May 6, 2015

So, Hi.........

It's been along week, And I can't remember too much things however there are a few things I recall.

We taught this great man named Daniel, He is awesome he is a choreographer for the Ballet School here that one of the members Owns and He was at dinner as we went to hers. We shared with him, Origins" Video. Mormon message, which shares about Joseph Smith's Story and It shows us a more modern example for all of us to learn from. As we went to present it He asked about Joseph Smith so we taught basically the story of Joseph Smith and shared the First Vision with him, At the beginning of the lesson we asked him if he would be interested in going through the basic lessons to learn about the beliefs we have, and he said I'll think about it but at the end he said I think I would like to learn, and He asked if there would be food, :P It was great, Especially because his friends bore testimony of the gospel in their lives and how its hard but worth it, which was very powerful to see.  As we were on our way to see Daniel though we met our friend again on the train, Seriously the Lord is telling us something we have been on the train to Taynuilt twice and met her both times and she doesn't even live near here, she is at school in Stirling, However it was awesome.
Apparently when she was out the Harry Christna church was contacting her and tried to give her abook but she said no. She then said to us " You guys are much cooler,"  as we talked she began asking some questions so on the train we taught and Testified of the Savior. It was so neat as we invited her to read the book of Mormon and she asked for a copy and She agreed to meet up with us sometime to learn. She is a good friend. Her name is Anna.

We were also in a place called north Connel, and we were going about chapping doors and we ran into our friend again, He invited us into his home and showed us his Garden, It was cool, as we were there he gave us a rhubarb Cream Pot, and pickled ulluco, ( It is a beetroot plant)
They are such a cool family and are our good friends :) We were right about to leave as well and we walked to pick up the kids with him and Brought Bitey with us ( Bitey is a dragon Puppet) He is awesome.  As the kids got off the Bus they screamed and Say " Hey it's the Mormons, YAy" They are so cool, we then later continued to do some finding in the area, we went by the airport which was cool, and met a lady on a path. but There was a friend we were looking for and she wasn't in but our friends confirmed for us that she does indeed live there so that was nice. North Connel was fun.

We also went by our Friend Robin, just to see how he was doing, and we aren't sure about him, so we went by he told us he was busy and to come back anytime. Then later in the day we got called by him saying " I'd appreciate it if you don't ever come back" so we at least have closure now.

We got a nice day as well, so we decided to go and clean up rubbish on the beach over in Oban, It was neat I found a Radio Destroyed and in the sand. It's strange the things that wash up on shore in oban.  We saw our friend Hammish as well, and he told us we missed a spot, so we invited him to help us we all laughed.

Later on, we found a cool thing. We were walking to these houses right, and we see this sheep and Lamb running down the road, and we don't see anyone nearby, so Elder Starr and I, went to try to corral it, as we were going to try to herd it though we saw the farmer come over on a quad bike to collect him, and it put more into context the scripture that says, what man having 100 sheep if he loses one of them, will leave the ninety and nine and go after that which is lost,
As we were travelling out to Fortwilliam later in the week we saw many of the same instance however those sheep were lost, Along the road, in a ditch and so forth with no sign of the shepherd which truly showed us the importance of the shepherd and gave us a cool experience to understand more our role as The Lord's servants, as missionaries and members to be the shepherd to each other and protect one another from Dangers.

As we were out in the village as well, we were chapping doors, but We had met some nice People, We met one man who wasn't interested and we went to ask him a question , and we said it's not religion related, so he listened and allowed us to go in and use his toilet :p
We later were knocking on a man's door named Ernie. and as we knocked his door he said he wasn't interested, and that he was Church Of Scotland, As we talked he showed us his Car Models and invited us in, after a good discussion and Food and Juice we departed, but as we talked with him, he had told us he doesn't go to church much, and that he has always wondered about why do bad things happen specifically to children, as we talked with him we could sense a true sincerity in his questions and testified to the plan of The Lord. Especially how in Moroni 8 in the Book of mormon it is focused on the fact that young children before the Age of accountability ( which is 8) need not be baptised, as they are considered to be unaccountable. So if an infant or baby pass away they are automatically with God. We testified of this Eternal truth and talked about Eternal Perspective, He told us he likes the word eternal perspective and That we could come back to share this with him and his wife.
Unfortunately when she got home on Monday she told him she wasn't interested in discussing her religion with anyone. But the spirit was there when we were and I know that they will have the chance to ponder upon the words they heard and the spirit they felt when we were there.

We volunteered at British Heart Foundation this week again, and it was neat because one of the men we know from volunteering there his name is Ian and he wants to learn about the View points and beliefs of the church, we had saw him on the street and talked with him and he said it is fascinating, so that was cool, as well as we were officially oriented into the group which was nice as they are our friends and are welcoming to us. What that means is Banter persues :) It's alot of fun. At BHF I am learning to Tag clothes, size them, Reorganize the store, Steam them, Unpack the donation bags.
We had a movie night for the Branch, which was interesting we watched an old movie about the Church and pioneers, from back in the 1940s ( I apologize if any of you are from there, I am not calling you old) But it was interesting, it was black and white and shared the saints journey across the plains and some of the travels. It was interesting. We had fun, We had us, the miles and Danny there so that was nice

We also went to Taynuilt this week to go finding and we met some interesting people, It was nice, it was funny one person we contacted in Taynuilt, we saw again later with her friend in Oban, It's funny when you see the same person in two different places throughout the one day.

Like I said we also went out to Fortwilliam, We were goign to contact all those who had gone to church when the branch was there but with no branch nearby it made it difficult and many stopped going so we went out to see if they would want to have all of us come down to do sacrament meeting and visit once a month sometime, It does make it interesting here as the dynamic is alot different and seeing that many are so far away shows a new dynamic as well.
We met a few that were interested in having us come back so we look forward to seeing how it goes.
OnSunday it was so cool because EVERYONE bore testimony at testimony meeting, even those that don't ever bare testimony so it was very very powerful to be there.

On Monday we had a Bank Holiday which is why we are emailing today, It was a fun day, we went shopping, and that's it really. :P we both found nice suits in a charity shop so it was a blessing for sure. We then had the elders from dumbarton with us which was fun.
I was on exchange with elder Christensen who is a fellow canadian so that was cool, we went chapping doors, and we both were working on listening better and asking more inspired questions.
 And Yesterday, Elder Starr and I were doing the same thing, but it was funny, because he told me that when I talk I stroke my chin so as I was talking and asking questions to find out more about the People I went to stroke my chin and I noticed it and bursted out laughing. :P

It was funny, we then met a nice lady named Wendy, she knew missionaries along time ago and welcomed us in, we chatted abit and talked about church and she was nice, Her daughter was christened at Rosslyn Chapel which is pretty cool so we were able to meet her and were invited back.

The work is going good, And in regards to my patience study, my Patience seems to be getting better as I have been constantly applying things and reevaluating, I am definately not patient though but working on it. I hope to one day be but probably won';t master it in this life time, I know with god all things are possible and to increase in anything you need trials to push that thing, so Patience has been fun, and Right now in my studies I am studying all the standard works and Undserstanding more of the full picture. I am learning about being watchful, I am learning about 12 tribes and understanding the Mosaic Law, I am seeing how wquick the Nephites are doing iniquity even right after the Lord saves them, It's incredible, I feel my knowledge is expanding and I am greatful for this chance.

I know the scriptures are the words of Christ and as we adhere to them and Feast upon the words of christ the words of christ will tell us all things that we should do. I know that as we study we gain understanding, and as we gain understanding we gain pure knowledge which then transforms into Godly Wisdom.

I love Trials, they mould us and transform us into doing many things and help us to become that Gold which needs to be refined to be make that way. I love the mormon message about the Refiner's Fire, It shows Medal Rods which get moulded and broken and stretched and in the end it makes a beautiful rose, and that is what our Tribulation do for us

I love all of you and keep you continually in my prayers, hope all is well and I know the Lord is taking care of all of you.

Love you

Happy Mother's Day

Oh and Happy Birthday  Elder Jeremy Keith, and Laura Spencer.
Love all of you and remember that if times are hard remember that the Lord is always there for you.


Elder James T Kirk Reece
Scotland/ Ireland Mission