Hey Mom!
Wow! That’s a lot of packages! (we sent him 5 for christmas). We got them and I haven’t opened them yet, they are underneath our non-existent Christmas tree, but I already KNOW that one of them is a jar of Jelly Beans! You. Are. The. Best.
Also, thank you so much for the diligent research you did on Norwich! You probably know more about it than I do, and I live here! Haha! Plus I just want to thank you for sharing your missionary experiences with me. Being out here you really see that lots of people who are members don’t share the gospel, but I am so unbelievably proud of my family out there sharing the gospel like bosses! Thank you so much! You guys are so cool!
Mom! I got to go to the temple on Wednesday!! After over a year of it being off limits due to it being in lamanite (London south) territory, President Stevens finally got approval for the mission to go down! It was incredible! I really know that Temples are the House of the Lord. I know that Preparation before going also invites revelation and learning! It was just the coolest experience! Being in the celestial room with the Stevens was just such a sweet experience. I love them so much! They were there just waiting for us in the Celestial room and it was amazing! I’ll never forget this great week!
Also, Rizel got baptised yesterday! (I was teaching her in Hyde Park) So that is another amazing thing!
Man, it’s going to be fun to skype you guys on Christmas Day!
Elder Leone and decided on 7:00 n Christmas Day. (12:00 your time). That’s on Monday (Christmas day). I think I still have your skype. (Just checked and I do!)
Come prepared to make the most out of it! 45 minutes is going to go by quick!
I can’t wait to see all of your beautiful faces! I love you so much Mom! I know that this is God’s work and I am so happy to be doing it! I know that the Book of Mormon is a God Given Testament if Jesus Christ and is absolutely the truth!
You are the best! Have a great week!
Hey Dad!
I know! I can’t believe how fast time goes. In honestly makes my sort of anxious sometimes. I love being a missionary so much. I can’t waste a single second! It’ll be over before I know it. Time is such a crazy concept.
I love the new Area! Norwich is beautiful and the Ward is fantastic! The wards in London are great, but people there are busy and they move in and out of the ward constantly, so it’s hard to develop really good relationships with people. Here in Norwich, they love missionaries. We got loads of gifts from members on Sunday and we even sing in the choir! Haha! It’s awesome!
My companion is amazing as well! His name is Elder Leone from SLC. He is an amazing missionary. He’s been out for a transfer longer than me and we trained new missionaries and became ZL's at the same time, so we had a love and respect for each other before we became companions, which is awesome! I don’t know if I have ever worked better alongside any of my other companions. We get along really well and we work really hard. It’s the best!
The Zone is good, but there are challenges that are so different to Hyde Park! The Zone is spread so far from each other, that it can be fairly difficult to build unity in the Zone. The Districts are far more unified. It’s an interesting dynamic. Also, the work is different up here. People are well established and often times closed minded. It’s interesting finding creative ways to find people to teach! Here are 10 companionships in the Zone (20 Missionaries). Our area is pretty huge. We do have a car not just for our big area, but because our Zone is MASSIVE! Going to District Meetings is quite the road trip! It’s just me and Elder Leone in this flat. It’s a quaint little home out in the Sprowston village! Pretty cool! We went to the temple this week! It was amazing! I thought I told you we were going! Anyways, I’ll tell you more about it on Christmas!
We can skype Monday (Christmas Day) at 7:00pm England time... I think that’s 12:00 mountain time.
Something amazing happened yesterday! Rizel (who I wrote about a few times in previous emails and was teaching in Hyde Park) got baptised yesterday!! Woooo! I messaged her and wished her good luck and she told me how sad she was I couldn’t be there to see her baptism. Right before I left she asked me to Baptise her, but I got moved, so it was a bit hard for her but in the long run a good thing. If people get too attached to missionaries, it’s not a good thing. Missionaries tend to leave... haha! But I’m just so happy! She is so amazing. Seriously kingdom builder quality!
This truly is the Lords work! I know that. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. When we went this last week I had just a really sweet experience. We even got to stay a night in the temple accommodations because the Norwich Zone is so far away and it takes like 5 hours to travel there! Feeling the spirit that is in the temple and being in the celestial room with past companions and President and Sister Stevens was just the best thing ever. It brought back memories from road tripping around Utah with you, and going to all those temples! Those are some of my most cherished memories.
It’s going to be great to see you on Christmas! Are you guys going to prepare some questions? Or are we just going to gaze into each others eyes for 45 minutes? Haha! It’s going to be great! I sure love you! Have a great week!
Love ya!
Elder Draper
1. We decorated this Members tree! (Pretty good right?
2. Elder Leone and I with the Stevens at the London Temple Visitors Center
3. I love to see the temple
4. Sort of a long story... but the Elders got locked out of their flat, so we came to the rescue! Haha!
5-rest temple!
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