A miracle happened!

Email - August 26, 2013

Wow!  Thank you for all of the updates and pictures from back home!  I'm so happy to hear about the football team and that they are doing well!

Things here are going well!  We got a new investigator named A____.  He is a cool kid about 19 years old.  Hopefully, he will continue to meet with us.  Elder Manucci and I met him when we were on exchange a couple of weeks ago.  Elder Buglass and I finally met up with him earlier this week!

Oh, and a miracle happened!  S____ came to Church!!!  Finally.  She really felt the Spirit, I believe.  But, she is super shy, especially when it comes to social events.  And, so, it was amazing that we got her out of the house to come to Sacrament Meeting.

Right now, the whole district is in a city called Winchester.  We are at a member's house where we had breakfast and watched "The Best Two Years."  That movie is now seriously soooo much funnier because it all makes so much sense and it's so true to how mission life is!  Ha ha.

And, now for your questions...

A typical day is get up at 6:30 am.  I exercise until 7.  I increase my number of sit-ups and push-ups I do every week.  And, I jump rope a ton.  I don't end my exercising until I have done 200 straight jumps.  Yeah, it sucks if I mess up at like 168, cause then I have to start over and do it until I do 200 without error.  I don't know why it bothers me so much, but it does.  Ha ha.  Then, we have breakfast and get ready from 7-8.  Then, personal study from 8-9.  Then companionship study from 9-10.  And, since I'm being trained, then we have to do an hour of the 12 week training program from 10-11.   Then, we usually go street contacting until lunch.  Then, have lunch.  Then, we will street contact, knock doors, and go to the rare appointments in the evening.  Then, lights out at 10:30 pm.  

Yes, I see MTC friends at Zone Conference because there are three zones that go to Zone Conference.  But, as far as a Zone Training, it is only our zone, so there aren't many new missionaries in my zone.

My most memorable thing [this week] was definitely S____ coming to Church and seeing her feel the Spirit there.  I know she did, and I know she felt the same peace I felt from the great talks that were given!

I miss you guys and love you so much!  I freaking love this work and I am having a blast.  The days have started to go slower because I just think that I am getting used to this life!  Ha ha.

Love, Elder Munson

Letters, letters, letters!

As mentioned before, we received three letters over the last week.  Here are a few excerpts from each:

August 15, 2013

Dear Family,

Wow, I can't believe my first transfer is almost over.  Just one more and I'll finally be done with "training."

With transfers comes moves.  So, the district will be changing a little bit.  Elder Manucci the District Leader, is losing his companion, Elder Lane, so that means Elder Manucci will probably be staying for one more transfer.

Dad-thank you so much for all the post cards and sports updates!  I love the sports updates!

Mum-thanks for the informative letters and everything that you provide me with out here!

Things are going great.  I am really loving being on a mission.  I learn so much every day!  I finished reading "True to The Faith" yesterday.  That taught me a lot!

My English accent is becoming quite natural, and I find myself talking with it about 50% of the time I speak.  I also have learned how to speak quite a bit of Mandarin Chinese.  And, I can say "I love you" in 10 different languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Croatian, Macedonian, and Cantonese).  Crazy, huh!?!?

This whole mission experience will be and has been incredible!

I love you all!

Love, Elder Munson


Peyton, 

I got your letter today!  That is so funny that you're going to start school soon!  Lucky you.  ;) 

Great job on your dance competition!  That's incredible!  And, good luck in Vegas!

I love you, Peyton!  I know what I am doing is the right thing!  And, England is incredible!

Love, Elder Munson

Tanner,

Dude, that is so sick that you killed it at the Navy camp!  That would be amazing if you went there!

Have a great time with school!  Trust me, that's where most of your memories will lie when you are in my position.  I don't miss high school necessarily, but I do think about it a ton and all the good memories!  So, make sure to make some good memories!  I'm sure you will anyway!

The Church is true!  Love you man!  Luke 1:37

Love, Elder Munson

One transfer down, 16 to go!

Email - August 21, 2013

Wow, one transfer down!  16 to go!  Shocking and very sad news.  Moves calls went out on Monday night and Elder Yu got moved.  :(  He is going to be serving in Oxford now.  I don't know what I am going to do without him.  I'm so sad.  He left this morning.  Ugh.

Not much has happened in the last day and a half besides Elder Yu leaving.

I love you guys!

Love, Elder Munson

Good-bye, Elder Yu.

I cut Elder Yu's hair last night!  :)

:(

Hello Again

Email - August 19, 2013

Ah, thanks for the pictures of Jordan!  I miss that kid.  And, thanks for all the updates.  Yes, this week is transfers week, which means today is not P Day.  So, I only have a few minutes to email.  P Day is Wednesday, so if I forget anything, I'll email again on Wednesday.  No, I will not be moving because the missionary training program is 12 weeks long, so I will have the same trainer and area.  I have a feeling I'll be in Southampton much longer than just my training period though, so, I'm not worried about moving anytime soon!

This week was good.  Pretty standard week here in the mission field!  We taught two lessons with a new investigator, a girl named Sh____.  We taught her on Monday and Thursday, and in our lesson on Thursday, she cried because she felt the Spirit of Christ.  That was good.

Also, I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting yesterday on hastening the work!  Goodness, how I wish I could redo my farewell talk.  It's like all this missionary work and studying has helped me gain a better knowledge of this Gospel or something!?!?!  Hahahahaha.  It went so well, I feel.  I talked about how I got to see the work hastened personally with all the young men from my school that got their calls and how amazing it is...and, I got all choked up and stuff...what the heck!  ;)  It was well good though.

Anyway, I'm sure there is more, but I am hurrying and typing super fast!  I will send another email on Wednesday, hopefully, with more stuff that I can remember.  Oh!  Also, your weather app was partially correct.  It has been cooler, but there has been LOADS of rain!  :)  Yay!

I love you all!

Love, Elder Munson

It was pouring!

 
 Elder Buglass and I refurbished S___'s bathroom floor.

Finished!

Catch Up!

Well, it didn't take me long to get behind!  Elder Munson is doing well.  His mission had transfers last week, so P Day was on Wednesday instead of Monday.  His emails were pretty short, but it's completely understandable.  He did send a few pictures, so I will be sure to post those.  Also, we were happy to receive three letters over the last week--one to the family, one for Tanner, and one for Peyton.  Today, being Monday, was P Day.  However, in England it was a "bank holiday" which means the public libraries are closed.  We didn't think we'd get an email today since he uses the public library on his P Days to check and send emails.  But, again, we were happily surprised to receive a short email.  Oh, we love him!  

This week was amazing!

Email - August 12, 2013

This week was amazing!  On Tuesday, we were walking down a street that we walk down quite a bit.  I noticed a blonde girl sitting down, one who I have seen before.  So, I stopped and told Elder Buglass that we needed to go talk to her.  So, I went and plopped down right beside her and just started talking to her.  I asked her if she believed in God and asked her what struggles she was having in her life and such.  I shared a few scriptures with her as well.  Long story short, we talked for about 45 minutes.  Her name is J____.  And, after our long conversation, I just felt like I should ask her about baptism...so, I did...and, she said she had never been baptized, so I invited her to be baptized and she accepted!  We even set a date for September 14th!  Ah, so, hopefully, things work out there!  Ah, it was a miracle.  I learned it is definitely important to ALWAYS follow the feelings you get to do something.

Elder Mannucci, from Italy, is our district leader.  He and I were on exchange from Thursday morning to Friday morning.

The work is progressing here and I'm so excited!

A ward member, Dave, is an amazing cook and has us over for dinner every week.  We ate there on Saturday night.  It was incredible!  I'll send you a picture I took with him.

Also, I got your package on Friday!  Thank you so much for the pictures and the address book!  That will be so handy!!  You're the best!

I love you all and miss you a ton!  Oh, and by the way, mum, keep up the blog.  I will do my best to be better at sharing experiences!!

"The wall behind me is a part of the original castle that used to cover much 

of the Southampton coast."

"Me and Elder Fingerle from Germany.  One of the Zone Leaders."

"Elder Mannucci and I at a gelato bar.  He approved it cause he's Italian."

"We had just finished doing service for and teaching S____ and we felt accomplished!"

"Dave makes incredible food."

Dear Family

August 5, 2013 (letter)

Dear Family,

  I hope all is well!  I see that there is a lot going on at home.  School is starting soon.  I can't believe that!
  Dad, I got your letter today that had all those cool sayings and stories and such!  That was a cool article about Weber State.  Both of them actually.
  Mum, thanks for all of the Conference talks.  I got them all throughout last week!
  It's hard knowing what to say in letters after sending an email!
  Oh!  After emailing, we went grocery shopping and on our way home, carrying all of our grocery bags, it started POURING rain!  Ha!  It was crazy!  It was the first hard rain I've experienced here.
  I also got a letter today from Grandma and Grandpa!  And one from Bailee Cook as well.  Getting letters is the greatest feeling ever, besides the Spirit.
  I think about you guys all the time!  It is crazy I've been away from home for over a month!  That seems like so long!
  This Thursday and Friday, I get to do an exchange and the district leader, Elder Mannucci from Italy, is going to come to Southampton to work with me!  I'm excited!  I like him a lot.
  I love you all!  And, I miss you!

Love,
Elder Munson

An Explanation

Elder Munson has enjoyed another wonderful week in Southampton.  As I now sit down to share some parts of a letter we received two days ago and email received today, I thought I'd first offer a brief explanation.

I mentioned before that this blog is to be a sort of journal for Skyler's mission and his experiences in England.  Because this blog is available for the world to see, I have to be careful with what is posted.  Sometimes, I may refer to someone by their first initial so that they remain somewhat anonymous.  Sometimes, I omit portions of his correspondences out of respect for privacy -- his and others.  The other day, I came across a blog where a mother shared her son's letter in, what appeared to be, its entirety.  Never mind the missionary son referred to some other missionaries by name and criticized them and said they were not obedient missionaries.  While that may have been an honest assessment, he shamed them and the mother posted it online.  It would hurt me badly if I happened upon a similar post and it was my son or daughter who was criticized so publicly.  I think in the excitement of a proud mother's inclination to boast about her own son or daughter (and, believe me, I like to brag about my kids, too!), it may be easy to forget the finger pointing done in cyberspace.

I'll get off my soapbox now!  I just wanted to explain why there may be times when a blog entry sharing a letter and/or email may seem a little cryptic, or even really short.  There's a good reason.  I promise.  "The story you are about to hear is true.  Only the names have been changed, to protect the innocent."  Ha ha!

Our son is doing so well.  He is happy.  He loves the Lord.  He loves the work he's been called to do.  We are very, very proud.

2 Fast Sundays Down, 22 To Go!

August 5, 2013

It was a good week! Elder Buglass was sick Wednesday and Thursday. So, besides going to district meeting on Wednesday, we didn't leave the flat for those two days. I started reading "Our Search for Happiness" from the missionary reference library on Monday.. and I finished it Thursday evening! It was a good book! I liked it a lot and learned a ton from it. 

I had the opportunity this week to give 3 blessings! It was incredible. The most powerful of which was the one Elder Buglass and I gave to S____, who has been having lots of joint pains lately which makes it hard for her to do things. She really felt the Spirit and she is coming much closer to being baptized I believe. 

On Friday, Elder Buglass and I did a Work Over with the Zone Leaders. That's where the Zone Leaders come in to our area and we split up to be able to work multiple areas in Southampton. I LOVE both of our Zone Leaders. One is Elder George, from California. He is incredible and super funny. The other is Elder Fingerle. He is from Germany, and he is like the coolest German you'll ever meet. I got to work with Elder Fingerle. We were walking on the street, stopping everyone, and one guy walked by and said, 'good afternoon elders' and we said hello and he said, 'would you like to go to my home and talk about God?' Elder Fingerle looked at each other, then looked at him and said 'sure why not?' So, we went to this man's home, his name is B____. When we got there, his wife and two year old son were there and we sat down and said we would like to start off with a prayer, and immediately his wife snapped at us, 'NO! That wouldn't be appropriate.' Right then... Elder Fingerle and I felt so much tension and we knew what we had gotten ourselves in to. So, B____ offered his own prayer and immediately got to business. He started throwing biblical history and scriptures and us, and all this bull crap about the origins of the bible and about Constantine and Plato and all this rubbish that was irrelevant. We got in to the most intense Bible bash. Bruce R. McConkie said, "We do NOT bash, we do NOT bash, we do NOT bash!... but when we bash, we WIN!" Haha such a great quote. So, B____, we found out after we had left, is an Evangelist. And, while they do have their own faith and beliefs, they also study very hard to disprove other religions, which is bogus. But whatever. It was my first Bible bash and it probably won't be my last. 

On Saturday morning, Elder Buglass and I were out doing some street contacting, and I saw this tall black guy walk out of a flat complex. I slowed my walk and waited for him to reach the side walk where we were and I shook his hand and started talking to him while walking in the same direction. I started asking him if he had ever seen missionaries like us or ever met with them or anything, and he said he hadn't. So, I started talking to him and telling him all about us and he was so interested that he stopped me before we crossed the street and said to teach him right now and that he had time. So, haha, we did. He has been Christian all his life. For the past few years, he has been attending mostly Catholic churches though. He had so many questions. And, every question he asked, the Spirit answered through me, and he would just smile and laugh and nod and shake his head in disbelief that this is actually what we believe and teach in our church. He expressed that he has been having a lot of problems with the Catholic church and with some of the beliefs, but he was so happy that we believed what we did on certain points. So, I gave him a Book of Mormon which he was excited to start reading. And, then, we found out he lives in Ghana and is only here for a few weeks! But, oh well. We planted the seed that can do countless things in the end! We will meet with him next week again before he heads back home. :) I can't wait!

Gall, I love this work!

I love and miss you all so much! I can feel of your prayers and I hope you know I pray for you all too!   2 Fast Sundays down! 22 to go!

I love you!

Love, Elder Munson

"Ward member named Blessing.  He is 14.  He's from South Africa and we're like best friends."

"At McDonald's in England for the first time!  Not that different surprisingly!"

"Us, this morning on our way to the library."

"On our way to do service for S____, we passed by the OLD cemetery in Southampton.  The other cemetery is the new cemetery I guess.  This cemetery has headstones from before the Church was even organized and has some of the Titanic crew members buried in it!"