Hey Everyone,

Words can't really express how I feel right now entering into my last
week of missionary service. It's honestly hard to believe that these
two years are almost at an end. This mission has been such a blessing
to my life and I will be forever changed because of it. All the people
I've had the privilege of serving with and around have taught me so
much, so much that it's hard to sum it all up in one letter.

I've really grown to love England and all the people here. I remember
when Jeffrey R. Holland came to the mission he talked about how much
he came to love England on his mission. He shared Mosiah 18:30 And
substituted the word England instead of Mormon. "And now it came to
pass that all this was done in [England], yea, by the waters of
[England], in the forest that was near the waters of [England]; yea,
the place of [England], the waters of [England], the forest of
[England], how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came
to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for
they shall sing to his praise forever." The people in the Book of
Mormon loved the place of Mormon because of all the wonderful things
that happened there and because it was there that they came to a
knowledge of their redeemer which is the exact way I feel about
England. I think that's why everyone always says that the mission they
served in is the best mission in the world.

I've been getting a lot of questions this last week about what I've
learned from my mission. It's been really hard to narrow it down. I
could take days explaining everything I learned. I've learned a lot
about faith. That true faith isn't based on the outcomes we want.

 I've learned about the necessity of repentance.The absolute necessity
of changing the way we act and think for a better way. Without it
there is no progress. I've learned that my level of diligence and work
is equal to the measure of how much I love God. I've learned that If
we don't have a vision of what we can become or what we can accomplish
then our appetites will rob us of our will. I've realized that the
underlying reason for everything we do has to be because we love God.

These things are only a few. I'm forever grateful for my mission
experience. It has forever changed me. Thanks for all the support over
these two years. See you soon.
Love Elder Ford

Dec 15, 2013

Hey Everyone,

It's been another really busy week. Everyone is getting pretty excited for Christmas. We spent The day at the mission home Friday for our zone Christmas meal and trainings. It was a lot of fun. We had an amazing meal from Sister Preston, watched a church movie, had a white elephant gift exchange, and a lot of other fun stuff. Christmas time on a mission is great. It's a completely different experience from all the other Christmas's I've had in the past.

We've seen massive progress in our area. We have an investigator all set to be baptized January 4th. She is understanding everything we've taught so far and has progressed very quickly. I'm a bit devastated that I won't get to see her baptism though.

Other than that not much new. We've had loads of exchanges, three this week, so I've had a lot of time to hit the streets. I love being able to work with so many different missionaries. Being a missionary is the best decision I've ever made. Love you all!

Elder Ford

The Trio. Elders Ford, Cox, and Debenham

Dec 8, 2013

Hey Everyone,

Sorry it's been awhile since I've been able to write. Like always, it's been pretty busy. We've seen a lot of miracles in our own area and the work has really started to progress. Ever since Elder Texeira came things in our area became so different. We went from hardly having a proselyting area because of other time consuming tasks, to having one of the most productive areas in the mission. All in the space of 3 weeks. It's been crazy to see how fast the Lord is moving the work here. We had an entire family come to church today!

We went on a few exchanges this week as well. One of them was back in Preston, my second area. Since there are three of is in our companionship we've been able to go on a lot more exchanges. Two of us work with the zone leaders and the other works with a nearby District Leader and their companion in a trio. I was with the Preston District Leader for about a full day. It felt really good to be able to hit the streets and work the buses again. You forget what a bus is like after being in a car for almost a year. I had a crazy miracle as well. We were walking to a less-actives house and we turned onto a street that looked really familiar. We did some work on that street and we contacted a man who remembered speaking to me a year and a half ago. I didn't remember him until about ten minutes into the conversation. The last time I had spoken to him he was very negative and anti with what we were trying to share with him. He said the following year and a half after meeting was one of the worst times in his life. Things just started going wrong for him. His circumstances had humbled him. The Preston Elders hopefully can start teaching him soon. I met the nephew of a man I had spoken to while in Preston last year as well. Two people in one day! 

It's been a lot fun working with Elders Cox and Debenham. Being in a trio is a bit different but it;s fun. We are able to get a lot of work done. We've had some great memories as well. This past week we went to Costco for our weekly shopping and got way too much food. haha. Love Costco though.

All is well here in England. The work is hastening. Love you all loads!

Elder Ford

Nov 29, 2013

Hi everyone,

I realize it's been over two weeks since I emailed. It's been the craziest two weeks of my life. I don't think I've ever had more things to do and not enough time to do it. We had a full week of zone conferences with Elder Teixera, the Europe area president and that week blew my mind. 

We met him at the mission home the very first night he came in and he talked to Elder Cox and I for almost an our about our area and how our work was going. We've been caught up in a lot of administration things so obviously our area wasn't that great. Pretty much non-existent. He corrected us and told is we needed to do better and then challenged us in our busiest week of the transfer to double our numbers.(Our Previous week wasn't that bad either). With a lot of prayer we were able to accomplish the goal though. He was very hard on our companionship specifically. We had interactions with him several times throughout each day he was here and he always took time to teach us and raise our visions. The last day he did interviews with Elder Cox and I at his hotel and he recorded them so he could use them for future training. The mission has been changed because of that week of zone conferences.

We came out of that week dead tired. Not much sleep, not much food, but it was a very successful week. We did our next upcoming tranfer planning with President Preston for an entire day. It was a pretty spiritual experience to be able to seek revelation on which areas and assignments specific missionaries might need.

Transfers have come and gone (Wednesday). We'll be in a trio for the rest of my mission. Our new companions name is Elder Debenham. He is from Sandy, Utah. We'll be in the trio until I go home on the 27th and then Elder Cox and Elder Debenham will just stay together. It's been loads of fun already and we've been able to get loads of work done. This last month is going to be the most effective time of my entire mission. It's great being in a trio. I got to go with President Preston back to Liverpool to the Baptisms of two people I taught there and Elder Cox and ElderDebenham stayed and got a lot of work done in the area. We're seeing loads of miracles as well.

God has been really good to me on my mission. I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had and the people I've met for anything. Thank you all for all that you do. Love you loads!

Elder Ford

Nov 14, 2013

Hey everyone,

Another quick week has flown by! We've had loads of exchanges to sort out the last few weeksSince there was only a two week span where we didn't have any meetings. I got to travel back to Preston and spend some time there. It's been over a year since being there so it brought back a lot of memories. Preston was probably my most challenging area but because of that I also learned a lot about myself.

I had a miracle while I was on exchange there as well. We have this program called the AUFprogram (lost sheep) where we go out and try to contact less-actives who have lost contact with the church. After we go the less-actives house, we knock ten doors to the right and ten doors to the left. We knocked all the doors...nothing. We decided to go one extra door because we know God blesses extra effort, and we met a young mom who we ended up teaching on the spot. We were pretty excited! As we were walking back to the car we stopped a lady just before she was able to go into a house. It turns out that she was a less-active member and she felt prompted to go to a friends house, but her friend wasn't in. We literally were two seconds away from out car before we bumped into her. She asked us if we could teach her right there on the spot so we had a lesson right there in the middle of the road. God always blesses you for extra effort and sometimes it's at the very last minute. "God loves photo finishes." 

I went on exchange with my MTC companion yesterday as well. It was so much fun to talk about all of the crazy memories we had in the MTC. We talked about how they took us all the way to Manchester City Center and they set all the MTC missionaries loose and told us to go and talk to people. We were scared out of our minds! Looking back on it now we were able to laugh. Things change over a two year span.

We had a Manchester Zone sports day that Elder Cox and I went to for about an hour. It's been almost a year since picking up a basketball but I realized that I can still shoot :) Some things don't change haha. I also realized the next morning how out of shape I was when I could barely walk. I'm still feeling it.

This next week is going to probably be the busiest week of my mission. We have loads we have to prepare for. Elder Texeira, the Europe area President is coming next week for a mission tour and zone conferences. We'll be having Zone Conferences next Wednesday, Thursday, and Fridaywith Elder Texeira. We have a new missionary training on Tuesday, and we have a transfer planning on Monday where we will plan all of the transfers. This transfer has flown by! It ends on November 27th. My brain will be fried next week but it will be a week full of memories. I'll be sure to right it all down.

Well thank you all for your support. I love you all loads! have a good week!

Love Elder Ford

P.S Here is our Harvester Corner,

In the 35^th Section of the Doctrine & Covenants the Lord states, “I call upon the weak things of the world…to thrash the nations by the power of my spirit” (D&C 35:13). We each recognize that we have weaknesses and at times the weight of them can create a feeling of immense inadequacy. Many of the great leaders and prophets we look up to have felt these same feelings. When God called Moses and told him of the great work he was to do in leading the children of Israel, Moses responded, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh… (Exodus 3:11).” Enoch also felt the weight of inadequacy when he was called. “Why is it that I have found favour in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?” (Moses 6:31). This feeling can easily lead to the disabling feeling of discouragement if left unchecked. Discouragement is not a Christlike attribute. It comes from missed expectations and is one of the adversary’s most powerful tools. He will constantly tell us that we are not good enough and that we will fail, but through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we learn that we fail only when we make choices that lead to failure. We are each a spirit child of a loving, all powerful Heavenly Father and we were not put on earth (or into the mission field) to fail but to succeed gloriously. Through the principle of faith, doubts and discouragement can be overcome. Through gaining a testimony of our divine potential and our calling we gain confidence. We are not in this work alone. God has promised his “angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88). We have faith in Jesus Christ, and he has faith in us. He will give us the power to accomplish our calling “notwithstanding [our] weakness” (2 Nephi 33:11). God’s words to Enoch apply to us, “Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you: therefore walk with me” (Moses 6:34). We love you!

“Be ye therefore perfect”

  Elders Cox & Ford

Nov 5, 2013

Hey Everyone,

It's been a quick week. I hope everyone has had a great week. It's been busy for us. The first of the month is one of the busiest times for us. We have loads of meetings right at the begging. We have Mission Leadership Council, District Leader Council, Mission Home Fireside, and Zone Meetings spread over 5 days. There's been quite a bit of revelation spread out though so I'm grateful for it.

We finally got to spend some time in our area this week and we were able to seem some great success. We've been focusing on finding at every opportunity that we get since our finding time is extremely limited. We met a man right in front of our flat when we were parking the car and we started speaking to him. We ended up teaching him the other day and he's super good. In the middle of the lesson this Jehovah's Witness turned up and started trying to bash with us. We bore testimony! After the Jehovah's witness left we asked our investigator how he felt while the Jehovah's witness was speaking and he said that he only got a feeling when we bore testimony. Sincere people will always recognize the truth.

We're looking forward to the next few weeks as well. We have to make loads of preparations for Elder Teixeira, the Europe Area President who is doing a 3 day mission tour later this month. Super exciting. Well I love you all loads. Have a good week!

Love Elder Ford

Oct 30, 2013


Hey everyone, 

It's been another crazy week. Sorry it's taken me so long to email. These last two weeks have been our specialized trainings for each zone so we've been all over the mission. Elder Cox and I have given the same training 6 times now and we'll be going for a 7th tomorrow. We think we're starting to understand the subject a bit. haha.

I got to go back to Liverpool for a few days on exchange to work with Elder Duran. It felt like I'd never even left! I love going on exchange with former companions and going back to former areas. We were able to teach a lot of the people we were working with and visit some of my favorite people. We got some KFC as well :). It's ridiculously overpriced here...

We had our Manchester Stake conference this week as well. For the first time in my mission all the missionaries were asked to attend the Saturday evening session. Both Saturday and Sunday were completely dedicated to missionary work. It was amazing. Afterwards we had members coming up to us and telling us they had people they wanted us to work with and that they wanted to come out teaching with us. The work is hastening. Now we just need to create some time to spend in our area so we can take advantage of all this help we're being offered.

I'm really enjoying the work right now, even though it's a bit different than I'm used to. Elder Cox and I are getting along great! Since I don't want to bore everyone with the same things I do everyday I'll share some things I've learned recently.

I read this the other day in a talk. It's a poem called "The Man in the Glass"

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself

And see what "the man" has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife

Whose judgment upon you must pass.

The fellow whose verdict counts in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum

And think you're a wonderful guy.

But the "man in the glass" says you're only a bum

And you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear to the end.

And you've passed your most dangerous,

difficult test

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass.

But your only reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated "the man in the glass."

["The Man in the Glass"]

I've learned a lot about the importance of self image and self respect and the kind of power it can have. You should respect yourself enough to be a self you respect. When you look around the world you see the people who have self confidence and self worth and they are magnets for success. We can choose that. Our lives are sacredly ours. No ones has lived it before. No one will ever live it again. In the talk he says this: "No habit chips away at our self-confidence quite so effectively as that of comparing ourselves with the people around us. When we find somebody who is indeed smarter, better looking, or funnier, it diminishes our sense of self-worth. A rabbi was asked on his deathbed what he thought the kingdom of God would be like. "I don't know," he replied. "But one thing I do know. When I get there I'm not going to be asked, 'Why weren't you like Moses? Why weren't you like David?' I'm only going to be asked one question: 'Why weren't you you?'" 

This is a topic many people in the world struggle with and there are many missionaries that struggle with it as well. Everyone wants to find who they are and where they fit into gods plan. I discovered this week Patriarchal blessings are key to discovering that. It outlines everything, spiritual strengths and even your weaknesses. Each of us is on a journey to come to know ourselves. There are no born losers to God. We fail only when we make choices that lead to failure. Be true to who you are! 

I love you all so much. Thank you for all the love and support that you give me. It means the world. By the way, Happy Halloween! Talk to you next week. Love you!

Elder Ford

P.S here is the bit I put into the mission newsletter this week.

A missionary’s Gethsemane

You’re on a mission and things seem tough, doors are slammed with voices gruff. Your companion refuses to do his share; you feel discouraged and even despair. You question your testimony and belief in God, you wonder about the path you’ve trod. Memories of pleasure dance in your brain, a siren’s song an old refrain. The work is hard, and with a taunt, whispers not as He wills, but as you want. You tire of rules, feet worn to the bone, and suddenly you decide you want to go home. You’ll never know if you say goodbye, what might happen if you stay and try. To follow the rules and do your best, to serve the Lord and pass your test. Where do you think you would be if Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, His soul in torment, a trial of fire had selected not duty before desire? He set the pattern for you and me, to meet our own Gethsemane. From boy to man to Elder with fire, comes only when duty can master desire.

(By Anonymous)

To come to know the Saviour each of us will have to go through our own personal Gethsemane but how grateful we should be for a Saviour who knows exactly how we feel. “He will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12).

Through Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement we can overcome anything; President Uchtdorf said “there will be times when you think you cannot continue on. Trust the Savior and His love. With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power and hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and continue on.” Elders and Sisters, You can do it! The enabling power of the Atonement is available to all who seek it. We can say each day “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). We Love you.

“Be ye therefore perfect”

  Elders Cox & Ford

Oct 23, 2013

Hey everyone,

It's been pretty busy lately. We started specialized trainings this week and they go one for the next two weeks. We'll be travelling to all of them to give trainings so that'll keep us really busy. Other than that not too much has happened this week. We've just been cooped up in the mission office preparing for our trainings and stuff. Not very much fun. I'll get to go on exchange back to Liverpool this week though so I'm really looking forward to that.

I had a pretty fun birthday. It's hard to believe I'm already 21! Thanks to everyone who sent all the birthday wishes. We were stuck in the mission office for most of the day but we travelled down to Newcastle to go have a meal with Sam Wiles. Definitely worth it.

This We've spent a few days this week in the Chester zone which is mostly in wales. We were asked to give a training and how to be a member missionary for the Priesthood leadership session of stake conference. Other than that this week was pretty non eventful. haha. super boring I know. I'll have more info next week. Love you all loads!

Elder Ford

Oct 7, 2013

wow,

This past week was amazing! Literally so many miracles. Elder Duran and I had so many experiences this week where we were in awe or how God works with people. It was hard to sleep this week because of all the exciting things that have been going on.

We're teaching some amazing people. We started teaching three girls last week and they're all really good. They came to general conference and loved it. You can always put your money on the prophet! We have almost more people to teach than we can handle right now. We need more hours in the day but we're managing with what we have.

We got to go to the Isle of Man this week to work with the four missionaries there. It was so much fun! It was a bit of a long journey there, almost three hours on the ferry but we enjoyed it. The Isle is gorgeous. It rained the entire time but it was still super nice. I didn't get to see much of the island because we were there only for a few days and we stayed pretty central where we worked. It was definitely worth it though. I learned a lot that really helped me. I learned about the relationship between Diligence and Faith. There is a line in Preach My Gospel that says "Your faith will be manifest through Diligence and work." That really hit me when I read that. Before everything I did I asked myself "How can I show God my faith through my diligence?" It made all the difference. We were able to work super hard and found 2 new people for the Isle of Man Elders to start teaching.

General conference was great as well! My favorites were Jeffrey R. Holland and David A. Bednar. they were both really good. When David A. Bednar said "To those of you who are currently not living the Law of Tithing, I invite you to consider your ways, and repent!" all of the missionaries got super excited and starting going "Ohhhh!" haha it was more exciting than a touchdown or slam dunk for us. Missionaries are lame sometimes but I love it. Quoting old church movies and stuff like that. haha

Well thanks for all your love and support. Transfers are next Wednesday so I'm not sure what will be happening. Only time will tell. Love you!

Elder Ford

Sept 30, 2013

Hello everyone!

 

Another week has come and gone. They're starting to go crazy fast. There are only two weeks left in this transfer but it feels like we just started. Things are going well for us though. This upcoming week is going to be a lot of fun. We're hopping on a ferry Tuesday and heading to the Isle of Man for 3 days to go and work with the Elders there. I'm pretty excited because it's probably the most coveted area in the mission. Every wants to go there and we're lucky enough to be able to. There are 2 companionships so I'll be working with one while Elder Duran works with the others. We'll have meetings all day fridayand Saturday plus General conference! It's just as good as Christmas.

 

We had a super fun P-day last week. We went on a tour of Liverpool with the entire zone. We saw all the Beatles sites, all the historical sites, and all of the church sites. There is so much iin Liverpool to see. It's a lot of fun here. I'm starting to feel more at home here. It was a little tough getting used to Liverpool at first. I think because I loved Newcastle so much it made it hard to adjust to Liverpool, but after almost 10 weeks, I'm getting used to it. haha. It's taken awhile.

 

We had some good progress in our area this week. We have loads of people to teach right now but it all seems a bit stagnant. We feel really bad because we've been really busy with so much other stuff we haven't really been able to give each of them the attention they deserve. It's mostly on us and our lack of getting the ward involved though. We had some big progress with one young man named Rikesh. He is 16 and was supposed to be baptized last transfer. His dad gave her permission and everything, but then an hour before the baptism his dad decided he didn't want him to get baptized any more. It was pretty devastating. He is amazing though! He comes to church and youth night every week, and he even goes to early morning seminary every day! He goes to all of the youth dances as well. He's pretty much a member. We decided that we are really going to focus on his dad but he's never really home. We went to the cafe he owns and just talked with him for awhile about how he felt. It helped loads! Plus he gave us discounted food :). We're going back agian this week so we'll see what happens.

 

We've been blessed with quite a few solid Mormon.org refferals this week too. They are people who go on the church's website and ask for missionaries to come around. They are usually pretty rare for us but we've gotten 4 in the last week. We've already taught a few of them and they are super solid. They're from Iran and want to convert to Christianity. The work is going well.

 

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. We get up every morning and work. Not much else to tell you. haha. I love you all so much. Thanks for everything.

 

Love Elder Ford

 

Pictures.

1. The River Mersey. Where the saints left England.

2. Cloudy Liverpool Skyline.

Sept 16, 2013

hi everyone,

Another week gone. The first full week of the transfer has flown by. We had a lot of fun and we were kept pretty busy all week.

We had zone trainings on Tuesday. President Preston asked us to focus the entire meeting on the power of words and the impact that they can have. Elder Duran and I struggled for a few days trying to decide which direction we wanted to take the meeting. We received some last minute inspiration that worked out pretty well. We prayerfully selected a few missionaries in the zone who we knew really well, then Elder Duran and I made up some rumours about that missionary. While we were doing on activity at the meeting we pulled these missionaries out of the room one by one and told them about what "other missionaries had told us". Some of them were really confused, others were upset. After we we talked to them we gathered everyone back together and told all them missionaries who we had pulled out that the things we had told them were lies. They were like "No way?!" I got the point across for sure. Gossip is destructive.

That was probably the most eventful thing this week. Went on another few exchanges as well. We had a ward Activity on Saturday as well that we were able to take some of the people we are teaching to. That was pretty fun. Other than that it was a pretty standard week. A lot of teaching, A lot of finding.

This next week is going to be crazy busy. Zone conference, meeting with the Stake president, meeting at the mission home, Baptism of someone I taught in a former area, and a massive mission wide Chinese activity here in Liverpool. I'll hardly have time to think but I love weeks like this. All is well here in Liverpool. Love you all so much!

Love Elder Ford

Sept 9, 2013

Hey Everyone!

It's been a great start to the transfer so far. Things in our area seem to really be picking up. We set up almost our entire week at church this Sunday! If everything goes according to plan this should be a miracle week. We've been extremely blessed with lots of investigators to teach. We had 4 people at church yesterday and we were expecting 9. Between all 8 missionaries in Liverpool the gospel Principles class was almost too full.

I'm enjoying serving with Elder Duran. He is a very solid missionary. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to bear testimony. We've been in a few lessons were the people we were teaching were getting a bit distracted and he bore his testimony to get the spirit back. It's reminded me how important in really is!

I really enjoyed Mission Leadership council this week. It's easily my favorite meeting. Seeing all of your old mission friends, getting inspired, making decisions, and Sister Preston's cooking. It doesn't get much better than that! President Preston gave a training all about words and how they can build up or they can destroy. He used James 3:2-10 as the basis of his training.

 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Many of the less actives we visit say that they don't come out anymore because someone said something that offended them. We need to control our tongues!

We experienced a miracle on Saturday. Every first Saturday of the transfer we have consecrated finding for 4 hours where we just go out and speak to people and try and find people to teach. We were trying by a former investigator named Neena. She answered the door and immediately let us in and asked us to teach her son named Steven. Steven is 19 and has been looking to strengthen his relationship with God. He was actually fasting and praying that he would be able to find answers. He listened and said he believed every word we said. It was amazing to see that there are people who would go as far a fasting and praying to be able to find answers before they even meet missionaries.

God is hastening His work in Liverpool! This mission has been such a blessing to my life and I'm sure that I'll think of it everyday for many years to come. Thanks for the support!

Love Elder Ford

Sept 5, 2013

HI!

Another transfer gone! Time goes ridiculously fast. Every transfer seems to go a little faster. We got the call Saturday night to say that I'll be staying in the wonderful city of Liverpool for another transfer. Elder Walker has been transferred to Newcastle-under-Lyme, My previous area. I got to tell him how lucky he was. I'm now serving with Elder Duran. He's from Murrieta, California, the same place Elder Corbin was from. He is in my same M.T.C group as well. This is the 5th person in my M.T.C group that I've been lucky enough to serve with. Elders Barnes, Beard, Sutton, Palmer, and now Elder Duran.

I learned some very important lessons last transfer. I was retaught the principle of faith. It's amazing how you can learn about something for years and years and still not completely understand it. I thought I understood what faith was before coming on my mission but when I got out here I realized that it was a lot deeper than I thought it was. I've come to know that faith is a literal power and that you can do anything if you have enough faith. I've also seen how experience can be an enemy to faith. The longer you go on your mission, life, and in the church, and the more experience you start to have the more you begin to rely and those that on simple faith. Sometimes it's good thing to not know exactly what to do. That will force you to rely on God. When Nephi was asked to get the plates from Laban he said "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless I went forth..." (1 Nephi 4:6-7). Don't let experience shadow faith.

I also was retaught that the church organization is perfect. Absolutely perfect. Unfortunately it's members aren't perfect, but the purpose of the church is to help us one day become perfect.

I also learned loads about humility, that it impacts all that we do. It impacts our perception of ourselves and the way others view us. We don't magically become more humble by making a list of our short comings and telling ourselves what we're not good at. That's not humility at all. It's just throwing yourself a pity party. President Uchtdorf said "We don't discover humility by thinking less of ourselves. We discover humility by thinking less about ourselves." I've learned that you can't inhale recognition and praise. Those types of things can go to your head very quickly and can give you a false image of yourself. Spencer W. Kimball once talked about how Humility has the ability to properly catalog praise and recognition. That which is over the top and untrue must be thrown into the garbage. That which is exaggerated is taken and trimmed down to an appropriate size. And that which is true and appropriate is to be graciously accepted, only to be forgotten later and used as a stimulus for further improvement.

Last transfer taught me a lot. I'm grateful for every single transfer because of what it has taught me! I'm learning things here about myself, God, and the world that I couldn't learn sitting in a classroom.

We're going to be incredibly busy these next 6 weeks. The other Liverpool Elders area got turned into a Chinese speaking area so we have all of there people that they were teaching on top of ours. It'll be a bit chaotic the first few days of the transfer like it always is but things should settle down nicely. Elder Duran and I are preparing ourselves for some miracles.

Thanks for everything. I love you all so much!

Love Elder Ford

Aug 27, 2013


HEY!

Wow this transfer has flown by. It's already the last full week of the transfer. Transfers are next Wednesday. Not sure what will happen though. A lot of things are up in the air. Sorry I didn't get to email yesterday. It was a lame "Bank Holiday" so everything was closed. We had a really good week though. Super busy. We spent a lot of our time doing service. By the time I leave Liverpool I'll probably have enough work experience to be a professional mover, and painter. Seriously though.

The church history tour was pretty good. It was basically a refresher of all the same sights I saw when we did the tour in the M.T.C. They stopped doing the tour in the M.T.C a while ago so it was the first time for the majority of the mission to see all the sights. Made me feel old. We started at the docks in Liverpool, Then went to Preston where the first missionaries came, we saw President Hinckley's house where he lived on his mission, we saw the River Ribble where the first baptisms were, and we went to Downham. Downham is a small village where the apostles went a baptized the majority of the village. Most of the day was riding on a coach from place to place so it was a good time to catch up with missionaries who I hadn't seen for awhile.

Other than that things in our area are still going well. Shannon is progressing towards her baptism on the 13 of September and we're still looking for more people to teach. We got to go to the temple yesterday. It was sooo good! It felt like a totally new experience. I got a lot of answers to some of the questions I had. I've been taught a lot about humility this last week. Elder Walker and I have made that a focus because to be honest it's not one of our strongest attributes. haha. I did a few studies on it this week and my mind keeps coming back to some things I read in Deuteronomy 8. Here are the verses I liked.

10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

 11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

 12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

 13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

 14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou ^cforget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

 15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery ^aserpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth ^cwater out of the rock of flint;

 16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

 18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

 19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

It's pretty straight forward. We always need to remember Who it is who gives us all we have. Humilty is remembering. Pride is forgetting. I'm grateful that I was able to learn that now it;s up to me to apply it this week! Wish me luck. Thanks for all the support. I love you all!

Love Elder Ford

Pictures: 1. Race at the River Ribble. The day of the first baptisms they had a race to see who would get to go first. We did a reenactment. Elder Walker won easily. haha

2. The Liverpool Docks.

Aug 19, 2013

Hey everyone,

My goodness I don't even know what happened this last week. My brain is absolutely fried! haha. We did have some pretty great experiences though. Elder Walker and I haven't really beed together all week. We had a few exchanges back to back. I was in Liverpool on exchange with another missionary and when that was over we drove to pick him up. The we drove to the next place we were exchanging and he dropped me off. We really only spent saturday together. haha. Pretty weird. With all the exchanges it seems like you only spend 3 weeks with your actual companion in the 6 week transfer.

Some really good things are happening here in our area. I'm still trying to get used to the massive city. It's so big and the ward is so big that you could be here forever and still not no anyone or where you even are in hte city. We have another dated investigator now though. Her name is Shannon and she is dated for 14 of September. She part of a part member family so it's a really good situation. It's been really fun teaching her so far. We had another great experience while doing work out in the rain. Since being a missionary it's been a bit hard to trust people's intentions when you first meet them. You set up appointments, they fall through, and sometimes people tell the most ridiculous lies. But something happened to us this week to help Elder Walker and I know that there are genuinly good people still. We were working out in the pouring rain and we knocked on a lady named Jenny's door. She wasn;t interested. We went a few doors down and Jenny came back out side a shouted at us to come back. We weren'e wearing jackets or anything so we were getting soaked(We thought people would have pity for us and let us in :) ) She randomly gave us an umbrella and told us to keep it. 10 minutes later when we were at the opposite end of the street she drove past us and handed us another umbrella out the car window. She drove around looking for us just to give us another umbrella. I was pretty shocked to be honest. haha

We're looking forward to this week. We're going on a church history tour as a mission so that should be pretty fun. Thanks for everything love you!

Elder Ford

Aug 12, 2013

Hey everyone!

 

It's been another crazy busy week. We were up at the British Pageant almost every night this week, Tuesday-Friday. It made the week feel really short. We would leave Liverpool at 6:00 and we wouldn't get home until close to Midnight. It about killed us because of the lack of sleep but it was worth it. Everyone we took to it felt really good about it and it's already starting to open up some doors for us. I wish you all could have watched it!

 

The full mission conference was insane. We had the entire mission packed into the hot and sweaty Manchester Stake Center. We had Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder Russel M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve plus Elder Kearen and Elder Evans of the Seventy. Their wives all spoke to us as well. In total there were eight speakers to fill about 3 hours. It wasn't near enough time. As soon as they walked into the room you could tell they were different. Jeffrey R. Holland is just as intense as he is in person as he is at General conference, There was so pulpit pounding and head shaking.

 

One thing all the missionaries learned that I don't think we all comprehended was how much they loved us. Each of the 8 speakers was in tears when they told us how grateful they were for us and how much they loved us. Elder Holland was in my opinion the best though like always. He started off by saying, "50 years 10 months and 25 days ago I first stepped foot on this little Island. Since then my life has never been the same." He said that in those 50 years there hasn't been a single day where he hasn't thought about his mission. This is where the pulpit pounding started. He told us over and over not to waste a single minute. "NO REGRETS" he kept saying. I was sweating just listening to him, or maybe it was because the chapel was hot. Either way he was intense. Elder M.Russel Ballard was in the mission as well but he didn't come to the conference. We saw him later that evening at the British Pageant.

 

Elder Holland shared this scripture that I've really come to know is true. Mosiah 18:30  And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.
He said that this this man obviously really loved the land of Mormon because of the experiences that happened there. For me you can replace Mormon with Manchester and it has the same effect. It's weird when people in the streets ask if you like the area you're serving in. When you say yes they are so surprised. To the average person Liverpool, Preston, Newcastle, Stockport and all my other areas probably seem like nothing special, But to me, just like Elder Holland said, they are special because they are the places where I came to know God. Crazy how that works.
I got to go back to Newcastle this weekend for the baptism of Alan, Lisa's husband. It was such a good experience. They're finally unified. I remember when Elder Sutton and I were teaching Lisa at first he wanted nothing to do with it. We would ask Lisa if he would be interested and she would just laugh. Well he's a different person now! They're working towards the temple now.
This next week should be a pretty normal week. Our area is in a bit of a mess since we've hardly been in it and we haven't been able to do any of the exchanges with other missionaries. We're back to hitting the pavement this week. Pray for us! Thanks for everything!
Love Elder Ford
Picture: Alan's baptism.