March 17, 2014

Wow another week gone by! It is ridiculous how fast weeks pass by.

Well I am really really happy. It seems like just yesterday I was rebuking everyone for telling me a mission is easy. I now understand. We really need to rely on the Lord in this work.

This week has been interesting. Friday morning while I was shaving, the phone rings. It is President Pilkington so I answer with shaving cream all over my face. He asks if we will come open the front door for him. The flat was a mess. I hurried and got as ready as I could (This was during breakfast) and opened the door. Everyone disappeared. Ha so anyway he stayed and observed some of our planning. It was a nice time, I learned so much. I will tell you, the flat is clean now. 

I have been learning a lot about obedience lately. Especially about the spirit of the law. Me and Elder Schwarzkopf have been trying to be perfectly obedient to mission rules and we can see the blessings of it. I have specifically been trying to not find loopholes or using any little bit of justification in my obedience (spirit of the law) and it has been showing. Maybe not in baptisms, but I notice when we go out finding we have better conversations, people are nicer and are more interested.

  20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

- D&C 130:20-21

I know that the Lord loves us so much that he desires to bless us. We just have to let Him.

I love you guys!

Elder Gurney

 I love knocking

Teaching drunks at a bar!

Selfies with Jews     

March 10, 2014

Ah I am so happy this week!

I am really just loving England. So winter decided just to not, so the weather is incredible. Warm enough just for suit coats most days!

Me and Elder Schwarzkopf decided to work a lot harder last week and this week and we can already see the joy from it. The success as well. I love this area. We have been teaching a man named Darren (yeah he spells it wrong) and he is the biggest miracle. We just got him as a referral from the office so we assumed mormon.org. Well he told us that we was just sitting outside his house and he asked a lady if he could use her phone, which he did, and she just went to her car, grabbed a Book of Mormon and gave it to him, so he called the number on the inside! (the mission office stamps all the BoMs) He is such a good guy. He has definitely had a rough past and has been homeless for most of it. He has such a desire to change and I am so excited for him.

I just love how the gospel changes people. I have met so many people who have just left old lives behind to become a disciple of Jesus Christ and I can just see the light emulating out of them. They are happy. They have goals and hope for the future. The world doesn't have that, and if it does it is centered around money.  People need this joy weather they know it or not. "No words are wasted" I really believe this. 

Gordon B. Hinkley said, "When all is said and done, the only real wealth of the church is in the faith of its people.". I love this quote and I love finding this wealth in my own life and helping others find it in theirs.

Your Heavenly Father loves you and I do as well. I know this church is true and that knowledge makes me so happy. Let it make you happy as well.

Love you,

Elder Gurney

Me and Elder Schwarzkopf after a very long and tiring and enjoyable week.

ps dont notice the messy flat.

March 3, 2014

Well I really should quit waiting to send the group email till last because it just suffers when I do.

It has been a good week! I will tell you quickly of one miracle because I have to go any minute. Last night we had about 20 minutes of time before we went into the flat and it was just pouring with rain.

Me and Elder Schwarzkopf decided to be obedient and talk to people before we went in. We talked to like 3 people but they didn't really wanna stop in the rain but then we talk to this guy Mark from spain and it was a miracle. He wants to meet with us! so we got his number and will call him today. 

There can be miracles when you believe.

Love you!

Elder G

Feb 24, 2014: Leeds 1!!!

Hey everyone!

So sorry my emails have been slacking lately, the last few p days have been crazy.

Leeds is fantastic. I cannot imagine two more different places that leeds and north shields. We live in a place called Headingly, which is just a university part of town, full of students. My new companion is from Germany and he is so good. I am just so happy I haven't had an american companion yet.

Teaching is a lot different here. We have an institute building that we teach almost everyone in. The ward is like huge. Maybe 130 people. and 60% are students. Massive YSA, but they are all so good, especially at missionary work.

So we had lunch at a members home on Saturday, the Bowes-Taylor family from South Africa. Yes, mom, they know Anita. What a small world! They are just so normal and nice and good. It feels good to be in like a normal family home, there weren't many families like that in NS. I am just so excited to work for this ward and in this area.

Well I am happy and I love you all!

Elder G

February 18, 2014: I am off to Leeds!!

So I am getting transferred! I am going to serve in the Leeds 1 Ward. My companion is German! My new address is

Flat 6

2 St. Michaels Lane

Headingly, Leeds

LS6 3HS

England

I will write more soon but I have to cut email really short today, Sorry!

Love you guys!

Elder G

February 10, 2014: From the sunny North East!

Hey everyone!

So I don't have a lot of time again, I am afraid my emails will be getting shorter and shorter as my mission goes on.... I will try my best to keep them uplifting!

So this was a busy week, but we are still struggling with people to teach. This is a sacred land though and the Lord shows me that through miracles all the time.

So monday we taught a FHE lesson then had a while to kill afterward. We decided to walk home and talk to people rather than take the bus. It was getting late and we were walking home and I felt impressed to walk the long way home, even though there was less people that way as well. Me and elder sim started walking and we prayed to be directed and I felt so impressed to knock on a door. The home owner was not interested and not happy we knocked on his door so late we kept going. Me and elder sim started talking about the killers and brandon flowers and this guys about our age started walking past us and I was just like "have you heard of the killers?" and they got all excited and we talked about them for awhile then we got talking about the gospel and they were so interested. We scheduled a return appt and got their numbers. In the end it didn't work out but i know that the Lord guides us. It was a much needed miracle.

I love this church and I love this gospel. It makes me so happy to share it with people.

Love you all

Elder G

January 20, 27, February 3

February 3, 2014

So the computer cut my time short so I only have like 7 minutes. I will try and log back in but we will see. 

This week has been really slow. Me and Elder Sim have both been sick. First him then me. But we have also seen a lot of miracles as well.

So Jeane is a friend of Christine a member from church. Jeane has started attending church, even when Christine can't (health problems) and she even came to a baptism last week! We will hopefully start teaching her soon.

I am really happy and I have been thinking a lot about progress lately and I have been seeing myself become a little more complacent so I am going to really focus on just improving on the little and big things this week.

Love you guys!

Elder Gurney

January 27, 2014

Another week in the great north east!

Well Elder Sim was sick for like half of it so it was actually not very busy. But on Wednesday-friday I was in Newcastle on exchange. Such a great city. We probably walked 500 miles. I was there with Elder Richards and I learned so much. We saw so many miracles and talked to so many good normal people.

We have been teaching a guy named Karl for a couple weeks now and he is so good. He is 20 and he is a baptist by choice. But he is really interested and has been reading and praying and when people do that they tend to receive an answer. Which is just so handy. 

I have seen a lot of little miracles this week. I don't have any mind blowing experiences but I have just felt the Lord's hand in the work so much. I have been reading in Alma lately and I just love the humility of those who receive a testimony. The Lord is only liberal to those who ask if they actually have a righteous desire to receive.

Well I don't have too much time to write this week but I am so happy and I pray for you all the time. Love you guys!

Elder Gurney 

January 20, 2014

So this has been such a long week, I don't even know where to begin.

I also don't have a lot of email time left so we will see how much I can write in 10 min.

So we had interviews on tuesday and they were so good. I love President Pilkington. He is so inspiring. We then had the priviledge to have Elder Goodwin to come out with us street contacting in our area after the meeting. He is one of the APs. He was so powerful! We had so much success finding it was incredible. We have been doing a lot better since then as well. I learned so much. 

We then did service for our bishop for like 5 hours on wednesday. We moved stuff up and down stairs for forever. It felt so good though. I love service.

I have learned a lot about relying on the Lord lately. We need to reach the point where we are working so hard that we cannot do it alone. We need to reach the point where we cry out to the Lord "Without thee I will fall". This is not just with missionary work but should be our drive our entire lives. We need to quit being complacent and comfortable and start progressing. Too often do members sit in their little slumps. We are always moving and if you aren't moving forward you are moving backward. You cannot stand still in this great work. But the blessing of it all is that we can find such an incredible joy in being uncomfortable. In working our absolute hardest. Someone once told me that you served a good mission if by the end you have worked so hard you cannot physically do it any longer. I believe it is the same with our lives on this earth. We need to move from amen to action.

I love you guys and I am so happy

Elder Gurney