On Wednesday I went to Derby for an exchange.  I was with Elder Shipp the whole time, he's from Arkansas and came out the transfer before me.  We had a good time and taught a couple of lessons. Elder Harris and Elder Patten did great here in Eastwood, too!  A few weeks ago Elder Harris and I met a guy named Dean and they ran into him yesterday and he said he really wanted us to be his first visitors in his new flat and that his life has drastically changed for the better since he's been reading the Book of Mormon!  It came to a surprise that he's been reading!  We haven't been able to see him since then but we have plans to. 

 

So Thursday we have District meeting so we exchanged back.  During district meeting the Elders all said oh we have to use the toilet and walked out... we then changed into our onsies and went back to the meeting acting like everything was all casual and stuff!  It was really funny and the sisters all want the onsies too!  Eventually we will have district onsies and be the coolest district in the mission.  ahaha.  We then went and watched the Restoration with Shaun and Louise!  Louise is going to be baptized on October 26th! :D :D  And Shaun is going to baptize her.  We are so excited about that! 

 

The next day was Friday so most of the day was quite boring.  We had to weekly plan and just do things in our flat until oneish then we had to go to the old flat that the missionaries used to live in and move furniture out.  We gave it to the guy downstairs.  I got a free raincoat though.  Its from CTR clothing and its pretty nice.  It was a good flat find.  We then went to Ilkeston and talked to people on the streets for a little bit.  We had tea (as in not really tea) with Claire and Shaun and burned a tie for Elder Harris' sixth month mark! 

 

On Saturday morning we played football finally!  It was a lot of fun and I look forward to getting better and better as these two years go on!  We ended up cancelling English classes because we needed to go to Ilkeston.  That day we didn't have too much success but we got a media referral.  That means someone got on Mormon.org and requested the missionaries!  We went and visited her and she said she'd go to church with us!  You'll never guess what... my bike tire is flat again.  It's all good though, I think its because of the actual tire.  We got a whole new wheel from Elder Pauly's old bike and we are going to put it on later.  That should be the end of the flat tires. 

 

Yesterday was the most stressful Sunday of my life. We went to pick up Ketty which is the media referral girl.  She's 21 and has a 1 year old and a 2 year old.  We walked with her to church.  It was amazing because we had 4 investigators at church!  Ketty, Amy (who has since decided that she's interested and wants the lessons!) , Rachael, and Louise.  That was so awesome but we had to run around with kids all day, then we taught gospel principles class which actually went really well.  We taught about the Book of Mormon.  Then we taught.... primary.  It was awful.  I'm pretty sure I still have a headache from that. We had a munch and mingle after church which is pretty much the same as potluck.  It was good.  We went home and sat down on the beds planning to go back out and work but we both accidentally fell asleep for 2 hours!  We woke up and did some planning and other stuff. 

 

This week has really been great! I miss you all and hope that all is going well!  Today I'm just going to leave the video that we used at the end of our gospel principles lesson. 

 

 Elder Holland is the best.

 

I love you guys

-Elder Evan Pogue

10th Letter (Eastwood)

Hey everyone!

 

Sad, but I knew Chelsea would be dead by now... (our dog died)

 

Yes, I talked to Janet, she's awesome!  She loved Hot Springs.  And Shaun is way awesome!  He was actually sick this week but Claire and Shaun's daughter Louise still came to church.  I find it very hard to believe that you haven't napped... I'll remain skeptical no matter what you say.  That's awesome that y'all are going to the gym everyday.  Elder Harris and I are going to start doing crossfit in the morning.  Hopefully that will show some good results. Ruby is great.  She really does do so much for us!  She's awesome. 

 

So yes, as you know Elder Harris and I are still in Eastwood!  We're both extremely excited about that.  Elder Harris will pretty much for sure leave next transfer, though.  I think I'll probably stay in Eastwood.  I'd really like to train but it would be rare to train on my 3rd transfer.  We'll see though.  So Elder Pauly is back in Germany, that's so weird to think about.  It was weird saying bye to him and quite sad really.  He seemed nervous to go home but I'm sure he'll get there and have a great time.  Elder Smith is also gone, he went to Nottingham so he's not too far.  We got Sisters in Eastwood!!  I'm really happy about that, they are going to do great here.  There names are Sister Stapley and Sister Eldredge.  Stapley is from Arizona and Eldredge is from Spanish Fork.  They're both really solid missionaries. Sister Eldredge is brand new out of the MTC. 

 

This week has been the slowest of my mission.  It was weird because every day there was a conflict.  So last Monday we went to Nottingham to bring Claire and Shaun to Chinese because they quit smoking.  That was great.  Then that night was what we call 'dodge night' and thats were we get the call about transfers and who's going and staying.  That was an extremely exciting night.  It was sad to hear that a couple people from our district are transferred away though. 

 

Then we literally spent the whole day Tuesday at the other Elders' flat.  We said goodbye to them at about noon and we scrubbed and cleaned the place for hours.  It was really a mess.  We didn't have time to do anything else that day.

 

Then Wednesday morning we went to buy a new toilet seat and installed it in the other flat.  The group of elders two transfers ago broke it and nobody ever fixed it.  So Elder Harris and I decided it'd be nice to do for the Sisters.  That didn't take too long.  We headed off on our bikes that day for Ilkeston and as we were on the path there guess what... I got ANOTHER flat tire.  I had just gotten it fixed two days ago!  There's supposedly some type of liquid you can put in your tire that fills up holes when you get them.  I'll have to look for that.  Anyways we locked up our bikes near Shaun's house and did some finding and followed up with a couple of people we'd met before.  Nothing really came of any of it yet though. 

 

The next day we had district meeting.  This was nice because we got to meet our new district leader and the new sister in Derby.  They're both really awesome.  We all went to McDonalds after. We did some finding in Heanor on the way back.  We found this literally crazy guy who kept asking us tons of questions.  'Where are you from?' 'What's the most prosperous place in your country', 'Where would you least like to live?' 'What do you feel about Ronald Reagan?' 'What do you feel about George Bush?' 'What do you feel about George Bush, Sr?' It went on for like 20 minutes of constant questions!  Then we tried to incorperate the gospel and suggested that we could come by some other time and talk to him more and he turned and RAN AWAY!  Literally ran away.  Elder Harris yelled WAIT! ARE YOU LEAVING!?!  and he yelled back YEAH!  It was really bizarre because nobody had ever just turned and ran. ha  We had a Dinner Appointment that night and we did some service for a lady in our ward named Sue. She was moving into a smaller flat so we carried her furniture up and stuff.  It was a miracle that some of it got up the stairs.  That took a lot longer than expected.

 

On Friday we helped Jay move.  We were there all morning just making runs from his old house to his new place and carrying it inside.  That was really nice and they're about done with all the moving.  We had a Dinner Appointment that night at the Rigby's.  They are awesome.  They practically run EFY in England.  Our dinner appointments are really for us to kind of spiritually uplift the members but with the Rigby, every time we go there we are the ones uplifted!  I love them.  That night we had an activity planned at the church.  We're going to have games and stuff every Friday.  We played some games, the Wii and ping pong.  It was fun.  Elder Harris is supposedly the Orem Ping Pong Champion....

 

On Saturday we taught English classes as we usually do.  That went really well.  I think it's good for the Spanish members and they seem to really like it.  After that we got a bus to Ilkeston and were going to fix my bike... this is where the bike story gets worse.  We walk up to the bikes, unlock them and then notice that I don't have a front wheel!  At all!  Somebody had pinched my front wheel!  Ahh it was so aggrevating.  Shaun walked with us down to a store called Halfords and now my bike is there getting a new wheel and a tire fixed.  We talked to several people that day and hopefully something good will come out of that.  We ate kebabs that night and I was officially 'Kebabtized' (:  Ahaha we are really having a great time together. 

 

So yesterday we went to church.  It was really a good Sunday.  All the classes were based around the Priesthood, actually really this whole week has been.  I've realized how lucky I've been to have the priesthood in our home my whole life.  It's something I guess I've always taken for granted.  We went to Janet Stinsons after that and had a delicious Sunday Dinner!  We talked a lot about her mission to Arkansas and just really had a great time.  She's an extremely funny lady. 

 

Today we are going to Derby and going to shop at Primark :D  I'm really excited.  I love Derby.  Elder Harris has been feeling quite sick but he claims that he's okay today.  I can tell he still doesn't feel to great.  Hopefully he gets better and I don't get what he had. 

 

So I was thinking about Alma 32:27 which says:

 

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than ^adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

 

I was thinking about how when we teach people and even when we learn things, they don't always come real easily to us.  We gain a testimony slowly and as we follow the teachings of the Book of Mormon.  I think that it's so interesting that it says experiment on my words and how that implies that we have to maybe not be sure what the outcome of our actions will be, but we have to exercise that faith and do these actions and these steps that are taught in the Book of Mormon and by doing this we will eventually get to a point where we do have a strong belief and testimony in this gospel.  I guess that's my 'spiritual thought' for this week.  If there's something anyone struggles with testimony wise, just read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, follow the teachings of it and the testimony will come. 

 

I love and miss all of you.

-Elder Evan Pogue

9th Letter from England (Eastwood)

Hey!

 

I'm glad to  hear that everything is going well!  I find out tonight about transfers... really hoping we both stay together here in Eastwood!

 

Okay this week has been really so awesome. Last P-Day we went to Derby and shopped around.  I fell in love with this place called Primark.  Everything there is insanely cheap.  I bought 3 ties for £2 each.  Then I bought a £4 belt.  I'm going to buy a suit there eventually.  We had fun there.  We were supposed to take Claire and Sean to eat Chinese but we had a little miscommunication and that didn't work out but we're doing that today after I email.  That's because they did stop smoking. 

 

So I don't know if I told you this but every morning we have been going to the church building to practice because Elder Harris and I committed on a musical number at Sean's baptism!  Me playing the piano and him singing When I Am Baptized from the Children's Songbook. I'll talk more about that later. (:
 

On Tuesday we went to a place called Hole in the Wall with an amazing guy named Peter Morrison.  He's always willing to help us and do things for us!  Every time he's around us he wears a suit out of respect because we give up two years to serve the Lord.  He's an awesome guy and he has a crazy testimony.  The Hole-in-the-wall place was like a huge 'Sunday Dinner' which is all of the stuff we generally eat at Thanksgiving just without the pies and stuff.  We followed that by going to see Sean and Claire again. 

 

On Wednesday we had a zone meeting in Nottingham.  It was really awesome.  I feel like it was the most informative meeting we've had.  But that takes a lot of the day.  We didn't get back till about half three.  We then had a Dinner appointment at Betty's.  She's the seminary teacher here and she has an amazing voice.  She sounds like Doris Day singing Que Sera.  Ahahh I love to hear her sing at church.
 

On Thursday we saw an awesome miracle.  At Zone meeting we were promised that if we did a role-play in the morning about how to teach the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ then we would find more people to teach.  So we did it.  That day in Ilkeston we had a meeting set up but the lady wasn't home but as we were walking away we saw an old potential investigator that was dropped but we said hey to him and just talked as friends for a couple of minutes and these two guys walked up and said 'Hey!  Don't talk to the Jehovah's Witnesses!' We told them that we weren't JW's and explained that we were just around looking for ways to help people and asked if they needed any help.  One of them said that his mate had died a few days ago and he really needed someone to talk to.  An hour later we were teaching him the Plan of Salvation in a Church of England Cemetery and he was in tears.  We gave him a book of Mormon and he held it and said 'whoa, I feel a sort of power coming from this book' Elder Harris and I were both just thinking yeah that's right!  Hopefully he progresses more and we can help answer all of his questions.  That's just another testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it's the proof that this is the true church.  If everyone would just give it a chance than they would just know!

 

We were really busy the next day trying to get ready for the baptism!  We tried so hard to get the boiler to work for the church.  But we couldn't!  This meant the baptism would be really cold!  We tried but to no avail.

 

Saturday was an awesome day!  We went straight to the church and helped decorate the cultural hall for the Spanish Night that night, and tried to work on the boiler again, and I practiced the piano... eeeh.  I was extremely nervous.  The boiler never worked but I even tried boiling water myself and pouring it in which neutralized the temperature a little.  We went to KFC with Ruby which was awesome of course.  She is awesome.  Then come 3:30 Sean, Claire, and Louise get to the chapel!  The baptismal service started at 4:30 and we were all prepared.  Sister Carol Rigby spoke then Elder Harris, then we had our musical number which seemed to go really, really well!  People acted like they enjoyed it at least and I don't think I messed up really too much at all.  Then I baptized Sean and I'm not going to lie, the water was FREEZING, but the spirit was insanely strong.  He knows he made the right decision.  After the baptism we had a ward activity, Spanish Night, which was filled with music and dancing, Paella and just tons of fun.  It was an awesome day.  We were literally at the church from 9 AM to 9 PM but had tons of fun and it was really one of the best days of my mission 'so far'. (: 

 

Yesterday was church and Elder Harris confirmed Sean a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The spirit was so strong during that as well.  Elder Pauly was told just before church that he had 10 minutes to speak.  It's his last Sunday on the mission and he did really well.  We are all going to miss Elder Pauly a lot.  We went to the Stinson's for lunch and had the best lasagna I've ever had.  You should ask Jackie how she made it (: 

 

So overall this week has been awesome and I'm still loving my mission.  My testimony of this Gospel grows daily.  The miracles we experience and the spirit we feel every day is undeniable.  Especially when pertaining to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  That really is what missionary work is focused around, getting people to read that book because that is the keystone of everything we teach.  If its true, everything else is true.  And if they just read it, nobody will be able to deny that its true. 

 

I love you all and miss you every day. 

-Elder Evan Pogue