Elder McKinley's Stint Across the Pond

Salutations everybody. Sorry I have had some sporadic and spasmodic emails over the last few weeks, but I am back to a bit of normalcy today. I will warn you that next week we are having a mission gathering in London, so if my emails are not as great, you know why. What a year it's been. If you look back at my first email from this year, you'll find I named it after a brilliant song by Death Cab for Cutie. Well, that "near year" has gone from "is" to "was". I cannot believe that time has flown so quickly. I thought I would totally copy Elder Burton and give you a bit of a recap of the year: -I had three areas: Holsworthy (a.k.a. the entirety of north Devon), Oxford (the promised land), and the Isle of Wight (an island that is part of a bigger island) -I saw three great companions go home, including my one and only trainer Elder Lopiano, the great Elder Man (catch them both at BYU-I), and Elder Moorcroft, who's lovin life back ion the...

The title comes from what this older south African man told us this past Sunday. 

Okay so I know I said that this week would be a normal email. It's not. Life changes haha. We are headed to the temple tomorrow and as such are going to Portsmouth tonight so we don't have to travel as far tomorrow. Also it's been a crazy afternoon because the buses were delayed and so we missed the boat we wanted and now we are sitting here waiting for the hovercraft at quarter to five. So yeah it's been a bit hectic. This last week has been good in many ways and not so good in many ways. We've helped a lot of people out this week, which I always love, but we having been having a bit of a rough patch in terms of actually meeting people who are interested in talking to us. I'm not going to lie and say it hasn't gotten me a bit down at times, but Elder Brown and I have made some good plans to combat that this week.  Speaking of, my preparation day is Wednesday next week so this will be my last email before Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone :-) remem...

Hiya everyone. So, first a disclaimer. I'm really behind on emailing some individual people today and we're going cross the Solent to Portsmouth this afternoon so the group one is going be a bit short.  We had transfer news come yesterday.  Elder Brown and I are staying together for another transfer :-) Wight Christmas here I come.  In the past four months here on this island that is part of a yet bigger island, I've learned so much. I've had time to ponder and reflect on who I am and who I am becoming, who I want to be, what I want to do, and who God wants me to become. In simple words, I'm excited for the future. But yet, excited doesn't even begin to illustrate the deep feelings I have. The beautiful thing about the minds God has given us are their capacity to create and store ideas. My excitement for the future does not rob me of the joy of today, for I do feel joy. I love this work. I love the people I serve and country I do it in. I als...

Howdy folks. It's been an interesting week to say the least and it's definitely been difficult at times but it has also been a blast and more. So let's just dive right in. We had interviews with President and Sister Checketts and let me just say that they are some of the most fantastic people on the planet. I love every minute I have sitting with them and speaking with them. I understand them and they understand me and I feel so uplifted each time I get to visit with them. We also gathered together as a zone and had lunch and brownies, which of course added to the amazingness of the day. I got so see Elder Burton as well, which is always a good time. We reminisced about the times in Oxford and also gawked at the fact that we both have less than 9 months left. I don't know if I ever shared this, but I was the first person to approach Elder Burton when he landed in England. We chatted for a bit and then we talked to different people and made our way to the MTC. That w...