Rock Me Like a Hurricane

Hello all!!! Hope you have all had a wonderful week and a great Thanksgiving (except for the UK people who I email who don't celebrate it)!! This week was pretty uneventful until the weekend.

We were able to find one new person to teach, so that was good. His name is David. He actually approached us when we were shopping and said we could drop by anytime. He has met missionaries before, and even had a baptismal date at one point. Not really sure why he missed it, but hopefully he is still willing. 

We were also able to have two Thanksgiving dinners this week which was great! We were invited over by an American family that lives here in Thurso for one, and then the senior couple that stays on the Orkney Islands fed us one when we were there this weekend as well.

This is where the exciting part comes in. We almost got stranded on Orkney this weekend. We were supposed to be there Friday, Saturday, and then leave Sunday evening. Well, we get a call Saturday night saying that the evening ferry on Sunday was going to be cancelled due to strong winds. In a desperate attempt to make it back to mainland, we caught one at 10 AM Sunday morning. Boy was that a mistake. Winds were about 50 MPH and there were about 5 foot swells that made the boat rock like a rocking horse. Also found out something about myself: I get seasick. I'll let you all decide how fun that 2 hour ferry trip was for me. Naturally, Elder Thueson and I had to go outside on the ferry's sun deck during all of this to get some pictures (which I have attached for your amusement). I hope that is an experience I never have to endure again.

Well, this week looks like it is going to be more finding. We are having our district leader and his companion coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday to help us out a bit, so hopefully we see some miracles happen with that.

Prayer List

-David (investigator)

-Shevonne (potential investigator)

-Lee/Theoden (less active/investigator)

Thank you all for your love and support!! Love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

--

--Elder Wilson

 

Look at those waves!

On the ferry

Old Man Hoy

 

Travel, Travel, and more Travel

As you can probably tell from the title of this email, this week was full of travel.

First off on Monday, we traveled 6 hours by car to Aberdeen. We spend the night there, and then traveled another hour and a half to Dundee for a missionary conference. After that, it was back in the car for a 3 hour drive to Inverness, where we spent the night, and then back in the car Wednesday morning for another 3 hour drive back to Thurso.

We then spend a total of 1.5 days in Thurso, and then it was more travelling.

Friday morning we hopped on a 1.54 hour long ferry to the Orkney Islands to go and do some missionary work up there. We were there until Sunday, when we caught another 1.5 hour ferry back to Thurso. 

Overall, it was a pretty boring week. When we weren't in a car or on a boat, we were out knocking doors and talking to people, without seeing too much success. We were also freezing our butts off!! It's been about 4 degrees celsius all week (I'll let ya'll convert that to Fareinheit), and we got snow up in Orkney on Saturday. Everyone keeps blaming it on me since I am from Minnesota. 

Well, that was pretty the much week. Oh yeah, I also celebrated my b-day! Thanks to my mom and FB, everybody up in Orkney knew that it was my b-day, and that branch threw me a little party, complete with food, cake, and a small gift from the branch. So nice!!! It was much better thna knocking doors in the cold all day I can tell you that.

Prayer list

- Neil (less active)

- Antoine (investigator)

- Lee/Naomi/Theodene (less active/investigator)

- Me (missionary) :)

Thank you all for all your love and support! I am grateful for each and every one of you and the role that you have played in making the person I am today! Love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!
--

--Elder Wilson

 

Christmas is in the air!

Snow in Orkney

Seaside lunch on m b-day

 

Thurso In A Nutshell

Tuesday, November 17th, 2015

Hey all! Sorry for the late email, but we had to drive down to Aberdeen for a zone conference we have tomorrow. Yeah it takes so long that we have to leave a day early. Welcome to banishment!

Anyway, here's a low down on Thurso!!

The Area:

The area itself is fairly large, which is why we have a car which I am in charge of driving. It takes us 2.5 hours to get to the nearest set of missionaries. We skype in for district meetings, so the only contact we have with other missionaries is at zone conferences. We also cover some islands off Scotland called the Orkneys. We spend half of our week there with a senior couple, the Reynolds. It is about an hour and a half ferry ride to get there. My first trip over will be on Friday. 

The Branch(es):

So in this area, we actually cover two branches. One is in Thurso and has about 20 members. The one is the Orkneys has 8 members with 1 male in the entire mix. We can spend Sunday in either branch, but usually go to whichever one has more investigators. 

The Companion:

Elder Thueson is from Murray, Utah. He has been out for about a year (came out at the same time as Elder Scharman) and has been in Thurso for 6 weeks. He loves BYU and Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Seems like he is going to be fun to work with. 

That is pretty much all I have time for. I apologize profusely if I did not respond to your email, but since we are doing it so late, they only gave us an hour each. Sorry about that. I promise I will make it up to you all next week! 

 

Prayer List

- Billy/Chevonne (investigators)

- Darren/ Kelly (investigators)

- Lee/Naomi/Theodene (less active/less active/investigator)

- Neil (less active)

 

Thank you all for your prayers! Love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!!
--

--Elder Wilson

 

My Disney Shrine!

The scenery is awesome!

I can smell the ocean

 

On Top of the World

Hey all!! Sorry for the late email, but we had a super busy day yesterday, so we had to move emailing to today.

Well, we got our moves call on Sunday. Verdict is: I am leaving Falkirk. 

I am being moved to Thurso, which is the second most northern area in Scotland behind Lerwick. It actually snows there in the winter and gets really cold. Oh joy. Should feel just like home. We have a car (which is a major plus). I am also far enough north that I might get to see the northern lights. Sweet!! For 3 days out of every week, we catch a ferry to the Orkney Islands and do missionary work there. While we are there, we stay with the senior couple, Elder and Sister Reynolds. We also cover two branches: the one in Thurso, and the one on the Orkney Islands. Pretty cool!

The only downside to this area is that it is literally banishment. It takes us 2.5 hours to drive the nearest set of missionaries. Eew.

I will be serving with Elder Thueson. I don't know much about him, except that he is from Utah, and that he came out at the same time as Elder Scharman. 

So, I will officially be leaving Falkirk tomorrow at 5. I catch a train to Edinburgh and meet up with other missionaries heading that way. From there we catch a 3 hour train to Aberdeen, getting in at about 10 at night. I will spend the night at the zone leaders flat. On Thursday, we start the drive at 10 AM up to Thurso and will actually arrive at 4 in the afternoon. It will basically take me 24 hours to get there. How fun is that?!?!

I am really sad to be leaving Falkirk and Elder Scharman. Although it has been tough and stressful, I have learned a lot, both from the area and from Elder Scharman. I am also sad that I may not get to be here for Michael and Angela's baptism on the 28th. We are going to talk to President Donaldson and see if we can't get permission for me to drive down for it. Fingers crossed!

Thank you for all your prayers and support! They mean a lot!!

Prayer List

- Michael and Angela (investigators)

- Martin (investigator)

-Peter (less active)

- Andrew (less active

- Wilma, Demi, Alex (part member)

Stay awesome and keep moving forward!! Love and miss you all!! 

--

--Elder Wilson

 

It's only 4 o'clock?

Proselyting Selfie

How to make Elder Wilson trunky!

 

Random Title That Nobody Cares About...

November 2, 2015

Well this week I actually have time to write out a group email! WOOHOO!! Yay for better time management!

This week was pretty dang good! Michael and Angela are doing wonderfully! We committed them both to a baptismal date again, this time of November 28th. We actually had them choose a date and pray about it, and they both came out with the same date which was pretty cool. They are awesome! I love them so much. 

We also saw Martin again this week. He is doing great as well. He as shown a very genuine desire to be baptised, so we are going to commit him to date of January 5th, probably the next time we see him. 

We have been having trouble getting in contact/seeing the rest of our investigators, so that's rather bothersome. However, we have been finding some potentials as well, so hopefully they really are interested. 

This week we had a branch Halloween party. I dressed up as Santa and Elder Scharman was my elf. Got a lot of strange looks that night. Michael, Angela, and their son Mark came, as well as two less actives, Andrew and Peter. Next step for those two is to get them coming back out to church. The biggest problem is transportation because almost nobody has a car in this country. It is usually just the bus or walking. So annoying. 

We also had a fireside at the mission home last night for investigators and new members, so we went with Michael and Elaine (Angela was working). It was really good, and Michael really felt the Spirit. 

Also, found out that somebody that I found when I was in Dundee got baptised this last week. Her name is Josie, and I just stopped her on the street. I only had the chance to teach her a couple of lessons, but it's still great knowing that I helped somehow in that process!! 

Thank you all for your prayers and emails! They mean a lot! Love you and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

Prayer List

-Michael and Angela (investigators)

-Peter (less active)

-Andrew (less active)

-Yvonne (potential investigator)

-David (potential investigator)

-Martin (investigator)

--

--Elder Wilson

1) Angela and Mark 2) Michael



Angela and Mark

If you've seen Dr. Who, this would creep you out!

Sometimes you are just dead to the world...



Michael