WEEK 46: Good-bye Zdeno

The beautiful green area is on their way to Kristina's house through a shortcut.  The family is Zdeno and his family before they left.  The view with the buildings is by Elder Poggemann's flat.  "We made the food". 

This week was pretty good. Quick recap, we saw Kristina and her family a lot. They are doing very well and love to read the Book of Mormon. We are trying to help them make the changes that they want from life. They are super nice and we love getting to know them.  They weren't able to come to church, but we don't know why. They just didn't show up after they had been promising us they wanted to.

Miroslav is still doing well and still had to work this week on Sunday, but he is trying to get time off so he can come visit church this week. We went on exchange with Elder Poggemann this week, but I was with Elder Christensen. I got wrecked again as I translated sacrament meeting, as you do.  We have been trying to do more finding.

One of the highlights was our second weekly lunch with Fero Dunka (the former president of the branch). They are super cool and make good food.  We love talking with them and getting to know them.

Zdeno left us. (Pictured with his family above) He moved back to Slovakia for good. We will really miss his family. And his support for our branch and area. He was the only active member in our area.

Katka taught her first ever lesson in relief society that she prepared alone and it was so good. She has come so far and has this wonderful light in her that is so good to see. She was especially happy this week because she got her temple recommend. She is so inspiring to me because she has made the changes in her life and seeing how it blessed her has really taught me how true the principles we teach are. It has completely altered her forever and she now has the chance to go to the temple, the house of God on the Earth, and feel the joy and peace
there as she makes covenants to bind her to God. I hope that I can help someone to have the same difference in their life that Katka has seen.

Love you all,
Elder Pace

Mother's Day!

It was so wonderful to see and hear my boy!!  We only had 30 minutes so the time flew by!  He has a bit of an accent which was fun to hear.  He looked great and looked happy.  I was a bit sad when we hung up because I realized how much I missed him and how little time we had.  But then the next day I got the mail and discovered a beautiful Mother's Day letter!  Made me bawl!  Tyson is so very thoughtful and he made my year!

WEEK 45: Miroslav

Miroslav, who is probably our closest friend in Darnall, is still doing well. He shared with us this week his concern of being baptized.  He was already baptized in another church and he doesn't want to turn his back on any covenant to God until he knows beyond any doubt that this church is true. He is so solid. His kids are awesome and we really enjoy having some fun with them all. It has been harder to meet with them recently since he is totally wiped out from work every day.  He really tries hard to support his family. I really hope he keeps moving forward, but even if he doesn't, I hope I stay in contact with
him. In meeting with him, I have felt so much more love for these people and I have been even more sure of the blessings this gospel has for us. And for our families. Ever since he has met with us, things have been going better for him. Now if we can help him take the next step and go to church on Sunday, the Lord will bless him so much for his obedience. The Sabbath Day is so wonderful and it will help him cope with his week I know for sure.

We had stake conference this week, so we did the translation at once with the aid of a microphone and headsets. It was definitely more challenging. I was lucky enough to have Elder Armstrong and Elder Poggemann take the brunt of the translation. I only had to do a small portion.

My new flat got some spare furniture from some random flat that they closed. That was a huge blessing and we fixed our washer so what else can we ask for. The address is

6 Fielder Mews
Firth Park
Sheffield
S5 6GY
United Kingdom

Letters can go there, but no packages.

Finally, we got to Skype our families since it was Mother's Day in America. I was so grateful to talk to my wonderful Mum along with the rest of my family. They are so amazing.

One thing I have studied recently is about how to receive direction from the Lord more in this work. I have realized that a lot of it depends on serious, sincere prayer. Sometimes I forget and don't talk with my Father in Heaven like I should or as frequently as I should. I regret the time I lost in building a relationship with him these past 19 years. I think it would make His day if we all took some time to go
to a quiet place tonight and thought for a minute or two what we want
to tell Him and how we can seek His help. And then we can kneel and pray and engage in a thoughtful conversation with God. He loves to hear from us.

Love you all,
Elder Pace

WEEK 44: New Flat

Elder Peck sent me this picture this morning of Elder Campbell with his trainer, Elder Pace, with his trainer Elder Buckhoff....their "family tree"

We are finally moved into our new flat. There still isn't too much in
it. We have a bed each, a washer, a fridge, a pan, some knives, a pot
and something to hang our clothes on. We still are waiting on the
study desks and a table and a freezer and some chairs. It has been
nice though.

We tried a Parma this week. That is a pizza, but instead of dough as a
base, it is a giant flat piece of fried chicken. It was surprisingly
good, but I feel like rubbish if I eat out too much so we don't get
them a lot.

Miroslav is doing great. He is our friend that is preparing for
baptism soon. We are getting to know him a lot more and I really like
him. He loves his family and wants to do anything for them. He is a
good father. We are also starting to see an old friend of mine named
Kristína. We got back in contact with her and I am so excited. She and
her family are really cool and are going through  a hard time right
now.

Happy Mothers Day this week to all the moms and future moms. Love you all,
Elder Pace

WEEK 43: Homeless

We are between flats at the moment so we are homeless. We are crashing
with the Zone Leaders tonight, so that will be a blast. Anyways, sorry that I didn't send out a group email last week. I got pretty busy and didn't take care of that.

This week was really fun. Bubik, a 10 year old who was baptized a year ago, came to church again. He loved it. We have been working a lot
with his family. On Saturdays we go over and do some fun activity with
their kids. One week it was scripture theater where we acted out a story from the scriptures. This week it was coloring scenes from the scriptures. They loved it. I really like that family.

We have been putting in tons of work and effort, but we still don't have many people that are willing to talk to us. Not even a lot of the members of the church. Sometimes, it gets frustrating, but we are still having a blast in Darnall.

This week, the thing that really stood out to me is how much Christ has done for us. I have been focusing my studies more on Him and trying to work those thoughts into my conversations more since that is
what will change us. I have felt His power and His forgiveness. It is
honestly the best feeling in the world. No matter what weighs us down,
his shoulders are ready to bear the burden by our side. He is the best
friend this world had ever seen and will be there no matter how many
times we turn away. I have really enjoyed reading "The Living Christ"
and searching the New Testament for more about His life. But my
favorite still is 3 Nephi 11:10-11 when He appears to the Nephites and
declares that He paid the price for them. Anyone looking to be closer
with Christ, the Book of Mormon and Bible really are the way to do it.
I promise you that.

Love you all,
Elder Pace

WEEK 42: Just Pictures