Valentine's Day Fun!

                                                                                                                             February 15, 2016

Hello all! So, this email will be shorter because I was horrible at time management again and don't have too much time. Whoops!

So yesterday was Valentine's Day. Sadly, we had no appointments so we had to go knock some doors. Needless to say, many people were celebrating Valentine's Day, and a few of their.....activities...were interrupted by two 20 year old Mormon's sharing the gospel. I think some people got a little annoyed. Isn't being a missionary great!!!

This week has been pretty good. We got to see most of our investigators. Unfortunately we had some joint teaches cancel on us, and since all of our investigators are single sisters, we aren't able to see a couple. Kind of a bummer.

Sheila and Clive are still on track for their baptism on the 27th. The font is reserved and they will be having their interview on the 20th. Preparing for a busy week of baptismal preparations! Pray for us!

Had a great miracle happen yesterday. A less active came back to church for the first time in a while, which is great! The best part is that she brought a nonmember friend with her as well! Her name is Serina. she stayed for all three hours of church and we got her number so that we can meet up with her and start teaching her!! So good!!!

This week should be fun. Tomorrow we are going on exchanges, and I will get the chance to do some finding in Dublin City Centre. Elder Thueson served there and said it is the promised land. All you have to do is say Jesus Christ and people will meet with you! Can't wait to find out if the rumors are true :)

Prayer List

Sheila and Clive Baptism Prep

Aileen Church attendance

Cythia Joint teaches

O'Briens Solid appts

Serina MEET WITH US!!!

Thank you all for your prayers and love! You are all amazing! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

--Elder Wilson

Swagging' with the comp!

 

Ireland!!!

Just looked cool!

St. Peter's Church

Severed head of Oliver Plunkett

 

 

The Emerald Isle

                                                                                                                  February 8, 2016

Well, this is me officially on the Emerald Isle. It was really fun traveling here (please note the sarcasm in my voice). I started traveling at 9 AM on Tuesday, and didn't actually get into my area until around 8 PM Wednesday. My modes of transportation included a car, a train, a bus, a ferry, another bus, and another car. Needless to say, I am ready to settle down and stay here for a bit.

Once I got to my area though, I didn't spend too much time there. On Saturday, we traveled back to Dublin for an All Ireland Conference with Elder Hallstrom, one of the presidents of the Quorum of the 70. He also spoke on Sunday at the Dublin Stake Conference. It is such an amazing experience to hear from God's chosen apostles. To all my friends in Scotland, I am sorry you have to read this paragraph and be jealous.

Dundalk seems great. We are actually teaching people, so that is really nice. First is Sheila and Clive. They are from Zimbabwe. She is in her 40's and he is 13. Libson is her husband and he is a recent convert. They are preparing for baptism on the 27th of this month.

Next is Aileen. She is super solid!! She is the most intelligent person I have ever met!! She could get baptised tomorrow if she wanted, but she is very busy with school and night classes so she is holding off for now. She knows what a commitment it is, and wants to give it 110%.

Then there are the O'briens (Susan, Danielle, and Paddy). I haven't met them yet, so I can't tell you too much. They are a member referral which are usually pretty solid. We will see what happens with them.

Overall, it seems like great things will happen! Elder Harker (my new comp from Canada) is great!! He is super chill and a hard worker! We are going to see miracles!

Prayer List

Sheila and Clive Prep for baptism on the 27th

Aileen Strength to give up smoking

O'briens Fully commit themselves

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

Sorry I haven't taken any pics of Ireland yet. I will make up for it next week!

--

--Elder Wilson

1) Loch Ness: home of the Loch Ness Monster 2) The last selfie with Elder Thueson :(

 

 

Just My Luck

Well, after 6 more weeks in Thurso, we had another moves call last night. Here is the verdict:

Elder Thueson will be staying in Thurso and will be serving with Elder Kinville. I, however, will be leaving. After serving half my mission in Scotland, I finally get to see the Emerald Isle! That's right! Elder Wilson is headed to Ireland! I will be serving in a town called Dundalk which is about an hour outside of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland (if you didn't know, Ireland is actually two separate countries). My new companion is Elder Harker from Canada. I am really looking forward to finally getting to see the other half of my mission, but sad to say goodbye to Elder Thueson. It has been a grand 3 months with him. Who knew I would make some of my closest friends in another country? 

In other news, pretty cool checkpoint in my mission life yesterday. If I did my math correctly, yesterday marked one year until I will be back in the good ol' US of A! Only 365 days to go! It is crazy how fast the time has gone. It does not feel like I have been out as long as I have and experienced all of these incredible things. I would not trade them all for the world, and in the words of my friend Elder Thueson, there's no place I'd rather be!!

I wish I could write more, but I need to go pack and get ready to leave. I need to be in Edinburgh tomorrow night. I will then catch a bus Wednesday morning to Stranraer where we will catch the 3 hour ferry to Belfast. From there I will take another bus to Dublin, where I will meet with Elder Harker and head up to Dundalk in our car. Oh yeah, I still have a car. I am going to be so fat!

Prayer List

-Thurso this area is just going really slow and could use some blessings. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

 

--Elder Wilson

 

Dunnet Head-most northern point in mainland Britain


We built a fort in our living room!


fort Selfie!!!!!

 

                                             

 

 

Fulfilling Our Purpose

Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

This week was fantastic!! As mentioned last week, we had Theoden's baptism on Saturday and it went wonderfully! He could hardly sit still he was so excited. It was a little strange doing it in a public swimming pool, but the Spirit was the same as any other. His dad, Lee, was baptised last April, and he got to perform the baptism, so that made it even more special! On Sunday, Theoden was confirmed. Elder Thueson did the actual confirmation, but it was a great privilege to stand in the circle and participate in that ordinance. Best experience of my mission so far!

This week, we also had a blitz with the Elders from Inverness. They came up here to Thurso, and seemed kind of surprised by how small it was. It's not like we haven't been telling them that every time we see them over skype. But, it was a good time! Nice to have other missionaries up here, and we found quite a few people who are interested, so hopefully we see some miracles there! 

So, the inevitable happened and Elder Wilson bought a kilt!!! And just in time for the Thurso branch Scottish evening that we had after Theoden's baptism. Got a lot of compliments from the branch members, and I would say that I look pretty dang good if you ask me. I think I have officially turned Scottish!!!

Prayer List

-David- COMMIT!

-Claire

-Thomas

-David

-Andrew-Desire to learn and meet with us (for all 4 of these people)

Well, this week is going to be a lot finding. Now that Theoden is baptised, we need a new investigator to take his place!

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

--

--Elder Wilson

 

Yep. Elder Wilson in a kilt!

                                       

Théoden's baptism!

Yay Scotland!!!!

Haggis, neeps, and tatties

 

 

It Might Be a White Christmas After All

Happy Monday everyone! This week was pretty great. First I will start with last Monday.

Elder Thueson and I decided to go on an adventure for P-day, so we went to a place called Durness to check out Smoo Cave. It was pretty cool (as I hope you can tell from the pictures). It's kind of hidden away in this really cool cove. Probably one of the funnest P-days I've had on my mission, but also one of the dirtiest. Got a bit muddy climbing around, but it was well worth it. 

We also went down to Aberdeen for zone interview training. It was really nice being in a big city with other missionaries, but as expected, I never want to sit in our car that long again. I am not a fan of roadtrips. 

So, investigator update. Had some really good meetings with David, but unfortunately he is no longer preparing for baptism on the 30th. He asked if he could move his date a little bit later so he could have more time to think about it. Still working with him though. 

Theoden however is doing great. He is preparing to be baptised this Saturday!! I am so excited!! The challenge now is going to get everything together before then. Can't wait to have a 'white' Christmas about a month late!! Should be a really great day. His dad, Lee, will be the one baptising him so that will be super special! Can't wait!!

In terms of weather, it has been pretty nippy. It was -4 degrees celsius last night, so that wasn't very fun, and it snowed a couple of times this past week as well. Seems like winter must finally be upon us (as if it hasn't been for the past 2 months). All I can say is this: thank goodness for space heaters and blankets!

Prayer List

-Theoden Prepare for baptism

-David Overcome concerns

-Isabel Be able to meet with us

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

--

--Elder Wilson

Smoo Cave

                           

 

 

The Rains Came Down, and the Floods Came Up!

Hiya friends! This week was pretty dang good! Most of the week was spent finding (with not so much success), but we were also able to have some solid teaching appointments.

First off we saw Theoden and had a great meeting with him. He is doing so good and should be on track for the 23rd if things keep going the way they are. We will be seeing him again on Thursday, and his dad will be making us some Mexican food (enchiladas if I remember correctly)! Elder Thueson and I are pretty excited for that!!!

We also go to see David twice this week. Had a great Word of Wisdom lesson with him the first time. He seems really ready and willing to make that change, so that was a relief. I always get really nervous teaching that lesson. The second time, we started doing family history with him. We got him all set up with a FamilySearch account and started his family tree. In Falkirk, we lived right next door to the family history missionary couple, so it looks like that paid off. They would be so proud!

Sunday was an interesting day to say the least (and it will explain the title of this post). Saturday night into Sunday, we had really nasty rain storm. Super strong winds and pouring down rain pounding against our window. Driving to church was not fun, as many of the roads were flooding, and it looks like Scotland got some new lochs in their fields. A few families were not even able to make it to church because some of the flooding was so bad. Nobody's house got flooded, thank goodness, but the driving conditions were just not ideal. On the bright side, Lee, Theoden, and his brother, Fraser Lee, were all able to come to church!!! It was so awesome to see them all there, and it seems like they had a good time. 

This week looks busy! We have Zone Interview Training in Aberdeen on Wednesday. This means we will leave Tuesday afternoon, have the meeting Wednesday, and then get back Thursday afternoon. I am going to hate our car after this week. I am looking forward to being around other missionaries though. 3 weeks in isolation can start getting to your head!

Prayer List

-Theoden-Make 23rd baptismal date

-David-Church attendance

-Rebecca-Desire to change

-Donald-Desire to learn

Hope you all have a great week! I love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!  

--

--Elder Wilson

1-2) Mom, we shrunk ourselves!!

 

Black Whole Year

January 4, 2016

HAPPY 2016 EVERYONE!!!! I hope all of you had a wonderful (and safe) New Years holiday. As of January 1st, my Black Whole Year has begun. Translating that into normal, everyday terms: it is my first full year in the mission field. Crazy how fast 2015 went by. I still feel like it was just yesterday I was getting on that first plane headed to the UK. Time is a funny thing. Funny story about something we did New Year's Day. Every year, a group of youth in Thurso branch have a tradition called a Splash and Dash. It is comparable to a Polar Bear Plunge if you have ever heard of that. Basically, you go and run into the ocean or a lake or something in the winter and completely submerse yourself. So, we went and watched the youth run into the North Sea and come out complaining that they couldn't feel their feet. It's times like these I am grateful for the missionary rule that we are not allowed to go swimming.

With the ending of 2015, like most others, I have had some time to reflect on the past year. Boy has a lot happened. For starters, I was in three different countries this past year. Started off in the good ol' US of A. Then I flew across the pond to England. 2 weeks later, I sat on a coach bus for who knows how long and went to Scotland. Who knows where I will be this year. The next thing I thought of is all the amazing friends I have made. This past year, I have had the privilege of serving with 5 amazing people who I am now proud to call my friends (hopefully they see it that way). I have met countless others in my 4 areas who have made such an impact on me, and who I am so glad to cross paths with. And finally, I thought of how much I have changed since coming on my mission. I have learned so many things about myself and who I am and how I can improve. I have really seen the person that I want to be when I go home. Most importantly, I have seen my testimony of this gospel and of my Saviour, Jesus Christ, increase and strengthen so much and I would not trade that for any experience in the world. 

Now, onto the week! Got to teach Theoden again. His baptismal date, unfortunately, has to be pushed back to the 23rd of this month in order for us to fit in all the lessons. Other than that, he is doing fantastic! Then there is David. We started teaching him the Big 3 lessons (Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, and Tithing) beginning with the Word of Wisdom. Lesson went great and he is perfectly on track for his date of January 30th. In terms of new investigators and all that jazz....seeing not so much success. We have been doing a lot of finding (if you want actual numbers, we knocked 109 doors this week), with not so much success, but we keep pressing forward. I know that if we are obedient and diligent, that the Lord will help us and bless us. This is His word after all.

Prayer List

-David Grant (investigator) Pray for church attendance

-Lee/Naomi/Theoden (less active/investigator) Pray for Church attendance

-Kevin/Rhona/Donald/William (potentials) Pray for sincere desires and return appointments

Thank you all for your love and support. Here is to an amazing new year! Hope you all have a wonderful week! Stay awesome! Keep moving forward!

--

--Elder Wilson

 

 

Ringing in the New Year

Dunnet Beach