Weekly update 12/30/2010

I still don't know Kevins new address.

Sorry!




> HIIIIYYYYAAAAA FAMILY AND FRIENDS!
>
> I hope everyones christmas was full of excitement and miracles! I had
> a great christmas!
>
> This was a good week. We went and visited Adam, investigator in colwyn
> bay, on Sunday and we met his mom, They are a really nice family. Adam
> is a great Investigator. He has started reading the Book of Mormon
> from the beginning. He is also understanding it very well. I am
> grateful for the chance i had to meet him and his family.
>
> So i'm not in colwyn bay anymore. I got transfered to Littleborough,
> England. I was really sad to leave Colwyn Bay. The members were great
> and the helped us a lot. I will miss being apart of the branch.
> However i'm really excited to be here in Littleborough with Elder
> Riera. Elder Riera Is From Barcilona, Spain. He too just came from
> Colwyn Bay before Littleborough. Some more great news is that Elder
> Jolliffe, my second companion, is my district leader! I'm so excited
> to have Elder Jolliffe as our district Leader again! I can't wait to
> go on exchanges with him.
>
> I have really enjoyed studying the Christlike Attributes and applying
> them. It has helped me have a Christ centered christmas and look
> forward to having all of my christmas's more focused on the real
> reason we celibrate christmas.
>
> Thank you all! Again I hope you all had a great christmas, and wish
> you all a Happy New Year!
>
> With Love,
> Elder Ballantyne
>
> p.s. This computer is ancient it's running Windows 98 and stuff!

Weekly update 12/23/2010

Hello Family!!!

This was a really great week! Our teaching was way up! It was one of the best weeks i have had while in Colwyn bay. Things are definitely turning around here. Colwyn Bay has a great future ahead. On the other side our finding dropped quite a bit.

One of our investigator's named Adam is so Solid! He doesn't have to work on Sunday which is Boxing day. He was able to get it off just so he could go to church! I am so excited Adam he even asked us what music we listen to just to see if the stuff he listens to is appropriate. When we leave a chapter for him to read he reads it a couple time until he can understand what it is saying. Then when we follow up with his reading he is able to give a detailed description of what the chapter was talking about.

There has been a lot of snow the past week, I would say there have been a good 3 in. locals say they haven't seen it like this in years. And it has definitely affected us here. The buses are being cancelled on us. Everything is closing really early, including the libraries which is the reason we are emailing today. The library closed earlier than it was supposed to so we ended up working so that we could email today. It's kind of funny how such a little bit of snow puts a halt to everything here. Snow is not that great for missionary work, but a side from that i love the snow still!

The Christmas Zone conference was great. We got to got through the temple as a mission, I love to see the temple! We also watch Joseph Smith: Prophet of the restoration, it is the one that wasn't realised to the public until recently. When we went to Chorley I stopped in the distribution center to buy the DVD. It should be a good tool to use in teaching.

This Has been a great Christmas season so far! As i study Becoming like him, It has really helped me to look past the commercial way of celebrating Christmas, And helped to focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas. I can say i am going to have a more Christ center Christmas for the rest of my life.

Thank you every one! and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
With Love
Elder Ballantyne

Weekly update 12/13/2010

HELLO EVERYBODY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This week was a very successful week! We actually have a teaching pool now! We got two new investigators this week. One of their names is Adam. When we found him last Sunday we Left him a book of Mormon and a chapter to read. When we taught him on Friday, We followed up with him and he said he had read it a few times to understand it. He was able to give us a really good overview of the chapter! His parents seem pretty happy that we are teaching him too! We have high hopes for Adam.

This week i was able to go on exchanges with Elder Sorensen. Elder Sorensen is from Logan, Ut. He is serving in Chester at the moment. He is a great missionary. I learned a lot from him. One thing i learned from him is to always have a pass along card in my hand while finding. For me it's always hard to find a pass along card. especially now that it's winter and we are bundled up in coats. I have also found it effective to use the cards to get their attention while finding.

Elder Hanks is a great companion. One of the many strengths i saw is when he recieves responsibility he really steps up.

This coming week we have a fireside planned with one of the member families. Thier assignment is to get one friend to come to it. I think we have really got the trust of the members. They had missinaries before not teach according to their needs and they ended up not being interested. The member was hesitent to invite her friend again, but we have gained the trust of the members and they said they will invite them again.

Thanks for the love and the support!
With love,
Elder Ballantyne

Another email 12/6/2010

I want to share part of Kevin's email to our Parents.



Hello!

*They do have a few costcos and they sell a lot of American foods and things. So I'm going to ask them to by me some American peanut butter. The kind they have here is rubbish (Garbage).
*I have been seeing Elder Mecham allot lately. He is not in Wales, he is in Birkenhead because another missionary hurt his ankle so him and this missionary switched areas for the rest of the transfer. But Birkenhead is in the Chester zone. I'm in the Chester zone, WHOO HOO!
*There quite a few Christmas lights all around here. Every now and again you see a Christmas tree in random places around town. We don't have a tree for our flat. mainly because we are moving flats in mid Dec. Because the flat we are in is too expensive.

*In fact we move the week before Christmas. So don't send anything to the flat if it will get here anywhere from Dec 17 - 23. *
* It has been freezing, I just bought a lot of warm things like a scarf and a beanie. We got permission to wear beanies for the next couple of days because it's so cold. Today has been really nice though.
*Elder Hanks and i Bought some really nice Under Armour Gloves Last week. Anyway Love

Elder Kevin Ballantyne

What a time for him to be moving. It takes 5 days to send a normal letter to his flat. So send Christmas cards now. (I bet he will understand if they are late.)

I will post the address as soon as I get it.

weekly update 12/6/2010

Hello Everybody!

This week we have been putting a focus on building trust with the members. We have been trying are best to build that trust. We have also been emphasizing member missionary work. Elder Hanks and I still both feel that working with the members and less actives is what will get the branch to flourish.

This transfer has been pretty tough because the appointments we have set up have been falling through. I feel it is because we haven't really been to diligent on Potential investigator follow up. I feel that if we commit to following up the day after we make the appointment, we will see more appointments go through.

This week i was able to go on exchange with Elder O'brien. Elder O'brien is from a town near leeds, England. I think it was a successful exchange. I learned many new things from Elder O'brien. We were also able to speak to some great people during the exchange.

Elder Hanks is a fantastic missionary. Not only that but he brings a lot of joy to the work as well. He really knows how to make hours of finding a lot more joyful. I can see him being a senior companion.

Last week we had a training I really enjoyed the training President Bullock gave on setting up appointments and confirming them, we have applied the training right away. I just want to say it really works! We have been able to see a lot more success in setting up more appointments.

Thanks for your love and Support everyone!
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne