Hiya Fam!
It's Bray-ning, it's pouring! I think I'm really going to enjoy this place!
So many puns!
Anyways, I've had an absolutely mad
week! Totally bonkers! (my companion's from London. I'm starting to pick up
some of his terms...)
To start off, I spent Monday,
Tuesday, and most of Wednesday with three other Elders: Elder Giles (his
companion was Elder Fassold, who went home), Elder Stanley (who came over on
the ferry with me to NI! And we're both going to Dublin Zone too, so we're
following each other around!), and Elder Penman (the Zone Leader). Of the four
of us, only Elder Penman was staying, and only Elder Giles could drive! I was
not only packing but I also had to clean up the flat and write notes for the
new Elders! And on top of that, Elder Giles' area, Omagh, was also getting
closed down so he had to do the same thing with his area! Except Omagh is about
two hours drive from Belfast. It was honestly a miracle that all three of us
got most everything done. The Cavehill flat wasn't as clean as I'd have liked,
but it was for the most part tidy.
It was sad
leaving H and F and Ph. I got their emails though. I hope the new Elders take care of them. It was weird leaving an area I'd spent 7 1/2
months in, but it also felt good.
Jeff asked if I needed
anything. I'll take anything American
you can send me! I left behind my American flag back in Cavehill, so I'd love
to have a replacement. Thanks for asking! Can't wait to see you guys on
Christmas! Any idea what the Christmas Holidays are going to be like for you?
So Wednesday night I arrived in
Dublin around 6. I quickly realized that I know absolutely NOBODY!! It's crazy
how much the mission has changed! There were two Elders I knew but both had
been moved. Fun. But hey, now I get a chance to get to know more Missionaries!
The district I'm serving in has Sisters, btw. But they're Sister Training
Leaders, so they're never around, from what I'm told.
But I found Elder Stoker and we
headed off to the train station to get to Bray. We had a dinner appointment
that night! A lovely woman named T. She was a member of the church, but she had
her name removed. Not sure why because she still comes to church every week,
and to all the world she's a member. She even does missionary work! She just
smokes.
There was also a member couple there
too: R and F. F is from South America and looks like a Native American.
The rest of the week was quite a
blur. A ton of names and faces that I am not going to be able to remember too
well. We did have a few lessons. One was a new Investigator named D. She's from
Turkey. She brought a friend M, who's dating D's uncle. D is Muslim, but
doesn't practice. M is kind of Catholic, but she's really her own thing. For
example, she believes in Reincarnation. But the lesson went well and they both
agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. They said they might not be
able to come to church, but they'd try. Unfortunately they didn't, but they did
sound sorry.
Another lesson was with F. He's an
interesting character. He's really old, and we're honestly not sure how much of
our teaching really goes through to him. But he does say that us coming over
helps him a lot. His voice though, is my favorite. It's really deep and gruff
and he has a very strong Irish accent. He sounds just like your stereotypical
sailor! He couldn't come to church yesterday because, apparently, his chair was
blocking the way.
On Sunday we had dinner with the B's.
They're a very nice family. Did you know there are three families in the ward
from Washington State?? Most are from the Spokane side of the state, but still!
The B's, from what I understand, are not from Washington, but are American!
Brother B actually served his mission in Bray, in fact his flat was just across
the street from ours! They have a massive house out in the country side! It was
beautiful. They also had a really nice book collection, all about the
scriptures or the church or whatever. Nice family.
We stand at the church doors greeting
people every Sunday. Always do. And it will be great to see Elder Schippers
again! I'm so glad you went to hear his
homecoming talk! And he gave you the
presents! Good! Ha he joked that he'd just keep those! I'm glad you liked them so much! I tried the
hat on, but it was a little small, so I worried that it wouldn't fit you guys!
I felt bad not getting something for
the Jeffs. The hat was mostly for Dad, the scarfs for the girls, but I had no
idea what to get the Jeffs. Any ideas?
Here's my
comments on what Mom sent:
Things from Elder Schippers talk:
1. There were only 30 people
in your ward True
2. People regularly tell you
you're going to He_ _. I dunno about regularly, but yeah quite a few times.
3. Blue is Protestant, Green
is Catholic and you can hate someone just for the color they're wearing. Not
everyone is like that, but too many are.
4. Most people over there
think the trinity is one person, or something. The idea of 3 separate
beings is crazy to them. Aye. To be fair, it's something they've just grown
up with. It's like the trinity to us. It doesn't make any sense.
5. He felt he was in some
dangerous situations and even was almost stabbed. Never with me, but I do
remember that story. I
honestly haven't had any experiences like that. I've been quite safe on my
mission. The closest I've gotten to dying have been in cars with terrible/too
fast drivers.
6. He loved teaching people
the gospel and he explained the Plan of Salvation beautifully and well, and his
testimony was very sincere.
I'm very
glad to hear about President Monson's comments about being positive. One of the first things I thought of when I
found out about the shootings in Paris, was the missionaries (funny how that
works). We were going into a shop to purchase some essentials when I glanced at
the headlines. When I saw that, I read a bit more before we left. The
newspapers were definitely exaggerating things, saying at least 140 people were
dead, but still. Scary! We were told by President Donaldson to avoid large
groups of people, so no more going to Football games!
So now about Elder Stoker!! He is
actually a convert! He had only just passed his year mark when he left on his
mission! So his knowledge of the scriptures isn't as great as most other
missionaries, but having said that, he's got some of the greatest insights into
the scriptures of any companion I've had!! This is what he showed me a few days
ago:
Read 1 Nephi 17:5
Then read Ether 2:3
That blew my mind. I always wondered
why they specifically mentioned honey bees.
Elder Stoker has told me a lot about
his home, and it's crazy! He was completely Atheist just three years ago. And
now he's walking around teaching people about Jesus Christ. Most of his family
is fine with it. It was a little tough for his dad, who'd been taught since he
was a little boy by his ministers that he shouldn't even shake a Mormon's hands
(I've gotten that a few times), but he came around. His mother, however, is
very against it. She keeps sending him scriptures.
Anyways, great guy! I'm looking
forward to this transfer. We're really excited about H. I barely met her on
Sunday, but she wants to be baptized. She's only 16 too!
Bray itself is quite small. But we
do a LOT of GQing. Which I'm glad about because I've been doing terrible at
GQing! Oh, and it's rained every day since I've been in Bray! Literally! It
even hailed once. On Sunday we were inside for quite a bit of the day (church,
the B's, traveling in Brother B's car), and it was fine the whole day! But when
we finally went outside to work, it was raining. We got back to our flat a
little late, and it wasn't raining. I just thought it was funny :) In fact, it
inspired my Indian name for Thanksgiving: Soaking Shaman.
So on Saturday Elder Ballard is
coming to Ireland to meet with all of the missionaries!! I am SO excited for
this!!! I'll FINALLY get to meet an Apostle of the Lord! What fun!
Have a great week! Love you all!!
Just 6 more weeks until Christmas!
Elder Bates
PS
i LOVE YOU LOTS!!!
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