Good morning!

Hello my friends and family!

Elder Chazuka and I had a great week!

Last Monday night we met our new friend Ade from Nigeria! We talked to her only briefly when we first met her but she said to come back the next day, so we did! She has a strong faith in the Savior and asks a lot of questions, but is humble and listens intently to everything we have shared with her thus far. We are going to see her again a few times this week which will be great!

On Tuesday we taught one of our friends Sophia who was taught a little bit by the missionaries before us, and the lesson went really well. She is preparing to be baptised on the 19th of this month! She really wants to feel closer to her Father in Heaven and knows what she needs to do to receive a testimony of what we have shared with her, so we are confident things will continue to go well.

We went on exchange  from Wednesday to Thursday deeper up in London near Elephant & Castle (gotta love the names in London). It's interesting to see how the environment can change so much just a few minutes away from our area but the people stay pretty much the same! We even found people in the other elder's area that live all the way down in the bottom of our area. The further we get into London the more we end up referring people to other missionaries because most of the time they are just passing through our area on their way home. It didn't happen as often in Croydon but we get it almost everyday here so sometimes it's hard to keep on top of the people we are teaching and the people we need to send to other missionaries!

Friday was a good day as well, we were able to teach Sophia again and do some service for a sister in the ward who lives very close to us. I remember back home whenever Dad would volunteer us to help with service needed in the ward I would always drag my feet. I'm grateful for the opportunities we have on mission to serve others and see the look of relief in their faces has changed my attitude about service.

We had some more service on Saturday cleaning the chapel. We spent an hour poring industrial strength detergent on the parking lot to kill the moss growing on it. Definitely a new experience, but it was fun!

Those are what the weeks look like in Crystal Palace! Elder Chazuka and I are having a ball serving the people here together. At the beginning of my mission I never believed the "Best two years" phrase, but the Lord has humbled and changed me. I can't see it any other way now, I love serving and growing here in England. I might just have to extend my mission 😉 (I can't, I asked 🙁)

Love you all!
Elder Draney