weekly update 11/15/2010

Sorry it took me so long to get this email from Kevin on the blog!







HHEEELLLLOOOOO!!!!!

The rest of this week has been pretty stressful being senior companion. But I'm sure it will better when i get the hang of things. With the added responsibility really makes me want to step up. It really requires me to trust in the lord for help. At first I was asking myself why I was called to be Senior companion. I realized that it's not important and that I just need to trust in the lord and the inspiration that President Bullock received, and just work my hardest to be a good senior companion.

Sat. was full of confusion, In my planner I had written down that we were to have a tea appointment with a member family, so we went there and they invited us in and said we had missed tea! We were confused. So they asked if we had anything to eat and we told them no, and they were willing to cook us some chicken. 15 min. later we get a call from another member, asking if we were coming over for tea or not. Everything made since then, that i had written down the wrong family for some reason. I felt terrible! The family we were with rushed us to the other members house. We were able to explain things and clear everything up. And ended up having a really good tea appointment with them.

At that tea appointment we taught Kath from rhyl who said she hadn't been to church for 2 years because she doesn't feel comfortable around people. So we talked to her about strengths and weaknesses and how she can get the help and strength she needs from prayer. By the end of the evening she said she felt a lot more calm about going to church, and told us she would be there! Well Sunday came around and Kath showed up! I was so happy! It was amazing!

Thank you all for the love, support, and prayers!
Love
Elder Ballantyne

Weekly Update 11/11/10

HEEEELLLLLLLLLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

This week was really good. On Sunday, we had the Brother Globel, The High Councilman over missionary work, come and speak to the branch. He got the ward fired up about missionary work. That same Sunday we Got 3 referrals on Sunday all from the same member! What a blessing!

On Wednesday, we had a tea appointment with some some members from new Zealand. She told us how her family came into the church. It was such an amazing story. I feel impressed to share it. One of her relatives had the same dream for several nights. In the dream she saw young men sharing the gospel. So she knew that the things that they were sharing were true so she told the village not to join any church until these messengers appeared. She was even able to quote scriptures from the book of Mormon before she even heard about the book of Mormon. A while later one of the villagers told her that there were two LDS missionaries in the village. She told them to bring them to her. And she recognized the two young men instantly from in her dream. Later on the whole village was baptized. And they are all still really active.

I'm so grateful to be serving with Elder Hanks here in Colwyn Bay! I can tell already that he is a great missionary and I'm way excited to be able to work with him. This is going to be a fantastic Transfer Full of miracles!

Just today in weekly planning we were really discussing what we could do to help the branch grow. We both felt really strongly about working with Less actives. We both felt that if we can get the less actives, active again, the branch will grow. So we decided we are going to get an updated Member list go through and see who hasn't been coming to see if we can rekindle their testimonies. I honestly feel that this is what will get the branch to flourish.

Thanks for all the love and support! I love and Miss you ALL!




Just a little side note:

Elder Ballantyne was made Senior companion!!!!

Flat Stanley

Carson's teacher has been reading them the Flat Stanley books.

Carson's teacher had them make a Flat Stanley and mail it to someone.

Carson chose to send it to Kevin.

Kevin put Stanley in a suit with an umbrella.

So cute!

ELDER BALLANTYNS BUMP DAY!

ELDER BALLANTYNE HAS BEEN OUT FOR 6 MONTHS!!!!!!!

18 more to go!!!!!!

Just a reminder if you want to send Kevin a Christmas package it must be mail to the mission office on or before November 20th. Christmas cards can be mail to his flat a week before Christmas.

WEEKLY UNDATE 11/1/2010

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!

Wales is still as amazing as ever!

This week was great, On Tuesday, we had a great district meeting on revelation giving through prayer. We focused on inviting the head of the house hold to say a kneeling prayer. More often then not they will refuse to say the prayer, but we learned a few different ways to resolve their concerns and get them to pray. I can't wait to put it to practice.

On Wednesday, we taught an excommunicated member. We shared a spiritual thought and afterwards she expressed that she wanted to be refreshed with all the lessons! She has such a great family! Her son is a recent convert to the church and she has a daughter who isn't a member who seems interested in the church. I can see great things to come.

On Friday, I went on exchange with Elder Raybould. We had a successful exchange! He is very personable, he really showed me that we need to be personable, and not just be robots. It really shows excitement in the wonderful message we share. The gospel brings happiness, we need to show the people the happiness that it has brought us.

On Sunday, I had the great privilege to give a talk in sacrament meeting. Bro Gobbel from the Stake High council had me talk about the First vision. What a topic to be assigned! I absolutely love teaching the First vision. As I was giving my talk there were babies fussing and a lot of commotion going on. I decided to use the spirit formula. As I quoted the first vision, the babies went quiet an everything seemed to calm down. It was such an amazing experience!

Be sure to keep in touch! I Love and Miss you all!!!!
With Great Love,
Elder Ballantyne

Weekly Update 10/25/2010

Hello Everyone

Colwyn Bay is an amazing Area! The branch members are so nice. The work can and will move forward here. I know it can if we put the work into it. When finding seems hard something that has helped me is, I just think about how the 70/16 (70 Quality Gospel Conversations over Number of Appointments set up.) Standard is obtainable in any area in the mission. It really helps me to strive to hit the standard.

Just for a recap of the week:

On Tuesday, I was Able to go on Exchanges with Elder Green. It was an amazing experience! We went Street contacting and i really noticed the blessings of working diligently. It might be a given but the harder we work really does bless us with success in our finding. Also I have noticed that working urgently and running after people not only shows that the message we share is important but it brings a great joy in finding.

On Friday, I went on Exchanges with Elder D'oppido. It was fantastic! Elder D'oppido is an amazing missionary. Something I learned from Elder D'oppido is to be more personable and not to teach by rote presentation as preach my gospel tells us.

On Sunday, we had Stake conference. We heard the temple president talk about temples. It was amazing an amazing talk! We also were privileged to hear the Stake president give a talk on the first vision. He didn't use the spirit formula but the spirit was still very strong. I love hearing about the restoration. It is always so great! No matter how many times a day I hear it, it always has the same effect.

Thanks again for all the love and support!
With Love,
Elder Ballantyne

weekly update 10/18/2010

Hello everyone,

This week was good, the work is still going slow. We have been praying our hearts out so hopefully it picks up soon. One thing is for sure we won't let it bring us down. We know the lord wants these people to hear about the church, therefore he will help us.

Specialized training was way good! Every time the Leaders give trainings the spirit tells me that they are inspired and if we follow their council we will see success. I have noticed previously that as we follow them the work moves forward.

The members here are great! they are so supportive and willing to help move the work forward. We just need to find some people to teach and the ward will fellowship them with no problem.

The branch had Elder Knibbs and I give a talk. At first I was really nervous but as I reallied on the lord to help me give the talk, I felt comforted. Not only that I think I did an alright job.

Thanks again!
Love,
Elder Ballantyne

Kevin finally saw a castle!

Weekly Update 10/11/2010

HIIIYAA EVERYONE!

Wales is great! There is plenty to do on p-days! There are great sights including the amazing castles. Today we walked around the Walls of the Conwy castle. It's so amazing. Pictures are underway.

The Multi-Zone Training we had this week was amazing! It was by far the best one ever (the first one)! We talked about the dead sea scrolls. I have always wanted to know more about the Dead sea scrolls. I have never even heard of them until I have been out. It really helped to give my testimony a boost. I knew before by the power of the holy ghost without a doubt that Joseph Smith is a prophet. And the book of Mormon is the word of God. Learning about the Dead sea scrolls was basically the cherry on top.

On Friday we traveled to Garwen so that Elder Knibbs could Interview Maveas. She is in her 70's and she is getting baptised. It just showed me that it's never too late to get on the right pathway. There is a funny story about traveling to the interview. We were able to catch the train, but the problems happened when we found out that the train was running late and because the train was late we missed the bus that was supposed to take us right in front of the chapel. We looked at the time chart and it said the buses only come ever half hour. So we decided to walk the two and a half miles. It was boiling hot especially because we had our suit jackets on. So we are walking in some kind of country area with sheep everywhere, on a pretty busy road. I was just thinking what people would have thought seeing to people in suits in the middle of nowhere. It must have been an interesting sight.

I was able to get to know more people in the branch on Sunday. I am way excited to work with the members. They are way nice and are a strength to the Chester stake! I don't think we will have any problems in getting people to fellowship investigators. Everyone is so willing to contribute to the missionary effort.

Once again thanks for the support that you all give me. I look forward to hearing from you. I love and miss you all!
Love,
Elder Ballantyne

Weekly Update

Hi Everybody!

It's great here in wales! It's a beautiful area. The work is pretty slow, but with the work going slow it makes me want to work harder to get the work moving. I have faith that we can get the work moving forward to help the branch flourish.

I am constantly trying to get familiar with the area so I can be a more affective instrument in the hands of the lord. Elder Knibbs is a big help with me getting to know the area better. When I get to know the area better I will be able to contribute more in finding the elect.

I met a member family yesterday. They are really nice! They gave us a lift to the Garwen Chapel for General conference. It was great to be able to watch conference with them! With the support of the members there is no doubt in my mind that we can get this area moving.

General conference was amazing! I liked Pres. Uchtdorfs talk about Humility. I liked when he talked about the pen not complaining as he used it. It made me laugh. It's so true also. The pen works where ever, and whenever. We need to be like the pen and work and not complain as we do so, especially in our callings. I also liked how he said Humility isn't beating yourself up. It's willing to give the Credit to who it belongs, which is to God.

We used to have zone conferences every transfer but we have been told we can only have zone conference quarterly. So we are having a multi zone training instead, Which will be different but I am still looking forward to it! It will be fun to see what it's about. And to see how similar it is to zone conference if it is at all.

Well I love and miss you all! Bye bye Until next week!
Love,
Elder Ballantyne