Moves and Miracles

Hello all! This week (especially the weekend) has been such a blessing here in Stranraer. I will start off with the minor news first. Last night we got the call saying that Elder Cluster and I will be staying together here in Stranraer. We are both looking forward to another 5 weeks together and seeing what great things are in store for us here. Now on to the good stuff!!

Most of the week was pretty usual. Teaching some lessons, finding some people, and going about doing good. Nothing really special there. However, Sunday was amazing. On a normal week, we usually have about 8-10 people attend church. Well, this week, we had 21 people there!!!! We were able to get 4 of our investigators (Tia, Rachel, Emma, and Vicky) to come, as well as 2 less actives, including Eric. We also had a family visiting from Edinburgh, which helped to fill up a few more seats. It was so amazing to see so many people gathered together, and to watch the branch fellowship these people and welcome them in. So amazing!!

The other big thing that happened this week is with our investigator Vicky. She is 18 and has been investigating for about 4.5 months. She had a baptismal date, but backed out at the last second for unknown reasons. Since then, it has been hard to meet with her and really get her committed. This last week, we decided to commit her again for a baptismal date of June 11 and she accepted! We were both really happy about that. On Saturday, she called and said that she was no longer able to get baptised on the 11th, because some family members wouldn't be able to attend. Elder Cluster and I got a bit worried....until she suggested that she get baptised this Saturday instead. Umm.....YES!!!!! Surprise baptisms are the best. We are now working to get a baptism organised for this Saturday up in Ayr. We are both super stoked about this, especially Elder Cluster, because he has been working with her since the beginning. 

Those are the two major miracles of the week, plus a bunch of other little tender mercies that the Lord has thrown our way. It never ceases to amaze me just how much the Lord is willing to help us, despite our imperfections and shortcomings!!

Prayer List

-Vicky

-Tia

-Rachel and Emma

-Eric and Norman

-Dayna

Thank you all so much for your love and support. You have no idea how much it means to me! Stay awesome and keep moving forward. Love and miss you all!

Elder Wilson

1) I found a bridge to the Shire 2) Stranraer District 3) Cave Selfie

 

 

He's Mormon, but he's Buddhist

Hello all! It has been a pretty good week in Stranraer. Things finally look like they are heading in the right direction. We were able to see most of our investigators this week, which was really good, and have lots of appointments set up for this week with new people. Should be good stuff, if all goes according to plan.

Our investigator Rachel was able to make it to church yesterday, which was really good. She seemed to enjoy it! Hopefully next week she can get her sister Emma there. Tia wasn't able to come, which was a bit sad. She is also starting to rethink her baptism on the 11th, so special prayers for Tia would be greatly appreciated!

The highlight of this week was visiting our new friend Eric and his grandson Norman. They are quite the characters. So, Eric is an inactive member, and has not had missionaries for 35 years. He loves the church though and knows it is all true, there is just something that happened that put him off. Now, Eric is a Buddhist, but also not Buddhist. He doesn't pray to Buddha or follow any of their beliefs, but just follows their lifestyle (such as meditating and being very earth friendly). He taught us how to meditate the other day. That was an interesting experience. The best way to put it is he lives a Buddhist lifestyle with Mormon beliefs. His grandson, Norman, is a nonmember. He is super cool as well. He is planning on going to university in Aberdeen in September, but for now is helping to take care of his grandpa. 

This week, we also went to the circus!!! There was an American circus in Stranraer this week, and a recent convert and some investigators invited us to go with them. It was really fun. I have never been to a legit circus before, so this was a first for me. Sadly, most of the people in the American circus weren't even American. But, it was fun either way. 

Prayer List

-Tia

-Emma and Rachel

-Dayna

-Eric and Norman

-James and Suzy

Sorry for the shorter email, but I got a really slow computer today that takes forever to type on. Thank you all for your love and support. Stay awesome and keep moving forward.

Elder Wilson

 

I'm feeding a sheep

The Circus crew!

Meet Norman

Meet Eric

 

Sunshine and Flat Tyres!

For the record, yes I did spell tires correctly. For some reason, that is how they spell it here in Europe. According to them, that is the proper English spelling!

Anyway, this week was beautiful!! I think it was the first full week on my mission when we had nothing but sunshine!!! The temperature was also really good as well. Got up to about 75 degrees most days, which is pretty unusual for Scotland. But, I'm not complaining. Last Monday, Elder Cluster and took advantage of the nice weather and went on a beach tour around our area. We felt like we had been transferred to the California mission!! The only drawback was that both of us wanted to go swimming soooo bad, which we are not allowed to do as missionaries. Sad day!

To explain the second part of the subject title, we got a flat tire on our car this week. We were in a place called Port William, which is about 30 minutes away from Stranraer, visiting an investigator. When we got back to our car, we noticed our front tire was flatter than a pancake! Luckily, when I was in Boy Scouts, my dad made me take the Automotive Maintenance merit badge! Looks like it came in handy, because I was able to change the tire no problem! If you have never had to change a tire in a white shirt and tie, I would not recommend it. Your white shirt doesn't usually come out white. Another interesting thing that happened, is on our way back from Port William, after changing the tire, the car driving in front of us took out a pigeon flying across the road. I have never seen so many feathers!!! It was really impressive!

In terms of missionary work, this week was still a bit slow. We were able to get one of our investigators, Tia, with a baptismal date of June 11th, which is pretty exciting!!! Hopefully she will keep progressing as well as she has been.

A really cool miracle we saw this week: We found this guy named James about 2 weeks ago. Well, we were supposed to meet with him this week, but the day of our appointment, he texted saying he wasn't interested, but that his friend would be. Well, we talked to his friend, Suzy, and she is golden!!! She is looking for a faith and a church and has so many great questions!!!! She said that she is ready to commit to God and will do whatever she needs to. Well, Suzy, have we got a church for you!! We should be seeing her this week!

Prayer List

-Tia

-Rachel and Emma

-Vicky

-Suzy

-Dayna

-Kevin

Thank you all for your love and support!!! I really do appreciate it and it means a lot to me! Stay awesome and keep moving forward!! Love and miss you all!

Elder Wilson

We got transferred to California!

Our investigator made us schnitzel!!

We found the Secret Garden!

 

 

 

 

 

Before

After

Reflections

May 9, 2016

Well, this week has been pretty slow and not very fruitful to be completely honest. We were able to find a couple of new people to teach (all of whom are friends of our recent convert Dayna), but the people we were already teaching seem to all be slipping. It has been very hard to get in contact with them, and when we do meet up, they just don't seem as willing to change as they did when this process started. Prayers for all of them would be greatly appreciated!!

In happier new, this week we had an All Scotland conference in Edinburgh!! It was an amazing spiritual feast and I learned so much! It was also really fun because I got to see many of my past companions: Elder Ensign (Motherwell), Elder Olsen (Dundee), Elder Scharman (Falkirk), Elder Thueson (Thurso), and Elder White (MTC). It was so great gettting to catch up with all of them, and I also got to say a real goodbye to Elder Ensign since he goes home at the end of this month. I have been blessed with some really amazing companions and am so grateful for all they have taught me!

Yesterday was Mother's Day, and as such, we got to skype home!!!! It's nice getting to email my family every week, but nothing can replace actually talking to them. It's amazing how much you realize you miss them! 

One thing that happened during skype, was my mom asked me how I have changed since I have been on my mission, and this caused me to reflect on the last 15 months (hence the name of this email). I have grown so much! I feel like I have truly come to know my Saviour Jesus Christ, and my Heavenly Father. My testimony has been strengthened in a way that only this kind of work can do. I have made some amazing life long friends and learned so much about who I am as a person and who I want to become. While it has in no way been easy, I would not trade this experience for the world!!

Prayer List

-Campbell

-Kevin

-James and Amy

-Tia

-Emma and Rachel

-Dayna

Thank you all for your love and support! It means so much to me! Stay awesome and keep moving forward! Love and miss you all!

Elder Wilson

1) A Heeland Coo (Scottish for Highland Cow) 2) Sheep taking shelter from the rain

 

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