New emails have arrived. I am a little behind getting them on here but it is so good to know that he is in England safely and he seems to be happy.

27 October 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Carrigan,
It is with pleasure we welcome your son, Elder Jeremy Michael Carrigan, to the England Leeds Mission. We find him prepared and committed to serve the Lord and to share the message of the Restored Gospel.
Your son's first companion is Elder Olsen who was prayerfully selected to ensure the best introduction to missionary work for Elder Carrigan. They will be serving in the Newton Aycliffe 1.2 Area in the Billingham Zone. We are confident their relationship will be a mutual blessing.
Weekly encouragement from home will certainly help inspire Elder Carrigan's missionaryeffort. We encourage you to write him once a week with your letters uplifting in spirit.
Please let other family and friends know how important it is to write positive, encouraging letters that support missionary work. Your son's permanent address is now:
Elder Jeremy Michael Carrigan
England Leeds Mission
Lister House, Lister Hill
Horsforth
Leeds LS18 5AZ
England
You can send letters and packages to your son's flat address, but make sure you
remember transfers happen every six weeks. Families and friends are asked to not visit
or call their missionaries in the field. Such calls and visits will undermine the effectiveness of missionaries and their companions. Please feel free to call the mission president in the event of an emergency at home. Missionaries are not to call home without the president's permission.
Any anxiety of the missionary about finances will hinder the work. Please do not send
excess funds, too much money can be as detrimental as not enough. Personal, practical
and inexpensive gifts from home for birthdays or Christmas are permitted but adding
money to their personal funds is more cost effective. However, because missionaries
move frequently, and space is very limited; large, heavy or unnecessary items are
discouraged. Your missionary is limited to two bags and a briefcase. The best gifts are
consumables, such as ties, socks, small personal items, and goodies.
 I want you to know that Sister Pilkington and I consider it a privilege to serve with your son and promise to help all we can, and strive to direct his efforts in the Lord's way. We are available at all times, and Elder Carrigan's physical, emotional and spiritual welfare is of utmost importance to us.
Sincerely yours,
Graham Pilkington
President

Oct 27, 2014

Well I am here and it’s pretty awesome. I’m in a 2 person flat with 3 other elders, it’s pretty tight quarters. I’ll send you some pictures once I’m all set up but my trainer, that you should’ve gotten a picture of, is elder Olson and he only has about 3 months left so this is his last transfer. I’m in a town called Newton Ayecliffe. It’s pretty nice here some nice houses and really packed tight neighborhoods. I met my mission president and he’s great, super inspiring. It’s my 3rd day in this area and I’m already teaching 4 members. I have family home evening tonight with a less active and then I’m teaching 2 investigators. Also its pretty cool, Elder Olson is super good at talking with people. The story about me almost going home in the MTC is that we taught a lesson to an actor but we didn't know she was an actor so I was pretty nervous but then when we taught her she didn't want to talk to us at all and was a huge jerk and I didn't feel good about that at all. I felt the spirit leave me and it sucked so I went out in the hallway in the middle of class and I heard words come to my head that said give up but right as I heard that my teacher gave me that blessing. So I’m here, the ward is awesome, England is awesome, once I get unpacked my flat will be awesome!  I guess I’ll talk to you next Monday.

 

October 23, 2014

I am leaving for England in the morning at 6. Elder Casey however didn't get his visa in so he has to stay for a few more days to see if it will come in it sucks for him but yea I'm going! I’m doing OK. I'm just doing laundry again the night I leave and they said I could email home. I’m super happy I chose to do this. It sucked in the beginning and I almost came home believe it or not but my district saved me and my teacher brother Roberts (freaking awesome guy) gave me a blessing and I realized I was here for a reason. Oh and speaking of churchy things, I want you to look up a couple videos that I’ve seen out here. One of them is a Mormon message called "it was mom" and another thing is a talk that an Elder named Elder Cray showed us today. He’s a convert and he said that this talk is one of the reasons he is still in the church. It is called "His grace is sufficient" by Brad Wilcox and it’s a BYU devotional its super awesome! The Boston boys left yesterday morning and they were sad that we had to stay but they got to leave but they said that everything happens for a reason. I pulled Elder Cray to the side and talked to him about the talk and I said that I think that me seeing that was the reason why I stayed one more day in the MTC. He gave me a hug and said yea I thought that would help.  I’m doing great, I have been going to gym almost like every night and I have gained 3 pounds but I have been running and playing volleyball a lot so I think that's why I didn't gain like 15 like everyone else. I’ll write you again when I’m in England this next Monday. :)

Love Jeremy