Preston MTC ~ Week 2

Well, this week has been eventful.  It started off with a trip to the Preston, England temple.  This temple is so strikingly beautiful it's not even funny.  Doing a session full of missionaries was such an amazing experience.  The spirit was so strong.  All the temple workers having accents was definitely a bonus.  Then we went to Tescos... which is like the British equivalent of Costco.  Paying in pounds was really cool, and the chocolate here in England is the best I've ever had.  It's all about Cadburry over here.  You know, cadburry eggs... but EVERYWHERE!  My favorite so far is called a Wispa.  We don't have anything like it in America... which is just tragic.

Next, we went to Manchester to do some street tracting... that's right, one week of experience and we're already doing the real deal.  It was such a neat experience.  First of all, the buildings in Manchester are INCREDIBLE!!  They're SO tall, and SO old.  Lots of them are older than the United States!  The streets were bustling with busy Bits going about their day when this bus (they call it a coach in the UK) pulls up with around fifty missionaries in it.  It must have been quite a sight seeing all the young people wearing suits pouring out onto the streets of Manchester.  Brother Nolan challenged me to get rejected 10 times in the next 20 minutes... I far and away blew that number out of the water.  Not everyone wants to hear what you have to say...and sometimes Brits are just rude, but that's okay.  Amidst all the sideways glances and avoiding eye contact all together there were some people who listened.  We started talking to this lovely old couple who were waiting at a bus stop, and they were very interested in what we were doing, where we were from.... and if we were voting for Donald Trump.  Haha!  We started talking about what we believed and they were actually very open.  We were even able to give them a pamphlet about the restoration.  We talked to lots of people, passed along lots of mormon.org cards, and learned a bunch along the way.  It was amazing.  

Sundays in the MTC are the best. The spirit was so strong during the sacrament.  It was so quiet and peaceful.   All the missionaries had to prepare a talk on the Book of Mormon, then 6 would be chosen to give their talk in sacrament.  I didn't get picked, but I liked the talk I had written and learned lots when I was writing it.  All of the missionaries who did get picked bore such sweet testimonies of the Book of Mormon.  After that we watched the movie about Joseph Smith, where it went over his whole life, and it was really different watching it as a missionary.  Knowing that I wouldn't be here if it weren't for his diligence in following Christ.   Then later that day we had the opportunity to listen to a devotional given by Elder Bednar on the Character of Christ.  It was so good.  My favorite point he made was that the main character of Christ was that he turned "outward" when others turned "inward."  In the midst of his most intense trials, he focused on others.  It is something for all of us to strive for.  Being more like him.  So I invite all of you to do your best to do something small, like smiling at someone, or opening a door for someone.   Do it when you feel alone or hurt, and I promise that you will feel better and become closer to Him.  

I love you all so much!

Till next week!

Elder Draper