August 31, 2015

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

Hey Mom - This week has been pretty good and crazy. Elder Kinville is awesome he is so cool, and yes we will be going to Pizza Hut every Thursday for weekly planing.

So this week on Tuesday we had district meeting but we all met at the stake center with a bunch of other teams and the senior couple made us all lunch so we all got to hang out with each other for lunch. After, I went on exchanges with the district leader Elder MacFarlane, who is really cool - I've known him for a while. He was sick so we had to stay in the flat almost the whole day, but it was raining really hard so it wasn't too bad.

Wednesday we went and visited a member who is interesting to say the least. But we realized we will not be visiting him again (I asked Mason why they wouldn't be visiting him again and he said they think he is probably schizophrenic). Then we saw our investigator Daniel, the one who is really into metaphysics, and that ended up being about two hours cause he just talks. That finished up the day. 

Thursday after weekly planing we met with another investigator named Nubea from Brazil. Then we went and had dinner at a members house; his name is Reynaldo from the Philippines. For dinner he gave us each a whole chicken which was pretty awesome. 

Friday we did some service at a members house and then we went and met another investigator named Marcin, he is from Poland and is a personal trainer so we work out with him. It is pretty crazy what he has us do but it is also fun. Then we just GQed (street contacting) the rest of the day and had dinner. 

Saturday we had breakfast at Reynaldo's then went to work out with Marcin again which was even more intense than the day before. Then after dinner we went and met with another investigator named Damien who is just really cool and fun to chat with. 

Sunday after church we went and visited a member who just got out of the hospital really quick. Then we went to a members house, Bro. Neilson from the states, for dinner then we went and had a lesson with Marcin and his family that went really well.

So that was my crazy week of running around Dublin. Love and miss you guys. 

I got Mason's Dublin address last week and I have been trying to find it on Google maps but it took me a while to finally find it - so here is a picture of his flat (I sent this picture to him and he told me that yes this is the building where he lives).

August 24, 2015

Mason made it safely to Dublin this last week and is now in his new area - here is the e-mail we got today . . .

 

So to start off, on Monday I saw the members of Inverness I could and said good bye to them it has been the hardest ward to leave by far! But we have a place to stay when we visit Scotland after I am home. The Martin-Thiers said we can stay with them, so you will need to become friends with the mom, Louise. 

So how traveling went was we had to leave Inverness by 2 on Tuesday to get to Aberdeen by 5. Then we got on a train to Edinburgh. There where plenty of other missionaries with me, including Elder Penmen (I asked him if he knew Elder Penman because he is a friend of Bryn's new roommate at Utah State). I met him my first transfer he was trained by my mission Grandpa so he is my mission Uncle. But once we got to Edinburgh we got picked up and taken to the Chinatown flat where we stayed the night with about 15 other missionaries - it was packed. Then we got up got on a bus to Strenrear, that was about 3 hours, and then the ferry was about another 3 hours, then we got on another bus in Belfast for 3 hours, then we got off at the Dublin bus station. Elder Barton (one of the other missionaries that went to Cottonwood) was there. Then I met my new companion Elder Kinville who is really cool. We get along really well. Then we got to the flat and that was the day. 

Thursday we went to Pizza Hut and weekly planned. They have a buffet so we go and eat there while we weekly plan it's pretty sweet. Then we went and taught one of the sisters' investigators named Robin. 

Friday we went by a guy who got confirmed yesterday just to see how he was doing and if he would be there on Sunday. Then we went and met with another investigator named Marcin. He is from Poland and he is a personal trainer so we worked out with him and I threw up. So that was fun and I am still sore. Then we saw another investigator named Daniel who is interesting. He studies metaphysics and he believes he is, what he calls, a level one indigo child which means he was reincarnated for a special purpose. Then he said we are also level one indigo children . . .so that's fun. 

Saturday we saw some more investigators. There are to many to write about, but it was a busy day. 

Sunday we had church then after we went to a dinner appointment with a member from the states who is pretty cool. His name is Brother Nielson. The ward seems pretty cool from the people I met and talked to. 

So that was this week. So far I'm not a big fan of Dublin. But Inverness ruined me for sites. When we where at Bro. Nielson's one of the sisters told us to look at the great view - he lives in a flat in a big tall building, and it was just city everywhere. I'm not much a fan of that view but things are going pretty good so far. Love and miss you guys. 

These are some pictures he sent with some of the ward members in Inverness - 

 

August 17, 2015

We got a short e-mail from Mason today. I don't think he was in much of a mood to write a long message. They had moves calls last night and Mason was planning on staying in Inverness because his companion is going home this week. But, apparently the new mission president made a lot of changes and in several places he put two new missionaries instead of leaving one missionary in the area with just a new companion. So Mason is headed to Dublin, Ireland, and he is not super happy about it today - I don't think he was at all prepared for a transfer so it was a bit of a shock. But, he hasn't wanted to leave any area he has been in once he gets there and gets to know the ward members, so I am sure it will be the same in Ireland. I have already sent a couple messages back and forth with someone in the new ward where he will be serving and she said they are excited to meet him and that they take good care of their missionaries which has been the case in every ward Mason has been in so I am not too worried that when it comes time for him to leave this area he won't want to leave there either. So here is the e-mail we got . . . 

This moves call freaking sucks! I wanted to stay in Inverness longer!!! Yea but I'm hoping I come back to Scotland fairly quickly. I will be getting my moves plans later on so right now I don't know how I'm getting there other then the ferry over. My new companion is Elder Kinville he just got done being trained and I'm going to be senior companion, and I don't even know how to spell the name of my new area. But right now I'm with Elder Kemp and we just drove back up to Inverness to get my stuff all packed up. (They were in Aberdeen when they got the moves call because Mason's companion was leaving for Edinburgh to get ready to come home this week.) 

This week we really didn't do much but going to see members for Elder Carter to say good-bye. On Friday they had a surprise going away party for Elder Carter, but one of the young men ruined it by texting us and saying he wouldn't be able to come. But this week was really fun getting to see everyone but we will be spending today and tomorrow going and saying good-bye to every one. We have a car right now so it will be pretty easy to get around.

That's about it for this week not much else. I am just shocked at moves call but Elder Barton (one of the other missionaries that went to Cottonwood) will be my new zone leader that's about the one bonus about this. Love and miss you guys. 

I woke up early and e-mailed back and forth with him for a while. I got the map of the mission that we have and sent him the names of the wards in Dublin and he said he will be in the Terenure ward right in Dublin. He said there is a sister missionary going to Dublin that he thinks he will be traveling with and he said they will probably meet up with other missionaries and ride the ferry together. He will probably start heading to Ireland sometime on Wednesday, but he said sometimes it can take a day or two to get there.

I have included a couple of pictures. The first picture is one that someone in the Inverness ward posted on Facebook. The other picture is a picture of the building of the ward where is going in Dublin.

August 10, 2015

For anyone keeping track . . . Mason has been gone 11 months today!! Here is the e-mail we got this morning . . .

Hey Mom - Elder Carter is pretty ready to go home and one of the missionaries from my last district, Elder Yates is going home with him and he is in Aberdeen so they have been planing what they will be doing their last few days. But this is going to be a TRUNKY week.

Here is what happened last week. Monday we really didn't do much just went looking at the shops here. Then we went to Gail's house and had dinner. 

Tuesday after district meeting we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Elder Carter and Elder Tang took off to Skye and me and Elder White did some finding. We talked to a girl named Bonnie who seems pretty cool so we are hoping to see her sometime soon. Then we had some fun when we all got back to the flat. Elder Tang told us a story from when he was a little kid so we decided to reenact it.

Wednesday  I can't remember what we did so nothing to special. 

Thursday after weekly planing and a DL study we went and saw a less active - the grumpy one. Then we went to Adam and Rose's for dinner and then had Ninjitsu which was really fun. 

Friday we helped Gail and her son do some painting and that took almost the whole day. Then Ann Harrison was up with a missionary who has been home for a little while but is now doing his mission tour. So we went out to Beef Eater again with them. That was a pretty easy day. 

Saturday we went to the hotel that Ann and the RM, Elder Preece, were staying at and we used the gym there for morning exercise, then we had breakfast with them in the hotel. Then we did our service time at the Salvation Army. After that we went and did sports with the youth. The Martin/Thairs ,the ones who we have been helping with their tennis court, got back from a big vacation so all their kids came to sports at the church so we hung out with them. Then there was a baptism for some member kids from America. They had it over here since all the family is from Inverness, so we had to stay at the church all day and fill up the font. Then on the way back to the flat we ran into a drunk crazy guy.

Then Sunday after church bishop invited us to this interfaith meeting that he was going to. It was okay it was mainly a lot of just talking about peace and how we can achieve it. It was okay but not the most enjoyable thing. After we went and had dinner with the Sutherlands and then back to the flat. 

So it was a bit of a crazy week. Love and miss you guys so much. 

A senior missionary couple posted some pictures on Facebook of a district leader meeting that Mason and his companion went to, so here are a few of them.

 

July 27 & August 2, 2015

We were out of town last week and I didn't ever get Mason's e-mail from last week on the blog - so here are the e-mails from last week and today.

July 27 

Hey Mom things are going pretty good. So this is just the start of week three of moves so the next call will be on August 16. It is crazy to think that I am almost half way done with my mission. But one day I was bored and worked it out and if I worked it out right I will be coming home August 9th or around then, I was a bit trunky that day. 

But this week was alright. On Tuesday after district meeting I went on exchanges with a new member of the district Elder Salazar, who has been speaking Chinese his whole mission until now. We did some finding and talked to a Nigerian family that bishop and his wife have been planing to have us teach so we will be seeing them soon. 

Wednesday we did some yard work for a member her name is Gail and she is really cool. She always makes us really good fried rice. Then after that we went to a little town called Nairn,which is an hour bus ride away. We saw that one lady I told you about a few weeks ago Marie Ann. But this time we got to see her less active boyfriend, who came to church on Sunday, so we are going to start seeing them about once a week. But after that I learned how much I hate seagulls. So we missed our bus so we had to wait for an hour for the next one, and there was a chippy at the bus stop. So we went and got some chips, and as we where walking back to the bus shelter Elder Carter turns and says "watch out" so I turn just as a seagull swoops at my head so we book it. Then as we were eating, a few more seagulls gathered and we realized one of us is going to need to go to the trash can. Well I finished first so I went to throw my trash away then I turn back and Elder Carter was throwing chips in my direction so seagulls are swooping in so I book it over again. It was pretty funny though. 

Thursday after weekly planing we went and had a district leader study and then we were walking through town to the bus to go tracting when one older lady handing out flyers for her church started to bash with us. She kept on saying how the bible is all there is but she was just contradicting herself like crazy and at one point she said she wanted to smack us in the head. But then we just needed to end it so we bore testimony and walked away leaving her all red in the face. But that took up like an hour so we didn't have a whole lot of time so we walked back to the flat had dinner then went back to the church for Ninjitsu class that our ward mission leader does. So that was really fun. 

Friday I was on exchanges with Elder Rogers. It was alright and we did some service at the charity shop. Then did some knocking but didn't really get anything there. Then we had to go back to exchange back so they could get on a bus in time to get back to his area. So that was Friday. 

Saturday the ward was having a beach party at Nairn beach. That was really fun I got a video of the young mens President, Adam, running into the sea to tackle the bishop, and we had quite a bit of fun there. That pretty much took up the whole day so we didn't do much after. 

Sunday after church we went to the Sutherlands for dinner which was really fun. Afterwards we went with Bro. Sutherland to visit some people in the ward, he is the Elders Quorum president. So that finished up our week so things are going pretty good here. Love and miss you guys. 

 

August 2

Hey Mom so this week was pretty fun. Last week we emailed early cause it was Elder Carters birthday and a member from Glasgow came up and took us out to lunch at a place called Beef Eater (a BBQ place), that place is so good. And after that we went and Elder Carter did some birthday shopping. Then we went to a member's house, Gail, for dinner which is always a lot of fun but we missed the last bus so we had to walk about four miles back to the flat. Our phone has an odometer on it so we turned it on and found out that from our flat to the town center is about 2 miles. So we walk at least 4 miles each way.   

Tuesday another member, this time from Edinburgh, came and took us out to Beef Eater for lunch. And we spent most of the day there.   

Wednesday we blitzed our area with the team from Thurso. I was with an Elder from South Africa, he is a bit odd but still cool. Not much happened we just tracted and then we got him and his companion on a bus and then had ward council. 

Thursday we went to the church so Elder Carter could do Eye of Faith. It's what President Donaldson uses for moves planing and who could become leaders. Then we went back to the flat had lunch and then did weekly planing. Then we went to dinner with the Sutherlands who are awesome. Then we went to the Ninjitsu class which was good cause it was all nonmembers there. 

Friday we had to go to Elgin for District Leader Council. And the DL's companions which was me and two others we went and taught a lesson to some of Elgins investigators. But afterward we had some fun - a few Elders started doing side flips. Then we went to KFC for lunch. Then we had to drive for 2 hours, cause of traffic, to give Invergordon their car back. Then they drove us back and then Elder Carter took a DL study. 

Saturday we had service at British Heart again which is always fun. Then we went and did sports with the young men and Elder Carter had another DL study since we where at the church then we had to cut our grass so that was it for Saturday. 

Sunday after church we went to bishop's house for lunch and he invited over a family from Utah that are on vacation here. Lunch was really good and fun. Then after, we went and knocked the bishop's small neighborhood then we went around and visited some less actives with him for the rest of the day. 

Love and miss you guys.