Week One Baby - England MTC

Hello!

The first week here in Chorley England has been great. It took us 34 hours to get here after me and 20 other British missionaries missed flight after flight after flight. It's alright though, just happy we made it. 

The MTC here is super small but it's beautiful. Currently has only 50 missionaries so everybody knows everybody and it's right next to the Preston temple.There's a lot of foreign missionaries here too so it's fun to learn about their cultures. My companions name is Elder Hardman! He's awesome and we get along great. 

Some highlights from the week:

My district! Lucky me I got called as the district leader over the Manchester missionaries and I've loved the responsibilities that come with it. My district is phenomenal! We've got 8 Elders going to Manchester from Utah, LA, Finland, Norway, Germany, and Czech Republic. Seriously the best group of guys I could ask for. Love em all. 

The Classes! The teachers here are amazing and we learn and study SO much. Elder Hardman and I got to teach an investigator this week 3 times and it was fantastic. Can't wait to do it for real. We also do an exercise where we learn a lesson and then practice trying to teach another missionary the lesson in 3 minutes, then 1 1/2 minutes and then 30 seconds. Me and my Czech homie Elder Novotny were teaching each other the restoration in 30 seconds and we were both trying to talk so fast to fit in all we had to say it was so funny we lost it haha. It's been a while since I've laughed that hard. I've been refreshing my Czech language skills too with Elder Novotny it's moc dobry ;)

Yesterday all 50 missionaries were able to go out to a main square in Manchester and practice Proselyting. It was nice to get out of the MTC and do some real missionary work. We were only able to do it for 2 hours but we talked with lots of great people and placed a few Books of Mormon! We were also rejected a lot too tho, a lot of people just swore at us or flipped us off haha it was a great experience. 

We got to do a session in the temple this morning and I really am so grateful I have a temple in my mission. Temples are a blessing. 

This week we've talked a lot about our missionary purpose of Inviting others to come unto Christ. We watched a devotional with president Bednar in which he talked of how when the natural man would turn inwards and think of himself, Christ ALWAYS looks outward and looks at how he can; care for others. As I've been reading about Christ this week I've noticed it! In every instance, the savior looks at how he can help others. I get more and more excited to get into the field every day and invite others unto Christ and tell them of the restoration of HIS church on the earth today. The atonement blesses us with strength beyond our own and I can't wait to share it with others. 

Pics below

All the loves 

Elder McConkie

England MTC

Preston, England Temple