17 Miracles + A Baptism

Well this week was one I will always remember. Josh was baptised! So for my email, I just thought I'd share Josh's story with yall + the unbelievable miracles we experienced in order to get to this baptism. What a week!

Josh's Story
Joshua Collins found a copy of the book of Mormon whilst working part time at a bookshop. He took it home and read bits but didn't think much of it. He knew some about the church because his Dad is a less active member and his grandmother is very active. Josh studied philosophy and had come up with the conclusion that there was no God but religion always interested him. He was approached by two sister missionaries and agreed to meet with them later that week. He was then passed to myself and my companion and we began teaching him the lessons little by little. He kept all the commitments we gave him, he read, prayed, and asked God if everything was true and made so many changes in himself. Since he's been investigating, he's never missed a single hour of church. Josh would hitch a lift to church from a member family and would wear a suit underneath a hoodie and jeans (he didn't want his family to know he was investigating). He would walk an hour and a half to meet us in town for lessons. He attended several of our street displays to help invite others to learn about the restored gospel. After attending the baptism of a friend, Josh told us that he wanted to be baptised. On the 22 of September, in front of his parents, grandparents 4 younger sisters, and so many friends, Josh entered the waters of baptism and made his first covenant with the Lord . Just recently, Josh has told us that he wants to serve a mission and bring others the joy that the gospel brought him. In the span of 3 months, Josh went from an atheist to a member of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ and a future missionary! Josh is another testimony to me that the Lord actually does prepare the hearts of his children.

17 Miracles
To attend a baptism in my mission, you have to bring an investigator (much easier said than done my friends). I pretty much accepted the fact I wasn't going to be able to attend Josh's baptism. It's 45 minutes away, nobody would want to give up a Saturday night, and it was too short notice to organise everything. OR SO I THOUGHT.
We experienced 17 miracles this day (probs more but in reference to the movie title we will just stick with 17)

1. When I left Chorley, a recent convert, Jess offered to give us a lift to Josh's baptism. The offer still stood and she was willing if we paid petrol.
2.  Two days before the Baptism, we invited Anna and her mum and they said yes!
3. They didn't cancel!
4. We got the APs approval for us to leave the zone last minute :')
5. We got there safely and on time. NO TRAFFIC.
6. I was Reunited with the lovely Chorley members and missionaries.
7.We had time to look at the beautiful temple grounds with Anna and her mum.
8. I got to see my BFF Sister Dunlavy.
9. The best part... JOSH WAS BAPTISED!
10. Josh's less active dad and non member family and several friends were there to support him.
11.Josh gave such a powerful testimony.
12. Josh brought a spare pair of undies so he didn't have to "get dunked commando" (his words) . He also publicly thanked his nan (grandmother) from the pulpit for reminding him to do so:')
13. The ceremony was amazing. The spirit was so strong. Anna was so touched that she cried.
14. The Chorley sisters had someone familiar sitting next to them at the baptism. It was Al! A man Sister Hawkins and I tracted into weeks ago and his son! He came to church last week and he's taking the lessons!
15. There were custard donuts.
16. Anna agreed to come to church the next day.
17. The greatest miracle of all, perhaps is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and my sacred opportunity to watch it change the lives of people like Josh. I'm so grateful to have watched such a miraculous conversion take place.

Miracles have not ceased! I invite you all this week to look for those miracles!

There's not a soul on earth that could tell me that this isn't the Lords work:') I'm so grateful to be apart of it. Love you all. Have a good week!

Sister Gilland
England Manchester Mission 🇬🇧

Pictures: Josh's baptism, a cute less actives puppy, me and sister Escalon before a massive storm, also a bat the elders found on the way to district council.

Cheers to One Year!

Well this week was the 13th of September.... One year ago I entered the Provo MTC and put on a missionary badge for the first time. I can't believe how fast it's gone and how much I've learned. Four areas, seven companions, lots of laughs, lots of miracles, lots of tears, lots of rain, but most of all, lots of JOY. I've loved helping others come unto Christ whilst coming closer to Him myself. It is true when they say a mission is life changing!

Well we had a great week. My comp and I were both a bit sick with a cold so that messed up the week quite a bit but we still saw miracles! Most of our investigators are on holiday which is hard but we still have loads to do. We've been visiting a bunch of less actives and it's been really good. Josh is all set to be baptised on Saturday. Satan's gonna work hard on him so everyone keep him in yalls prayers!

Lol not much else to update yall on but a scripture Sister McReynolds shared at Zone Conference last week that particularly struck me is found in Mosiah 5:12 "I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you."

I honestly can't read that without weeping (missions make ya soft). I'm so grateful to have had His name written on a badge for the last year and to have been able to represent him every single hour of every single day. Whether you're on a mission or not, always REMEMBER to retain His name. I love this gospel and I love this work. This year has been so incredibly special to me and I can't believe how fast it's gone. I'm grateful for another 6 months here in England as a representative of Christ.

Love y'all! xx


Sister Gilland
England Manchester Mission 🇬🇧


Pictures
Sister Escalon went all out for my 1 year mark, this is what I woke up to :')
Painting a house haha the biggest fail.
Saw a Dalmatian and almost started crying.
The District Fam

Zone Conference With Elder Moreria

Wow what a week it's been! On Wednesday, we had Multi Zone Conference with the North half of the mission. It was held in Chorley so its like I never left ;) We had the privilege to hear from an area seventy Elder Joaquim J. Moreira. He's from Portugal and was so funny and so interesting to listen to. I feel like we talked about every area of missionary work but mostly focused of planning. It was a quite the spiritual kick in the pants and exactly what I needed to hear. I set so many goals for myself to make these last 6 months of my mission my best. I also got to see 6/7 of my last companions (the missing one is home now) so that was a fun reunion.

Just an update on Josh in Chorley! He's doing so well. I saw him at the Liverpool fireside last week in Chorley and I got to talk to Sister Hawkins at Zone Conference about him and he's been helping the missionaries proselyting at the street displays. He's still dated for the 22nd. I'm hoping to be able to attend. But if not, I'll be skypin haha.

As for the work in st Helen's, we have two people on date, Ray and Steven but Ray has been dogin us lately and Steven is on holiday so we might have to move their date. The challenge in this area is to get people to progress. But we have loads to teach!

On Saturday, we did an amazing street display with the district. As a mission, we are still doing this 21 day challenge to get people to read The Book of Mormon. For the street display we printed out pages of the Book of Mormon and encouraged people to highlight every time the see a mention of Jesus Christ or Heavenly Father. This went so well and people were so touched to take part. The Book of Mormon speaks for itself!

Whilst taking part in the 21 Day challenge, a scripture jumped out at me on day 4.The question was "How can my sins be forgiven?" the scripture was Alma 36:1-24 and I just loved the idea that "[his] soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was [his] pain" because he cried unto the lord for a remission of his sins. I think that answers the question perfectly. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much and wants us to be happy. The great plan of the atonement allows us to feel that joy always!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!


Sister Gilland
England Manchester Mission 🇬🇧

Pics of St Helen's and zone conference. My sweet Sister Fielding is going home!

Hiya From St. Helen's

Hiya from St Helen's everyone! Week 1 in this blessed area has been amazing. The work here is BOOMING. I didn't know missionary work like this even existed in England!

Here's a couple of things I'm loving about my area:
-People are SO FRIENDLY (well in British standards). Never in my mission have I been somewhere where people are so nice. Like normally I'm used to saying "hiya" or "good morning" and getting a response like "sorry love not interested" or nothing at all but HERE, people talk to ME!!
-ONE WARD, as much as I loved Chorley wards 3 and 4, it's so much easier to just be in one. It was weird not having 6 hours of church!
-"Tara' Love" is a common phrase in my first area (Birkenhead) and I totally forgot about it and they say it all the time here and I just Iove it. It just means Goodbye.
-SO BUSY ALL THE TIME, its like I'm back in Manchester! The field is white and ready to harvest!
-It's a proper city and has quite a few people, also the scouse accent has become a favourite of mine.

My Companion
I absolutely love Sister Escalon. She's the first companion I've had that's younger than me. She's 19, what a baby! She's also teaching me Spanish and it's coming along very well. We are both so similar and I just love her to death. There's a chance she might be crazy tho because day one of our companionship, she comes up to me and says, "Will you cut my hair?" WHAT. So I went at her with our kitchen scissors and cut off a proper 6 inches. If that isn't trust, I don't know what is.

We are working with loads of people including a man who's been investigating since my dad was a missionary here so I'm convinced they crossed paths lol. I am still learning names and figuring everything out so a better update on our people will come later.

On Sunday, I was able to meet the ward. Bishop so graciously volunteered me to start off testimony meeting introducing myself. After church we got to go to the fireside with our friend Stephen! It was in Liverpool just down the road! It was so good and Stephen really loved the atmosphere of the place!

Just to close, I was reading in a talk called "Born of God" - Ezra Taft Benson Oct 1985. This is such a good one and I encourage you all to give it a read. But this quote really stuck out to me: "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."

I just love that because I've seen time and time again, Christ's hand in "taking the slums out of people". Including myself. As long as we are willing to humble ourselves and let him change us, we can become true diciples of Him. I'm eternally grateful to experience what Alma called, "a mighty change of heart".

Tara' Loves

Sister Gilland
England Manchester Mission 🇬🇧

Limited pics this week cuz we were so busy!
Here's me and my comp and the chapel!