Hey,
Well, as you guys know, I am writing from a Library here in Slough.
What a crazy week it has been. Sorry I didn't have a chance to write on wednesday, but I was doing all the transfer stuff. It was another long day of driving.
I am glad to hear how prepared Jace is. We have been emailing the past few months, and he sounds ready and excited to go. He is going to be a really good missionary. I would have loved to be there for his talk.
And to have been gathered with the whole Steed clan, those are always fun times.
I don't even know where to begin. Transfer calls didn't come until like 5 on tuesday night. My stomach was in knots all day. When the call came that I was going to Slough, I was pretty upset. I had spent a night in the Slough flat a few months ago for a mission conference, and it was the worst flat I had ever seen. I remember specifically saying I could never live there. After the call came, we went to Ken and Toni's. It was our big night, and we went and got pizza express and then went to the Joseph Musical. It was amazing, and the best night I could have ever imagined for my last night in Helston. It was really hard to say my goodbyes to Ken and Toni and many other ward members. I couldn't really deal with it, so for the most part I just decided it would be easier to leave and not say goodbye to everyone.
My really good friends I said goodbye, but I loved that whole ward and I am really going to miss it. I felt really at home there and I have had some amazing times.
Now I'm in Slough. It is a different world. There are like no white people here, wheras in Helston I only ever saw like 5 people who weren't white. Slough is technically part of London, but it is on the outskirts. It was ranked #2 most depressing places to live in the U.K.
It isn't actually that bad though. And yes, I am much closer to President Shamo, and I wouldn't be suprised if he is trying to keep an eye on me. Actually, we just had a zone training on friday, and he came and taught us and had interviews. We had a really good interview, every time you get to talk to him it is just so uplifting. I am gutted that he is going to be leaving inlike 4.5 months.
Things here are starting to feel better as I have started to work on cleaning the flat. There were these towels on the floor of the bathroom, that have apparently been there for over 3 months. They were soaking wet, and had not even been touched since the night I stayed at this flat 2 months ago. I threw them in the garbage, and they were just covered in mould underneath. This place hadn't been cleaned or even vaccumed for months. I could barely even stand it. I couldn't like sleep or go to the bathroom comfortably it was so bad. But we have done a lot of work, and today for p-day are going to do a lot more.
But enough complaining. Tanner Brooks emailed me from the MTC this week which was really cool. My new comp, Elder Curran, is a really good guy. He was converted 2 years ago, and none of his family are members. He has only been out on his mission for about 3 months now but he is doing very well for only being out 2 transfers. He is fearless in talking to people on the street and is a good teacher as well. We get along pretty well, the first few days I didn't talk much but now I am getting back into my normal thing. We are starting to have some fun. Church here is going to be just as funny as in Helston I think. There are only like 50 members a week, and they don't seem to love missionaries as much as Helston did. It was my first sunday, and I had to teach both the gospel principles class and the elders quorum.
We had three investigators at church. Two of them are best friends, Jay and Amit. Amit is a devout Atheist who I don't even know why he is coming to church, and Jay is a Christian who was raised a Hindu, and is really seeking the truth. The other guy is Eric, a Ghanaian guy who just sat in the corner and said nothing. He is getting baptized in a couple weeks though. The gospel principles was about Law of Chastity.
We had the ward mission leader and some older ladies in there as well, and it was total chaos. Jay and Amit kept trying to delve into our personal experience with the Law of Chastity, and things just exploded when we starting talking about homosexualtiy. I had to tell them off when it became too much, but I pulled them aside after class and apologized. They are both really fun guys though. We had a D.A. after church at the 2nd counsellor in the bishoprics house, and Jay and Amit were invitied as well. We had a really good time, but after 2 hours I was desperatly trying to get us out of there to go do other things, but they can just talk and talk and talk and it was like almost 4 hours before we left. I am Elder Currans second companion, and his trainer is going home in like 3 months now. I am afraid that they have been doing things in their own way, but we are really going to focus on more structure, extending commitments and using our time wisely.
We don't have much of teaching pool, but we have done a ton of finding this week and have had lots of success. We have met like 10 people who gave us their mobile numbers, and we have set up 6 first teaches with people for this week. I am really excited to start teaching people of other cultures. Apparently at one time, Slough was one of the highest baptizing areas in the mission, but in recent months it has been pretty dead.
I am very sad to have lost Simmons and White as my zone leaders. I always gave them a really hard time, but they were both really good guys. My new zone leaders are way to serious, and they don't seem like they will be able to put up with my antics very well. I went on a mini exchange with one of them to inteview one of their investigators for baptism. The guy passed the interview, and I was able to get Elder Goulding (the zone leader) out of his shell a bit and we had a bit of fun. I also miss Elder Oscarson. There were times when I was annoyed by him, but I think that is how it is with everyone, and he was the most loving guy ever and a great missionary and a great example to me.
Elder Curran is very opposite to him, he really likes to call the shots. And I'm fine with that, I'm really just letting him run the area at the moment until I find my way around a little bit better. He has potential to be an amazing missionary.
I am glad to hear grandma is doing alright.. she is in my prayers.
I know you think my 2012 predictions are crazy... but it could happen.
You never know.
I get about 110 pounds a months. But after groceries and eating out, I end up always having to use the credit card for things like new clothes, sending my post, dry cleaning, stationary/supplies, and other big purchases. I am trying to do better with it, but like moving into this new flat I have had to buy a bunch of stuff. I needed to get a new bathmat, a new drying rack for the dishes and some new cloths.
These are seriously essentials.
That is a crazy first line for the flames. Backlund must be doing well. The second line is glencross, Ollie and Tanguay then? Those are two pretty solid lines.
My new flat address is:
Flat 3
26 Upton Park
Stokehouse
Slough, Berkshire
SL1 2DA
Hopefully you can find that on google maps.
Love Elder Steed
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