Pray, He is there. Speak, He is listening

Hello everybody!

So this week was good!

I guess the biggest thing that I learned this week was how much God truly loves all of his children no matter what they do or how they struggle, he still loves them. 

I felt the spirit many a time this week testify to me that the people I met were important and that God knows them and what they need.

God knows you and he loves you and will always be there for you, I know it and you can too.

Pray, He is there.

Speak, He is listening.

Have a great week

Love 

Elder Dotschkat

HP Boy is Back!

Hey! So this is my week!

On Monday we went to Alnwick castle which was super cool! Not enought time to truly enjoy it thoroughly but enough time to say I was there and to see that majesty of the building. Its super huge and super old and super awesome! I saw where they filmed some parts of Harry Potter and they had a gift shop with some of the Potter stuff but it was daylight robbery for most of it. 

Then in the evening we helped Elder M pack again because he was getting moved AGAIN to the south of the mission. They split our trio :(

Tuesday I had a meeting in Billingham and had to be there for 9:00 so I was up SUPER early to catch a bus to New Castle and then a train to Billingham. It has taken me quite a while to recover from the early morning but I think I am almost there. In the evening we were blessed to have tea and spend some time with the Turnbull family. Its pretty cool how they got their name. Long story short, a bull was going to run over the king and one of their ancestors jumped and turned it by the horns to move it out of the way of the king. 

Wednesday we just worked. Simply just got up and were so tired still from the early morning the day before that we slept for lunch and then worked the rest of the day. In the evening we were blessed to spend some great times with the Broadfoot family and just have some great laughs about the silly things that happen in life. Mostly silly things that I have done or that have happened to me. If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

Thursday we had DDM in New Castle and really enjoyed the district's participation and acceptance of what has recently been given down through the lines. Unfortunatly there was not enought time to get them everything so this week we are having a stick pull, tug of war and arm wrestle competition! Gotta love that doctrine behind it! hahaha.   In the evening we were blessed to have some time and share a meal with the Redpaths and after the meal Brother Redpath took us to a really nice beach nearby. It was super beautiful and boy! The memories and fun thoughts that went into my head nearly exploded it! haha..

Funniest thing to happen to me that day, I accidentally stuck my hand in some bird poop!!!! GROSS!!!!

Friday we finally got out of our suits for service! Its a jugle out there! Twas a great day friday! And boy I was taken aback when my companion started to tickle them ivories! In the morning we had a great time planning and then we went to the school where one of the members works and showed the music teacher the talented fingers of my companion! MAN IS HE EVER GOOD! (my guess is that he will be famous one day lol)  After that the music teacher had mentioned that possibly a recital in the near future might be good to invite the community to.  After that we did 2x load of service for a bit (meaning it was at two members homes) and man! I got cuts all over my legs from them bramble bushes! hahahha - silly idea to wear shorts huh? (I only realized I had cuts on the legs in my shower the next day when the soap got in them! I was dancing like I was on burning coals! haha)  In the evening we were treated to a very nice curry :) That makes me happy :)

Saturday included painting, HP boy time and sending a friend off. So it seemed like everybody was wanting our help the same week so we sacrificed a few of the personal hours that we would have for time to ourselves (meals) to help out some members with their needs. One was planned and the other just an emergency.

Saturday morning we helped this old man in the branch paint his new place that he is moving into. As we did that he told us about the war and the military that he was in and he is quite funny haha A good guy and I seriously respect him for what he sacrificed as he was there.  In the evening we went and shovelled horse poop! hahahahahha HP BOY IS BACK! 

We just had a great time with those wonderful creatures (the horses, not the poop) and had a great time taking some of the load of the members backs. In the evening we also found out that they needed us to dig a hole in emergency for one of their pet cats that had died. So Elder Young and I got to work and just did the best we could with all things in mind. I thought I hit a water pipe with the pitch fork but just some splashed inside of it.  Anyways, it was a good time to help our fellow travellers on this road of life.

Sunday was church and then it was tea with a great family in the ward. We had a great time of laughs and just talking about life in general. I feel very privileged to be here and know these great people. The husband then played some guitar with me and taught me a new song to serenade people around the camp fire. 

I love my mission

Hope you have a good week

Elder Dotschkat

Back in Sunderland

Hey guys! Daylight is burning quick! I am loving the mission though and lets just say that we are working super hard now. I have really enjoyed this past week and look forward to the coming days ahead!

So now I am in a tripanionship with Elder Young (from Buffalo NY and related to Brigham Young but some weird relation lol) and my other companion is Elder Muhlmann (from Frankfurt Germany and he is a really funny guy). We are enjoying the great times that we are having right now and look forward to the great times ahead.

Transfer day I was stuck in Sunderland to work for the day but I had a great time with my mission great-great grandson. His name is Elder Tuala and he is a born in the Philippines but grew up in Belgium. He is also about 5 feet tall. So it was a great time with him working one of my previous areas. It was pretty good because the area that we were assigned to labour for the day included good old Mavis Spence's house! So we went in and got a drink and just read some scriptures with her as we caught up on the last 15 months of my life since I had been there. She is a wonderful lady and gave me her secret recipe for her bannaffi pie! BOOYAH! Gonna get my sweet tooth happy again lol. Also had a great time talking to literally everyone we saw on the street that we ran into this dance crew from Durban, South Africa that I challenged them to a singing competition. I sang I am a Child of God and they sang some zulu music for me … they won! lol Four against one though so I held my own.

The rest of the evening was spent with my companions getting to know them a little on our three hour transport home. The miracle of the day, one of them had their wallet nearly stolen but the bus driver booted the thief off the bus and got the wallet back. A great start to whats going to be an awesome transfer!!!

Thursday we had a mission meeting in Newcastle in which we discussed diligence. Simply my thoughts are the same as President Brigham Young "I will not ask the Lord something that I am not willing to do myself". We as the children of God are accountable for our works and labours here in this mortal existence and if we desire the blessings we must be ready to sacrifice and work for them! Then the rest of the day was spent knocking on doors and boy we are having a great time here! So weird working in a tripanionship and even though I have had three before this one I can just seem to quite work out how to work it … three big guys at someones door is only slightly intimidating lol.

Friday was spent knocking on doors to locate people that have either moved or their whereabouts has been lost from the church. All I'm going to say is home teaching and visiting teaching is a must for the work of God to move forward. He will not bless sue to find his children if we are not already taking care of the ones that we have currently. We must BE brothers and sisters to those people and remember our divine origin so that we may help others to remember theirs. Brother and Sister is merely a title, it is a compliment and a way for us to recognize who we are and who the people around us.

Saturday was another mission meeting in which I conducted it. It was really nice that Elder Young plays the piano (he's a professional concert pianist and has played all over the world including Austria and China) and so to have him in the district is a great blessing to keep us on key lol. They meeting went well. Although I am currently in a district with a bunch of jokesters!

After the meeting we went and knocked some more doors and found some AUFs that we were looking for. In the evening we traveled to Sunderland to help set up for their choir production and we were very privileged to stay and feel of the spirit so strongly. Several people were moved to tears and the spirit could have been cut with a knife it was so thick! It was also a really great time to see some more people of sunderland ward and feel the warm welcome back :) Now I know and feel that I am not a simple missionary in the passage of time but one that made a difference. I have completed that part of my life and a new page has turned.

Sunday was a great day full of testimonies and organization. I really enjoy keeping on top of things and planning it all out so that I can know where I am going to be in the coming days. After Sunday dinner with the Carlin family I was privileged to receive a hair cut from David as we visited with him and his family. I feel as light a feather now lol

Well today we are going INSIDE Alnwick castle so I must run to get the bus.
Hope you have a great week
Love
Elder Dotschkat

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!

                  LOVE YOU!!!!!!                  

Getting my English haircut

Me and my buddy David

God loves His children and that is a fact

Hey Everybody!

Its so funny that you mention watching "parts" of conference. That is exactly what we did. LOL The connection kept dropping in and out and I never got to see the Sunday night sessions.

So this week was good! We enjoyed being together and working together this week and have definitely enjoyed serving with each other. My companion and I are finished serving together now. The Lord has seen fit to call him to a new area where people need him and I will stay here. He will be going to Wharf Valley and as for me I will be getting not just one but two new companions! I am really excited for this! It will be my last transfer, we will work hard, play hard and sleep harder lol

So this past week was really quite enjoyable. The entirety of our Monday was spent with a member of the ward and he showed us a bunch of history of the area. We went to Hadrians Wall, Durham Cathedral and the Caussey Arch. It was all really cool and at the end of the day we had learned so much about the history of this wonderful land that we were able to definitely feel accomplished for the day.

Then the next couple of days both my companion and I were ill and had to stay in the flat for the most part of the time. I took this opportunity to ponder and read the scriptures if I was not tired enough to sleep anymore and I enjoyed feeling the spirit and revelation flow down from heaven. I had a wonderful experience in which I knew that God knew me as an individual and I was cared for. I love my Father in Heaven and know that He answers the earnest prayers of His children.

When we finally had rested enough to recover we spent the most part of our time finding and having lessons with people that we had grown close to over the time that we have been here. It was great to see their smiles and to know that through the grace of God we had made a small impact in someones life. I love this wonderful work and get to know that this its he most important work on the face of the earth. The work of building the kingdom of God and helping his children reconnect with Him.

The weekend was momentous occasion and a wonderful time full of reassurance and revelation. I enjoyed all the talks ranging from family and family responsibilities to mainly the Atonement and the wonderful miracles that were preformed upon earth many years ago. This knowledge has changed my life for the better and has truly made me such a happier person. I look forward to each day that I have to tell people the wonderful news that because of Christ, everything is possible.

I had many great and wonderful experiences this week that it would take me a much longer time to explain but know this … God love His children and that is a fact.

I hope and pray that you all have a fantastic week and can see the hand of the Lord in your daily life. Please keep missionary work in your prayers because ALL of God's children will benefit from this wonderful message … the message of Jesus Christ.

https://youtu.be/_S3TI4bYerU

Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Lee Dotschkat

Hadrian's Wall was built by the order of the Emperor Hadrian, following his visit to Britain in AD122. It was planned as a continuous wall with a milecastle every Roman mile and two turrets equally spaced between each milecastle. The wall, with its defensive ditches and large forts, stretched from coast to coast, a distance of 80 Roman miles. It formed the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire.

In the middle ages Durham Cathedral provided refuge for fugitives. Anyone who committed a serious offence could claim sanctuary by knocking on this door. The fugitives were given 37 days to organize their affairs. They had to decide either to stand trial or leave the country by the nearest port. 

This knocker is a replica.

Causey Arch was built in 1725-26. It is the largest single-span bridge (105 feet wide) in the country and remained so for thirty years.