Monday, February 26, 2018

This week is apparently supposed to be FREEZING.  There is an arctic vortex that is supposed to go straight over Scotland.  That means lots of snow this week and the highs will be below freezing.  So PRAY FOR THE MISSIONARIES WHO WILL BE OUTSIDE IN THAT WEATHER FOR 11 HOURS EVERY DAY.  Other than that this should be a really good week. 

In Oban and Dumbarton we usually just GQ during the day and chap at night.  We do that because there aren't enough people out and about at night.  In Oban sometimes we don't have to chap, but it depends on the night.  

This past week in Oban we found two new investigators!  That is HUGE for the area and we were super excited.  One we met and asked "What makes you happy?"  He said "would you like to hear about the last 6 weeks of my life?"  YIKES.  Generally that is a very bad sign.  He told us all of the horrible things that have happened to him in the last six weeks.  We invited him to learn more about the gospel and he accepted.  We sat down with him right then and taught him.  He was extremely grateful that we prayed for him at the start of the lesson.  That stuck with him.  He expressed his gratitude to us during the lesson and later that night he texted us about it.  It was amazing to watch this man's heart soften as we were able to talk with him.  We are excited to meet with him again and help him find healing through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  

The members here are awesome and they feed us every night.  We challenged the members to come up with a family mission plan for how they can do member missionary work, so hopefully referrals will start coming in.  They are always willing to help us teach and they invite our friends to Sunday dinners!  It's great.   

It is definitely not as diverse here as Ireland.  Maybe that's because we aren't in cities.  We mostly talk to Scottish people, but we have two appointments scheduled for this week with people from Spain.  

I'm a little bummed out that I won't be in Ireland on Saint Patrick's day, but fun fact:  St. Patrick was Scottish and was apparently born somewhere around Dumbarton!  Also the missionaries probably aren't allowed to work that night anyway, so I think I got the better end of the deal!

Sicknesses have come and gone, so all is well.  I was able to keep down food on Monday and my stomach was back to normal on Tuesday.  I got the package and BEST.GIFT.EVER.  I love it.  I love having a blanket again.  Nothing better than coming home and wrapping yourself in your blanket instead of your duvet!  Also I opened it at District Meeting (that's where is was given to me) and all the missionaries were super jealous. 

Sisters Conference/Feeling Rocky

Sisters' Conference [in Edinburgh] was super fun.  We had instruction, some workshops, yoga, lunch, every sister introduced herself, and we closed with a message from President Donaldson.  I think one of the best parts of conference was getting to drive to and from Edinburgh with Sister Gregson.  She is the best.  It was so fun to get to see all the sisters (about 60) together as well. 

We drive through Loch Lomond National Forest to get to Oban.  It was really beautiful from what I could see from the drive.  Sister Davis said that President had to put a ban on missionaries in other areas visiting Loch Lomond because they were spending too much money to get there.  So we are probably some of the lucky few missionaries who will actually get to see it/visit it.  

So I still don't know much about my two areas.  We have only been to Oban once so far.  We live in an old Victorian home where the senior couple stays.  They also have two areas, so we are there when they are not.  In Dumbarton we just have a little flat (about 3904285902720x nicer than the Dublin flat).    I did buy a new waterproof coat so I won't freeze.

This was a rough week health wise.  On Wednesday we went out and worked until lunch, then I was dying and we had to stay in.  Friday we had exchanges with the STLs in Glasgow, which was super fun.  It was nice to be back in a big city for a day!  On Saturday Sister Davis woke up sick and so we had to stay in.  Saturday night I spent throwing up all through the night.  I tried to get ready for church yesterday morning and threw up again.  No fun.  I'm feeling pretty rocky today but not as bad as Saturday. I haven't had anything to eat in the last 40 hours or so, so we'll see how eating goes hahhaaha.

Report on first week in Scotland

MOVES:  I don't really know why, but for some reason I have a 6th sense about moves call.  I really felt that I would be going to Glasgow zone, so I was not surprised at all when we got the call.  

ACCENT:  I have to actively listen to every person I talk to because the accent is so thick and I just got used to the Irish accent.  Very different.  They also don't use the same lingo, so I'm trying to adjust to that.  I miss some of the Irish sayings.   

CURRENCY:  Still not really sure how much a pound is.  Don't really know how much money I'm actually spending when I buy something.

FOOD:  Pretty much the same, but no Boojum :(

WARD:  We had Stake Conference yesterday, so I don't really know how the ward is. From what I have seen they're great.  They have fed us every day we've been in Dumbarton.  We had a proper Sunday dinner yesterday with about 15 people in this one family.  It was great.  They are really willing to help us.  

WEATHER:  It's a lot colder here.  Today we are going to Glasgow to buy a new *waterproof* coat because it pretty much rains/snows everyday here.  I will probably also buy boots because they get soaked through, so I'll need to alternate them. 

COMPANION:  Sister Davis is from Provo.  We were in the same group, but in different districts in the MTC so we didn't really know each other.  She also went to BYU last year.  She's super fun.

DRIVING:  We drive loads.  It's super fun.  It's not too weird driving on the other side.  Roundabouts are weird though.  I don't need an international license yet.  I can drive on my American one for a year and then I have to take a UK test to be able to drive after that.  My comp doesn't have an American license, so I'm the only one driving!  It's fun.  It actually feels pretty natural to drive on the other side (because you are driving in the other side of the car).  We've been doing a lot of driving too.  It's a 2 hour drive to Oban.  Drove back from Oban.  Drove to Glasgow (30 minutes) for Stake Conference on Saturday and Sunday.  Driving to Glasgow today to buy a new coat.  Driving to Edinburgh tomorrow for sister's conference.

MISSIONARY WORK:  We have one investigator right now.  His name is ____.  Sis Davis found him two transfers ago and they could never figure out a time to meet with him.  When they did, they found out that he had read the Book of Mormon before.  He studied theology and has studied pretty much every religious book known to man. After they taught the first lesson he was like "oh so I just have to pray about it to know if it's true?"  Before the second lesson he had read the Book of Mormon again and prayed about it.  He received a witness and is now getting baptised on Saturday.  We are super excited for him.  I am grateful to just be walking into his baptism.  He is quite literally the definition of golden.  It also made me feel a little better about leaving ____ (our golden investigator) in Dublin.   

Other than that we don't really have any investigators yet.  We will be working very hard in the next couple of weeks to find new people to teach.  It's definitely different than Dublin - a lot smaller and we have to chapp houses at night.  

Good bye Emerald Isle ... Hello Scotland

Dublin:

This past week I had a really cool experience.  Sister Yu stopped a man from Mexico while I was talking to someone else.  When I finished my conversation I heard her say, "My friend speaks Spanish!"  I was like uhhhhhh no I don't.  I tried to speak to him the best I could.  Then I told him that it was easier for me to understand Spanish than to speak it.  He said the same thing about English.  After that I was speaking in English and he was speaking in Spanish.  We understood each other completely.  We set up a time to meet with him and then he didn't show up hahah, still cool though.

SATURDAY MOVES CALL:  The worst.

Okay not the worst, just slightly annoying.  All of the elders got their moves call in the afternoon.  We had to wait *patiently* until 8:45 to get it.  We were on the bus and Sister Yu was told she would be going to Tralee.  She handed the phone to me and I was told that I would be leaving the Emerald Isle and going to Dumbarton in Glasgow zone to be with Sister Davis.  

Sunday was emotional.  I kept it together until so many people in the ward were coming up to me and telling me how much they would miss me.  Dublin took good care of me.  I will miss so many of the people there.  Also had to pack everything, yikes.  We had to leave so many notes and make sure the area book was up to date as much as possible since we were whitewashing out and the sisters coming in were new and 3 months.  

Monday:  The night before our STLs told us that they would pick us up to go to the bus station in the morning so I didn't have to take my luggage that far.  They said they would be there at 6:15.  They called us at 6:30 and said we just woke up...My bus was supposed to leave at 7 and it was a good 20 minute walk.  Sis Yu and I had to book it to bus station and got there in the knick of time.  We were so tired when we got there.  After that I was the only sister leaving the Republic, so I was companions with about 12 or so elders.  We took a bus to Belfast, from Belfast to the ferry, the ferry ride to Scotland, wherever we were in Scotland to Glasgow, and then drove from Glasgow to Dumbarton.  Got to my area at about 6:30.

At the bus station in Glasgow I was told that I would be covering two areas.  News to me.  So apparently we go up to a place called Oban on Monday and come back on Thursday.  The rest of the week is spent in Dumbarton.  I'm not really sure how it will work, but it will.

Oh also we get a car!  My companion doesn't have a license, so I will be driving the whole time.  On the wrong side of the road...on the wrong side of the car hhahaha.  It was so fun driving last night.

Last week is pretty much a blur because so much has happened in the past few days. 

Monday, January 29, 2018

Coolest story from this week:  ____.

____ came to church last week and we didn't get a chance to sit by him because we had to play/conduct the music.  He couldn't meet with us until the next Saturday...Saturday rolled around and we had to cancel our appointment with him because we had to play the piano at a baptism for a special musical number.  He came to church again and absolutely loved it.  Babs spoke on prayer and he went up to her after and said how much he liked her talk.  He also asked her some questions.  He loved church.  We met with him later, and he said he had a couple of questions.

Question 1: How can I become a member of your church?

Question 2: Who is Nephii

HAHHAHHAHA we were so amazed.  He told us how our church felt like a family and he felt like church last week really made his week go better.  It was amazing.  We taught him the Restoration and after I recited the First Vision he sat there for no joke 5 minutes saying wow wow wow that's amazing.  They just appeared to Him.  Wow. Wow.  Wow.

He was saying this makes so much sense.  He read 11 chapters in the Book of Mormon last night.  He said we answered so many questions that he had.  I told him that the next time we meet we would talk about the Plan that God has for us.  He was so excited.  He said, "I knew it.  I knew God had a plan for us and we are here for a reason.  I was arguing with my friend about it the other day!"  He is amazing.  When I invited him to be baptised he said yes before I even finished the question.  He is amazing and so prepared to hear the gospel.  I have never seen someone so excited to be taught.  When we gave him the Book of Mormon he teared up and thanked us so much.  He even shook our hands expressing his gratitude.  So cool and so excited for him.  

EXCHANGE:  So fun.  it is always so fun to be with the STLs.  I was with Sister Kim and we had the coolest experience.  We taught a man named _____.  His friend came and joined us halfway through the lesson and we had just finished explaining the plan of salvation.  Sister Kim asked if he could explain it to his friend and he did the whole thing.  He was so attentive and was even defending our beliefs when his friend disputed them.  

Monday, January 22, 2018

It snowed in Dublin too!  On Thursday, for about 2 hours.  Luckily, it didn't stick (it never will) and we were inside teaching during the storm.  Sister Yu was amazed with it and I was just not impressed.  Not real snow.  But she was REALLY amazed at the picture of our backyard.  Friday it was back to rain and Saturday it POURED hahaha.

On Tuesday, we did get to watch the First Presidency conference for our District Meeting.  I wasn't really that surprised.  I loved the conference!  It was so fun to get to see them interact with each other because we don't normally get to see that.  And I love that President Nelson and President Oaks are best friends.  It's so cute.  


We had ward conference in Dublin too!  It was really cool because the counselor that did the sustaining pointed out that we were lucky enough to be able to sustain the President Nelson, his counselors, and the Quorum of the Twelve the first Sunday that they had been announced and organized.  How special!

We had a good week and the highlight was definitely Archie's baptism!  He was so excited and so happy after.  He was baptised with an Irish man named Conor, and a girl from the Canary Islands named Veronica.  They were all so excited.  Each of them made/brought food for refreshments after.  Veronica made a cake with the shape of angel Moroni on it and it was amazing to see how enthusiastic each of them were!

A lot of our lessons fell through this week, but that just means there are other opportunities to find new people to teach.  When one fell through this week I talked to a girl from China.  I asked her what made her happy and she responded "my faith!"  She told me she was Christian (very rare in China) and that she really wanted to be close to God.  We are meeting with her tomorrow and we never would have met her if our lesson hadn't cancelled on us!  Blessings come in all shapes, sizes, and forms!

Another thing that impressed me this week was that the Spirit does not speak a language.  We had met and taught a man from Brazil who spoke very bad English.  He came to church and we taught him once.  We decided that it would be best to pass him to Elder Valiati (from Brazil) so he could be taught in his native tongue.  Elder Valiati was the only missionary that spoke during the lesson, but the Spirit was so strong.  I understood the general idea of what he was talking about, but really had no clue what was going on.  The Spirit was so strong and he accepted the invitation to be baptized almost immediately.  

This next week we get to go on exchanges.  I will be with Sister Kim! They are always so fun and you get to learn a lot from being with a different missionary to see how they approach things, teach, etc.  

Monday, January 15, 2018

This past week was All-Ireland conference.  I love being surrounded by so many missionaries.  My favorite part was an instruction given by our Zone Leaders on the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  They compared the Atonement to a bandaid.  The bandaid doesn't do the healing, but it covers the wound and protects it from the dangers around it.  It does not heal, but it allows the wound to heal.  The same is true of the Atonement.  It will not heal us automatically, but it will protect us and allow us to heal.

This Saturday we had another baptism for our friend Kamil.  He is from Poland.  He was so excited and after he was walking around and talking to all the other investigators and telling them how what we had taught him made him so happy.  He will be an amazing member missionary if he keeps that up.  It was so amazing to watch him and to see him change.  He believed in God before, but didn't do anything actively to exercise his faith.  He now reads the Book of Mormon everyday, prays, and comes to church every week.  We are so proud of him and his decision.

We should have another good week coming up with another baptism on Saturday if all goes well with ____ keeping the Word of Wisdom.  If you remember he was supposed to be baptised my first transfer, but had some problems. We have been working with him and have him off of smoking, drinking tea/coffee, and now he hasn't had alcohol in a few weeks, even over the holidays!  We are so excited for him.