Dear Fam,
This week is Moves Week! We got a
call last night from the AP's, and received our assignments!! Elder Massey is
heading off back to Ireland! I'll be
staying in Cumbernauld and my new companion is named Elder Hanson! I know
nothing about him. On Tuesday night
we'll be staying the night in Glasgow so Elder Massey can catch the early bus
to the coast to ride the ferry to Ireland. I'll be staying in Glasgow until
Elder Hanson arrives. Wednesday is going to be pretty crazy!
As to the Vote... What a
disappointment. The day before everyone was going around wearing Yes or No
Thanks stickers on their shirts. Scottish flags were flying everywhere or
emblazoned across windows or cars. It was really cool! They didn't close the
polling stations until 10:30, and they didn't expect to finish counting before
6 in the morning. We didn't hear about it until about 7:30, when the two Elders
in Airdrie (we're good friends with them) texted us. But I was disappointed because I knew just
how devastated everyone would be. Nearly EVERYONE in Cumbernauld was voting
Yes. And everyone is absolutely devastated. I wish I could tell you what has
been happening out here, but the White Handbook says I can't. Suffice to say
that I am more proud to be an American than ever before.
But anyhow, let's get onto a more
happy subject! Namely, the Gospel!!
First of all, on Monday we hung out
with the Airdrie Elders. Elder Glasgow has a picture that's really cool. It's
of all the Presidents of the church in white suits inside the Temple. It's
sick! In a good way. Elder Massey's been begging for it. Finally on Monday,
while both Elders were busy changing, he slipped the picture in his backpack
and left 20 pence. It was the greatest heist in SIM History!! Hahaha
On Tuesday we had a Zone Meeting in
Glasgow. It was really good! Later that day we met with Grace and set up an
appointment the next day.
On Wednesday, we met with Brother
McGuiness. He looks almost exactly like Abraham Lincoln!! We met with Grace and
taught her the Law of Chastity. She had no problems with that, and is
progressing with the Word of Wisdom! Oh, and that night we talked with these
two women for a while. On Thursday (Election Day), we met this woman! We were
walking down the path where she was, and she was carrying two grocery bags. We
asked her if she wanted help, and she said "Yes, please!" We talked
with her about the gospel on the way, and when she had to head off to a
doctor's appointment, she asked us when she could
meet with us again!! We haven't yet, but we will!!
We had a dinner appointment with the
Foots. Unbeknownst to us, an Elder South was coming too. With his parents!!
Apparently, he was touring his mission with his parents before he headed home.
It was cool hearing about how his mission was and how excited his parents were
to be with him. The reason he was heading home so early was because his VISA
expired before the end of the transfer. But yeah, that was cool. He and his
parents were also very helpful with Margaret too! Brother South (the dad) asked
her about her conversion story, and I think bearing her testimony was very
helpful for her. We taught her after they left, and she promised to come to
church on Sunday!!! Sister Foot was practically jumping for joy in her seat
haha
All of our appointments Friday
cancelled/rescheduled. It was the craziest thing for one of them! We'd met this
lady, Joyce, the day before. She gave us her address, but both of us wrote down
a different address! And in the end, we were both wrong!! The only way we found
her was that we were chapping her neighborhood, and she came to one of the
doors. This was long after her appointment, though, so we had to reschedule.
But we're still scratching our heads on that one!
We also got some bad news. We hadn't
seen Grace since Wednesday. Finally we saw Robert walking down the path and he
told us why: SHE'S IN PRISON!!!!! Now, don't start judging her, the reason
isn't bad at all. She had a court date for this minor thing from a while ago,
but she missed it. Apparently, if you miss your court date here, you stay in
Prison until the next date!! Which, for her, will be two to three weeks!!! We'd
given her a new Baptism Date for October 19th, which she can still make, so
she's technically with a date, we just can't meet with her!! Robert said he'd
get her a Book of Mormon for prison, but it's still hilarious :)
Yesterday I gave a talk in Church! I
spoke on Never Giving Up. I mentioned NGUNNGU, which is Tumwater High's
Football Team's cheer: Never Give Up, Never Never Give Up. I also mentioned
Nephi getting the Brass plates after two failures and Moses pleading for the
Israelites when the Lord wanted to destroy them.
I wanted to also talk to you all
about Prayer. I have been loving prayer lately! It is such an amazing
resource!!! There was an article in the April 2011 Ensign (we have dozens of
old Ensigns in our flat) called "I Need Thee Every Hour", which I
encourage all of you to read. A really cool part was where it says that Jesus
Christ Himself provided a great example for prayer. It cited how in His visit
with the Nephites, He prayed A LOT!! Him!! If He felt the need to pray so
often, we should too!! I've been really striving to make my prayers more
meaningful and saying them more often. Another article I read spoke of how we should
make our "Thank you" portion of our prayers longer than the other
parts. I've been trying that, and I have seen such a great difference!! My mind
has been opened, I've been able to understand gospel principles in a way I'd
never thought of before! And when I express gratitude for such things, he
blesses me with more! It's been a really exciting week! I know that prayer is
an amazing thing, a way that we communicate with the Being that created all the
trillions of worlds and stars and creatures and plants and people. That Being
is anxious to hear from you. Doesn't that make you feel special? We must never
neglect Him! We need to talk with Him and ask Him questions. We always focus on
Moroni's promise and apply it to the Book of Mormon, but that wasn't his
intent. "By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all
things." Not just the Book of Mormon! ALL things! If we just
ask!
Thanks so much for all your constant
prayers and your love and your emails!! I love you all soooooo much and miss
you!
Love,
Elder Bates
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