Merry Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends,

I sincerely want to apologize for my letter this week. I had a lot of unexpected Christmas e-mails from family and friends. Thank you all so much! You have no idea how much I appreciate them.

All I want to share this week is the words from my favourite primary song.

Stars were gleaming, shepherds dreaming;
And the night was dark and chill.
Angels' story rang with glory;
Shepherds heard it on the hill.
Ah, that singing! Hear it ringing,
Earthward winging, Christmas bringing!
Hearken! We can hear it still!

See the clearness and the nearness
Of the blessed Christmas star,
Leading, guiding; wise men riding
Through the desert dark and far.
Lovely showing, shining, growing,
Onward going, gleaming, glowing 

Leading still, our Christmas star!

The Christmas star was a light that led the wise man to our Saviour. Our Saviour is the light that leads us to our Heavenly Home. I hope we all choose to follow Him this Christmas and by this time next year when we ask ourselves "Am I more Christlike now than I was a year ago?" We can all say yes!

Jesus Christ was born for YOU. ALL OF YOU. Remember that. Ponder what that really means. This is my challenge for you. Share the light of the gospel with your friends and family. WITH EVERYONE!

I love you all.

Elder Humpherys 

 Dinner with President Preston

 

 

These are the bags that Sister Preston and her Sister Jackie made each Christmas for the missionaries

In the Bleak Midwinter

When I walk through the streets of England on those cold days I think of these words:
In the bleak mid-winter, frosty wind made moan,

earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; 

snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, 

in the bleak mid-winter, long ago. 

Our God, heav'n cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain; 

heav'n and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign. 

In the bleak mid-winter a stable-place sufficed 

the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

 

Angels and archangels may have gathered there, 

cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; 

but only His mother, in her maiden bliss, 

worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

 

I think these words so beautifully paint the picture of the birth of Jesus Christ. This week wasn't the easiest for me. I will admit we had some challenges. But, I learned more abundantly about the pure love of Christ this week than any other week of my mission.

 

We have lost about all of our investigators to opposition and sadly a little bit of my fire died with it.. I was really struggling to understand how to handle everything that I was going through! As I was studying Preach My Gospel with Elder Suriyachan I came across these words from Chapter 5. "As we read the Book of Mormon with the guidance of the Spirit, it helps us answer personal questions. It teaches that prayer and revelation are the key to solving particular problems. It helps us have faith that God will answer our prayers." I decided to really put that challenge to the test and I really did find my answers! My testimony was strengthened and so was my desire to share the gospel! It was a huge spiritual boost. I am really grateful for the Book of Mormon. Then we had the Christmas devotional yesterday.. and WOW! When Russell M. Nelson spoke and they played that recording of Jesus's voice I thought it was real! Haha. But I felt SO much peace and I really wanted to share the peace of Christ with everyone! I know that these small experiences I am having are truly preparing me for my future.

 

I went on an exchange with Elder Burns and it went pretty good. I discovered that he is good at stopping people and I am good at keeping them there! Then we can teach them! We had a beautiful lesson on the spot with a man named Marco. He was from Portugal. We stopped him using the Mormon.org card. We taught him briefly about the Book of Mormon and he seemed pretty interested but it was obvious that he was in a rush. So we asked him if we could pray with him before he went and said yes. We then followed more of Elder Texiera's advice and asked him if there was anyone we could pray for. He told us to pray for his wife. She passed away 3 months ago.. My heart broke for him and I just wanted to soothe his aching soul. The spirit was helping me feel some of his pain. I can't imagine having my wife pass away.. I was privileged to offer the prayer and as he left he gave us some contact information and had tears in his eyes. It was truly a tender moment for all of us.

 

These were some of the highlights of these week but I want you to know that the things I share with you don't even scratch the surface of the spirit and experiences I am having every minute of my mission. Every second I am spending trying to do my best and grow closer to Christ. I love my mission so dearly.. I love our Saviour Jesus Christ.. I hope we can be giving to Him this Christmas season, by giving ourselves to others.

 

What can I give Him, poor as I am? 

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 

if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 

yet what can I give him: give my heart.

 

I love you all

Elder Humpherys

 A sweet shop. A CHRISTMAS ONE!

 Handing out Mormon.org cards to a really nice nutcracker man. His name was Pistachio. Super nice!

 Here are our Christmas sweaters

 I though this dog was a wolf. Flippen massive dog!

 A nice relaxing Coca-Cola.

HIYA!!

Hiya!

So just for a warning I had some computer difficulties and have had my time cut short by about 20 minutes.. so sorry if I neglect some e-mails. You are only neglected in words.. not love 

So, this week we had an amazing miracle! Whitefield is a wonderful place. It has been a really good week here. I love laboring among these people. Sometimes we find some rejection but I sincerely hope they can feel my love for them.. but more importantly God’s love for them.

Monday was good. We bought companion sweaters! (as show below) Ha ha so much fun. We also taught our investigator Carl who is doing well. He has shown a lot of growth in the past 2 or 3 weeks.

Tuesday was our miracle day! We had a fantastic Zone Meeting with our new zone leader (Elder Walker). He is such a good missionary. I sincerely see these missionaries that I just want to emulate. They make me want to do better.. Anyways, that night we stopped by a potential investigator. Her name is Julie. She was found by some missionaries a few months ago. We saw her name and I felt prompted to give her a ring. She answered and said we could stop by and she sounded super sweet! When we went to teach her we found she had to children who were just as kind as she was! We taught them the restoration and felt the spirit. I loved it.

The rest of the week was good. I really learned a lot about the power of the spirit. Beside our new friend Julie, we haven’t been seeing much fruits of our labors. It has been quite frustrating because I feel like I have been doing everything in my power to be obedient, diligent, patient, loving and faithful to my call as a missionary. I have been learning the principle of “long-suffering.” I was getting quite stressed and was feeling a bit overwhelmed with my responsibility and the outcomes that were happening. I broke down to my Heavenly Father in prayer and literally pleaded for help.. it was amazing because the next morning during my personal study I read a talk from this last conference and a portion of it really stood out to me.

Well, gotta run. Thanks for all you have all done for me. You are always in my prayers and I love you each very much

Elder Humpherys

Is that Christmas I hear??

Dear One and All,

So, this week has been amazing! I love love love missionary work! It’s tough but oh so worth it! I have learned so much this week. CHRISTMAS IS COMING! ahhh.. approximately 22 days and 14 hours! Not that I am counting or anything... 

Monday was a normal day except for we got to e-mail.. Our investigator Carl is doing so good! I really think he has a deep desire to change. He is so kind and loves our visits. He is currently battling a challenge that is really hard for him, but we are trying to help him every step of the way! Pray for Carl that he can have the strength to do what is right!

We were able to attend the temple on Wednesday! AHHH! I received more answers in this temple trip than any other before. It was amazing. I loved it so much. I am thankful that we have a temple in our missionar boundaries. We are very lucky. Bishop’s wife took us. She is so sweet and kind. Imagine and angel - that is bishop’s wife.

Thursday we taught a woman named Margaret and it was good. We didn’t actually get to teach her anything but she told us a lot about her life. We were able to introduce the Book of Mormon but she is a talker! She is a wonderful woman and has had some rough patches with the death of her mum. She has such a wonderful family though. Her daughters are both really nice and she has an adorable grand baby! I loved meeting her. Unfortunately we can’t meet with her again until after christmas because she is too busy. But we will bring her a christmas cake or something. I know that she has so much potential and that she will be blessed so much from living the gospel.

This weekend I went on an exchange with Elder Clark again. It was really good. I learned so much. He is such a good missnioary.. He reminds me a lot Zach Skenandore. He is so funny! He is also a really good finder. I learned a lot about just letting your mind go blank. I think way too much when I am finding. I get myself all worked up and then I get stressed because I don’t know what to say. He just doesn’t think about anything and when he see’s someone he goes “Evening sir.. etc” So he just told me to think about a color. Just a color. Then we I get close to someone start thinking. Haha, it sounds weird but it actually does help!

I love my mission. I love every single solitary second that I have here. I love what I am learning. Even though it can be hard I know that it is worth it. I know that my mission is going to be sufficient for the rest of my life as long as I continue to work hard and be obedient. I am learning things know that will help me forever.

My loved ones - Keep going strong. Keep praying. Keep praying with your families. Keep your feet on the delicate and steep path that leads to our heavenly home. Keep fighting for the truth. “Dangers may gather.. WHY SHOULD WE FEAR? Jesus, our leader, ever is near.” We never need to feel alone or unloved in the Lord’s service.. because we never are (Eyering). I love the gospel and I love you all.

Love
Elder Humpherys

I LOVE WHITEFIELD (and burned chips)!!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Oh my World! I LOVE WHITEFIELD! This place is amazing full of amazing people and opportunities. Seriously, there is a lot going on here. I doubled my number of gospel conversations this week which is a huge miracle.. but still have no new investigators.. but we’re still working on it!

The whitefield library is top notch. Let me tell you, the workers here are amazing! They are so kind. I think this library should win a big award.

How is everyone doing this week? I have learnt so much this week I can’t even begin to describe it all. We went to a meeting on Tuesday called 1^st 5 weeks.. it’s for new missionaries to go to who have been in the field for 5 weeks. It was amazing. I feel like my 1^st 5 weeks meeting was just a few days ago.. but it was actually like.. 15 weeks ago. Haha. But we learned so much. It was a good experience for Elder Suriyachan as well. He learned a lot more about how to bus contact and talk to people on the streets and stuff. Now we just have to keep that fire burning!

We had a super fun zone activity on Monday. It was like a thanksgiving pot luck and we played chair football! It was sooooo fun. And I won chair football. And I almost passed out because I maybe played to hard.. haha. But it was fun!!

Tuesday we had our 1^st 5 weeks.

Wedensday we had tea at the Hydes house! It was so delicious and super fun. Then we froze our bums off walking to see our the Less Active man. That night we were waiting for the bus and none came and it was so cold!! We were stranded and so we called our ward mission leader and he gave us a lift. While we were waiting for him though we saw a pontential investigator who gave was able to give us her address so we could stop by.. We tracted her street that night and found 2 more pontential investigators. Pray that we find them!!

Thursday was our zone conference with the area president. Wow. I got to sing a solo with the choir! That was fun. But his training was powerful. He promised us that we could change our area’s within a trasnfer cycle if we applied the things we learned that day! I never felt the spirit so strong. It was good. We were also able to see our friends Paul and Chrissy! YAY!

Well. Missionary work isn’t easy and I have got to run. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. We are His Latter-day Saints. We believe in God. We believe in goodness. We believe in families. We believe in miracles. Let us all press on in this faith and make it known to everyone what the gospel will bring to our lives!

Love

Elder Humpherys       

I don't know if I sent this picture.. but it's my chips that i made. oops.                                                                     

You can always be a missionary!!!

Dear wonderful family and friends! I first have a huge favour to ask all of you out there

1)      We are planning a Christmas activity here in the Whitefield ward on December 20, 2013! It is based on the movie “Elf.” Could you all send me idea’s for activities for kids and adults that would be fun? I would really appreciate it! I need them by Sunday night if possible!
Okay. Second of all I want to give a shout out to all my mates on missions. You are all amazing! Keep up the good work and remember how much Heavenly Father loves us for preaching His gospel. I know that He loves us and that He is truly watching over us. Keep up the good work my friends.
This week has been really uplifting. We found 2 new investigators! I think that makes about 8 or 9 total new investigators since I have been here. That’s not enough. It takes 41 1^st lessons to get a baptism (roughly). I really learned a lot this week about who I am and what I want to become. I’ll explain more in depth further in the letter.
So, on Tuesday we visited a less active man. And he told us to come back to his house later in the evening. He has been through quite a bit of rubbish. I felt really bad for him. He looked absolutely knackered. I went on an exchange this weekend with Elder Clark and taught him the restoration again. His eyes filled with tears as he talked about the blessings he missed from coming to church and living the gospel. So we’ve started working with him to get him reactivated. I am being really firm about inviting him to have daily scripture study and prayer. That is where everything starts. Heavenly Father can’t bless us or help us if we don’t talk to Him and search for what He’s trying to teach us. I KNOW THAT. I know it. I know that daily, individual, sacred scripture study and personal prayer must be done. If the foundation of faith isn’t embedded deeply within our hearts our power to endure will crumble. (Henry B. Eyering). The biggest cause for people going inactive is because they’ve forgotten who they are and who they can rely on. We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and we must have faith in His son, Jesus Christ… and we can’t remember that on our own. It is daily scripture study and prayer that keep us focused on Christ. I want to commit all who reads this to promise now to never miss a day. I will never miss a day for the rest of my life, for as long as I live!
Okay, I’ll get off that soap box now. It’s just I’ve seen so many people go inactive for the most silly reasons.. Become a missionary, not their back-up plan. I want to become a forever missionary.
I heard that IF East stake had 8 convert baptisms? That is so good! How is the Coltman 3^rd ward doing? I hope they are all getting excited about and getting involved with the work of salvation!!
Wednesday we had the most delicious tea at a member’s house! Yay! TEA APPOINTMENT!
Thursday I was finally able to meet with Bishop Hughes. He is amazing! I want to be like him when I grow up. He has the most crazy mission stories ever! He served in Africa and… wow. Mom, just be glad I didn’t serve there! ;)
Friday and Saturday I went on an exchange with Elder Clark. It was amazing! Something we both really needed. We had so many miracles. We met a man on the bus who we are teaching tonight (he asked US for pamphlets and stuff..) and we found another woman who lives really close to us who doesn’t like Christmas time because she remembers the death of her mother and mother-in-law. So we are going to start working with her. It should be fun. I am so desirous to find someone to teach. I hope these two will progress to baptism!
We had a good chat with the Relief Society President in our ward as well. Sister Smith. She worked in the MTC for 2 years and has the most amazing advice!! I learned so much from her. Her and Bishop have so many similar qualities. They are qualities I admire and am striving to emulate. I know who I want to become. It’s just getting there that’s the tricky part. ;)
Sunday was good. I love church. We heard some conversion stories.. but we haven’t had any investigators at church which is really rough. It makes me sad. But we’ll get there!
The life of a missionary is so much fun. I wish I could just do this for the rest of my life… oh wait.. I can!
Hope you all have a wonderful week. Love you!
Elder Humpherys 

 Haircut pictures that Esau took for me. He's cuts hair. :) haha. He wants your approval!

Hello World!

Today is a rainy England day! It is quite cold outside and I am absolutely knackered!! But I am soo happy. I love this gospel and I love being a representave of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Life couldn’t be any better. I know that this church is true and there is no one or nothing that will ever dissuade me from that belief! This week has been one of trying my testimony. Many people trying to “prove” me and our beliefs wrong. But, honestly.. I wish people would understand that this is not why I am here. We do not “prove” our beliefs to anyone. Know man on earth could ever try to take away that knowledge which God has given me in answer to my many prayers and many experiences. We simply share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end! That is my purpose!
Okay, enough of that!

How is everybody! I thank you all who have sent me letters. They are the greatest boosters ever! I am so happy to hear from you all!

Okay so Monday was a quick p-day and ended at 3:00! But we still had a really good day and saw lots of good things happen!

Tuesday was Guy Fawkes Night and a Zone Meeting.. so we had no time to proselyte because we had to be in our flats by five. Needless to say it was a relaxing day.

Wednesday we taught a few people.. did some tracting. Same old. Same old. :)

Thursday I went on an exchange with the zone leader. It was so good. He helped me realize a lot of things! It was definitely what I needed. Elder Coleman is a great missionary! 

Saturday was Lee's Baptism! It was soooooo good! I loved it. I don't know if I will ever go back to Burnley now. I really hope I do.

Well, I love this gospel! I love this work! I love my life! I love you all! I love Jesus Christ. Let us all show our love for Him by feeding His sheep!
Love,
Elder Humpherys

 Don't have time for descriptions! Lee was baptised! HOORAY! I am so happy for him

A love note we found from a boy to girl! Haha. okay.. I know it shouldn't be funny.. but it's hilarious. We found it on the ground. It's funny how puppy love is the same no matter where you are!

I Love this Work!!!

ครอบครัวที่รักและเพื่อน

How is everyone doing this week? I miss you all so much. My mission is just flying by. We are seeing so much success in Whitefield this week! I llloooovvveee it!

Monday was busy! P-days aren’t fun sometimes. Haha.  We were able to teach a recent convert who brought his girlfriend to the Friday Fright Night on Friday! J

Tuesday was amazing! Let me just tell you some finding miracles that happened throughout this week:

We have been praying (and other missionaries have been praying for us through the zone prayer roll) to find new investigators. We have found 4 souls this week who desire to learn more about the gospel! I am so happy. One of them was found (I know this will sound weird) but I had the impression to follow a cat. It led us to a man's door who opened it to let the cat in and he basically invited us in right away! At our 2nd lesson he invited his friend over to hear our message and to watch the restoration DVD! A few days later we met a man from Africa while we were trying to contact a referral! He shouted out his window and called me by my first name (and I have never met him.. haha). It really freaked me out but then I guess he was just looking for his friend.. but we got talking and he invited us in. He seems really good! Anyways, all transfer we have been trying to have 10 gospel conversations every day but I just haven't been able to reach that goal. I always get between 3 - 7 people who actually stop to listen.. I sincerely try my very best to do it.. The blessing comes from knowing that God recognizes our efforts and he placed a girl named Erin in our path! She was so nice and seemed really ready for the gospel of Jesus Christ! We talked to her for about 30 minutes and gave her a Book of Mormon. Her only thing standing in the way is she can only meet with us if her teachers let her leave class a bit early next Tuesday! So we have been praying and praying that we will be able to meet her then! When we try our hardest and we talk to everyone that we can God recognized those efforts and blesses us with people to teach! Miracles.  

WOWZA! It’s been amazing. Wednesday was crazy. I will have to take a picture of my planner one day so you can see what it looks like J That is when we met our first miracle find.

We had a “Friday Fright Night” this week and it was so fun! They had fireworks and there were many sweet non-members there. It was a good experience for the members and everyone who was involved. I wished my family was there. They would’ve loved it!

We had stake conference this week! It was so amazing. I loved it! Well I gotta go! Talking to someone in the library! I love it!

Elder Humpherys

A Baptism!

Dear Everyone,

Wow. This week has been quite a tough one. I’m not discouraged or upset about that. It’s just been hard! I’ve struggled a lot this week. Lot’s of things didn’t work out, we had some rough lessons, and some non-productive evenings.. It’s been hard getting my footing. But, it’s really been worth it! I have learned quite a lot this week.

Monday was pretty good. Not too stressful. Haha. I am the ward organist (again..) and so I messed around on the organ. It is a proper organ with peddles and everything. So I needed to figure out all the stops and stuff. Will somebody please thank Linda Hellewell a million times for teaching me organ. It has been one of THE biggest blessings. It helps me gain a stronger relationship with members and it is just wonderful.

Tuesday was fantastic! We had interviews and specialized training at Rochdale! I LOVE President Preston so much! He said some really nice things to me and really helped motivate me to do my best. I love him a lot.

That night we saw Paul and Chrissy! I LOVE THEM. They are wonderful. We got to catch up life and I know that I am meant to teach them the gospel. I hope that I can teach to their needs. I want nothing more than for them to be sealed as a family together forever. They are so lovely. I think about them all the time and what I can be doing to help.. now I just have to DO it.

Wednesday was our most busy day. We contacted a referral, had tea made for us by a woman from Sri Lanka (super super super super spicy..). Then we went to contact to potential investigators. One wasn’t even home… the other was.. well let’s just say it wasn’t a pleasant experience. J

Thursday we had tea at a members home and it was just delicious! I love love members! They are wonderful. We also went to Heaton Park. That was beautiful. Unfortunately know one wanted to talk to us…

Friday was the best day!! WE had tea at the Keifers and then I cleaned during language study (because E. Suriyachan works out of a book sometimes.) Then the Hewitsons picked us up for Karen’s Baptism! It was amazing!! I had the privilege of baptizing her. It was such an amazing experience that words can’t describe. Hopefully her husband and Chris will be getting baptized in 2 weeks! I love Burnley and miss it there so much.. I am just so happy that Karen AND Lee are both working towards returning to live with our Heavenly Father again. I have seen them go through so much and change so much. It’s amazing.

Saturday was rough.. opposition in all things right? Well on Friday night I didn’t fall asleep until like 12:30 because we had a sleep over in Burnley. Elder Roberts and I talked forever. I love him so much! He is such a good missionary. I miss him. It was nice to be with him for a bit again. On Saturday morning Brother and Sister Hewitson drove us home. They are so sweet. They go out of their way to help those in need. I was feeling pretty poorly and they bought me some medicine and loads of orange juice! They also gave us rice and noodles.. which we have needed. They are so comforting and I just hope to be in contact with them forever! Hopefully I can help them as much as they have helped me!

Sunday we had tea at a woman’s home. She was from Nigeria and has been a member for a long time! Her kids were there (they are a lot older) and they were so fun! We had a good time and established a good relationship with them. It was fun.

Now it’s Monday and here I am. I love you all so much! I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that He does hear our prayers. I know that when the storms threaten us and the wind blows and everything seems dark and scary if we make the gospel the center of our lives we can be a rock that will never be shaken!

Love,
Elder Humpherys

 Karen, Me and Lee

 Elder Roberts, Karen, Me and Lee

Waiting for Miracles to Happen!

Dear Everyone and Anyone,

I love missionary work. I love it. I love being in England. The members here are just simply amazing! The Whitefield Ward is so fantastic! I all ready love them so much. We went to a members house for tea last night. Mmmmmm.. It was so good. He was from Vietnam and he was so nice! He has the most contagious laugh and smile ever! His wife is the same as well. They both just had the opportunity to go through the temple together. So sweet. They can’t speak English super well but it’s part of what makes them so special! There broken English is so simple. I love it.

Not much to report on this week. I can’t write much because it takes forever to send pictures and I haven’t sent many for a while. I love where I am serving and I can’t wait to see miracles happen. Everyone should just do missionary work. It’s worth it!

Love,

Elder Humpherys 

The Hewitsons! I love them so much. Such a great family

Me and Bro. Crowder. He is HILARIOUS

Me and e. Peterson. ah. He's the best.

Mission Transfers (and I am now a trainer)!

Dear Family and Friends,
 Wow. I know, again, I say this every week but SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED. I don’t even know where to begin.
 Sadly, I had to leave Burnley. I will always love my first little home in England. I was heart broken saying goodbye to the members and the people I was teaching there. I love them so much. But change is inevitable and the Lord needs me else where and where has he called me?
 TO WHITEFIELD! Wooooo! It’s near Manchester but we are in the Ashton Stake. I love it here. So far the people are really friendly. The librarians are especially nice. I am excited to get to know them better. Let’s see.. I will just start with earlier this week.
 Monday we taught Chris. Ahh! He is amazing. I am going to miss him so much.
 Tuesday we had Zone Meetings which I loved. It’s so amazing to see the other missionaries. It is such a blessing. It’s like going to a big family reunion. It gives me so much strength. That night we taught Chris again.
 Wednesday we went to Karen's Dad’s funeral at St. Catherine's church. It was a nice service. Karen read a poem she wrote about her dad and it was very sincere and sweet. Then we went to the Hewitsons that evening for tea.. They are such an amazing family and so nice! I loved going to their house.
 Thursday Elder Roberts and I gave a blessing to Sister Slade. She was pretty ill. It was a very spiritual experience for me though. We went to the Anderson’s for tea that evening! Ahh they are so good. We watched a video about “The touch of the Masters Hand” and it was all about the violin. I was reminded of so many violin memories. It was really good. That evening we watched the whole Joseph Smith restoration video with Chris. It was soooo good.
 Friday was MEET THE MORMONS!! It was soooo good. We had a lot of positive responses from the people who came to it. They said it was really impressive, which is good. The Burnley Ward represented the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so beautifully. It was so amazing.
 That evening I got a call from President. He called extended the invitation to be a trainer! He said I would be whitewash training into Whitefield. Woah. So I was super shocked and surprised and I didn’t really know how to feel. But I said “Okay.” And so here I am. I love it! It is a bit difficult. I will tell you more about training and my new area later.
 On Saturday I spent the day saying goodbye to everyone and packing. It was also Meet the Mormons from 10 – 4. So it was good because I got to see everyone. That evening we went to a recent converts house for tea and visited the Palmers. I love them sooo much!
 Then on Sunday, it was CRAZY. It was Rob’s baptism (the other elders were teaching him). It was so good. There were quite a bit of non-members at church there to support Rob. There was like 6 extra missionaries and so it was quite exciting. Then we went to the mission home fireside that evening. We took Karen and Lee and I think they quite enjoyed themselves. I will miss them a lot. I am excited to go back for their baptisms!
 Monday we spent the day saying good bye to everybody and seeing a ton of members. We had tea at Sis. Pickles house (which is funny because it was my last tea appointment and she was my VERY FIRST tea appointment when I came out into the field).
 Then Tuesday I left to go to “Train the Trainers.” It was really good. They talked a lot about what we need to do as trainers. I was just mind boggled that I was still a trainer. I felt so inadequate. I still feel inadequate. White-washing is difficult within itself, but whitewashing and training is pretty hard as well. I would be a lot easier but my trainee is from Thailand and is still learning the language… so it’s an incredible learning experience and I love him so much!
 On Tuesday night I got to see Elder Peterson!!!! I am so happy. It was so good to see him. It made me so happy.
 Wednesday we work for two hours and met a man named Samuel from Nigeria who’s preacher USED THE BOOK OF MORMON with the bible in his meetings! WOAH! So that was good.
 Then it was transfer meeting. The trainers lined up and the trainee’s walked in and we gave them all hugs and everyone is singing called to serve… ahh it’s so fun! Then they go up on the stand and when they called my trainee’s name I was like “YAAAAAAA!” and he stood up and everyone started to laugh and I saw my trainee come down. Elder Suriyachan. He wants to be a professional singer and dancer. He is good. He doesn’t know English very well and so we have to do an hour of language study a day. Did I ever think I would be teaching someone vocabulary, phrases, and grammar? No. I really have no idea what I am doing. But that is why it is such a blessing to have the spirit.
 Now, we both know nothing about the area, we have no investigators, I know none of the members, talked to the bishop once over the phone and now we have to figure out what to do! HA. Again, I am grateful for the spirit.
Now here I am. E-mailing home. Pray for me! I love missionary life!!
 Love
Elder Humpherys

P.S. NEW ADDRESS. *HINT* 

Elder Humpherys
5 Speyside Close
Whitefield
M45 8SP
United Kingdom

October 7, 2013

Dearest Family and Friends,
Wow. This week went so fast.. but so slow at the same time. Haha. So basically it was normal. We have had such a successful week! We have 3 investigators who are dated for baptism! WOW! That is such a miracle. What a wonderful week.
Last Friday, Sister Moore called us and told us her leg started hurting so she sat down on a bench and this man came down and sat next to her. She decided to give him a pass along card. They got talking and she had the courage and faith to invite him to meet the missionaries! So that night she called us and gave him his information.
On Monday evening the Moore’s, Elder Roberts and I went over to this man’s house (his name is Chris). Sister Moore was the first to greet him and then we introduced ourselves. We went into his home, taught him the restoration, and invited him to baptism and he said yes! The spirit was so strong. Ever since then we have met with him and have been teaching him. He loves the atmosphere and principles of the gospel. He has never been religious before so it is COMPLETELY new to him. He is the nicest man though. Kind of like a big teddy bear! Ahh, I just love him. He came to general conference and loved it! He is going to be baptised on October 26, 2013! Wooooo! The gospel has already started affecting his life. He tells us he feels happier, more confident, and not as afraid of life.
So throughout the week we have been teaching investigators and members and less actives and so forth! I love it. Not much really happened this week. I was attacked by a viscous swan. Haha. That was funny.
On Friday we were doing an AUF and we found a less active woman with like 16 children and also taught the restoration to a woman (on the spot lessons are the BEST! Especially the restoration!)
So I have to go now. I had a short amount of time this day. Thank you for all your e-mails though!
Love,
Elder Humpherys
P.S. Transfers are this week so I will not be e-mailing til thursday! LOVE YOU!

Mission Life is GOOD (especially when there is a singing tree)!

Dear Family and friends,

This week has been amazing! I have been gone for four months! Wow! I was so lucky to go on an exchange with Elder Webster this week. It was so good! I had the opportunity to teach their investigator, Paula. It was her last lesson before she was getting baptised. That was such a special experience for me because I have never seen an investigator progress that far. She is so amazing and I wish I could’ve gone to her and William’s (her son) baptism. Elder Webster is such a good missionary. I hope I can be as effective as Elder Webster. He is such a good example
We had a miracle this week. We have been working with two investigators named Karen and Lee. Well, she never got baptized because circumstances outside of her and our control. But, we had the chance to teach her and her husband, Lee, this week. The lesson was on The Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was amazing! The spirit was so strong and was doing all the teaching. The member we had with us was superb in helping Karen and Lee. We actually used a video from "The District 2" DVD. We watched "The Purpose of Missionary Work: The Robles Family." It was amazing. The spirit prompted me to share that video. I think it helped Karen and Lee finally understand what role we as missionaries are trying play in their lives. They BOTH set baptismal dates and want to work really hard to reach them.
Unfortunately.. Karen's dad passed away the next day.. so we may have to push her date back. But at least we are making progress! Also, as far as investigators go, Adam (our newest investigator), bore his testimony on Sunday. Wow! He is amazing!
The members here are fantastic. We are going to the singing ringing tree this week! WOOO! That will be fun. But I gotta get going. Hope you all have amazing weeks. Go and share the GOSPEL!
Love,
Elder Humpherys

The Singing Tree

Elder Roberts and I

The Burnley District of amazingness!

Elder Webster and I

The Week of Greatness.. Well.. that's everyweek I guess

Dear Family and Friends
Yallright?
People say that aaaaalllll the time. Instead of saying like “What’s up!” or “Hello.” Haha.
Wow this week was a good week for growing. I learned so much this week.
Tuesday was a great day. We had a lesson with a less active member named Joyce. She is so sweet but has been through a lot of trials in her life. We taught her the restoration and when the first vision was recited she said that she felt cold chills run along her arms… and I asked her “What does that mean to you?” and she said “That there is a lot of truth in that.” We went and tried  another less active named Joan but unfortunately she wasn’t in. Sad. After that we had tea at the Phillips’ house. The Phillips are so funny. I loved being there. Then we visited the stake presidents’ family. We had a good time there. They have such a nice house! I loved it.
Wednesday was great! We had a “skills workshop.” The skills workshop just got me fired up! Guess what!?! That night, (Wednesday night) on the bus ride home I sat by this woman that I slightly recognized. We got talking and I realized I met her on my first day! Her name is Nicola. The first time I met her she wasn't too interested in anything so I just gave her a mormon.org card and she walked away. She was polite, but uninterested. When I sat by her on Wednesday night though a miracle happened! We got talking and she finally just came out and asked me "So, what is your purpose for being here? Like, what are you trying to accomplish?" My eyes lit up as the spirit gave me the answer. With a big smile I said "Well, I am here to baptize!" At first her face was a little shocked but I taught her what baptism was and why it was important and she wasn't turned away. She asked me "So, what do you believe?" and so I taught the Restoration to her on the bus. I gave her a Book of Mormon and she said something along the lines of how grateful she was to meet me and receive a free copy of this book and that she would pray and read it! WOW! Such a miracle.
We did service on Saturday and it was… interesting. Ha ha!!  A toilet exploded and it was intense.
I love this work! I gotta get going. Love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Humpherys

A week of Opposition and Joy!

Hellooooo family and friends!
Oh my goodness. So much has happened this week (I think I say that in every e-mail…) I feel like time is just racing forward. It’s amazing how things are working out here though. Right now I am super tired but super happy. “You get the beeeest of both worlds.” Haha.
Monday was really fun. We got some time to relax finally (like 2 whole hours!). I made a case for my mini scriptures out of cereal boxes and tape. It looks AMAZING. I’ll send a picture. There is a picture of the family and Jesus Christ on it. (Oh ya!) After that we had a lesson with the Andersons (they are amazing). It was so good. The stake conference with Elder Ballard has affected the members so much. I LOVE the members here. They are amazing. They give me so much courage. Lately they have been showing real faith in missionary work and have been a huge help to us. I can’t thank them enough for the willingness to open their mouths.
Tuesday we had a zone meeting! It was amazing. I loved it. It was the best zone meeting I have ever been to. Seriously. Elder Webster and Elder Perara are our zone leaders and they are my heroes! They gave us training on cleanliness, companionships, and it was so much fun. We played some games and had a testimony meeting. It was so wonderful. I love the other missionaries so much! I love getting to know them and becoming friends with them. It is seriously like being part of one big mission family!
After zone meetings I went on an exchange with Elder Kay. It went really well. He is such a fantastic finder! It was quite fun. We taught Sister Kyme that evening and she is such a good member missionary! She has given her friend, Jane, a Book of Mormon and set up a time to meet with us so we can teach her!!!!!!!!! Fantastic.
Wednesday we ran into a man named Adam and he almost forced us to give him a Book of Mormon! I will tell you about Sunday and what happened when he came to church..
Thursday we had Tea at the Hewitsons. I love this family so much. They are wonderful. I am so grateful for them.
Friday I had an exchange with Elder Osborn. It was pretty good.
Okay. I am just going to skip to Sunday because it will kind of encompass my feelings for the week.
I love the area but I love the people.. This week the affections of my heart have been turned towards the members especially. I have had some of the best lessons on my mission this week with the members! The stake conference was just what these members needed. It warms my heart to hear them pray for us and to help us find someone for us to teach. I don't want to let them down. They are so kind and loving towards me as an individual. When I enter into their homes I feel like I am part of their families. I can't explain it. They have just out stretched their arms to me and Elder Roberts.. and I love it. I love them so much. I woke up early Sunday morning to find that I have caught a cold! I felt terrible. I had no desire to go to church or even wake up.. My face hurt and my body ached.. So, I prayed to Heavenly Father for help. I was able to get out of bed and get ready and head out to church.. When I got there the ward council greeted me and were happy to see me! It made feel good to know that. Then Bishop came and we had the best ward council EVER! I have never seen so much progress made in a ward council. Problems were being solved, people were willing to help, and the Work of Salvation in Burnley moved forward so much! Then sacrament meeting was incredible! The spirit was so strong. We had a miracle and had an investigator at church!!!! The talks were given about "finding the one lost sheep" and afterwards Adam (our investigator) said "I felt like the lost sheep. I want to be found. I definitely feel something here today." I know he felt the spirit! WOW! Such a miracle!!!!! Then the rest of church was fantastic. We had tea at the Leeds after that and they gave me some stuff for my cold (honey, cough drops and lemsip). I love this family as well. They are so nice and loving.. After the lesson (where the spirit taught us all so much) Brother Leeds gave us a lift to our relief society presidents house. Sister Gregson. When we left her home she thanked us for coming. She said it has been a blessing to have the priesthood in her home! I can't believe it! I am a blessing to someone! So, I guess what I learned is - on those days where you feel like rubbish and where everything seems nearly impossible to overcome, if we are patient and trust in God WE WILL SEE MIRACLES!
Press forward everyone! Good times are always on there way.
Love,
Elder Humpherys

Swan contacting.. heehehe. The swan followed me all the way home! I thought of Becca Herrin for some reason... Swan? Swans are so beautiful and majestic. I think they may be my 2nd favorite animal.

 SWAN!!!!!!!!!!

Bro Burgan giving me a haircut!!!!!!!

Dearest Family and Friends,
Wow. This week has been a big week for me. Elder Peterson and I are no longer serving together… Sad. I am so grateful for the time I had to serve with him. He is a fantastic missionary and I know that he was meant to be my trainer. I learned so much from him and I just know we’re going to be friends forever. I hate goodbyes. It was hard to say goodbye but so many good things are happening and I am so excited. He has moved to be district leader in Chester and I am serving in… BURNLEY! I am still here so that is good. I like serving here.
My new companion, Elder Roberts, is amazing. To be honest, I was so nervous to get a new companion. I loved E. Peterson so much and I was afraid that I wouldn’t get along as well with my next companion. Elder Roberts and I met up yesterday and he is amazing! We are almost like the same person. He is so happy!! We are both pretty young missionaries though. He is the district leader and he has been serving for seven months and I have been serving for three! We are a young companionship. We have fresh faith. I know there are going to be amazing things happening this transfer. He loves Burnley so much. I love his enthusiasm. I hope that we can continue with this same kind of urgent excitement throughout the whole transfer. Elder Roberts is from Utah! (haha, no surprise there…) He has 8 siblings and 16 nieces and nephews!!! We have so much in common. We are both desirous to be diligent and obedient missionaries. I know that we will both live up to the potential set for us.
Monday was a good day. We went to Rossendale for a few hours to help another companionship out and then we had tea at Sis. Hargreaves! She is so wonderful. I loved it.
Tuesday we went to the Book of Mormon class. Sister Pickles taught it and it was fantastic. She is such a good teacher! I learned so much. We had tea that evening with Paul and Chrissie that evening. It was so good. I love them and their family so much. I am so sad because they told us they are moving to Burry (I think that’s where anyways..). NOOOOO!!!  But it was really good. We had such a good lesson and I just hope things go well.
Wednesday was hard. I had to say goodbye to Elder Peterson but it was okay. He is a great missionary and I can’t wait to see his success. He helped me a lot. My life will be changed forever because of Elder Peterson! While I was waiting for Elder Roberts (my new companion) I was able to spend some time with Zone Leader, Elder Webster. Apparently he is Danielle Bingham’s cousin? Someone should ask her that. Small world. But, he is a great missionary and I was able to just unload so many questions on him and he helped me out so much. We were able to visit some less actives and do some finding. It was a good day.
Then at 4:45 my companion showed up!! He is so nice. I love him already. We have so many great plans in store for Burnley. I can’t wait to see what happens here. We are going to have tea at the Moore’s tonight and then it’s onto someone we taught last week. Frank and Lillian.
Frank and Lillian were found while contacting a referral. We had such a good lesson with them! Elder Peterson and I were teaching in such great unity. The spirit was so strong, we were asking inspired questions, we watched the restoration… it was beautiful. When it came time to invite them to read the Book of Mormon… Frank said no. My heart broke and I was stunned. He said he had a Bible and that’s all he needed… But Lillian said she would! That was good.. but I think she may forget. So we accidentally left a bag of food there so we have to go and pick it up.. awkward….
Life is good. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ.
By it’s fruits ye shall know them.
I love you all
Love,
Elder Humpherys

Goodbye Elder Peterson.. :(

Hello Elder Roberts! :)

In front of the Church building

Visiting Sister Kyme! She is a recent convert and we love her! She is so funny!

Dear Anyone Who Reads This,
How are aaaallll of you? I am doing fantastic. Sorry this e-mail isn’t coming on a Monday. It was Bank Holiday yesterday and everything shuts down on a bank holiday. They happen every few months. Also, next time I e-mail will be on Thursday because…..
IT’S TRANSFERS THIS WEEK!!!
I am so nervous/excited/sad/curious/

anxious/happy…. It’s a crazy range of emotions. I know that I will be getting a new companion because once your 12 weeks of training is up you and your trainer are separated. I am a little bummed about that. I love serving with E. Peterson. He is one of my best friends. But, I am excited to see who/where I will be next. It should be a great adventure. Nevertheless, I will miss E. Peterson a ton. I also don’t know if I am  staying or leaving Burnley.. but I do love this place.
Okay. I got a lot of e-mails this week so sorry if I didn’t respond.. I’ll try to next week. But I appreciate and love them! Thank you all so much.
Let’s see.. this week has been a really good one. I feel like I am finally starting to get into the groove of things. I still do a lot of things wrong.. haha.. but I am getting there! It’s so great to be in Burnley. I love it here.
On Monday we climbed Pendle Hill! It was so great. We went with Brother Leeds. He is a great man! I loved it. Pictures will show how amazing it is. We also had our first lesson with Mary! I will talk about that later…
Tuesday we did a lot of things… (I’m sorry.. I can’t remember what we did on Tuesday…). On Tuesday night we drove to Chorley because on Wednesday we had the…
CHURCH HISTORY TOUR!
It was so much fun. We were able to go to many historical sites. I had a very moving experience while we were in Liverpool.
On the docks of Liverpool there is a statue of a family that represents all of the saints that traveled to America to build up Zion. When I turned and looked off the coast I felt of a wave emotion roll over me. I pictured my Great Great Grandfather, John Nield, standing where I stood with his wife and his young baby. I could feel the emotion of excitement running through my body.. but I could also feel the anxiety of leaving my homeland and taking my young family on a journey where the end was very uncertain. I could picture him watching the boat that he would be leaving on pull into the docks knowing that it was my turn to leave…
 The spirit I felt was very strong. I am grateful for that experience.
We were able to travel through Chatburn and Downham (look up the experiences that went there, they are good.) I had the special experience to sing in the chapel (a catholic chapel I believe) with a few other Elder’s. We sang Come, Come Ye Saints. They asked me to sing part of it as a solo and I felt so privileged!
On Thursday – Saturday I spent the day with E. Rodgers on an exchange. It went well. I was in Rossendale Valley. Today I am on an exchange with Elder Kay in Burnley. Yay! I looove exchanges.. I learn so much and it’s great to become friends with another missionary.
Sunday was good. I played the piano…
Yesterday was fantastic! I had the opportunity to go to the temple with our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Burgan! I loved it. It was amazing. I learned so much. I love our WML. Bro. Burgan. We call him “Father Burgan” haha. It’s so fun. He is so willing to go teaching with the missionaries. I have learned so much from him. I am grateful that I am serving here and that I have learned so much from all of these experiences.
I love my mission. Everything about it is fantastic. I am nervous for transfers.. pray for me! Haha. I know that wherever I go or whoever I am with is all part of God’s plan for me. I am excited to see what will happen. Maybe I’ll stay.. Maybe I’ll go? Who knows! I will talk to you all on Thursday! LOVE YOU!
Love,
Elder Humpherys

 

 The first four pictures are from Sister Meese's Blog about the Church History Tour....if you look you can see Elder Humpherys

We began the tour hearing of how Heber C. Kimball and Joseph Fielding docked in Liverpool before coming into Preston to preach.

Next stop was Avenham Park in Preston near where the first European baptisms took place in 1837.   Here is President Preston recording this day with his beloved missionaries.   And they love their president.  This Japanese garden is where the memorial stands commemorating the early baptisms.

Liverpool's Maritime Museum

Last stop, the beautiful countryside of Downham, where we all congregated in a gorgeous old Anglican chapel to be briefly addressed by President Preston and three others.   Then we closed with the ringing tones of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" - a cappella.   And we walked out into what Queen Elizabeth reportedly called the loveliest view in all of England.

 

The Titanic

 Statue at Liverpool

 Me and Brother Leeds (E. Osborn in the background. He looks like a little man..haha).

Book of Mormon on Pendle Hill! 

 Me and E. Peterson

 Champ

Sister Hargreaves!

 E. Rodgers!

E. Calder! 

me and E. Peterson