- Liverpoool, England

Hello Loves!

It's been another grand week here in Liverpool! We've been so so busy but it's been great. 

This week my trainers had to go to a mission leadership council in Manchester so I got to go on splits with the phenomenal Elders Li and Chen. We had the craziest day ever and so many things just didn't work out. But then I contacted a lady at the bus stop and she wasn't super interested but she liked how willing we were to talk with her that she gave us 20£!! So we went to KFC and spent every last pence and had a feast. It was a bit of tender mercy haha.

I am so so happy I get to speak English on my mission, but also, I'm learning a little bit of lots of languages! There are so many different languages and cultures here that it helps to be able to connect with people a bit in their native tongue. 

The other day we went to visit our friends in the hospital and we read scriptures and taught them about prayer in Portuguese. At a street display, I contacted a lady in very broken Czech and tried to understand Skauss. Later that night we had Chinese festival we put on as a district that was aimed at bringing in ysa and there was a testimony meeting after in Chinese. After the testimony meeting, our companionship grabbed elder Brochu from France and we went and taught the restoration to one of our investigators in French!

I've realized this week how universal our church really is. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, what language you speak, or anything! We are all sons and daughters of God and he loves us all so much and wants us so desperately to return to him. That's why the gospel needs to be preached in every nation and every tongue! That's why we need missionaries! God speaks to his children through the spirit but how are they supposed to know that if we don't spread the word that everyone has a savior to turn to and a father in heaven who is mindful of everything they're going through. Spread the good word! Love the people!

Everyone go read Helaman 5:6-12 and then go tell someone why it's so important to have a testimony of Jesus Christ. Verse 12 is a classic but it's so important in this day and age.

This was a lengthy email sweet goodness

Love you all!

Elder McConkie

jmcconkie@myldsmail.net

Elder McConkie, Elder Li, Elder Chen

One Month! - Liverpool, England

Hello! This week has been lovely. My trainers are working me hard and we've been able to teach a lot this week! I don't really know how to summarize everything so I'll just share the 2 most memorable moments from the week:

1) We accidentally set the church kitchen on fire

2) We have had a few street displays in downtown Liverpool this week where there have been some very interesting encounters while contacting. Most of the time people just try to avoid you or pretend they don't see you (but I know they can, I'm 6'9 for crying out loud). One time I tried to stop a man and he said, "sorry brother I've gotta keep walking" and I was kinda tired of people giving me that excuse so I said "alright I can walk with you" And he was kinda surprised haha but I walked with him and ended up giving him a book of Mormon and bore my testimony of it. One thing I've learned is if you can crack people's worldly shell and can really start seeing them the way God does, your love for them (even if you've only met them for a minute) grows and you want nothing more than for them to realize how much God loves them! The gospel can fill any problem or worry or concern someone has, you just have to find out what it is.

Find someone this week who is struggling. Be there for them, love them and let them know that their father in heaven loves them unconditionally! Be bold enough to share something from the gospel that you think will be able to help them!

Missions are so hard and can be discouraging but I've already been able to see how the Lord is helping us find those who need the Lord. 

My motto this week has been:

Have Faith! Act in Faith! And see the blessings! 

Love you all!

Elder McConkie

jmcconkie@myldsmail.net

LIVERPOOL! - Liverpool, England

Elder McConkie, President McReynolds, Sister McReynolds

Hello! 

Last Tuesday we were shipped out of the MTC and took a bus to the mission home in Manchester! President and Sister McReynolds are fantastic. My whole companionship thing is a bit complicated haha. I'm in a trio with two Zone Leaders! My companions are Elder Auderlicky from the Czech Republic and Elder Masekoameng from South Africa/London. They've been working me hard and I've learned lots from them already. Because they have lots of ZL responsibilities I'll sometimes go on splits with Elders Li and Chen from China and Taiwan. So I've got essentially 4 trainers. It's grand.We are serving in the central Liverpool area and it's a beautiful city. Reminds me a lot of San Francisco.

Some highlights from the week:
Meeting the members! The Liverpool ward has a lot of different nationalities especially Brazilians and Chinese so I'm learning a bit of Portuguese and Mandarin from the members. They're all so joyful and I love em already.

We hosted a fireside in Liverpool last night where recently baptised members told their conversion stories and bore their testimonies. Missionaries from around the mission brought people investigating the church to listen to people who were in their shoes just a few weeks ago. It was a great night and I think it really impacted some people we are teaching.

The 21 day BofM challenge!
There is a challenge going around the Europe area that invites people to read a passage from the BofM that correlates with some big questions that some people might have for 21 days. It's a fantastic challenge and if you want to try it(you should) you should be able to find it on LDS.ORG.UK We did a street display advertising it downtown and I really enjoyed talking to people about it. It's funny though how people have such strong, negative opinions of the BofM when they haven't even read it haha.

I love you all, please please read your Book of Mormons every single day. In a world filled with so much chaos and distractions, it can give us such great peace and happiness!!

All the loves
Elder McConkie

Tour of Liverpool with President and Sister McReynolds

Elder McConkie and companion Elder Auderlicky from the Czech Republic

Book of Mormon>British Bible Bashers - England MTC

Hello!

This week has been great. I love the MTC here and it's fantastic how much we're able to learn about the Gospel. 

 I am getting a tad bit tired of sitting in class all day though and excited to get into the field. My favorite parts of the week are when we get to go practice proselyting at Picadilly square in Manchester! Elder Hardman and I got turned down a lot but we were able to talk to a lot of great people about the church and religion. Since the MTC sends 50 missionaries every week at the same time to the same place, a lot of anti-Mormons come to try and "bible bash" with us haha its fun to hear everyone's experiences when we get back on the bus. Lots of miracles and lots of rejection :) 

It's difficult to understand some people though because of how thick their British accents are, sometimes it feels like I got called foreign speaking and nobody told me haha. When you can't understand a word they're saying, you just gotta risk it for a biscuit and start talking about the book of Mormon or about Christ and have faith it will work out. Hopefully the MTC will start our language training soon

Another highlight from the week was when we went on a church history tour to Preston and learned about some of the very first missionaries of the church. We went to a town square where Heber C Kimball preached the gospel, saw the river where the first British saints were baptized and got to see lots of great parts of the city. President Preston (old Manchester mission president) led the tour and told us more about the great history of the church in England. It was so fun and it was nice to get out of the MTC

This week we've learned a ton about the book of Mormon and how it is the most powerful tool we can use in conversion. It is another testament of Jesus Christ and we will grow to know him and love him as we read the Book of Mormon. There's a fantastic talk about it by elder Holland that I highly encourage you all watch. It's called Safety for the Soul and is AMAZING. The book of Mormon manifests the power of the atonement and of Christ's doctrine. I'm so grateful for it and challenge all to read it.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder McConkie

MTC Group - England MTC

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

Good-bye, USA!