Hiya Fam!
I'm loving it up here!!
It's fantastic! It's crazy, cuz I am so close to Cumbernauld, so I often see
buses that will take me there. At the same time, I'm also close to Edinburgh,
which is central to Scotland, so I also often see trains that will take me to
Inverness, so I could visit any of my previous areas if I so wanted to!!! Ha!
This week went really well!
I'll be sending you some pics from last P-Day, M, our Recent Convert, took us
up to one of the Ochil hills, called Dumyat. Really interesting names, eh? But
it was beautiful!! Loved it!
Tuesday was great! I was so
scared for my first District Meeting, but it went really well! I gave training
on how we could make our studies better by using the "TESCO Parable".
I likened our studies to a shopping trip: we have to prepare, we need a list of
what we want, etc. They liked it so much we took a District photo in front of
it! :)
So my district is quite
small: there's me and Elder Ward, and then there's the Alloa sisters. They're
the Sister Training Leaders Trainers. Which basically means they look after all
the Sister Training Leaders. So they're like the Zone Leaders of the Sisters.
They're bosses, btw. But they travel a lot so they're not even in their area
all the time. But I sure hope they come to all our District Meetings! Cuz that
would be awkward otherwise...
Anyways, we also traveled
out to California to knock some doors. Now before you freak out, just so you
know, one of the villages in our area is called California. And when we saw
that we just HAD to go visit. It's really quite small. We also visited a LA named
D. He's pretty old but he sure doesn't act like it!! Really really nice old
Scottish man. We went by again later in the week to do some service for him and
his wife (I don't think his wife was ever baptized, but not too sure), and
we're seeing them again this coming week.
We also met with Martin. It
wasn't a very good lesson. But we resolved from that lesson to really make the
effort to improve our BSL. Because that's what's really holding him and us
back. So we decided to only talk to each other in BSL in the flat! We're still
working on it, but I'm looking forward to it!
So Wednesday was pretty
crazy. They were having a meeting in the Mission Home for all the leaders in
Scotland: DL's, ZL's, STL's, AP's, etc. So we had to travel all the way to
Edinburgh for it (which isn't too bad in comparison to Elder Perkins, who had
to travel from Inverness! He said he had to wake up at 3!!!) But it was a
really good meeting. They were just going over everything they've already been
emphasizing, but it was so that everyone would be on the same page. So that was
good. Then I went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder
Lindsay. He is intense!!! It doesn't help that he's 6' 4'', but he just works
as hard as he can! It's really cool! Had a good exchange with him.
But about 6:30 he and Elder
Ensign, our other ZL, had to drive the AP's to the airport so they could give
the same training to all the leaders in Ireland. So they dropped me and Elder
Ward off at the Stake center, where some other missionaries were having a
Baptism. We had what I call the "Exchange-ception"! An exchange
within an exchange! Get it? Like Inception? Anyways, we went on an exchange
with some Elders from Edinburgh. And guess who I was with?
My old pal Elder Stoker!
Yep! We even taught a
lesson to one of their investigators! It was weird teaching with him again.
He's doing well. Having a few companion problems, but he's a trooper.
Also, at the baptism,
you'll never guess who was there! The Bl's from Cumbernauld!! Do you remember
that I accidentally left my name tag in their car my last night there? They
still have it! Apparently, they've been using it as a refrigerator magnet!
Clever! I'm tempted to just let them keep it, but it's the nametag that I got
at the MTC. The MTC tags are different from the replacements you get. But since
we're so close, they gave me their number and we're going to set up a time that
we could meet up and I can get it back. What luck?
Anyways, after the lesson
with Elder Stoker, we went to the ZL flat for the night. Or so we thought...
Turns out that an Elder in the Zone got bit by a spider. He didn't think it was
that bad, but he was told to go to the hospital, so the ZL's had to drive him
there. They didn't get back until 3 in the morning!! Poor guys! The Elder was
all right. I actually saw him the next day teaching a lesson, so he must've
been just fine.
Anyways, the next day we
continued our exchange. Elder Lindsay and I taught a lesson to a college
student about the Plan of Salvation. My favorite! After the lesson Elder Ward
and I caught the train back to Falkirk.
We met with M, the son of A,
and taught him the Restoration using the cups. Have you seen that? Missionaries
get these plastic cups and write on them the various things that make up the
church that Christ established, like Prophets and Revelation, and so on. Then
they stack it all up into a tower on top of a piece of paper that's labeled The
Priesthood. Then we explain that after all the Apostles were killed, the
priesthood was taken away, and we pull out the paper, which makes the whole
tower fall. But when the Priesthood was restored, we got everything that came
with it, and we rebuild the tower. It's cute, and pretty good for kids too. We
only had one problem for M's lesson: we forgot to bring cups! We had to use
toilet paper rolls! Which still worked well, actually.
Then we had BSL class that
night. Again, we still need to work on our BSL. No one in that class knows how
to do it except for Elder Ward and Martin, but even they have to sometimes turn
to a smart phone to look up a sign they don't know!
Friday morning we helped a sister
in our ward, Sister M, move some furniture around that she couldn't move on her
own. She's got a nice family. Then we went by M again. It's just so difficult
to communicate with him! We're trying, but it is difficult. We can tell he gets
frustrated sometimes. It must be so difficult being deaf! :/
We later went by a members
house. I think their last name is the Simpsons, but I'm not sure. I know the
recently married couple's first names: TJ and Sue-Anne. TJ got back from
serving a mission in the London South Mission about a year ago. Nice guy.
Before we did some finding around their neighborhood. And we just
"happened" into a LA named Scott! Love it when that happens! :) Not
sure how interested he really is, due to how inebriated he was when we found
him, but he was still nice!
So Saturday we went by M
the LA, the one we committed to reading the Book of Mormon every day?
Unfortunately, he hasn't done it every day, but he did come to church the next
day! So that's good! Our lesson with him wasn't too great because we'd planned
to show him the new Hallelujah video, but when we got there, he'd lost all his
power, so that didn't happen... But we made do.
After a bit of Lunch, we
went out to Bo'ness. It's a town that's a little ways away from Falkirk. It was
an absolutely gorgeous day, and we were expecting plenty of people to talk to
in the streets! But when we got there, we saw maybe 5 people total? I was so
surprised! We chapped instead, and got a return appointment, so it all turned
out alright, but wow! We later found out that there was a Rangers game on, so
that's probably why no one was out. Man, Football is crazy.
Anyways that night we met
with the J's again. They had us over for Fish and Chips! It was the best fish
and chips I've ever had! Loved it! We then taught their children the Plan of
Salvation lesson again. Such a good family. It's always so weird teaching our
lessons to children. I mean, how does one teach about that without going over
their heads? It's tough.
Sunday went really well,
our best day by far. Mike was at church! He is so great, he actually
participated in church! Not every investigator does that, most are just content
to simply sit back and watch. But he asked questions, made comments, etc. He
gave the opening prayer after church in our lesson, and in it he thanked God
for leading him to this church "in an incredible way, going down a road I
don't normally go down, stopping where I don't normally stop, to meet Elder
Ward and Elder Bates." Not gonna lie, I nearly teared up in that prayer.
It was so cool! He loved the Plan of Salvation. He was so humble about it, he
said "I don't think I'll ever be good enough to make it to the Celestial
Kingdom, but it sounds like the Terestrial kingdom is still good!" It was the
perfect segway to introduce our next lesson: the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to
teach him how, yeah, you aren't ever going to be good enough. But that's why
Jesus Christ died for you! Never thought about the Gospel in that way before.
Thanks Mike!
Anyways, we also met with
the McM's again. They're doing well. We also had a lesson with Mi and A too.
This time we were able to show the Hallelujah video! Ha they really enjoyed it.
It touched them. If you haven't seen that video yet, I would suggest that you
look it up.
So that was our week!
Really busy!! So will this week! This week is ZIT! I'll have to get my Temple
Recommend Interview there, because my recommend expires this month.
Thank
you so much for your prayers! The District meeting went really well! I feel
much more confident now that I've gotten through a week of it all. I also
really appreciate your comments too. I'll take them to heart. I know I can
always count on you to give me some encouragement!! :) Love you all sooooooooo
much!!
We'll
eat some pie on pi day. They sure make more pies out
here than back home. Oh I'm so glad,
Mom, you've got a recipe for Shepherd's pie, because I LOVE Shepherd's pie!!
Can't wait to try it back home! They do
sell soda bread out here, and I'm certain people do eat it, but it's not as
common as, say, just regular white bread.
People
are always talking about the election. Most seem to see Trump as a clown, and
simply judging by what little they report about him over here, I cannae blame
them! But I'm sure we're getting a really slanted view of the election. I'm
just not worrying about it until I actually get back over there ha ha
Lots of incredible news back home! Sad to say goodbye to the Klumkers and
the Runolfsons.
Anyways, Love you guys so
much!! This is going to be a great week!!! :D
Elder Bates
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