> This was a great week! We have taught Lee Simcock’s friend, Thomas
> Spencer. He is doing great! We have taught him twice now; both times
> were in a member’s home. He and Sarah came to the baptism of Robin
> Alderson, and on the way home we had a great discussion about
> repentance and baptism. He had a few questions and we, with the help
> of Lee, were able to answer his questions.
>
> As for Sarah she has expressed that she feels good when she reads the
> book of Mormon. It seems as if wants to make sure that she is making
> the decision for the right reason.
>
> There has been an investigator named Sian that has been coming to
> church the past while. She was taught not to long ago but stopped
> investigating for a while, ever since she has been coming to church
> almost every week. Yesterday we got a phone call from bishop Masser,
> letting us know that she has agreed to be taught again! So we will be
> teaching her tonight. We are so excited!
>
> Things are going really good here in Rossendale Valley. The ward is
> doing missionary work 10 fold!
>
> With Love,
> Elder Ballantyne
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Pictures of Elder Ballantyne
(1/9/12)
(1/9/12)
(10/24/11)
Christmas morning
Practicing his swing on P-day (10/24/11)
Elder Marjanen (1/9/12)
Chinese investigators in Preston (10/24/11)Monday, January 16, 2012
weekly update 1/16/2012
> HELLO FAMILY,
>
> First of all for a weather update for the previous week, it has been
> unusually sunny! It's still pretty cold but the sun feels really nice.
> It's good to soak up the vitamin D for a change! Rather than having to
> take Vitamin D pills. People seem to be happier when it's nice and
> sunny.
>
> The member referrals are flowing! We are teaching Sarah, Lee Simcock's
> fiancée. We are also going to teach Tom Spencer tomorrow, another
> friend of Lee Simcock. And there are a few that we have not yet set up
> appointments with but are in progress. There are Sian, William, and
> Sister Chambers' friend that are beginning to make progress towards
> being taught. It's great!
>
> We haven't taught Linden and Hailey this week; in fact we have tried
> to call them but couldn't get through. So being a little worried we
> thought we would try by and see if everything is alright. They were
> there and everything is ok, we have just been calling at bad times. So
> they are back on track!
>
> This week has been a bit slow in our teaching but Elder Marjanen and I
> feel like we have making preparations for the best week ever, which
> will be next week. Our week already seems to be booked with
> appointments so it should be a very successful week.
>
> Elder Marjanen is doing well he is an amazing bus contactor. Not just
> because he does it be he does it in a way that is not threatening and
> sets the climate so that the spirit can bear witness all the time.
>
> Thanks for everything!
>
> With Love,
> Elder Ballantyne
>
> First of all for a weather update for the previous week, it has been
> unusually sunny! It's still pretty cold but the sun feels really nice.
> It's good to soak up the vitamin D for a change! Rather than having to
> take Vitamin D pills. People seem to be happier when it's nice and
> sunny.
>
> The member referrals are flowing! We are teaching Sarah, Lee Simcock's
> fiancée. We are also going to teach Tom Spencer tomorrow, another
> friend of Lee Simcock. And there are a few that we have not yet set up
> appointments with but are in progress. There are Sian, William, and
> Sister Chambers' friend that are beginning to make progress towards
> being taught. It's great!
>
> We haven't taught Linden and Hailey this week; in fact we have tried
> to call them but couldn't get through. So being a little worried we
> thought we would try by and see if everything is alright. They were
> there and everything is ok, we have just been calling at bad times. So
> they are back on track!
>
> This week has been a bit slow in our teaching but Elder Marjanen and I
> feel like we have making preparations for the best week ever, which
> will be next week. Our week already seems to be booked with
> appointments so it should be a very successful week.
>
> Elder Marjanen is doing well he is an amazing bus contactor. Not just
> because he does it be he does it in a way that is not threatening and
> sets the climate so that the spirit can bear witness all the time.
>
> Thanks for everything!
>
> With Love,
> Elder Ballantyne
Monday, January 9, 2012
weekly update 1/9/2012
Hello family!
Things are going great! The work seems to be moving swiftly forward here in the Rossendale valley ward. Last week I mentioned about a member referral, that we had recieved last sunday, named Sarah. We taught her last week on Tuesday. She is doing great, she has a strong member family to support her thought these life changing decisions. She has not accepted baptism yet, but I feel like she soon will. She has been to church three times now and seems to enjoy it. One of the members noticed here the first two weeks and mentioned to us that on the third week, which was the Sunday after we taught here, she seemed different.
We are still teaching Linden and Hailey. They seem to be doing well. We had a great lesson with them on Friday. We took a fairly recent convert with us; he bore quite a powerful testimony, followed up with a strong invitation to attend church. At first they agreed but then remembered that they were invited to a wedding. We will make sure they come this week.
On Sunday a great miracle happened! Earlier in the week we were heading home in the evening. As we were waiting for the bus, we spoke to a man named john we weren’t able to get his details or any return appointment, but we managed to invite him to church, as we do. Personally I don’t thing I have seen anyone come of an invitation on the street. But surprisingly this Sunday John walked in the chapel a few minuets late, and sat down quietly. After the meeting we went and greeted him and ended up getting his details. And we plan to try by him this week. I have a testimony that every effort counts and is not wasted!
--
With Love,
Things are going great! The work seems to be moving swiftly forward here in the Rossendale valley ward. Last week I mentioned about a member referral, that we had recieved last sunday, named Sarah. We taught her last week on Tuesday. She is doing great, she has a strong member family to support her thought these life changing decisions. She has not accepted baptism yet, but I feel like she soon will. She has been to church three times now and seems to enjoy it. One of the members noticed here the first two weeks and mentioned to us that on the third week, which was the Sunday after we taught here, she seemed different.
We are still teaching Linden and Hailey. They seem to be doing well. We had a great lesson with them on Friday. We took a fairly recent convert with us; he bore quite a powerful testimony, followed up with a strong invitation to attend church. At first they agreed but then remembered that they were invited to a wedding. We will make sure they come this week.
On Sunday a great miracle happened! Earlier in the week we were heading home in the evening. As we were waiting for the bus, we spoke to a man named john we weren’t able to get his details or any return appointment, but we managed to invite him to church, as we do. Personally I don’t thing I have seen anyone come of an invitation on the street. But surprisingly this Sunday John walked in the chapel a few minuets late, and sat down quietly. After the meeting we went and greeted him and ended up getting his details. And we plan to try by him this week. I have a testimony that every effort counts and is not wasted!
--
With Love,
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
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
Monday, December 19, 2011
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
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
Monday, December 12, 2011
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
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
Monday, November 28, 2011
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
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
Monday, November 21, 2011
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
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
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