WEEK TWELVE: Baptism!

First things first, this week I was supposed to play some soccer with
the branch but due to a last minute time change I was unable to
participate. It was a let down for sure. Another let down so far has
been the chocolate milk. I have tried a few varieties of mixes and all
have been poor quality. On the bright side, I have found that nesquick
exists here and I will probably get that before long.

We didn't have tons of time to do normal missionary work this week
because of some abnormal circumstances. First one, was the language conference in Leeds. President Turvey wanted to meet with all language speakers in the mission to see how he could more effectively use us.  There were Portuguese elders, Mandarin, Slovak, and Polish all there.

It was an amazing meeting. I learned a ton about how I can improve my
study of the language and it is always a privilege to be with President and Sister Turvey. They are so loving and at the same time expect a lot from us. This is great and they really encourage us to evaluate how we are personally and make improvement that way rather than telling all these rules that are all you have to live by. 

I was so excited to go to Leeds. We went there on the train and I loved
looking out he side of the window so that I could see the countryside
as well as the last bits of the sunrise. It was amazing and so beautiful. I tried talking to the people around since it was a long ride and I needed to do something, but English people are not very fond of talking to strangers. Their moms taught them well as kids.

When we were in Leeds, I saw a man wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes. It was the coolest. I wanted a picture with him, but we were on a time schedule. What a shame.  Because of travel time, that took almost the entire day. We didn't get to do much after.

On Wednesday, we had district meeting in the morning, followed by
branch coordination followed by prepping stuff for our baptism on
Friday and then had a dinner appointment (called a "tea"ching
appointment here). We had no time whatsoever on that day. 

On the plus side, we received some really amazing advice at our district meeting.  President Turvey reminded us that as missionaries we represent Jesus Christ. He then asked us to evaluate our language and what music we listen to. This was great for everyone. Some people have adopted the English culture too much. Some of the swear words from America are not here and we were encouraged to reflect on this since some have started using them. Also, this applied to everyone since he also invited us to reevaluate our use of the substitute words like "freak, flip, shoot,dang, etc." This was good for us all since most of us have adopted the English sayings like flippin heck! We have, as a district decided to
eliminate these and strive to use more uplifting words to compliment
rather than tear down or degrade. We are all evaluating our music and
trying to see if it is in accordance with a calling as a servant of the Lord. Luckily, all I have for music is Mormom tabernacle choir and
some BYU choir and that is fine in my opinion. 

We then went to our coordination meeting with Brother Whitehouse who is hilarious and has a super thick Yorkshire accent. He fed us potatoes and chili which was really good. Dinner with the Nettleships is always a highlight of my week.

We had a baptism today as I sort of mentioned. It was for Patricia
Gulyasova and Justin Balog who are mother and son. It was a great
service but super stressful for us to put together. We were stressed
for time and also had a hard time getting everybody there. We filled a
giant pot with water and heated it and then poured it in the font. It was so funny watching Elder Peck and I carry it through the hall. I will try to send a pic for you of the pot.

Also, we had transfer calls this week. This was a super fun, but sad
time in the mission. One of the zone leaders who lives above me is
leaving for Hull. His name is Elder Candia and he is great. He has
been super fun and welcoming. He bought me a kebab which was actually not bad. Also, Elder Poggemon got transferred out of the district and zone which never happens for Slovaks. In the past, the Slovak elders have all stayed in Sheffield 4 where the branch is, but after the language meeting, they are sending one to Leeds to have an English companion and search for Slovaks there and see what the potential is.That Elder is Elder Poggemon. It was crazy to hear that. It will be sad to see him go. Also, Elder Rhea is now a zone leader so he won't be doing as much with the Slovaks. Elder Rhea stays in our area and will now live above me. Sadly, Elder Peck has a new trainer and he
took that a little hard. He will be with Elder Armstrong, the other
Slovak elder. So now we have 4 Slovak elders in our branch which means that I might have to translate soon. That's scary.

That's all the crazy stuff for this week. I gained about 10 pounds
which was a shock. I am going to lay off the sandwiches and crackers
this week and try to get it back under control. I feel like I got it though.

I met someone this week named Rainbow David Dove. He thinks he
controls the weather and is a prophet and he alone can save the world.
Quite the character. He gave me a sticker of a butterfly and also
tells us "you're welcome" whenever the sun is out. He is pretty funny.

We have one family investigating that I am really excited about. Andre
and Monika. They are really searching for truth and want to come
closer to Christ. They are excited and don't smoke or drink which is
amazing for us. They have a car so they can come to church and he
doesn't work on Sunday. It is amazing.

I am getting better at Slovak, but I still don't understand a lot.

Love you all,
Elder Pace