June 29, 2015

Here is the e-mail we got from Mason today.

So this week not to much happened. The less active lady we were teaching and her boyfriend we pretty much dropped cause they canceled on us and wouldn't come to church so we will see them when they make contact.

Monday we just walked around, I got a new tartan tie. It is the Scotland Forever tartan Bryn would really like it cause its mostly purple.

Tuesday we had district meeting, then I went on exchanges with one of the missionaries who goes home in a week. Everyone around me is "dying". We pretty much just knocked doors all day.  Wednesday we did some service for a member for a little bit then had dinner then ward council so that was our day. Thursday after weekly planing I can't really remember what we did.

Friday we had District Leader council in the morning so it was a bit of driving to get there. Then we went to an American diner here in Inverness with the Zone Leaders. Then we had to drive to Invergordan to give them the car back. Then we had a ward activity. We watched "Meet the Mormons" which I thought was really cool and really good.

Saturday we did service in the morning at a charity store. Then we played sports with the youth. Elder Carter had to go to Aberdeen to get a temple recommend interview from President Brown so he went down with the Elder I went on exchanges with and I stayed here with his companion then we had to mow our grass so that took up the rest of the night. 

Sunday we had church which was good then after all four of us, since Elder Carter was back up here by then, went to our bishops house for a late lunch. We went back to the flat and after getting everything dropped off me and Elder Carter realized how tired we were so we went to take a 15 minute break and we woke up an hour later. Then we went and did some tracting nothing really came of that. But then we went and cleaned out the area book and made some calls to former investigators and we have like four appointments set up for next week. We will also be taking Invergordans car on Tuesday and going to the Isle of Skye. An area seventy gave President Brown a referral from there so President told us to get out there soon.  So next week is going to be really good. Love and miss you guys.

June 22, 2015

Here is Mason's e-mail from this week. We also got an e-mail from one of the senior couples in Scotland/Ireland and they sent us some pictures they had taken of Mason, which was a nice surprise! I posted their message and pictures at the end of Mason's e-mail.

So this week not too much happened here. So right now the only people we are teaching is the less active member and her boyfriend So that is pretty much it. We really don't have any time for tracting because we are either walking to some thing or waiting on the bus, everyone keeps on saying we need a car but that most likely won't happen since the mission is losing nine cars! I haven't heard from the Austins at all but Peter emails me every week and I will need to ask elder Perkins to send me pictures from his baptism. And I am just fine from drinking from Loch Ness - that was actually some of the best tasting water ever! And now I am immortal.

So not much has happened this week Loch Ness was awesome and we got two dinners that day. The member who took us to Loch Ness also took us to dinner then dropped us off at another, recently reactivated, members house and they fed us as well. Tuesday after district meeting I went on exchanges with Elder Roger's companion Elder Stobbs but at loch Ness I kinda messed up my ankle on a broken step so we had to stay in all day on Tuesday.

Wednesday we exchanged back and went to the less active and her boyfriend and taught them. Then we went shopping cause we didn't have time on Monday. Then we went gorge walking with the young men that was way fun. The young men in this ward are cool.

Thursday we did weekly planing and not much else happened the rest of the day.

Friday we went and helped in the tennis court again. Then we went to the hospital and visited a member and her mom there. That was really all that happened.

Saturday we played sports with the young men at the church and that was really the big thing we did not do much else.

Sunday we had church and then after that we went Adam and Rose's (the young men's president and his wife) for lunch after church - that went a bit long but they are so much fun. Then Elder Carter took a District Leader study and we had dinner so not much happened this week.

This is a link to a short video of Mason drinking water at Loch Ness - Loch Ness Video

(This is a link to a file in my Dropbox so when you click on the link if you get a box that says you have to create an account or sign in to Dropbox, just click on the "X" to close the box and you will be able to watch this video without creating an account or signing in to your account.)

This is the e-mail with the pictures we got from the Brother and Sister Hale - the senior couple in Mason's mission. They actually met Mason when he was on exchanges with Elder Rogers, his companion from Cumbernauld who is now in Mason's district. So the other missionary in the pictures is Elder Rogers not Mason's companion now.

Dear Wynder family,

My husband and I are senior missionaries in the Scotland/Ireland mission.  We spent the first eight months of our mission in the highlands of Scotland (currently serving in Cork, Ireland) and had the opportunity to return and visit our wonderful friends from the three branches where we served.  We were able to spend a morning with Meg MacDonald of the Invergordon Branch as well as Elders Wynder and Rogers.  We all walked in  Meg's beautiful fields with her three dogs and her pet lamb Humphrey!  It was so good to be back with her again.  We enjoyed the company of Elder Wynder and his companion also. I'm attaching a few photos in this email and one other so as not to overwhelm the capacity of your server.  Cheers!

Sister Sandra and Elder Brent Hale

 

And here are a couple more pictures from Cumbernauld that Mason uploaded but I somehow missed - I think the first picture is Peter (the man they taught in Cumbernauld that got baptized right after Mason was transferred). And the other picture is a family in the Cumbernauld ward.

And one last link to another video of Mason giving a tour of his flat in Cumbernauld - Cumbernauld Flat Video

June 15, 2015

Here is Mason's e-mail from today . . . 

Elder Carter is really cool he is a real hard worker we get along pretty well so things are going good.So this week has has been really tiring. After emailing I went up to Thurso and the Elder I was with was the one who crashed the car in Edinburgh so after going back to the flat to get some stuff I told him I'm driving and drove for the rest of the day. And that is kinda what it ended up being we just drove most of the day. 

Wednesday we exchanged back and then we went to see a less active and her boyfriend who isn't a member and they have fried their brains so much but she wants to come back to church so we will be working with them. Then we went and got changed into service clothes and went to a member family's house. These members, the Martin-Thiers, are really cool all but two of their 7 kids are teenagers so we get along really well with that family. At their house they have a tennis court but it was crazy overgrown when they moved in and we have been helping them clear it out and it is crazy. So we worked on that for a few hours then had dinner with them and went to the church and had a correlation meeting with the Bishop. That finished up that day.

Thursday We had a lot of plans fall through so we ended up doing weekly planing and then doing a district leader study so elder Carter can plan district meeting. Then we went and saw a less active. Not much for Thursday. 

Friday We went to a members house and did some hard lumberjack service at his house (he is really a lumberjack). He has been clearing a lot of trees that fell down in the woods not to far from his house. We moved around six tons of logs that day. It was hard work but really fun. Then after finishing there we went to the young women's camp that was going on to do a fireside there. We ran out of time for it but it was still lots of fun. We ended up helping in setting up the tents and building the fire. So it was a really good day.

Saturday we did some service at a charity shop in town. Then we went to the church and Elder Carter did some more district leader stuff. Then we went and had dinner at Bishop's house they are awesome. Bishop asked us for our parents numbers so he could call and tell you guys about us. But my mind blanked on your cell number so I gave him our home number but you guys obviously weren't home so you may be getting a call some time from the Inverness bishop. Then we did some member visits with Bishop and got McFlurys at McDondalds. 

Sunday after church we went and had an early dinner with the wards young mens president and his wife. They only recently got married and are still pretty young so we get along really well with them. We ended up hanging out at their place for a little while, they currently live with his older brother and his house is awesome. The front window looks out onto loch Ness. Then when we got back to the flat me and Elder Carter weren't felling the best - we think it was because had too much sugar - so we ended up staying in the rest of the day. 

And then for today some members will be taking us to see Loch Ness so there will be some cool pictures next week and a video of me drinking from Loch Ness. Love and miss you guys.

June 9, 2015

Mason has been gone 9 MONTHS tomorrow - that is almost a year!! He e-mailed today (Tuesday) because they had a zone development (party) day yesterday - here it is . . . 

Hey Mom so this week has been so crazy.

Monday me and Elder Carter went around town looking at the tartan shops and other shops around town they have some really cool stuff here. I ended up getting a Green Scott tartan tie to match the scarf I got in Ayr. Not much else really happened.

Tuesday we mowed and cleaned up our backyard so that took a good chunk of the day. Then we went and did some try-by's and then went to a members house and had dinner. That was really fun.

Wednesday we went on exchanges. I went up to Invergordon with Elder Rogers and I drove the whole time, that was pretty fun. We went to a members house, there is a senior missionary couple going home so they were going and saying good by to everyone and so we went on a walk around the members huge back yard which is a massive field. Then we went to the branch president's house and had lunch with them and the senior missionaries. I found out the branch president's son had some of those training swords I was thinking about getting so we went and did some sword fighting in the backyard for a while and that was really fun. Apparently some of the youth now want me to go back there to sword fight with me. Then we drove down to Inverness picked up Elder Carter and Elder Stobbs and took them back then drove back to Inverness. So a lot of driving that day. 

Thursday we drove for three hours down to Aberdeen to go and blitz the area with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Scheuermann so that was really fun being able to catch up with him. We started right off by doing some service for this African guy who was really cool. Then me and Elder Scheuermann got taken out to lunch by a less active member to a chippy and that was really good. Then we all played basket ball with some members in the Aberdeen ward. Then we had to go pick up missionaries and drive them to the flats where they were staying at that night. I was driving the whole day so I went from not driving for 9 months to two days straight - that was fun. 

Friday we started off by mobbing down to Edinburgh for the Scotland east conference so that was about 3 hours of driving. Then when we were about 15 minutes away from the mission home we got in a car accident. First off everyone is alright, no one was hurt, and I wasn't driving. But the police came and told us we had to have the car towed so we had to pull into a parking lot and wait. But it was at the only Krispy Kreme in Scotland so we got some awesome doughnuts out of it. Then the Edinburgh Zone leaders came and picked three of us up, we had to leave Elder Carter and the Elder who was driving to wait for the tow truck. 

But at the conference the best instruction we got was right at the beginning because President started talking about iPads and told us that the church just needed to work out some legal stuff and then as soon as that is taken care of we will be getting them, so we will still have to wait a few months. But the reason they need to work stuff out is because the area book will be on the iPad and President will have access to it and since it has some personal info on it that has been whats holding the mission back from getting iPads. We then spent the rest of the day with some Edinburgh missionaries in Elder Carter's last area. Not much else there. 

Saturday, the big day, we started off by having breakfast at a member's house in Elder Carter's last area then we got on a train to Edinburgh. We met up with some other missionaries in the train station and some of us started walking to the mission home. Once we got there we had to line up really fast and get organized so it would be really quick for us to get in the chapel. We got it so the zones lined up alphabetically so we were the first zone in. The whole time we were standing waiting to go in some of the missionaries where saying things like "is this what the judgment will feel like?" Then we went in and I ended up dead middle in the second row. Then President Brown said that Elder Holland wanted to shake all our hands so we all lined up and got to shake his hand and tell him our names and where we are from. That was amazing. Then he told us that all the missionaries used to be interviewed by a member of the twelve and he had just interviewed all of us! He then told President that he had some really good missionaries. He then gave us some instruction on missionary work from the New Testament. He went through the stories of Nicodemus and the woman at the well and how they were two kinds of investigators. It was so power house it was insane. He also told us that a bishop in the meeting he had before asked him what he saw for the future of Scotland (the next day I found out this was the Inverness bishop). But he said that the miracles that have happened in this land would pale in comparison with what was to come and that this generation would live to see those miracles! That was the coolest part. Then after that we all drove back to Aberdeen and stayed at the Zone leaders flat again.

Then Sunday we watched the stake conference broadcast which was awesome as well. Elder Holland was the last speaker and he got up and said, in respect to the time, "I'm in charge here unless some one senior to me walks in I can do what I want." It was so cool. then after we went and had dinner with a member and that finished up Sunday.    

Monday it was right back down to Aberdeen for Zone Development it was fun. We played Yoga football, American football, and Redneck golf it was a lot of fun but not too much exciting stuff happened and now everyone hurts. 

I really only got one picture this week and that was a reunion of the Ayr/Stranraer district. I am off to Thurso for another exchange. So it's really been crazy. 

June 1, 2015

Mason is now in Inverness (northern Scotland in the Highlands) and here is his e-mail from today . . . I didn't get it until about 7:30 a.m. our time which is about 2:30 p.m. his time - a little later than normal.

So we went to email at the library earlier today, but after a half hour the computer logs you off and you have to log back on so when I had to do that it wouldn't let me back into my email. So after shopping we walked to the church and are emailing now.

Here is what I have done this past week. Monday I packed up and said good by to some members. That is all for Monday.

Tuesday we saw Peter in the morning, and he did get baptized on Saturday and I am sad I missed it. Then the rest of the day was making sure I had everything, then Teresa took us out to dinner at McDonalds.

Wednesday it was a lot of traveling, we got a bus right outside the Cumbernauld flat to Glasgow and then went to the train station and met up with everyone else traveling to Aberdeen. After about a three hour train ride I got picked up by Elder Carter and Elder Rogers and Elder Stobbs since they have a car and then it was a three hour car ride up to Inverness. When we got to Inverness we did a bit of shopping then had ward council. 

Thursday we did weekly planing. Then we went over to a families' house for dinner and to help them with a project they are working on. So in their huge backyard there is a tennis court that was just overgrown like crazy so Elder Carter and his last companion did a lot of work on it and there still needs to be a lot done. But the family is awesome.

Friday we went to do some try by's and did some tracting. When we asked someone who had moved into a less actives house if she knew any one around who was a member she said that the guy in a house just up the road was a member of the church. So we go up and a man named John answers the door and lets us in. Turns out he is a minister for another church just down the road. But we taught him the restoration, he told us his views on religion but he said we are more then welcome to come over again. So that was interesting. Then later on we went and did a quick fireside at the young men's camp which was really fun. The youth in the ward are so cool. Then the young men's president and his wife gave us a lift back to the flat and on the way back we stopped at this little place and got some donner calzones which were really good (I had to look up what this is but it is just a calzone with kebab meat). 

Saturday we did some service at a charity shop in town and we were organizing the CD's and one of the DVD's caught my eye it was the movie Work and the Glory so I got it for less then a pound that was sweet. We didn't do much else that day.
Sunday we had church and the ward is really cool. Then the rest of the day was really just walking around. This is the biggest area in the mission and the only area in the Highlands that DOESN'T HAVE A CAR. So it takes forever to go any where or do anything. The town center and the church are both a half hour walk from the flat. But it is nice up here and it will be really fun. Love you Guys and miss you.  

Here is more information I found out while I e-mailed back and forth with him . . . 

Elder Carter is a really cool guy. We seem to be getting along really well. I'm going on exchanges with Elder Rogers this week but I will be driving cause I need the practice cause we will be stealing their car to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders in Aberdeen before we go see Elder Holland.

We will be going down to Aberdeen Thursday and then on Friday the whole Zone is driving down to Edinburgh to have a Scotland east conference and then on Saturday is the meeting with Elder Holland. Then Monday is Zone development so we will be emailing on Tuesday next week. 

I found his address on Google street view maps and I think this is his flat in Inverness.