These are some pictures that Elder Killian sent his Mom. Just a view of some of the places that he has been visiting.
Friday, October 29, 2021
Random Pictures in England
It's How you live Not where
Of these last seven days, I have only spent three of them in Washford/Taunton, the area I am assigned to. This happened because I started by doing an exchange with the elders in Southmead where I went there and stayed the night with them on Wednesday. Then Thursday evening I went straight from Southmead to Wales because there was a showing of the Book of Mormon musical there that ended around 9:15 PM. For those who don't know, that musical is not one to watch, it does not represent our church well. It is an amazing way to find people though. They watch fake missionaries for an hour or so only to find a dozen real missionaries encircling the entrance to the theater (at a legal distance of course). Not many people get by our army without getting a leaflet or passalong card. Alot of people laugh at us, a couple people swear, and some even ask for pictures. In general though, it is incredibly effective, the play makes people curious!
Because the showing ended so late, we stayed the night in Wales. We had some bad luck with construction so we didn't get to bed until about 12:45 in the morning after some zone leaders met us to open the door to some random flat the mission rents. Following that, I went on exchanges with our zone leaders where I went to Trowbridge to stay Friday night. It was really nice sleeping in my own bed again Saturday night and not having to live out of some bags. I loved all the exchanges though, it was an amazing opportunity to learn from tons of different missionaries and I feel much more prepared to teach the gospel here in England now!
Sorry for the long email, much has happened and the last thing I wanted to mention is that we are going to get to hear from not one, not two, but THREE different apostles this Friday in London. They are bussing our entire mission there for the day to be with the London mission so that President Ballard, Elder Cook, and Elder Holland can speak to us alongside their spouses! We are all incredibly excited and doing all we can to spiritually prepare!!
'til next week!
Elder Killian
Pic #1 - Elder Ford and I carved pumpkins today with the district to celebrate for Halloween
Pic #2 - us waiting outside the Book of Mormon musical in Wales, it was freezing
Pic #3 - tons of pastries we got for free from a bakery because they were a day old. We got about 7 boxes worth that we distribute to members and other families in need in the area. Pastries here are FAR superior to what we have in the states (yes, that is a chocolate covered AND chocolate filled croissant)
Stay Left!!
Hello everyone!
It is incredible to think I have only been in England for about two weeks! It simultaneously feels much longer yet much shorter at the same time! It has been an interesting challenge adjusting to everything but this week has helped out considerably!
For those who follow me on Facebook, you already know I drove for the first time in England the other day! Let me tell the whole story. My companion, Elder Ford, was born and raised in England. We both got really sick for about three days and are just now coming out of it, but he got it MUCH worse than I did. As a result he signed up to get a COVID test but didn't feel comfortable driving to it. With President Gallacher's permission, I was allowed to drive to it. The testing facility was only 27 miles away but it was an hour drive because of traffic and narrow roads. Elder Ford said I drive really well for an American. It was not easy though, I frequently needed to remind myself what lane to pull into so I didn't mess up, and the amount of near misses was incredible. That is normal here because of how tight ALL of the roads are though. We prayed before leaving as well and those prayers were heard and answered!
We weren't able to teach nearly as many lessons as we wanted to because we didn't want to get anyone else sick, but we did set aside plenty of time to use social media in finding new friends who may be interested. We have gotten more positive responses here than at any other point in my mission which has been cool, it is just difficult making the jump from messaging to doing a video call or meeting in person. We have faith, however, that we will be led to those people who have been diligently searching for the gospel. Finding one person like that makes a thousand rejections easily worth enduring.
Last thing I wanted to note, there is SO much chocolate here! First off, it is all incredibly high quality. Second, it is surprisingly cheap. That is a terribly unhealthy combo which results in members frequently giving us all sorts of chocolate. The food here is much healthier, but the chocolate more abundant so it evens out!
Thanks for all the support!
Elder Killian
Pic #1 - a picture of me stopped at a light while driving, all the lights here are just barely above the ground over the sidewalk
Pic #2 - a narrow path we walked for about half a mile while on exchanges
Pic #3 - pictures at district council
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Same Work....Different Place
It took two flights, three coach rides, and a few hours of driving on narrow roads through the country side but I finally arrived in my new flat in Washford. This area covers two units, the branch in Washford and the ward in Taunton. Back when COVID first hit, the mission shrunk to the point where most areas covered multiple units but now my area is one of the few remaining.
We alternate which building we attend so we went to Washford yesterday. We helped set up Saturday. They rent out a little memorial hall where we helped set up two tables, about 25 chairs, and some simple decorations. The talks and Sunday school lesson were amazing! These people are incredibly devoted and united. I look forward to meeting the ward at Taunton. Our flat is really nice but it has no dryer. Sadly, it would actually be unusual if it did since everyone here air dries their clothes. I will get to experience that for the first time today. Adjusting to using pounds instead dollars has also been fun! I frequently feel like everything is a little less expensive when it really is not.
I am told that the England Birmingham Mission has a rich history of miracles and I have had the opportunity to hear many of them and experience a couple. I have a testimony that God hears our prayers and that he cares about us. It is hard seeing people not care for Him but incredibly rewarding when they accept the message. To find people to teach we generally go contacting on the street but I am trying to see how effective Facebook is as well. So far it has been working well!
I feel as though there is so much I want to mention but I don't have the space or the time! I'll get to it all eventually though!
Love you all!!
Elder Killian
Pic #1 - heading out street contacting, instead of "how are you" people say "you alright mate"
Pic #2 - a cool church we drove by, all the houses have very similar aesthetics
Pic #3 - the key to our flat (apartment), I just thought it looked cool, also, we have heated floors here, great for helping me acclimate slowly
Friday, October 8, 2021
England has Elder Killian now....
It is official Desmond left on Wednesday, October 6 at 3:00p.m. They had a layover in Atlanta, Georgia and then an 8 hour drive "over the pond" to England and a chance to serve in England.
We are not sure how long he will be in quarantine since he is vaccinated and was cleared to arrive in England.
These are a few of the pictures that Elder Killian sent to his Mom.....I think the smile on his face says it all!!!
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Florida Orlando Temple
Lots of developments this week! First off, we had interviews with President Ashcraft which were great as always! Then, we have a friend who recently got baptized that we are teaching about the temple. We decided to take him on a temple grounds tour but for the past month we haven't been able to make it happen because we needed to find a member to drive us. After sacrament last week a member just went right up and said he could drive and also invited the non member brother along! Between then and Wednesday (the day of the tour), we decided to invite more people so we got another recent convert to come along as well as the two other elders in Deltona. We had quite the procession going to the temple and it was beautiful! I really miss having the opportunity to go inside. The whole experience has been a great testimony builder of member missionary work. Members really can do what we can't.
Otherwise, we had some interesting experiences talking to people in a park where the first person was interested but visiting from another state, the second person was an inactive member of MANY years, and and third one was a little tipsy but more than happy to give us their number (as they always are)! I have also come to find out that Marijuana is very liberally used here in Deltona, frequently we will smell it pungent just driving down the road. Luckily, no one we are teaching has had a big problem with it yet!!
Love you all!
Elder Killian
Pic #1 - teaching early morning seminary on a P-day
Pic #2 - waiting our turn to talk to President Ashcraft
Pic #3 - at the temple with our friends
"Creepy Calling"
We have had some miracles this week! Getting people to come to church has always been a struggle. Each week we send out more than twenty different invitations but this week was the first time we have had anyone come in over a month! One of the two who attended was in person with the other over zoom. The one who came in person is on date for baptism and the one who attended over zoom ensured us that he would watch weekly from now on!!
When you can no longer tract, there is a challenge in staying busy. Ideally, we have lessons all through out the day with only little gaps we fill by finding over Facebook or visiting people who said they were interested back when they were taught a long time ago. Occasionally though, we have long stretches of time we need to fill with finding. After having knocked literally every door we are allowed to with COVID, and sending so many friend requests Facebook blocks us for the day, we decided to try just calling one of the people who left us on read when we saw they were active on Facebook. It was pretty awkward as it rang, but they never picked up and it got the conversation rolling again, so it was actually effective. The method is called creepy calling. Let's just say I am excited for when we can knock doors again though!
The work is going well here!
Elder Killian
Pic #1 - a blue tailed lizard we found on our step, the blue doesn't show up super well over camera but just trust me
Pic #2 - the moment elder Murphy realized that finishing his second plate of food was not going to be easy. In his defense this member PILES on the plate and won't let us leave without cleaning our plate at least twice
Pic #3 - a picture of me in the backup cam, we were trying to think of Facebook post ideas, this one wasn't a winner
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