Elder Britton Holyoak : Cheeky Ballard

Hey hey hey, here's another weekly update from England. I shook another Apostle's hand, helped with a musical item at a baptism in Newcastle and I went to New York(picture below).

Weeks full of meetings always fly by. Wednesday was the biggest one of course. We had our ELM Mission Conference and were able to hear Elder M. Russell Ballard speak. The Alnwick Elders drove us to Newcastle, we took a coach to Billingham and then picked up that entire zone, then went all the way down to Huddersfield for the conference. We had an hour before the General Authorities came and were able to chat and catch up with other missionaries. Comparing the last Mission Conference to this one, I actually knew a lot of people! My MTC group took a picture together too. It was amazing seeing all 202 missionaries in one room and catching up with the other missionaries that I've served around. I love being a part of this work!

The conference overall was mint! My favorite General Authorities that spoke before Elder Ballard were Elder Kearon (THE BOSS) and Elder Nelson (Head of the missionary department). They were all pumping us up and telling us what good missionaries we are. When Elder Ballard finally took the stand his opening statement was, "Well, you're good, but you're not all translated yet." Haha... He's a super cheeky bloke! He mainly talked about making sure that we're teaching by the Spirit and allowing others to really feel the truth of the Gospel. He's just a normal 89 year old man, but I could tell that there was something special about him and that he was an Apostle. His exiting statement was, "Hasta Lavista baby!" and he was gone before we knew it! Haha... what a guy.

On Thursday, I was invited to a baptism in Newcastle to play a musical item. I played, "Come Follow Me" on the guitar. I was a bit nervous initially going up, but it was a really cool to play a role in helping make it a spiritual experience for the man getting baptized. I'm really hoping to play for more people in the future.

The work has been a bit the same lately. We're hoping to help Justin to get interviewed for baptism this Saturday, so pray for us! I love talking to people in public transportation and in the streets. There's so many different life stories that I've heard from people and so many different ways that the Gospel can bless their lives. This work is true, the Book is blue, and Jesus was a Mormon too. Cheers!

-Elder Holyoak