Newcastle Update Mate

Hey, you alright everyone! It's been a very eventful week here in Newcastle. First off, it's a new transfer so I've got a new comp, I went on exchange in Gateshead, we've been bringing friends to Institute and someone got baptized!!

     

These past couple weeks have been super fun and busy. I'll summarize what's happened. My new companion now is Elder Kearl. He's from Ogden, Utah and likes to party. He a chill bloke and has a good mix of working hard and having fun. At the start of the transfer, we made lots of plans to serve the missionaries in our zone and show them love and help them grow their areas. For the most part, things have been working out pretty well. Our zone is the 3rd largest zone in the mission, so it doesn't take ages to visit the other missionaries luckily.

     

I was able to go on an exchange with Elder Lopez again. He's a super funny kid from Idaho. It's mental, because he's been out for like 3 months and I feel like a dinosaur compared to him. An interesting thing about Gatehead is that it has one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. In their faith they are told not to talk to people like us. It was very strange approaching them and getting stared at in response. I felt like I was an animal at a zoo exhibit! I could tell overall that they were good people and that they had strong morals and families. The light of Christ is everywhere!

     

These past couple of weeks we've been bringing our friends that we've been teaching to Institute. They've been loving it! The YSA are hilarious in this Stake. They're ace at fellowshipping as well. It's amazing how captivating the lessons and the atmosphere is overall. It got me excited for Institute back home!

     

That transitions over to the biggest miracle this week. One of our friends, Dean got baptized!! It's been about a month since we first taught him and brought him to church to watch General Conference and look at where he is at now! The actual service was as they say "Belta!" It was really good..... haha. There was a couple of hick-ups with the pianist not being there and other things, but there are always those little things that happen, so it's alright. I learned as well how cheeky this ward is during the baptismal service. During the talks everyone was taking the mic out of each other hand and laughing. It was perfect for Dean's sense of humor. During the baptism the Mandarin branch was putting on a BBQ. It was funny while we were taking pictures a large group of Mandarin speakers came in the church to go to the BBQ. It was funny and Dean thought that all of these random people were coming to his baptism for a moment. After the baptism, the Mandarin speakers invited everyone to come and join in and have some food at the BBQ.

     

Overall, it was a really good start to this transfer. I love this work so much and seeing the effect that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has on people and myself included. It isn't an instantaneous thing, but those little things that we do everyday, cause us to change into the people that we want to be! 

Talk to yous lata cheers!

-Elder Holyoak 

New companion Elder Kearl at Dean's baptism

Dean's baptism

The Prophet in England and exchanges for days!

Oi! Guess what, transfer calls came again! This week we had a special broadcast in the U.K. from President Nelson, we had exchanges for days, and more miracles happened!

     

Hey everyone, so transfer calls came again and I'm staying in Newcastle and Elder Winegar is moving to Beverley near Hull. My new comp is gonna be a bloke named Elder Kearl, I'm pumped! So this week we had a big U.K. broadcast from President Nelson and Elder Holland. It was superb nonetheless and they really showed their care for the people in this country and pumped up the missionaries. 

     

We had loads of exchanges this week, one for almost everyday. I learned loads from other missionaries and we had some really cool experiences. Elder Gray and I got let in knocking and taught a really cool lady. Elder Luo and I found a guy in a park and scheduled him for baptism. Elder Edwards and I taught a man and he came to church! So the work is going really well! That's my main update you yous alls has a goods dee cheers!

-Elder Holyoak 

Exchanges....

Sunshine😎

Hi, how's it going! This is gonna be a quick update, because my last P-day was just 5 days ago. So this week I went to my first MLC (leadership training) in Leeds. I witnessed a Filipino family get baptized in North Shields and the end of the transfer is next week!

     

This Friday I went to my first Mission Leadership Training or MLC down in Leeds. It was lots of fun and I learned loads! We are making a big focus on ministering with love to people. 

     

The North Shields Elders had a baptism this week. An entire Filipino family got baptized and it was such a cool sight to see. It definitely lifted my expectations and got me more excited about the work! It was ace seeing the members supporting the baptisms again too.

      

It's crazy how the end of this the transfer has come up again. This last week of this transfer we have been going on loads of exchanges with people. On Thursday, there's a broadcast from Elder Holland and President Nelson which we are all pumped for! That's the main update, cheers!

-Elder Holyoak

It's a small, small world!

Aye, it's been another canny week in Newcastle! Yes, my P-day was moved to Wednesday this week if you are wondering. This week I found a crazy connection with my ward mission leader, taught a Czech girl and a 20 year old English bloke, and witnessed a spiritual bomb at General Conference.

     

So first off, I discovered a really cool thing this week. I met our American ward mission leader here in Newcastle. We got together to talk about the hottest topic in the spirit world, missionary work. As we were getting to know each other he asked me, "Wait a second do you know Colin Holyoak?" And I said yeah he's my brother haha! He replied, "No way, I played tennis with him and I used to be in your ward man!" His name is Chad Nilsson and we were in the Parkview ward together. It's such a crazy small world!! I was right chuffed that I made a home connection with someone in the mission field.. 

     

I witnessed a spiritual bomb as I watched General Conference this week. I know that everyone is taking about it, but wow! A 20 year old man that we are teaching watched one of the sessions with us and he loved it! We haven't been in any contact with him since, but I have confidence that we will see him again. We also are teaching a girl from the Czech Republic. When she moved over to the U.K. she felt like she made God less of a priority in her life and she was wanting to bring back His influence... geehoo! That's the main update of the week. Hope you all have a good one as always, cheers!

-Elder Holyoak

Easter treats from home