Hiya Fam!!
So, Claire got her LICENSE!!! WHAAAAAAAAAAT???????????
Moves Week has been
rough, but it's had some good moments as well. Elder Stoker got to say goodbye
to everyone he wanted to, then left, and Elder Mickelson is just about settled
in now.
We were just zipping
all over the place Monday and Tuesday! What little time we had open was spent
packing. On Tuesday we got to see C again, and had a really good lesson with
her that was completely led by the spirit. It was awesome!
Tuesday night we went
to Dublin and stayed overnight at the Finglas Elder's flat. There were 8
missionaries sleeping over at that flat! As you can imagine, it was crowded!
The missionaries was one thing, but the luggage was another! I was able to
sleep on some cushions I'd pulled off the couch. Others weren't so lucky.
Anyways, Elder Stoker
left early in the morning. All the remaining Elders, including me, went to
McDonalds for some breakfast. Then we went to the Stake Center to wait for our
new companions. I played ping pong with one Elder. He accidentally broke the
table. Awkward... On the plus side, I won!
Anyways, Elder
Mickelson finally arrived! We had some time to kill, so we got some lunch
(Boojums!! :9) Then we walked around Dublin city for a while! He was looking
for a new backpack and jacket. We eventually came home just in time for a dinner
appointment with the A's. This was my first time at their home, so we got a bit
lost, but we found it eventually! :)
The next day was
spent Weekly Planning (I basically told him everything about all our
investigators and our area), grocery shopping (in the confusion of Moves Week,
never bought any food!), and also had a meal appointment with our Branch
Mission Leader. He made us burgers. Not as good as Dad's, but still good. We
also taught English! We've moved it to Thursdays because some of our regulars
couldn't make it on Wednesdays.
On Friday we had our
appointments with St and also with Ch. You remember Ch? Anyways, neither went
exactly as planned. We're just getting the feeling that Ch wants to know what
we believe, but not whether it's true. Hopefully he proves us wrong!
Our lesson with St
was pretty discouraging. He's gone back to how he was before we started
teaching him. Aggressive, doubting, and temporally minded. He started going off
on 9/11. He's always talked about all this stuff about how the world is and how
it needs to be changed, etc. etc. We keep telling him, that it honestly doesn't
matter. We need to keep ourselves focused on Heavenly Father, and trusting in
His promises. But he won't listen. He kept asking for proof. It's really sad.
We're going to have to start back at square one with him. :/ But hey, we helped
him before, we can help him again!!
Saturday was our All Ireland Conference. Elder Hallstrom of
the Presidency of the Seventy was there and he gave us instruction! It was
pretty cool. Elder Hallstrom
mentioned that the best way to grow your love for someone is to do service for
them. We spent that day in
Terenure teaching lessons. It was really cool!
They've got some
incredible people! One couple from South Africa had been studying the church
for years, but were too scared to actually go into the church. Then they moved
to Dublin and found out that the church building was right next to their
apartment, so they did a few "walk-by's", for a few Sundays before
gathering up the courage to walk in. And they are just golden!! It reminds me
of the statement in PMG talking about Finding, and how the Lord has elect
people in your area. "He will lead you to them, or He will lead them to
you." And that's happening! All over the mission there are people who
decide to just walk right in to the churches! How incredible is that?? I love
this church!! It's so awesome!!! :)
On Sunday we had
Stake Conference, which was good. There was this big Rugby game going on in
Dublin, so it took forever to get to Bray! I mean, the trains were PACKED!! We
were stuck in there like sardines!!
Speaking of which,
funny story! There's a pizza place all over the Republic called Apaches. You
can pick any 4 toppings for your pizza. Anyways, Elder Mickelson and I decided
to get some. I placed my order: pepperoni, ham, bacon, and chilies. When the
pizza arrived, I took a bite. Something was fishy... Then it hit me: when I'd
ordered chilies, the pizza guy, who sounded Indian, must not have understood
me. Instead of giving me chili peppers, or chilies, they put anchovies!!!! Oh,
it was so disgusting!! Who in their right mind puts those fishes on their
pizza?! But I laugh about it now.
I do have some bad
news, and something I really want some prayers from you guys: I lost my
scriptures. Yep. My quad! I brought it to All Ireland, and I can't find it
anywhere! I searched all over the Stake centre, asked everyone I could about
it. Can't find it! I'm really going to need some prayers for that. I mean,
that's my Missionary Scriptures! It's all marked up and everything! I do have
extra scriptures to study with (it was a flat find: they make these tiny
versions of the scriptures for those in the military. Lots of missionaries have
them too because they're much lighter. I found a Book of Mormon, Doctrine and
Covenants, and the New Testament, so I should be good), but there's nothing
like your own scriptures. So please pray for me to somehow get them back! I
know I'm praying for them!
So Elder Mickelson!
He's cool! We've had a lot of fun together. I'd say of all my companions, he's
the one that's most like me. It's been great! He's from Idaho. Sorry I haven't
taken any pictures yet. I'll be sure to take some and send them to you guys! He
hit his 6 month mark yesterday. He's great! :)
Mom asked about new
foods I didn't want to try, but I did and liked it. Something she wanted to know for seminary? Well, I certainly had that with
plenty of food! Haggis specifically comes to mind. I miss haggis... Corn also
comes to mind. Never wanted to eat corn. But now it's one of
my favourites! I miss corn too. Corn on the cob is rare out here. And
oranges! They're great! I even tried blueberries! But I didn't like them. But
hey, I tried! Shrimp. Never wanted to eat shrimp. But I did, and they were
great! Same goes with Fish and Chips! Delicious!
Mom also asked about people I've seen change for
something for her seminary. F is the
best example I have. When we met her, she smoked, loved coffee, had loads of
friends who broke plenty of commandments, virtually an Atheist, and had all
sorts of ear rings, gages, etc. But the more we started to meet with her, the
more she changed. I'll never forget the day when we met with her and she
mentioned that she had BOUGHT a Hugh Nibley book!! Oh man, so amazing. Loved
it. She changed so much. She's so great! :) Oh, and remember how I told you
guys that she was having trouble over the new policy on gays? Well I spoke with
the missionaries in Cavehill (they're putting Sisters in! Strange!), and they
said that she's a boss now! She prayed over it, and is just completely cool
with everything! :D
Anyways, hope you guys have a great week! I
heard about the Super Bowl. I was disappointed, but at the same time, I also
didn't really care ha!
Love you guys!
Elder Bates
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