600 something days to go

Family,

I think its a bit unfortunate that my p days are all on a Monday because Monday follows Sunday and Sundays are the most stressful frustrating day of the week. So, I'm still trying to wind down from this week. Our Ward Mission leader in priesthood announced the goals that we came up with for the month that we want to focus on. Bishop didn’t like that and pulled us aside and rebuked us for not involving the Ward Council in our goal setting. I was really confused because that had never been the case and amidst all the confusion and lack of communication somehow the entire fault fell on our laps. Kinda frustrating. On a brighter note we did have four investigators at church. Elisa, a retired dancer, has a year long commitment at 'her church' so she wont be baptized for a bit but comes to church whenever occasion permits so she was able to be there this week. Then we finally got Julie two of her daughters and one of her daughter’s friends to make it to church. They had to get a ride with our ward mission leader (Brother Hunt) in his 17-passenger van. The three-year-old daughter isn’t good in cars. Some time on the 20 minute ride to church, the 3 year old up chucked all over the 13 year old. So, when they did make it to church they were in a frightful state and the teenager was crying and wanted to go home. Props to mom though she made them all stay. Granted, Brother Hunt I'm sure, would not have taken them home anyhow. Last Sunday we all moved the clocks back an hour for 'daylight savings' and now the sun goes down at FOUR o'clock in the after noon. By six it is as dark and lonely as midnight. People yell at you for knocking at their doors at half past five and none of the investigators want to see you past six. I love it. Especially since my body is conditioned to rise with the sun and set with it. I'm going to have a lot of adjusting to do.

Sheldon-Congrats on 2^ND [at State in Diving]! That’s awesome! It was funny- I saw that the winner was from Arcadia and I had this odd feeling rivalry stir in me. (Those pretty boys from Scottsdale always put up a good fight but we always beat them.) Will you be doing club is ASU? I'm so excited for you. I think you should do all you can to get into the 2012 Olympics in London! That would be so cool to be released from my mission and then come back a week later and watch my brother dive. So in all the town centers they have these huge TV screens that show local news and BBC broadcasts. With the news there is always a count down to the Olympics. I have realized that the Olympics start around the same time that I leave. So I have a constant reminder of the limited days I have to serve in England. Its kinda sad to see that I only have six hundred something days to go.

Brigg

I'm so happy that you are going to mission prep! That class became the highlight of my week. Ok, so the First Presidency has given us all eight specific lessons/ training that they want to incorporate into missionary life. These eight lessons will become the primary focus of all the MTC Classes around the time that you will be going out. I'm going to mail you a copy of the outlines of these lessons. Do with them what you would like but I would suggest that you study them. Add scriptures of your own to them and share them with the class. They started teaching us the lessons a couple of weeks after I got into the field and I have found that they have been a great help. I'm so sorry to hear about your knee. Its can be so frustrating when you do all that you can and wait on the Lord only to realize that He has something else in mind for you. I’m so happy and proud that you are taking the proper and positive attitude with these things. Life sucks but all the trials with are worth it if we remain faithful to the Lord. That is the lesson that I am learning. I know that the Lord has GREAT things in store for you. Although I am 6000 miles away with the little contact that I have I can see that you are changing and the Lord is beginning to shape and mold you so that you will fit the job description that He needs you to be. Never underestimate the power of your influence. You are in such a wonderful position that so many people love you and look up to you. Never forget it. You never know maybe a week before you leave on your mission someone that you never thought would will come up to you and ask you how soon they can be baptized. Brigg, I love you. Your email hit me right to the heart and for the first time in a long time I started to tear up. Right here in the Dover public library. I never appreciated the person you are. I’m sorry that it took me so long to be the brother that I should have been the whole time. I hope that above everything else you remember who I was for the last six months before it left. In begging for your forgiveness I want you to know that I forgive you. I hold no feelings but love and admiration for you. I often study and read about Joseph and Hyrum Smith. What an amazing relationship they had. Together they were ordained and set apart as President and Assistant President of the church. Everything they did was in harmony with each other. Even in death they were not separated. I feel that bond often when I think of my brothers and I think that there is no one in the world that it would have been better for me to grow up with then the three brothers I have.

Dad,

Love you to bits. But I never took you as adrenalin junky. I will not preach but I would like to share my testimony. I know that the Lord watches over us. Intently. He has promised us through His servants that all things work together for good for those that serve God. I know this is true. It is too burdensome to take upon us the responsibility of others actions. I have recently learned that it is not considered throwing someone under the bus when they themselves were jay walking. All men will be responsible for their OWN sins and not for Adams transgressions. I don’t know if it is the motto or slogan of the mission but it is a line that I often times heard you quote to me form Joseph Smith. 'We teach them correct principles and they govern themselves' I love it! Thank you for teaching me correct principles and then allowing me to stumble my ways to where I am now. Therefore my dearly beloved brethren let us cheerful do all that lies in our power and then stand still with them utmost assurance and the salvation of the Lord. Ok I didn’t have my scriptures with me but I tried to get that right. Love you dad you are the second greatest dad I have ever had and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Mom,

Press on. Thank you for all the care and kindness you have ever shown me. I have learned to recognize and predict the 'natural consequences' of my actions and have learned simply that obedience is life; disobedience is damnation. I often hear some of your stupid little phrases that I hated as a teenager run through my head. Almost every time I make my bed I pray. I should change that almost every time I pray I make my bed :) cuz now I pray all the time to an 'influence for good' in the life of others.

I'm out of time but thank you for all that has not yet been mentioned.

Much love,

Elder Solomon (yes like that one king in the Bible)

Life is Amazing!

Me and Angel Rickard

My Pumpkin...get it?

Big Ben

November 1, 2010

Family!!
Life is amazing! Angel Rickard got baptized this week, which makes the first person I officially taught as a missionary to be baptized. Of course it didn’t count as a convert baptism but still it was really cool. The Peruvian family is doing really good. The Anstice children are amazing and I have figured out how to work with them. It is the easiest thing. I am just myself! I have just begun to act like the teenager that I still am and we get along now! Of course I refrain from certain things cause I still am a representative of Christ but I have found how to keep their attention and motivate them selves. I was having a chat with Chris the oldest son walking back from the church the other night after an activity there and he explained how the missionaries use to come around but they hated it because they were SO boring. Then the 13 year old told me how she use to stay at school extra long cause she knew that the 'Mormons' would be at her house that night. It is amazing how people can get more excited about the gospel when it is relevant to them! We have started reading with them from the war chapters, which are a bit more excited then, the allegory of the olive tree. Elder Engelbrektsson and I have been able to masterfully weave in spiritual messages amidst all the gore and blood shed of the stories. The other night I almost shouted for joy when I walked in to the house and saw Tiffany (13) with the Book of Mormon open on her lap looking for the answer to the question I had left them with! It is our plan to slowly introduce more the spiritually uplifting chapters once they are a bit more excited about reading the Book of Mormon. I can’t wait to keep working with them.

My heart dropped when I heard about Brigg’s knee. What a shame but I do know that miracles do happen. Look at me the doctors told me that after my junior year of football I would need surgery to fix my ACL then after the season the MRI showed that my knee was perfectly health. You have my prayers little bro. Ok I will think of my Christmas list as soon as you send my yours:) Sheldon good luck at state! Knock them dead in that flashy Speedo of yours! Kallen called me from the mission home of Friday and I got to chat with him for a bit it was soo good I'm so happy that he is getting ready to go on a mission. Thank you for the package but it will probably sit in the office for another two weeks before I can travel in there. I noticed this week that my body has become conditioned to constant work. I almost went crazy when I had to waste an hour waiting for a train. Two years is too short to idle away time. I am going to do better at that.

As always I love you all and hope and pray for the very best for you! Always remember there are greater things to come!

Much love,

Elder Solomon

P.S. So in my spare time I have begun to pursue one of my dreams. I'm writing a story that I will publish and make millions. OK, maybe it won’t be that good but I’ll send it home when I can and let you judge for yourself.

The Spirit Is Amazing!

Ok I am so happy right now!!!
I didn’t have time to email in the library today. Just enough time to print off the emails that I had received last week so I was kinda sad, then all of our appointments cancelled for the night so we went over to the Elder Quorum president’s house and are using his computers.
I cannot tell you how happy I am to receive the wonderful news from the families. Dave and Nancy’s emails we particularly good. I loved hearing about their mission experiences. Especially Dave’s although he told them twice it was so good to hear about them I really hope that I will be able to one day come back to England and visit some converts and have similar experiences. The new training that the first Presidency is stressing for missionaries is brilliant. It really helps us understand what the missionaries and the investigators need to feel for conversion to take place. The spirit is an amazing thing I absolutely love how it feels and directs me. Today we went bowling with the zone and at the alley they were playing some worldly music and then I was getting quite competitive with the game and it was amazing how horrible I felt when I lost contact with the spirit. I felt so lost and even had a bit of a panic attack. I truly felt helpless! It was so silly cause I was just bowling and I wasn’t really in a situation that I was relying on the spirit to teach or anything but I felt so alone it was incredible! I have really been focusing on putting off the natural man lately and I was getting frustrated because I would often let myself get distracted by different things but that experience today kind of helped me see the difference between who I am and who I was and how far I have come. I can just see y'all rolling your eyes at my story... I think it is funny myself. But the spirit it so necessary for the teaching of the gospel. I never really paid attention to most of the doctrine and covenants because it was always addressed to random people going out on missions so now it applies so much to me and I cannot get enough.

So Elder Engelbrektsson... my days! Love him. He grew up with five sisters... need I say more? He is a very nice sensitive guy who is soft spoken and enjoys long walks on the beach... Ok, he never told me that but I'm just assuming. He is a really good missionary though. He is even softer then Elder Enenkel. It is so weird cause he is the district leader but acts like the junior companion. Its like pulling teeth to get him to say anything in a teaching appointment. I have so much to learn from him and I cannot wait to see how this transfer goes!

So investigator update the Peruvian family is doing well we always have amazing lessons with them but we just cannot get them to keep any commitments! The mother is good though and has gone to church three times now but we can only get the kids to the Friday night sports night at the church. I guess we are facing the same issue as almost every parent in the church. 'How do I get my teenagers interested in the gospel?'

Mom and dad, thank you so much for your thoughts it is so refreshing to know that my family is so strong. That they do read and pray together AND go to church. That is almost unheard of here. I was so happy to hear about Brigg and Sheldon preparing the sacrament. I was so proud I started tearing up here at Brother Trice’s home. I love my family. I can attribute all of my good qualities to my upbringing. Today at zone meeting I was talking with the zone leaders about how our parents brought us up. I decided that if I were to use the same means as dad to teach lessons I would probably be put in jail. I remember one time as we were walking to the hunted house one Sunday evening I was not listening to dad and he was getting frustrated with me. He put me in the ditch and held me under the water just long enough to get my attention. If I were perfect I would say that from that day on I always listened to my dad but that was not the case. But it did impress the importance on listening to dad. I believe that I was placed in this family to help me be in the most successful situation. Life is a funny thing. It can be the cruelest thing you have to go through but it is the greatest gift we have been given.

It was funny that you mentioned Regan and sister Clifford. I was in someone’s home the other day and their surname was Clifford and they had the names back ground and history written out in old English on the wall and after I had read through it I remembered that I knew someone named Clifford. I'm glad to hear that she is doing well.

Thank you Meagan, Lindy, Kassidee, Taylor, mom, Jamie and Taylor for you post (letters) over the last two weeks. I am working on a reply but I currently have no stamps so don’t expect anything for at least two weeks!

With all the love that I can send over and email,

Elder Solomon

Simple As That

Family,

Ok, so it is transfer week this week so we have a funky p-day. I've been waiting this whole time to have a p-day on the weekend so that I could take a look at the shops they set up in the market but as usual we don’t have time!!!! Turns out that we will not be able to do our shopping again for the fourth week in a row. It’s driving me crazy especially since we have nothing to treat the mold and different species of fungi growing in the bathroom. Its really cool though, looks like a science experiment...
So I'm now starting my fourth transfer and will be getting another companion! Can you believe it? Elder Enenkel will now be a zone leader for the North Hampton area and I will stay here in the best area in the mission and get Elder Engelbreksson (don’t ask me to say it). He is from Sweden and I haven’t heard much about him except this will be his first transfer as a district leader. I will probably have to drive this next transfer so I ask that EVERY one pray extra hard that I be kept safe. I need it.

Had a bit of a sad day yesterday. We visited Chris and he gave us back every thing we had ever given him and told us he believed that the Mormon’s religion was set up by Americans so that they could have a name in something and stay true to the American way and use various different means to usurp the world in an oppressive dominance. Then he went on a tyrant about the American’s claiming that they had won WWII, when in fact it was the British and all we did was help. I couldn’t help but notice also all the Jehovah’s Witness material lying scattered across the room. I was a bit upset and choose to say nothing but grab my bag and walk out. It was really funny though when Elder Enenkel tried to share with Chris a scripture Chris got huffy puffy and told him not to make it worse. It was like he was breaking up with us. Oh well. That is my venting of the week.

Things are looking up though we have some really promising fresh new investigators that I'm looking forward to teaching. The only difficulty that I'm running into is scheduling our time efficiently so that we will be able to see them all each week. It makes it difficult when it takes an hour to get from one side of the area to another and you have a limited amount of miles per month.

So I read a little story this morning that I just love (Luke 19). It was of the little chief publican named Zacchaeus. He heard that the Lord was coming and because he was of 'little stature' he couldn’t get through the crowd so he climbed in a tree to get the chance to see our Saviour. When Christ came by he looked up and called Zacchaeus down from the tree and set up a dinner appointment with him. Zacchaeus jumped for joy and laughed out loud. This is the best part though. The stubborn blind Jews all murmured about how Zacchaeus was a sinner for collecting the taxes (although he gave half of his money in fast offerings and when he wronged people he paid them back x4) and Christ turned and called him a 'Son of Abraham' . I'm sure that was quite a sting to the proud Jews. I love the Saviour’s example. Some one said that books could not contain all the works of the Lord. If they could I would spend all my time reading and learning about Him.

Two years is such a short time and I'm really trying to cram in all I can. The experiences are so good and the never-ending flow of knowledge is amazing. I don’t learn new stuff all the time every day but I'm starting to internalize things that I have been told all my life and it is awesome. I love teaching children. We have a family that adopted kids a few months back and they want us to teach their eight-year-old daughter. I think I walk away a better person every time I see them. The Spirit is so strong with them. It is amazing how that can fully comprehend principles that I’ve been trying to get grown ups to learn for months. The humility and faith of a child is inspiring. She bore her testimony without really intending to and it is so powerfully simple. She said that she believed it because she loves Jesus and she knew that what we were teaching was true because we knew it and because her parents knew it. If only for a day each of us could be like a little child, forget our pride and selfishness and be faithful it would be amazing. The saddest story of our day is that we cannot trust each other anymore. Guile deceptiveness pride and selfishness ruin everything. I just take joy in knowing that it is only during this testing period that we will have to endure it. It just kills me to see all who fall victim to the natural man and lose their inheritance for temporary gratification and security. Faith is seldom comfortable, but faith breeds trust and trust begets comfort. Perfect Faith in the Perfect Being is the only way to find Perfect Comfort. I love the simplicity of the gospel. It is so simple. Have faith, repent, be baptized receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. That is the Teachers answer sheet to this test of life. Keep the commandments and prosper. That is the advice given to us by those who have gone on before us. Pass the test and you can have all that the Father has. Simple as that. Nothing else should take preference and everything else should lead right back to these basics. It is my hope and prayer that I will be able to remember this through out my life.

I miss grandpa. The more I look back the more I love him. I wish I had taken the time to get to know him better. I know he helps me from time to time. I always think of him when I come up with something witty to say and often times I will use a line of his in the prefect situations. I remember the night before he passed away dad and I visited him. He grabbed my hand and tired to look and me and kept trying to repeat 'I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you.' I’ll never forget it. One day I hope to be half the man he is. Maybe one day in the next life I’ll be blessed to see him again and he will repeat those same words to me. I look forward to that glorious day when finally we will all be together again. London, Grandpa and everyone. No more sorrow no more worldly cares, just peace and rest. What a thought!

Remember 'to be spiritually minded is life eternal'
Send my best to everyone!

Love
Elder Brighton Solomon

P.S.
Thank you Lindy and Meagan and Kassidee for your letters! Taylor I can’t wait to get yours!
Brigg and Sheldon I don’t care what anyone else says you’re alright in my book
Dad is there a chance you could tell me when and where you served? I have people all the time asking me, and who was your mission president?

Pain in the Neck

Hello family! So I took forever to read that amazingly long email that you wrote for me!! Thank you ever so much! Looks like Sheldon is still alive I'm happy to hear from him! Thank you for the picture... Jake Hamblin looks like he fits right in there with the rest of our family. I couldn’t really see Presto as his face was a bit blurry cause he was moving to get ever closer to his squeeze. You guys really didn’t have to get all dresses up for me though! That is so kind. So I couldn’t find my memory card reader thing so I cant send you the pictures of my amazing second trip to Dover castle. Its ok though, I guess it just means I’ll have to send twice as many pictures next time. I'm going to the Canterbury Christ Church Cathedral today which is like the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of England. It’s pretty cool cause as 'Christian ministers' we get to get in for free :)

I love my mission! Although its a pain in the neck to get people to realize that the 'sacrifices' they should make to follow the Lord really are not that big of a deal, it is always gratifying to be able to daily bear testimony and stand as a witness. There really is no greater calling then to teach. Teaching is the best way to be taught. The spirit is always testifying to you and enlightening your understanding - it is amazing!! I love teaching and I really wish that sometimes we just had people who really wanted to learn and had 'real intent'. I would like you and everyone to invite friends to meet with the missionaries in your home. You never know if the missionaries with say the right thing that will strike them to the core.
What ever happened to that police officer in our ward that got shot?

Out of time.

Much love,

Elder Solomon

Thank you Dave Haynes kids for you email! I loved it.

Look out for scorpions

Ok, so because of my philosophical tangent yesterday I didn’t have time to finish my email. Now Elder Koppe needs to finish his progress record so now I have a bit of time for my update.

I'm so excited about this Peruvian family we are now teaching! They are five children and a mom. They were not brought up in the church and now that the mother has to raise them on her own she wants so bad for them to learn what the church teaches. They really don’t know much about religion so its good we don’t have to pull out any weeds we just need to till the earth and plant the seeds. We built a really good relationship with them right off by taking them to on of our Friday night activites. Chris (18) Tiffany (13) and William (10) came and had a great time playing football with some of the members. They quickly became friends. Then the next night Elder Enenkel and I came over to teach a lesson. The mother Zulie was out because she had had enough, so then after a while when she came back we had the most amazing lesson. We didn’t really teach any principles but we shared our testimonies. It was so cool cause so many different words were put in my mouth. I thought that they would not be interested at all cause they are teenagers. But much to my surprise Stephanie (16) sat there starry eyed the whole time and on a few occasions started crying.

Chris likewise was captivated. So we came by again last night and taught them about the Book of Mormon, Unfortunately, Stephanie and Tiffany decided not to be there but Natalie was there for the first time and they all were really excited to learn that the Book of Mormon talks about their ancestors. Both times Chris said the closing prayer and thanked the Lord for their new friends, the Mormons who are now a part of their family. It was SO neat! I love my mission. I'm scared though, cause transfers are coming up on the 17th and I have a feeling I’ll be leaving and Elder Enenkel will be training in Deal. I love this area and just recently it has exploded. We are having a hard time keeping up with our investigators and visiting them all. Chris (our eternigator) just had his appendix burst so he is in the hospital in Ashford (zone leader area). So tonight I'm on a work over and will go visiting him. He has been waiting for a sign from God that he needs to stop drinking wine and he really likes to excuse himself and says that God says it’s ok if he doesn’t keep the commandments 100% so I'm hoping that he will see this as a sign. He was supposed to go on holiday for a month the day it burst so we will see how this turns out.

I love you all. It’s sad but listening to Zulie and how hard she works to provide the best for her family of unappreciative teenagers has made me feel so sorry that I was snot nose brat.
Mom this is me hugging you giving you a kiss on the cheek and saying thank you for every thing you have ever done.

Love,
Elder Solomon

Watch out for the scorpions and wear proper shoes

Moral standards matter!!!!

My Dearest Family,

Ok, so conference was amazing but I did miss two sessions the Saturday morning and Sunday Afternoon. Unfortunately we had to travel to Canterbury to watch it so we couldn’t go on Saturday. On Sunday they replayed the Saturday afternoon session. Then because of the time difference we couldn’t watch the Sunday afternoon session; it was on from 9-11. It was so good!!! President Monson is getting a bit more animated then usual. I have not seen a lack of supporting the prophet but across the pond here, not supporting local church leaders is a plague. It seems like each time a new Bishop is called half of the ward falls away. Agency and accountability and humility are the lessons that the British Saints need to hear more then anything. Many people are like the Lamanites like in Alma 17 where they supposed that 'whatsoever they did was right'. Or like the followers of Nehor that they could do whatever they wanted and God would save them. It makes it really hard because when you tell them, as it is they just harden their heart and call you a blasphemer and a liar. 'God wouldn’t condemn any of His children.' I will be eternally grateful for parents who struggled and fought with me to teach me personal accountability. Lazy patents breed unruly children. Unruly children grow up and ruin moral standard. Without moral standards humanity suffers. Parents you are the only people who can bring peace to this world. Please don’t be selfish. No matter how hard it can be every sacrifice is worth having righteous children... as if I have enough experience to speak.

So this week has been amazing. We have picked up some golden investigators including a Peruvian family!

I’m out of time ill try to finish my email later.

Love lots

Elder Solomon