12/27/11

Dear Family,

So not much new news and I am e-mailing from a mac store so not too much time. But I got the call last night, I am getting transfered to some place called Pontefract! So that will be exiting and I am sure that I will have tons of news for next week. Oh and yup, all of my Christmas packages arrived on time. :) And now I have music to listen to and candy to get fat on (although for my own safety I am leaving that in Gateshead). Oh and David thank you so much for filling up my iPod! :) I just have a few questions for you..... What made you think Jesus Christ Supperstar was approved???????!!!?!?!?!?!?! I can understand Sons of Provo (also slightly dodgy) but really that music is apostate by anybody's standards. Haha anyway g2g

Love ya's,Elder W. W. Tombs

1219/11

Dear Family (Special thanks to Patrick, Mom, Dad, Nana and Pappy, and Lindsey for the emails and another big shout out to Nana and Pappy for written post (and a wonderful Christmas card. :)))

So as to my phone call in a few days, I am planning on calling at 4pm my time so around 10 y'alls time right? As to anything else, I have no idea. Pretty much I will be calling from my ward mission leaders house but I think we will initiate the call or else we will just call or txt real quick and send y'all the number. But guess what today is? Not P-day! We get an hour of email time today because tomorrow we are having a mission Christmas party!!!!! The ENTIRE mission is heading down to the base at Harogate tomorrow for the most epic Pday ever!!! I will be sure to send loads of pictures. :) I am so pumped! Elder Bullman and I are staying in New Castle tonight and then tomorrow they will drive us down to Sunderland where the entire zone will take a bus down into the base. Oh and it finally snowed this week :) It was so fun! Elder Bullman and I were pegging each other with snowballs and sliding down massive hills (while talking to everyone of course) :) Then it rained. Snow+rain+cold=less fun. But that is England for you. Man Micheal and Kyle are already getting back! :O that is crazy, and I remember extremely clearly Heath and Micheal McAuley's leaving! Time flies so fast on your mission! Speaking of time, it's time to get back to work.

Love ya'll and speak to you in just a few,

Elder W.W. Tombs

12/12/11

Dear family and friends (namely Dad, David, Patrick, Nana and Pappy, and Lindsey for e-mails and Brittany for written post),

So life here in England carries on as usual..... Except that it is getting pretty cold! It isn't really that bad most days, in fact, hearing that El Paso has had snow really makes me count my blessings.

It normally stays close to 0 degrees C most nights and is a bit warmer in the day. I haven't even had to break out the inlining for my jacket yet.:) But nights, after it rains, the roads get SO slick! And.. Gateshead has tons of hills, so I am glad that we don't have a car here. :)

Just as a side note I love sliding down hills! :) I went almost 30-40 yards the other night (on my feet) with one push. (Sort of the same way we always did in the driveway when we were younger, jumping on to ice patches. :)) Oh and Dad you told me to invite/challenge people to be baptised earlier. Well, here in the Leeds, England mission we invite people to be baptised no later than the first appointment :) It is the best gift we have to offer, why wait any longer than that?

Well G2g peeps, talk to ya in 13:)

Love,

Elder W. W. Tombs

12/5/11

Dear family+friends+random strangers (with special shout outs to Patrick, Mom, Tyler, and Lindsey for emails this week and a BIG round of applause for Lindsey for written post and my favorite Christmas gift I have received on my mission! :))

This week was SO good! I am just so pumped to write y'all about a few of the people here, but I know as soon as I write they disappear. So I will just have to wait for the 17th!!!!!!!! (hint hint) :) Every team in the mission here has set a goal to baptize at least one convert by the end of the year, and so far it looks like it is going to happen! :) North Shields (one of the teams in my zone) was looking really good to baptize a girl named Barbara. But then her mother got really sick and she had to go down to London to care for her. Then, this Sunday they fasted that she would be able to be baptized and 15min after they broke their fast they got a call from
Barbara saying that her mother died and that she would be able to be baptised. Miracles are happening here in England even if they do include sadness.

But yup - g2g till next week,
Love Elder Tombs
(Ha.. when I put it like that, it sounds like a command.)

P.S. Could somone send me a good/ easy pancake recipe (from scratch). We have tons of syrup in the flat.

11/28/11

Dear David, Patrick, Nanna and Pappy, Mom, Dad, and Lindsey (and everyone else who may read this blog but for whatever reason doesn't write). Ohh and special thanks to Family for Halloween candy, Nanna and
Pappy for card+$, and Lindsey for written post!

So first off, sending me candy= a bad idea. :P I loved it but it was gone by noon the next day. I have always been a big fan of snacking, but I never buy any snack food so here I am safe, that is... until some comes through the post box. Haha. But anyway, in other news, Thanksgiving isn't much of a holiday over here (at all). But I did have a pie (a meat pie but a pie), ate too much (partially the candies fault), and I got a letter from Lindsey that day (so spent time with family/friends (ish)), so I think I covered all of the Thanksgiving traditions. Also it is getting cold over here. And the sun has completely set and it is dark by around 4:30! It is ridiculous! But for the last few days we have had somewhere to go when the sun sets so it has been pretty nice. :) Oh and here is something about England, lots of people don't open their doors after dark. So knocking doors becomes much less effective. As a funny note though some people yell from the other side "who is it?" and if you answer, "It is the missionaries..." than they will just say to go away, but if you answer "it's Elder Tombs and Elder Bullman" they open up. They ask who is it to make sure that the person at the door is not some serial killer waiting to knife them and steal their stuff and yet saying I am a random stranger whose name you don't recognise works better than, "I am a servant of the Lord sent to offer you eternal salvation." :) I noticed that last night and pointed it out to Elder Bullman and we both had a good laugh but I gots to goes till next week,
Elder W.W. Tombs

11/21/11

Dear Everyone (with special shout outs to Aunt Kathy, Aunt Patty, Patrick, David, Mom, Dad, Nana and Pappy [they wrote last week too - sorry] Elder Bouger [misspelled] and Lindsey for their emails),

Thank y'all so much for the emails this week. I have had quite a bit to read. :) Unfortunately, that gives me less time to write. :P But anyway, so this week has been my first week with my new comp, Elder Bullman. It has been really really fun. We have been working hard and finding many new people to teach (unfortunately few of them look solid at the moment, but such is life). We have been working our tails off though and it has been great. Oh and guess what, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here! What's up with that? Haha. Actually there are some funny things that I have noticed. In the North (back home), the civil war is commonly taught as a war over slavery and in the South it is taught as a war over states rights. Well in the States the war for Independence is taught as a great victory and here they don't even acknowledge that they lost! Ha. Anyway see y'all next week.

Many smiles,

Elder W. Tombs

11/15/11

Dear everyone:

Mom, Mary, Patrick, and Lindsey for emails and Lindsey, Jannette, David??, and Shayla for written post! :))

So I got a package from Shayla and David this week, but so far as I can tell... I got a package from Shayla this week. :P Um David, if you want real recognition in these emails you should probably write me. Haha. So in the package was a big pack of candy! And Shayla said to send a picture of us breaking into it :). Yup also in response to Mary's question, I just want a pokemon picture and I wanted to make it a contest. Whoever can send me the best (hand drawn) Poke-Picture, is going to win a pretty nice prize! :) Oh so this email is coming out on Tuesday because yesterday was transfer night! :) I am staying in Gateshead but Elder Montgomery is heading off to Leeds. I am done training! And my step father is going to be Elder Boulman! He was in my district last transfer! He was previously (or is still until tomorrow) in South Shields which is only about 15 min east of Gateshead and he is one of the funniest guys that I have ever met :) I am so exited! But I am going to miss Elder Montgomery :P Honestly, I am just glad I am not the one leaving :) Gateshead is pretty slow right now so far as areas go, but all of the people here are just so wonderful :) I am really hoping to be here when a few of these people get baptised :) But anyway g2g I will get back you y'all next week with how things are going.

Love you all,

Elder Tombs

11/7/11

Good Monday everyone :)

Especially Mom, Dad, Patrick, Mary, Tyler and Lindsey! With special thanks to Lindsey for written post, and specialer thanks to Lindsey for a wonderful package!

So this week was pretty fun. :) We didn't knock on as many doors as we normally have to so that is great :). This Saturday was Bonfire night! For those of you who don't remember what bonfire night is... join the crowd. They set off fireworks and sit around bonfires and don't like it when missionaries knock :P haha. But no we didn't do any knocking once it got to about tea time. We had appointments! So good. :) But most people are doing things on bonfire night so our appointments were with really old less actives. :P But a few of them are looking good to come back to church so that is good. :) Also, my comp got sick yesterday. :( It sounds like what I had a few weeks ago, so I think I am safe, but I do not envy him one bit. So Mary Beth, if you can't draw me a Kadabra then could you send me a Skirtle and a Geodude? in fact maybe I will make this a contest. Whoever can send me the best Poke-picture (hand-drawn) will win an amazing prize. :) But hey, times almost up G2g

Love yous,

Elder W. Tombs

10/31/11

So thank you for all of the Emails this week! (Namely from Patrick, David, Mary, Lindsey, Nana and Pappy, Alex Bauer, and Mom [with a special shout out to Alex and Becca Gifford and Nana+Pappy for written post!])

So this week was pretty fun. We had some big lows and some decent highs; that is missionary work. :) Love it! My trainer and I are getting along really well and it is sad for me to think that in just 2.5 weeks we will be split up. :P But anyway, today is Halloween and I don't have much email time, because we had some funtivities in New Castle (zone P-day by the way). So we got back a bit late and only have a bit to email. Also, my letters this week are lacking :P Sorry, the only one who is getting post back is Lindsey, but what can you do? I will write more next week, promise. :) Oh but here is something fun, I learned how to wrestle a table today. :) Yeah you set out one of those big long tables like at the church and you kneel on top of it and try to get underneath it and back on top (like full circle) without touching the ground. :) It is really fun and I got it on my first try! I felt so proud of myself (especially since I expected to look like a huge fool). :P. But I definitely recommend it. It leaves big red marks on your arms though. So just as a note, on Halloween we still work over here but we are not allowed to do any finding. So we have to have appointments. That made yesterday fun because we didn't learn that info until Saturday night and normally we avoid scheduling lots on Monday because we only have 3 hours as it is... and we don't want to loose any time to travel. But it all worked out and we have people. However, we had to make like a bagillion (misspelled) calls to set them up. :P I would mention names but every time I write about someone they drop us so I will tell you about people after they are dunked. :) Anyway g2g,

Much love,

Elder W. W. Tombs

PS Happy Halloween

PPS make Bug get better for me!

10/24/11

Dear Family, (Props to Mom, David, Patrick, Mandie and Lindsey who emailed me and a special shout out to Lindsey, Mandie (a few weeks ago oops), and the Roberts family!!!!!)

So this week was fairly slow. We had some really big highlights but last time I mentioned those they disappeared. So I will give you epic stories either after people disappear or get baptized. :) haha. Oh and congrats to Mary Beth for her job in the primary program! Anyway, this week has been really cold (or maybe it just seemed so because I had a cold :P). So today I am going in to Newcastle to buy some thermals (oh and if y'all could send the ones that I have back home (if any) on up that would be nice too. :)) And a nice scarf. :) Oh and mom, I already bought my 2ND suit. :) Yup that was weeks and weeks ago. Oh but last P-day we went to the Metrocenter! It is the largest shopping center in all of Europe! (It is probably the size of the El-Paso mall :P) But I got some new shoes. :) I got a pretty nice deal too because I got my new proselyting shoes and some winter boots together so they were only like 55£. Oh, by the way the other pair of shoes that I brought (the ones that Lindsey liked ;)) are still in mint condition. I only wear them to church and zone conferences so hopefully they last a good while. :) Anyway, I gots to get agoin

Love,

Elder W. W. Tombs

11/17/11

Dear family... (specifically: David, Patrick, Mom, Dad, Aunt Donna, Nanna and Pappy, and Lindsey)(with a special shout out to Lindsey, Jannette, Mom and Mary(ish) [just because it was your birthday and that picture of jiggly puff was so legit]) for writing me letter letters!)

So where to start? Well first off missionary work is really picking up here. We have had an extremely blessed week (as those who are expecting more specific letters will know). Oh, also here is a funny story. So while I was on exchange with Elder Clawson (last mon-tues) we taught this one Chinese lady named Sophia (Elder Clawson is a Chinese speaking missionary), and after we finished the lesson (we taught her in the library here because she lives in student housing and they don't like missionaries over there) we were walking away and Elder Clawson mentions how it was a really good lesson and that it was too bad we didn't have time to invite her to be baptized! I had totally forgotten! (Not good, because that is something we have all be asked to do is invite in the first lesson) So I said, "Oh no I forgot!" and then ran back over and extended the invitation! And she accepted! So that just goes to show what kind of blessings obedience brings. :) Yup, but that is my big story for the week. I love you all. See you next week :)

Love,

Elder Tombs

P.S. My shoes are SO thrashed! And those little gaps in the back are where my rock collection comes from. I literally rattle as I walk :P

10/10/11

Dear family (with a special shout out to Mom, Patrick, Nana and Pappy, and Lindsey and Dad,

*The people with "ands" before their names are even more special because they sent me real mail and email!

So this week has been pretty nice. It was rough in spots as those with post will figure out, but on the whole, it was pretty fun. Oh and here is a story.... So here in Gateshead there is this ice cream truck that plays this REALLY creapy song. We always hear it over the wind and it reminds us of a zombie movie like right before you see the zombies. So we have heard this song at least once a day but have never seen the truck! Until this week! It came down a street we were knocking and mutated Elder Montgumery and I into zombies! haha. Oh and to answer some of my loving mother's questions: I don't really know what the biggest high of my mission has been. There have been a few... and then all the people who caused them have dropped us. Yeah, fun stuff, but for a few highs for this week:
1. Herman came to church.
2. We had a miracle finish (as those who write me will know),
3. Elder Montgumery stepped on an extremely crunchy leaf.
That may not sound like much, but they were all miracles to some extent. (The last one too. We have had lots of rain so most of the leaves don't crunch right now.) But life here is a blast! And today I will be going on exchange. So for the next 24 hours I will be in Newcastle, which I am supper exited for! I have been on 3 exchanges and never left Gateshead. Also I will be with Elder Clawson who came out 3 weeks before I did. :) He is really funny Elder and a hard worker. But I feel like exchanges are so good! Every time we have gone on them in the past, the work has sparked! With Elder Woodside, we found 3 new investigators! With Elder Ottie we taught Hazel for the first time (and only - but it was still epic and she had accepted a baptismal date). With Elder Bowlman (misspelled) we got a few really good potentials! So I am exited to see what Elders Montgumery and Jacobsen do with our area over the next day. :) But anyway G2G
I love you all,
Elder W. W. Tombs
Oh- PS. My favorite scripture for this week is in Jacob chapter 5 and I can't remember the verse, but it says ,"What more could I have done for my vineyard?" and/or "It grieveth me to loose this tree." Yeah, sad but true. :P But such is missionary work

10/4/11

Hello there family and friends (namely Patrick, David, Mom, Dad, Nana and Pappy, and Lindsey),

So things are going pretty well here in England, but if you want truly great stories you will just have to snail mail. Hahaha bribery. I love it. Yeah, but snail mail is one of the greatest things ever here - so do it! Besides you write me, I write you, and everyone loves that feeling of looking in the mailbox and seeing a letter addressed to them. I know I did at least. And this week I have a pretty epic story involving the Zone leaders, setting a mission record, and at least 2 pineapples. Hooked? You should be, but I guess Lindsey will be the only one to hear about it :P. wuahaha! But in answer to your questions mother, no it has not been raining constantly. So far it has only been about once a week. So that was nice, but we are heading in to winter, so it is about to start picking up. But it has actually been REALLY hot this week! It is the first time in my mission I served without my jacket. And it is so humid that heat is unbearable. I am almost glad for winter. Oh and as to your other question, breakfast for me usually consists of a beef and egg burrito. I put more effort into my morning meal than most because our flat has the best shower in the mission, so Elder Montgumery usually gives me plenty of time. :) Lunch is exceptionally random. Sometimes members will give us food to take home (namely Sister/mama Ives) (for more info on that character write letters) and we will just nuke that or something else easy. But I have gotten away from horrible microwave meals. They taste great but 29 grams of fat in one go - that's ridiculous! (Try yelling that at in an English accent sometime - it is great) No I usually do something involving some type of cook-able meat and lettuce. Yeah, it is pretty intense, but I actually really enjoy lettuce now, it is crazy! But hey, I gots time constraints. g2g

Love,
Elder W. W. Tombs

Dear Family and Friends (specifically Nana+Pappy, David, Patrick, Dad, Mom, Mary Beth, and Lindsey),
So this week was fairly spectacular! I won't mention any names because every time I do something happens. (Literally - I sent a letter to Lindsey about an epic investigator and 3 hours later she called and canceled our appointments.) But things are going really well here. Oh and mom, as for your question about my days (teaching in evenings, but what in the working hours?).... It doesn't matter what time it is honestly :P. The welfare system here is kind of messed up, so 50% of people don't work at all. They just sit around and claim to be looking for work (we call them chaves). So actually almost 1/2 of our teaching appointments occur between 12-3pm. Which wouldn't be bad except that it is really nice to get off the streets in the evenings, and getting members to lessons is difficult as most of the members are employed. But such is life. Oh, this week may be a fairly historic week for me. It may be the first time I/we have to drop an investigator instead of the other way around. Yeah he is a really really rich old guy who really just wants to talk more than to learn and he doesn't really let us teach much, so we may have to drop him and use our time elsewhere which is really sad to me, but he really doesn't want the gospel at all and other people do, so unless something changes it may be bye bye Jared. It is really sad. Oh well. Hey this week is conference! Did you know that we watch the Saturday evening session on Sunday morning here? Yeah, huge time change, but both morning sessions are live so that is nice. :) But it is going to be epic! I never realized before what a great missionary opportunity conference is. It is one thing to tell people that there is a prophet on the earth today, but another entirely to say would you like to hear him speak. But anyway g2g

Love,
Elder William W. Tombs

PS-I was going to look up a rebuking scripture because I still haven't gotten any non-Lindsey post yet but I do realize that post takes 8-days or so to get here, but I am expecting mail :). Seriously, tell everyone to write me! Tell your friends it doesn't even matter if I know them or not, just give them the address and tell them to send a few thoughts. My companion is seriously the most written to Elder in the mission! Every day he has a letter waiting for him! I need to stay competitive also you get alot better stuff with my hand written stuff :) Just saying. So yeah- letters! Tell all of your friends (like literally ALL of them and give them my address :)) Haha... But seriously..
PPS sorry about the Ipod :P I guess I didn't think that through too well :P
William sent his ipod home but it never made it. We received the letter without the ipod and the envelope had a big tear in the side. Someone somewhere got to listen to a whole lot of Mormon tabernacle choir music. :)

9/19/11

Hello everyone, especially Mom, Dad, Patrick, Mary, Nana & Pappy, Tyler, and Lindsey,

So this week was really exiting! I have tons to write but verry little time. But hey, I know you could all write me letters! Like seriously, every day when we come in for lunch, there is this thrill knowing that you might have posted. Lindsey is writing me weekly and that makes me happier than almost anything I can imagine. Nana sent a wonderful photo album (thank you so much by the way - that has really brightened up my flat). And just the other day, my ward mission leader sugested that I carry a photo of my family arround to sort of humanise myself instead of being mr missionary so that helped alot. :)) But they have lives and can't make sure I get a letter every day can they? Haha. But seriously, anyone who writes me will get a letter in return.....with probably much more info than I can email :P. But anyways.... so funny story time. So at zone meetings we always end with a testimony meeting. So I get up to bear my testimony and I have no idea what to say, but I start by saying how wonderful my comp/trainer is because we really are working hard and doing well, and I say, "Elder Montgumery is so awesome" :P "Awesome" is a slang word here and missionaries are not supposed to use it. I realize my mistake and say, "Oh crap."!!!!!! Yeah, g for genious. Crap is actualy like a mild swear word here. SO embarassing but I think I pulled it together after that and we all had a good laugh about it. Definitely not one of my finer moments though.

But anyway g2g,

Love, Elder W. W. Tombs

P.S. Will a man rob Elder Tombs? Yet ye have robbed me. And ye say wherin have we robbed thee? In letters and written notes. Wherefore bring ye all the letters unto the post office that there may be mail in my house saith the Elder, and prove me now hearwith if I will not open unto you the windows of England and pour you out a letter that there shall not be room enough to recieve it.

(Yeah, seriously write me! It costs like 98cents to get a letter here. That is less than a meal at taco bell so tell all your friends.) :)

more pics (2) 9/13/11

more pics 9/13/11

9/13/11

Dear loved ones, (I am not sure if that should be capitalized)

So thank you everyone who wrote me this week (Nana, Pappy [it feels odd not putting an "and" right there], Dad, Mom, David, Aunt Kathy, and Lindsey). Arg!!! Cowboys need to win! But if they do have a terrible season, I am glad I am in England where no one cares :P. Oh and Baptism! (x2) It was amazing! But it took a huge chunk out of our day :P (Kind of an odd thing to be peeved about :P) Oh and I am going to send some pics of what our flat is like over here just because it is WAY nicer than I expected. Oh and guess what?? I cut my own hair! (Twice!) Yeah, my hair was getting way too long so I chopped it off. And then apparently it was still too long :P My hair is extremely short right now as you can see in the picture of Elder Winder and I. That is Elder Winder, he was my best buddy in the MTC. He was soooo odd but really really funny. Ah good times oh speaking of pictures, I think Mary Beth will really enjoy some of his art. (This is my first week to really send pictures so I am sending alot.) Oh and this is my companion in the MTC, Elder Holland (and me looking awkward:P) but funny story about him. He seemed to have a hard time in the MTC remembering that he couldn't flirt with the sisters. (We all made fun of him for that (in a nice brotherly way) but he is off now in the Scotland Ireland Mission. Last week at zone conference (also epic - I have like the greatest zone leaders ever) the letters from the mission office were there and he had written Sister Belleston a letter :P Very funny in my opinion - especially because she is 2 years older than he is. But anyway, here is my new(ish) companion, Elder Montgomery. Oh and Mom you would be so proud of me. I am eating really healthly. (With the exception of members who try to kill us with food.) I have been eating actual fruits and vegetables (veggies mostly when members serve them). But last week I even went so far as to buy a head of (wow I can not spell! the grean leafy salad stuff). Yeah be impressed :) But anyway I just got the 1 min warning so G2G.

Love,

Elder W. W. Tombs

9/5/11

Hey Mom, Dad get on the email bus!

So thank you everyone this week who wrote me. Namely:
Patrick
Tyler
Lindsey
Nana and Pappy

Hey David, Mary, Mom, and Dad don't seem to appear on this list.. Oh right.... that's because they didn't write me! Rebuke! Haha. But ok back to news. So this week was amazing! I have my first baptism this Saturday! Daisy and Fatima passed their interviews this week and Daisy has asked me to give her the Gift of the Holy Ghost! So I guess I am going to have to learn how to do that. But it is alright becaue all of that stuff is in the white handbook so I will live. :) But anyway this week is Daisy and Fatima and two weeks from now is Archie (or Akbar I can't remember what I called him last week)! He is golden! He just needs to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and everything will work out. :) But we brought him one in Farsi this week (he is from Iran did I mention that?) so I think it will happen. :) Oh funny story! So we were waiting for a bus one day and we found that we had like 15 min till it arived. So Elder Montgomery and I decided to knock a few doors. One of the houses actualy just let us in! Like no return apointment thing.... just come on in I would love to hear about God's plan of happiness. It was amazing! But then we got inside and it was a Born Again Christian religious meeting :P. So we sat down and they pretty much interrogated us on our beliefs and one of them told us how Jesus appeared to him and he walked with him and learned for about a year. It was interesting but it got to about 10 min before the next bus came (the next one not the 15 min one from the biggining) and so we asked if we could close with a prayer and this man offered to say it. We missed the bus. He prayed for like 20 min and like the others were all "yes Lord(ing)" in the backround. One guy was even babbleing in tongues. Well time is up I have to get back to work(ish) because it is Pday. Oh, if anyone has any good recipies that would be easy and cheep and delicious I would love to get those. :)
Elder William W. Tombs

8/29/11

Hi Mom & others (+Dad, Patrick, and Lindsey),

So my first area is Gateshead! It is WAY north in the mission. My trainer is Elder Montgomery, and he is way cool (although cool is slang here and I can't use it anymore). We are whitewashing this area. For those who don't know that means that there were no missionaries here and now there are us. The area book is SO unorganized and just a mess! So until church yesterday our only guidelines were a few sticky notes on walls :P But it has been fun. ALOT of tracking and street contacting, but fun. I still haven't taught my first official lesson, but I will on Tuesday! But I have met so many great people here, especially the ward mission leader. He is determined that we will lead the mission! I think with these people and our work we just might! We have tons of less actives in the ward though and we have been focusing on them last week. But I think I have been inside like 5 houses, and three were ward leaders :P. So knocking doors is less than ideal. But now that we have our foot in the door with the members, I think things are really going to pick up :). Oh and our first baptism is next week! Daisy and Fatima were being taught by the Zone leaders (pretty much because Bro. Bell [ward mission leader] made them stop by often to teach because he is just that into his job!). This week I am going to go over the baptismal interview questions with them so fun fun. They are on holiday for now though so that won't be till Thursday. Anyway that is England; see ya next week (oh P-Days are on Mondays here)
Love,
Elder W. Tombs
P.S. Have Mary text Lindsey Hi! :)

8/23/11

Hey everyone,

First off - thank you for the mail everyone. :) I would take time to list all the people who wrote, but there are alot of them and I only have a few min.

Tomorrow is really p-day but it is also transfers so I won't be able to send anything and so they gave us 5 min today. But I am fine, happy, and no - I haven't picked up the accent (some funny stories on that by the way). So see ya next week sorry.

Love,

Elder William W. Tombs

pics from MTC office

8/16/2011

Hey everyone thanks for the letters this week from:

-Mom

-Dad

-Patrick x2

-and Lindsey :)

That is wonderful! :) (The last bit about Mary Beth texting Lindsey I mean). (I wrote William and informed him that Mary Beth was keeping up with Lindsey and texting her very often.) That really makes me smile on the inside. But things here are going really great. Everyone is getting along really well and the food here is wonderful. I even enjoy the salads that they serve us. Oh and being a district leader here is like the easiest thing ever (and probably the most helpful). My district is amazing! We have so many great people including one who knows Lindsey. Ha! (If you read these letters Lindsey you get to know more about that in my letter to you). But also being a leader makes me watch everything I do. So I have been almost the ideal missionary. (But I pretty much have the ideal district.) So things here are great and I have been staying really active and have been working out daily so I don't come home and need P90X. Haha. But hey, my time is up, so see ya next week from Leeds.

Love,

Elder William W. Tombs

8/10/11

Hey Mom/Family,

So the MTC here is great. And I didn't forget anything that has come up so far, so that is good. And the food here is decent. It is nothing too exiting. I can definetly see what you mean by bland though, nothing here seems to have the same suger content or be as processed. Haha. But seriously, I miss processed foods. Except they have nutela here! It is amazing! Every morning I have a bit of it on a piece of toast with my breakfast. Oh and I have only had cabbage twice and it is decent (at least how they prepare it in the MTC) but it is the potatos that I think I am going to die from. They serve them with literaly every meal. I don't particularly enjoy potatos either so that is getting a bit annoying, but I am learning just to chew and swallow. My comp here is Elder Holland and he is a way cool guy. He enjoys pillaging and always seems to have something to say (especially after lights out :P). But we are working well together and there is no chance to slack here at the MTC so we are just trying to be perfectly obedient. Oh and there are only 50 missionarys here, and almost 1/2 of them will be serving in the Scotland Ireland mission ( including my comp) and the other 1/2 are spred between Manchester and Leeds. But WOW Patrick is already teaching the mission prep! That is fast. Tell him not to let Quinn try and give any crap. Haha. Oh and tell David that I will let this week slide because he is at EFY but that is no excuse. Anyway, we are about to head into town to do some shopping so I gotsta run. See ya round guys.

Love,

Elder William W. Tombs

8/5/2011 Frist email home

Hello Mom,

So I just made it to the MTC and things here are amazing. This place is a whole lot smaller than I imagined, but the people are really nice and everything is very homey. Also, the keyboards here are way odd. All of the letters are in the same spots but the symbols and the shift keys are different. Anyway, this place is great and I am safe and today will be my only really relaxing day it seems. We have practically nothing to do today but unpack and sleep. :P. But the temple here is beautiful and we will be able to go next Wednesday I believe. Also, I met up with 28 other Elders and 4 Sisters in the Atlanta airport so that was nice. We also had 2 Elders from South Africa and 2 from Australia. Oh and 2 from Germany that haven't arrived yet, but none of us Elders know if they speak English, so that may be fun. Anyway it is way early in the morning there but it is lunch time here, so I will see y'all around.

Love Elder William W. Tombs

P.S. P-days are on Tuesdays here so that is probably when I will email.

P.P.S. Tell Lindsey hi.

Starting the mission ......

We started the first week of August with welcoming home Elder Patrick Tombs - Monday, August 1 @ 3:41pm. Patrick was able to meet Lindsey Hanna and Shayla Miller as well as say hello to the Roberts and Joshua Bacon. On Tuesday the boys were able swim and have fun together. Tuesday evening the Betasso group came in to town so that Wednesday we could take pictures and preserve the precious moment that everyone could be together.

On Wednesday, August 3rd, we started the evening taking pictures on the TTU campus. We came back to the house and did a quick change into our formal outfits for William to be set apart. The Tombs family, most Betassos, Hannas (Mom, Lindsey, & Robert), Shayla Miller, and Marti Wallace were all present for William's setting apart. President Shumay, President Kimball, and President McCombs were present and shared their thoughts with William. It was a sacred experience. Afterward we walked to the temple to take more family photos.

On Thursday morning, Lindsey, Mandy, Shayla, and the Roberts met us at the airport to send William off to Manchester. From Manchester, he and a host of other missionaries were to be picked up and brought by bus to the MTC in Preston, England.

What a wonderful and blessed week.

Getting Ready to Leave

William recieved his mission call the same day Tyler Roberts received his! Lee Ann and I (Elizabeth) got the mail and made the phone calls. I texted William to bring the crowd home for lunch. Tyler had to come to the house from working at Chick Fil-A. They were so fun to watch as they opened up their calls. Tyler was called to serve in Calgary, Canada and William was called to serve in Leeds, England.

William started to make his lists for what to buy and what to find for the mission. First up - get the passport and the visa and secondly, shop for the limited wardrobe. Those were fairly laborious but the waiting on the visa was the long part. Two weeks prior to his "report in" date he received his visa.