weekly update 2/9/2011

> Hello Family,
>
> It was transfers this week. And I get to stay in the beautiful land of Rossendale valley, where there is “…much fruit and honey,” (See 1 Nephi 17:5) for at least 6 more weeks! My new companion is from Cougar town, Utah. (Provo, Utah) He has been out for about 7 months. He has served in Blackpool, then up north in Carlisle, and now, he two get to experience the great land of Rossendale valley.
> The poles are now up… Will Rossendale be Elder Ballantyne’s last area? Vote now. :-P Stay tuned and find out more.
>
> This was a great week. We found a great new investigator named Karen Evans. She is a really nice lady. It started out when Elder Marjanen were street contacting. We felt impressed to knock on this house that looked like it was squished in between two other houses. Karen
> answered the door and said that Jehovah’s witnesses had just previously been. They seemed to have scared her a bit by talking about the end of the world. We then set up the appointment for Tuesday, we tried by and knocked but no one answered. Following that we knocked two more times and both times no one answered. Then we tried to calling her and yet again no one answered. Just as we were about to cross the street, to wear the member had parked his car, the door opened and there stood Karen, she invited us in and we had a very spiritual lesson. After we recited the first vision, we asked her how she felt. She said, “This whole time that you’ve been sat her teaching me about these things, I have felt very warm and relaxed.” So the
> spirit was able to calm her troubled soul. She was able to recognize the spirit and accepted the invitation to be baptized!
>
> We had another lesson with Sian this week. We taught the plan of salvation. The great thing is that in gospel principles class she got a follow up lesson on life after death. I feel like she understood it well.
>
> Things are going really great here in Rossendale valley the work is truly moving forward. I think the lord has truly recognized that the ward is in a state where they can fellowship the investigators into the ward. I believe that that is why the lord has been blessing us with success.
>
> With love,
> Elder Ballantyne


Email to Parents


Hello!
>
> This week we experiance a lot of snow we got about 8 inches on sat.
> and in the evening we didn't have any conversations with anyone
> because we spent all evening helping people get unstuck. we help 5
> people that night.
>
> For transfers i am staying in wonderful Rossendale valley. My new
> companion is Elder Jensen from Provo, Utah. Last week we didn't have
> either zone conference or exchanges. We didn't take any pictures of
> the district but we now have a new district. It's Elder Saunders,
> Elder Watts, Elder Jensen, and myself. We are all from the US of A.
.