Falling Apart

                                                                                                             Tuesday            May 2, 2016
Hello friends, family, and other random people that read this! Sorry this email is a day late. It was another random bank holiday in Scotland and the libraries were close, so it was a bit difficult to do the bulk of our emailing.

This last week was a bit disappointing, unfortunately. We got to see most of our investigators, but a lot of them seem to have lost the original fire that they had when they first started learning about the gospel. It doesn't help that it has been really hard for us to find some new investigators either. Sunday was a bit of a let down as well. We had 4 people who had told us that they would be coming to church, and of those 4, a total of 0 came. I guess that is just how missionary work goes: it builds up, and then without a moments notice, all comes crumbling down.

This week is going to be a lot of reconstructing the area. We are working on getting back in contact with some of our investigators, as well helping those that we do have, relight that fire and get them excited about the gospel again. We also do have a couple more potential investigators we hope to be meeting with, so praying really hard that all goes well there. 

There are some pretty exciting things happening this week as well. On Wednesday, we will be having an All Scotland conference in Edinburgh. This is where all the missionaries in Scotland come together, and we get an amazing spiritual feast. This meeting will also be really fun, because I will get to see 5 of my 8 companions, a couple of whom I haven't seen in almost a year now! I am super stoked!

Prayer List

-Dayna

-Vicky

-Campbell

-Kevin

-James and Amy

-James Mackie

Thank you all for your love and support! I really appreciate it! Love and miss you all so much! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

Elder Wilson



Port Logan

That's Donald Trump's house

Loch side picnic!

Port Logan, again!

 

 

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers!

Howdy all! This week has been really good. On average, in the Scotland/Ireland Mission, we teach around 5 or 6 lessons a week, if we are lucky. Well, for Elder Cluster and I, this week was really good. We taught a total of 11 lessons!!! We were able to see pretty much all of our investigators, and slowly, but surely, they are all progressing.

With Campbell, we were able to start the Stop Smoking Program with him. Even though he is only 16, he has a really strong will power, so he should be able to quit no problem.

We were also able to see James and Amy. They are both doing alright. Still trying to help them see the need for Jesus Christ in our life and work out a way to get them to church. James has a problem with his leg, and can't sit for too long. We will figure it out though.

Had a good visit with Martin this week also. He really opened up to us, and we found out the root of a lot of his problems. He wasn't able to make it to church yesterday which was a bummer, but hopefully next week.

This week is looking pretty good as well. Tomorrow we are going to be going on exchanges with the Zone Leaders up in Irvine, so we will be up there all day. We have lots of appointments scheduled for this week, including a couple of new investigator appointments, so things should be going well!

Prayer List

-Campbell

-James and Amy

-Martin

-Vicky

-Dayna

-Kevin

-James M.

Sorry for the shorter email, but the computer I am on is being stupid and slow. I will make up for it next week! Thank you all for the love and support. Love and miss you all! Stay awesome and keep moving forward.

Elder Wilson

 

Technically not swimming :)

The Irish Sea is cold!

Scotland/Ireland Mission!!!!

Is that.... sunshine?

Out in short sleeves!

Pancake party with Nancy, David, Katie, and Vicky!

 

Moves Day or Moves Week?

Well, here I am in Stranraer in the good ol' land of Scotland. Let me tell you, it was a long week last week. Usually, people are able to move to their new areas in one day, hence the term-moves day. However, this time was a little different for me as it took me an entire week to get to my new area. Here was how it went down. 

Monday night- left Dundalk

Tuesday- bussed to Belfast in the morning, ferried to Scotland, bussed to Glasgow, drove to Paisley

Wednesday- spent the day in Pollok while my comp was in Edinburgh at new leadership training. 

Thursday- took the car to get an oil change in the morning, and drove to Stranraer in the afternoon, arriving around 3. 

Yep. Crazy stuff! But, I made it eventually. Stranraer seems pretty good. There are a lot of good things happening. Here's a little bit about the area. Population of about 10,000 people. About 8 members in the branch, but every single one is amazing and take really good care of the missionaries! My new comp is Elder Cluster. He is from Ogden, Utah, is 18 years old, and has been on his mission for about 9 months. Seems like it's going to be a fun transfer with him. 

We are working with so many great people right now! Here is some info about them...

Campbell: 16 years old. Super solid! Preparing to be baptised on May 7. Working on stopping smoking and drinking (that is a big problem among the youth here). Came to church yesterday and loved it!!!

Karen and Natalie: Best friends. 14 years old. Also have a smoking/drinking problem. Really fun and energetic.

James and Amy: Couple. Amy is from Pakistan. Super chill, but have a lot of their own beliefs on things. Have had some struggles in the past, but believe we were sent to them for a reason.

Kevin: About 40. Loves to learn about the gospel, but struggles with coming to church. Is preparing for baptism on May 7, but we will probably be moving his date, so that he can come to church more regularly. 

Vicky: 17. Friend of a recent convert. Is super willing to change. Had a baptismal date, but unfortunately missed it. Working on preparing her for a new one. 

Martin: 30's. From Czech Republic. Loves to hang out with the missionaries. Came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it!! 

Those are the main people that we are working with right now! Please pray for them that they will all continue to progress!

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

Elder Wilson

 

Meet Elder Cluster

 

Back in Scotland

Yeah, this is the chapel

 

Keeping the Pattern

Well, moves call has come and gone, and once again it is time for me to pack everything up and move out again. On Tuesday I will be leaving, not only Dundalk, but the wonderful land of Ireland and heading back to Scotland to my new area of Stranraer. I will be serving with Elder Cluster. It is sad to leave this area because so many amazing things are happening. We have 5 people preparing for baptism within the next month and many more new people that we are finding. Elder Corcran and his new companion are going to do great things!

This seems to be the pattern though. Since the beginning of my mission, I have only ever spent two transfers in areas, and then I get booted out. In a way, it is kind of fun being able to see so much of the mission and meet so many new people. At the same time though, I would like to be able to settle down somewhere for a while. But hey, I am just that much closer toward achieving my two goals. First, serve in every zone in the mission (currently at 6/8) and second, to have the most areas (currently at 6). Guess we will wait and see if the trend keeps on going.

Sorry this email is so much shorter, but I need to get back to the flat and finish packing, seeing as I have to be down in Dublin tonight.

Prayer List

-Attila

-Oussain

-Rebecca

-Peter and Moreen

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

Elder Wilson

 

Finglas District

Dundalk swag

The Murphy's! Make me feel like a giant!

 

Hitting the Pavement

Well, this week has been..interesting to say the least. We knew we were going to be without a car (you know because of the accident and everything), but we got a car this week saying that our car will be given to another set of Elders in Mullingar. That's right, after 5 months with a car, I finally lose it! In a way, I am sort of happy about it, because now I can stop getting fat. However, that means you are back to hitting the pavement by foot and also by bike! I better be the sexiest missionary after leaving this area!

A lot of this week has been adjusting to new modes of transportation, so we unfortunately weren't able to visit a few of our investigators. We have yet to get back in contact with Romain, so that is a bit disheartening, but we had a great lesson with Oussain. He asked us when he could get baptised, but we have to wait for his visa to get here before we can go ahead with that. He is so solid though. We also got a legit referral from mormon.org this week. Her name is Rebecca, and we called her and she said that she referred herself and that she would love to meet up. We are seeing her on Saturday, so that should be good!!!

We got the amazing opportunity Saturday and Sunday to watch General Conference! It was so good! I had so many of my questions answered and received so much personal revelation. My favorite had to be either Donald Hallstrom or Bonnie L. Oscarson! Both just really made me think and remember why I love this church and this gospel so much! Such an amazing thing to be a part of!

Prayer List

-Romain

-Oussain

-Rebecca

-Attila

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

Elder Wilson

Watching Gen Conf!!

Happy Easter!!

Well, this week has been a bit stressful.

First off, Romain. We have tried to get in contact with him everyday this week, to no avail. Not sure if he is trying to avoid us, or what. Got a text from him on Sunday saying he wasn't coming to church and that he just needed to talk with himself and figure things out. Needless to say, unless a miracle happens, he probably won't be getting baptized this Saturday as planned.

Next is Oussain. We had an amazing lesson with him on Friday about the Plan of Salvation, and in his own words, it is 110% true!!! He said straight up that he wants to convert. The only issue is that he is Muslim, and with everything going on at the minute, we won't be able to baptize him until he gets a visa. He is sending in his paperwork this week and it should get here in about 2 weeks after that, so we could still possibly make his date of April 16th. Unfortunately, he didn't come to church either and we don't know why.  

Also got a new investigator named Maureen. She was a former that was being a taught a few months ago, that we got back in contact with. She is very energetic for a 49 year old women, and is very religious. It is a bit hard for us to talk about what we believe, because she is always talking about what she believes. She did accept a baptismal date though, so that is some sort of progress.

As for the rest of the week, we had a few dropped appointments and Sunday wasn't very fun. You would think that Easter would be one of the greatest Sunday's ever, but not in Dundalk! For starters we had no investigators at church. To make that even worse, we had a member of the mission presidency visiting, so we probably looked like wasters. Then, after church we got in a car accident. Don't worry, we are all ok, but the car will be in the shop for a few days, so we get to walk everywhere now. Yay (please note sarcasm). Basically, my brain hurts, and I am really tired. Really looking forward to Sunday where I can just relax and watch General Conference. Should be good!

Prayer List

-Romain

-Oussain

-Attila

-Peter and Moreen

-Maureen

Thank you all for your love and support! Really appreciate it! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!

Elder Wilson

Carlingford Castle

                                    

I'm a sheep!

We adopted a cat!

Luck of the Irish

Top o' the morning to ya!! This week was so flipping good. For starters, I had the once in a lifetime experience of celebrating St. Patrick's Day in good old Ireland!! In years past, missionaries have had to go in early, or not go out at all because it can get a wee bit crazy. However, this year, we were allowed to go out and work all day!! It was so much fun! It was the first time since being here that I actually heard Irish music playing in the streets. Sadly, even though there were a lot of people out, most of them were too busy or drunk to want to hear a message about God.

Despite that though, the Lord has blessed us so much this week! This week, we were able to find a total of 4 new investigators and now have 5 people preparing to be baptised. Here is a brief update on the new people:

Atilla: He is originally from Hungary. He looks like he could eat you whole, but is one of the nicest and funniest guys I have met! He really wants help with his English, so we are going to teach him and give him English lessons as well!

Peter and Moreen: Brother and sister from Nigeria. Met with missionaries before, but the missionaries lost contact. Had a great lesson with them, and both admitted that this is the truth. Both are preparing for baptism on the 16th of April.

Anthony: Found by the previous elders while knocking doors. He is very open minded and said that he felt curious to learn more after the lesson. Has a lot of really great questions. Also preparing for baptism on the 16th.

We are also still working with Romain and Oussain. Sadly, in order to fit all the lessons in, we had to move Romain's baptism to next week, but at least it is still going to happen. Oussain is doing great as well!! He told us straight up that he knew what we were teaching was true, he has come to church twice (walks an hour to get there) and is also preparing for baptism on the 16th. If all goes well, we should be baptising 2 Nigerians, a Pakistani, and an Irish man on the 16th! Talk about multicultural! This area has really started to take off again Now, let's make sure that it keeps going that way and that we don't get lazy!

Prayer List

-Atila

-Peter and Moreen

-Anthony

-Romain

-Oussain

-Aileen

-Peter C.

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

Elder Wilson

 

Rockin' my Irish swag!

Ireland

Decorating

 

Patty's Day in Dundalk

Shamrock shake and McFlurry to celebrate!