weekly update 12/28/2011

Elder Kevin Ballantyne has been out serving for 600 days

HELLO EVERYONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!


The week leading up to Christmas was a good week. On Wednesday, we had a try by appointment with a man called martin, it was pretty shakey, but we decided to go anyway. When we got there he invited us in and we taught him about the restoration. It was a very spiritual lesson. We feel like we taught to his needs as guided by the spirit. Martin plays in a brass band in Littlebourgh, We gave him a copy of the joy to the world DVD, and in exchange he gave us a CD of his band. Obviously it's not approved, but I feel like we were able to build a great trust with him. Just yesterday he actually saw us waiting for a bus while he was driving. He stopped just to say "hi."

On Thursday, we had an appointment with a member family in the evening. But we got in the area a little early so we thought we would tract in the area for a few minutes. The first door we knocked was a couple named Linden and Hailey. Linden let us in straight away and told us that not too long ago he was thinking about what happens after this life. We didn't have time to teach him as we had an appointment with the member family, so we set up an appointment to come back in a few minutes. After the appointment with the members we took Lauren Simcock, who is preparing to serve a mission, to the appointment with Linden and Hailey. We then taught linden and Hailey about the Book of Mormon. We will be seeing him again today. They are great!

We had a very good Christmas with the members this year the schedule was absolutely booked. We were able to go to a few members that I didn't know very well so that I could get to know them. We also had some fun with the members that we already knew. The members here are just exceptional!


--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 12/19/2011

Merry Christmas

This has been a great week! We have been able to find a few new investigators. Their names are Simon, Ray, and Sunny. I will talk a little bit about each of them. First of all Simon was a boy that Elder Marjanen spoke to on the bus. He agreed to be taught right when we got off at the Rawtenstall bus station. He seems really good we haven’t been able to teach him since because he was away but he should be back now and we will probably teach him on Wednesday.

Ray is a potential that Elder Marjanen called while is was ill in the flat a couple weeks ago. The appointments kept falling through but we were finally able to teach him this week. He seems quite busy in the next few weeks so we aren’t teaching him again till after Boxing Day.

Sunny is an African man who lived 75% of his life in Italy. He is a strong believer in Jesus Christ. We have a few concerns to resolve with him, but we should be able to handle it with the spirit.

We went to a ward Christmas party this week. It was a great finding opportunity. We learned of another girl who is progressing towards being taught. The Simcock’s have been working on her for awhile and they expressed that she is finally coming around. So there are some good possibilities open to us. I believe that if we did not ask at the party we might not have learnt about this girl.

Tomorrow we will be able to go to the mission home for a Christmas Get-together. We were told that we will be playing white elephant! Other than that I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen. But it will be good to get together with the missionaries in the Chorley zone! That is also when we will receive all our Christmas pressys!


--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 12/12/2011

Seasons Greetings from England!

This week just flew by. It was probably because I have been on exchanges all week. I was first on exchange in Chorley with Elder Smart. It was really good to work with him. I remember a three day exchange that we had when we were both very new to the mission. (2nd and 3rd transfers) Ever since then I have not evening served around Elder smart. So it was very good to “catch up” on things. He was a great missionary back then. However, I was able to see how much he had changed since our last exchange so long ago, for the better of course.

The second exchange was with Elder watts in Burnley. He is from Logandale, Navada Which is near Las Vegas. He Has ben out for about 5 months, and Served in Swinton, Manchester, and now Burnley. It was a great exchange. I feel that Elder watts knows his area very well for the few weeks that he has been there. Elder Watts is a very good finder. I described it as being a meerkat. He always had his head up so he could spot people wherever they were.

While being on exchanges throughout the zone and looking at the Rossendale ward. I have been able to notice that, in general, the members here in the Chorley stake are just great members. They support the missionaries as much as possible. What a privilege to work amongst such spiritual giants.

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 11/28/2011

Terve perhe! (A finnish Greeting)

This week wasn’t the best of weeks as I have been for two of the days (Wednesday and Sunday). The days that we have been out seem to have been good days. So I was sick on Wednesday, it was funny because that same day was District Leader Council meeting. At the meeting we talked about the holiday season, including staying healthy during the cold months… oops.

We actually spent a bit of thanksgiving doing some service with a member. He lives on his own and he needed help carrying a table down the stairs and then he asked us to help him sand it and take it back up the stairs. It was something he couldn’t have done by himself. He seemed very grateful for the help we offered. He then fed us some soup. At first I felt a little disappointed that I wasn’t eating a big turkey dinner, but after thinking about it, I quickly realised that, that isn’t the reason we celebrate thanksgiving. I was really grateful to be with that member to get to know him better and to serve him was phenomenal. It was a very good thanksgiving.

Elder Marjanen has been a great help especially as I have been feeling ill. He has been doing his best to help me recover 100%. I’m grateful to have his help through this illness.

Here is a funny story that a member gave to us this week:
"A united states marine was taking some college courses between assignments. He had completed 20 missions in iraq and afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist,.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and stated, 'God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform... I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.'

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am GOD, I'm still waiting.'

It got down to the last couple of minutes when the marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and knocked him off the platform. The professor was out cold.

The marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned, and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the marine and asked, 'What in the world is the matter with you? Why did you do that?'

The marine calmly replied, 'GOD was too busy today protecting American, Canadian, British, Soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So He sent me."
It's a great testimony to me to see that the lord expects us to "Get on you knees and pray like it all depends on GOD, then get up and work like it all depends on you." Sometimes they anwer to someones prayer comes through his children. So rather than just praying for the less fortunate we need to do something about it.


--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 11/21/2011

Hello Family!

The remainder of the week has been really good. With the last few days we have spent a bit of time for me to get to know the members. We have visited a lot of them, mostly through tea appointments. I think ever since the day after I have arrived we have had a tea appoint everyday! From what I gathered this far the members are amazing! I’m so excited to serve in the midst of such a great ward.

Elder Marjanen is doing really good. I have found that he is a really diligent finder. He is also a very humble missionary. Once he breaks out of his shell he will be a really great missionary.

This winter is shaping up to be a bit warmer than last winter. I think by this time last year there was quite a bit of snow but as far as I’m aware we haven’t had any yet. I also don’t think this time last year I wouldn’t think of going out without a coat, now on some days I feel over heated when I wear a coat. So that’s always a good sign.

Thanks for everything!


--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

p.s. MY NEW ADDRESS IS:
3 Prospect Road
Rawtenstall
Rossendale
BB4 8HJ

weekly update 11/17/2011

Kevin has been transferred I don't have the address yet.


Dear Everyone!

You might be surprised to know that I have already been transferred out of Stoke. I am now in Rossendale Valley Ward, Which is in the chorley stake. An interesting fact. The temple is located in chorley. Which is in the same zone but it iss less travel to get to the temple from preston. My new companion is Elder Marjanen from Finland. It is his second transfer in the mission. He is a very good missionary, and very humble.

This was a great week. We had a sports day on Tuesday, it was great fun and good exercise as well. It was good to see the other missionaries. It was quite exhausting playing sports from 10 am to 4 pm only to stop for lunch. I ached a bit after that's for sure. We had massive slices of delicious costco pizza. Sports all day and costco pizza... What could beat that?

This week I went on exchanges with Elder Jones it was a very good exchange I learnt a lot. One thing that I learnt from the exchange was from President Kopishke's training on making finding more natural. As I have applied it I have been able to have my conversations more natural and free flowing. It has also helped me with my goal of doing things because of the love I have for the people.

The love principle is definitely been something I have been focusing on lately. I really wish I would have had this focus a lot earlier in my mission. It has been something that I have really seen a lot of joy come from.

I was really surprised to see that I would be leaving Stoke after one transfer! That transfer definitely flew by! I don't know why I have moved already yet, but I do know that it was an inspired decision, and I look forward to learning why the lord wants me in Rossendale Valley.

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

Please send

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Just so everyone knows, When you send Kevin a Christmas package, mail it to the mission office, (The addresses is listed on the side of this page) and mark the outside of the package Christmas. That way he is sure to get it for Christmas. Also make sure you mail it at least by Thanksgiving.

weekly update 11/7/2011

Hello Family!!!!!!

This week I have really built a love for the Henrietta family, Joseph, Anieta, and Aeinea. They are so kind and have made a lot of progress, specifically in the Word of wisdom. This week was Joseph Junior’s birthday. So we took a birthday card to him, and they gave us some birthday cake!

I went on exchanges with Elder Baker this week. Throughout the exchange I have just sensed a great deal of humility in him. He has really been learning from Elder Francis, and applying the things he’s learnt.

I just love missionary work. I always have but, I have really been working on truly loving the people we teach. And as I have been doing so I have been able to look at the work in a much brighter light. It has helped me to enjoy the work a lot more.


--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 11/24/2011

100th post

HI EVERYBODY!!!!

This week has just flown by! We took a long journey to a member’s house on Monday. The long trip was worth it, it was really good to get to know this member better. He told us about a lot of great miracles that had happened in his life.

On Tuesday, I went on exchanges with Elder Francis. He was born in South africa but has been living from Eissex, England. Like myselft Elder Francis was trained in Southport. He is a very good missionary, of course, only the best are trained in southport! He is such a great strength to the district! A strength I saw in him was his personality. When he introduces his family, he goes into detail. That was something that I hope to apply.

Something I realized is how vital the daily planner is. On accident I left mine in the library last Monday after emails. And I didn’t get it back until Thursday because I was on exchanges. If it wasn’t for sticky notes I would have been completely lost. The daily planners make a big difference in the work.

We had tea with bishop yesterday. He is a very inspired man! It was so good to get to know him and his family. He really respects the lords time. We offered to do service for them and he kept saying that he doesn’t want to cut into our time. We told him that we were encouraged to serve the members and he said there might be some service that we can do in the future.

Elder Van Tonder is a great missionary I’m always amazed at his faith and exact obedience. He is a “member work missionary,” he is always looking to teach members. Sometimes we do what we call member contacting were if we’re in the area we stop by a member’s home just to offer our help.

Things are going great here in stoke!

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 10/17/2011

HELLO EVERYONE

This week has been a great week it started out to be pretty slow from Monday to about Wednesday then really picked up on Thursday through the rest of the week.

We found a new investigator this week. Her name is Ajeni. She is from Nigeria. She studies Business at Staffordshire University. She has a strong believe in Jesus Christ. She ended up coming to church yesterday. She said she really enjoyed it. She has a few questions that we will answer but she is doing great.

A great miracle happened this week. We are teaching someone named Charlotte, who is 17. Her mom was not going to let her get baptised until she turned 18, when she could make the decision herself. Last week we felt impressed to promise her that if she would continue to pray about it, not only would her mom’s heart would be softened but that she would be a great example to her mom. After much prayer and fasting, her Mom’s heart was softened, so much that she even wants to attend Charlotte’s Baptism! Part of the promise has already come true. I have faith that the other part will come true in the near future.

Elder Van Tonder is doing great. He is such a strong companion to a district leader. He helps ease the load by making sure that everything is being kept to date, especially the area book, and other administration.

I love it here in stoke! We are blessed all the time.

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

new pictures

weekly update 10/10/2011

Hello Family,

Things are going great her in stoke! We have been seeing a lot of success already. The only problem is I have a goal a leaving an area better than when I got there. In stoke it’s going to be a bit more difficult to achieve but that just means I’m going to have to work that much harder. We are looking forward to a great transfer here in stoke.

I have been able to get to know a lot of members this past week. The members here are absolutely great! One of the goals I have while I’m here in Stoke is to increase the member present lessons. I know that having a member present is the best way to teach. But the first step is to build the member trust.

Elder Van Tonder is a great missionary. He is a really hard working missionary. He seems to really know the area. Something that I have noticed in Elder Van Tonder is that he is always looking at the positives. As soon as I arrived here he was telling me about each investigator in the most positive way. I still don’t think he has said anything negative about anything.

Thanks for everything that you do!


--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

P.S. my new address is:
Flat 1, Hartshill House
St andrews Square
Stoke-on-Trent, England
STAFFS
United Kingdom, ST4 7GD

weekly update 10/6/2011

Bonjour Famille!!!! (French this time)

I have been transfered to Stoke-on-Trent with Elder Van Tonder from France (that's why the greeting is in french). It is in the Newcastle Stake/Zone, which is the furthest south zone in the mission. The district consists of Crew, Newcastle, and Congleton. In Crew it is Elder Francis, from England, and Elder Baker, from Northern Ireland. In Newcastle it is Elder Jones, from Salt lake city, UT, and Elder Ashcraft, also from Salt lake City, UT. Last but not least in Congleton it is Sister Alison, from Leicester, England, and Sister Bibb, from St. George, UT.

This week has been pretty unsuccessful with the number of lessons in preston. But the lessons we have had were very good lessons. I was on exchanges with Elder Diaz when Elder Schmid and Webb had a lesson with Alan. They taught about sacrament, and committed Alan and his friends to come to church this coming Sunday, they expressed that it was a really good lesson. They also had a really good lesson with a new investigator.

This week I was able to go on exchange with Elder Diaz. Elder Diaz is a very inspired missionary. Some strengths that I noticed in Elder Diaz are not only just during the exchange but throughout the transfer. They had a rough patch in the beginning of the transfer with no one to teach but because of their diligence they now have 2 dated investigators. One of which will be baptised this coming sat.

This Monday we found a man named Bryan. We tried to teach him in his home twice in the same day, but we kept being interrupted by friends and such. We had an appointment with a member couple that same evening, after some thinking we decided to ask this family if we could teach Bryan in their home, they agreed and we finally had a good lesson with him, 3rd times the charm. Teaching in members homes is so good.

I am grateful to be here in Stoke. I have only been here for less than a day and I have been able to meet a few of the members. This should be a very good transfer. The members that I have met so far are really nice!

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 9/12/2011

HOLA FAMILA!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a really good week. We were noticing that so far in the transfer, the success we have been seeing started gradually. In the first week we saw miracles in our finding. That finding then led to new investigators the following week, which led to more total lessons this last week. It was good to notice that. It help to see the benefit from working diligently even if you can't notice the progress at first.

I went on exchanges with Elder Webb this week. He is a great missionary he had a great balance between finding and member work. He had great ideas to use while finding. We also had the opportunity to go to a baptism with our investigator ash. And even though Elder Webb is not in the ward he was still working with building the trust of the members.

Elder Schmid is doing great! I have truly been blessed with a great companion. Right from the start he has been giving great ideas for member work and general missionary work. He has fantastic leadership skills by keeping on top of things. I almost feel like he has already served a mission, with the experience he seems to have.

A miracle that we saw this week was, Ash, our investigator. Read the book of mormon and prayed to get an answer. He said that he had received his answer! I was so happy to hear that. The only thing that is keeping him from accepting a date is the fact that he has to much going on in his life at the moment. We are working to resolve that concern.

Thanks for everything!

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 9/6/2011

HELLO EVERYONE!

This week has been a very successful week! We saw the hand of the lord this week. It started on Monday, when we went to the temple on p-day. While I was sitting in the temple, I pleaded with the lord that he would lead us to find his prepared children. And through out the week we had seen my prayer answered by finding many people that the lord has been preparing. I think a very important part of my pray being answered was the principle of working to have that pray answered. I pleaded with the lord like it all depended on him, and then Elder Schmid and I got up and worked like it all depended on us. I that is when the lord was able to place these people in our path. Prayer + work = BLESSINGS!!!!!

This week we had a church history tour with the rest of the mission for zone conference. We visited a few different sites including, Liverpool (Albert Dock), Preston, and Downham. All three of these places have a significant roll in the history of the church here in England. I enjoyed going to Liverpool and going to the museum to look at some of the ships that the saints would have been on, during their journey. I can't help but to think of the dedication these people had towards the lord, to just pick up and leave to go to America. I also enjoyed coming back to Preston to be reminded of the history that this place has. I am so blessed to work in the same place that some of the first missionaries served. We are "standing on the shoulders of giants."

With University starting in the next few weeks we have been focusing our finding on campus. We have found a few Chinese students to stop and listen to us, their names are Alan, Carol, Ireese, Jo, and Duxing. The Chinese are great!

Elder Schmid is doing great. He is probably an expert at teaching the restoration now. He is still consistently speaking to everyone on the streets. There were a few times during the church history tour when Elder schmid would be asked a question, and he would immediately strike up a conversation with them about the gospel. He is a forever finder!

Thanks for everything I am excited for this coming week. Everything seems to be on a rise!

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 8/30/2011

HALLO! WIE GEHT ES DIR? (Hello! how are you doing)

^Elder Schmid has been teaching me German! He also Taught me how to say "Bist du bereit?" and "Glaubst du on Gott?" I'm slowly learning but it's coming along.

So far it has been really great being a district leader. I was pretty stressed at first but so far it seems like I can handle it. It will still help me to stretch and progress. But it seems like it's nothing to stress so much about. So I'm looking forward for this transfer.

This Saturday, I had my first district leader council meeting. It was a great experience to see the input that the district leaders have in coming up with Transfer and weekly Focuses. At first I thought it was all up to the zone leaders but this meeting helped me see that it truly is a revelatory process.

Elder Schmid is doing great! He has a good balance of finding and member work. He is always speaking to people. Also he has been coming up with great ideas to build up the member work. He is a great missionary and will be a great strength to the mission.

As for the Preston area, It's going fine. We have been trying to find some new investigators to increase our teaching pool. Since it is August there have been a lot of university students coming back. So we have been trying to find near campus as much as we can. College students are always good because they are getting out an experiancing the world, trying new things, etc. We also had a great lesson with Fiona and Her daughter, Derika. We asked a few questions to find out their understanding of the plan of salvation, and Derika was answering them left and right. She is definitely taking in what's being taught. Fiona is understanding pretty well too.

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 8/25/2011

HOLA FAMILIA!

First of all transfers was this week, and here are the results. I am staying in Preston. Elder Diaz is staying in South Ribble, and Elder Cofone went to Blackburn. I am now serving with Elder Schmid, Who is from Austria. He speaks german. Today is Elder Schmid's 2nd day in the mission field. So he is brand new, fresh from the MTC. On a side note; I recieved a call to be a district leader. The district consists of Us and Southribble.

This has been a very eventful week! On Sunday I got the call to be a district leader and trainer. I was so nervous! So many things were going through my mind. Something that helped me to calm down was the knowledge that i'm not alone in this calling. I have the support of a great district, and more importantly I have the support of my Heavenly father. I know that these calls have come from revelation from god through you. I am grateful for the trust that you and the lord have in me.

Tuesday was the last day that I had with Elder Cofone and Diaz. It was so good to learn from them and to serve with them. They have been such a great support to me in the last transfer. They made covering two areas a lot less stressful as it could have been.

Last week we had a lot of investigators drop us. But rather than letting it bring us down, we made it into a learning experiance that we all could grow from. We have already seen the blessings from doing so. The investigators that dropped us ended up getting in contact with us and said they still want to be taught. I think the reason we were blessed with this great miracle came from being positive about the situation.

I'm am really enjoying serving with Elder Schmid! He already has a strong desire. The biggest strength I see in him is his diligence in finding! He is already a forever finder! He is already stopping people on bikes, speaking to people in their cars, etc. He speaks to absolutly everyone!

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

Reminder to everyone

We have about 8 months left until Kevin is home with us :)

So please remember to keep writing to him.

Now we're going into the holidays, it's a perfect time to send packages or/and letters!

Elder Ballantyne is 21

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER BALLANTYNE!!!
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LOTS OF LOVE

YOUR FAMILY

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weekly update 8/15/2011

HELLLOOOO!

This week was such a great week! The first reason is because after 3 weeks we are finally starting to figure out how to work with the two areas. We finally found a bus that will be good to go to and from south ribble from Preston.

Fiona is doing great! This week she bore a powerful testimony about how she can feel the spirit as she reads the book of Mormon. She said that she always feels the spirit as she reads the Book of Mormon and the king James version of the bible. She even came to church yesterday even though she wasn't feeling the greatest! It was good to see her dedication and commitment.

Week had a multi-zone training this week and it was amazing! They gave us a really good fireside idea about lehi's vision of the iron rod, I really enjoyed it, we plan on using that in southribble. We already brought it up in coordination meeting. It sounds like it won't happen for awhile but we will keep trying.

This week we were able to get Fiona to go to the baptism of Anna Marie. It was a good experience. Anna Marie is so solid she even gave Fiona a lift to church on Sunday. She is already doing her services as member. Her and Istvan are two powerful Hungarian members!

This week we will probably be spending most of our time in preston, because we have a lot to teach Fiona in the next 2 weeks to prepare her for baptism.

Well, I Hope ya'll are getting ready for back to school season! I'm not looking forward to another british winter. It doesn't get as cold as winters in utah, but the humidity makes it feel really cold no matter how many layers of cloths you put on. But atleast I know what to expect.

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 8/8/2011

HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!!!!!!! (as Elder Diaz would say.)

This was a pretty good week. We were in South Ribble for the first part of the week. Then went to preston for the remainder of the week. It gets quite crazy living in two flats. The only reason it gets crazy if the travel back and forth. It wouldn't be that bad if we could get an "any bus" pass, Unfortunately they don't. But we have to search out which pass is would be the best between three bus companies. It's good to be kept busy though.

Our investigator, Mike, is doing really well with the word of wisdom. He has given up smoking and says he doesn't even have a desire to smoke anymore. The best part is he is noticing the blessing right away. He can already see the promise contained in Doctrine and Covenants 89:20 Where it says, "And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint." We just need to get him out playing football with us!

Fiona is also doing great. She is still coming to church. We had a lesson in Gospel essentials class about the word of wisdom. Let's just say we wont have any problems with the word of wisdom. Each substance she contributed in saying that they were all bad for the body.

Thanks for everything!

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 8/1/2011

HELLO FAMILY!!!!!!!!!


This has been a really good week! On Tuesday, in Preston, we were heading to what we thought was a solid, confirmed, appointment. The appointment fell through, but it put us in a position to find Fiona and her family. Fiona is from the Caribbean and she is so great. She accepted a baptismal date, she also came to church with us on Sunday. The appointment might have fallen through but we were led to that area for a reason.

I really enjoyed trainings this week. I know that the meeting was truly inspired. I learnt so much! I was reminded that we need to be personable and not robots. It was good to see that the things we have been given are guidelines and we use them as prompted. For example, Teaching the restoration in the first lesson. I realized that we have been focusing on teaching the restoration first was to help us see both extremes. I was looking at a teaching record from before we were supposed to teach the restoration first, on the record we saw that they did not even teach the restoration before the investigator was dropped. So i feel that the lord wanted to show us the importance of the restoration. And now the it's been changed we can teach something else but we will be more inclined to tie it in with the restoration.

This week I had my first interview with president Preston. It was really good to sit down with him in the interview, and get to know him a little better. I appreciate the comfort and council he gave me. I really look forward to serving with him shoulder to shoulder here in england.

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

Weekly Update 7/26/2011

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!!

This was a good week. Elder Le Cornu, our district leader, conducted a great district meeting, I really learnt a lot. We were in a small district of 2 companionships. It was really nice to be in a small district. But now we are now in a threesome with Elder diaz and we are back in the blackpool district, which I will explain later.

This week we have done a lot of finding. the best thing is the people we were setting appointments with seem pretty solid. As we confirm the appointments it has been going excellently. They usually pass the test perfectly.

This week we did really well with tea appointments. Usually we start the week with 1 maybe 2 appointments. This week, However, we had 4 with one potential appointment. Unfortunately some have canceled but we still had more than usual. It's been really good to see the member work build.

The most exciting thing that happened this week was of course the emergency transfer that took place yesterday. Elder Cofone and I are both really excited to be in a threesome with Elder Diaz. I feel that we have a great companionship going on. We all have strengths that compliment one another. I am looking forward for the next few weeks.

We also realized the added responsibility that all three of us have now that we serve in both south ribble and Preston. We have decided that we will be focusing on south ribble more, considering Preston already has the zone leaders anyway. We decided it will be a 70-30 split. 70% of time in South Ribble and 30% of time in Preston. So we aren't going to completely abandon Preston. We know the lord will help us with the added responsibility, and that it will make us each stronger and more effective servants.

We were able to teach a lesson yesterday for the first time in a threesome. I feel that it went well. The spirit was definitely present during the lesson. Elder Diaz shared an amazing story about his conversion, with really broke the ice, then partnered with Elder Cofone's and the members testimony with me directing the discussion, we were able to help him feel the spirit and helped him to ponder on the things we taught. It was a powerful lesson.

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

more pictures

Kevin email some pictures home!!!

weekly update 7/19 /2011

Hello Family and Friends

These last few days have been pretty good. It has been nice and wet. Despite the wet weather the finding has been alright we managed to set up some good appointments with people. They seem pretty solid.

This week and last weeks "weekly focus" was on committing and recommitting investigators to sacrament meeting, at the beginning of every lesson. I have seen the fruits of this weekly focus. We were able to get two investigators to church and one non member who we are not teaching at the moment. That non member has expressed that she would like to be taught the lessons. I know that each of the weekly focuses we have are inspired, and that as we diligently follow them, the lord will bless us with great abundance

Something I learnt this week was that we need to try early in the week to get investigators a lift for church. I learnt it the hard way. This week Sunday came around and we had forgotten to get mike a lift to church. So in the morning we were stressing out trying to get a lift on such short notice, unfortunately we were unable to get him to church and he miss out this week. I am quite positive that it was because we waited to long to get a lift for him. If we would have tried earlier am sure we would have been able to get someone.
Thanks for everything!

--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

Meeting New Mission Presidents

I found these pictures on Elder and Sister Blain's blog www.blainmission.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-last-zone-conference-accelerate.html.

They are meeting the new mission president's.

Elder Ballantyne and Elder Cofone. ( Yes they are wear the same tie.)

weekly update 7/13/2011

HELLO!!!!!!

This was great week. Mike is doing great! He has decided to go cold turkey with his smoking. Something that I have noticed in Mike is his determination. He keeps telling us it is really hard to give up smoking, but despite how hard it gets he says,"I will not smoke." I think back to Elder Oaks Talk on Desires. Mike's determination to get baptized overrules his desire to smoke.

I have really gained a testimony of Investigators gaining a testimony at church. Not only with Mike many other investigator's have completely changed because of the feelings they have at church. Mike's Girl friend, Naomi, had no interest in the church, but when she went with mike to church she felt something and wants to be taught. There is power in getting investigator's to church!

Things are going great here in Preston. Elder Cofone and I get to enjoy six more weeks together here. We are looking forward to a fresh new transfer together. We are expecting great miracles as we put forth our faith.

Thanks for the support! I appreciate the prayers and the comfort each of you give me!
--
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 6/20/2011

> Hello Family!!!!!
>
> First of, We were tracting last night and we came accross a fellow
> Ballantyne. She said it was spelled the same way and everthing. She
> was probably the first Ballantyne that i have found since I've been
> here. We set up an appointment with her. I thought that was pretty
> exciting!
>
> Something hilarious happened on wednesday. In the evening after we had
> gotten back from a meeting in chorley, we went to the flat and drop a
> few things off and headed back out to tract. We have a door that locks
> itself as soon as you shut it. and we had forgotten the key. So that
> night we were calling the land lord and anyone that could possibly
> help us. No one could so we ended up staying at the zone leaders flat
> for the night. First thing in the morning we ended up having to pay a
> lock smith £42 to pick the lock. And now we don't want that to happen
> again. So we each have a key plus we each carry a back up key. It
> shouldn't happen again with 4 keys coming out with us each day.
>
> Along with locking the key in the flat this whole week was pretty
> trying. There were a few things that just didn't seem to go right.
> Both, Elder Cofone and I agree that this week will be a lot better. We
> discussed the process that preceeds something great. It's noticable
> from the start of this dispensation, when Joseph Smith is ceased upon
> while he was praying just before the first vision. So were looking
> forward to a good week.
>
> This week wasn't all to bad. Early in the week we saw the miracle of
> teaching Matt and Compton, an on the spot lesson. They actually
> grabbed our attention and started asking us questions. We asked if
> they had time for us to share a message, and they agreed. They were
> very good we were able to answer a lot of their questions. But because
> they are busy salesman they said we wouldn't beable to catch them in
> and wouldn't give us their information except for a phone number. We
> will call them and make arrangements. I was greatful for the
> opportunity to answer their questions about the church and also about
> religion as a whole.
>
> We had another round of trainings this week. It was great! This was
> president Bullock's last training. There was so much to take in. It's
> a good thing we got sheets of some of the things that were discussed.
> We have been keeping the commitments we made by doing the role plays.
> Elder Cofone and I both like the questions role play that the
> assistants left us. It is very challanging and helps us to think of
> effective questions.
>
> Thanks again for everything!
>
> --
> With Love,
> Elder Ballantyne
>

weekly update 6/13/2011

Hello Family!
>
> First off, things in preston are going great. The weather has been a
> bit 50-50 lately. Sometimes it can be pretty sunny but still be cold.
> Atleast this week there hasn't been a great deal of rain, until
> yesterday. Today looks a bit wet too.
>
> This has been a great week, again we have taught a few on the spot
> lessons. So we have been blessed with a few new investigators.
> Unfortunately the people we teach on the spot don't progress. That
> could either be the effect of not effectively following up, or it
> could just be the agency of the people. Either way we are in a sifting
> process to find the gold nuggets.
>
> Elder Cofone is doing great! He is a very obedient missionary. He is
> not only confident in himself but much more importantly he is
> confident in the lord and his message. Some other strengths are; he is
> personable. When he plans for the investigator, he plans specifically
> to teach to their needs, and he truly applies what he learns in his
> personal study.
>
> Things are going great here in Preston; again it truly is a blessed
> land. Thanks for everything each of you do. I just want to say I can
> feel each of your prayers pushing me forward and I greatly appreciate
> each one. Also know that I pray for each of you everynight before I go
> to bed.

>
>
> --
> With Love,
> Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 6/6/2011

> Hello Everyone!!!!
>
> Preston is truly a blessed land! People here are so receptive! The
> Spirit has truly softened the hearts of the people here! Since I've
> been here I have seen some church history places. We went street
> contacting in Avenham park. And I remember going there for the MTC
> church history tour. We saw the place where the trees were planted in
> honor of those that were baptised in the river ribble. Just today we
> walked past the monument where the first missionaries preached from.
> Preston is such a great place.
>
> In the past few days we have been blessed abundantly! We had 3 on the
> spot lessons with people in the space of two days! Not to mention they
> were all on the same road! I think faith was the reason. Despite the empty
> teaching pool at first we decided that we are going to see great
> miracles this transfer. We have already seen multiple!
>
> Elder Cofone is a great missionary. He understands the law of
> consecration really well. He understands that sacrifice brings forth
> the blessings of heaven, when is comes to time at lunch and tea.
>
> By the way for those who care my new adress is:
>
> Elder Ballantyne
> 171 Kent St.
> Preston, England
> PR1 1PH
> --

> With Love,
> Elder Ballantyne

Lots of new pictures

Time for a bath

Elder Sanders and

Elder Ballantyne's dinner

P-day Baptism
Jordana Baptism

The food

HINT HINT!!!
Elder Mecham

Elder Ballantyne