July 6, 2015: See you soon?

Well,

It has been a pretty good two years. Well a really good two years. Some would even say it was the best two years.

Yeah it doesn't even feel real yet.

Anyway it has been a great week here in the Newcastle Chinese group! We were able to find and teach lots of new people which always feel good. We had a Chinese FHE tonight which we have 9 non members confirmed for. That should be a lot of fun, if I can understand anything:)

I have no idea what is happening to me this week. I have heard several plans. One that I stay in newcastle and the ZL drive me to the airport at like 4 am on friday, and I have also heard that I will be leaving Newcastle tomorrow and be on exchange wit the APs for a few days....so we will see what happens.

To everyone that gets this forwarded to them, I will be giving my homecoming talk an Sunday the 12th of July at 9 am. There will be some food at my house after, everyone is welcome.

I love you guys! See you soon!


Elder Gurney

June 29, 2015

Well, I am in the blessed north!!! I love these people. Such good hearts. I am serving in a Chinese area, so I don't understand a word, but I love serving with Elder Chan. The Chinese people are so kind. We have been street contacting all week and only 2 people didn't stop and talk to us. 2! Hopefully we are able to progress some of these people that we have found.

Well I would tell some more stories, but I don't actually know what happened because I can't understand anyone....Oh one that Elder Chan told me! So we street contacted a girl named Claire. She is from China (surprise!) and had a friend who had joined the church in Scotland while studying. She went home to China and then came back for her Masters at Newcastle and she invited Claire to church and she came. Well she wants to learn from us, but is busy reapplying for a visa so hopefully we will see her soon. The Lord really prepares people!

Well I love you guys and hope you have a good week!

Elder Gurney


These pictures were sent to Nick's mom by Sister Thompson in Newcastle:

June 23, 2015

Well.....back to the north!!

So I am getting transferred for my last two weeks to Newcastle Uni!! I am going to a chinese area!! I am so stoked. I will only be about 30 min on a train to North Shields as well so I will be able to go see some old friends.

This week was incredible. I couldn't think of a better way to end my time in Bridlington than with Lynn's baptism. It is going to be really hard to say good bye to all the good people here, but I have sure missed the Geordies.

We started teaching a new family this last week. Me and Elder Rife found them while walking by and they were moving house. We offered to help then proceeded to move a giant fridge, a huge wardrobe, and two sofas out of there 3rd floor flat. It was hard work, but they are great. Me and Elder Pryor have been teaching them and the one son who is about 18 is so good. He cannot wait to be baptised! Hopefully things will move forward with them. We go to say goodbye to them tonight.

I would send you guys pictures, but his computer is no good. Hopefully they will be better in Newcastle. I will try and send some of Lynn's baptism next week.

Well I love you guys!! Have a good week!

Elder Gurney

June 15, 2015

So it has been a great week! We have don't a lot of teaching lately. Just struggling to get people to progress. Lynn is doing great though and she should be baptised on Friday. She is nothing short of a miracle. 3 weeks ago she could barely listen because she was such a severe alchoholic. But she quit it cold turkey (which we told her not to because it could kill her) and has been off everything for 2 weeks now!

All my flatmates got iPads....except me...I guess I am too old! I will survive. They are such great teaching tools though.

Well i love you guys and hope you have a great week! Sorry it was so short!


Elder Gurney

June 8, 2015

Well this week has been incredible. We found lots. We taught lots. We had lots of success. This is one of the weeks where at the end all you can do is be grateful. Lynn is looking good for her baptism on the 20th of June. Eddie will probably be baptised on the 4th of July, we even found and taught a family.

Tomomorrow we are off to York again to get iPads. Well my district, except me....I am too old I guess! So am I litterally the last to never use iPads in the ELM.

Dad and Bryan, I have a new appreciation for your line of work. Lynn's friend Rory, who is a less active member, asked us to fix his computer for him. It was stuck in a restart loop and had a corrupted BIOS, I think. We fixed it, but it took forever! Boo samsung.

The birthday was great. Thank you for the package and smarties especially! Those didn't last long!

I love you guys!


Elder Gurney

June 1, 2015

Well it has been a good week here in Brid. We have found a lot of new people, we are just struggling to meet with them! It is nice to see though. When I was in York during the holidays this area really struggled badly and we just always brushed it off as nothing happens in Brid. Well I have witnessed one baptism since I have been here and another one is on its way. It really built my testimony on attitude.

We don't have a lot of time to email today, we are headed to York, but I am happy and I am loving my mission. I hope you have a good week!

Love you guys,


Elder Gurney

May 26, 2015

Hey everyone! Well it has been a good week here in Brid. We had an open house for family history at the chapel so we spent a lot of time at that. We also did lots of finding and found a lot of good people so we are happy here on the coast.

Well I am extending my mission for two weeks! I never thought I would, but it just kind of happened and I am really happy about it. Sorry I didn't give more notice...So I should be flying home on the 9th of July.

Well I love you guys. Sorry for the short email, I hope you have a good week!


Elder Gurney

May 18, 2015: Summer is comin!

Well it is starting to warm up in Brid. I haven't touched my coat in weeks which is nice. Then it started raining today...guess that is just part of living in the UK.

Well I have a cool story to share. So me and Elder Pryor didn't start with a lot but desire when we became companions on Wednesday. Our finding wasn't too fruitful and I was begining to get a bit discouraged as Sunday evening rolled around. Well we headed out after tea to knock a street we had picked and we stood at the end and I asked Elder Pryor which side we should knock and he said 'choose the right' and we walked up to the first door and we met Mel. He invited us in and let us teach him about the restoration. We also told him we were going to teach him the plan of salvation next lesson and he got so excited he asked if he could invite a friend. We were able to schedule him for the 13th of June. The Lord really does bless us when we do what we should and when we are focused on our purpose.

We have zone conference on wednesday so I am looking forward to that.

Well I love you guys and I hope you have a good week!


Elder Gurney

May 12, 2015

Well I am staying my last six weeks here in Brid! No surprise. But I am getting a new companion, Elder Pryor, he has been out about 9 months.

Other than that, it has been a slow week. My companion had and ingrown toenail removed and it hasn't been healing right, so they are telling him to keep off it. But we are going to York again today to take picture so I will send those next week.

Love you!

Elder Gurney

May 5, 2015

Well it will be a short email this week, we are going to York to do some shopping and it takes like an hour and a half to get there on the train.

This week we did a lot of traveling. We had to go to York for a district meeting with President on thursday then spent the night there so we could make it to Leeds for a 9 am meeting with Elder Dykes and Elder Allen of the Seventy, but more about that later.

We had the opprotunity to see a couple of investigators in York when I was there. I don't know if you remember Gillian and Rodger, her son, but they are great. Gillian comes to church nearly every week, but does't really want to be baptised. It was so good seeing them and catching up. It is hard to believe it has been 4 months since I was in York!

So the meeting in Leeds was all about the mission implimenting digital devices into the work. In other words we are getting iPads. I don't know when, I don't even know if I will see one, but we are having a zone conference in 2 weeks and I think it might be then. It won't really change the work much at all, it really is just another tool we can use. It was a really great meeting though.

The work is still a bit slow here in Brid. We are still teaching Rory and Lynn who are doing good. They have been coming to church, Lynn is just really struggling with the word of wisdom. We are trying to focus more on finding.

Well I am really happy and I am excited to skype you next week!

Love you!
Elder Gurney

April 27, 2015

Well it has been a great week in Bridlington!

We started teaching the Peal family. Husband and wife with 3 kids who believe in God. This is unheard of. No one gets married here anymore, and if they do they are too wealthy to accept the gospel. We are so excited for this family. Keep them in your prayers.

Our teaching pool is steadily growing which is really nice. We still are doing lots of finding though. We have to spend two days this week in York and Leeds so our time is limited. The mission will be having a seventy come on Friday to introduce iPads into the mission, so that will be interesting. I doubt everyone will get one though so we will see.

Well I am happy!

Love you guys!

Elder Gurney


pic: me and elder clifford

April 20, 2015: Hey Errbody!

Well Bridlington is great. I love this area.


This week we found. and found. and found some more. But we found and scheduled a new investigator who came to church!

Her name is Lynn and she is the partner of a less active member. She is so cool! We taught her the restoration and she just kept saying she knows its true. She came to church and she loved it.

Me and Elder Clifford also spoke in church yesterday. I spoke on Charity and the difference between the world's definition and the Lord's definition. It was a great opportunity to learn a lot about the importance of charity!

I read this morning out of the new testament the first two chapters of Philippians. I loved verse 20

"According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that‍ with all boldness, as always, so‍ now also Christ shall be magnified‍ in my body, whether it be‍ by life, or by death."

I hope you guys have a great week!

Love you!


Elder Gurney

April 13, 2015: Hello from Bridlington!

Well I am on the coast again, but this time for real! All my other areas "on the coast" have actually been a while from the actual ocean, in Grimsby I never even saw a beach! But here I am litterally a five minute walk to the sandy beach.

The difficult part is this place is a huge holiday spot. Trying to street contact town center is like trying to street contact in Disneyland. No one is from here, and no one wants to talk to you on their holiday. But luckily the locals are super friendly.

I didn't get a chance to meet the branch on Sunday becuase it was stake conference. But that was in York so I got to see lots of great members from when I served there.

We have been traveling a lot lately for diferenct meetings so we actually have only had 2 real days here. And we have to travel to Leeds tomorrow for a meeting, so hopefully we will actually get an opprotunity to do some work later in the week!

Well I love you guys and I hope you have a good week!



Elder Gurney

April 7, 2015: I'm off!!!

Well I am headed up the coast to a small town in York stake called Bridlington! It is going to be hard to say goodbye to Grimsby, but I am super excited to serve with my new companion Elder Clifford.

We have tons to do today so I don't have much time to write. Love you guys!


Elder Gurney

March 30, 2015

Well another week has flown by. But things are going good here in Grimsby. Our teaching pool has been growing steadily, which is really nice.

So you guys might remember a few weeks ago about the woman named Sue whose door we knocked on and she didn't want to listen to us but was willing to let us do her garden. Well me and Elder Carrigan have been going there about twice a week since then and doing the garden, which was extremely overgrown. Over that time we got to know her and her son a lot better and after we finished we asked if we could come over and tell them why we came thousands of miles to do her garden. Well they accepted and we went last night to teach them. They are fantastic. Sue is especially prepared for the gospel. Her only issue with everything we taught her is that the Book of Mormon had too small of print. Well we have a large print one waiting for her now.

Our week has been really good and we have seen a lot of blessings. To think back when we got her 3 months ago we had nothing. I am dreading what might happen during transfers next week.

I just wanted to share a thought from President Monson's talk Guided Safely Home. He says; "A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder, never likely to reach home port."

This makes me question what my purpose is, which is something I think we all need to do. I believe that a lot of people think they have a purpose. Most of them probably even have it centered on something that is an eternal principle like family, charity or service. But although the principle might be eternal is the actuality of it eternal? Is the family eternal? Is the service heartfelt? Does the charity stem from the love of Christ? It is an extremely good opportunity to do some self reflection at this time of year, as the disciples did after the ascension of Christ. "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" John 21:15.

I know that this church is true. I know the gospel is what brings and keeps the family together, and I am so grateful for that.

I love all you guys! Have a great week!


Elder Gurney

March 23, 2015

Well the sun is actually shining today! I almost don't need a coat!

It has been such a good week. I love being on a mission! The Elders I live with are way funny so it is never boring in Grimsby. Our investigator Michael is doing great! He has decided that he is going to be baptised really soon. He just needs to have another doctor appointment before he sets a date. He has a lot of health problems, but he is a boss. I just hope I am still here! Transfers are right after conference.

Went to a village near Grimsby called Caistor on Thursday and that was just fun. Did some finding, saw a couple who is preparing to get sealed in the temple and then had tea with the bishop. His family is such a riot. So much fun. I love this place.

Well I am happy! I hope you all have a great week!

Love you!



Elder Gurney

Solar Eclipse!

March 16, 2015

Well another week has just flown by. We had interviews this week in Hull. That is like 2 hours on a bus each way. so that was thursday. The rest of the week was pretty normal.

Hey Lisa you might be interested in this. To get to Hull we have to go across 'The Humber Bridge' which apparently was the largest single span suspension bridge in the world until like 10 or 15 years ago. Maybe I will try and get a picture when I can.

We taught our 80 year old investigator, Beyral this last week. She is just super nice, and surprising willing to come to church and consider baptism, even though she has been going to her Methodist church for 72 years.


Well not a lot to update you on but I hope you have a good week!



Elder Gurney

March 9, 2015: Feelin Good!

Well we had a great week here in Grimsby! It isn't looking so grim!

Me and Elder Carrigan have been trying to work hard, but more than anything the Lord has just been merciful! We found 2 new investigators and a few other good people to work with.

One man that we got in contact with is named Jeff. He just moved down from Ireland to be a baptist minister. I don't know much about him, because Elder Carrigan taught him during an exchange, but I hear he is a boss!

I don't really know what to write about! You guys gotta start asking more questions!

I hope you guys have a good week! Love you!


Elder Gurney

March 2, 2015: The Great Grimsby is growin on me!

Well this area is just great. I love it here. We had a pretty slow week, but we got to do a lot of interesting things.

On monday we went into the middle of no where to try and contact an address of a member that the church had given us, to no avail. We road a bus for over and hour and then walked, and walked, and walked some more. I will attach a picture. Never actually found the house.

We also had a ward talent show on friday night that was really good. Lots of fun. Our skit was pretty lame, but hey, we didn't write it.

Just in general we had a lot of fun this week, not a whole lot to update you guys on though. I hope you have a great week!

Love you



Elder Gurney

February 24, 2015

Well another week in The Great Grimsby. It has been....great. It was transfer calls last night so I am going to be here with Elder Carrigan for another 6 weeks at least. Which is great. I love this district so it is going to be a lot of fun.

Well we found another new investigator this week named Lythe. He used to be taught here about 6 months or a year ago. He is a great guy so hopefully he will start progressing soon. We have had several new investigators these last few weeks, especially for this area, but we just seem to struggle getting them to progress.

My study has been really good the last couple days. Nothing all that revelatory, just built my testimony a lot. We really are led by a prophet today.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Gurney

February 15, 2015

This week I am craving.....a chili dog.

Well it has been a good week. I have been like super sick (don't freak out mom) but I will survive. Usually I can kick a cold in like 2 or 3 days but this one has been hitting me for nearly a week, bad. I will probably go to the doctor soon if it doesn't go away.

But other than that we have had a fantastic week! We found a new investigator this week named Deyana. She is 22 and works as a crane engineer (she fixes cranes on the fish docks) She is a boss! She is super excited to read the book of mormon. Not much else has gone on this last week because I have been trying to rest a lot. Oh I had to teach gospel principles yesterday in church because literally no one else could. It was a great experience because I was like just healthy for those 3 hours at church and nothing else. Definitely supported by the Lord. Hopefully the lesson went alright.

I cannot believe Alex Olaussen is working at the hospital with Janna! I lived with him for 4 and a half months before he went home. I never was his companion but I would have loved to be. One of my favorite missionaries!

Well I hope you all of a good week! I will attach some pictures because I have been so bad at sending them lately.

Love you!!
Elder Gurney

February 9, 2015

Well the town of Great Grimsby is doing just great. It smells like fish all the time, which sucks. But it snowed! Which also sucks. English snow is just disappointing.

We went to Hull on saturday for a meeting which was exciting! Well after the 2 hour bus ride that started at 7 am. It was weird to be in such a big town again!

It isn't a very successful place for missionary work here. I found out today that this area finds like 1 new investigator a month. thats with 2 ward and 3 teams of missionaries! But me and my companion have found 2 since we got here and are planning on changing that culture.

I am really happy. I love the missionaries I live with and I love being a missionary! I hope you have a great week!

Elder Gurney

January 19, 2015: Grimsby 1

Well Grimsby is definitely different from York! I am back on the coast, which is nice. Until the seagulls come that is.

Me and my companion are opening this area brand new, which is a challenge, the other Grimsby team hasn't had a huge teaching pool lately anyway so we are all just kinda starting from scratch. Lots and lots of finding.

My companion is named Elder Carrigan and he is from Grand Junction Colorado. He has been out just over 3 months, but he is fantastic. We are really excited to see lots of success here in Grimsby.

I am reading in The Acts right now and I love it! It is not coincidence that I am reading it. After getting rejected for hours, it is always helpful to reflect back to your personal study and think "at least I'm not in prison!"

Grimsby is not the classiest town, just fyi...

 

​(Don't worry it isn't a swear here!)

 

Anyway I am happy! I hope you guys have a great week.
Love you!
Elder Gurney

January 13, 2015: Well......I'm off to Grimsby...

An unexpected transfer! I am off to Grimsby after 6 short weeks in York.

I am going to miss this ward and area so much. I love the Uni students and the history and all. But I am excited to go back to the coast.

Me and Elder McGee worked our tails off this last week. We talked to so many good people and got into several homes (You gotta love students) It was so much fun.

This is just one of the great families we had to say goodbye to yesterday. The Bortones. We went to their house at Christmas time and New Years, they are the best.



Saying goodbye to our investigators Gillian and Rodger was really difficult too. They are just such good people! Rodger is a mechanic and has a restored Triumph TR6 (google it, the yellow one is probably his) and Gillian is his mom.


This is part of the group of missionaries I came out with
Me, Elder McGee, Elder Brown, Elder Johansen, Elder Baird, and Elder Saolotoga

As you can see I finally remembered to bring my camera to the library!

Well I am really happy here in England. I love this church, I know it is true, and so can you!

Love you guys!
Elder Gurney


January 5, 2015

Happy new year everyone! Even if you were 7 hours late in celebrating it!

It has been a slow couple of weeks during the holidays with lots of finding. We have found success with it though and been having a lot of fun.
For New Years we went to a members home and played Monopoly and had a giant dinner. I love just being around good families. Church was fantastic yesterday. I love this ward so much, so many good people.

I was studying this morning out of the beginning of the Book of Mormon (you know, those few chapters that everyone reads this time of year) and I just love it. I am trying to read it more like a book instead of study it how I normally do and I love it. There are so many good lessons to be learned.

Well I am happy and I love you guys!

Elder Gurney

 Christmas with the Bortones!

We found snow!!!!!!!!!
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