Mar 18, 2012

Hey,
That sucks about those missionaries that flogged the D.A. you had set up. Haha that is missionary slang. I wouldn't miss a barbeque like that for anything except maybe like a baptismal service. And even then I might pick the barbeque. We had an awesome dinner appointment with some American members this week, the Lovelaces. They are the family that the new senior couple are staying with temporarily, and so all 4 of us missionaries were there and it was just the two of them as their kids have grown up. She made the most amazing salmon curry and salad. And she had ranch!! It was like real ranch, something that is not available here I think she must have like ordered it. And she said she might get me some rootbeer next time she goes to this Costco outside London. Ranch and rootbeer are things I really miss. And we had homemade brownies and ice cream for desert, and they gave us all the leftovers which we had yesterday for sunday dinner. And then we have another D.A. with them this Thursday as well! I don't think they ever had me and Curran over for dinner because he never ate any of the food members gave us except like burgers and chips. It is little things like a good D.A. that I get really excited about.
Sounds like a pretty intense lesson you taught on Sunday. I'm surprised those girls weren't all in tears. We again had to teach gospel principles yesterday, and did not prepare at all and just winged it. It actually went okay though, we just talked about prophets and Moses and stuff.
Thanks for the updates about all the mission stuff. I love hearing about all that going on, and it really is encouraging to hear about other people I know going on missions.
I really would like to read that Guns, Germs and Gold book. Why does he think our civilization is on the decline?
Ya I don't really know to much about Sean and his girlfriend situation.. he emailed me this week but didn't mention it. When you meet her at floor hockey you will have to tell me what you think of her.
Sorry I don't have a ton of time.
The whole Baral family came to church again! For the third time, which is pretty awesome. They are starting to integrate into the ward even, everyone is starting to get to know them and is really friendly to them. We should be going there on Monday or Tuesday and trying to extend a baptismal date. In just like 4 weeks I feel like we have become such good friends. The Nepalese culture is just so kind and welcoming and they are the best people ever. I might try to send some photos next week but I will need to go to an internet cafe for that.
Other than that, the work is slowing down a bit. We have pretty much dropped our whole teaching pool--Jay, Amit, Cherise, Lilieth, Shivonne, Patrick, Spencer, Eric, and loads of others. We really just have the Barals, the Nepalese crew, and Ernest left over. And a few new people we have found. One of them is a guy named Berry, and is Jamaican. We've only seen him once, and he seems to have a lot of promise. Hopefully we can see him again this week. Lee called us and said she was feeling like all our rules are just claustrophobic, and she doesn't think she could live them. So she isn't sure if she will meet with us again, but I really hope that she does. We had all these cool people who loved having us over, but they just weren't progressing or getting anywhere. So we are going to have to try to start over again, and find some new people who hopefully will be able to progress towards baptism. I hope that we have planted some seeds in these people we have been teaching.
We also are going to focus on a lot of the recent converts who went less active. There are a few that are just on the fence of coming back to church. Me and Pettersen are doing good, we are starting to adjust to each other and I think we are actually both really comfortable around each other and becoming good friends. I have a very bad feeling that I might have to leave Slough in a few weeks. In 2 months, a massive group of missionaries goes home. I think like 35. And by September  over half of the current missionaries will have gone home. In the next 2 moves, 55 new missionaries are coming in to take their place. We are going to be a really young mission. And a ton of people are going to have to be trainers and the whole mission is going to get all mixed around. And the new president comes in like 4 months as well. So this is somewhat of a strange turnover time. I think it would be cool to train in slough, but at the same time I don't think I'm ready to be a trainer yet.
Have a great week guys, I can't wait to hear how your week goes!
Love Elder Steed