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