Well, it's true. Elder McPherson is
leaving, off to Dumbarton in Glasgow to serve with Elder Dickinson!! You
remember him? He was my Zone Leader in Aberdeen. As for myself, I'm getting
Elder Schippers! He actually served up in Newtonabbey not that long ago.
Newtonabbey is the area just north of us. Beyond that, I really don't know much
about him. I've met him before, but didn't get to really talk with him.
Anyhow, that's exciting! Who
knew?
We had a pretty good week this week.
On Friday we met President Donaldson and his wife! The day before, the Zone
Leaders sent a voice mail around the Zone, telling us that President Donaldson
had asked that each of us stand in line as a district so President Donaldson
could shake everybody's hand. He also had requested that there be no talking so
it could be quick. When we heard that, we were like "Uh oh, he sounds
strict! That's the Military man in him!" But it wasn't like that,
actually. We all lined up, waiting for President Donaldson to arrive. When he
did, he got right to it and started shaking people's hands. When he got to me,
he shook my hand, asked where I was from, and how long I had been out. Then he
looked me right in the eye and said "You are loved, Elder Bates." And
then he moved on. He's a very spiritual man.
Shortly after that, we heard from
both of them. Sister Donaldson told us a bit about them and such. She was a
real firebrand! Then President spoke, and talked about what he was hoping to do
with us. They both emphasized sanctifying the mission. They gave us a scripture
to study, I wish I could remember what it was! But it was really good! I had a
great experience reading that! :)
Also, this week was the "Tall
Ships Races" in Belfast! Basically a bunch of sailing ships were on their
way to somewhere (I honestly don't know where) to start a race! And they were
stopping at a lot of places, like New York, and Belfast! So there was a big
festival, and we volunteered there to do some service. We were just holding
collection buckets for charity. There were 10 of us missionaries doing this.
But it was fun! It was a really cool festival! It started on Friday, and the
ships sailed away on Sunday. But there were a lot of foreigners in Belfast!
Some were sailors. One ship came all the way from Brazil! And I was THIS CLOSE
to buying this awesome wooden crossbow as a souvenir, but I never did. It was
from Poland! :)
So we met with Finula this week. We
brought Brother Moffet to it. We usually brought Brother Haddock, who is an
AWESOME joint teach! He literally just sits there and doesn't say a word unless
we ask him something or Finula asks a question. But he just got a new job, so
we won't be able to bring him out much. Brother Moffet is the most available
member we have. Finula came to church on Sunday! Which is funny because both
times she's come have been Fast Sundays!! I'm worried about her, I keep getting
this feeling that we need to do something more for her but I'm not sure what.
It'd probably be good for her to get more involved with YSA. I dunno. Just
please pray for her and us.
We're thinking of dropping Bo. Each
time we start to make progress, he gets into some sort of depression, and he
goes back to how he was before. Each time we try to help, he turns us down.
We're going to have to just leave him in God's hands. It's sad, but I can't
think of any other way we can help him.
We're getting a baptism this week!!!
So her name is Samantha. She's the
daughter of a recently reactivated Mother, who wants her daughter baptized. The
Home Teachers have been teaching her, but she turned nine last week, so
technically she's a convert baptism! Hey, numbers are the important thing,
right? ;)
So that's pretty much us. Nothing
else to really report. Sad to hear about President Packer, but not that
unexpected. I'll miss him.
Hope you guys have a great week!
Love you sooooooo much!! :)
Elder Bates
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