March 16, 2015

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

We are e-mailing a little earlier today because we are going hill walking with the Austins so that will be really fun. (When I e-mailed back and forth with him for a few minutes I asked him if hill walking was just walking in the hills or if there was more to it and he said it was pretty much just walking in the hills.)

So this week not too much happened. On Monday we took one of the young men from the ward out tracting with us. We did try by a few people but none of them were home.  Tuesday was pretty good. We did a lot more tracting and we found a street that missionaries had knocked on before and some people were more than happy to have us come back. Then we had dinner with a family and the daughter is a bit like Bryn - just wild and crazy - so it is always fun to go there. It was just the mom and her daughter, Heather, so one of the guys from the ward was there, too, and Heather kept threatening to punch him in the throat. She is a redhead and it is really easy to wind her up so it is always a lot of fun.

Wednesday (it was moves day so at least part of Wednesday was another p-day) we went to the church to use the computer to put the CDs of talks you have sent me on to my iPod. Then we spent the rest of the day having lunch with a family in the ward then we had ward choir practice and then dinner so not much happened that day. Thursday we got a new investigator, his name is Jazz and he is a born again but seems interested in learning about the church so that is really good.  Friday we did some service at the Salvation Army charity store and saw a less active person who is working to come back to church so that is great. Saturday was a lot of tracting again - nothing too exciting. Sunday after church we went to find some people that are on church records but have moved and didn't tell the church - they are called AUFs - Address Unknown Files. But while we were doing that, we saw and got stopped by a group of like 12 year olds smoking trying to be tough. I just ignored them but one kind of tried to burn Elder Rogers badge so that was crazy stuff. But, there really wasn't anything to worry about because they were 12 and like 4 feet tall so I wasn't worried. Then we had dinner with Heather and her mom again, so that is my week.

Also, we haven't been able to see Peter because one of his boys got sick and then he got sick so not much going on there. This Wednesday we will be having zone conference so it will be good to see other missionaries and then next week we have zone development day again but it will be combined with my old Paisley zone so that will be really fun.

This is what he wrote about zone development day in the e-mail he sent to Dru. For the next zone development day we got challenged by my old Paisley zone to a battle for the River Clyde so that will be really fun. Then last night we got a voice mail from Elder "Bane" (someone doing a Bane voice) and he just gave this big monologue about how they are going to beat us. The best part was he said "You think you can defeat us - a zone so secret we aren't even in the mission song." That bit had me laughing because when I was in that zone and we sang the mission song we would all say Paisley at one point instead of one of the other places in the song. So this next week is going to be good and I'll be getting to see other missionaries.

March 9, 2015

Here is Mason's e-mail from today - and for anyone who is counting - he has been gone 6 months tomorrow!  One-fourth done - only 3 more 6 months to go.

So the Austin's are back on track.  They went to another ward in a place called Airdrie that is still in our district and it is actually a bit closer for them than the Cumbernauld ward, but they loved it and are really looking forward to getting baptized! The meeting with Peter went great and he is loving what we are teaching him and we will be seeing him again on Wednesday. So, me and Elder Rogers are staying together in Cumbernauld for another six weeks (moves/transfers are this Wednesday).  I am glad I am staying because of the Austins.

We weren't able to go to the Birds of Prey Center (a place in Cumbernauld that I found on the Internet and told him about because he said they hadn't been able to find anything to do on P-days) but since I will be here for another 6 weeks we will have plenty of time to go there, and there is an Irn Bru factory (soda pop made in Scotland) not too far away so we are going to do a tour of that sometime.

Saturday (Mason's birthday) was pretty much a normal day.  We went and saw one of the members and he found out from Elder Rogers that it was my birthday and he gave me £30 - he is a really good guy. Then later on we went and saw another family and it was also the dad's birthday so we had birthday cake with them and talked to them for a little while.  Then we went to Tesco (a grocery store) and got a cake and ordered kebabs so that was fun.  

Sunday, we saw the Austins again because they loved Airdrie and we answered some questions they had, then we went to a member's house for dinner. So, that is pretty much my week. Love and miss you guys.

Mason

And we got finally got some new pictures . . .in his last e-mail he said he thinks he has lost about 30 pounds and he looks thinner in these pictures.

 He bought some red velvet pop tarts at an American candy store that is close to them - they don't sound good to me but Mason said they weren't bad.

They found this big triple combination while they were cleaning their flat.

The Austins taught Mason and his companion how to make some fry bread/scone kind of things so these next few pictures they made them at their flat.

Mason's birthday cake and the kebab he ate for his birthday dinner.

They got a mission yearbook and this is the cover.

March 2, 2015

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

This past week has been a bit crazy. I went on exchanges up to a town called Airdrie. They have a 4-man flat so there are two sets of missionaries so it was flippin' crazy. They have a scale in their flat and I got on the scale and I think I have lost about 30 pounds since I got here. Not much else has happened. We saw Austins on Saturday and they showed us how to make some stuff. One thing they showed us how to make they call Jesus bread. It is flour, milk, and a bit of salt and then they fry it in a pan. It tasted a lot like one of your scones. But then after we had dinner with them they told us that they really didn't like the Cumbernauld ward so they won't be joining the church here :( - but they said they will keep studying and we are seeing them tonight for family home evening. Everyone we have told that to has said that it is weird. But they are planning on moving to Glasgow soon so we may have to send the missionaries to them when they get there.

But then on Sunday, we went and saw a guy we tracted named Peter. We gave him a restoration pamphlet and he said that it got his mind going like nothing before. He also has a friend who lives in Canada who is a member so that is how he first got introduced to the church. We are seeing him again on Wednesday. After we met with Peter, we had dinner at a member's house and we were telling them about the Austins. One of the guys that was there served his mission in South Africa and he said that they sounded like typical white South Africans who are a bit stuck up. So we will just have to see what else happens with the Austins.

(I asked him if he was going to be able to go out and eat or do anything on his birthday) - My birthday is on MANIK (don't know what that stands for) - that is where we go get kebabs for dinner the night before moves call, so Elder Rogers said he would buy me a kebab. It is crazy that I am going to be 20!!

That has been my week - love you and miss you.

Mason

February 24, 2014

We didn't get an e-mail from Mason until today (Tuesday) because they had Zone Development Day (translation = Zone play day) yesterday so they had their P-day today.  Here is his e-mail -

Things have been going pretty well this past week.  It almost all seems to kind of mix together when we are doing a lot of the same stuff every day. This week has mainly been finding and trying by people. The Austin's (the family from South Africa) came to church on Sunday and had a few concerns about the members, but we brought the bishop with us when we went to see them so he really helped out a lot and we will be seeing them tomorrow, so they are still doing really good.

Yesterday was Zone Development Day from about 11:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.. We went to the stake center in Glasgow and it was raining so we just played in the gym at the church. We played chair football which is where if the ball touches your chair you are out and you sit on the chair but you can get the ball and throw it and if it hits someone's chair who is in then they are out and you are back in. Then we had two dodgeball tournaments and the teams were our districts and my district won both. But then we got destroyed at volleyball. We then played some fun games until dinner which was Costco pizza!!! (Mason LOVES Costco pizza!) One of the games we played we all sat in a circle and the person in the middle would pick a topic like a country then they would go around the circle with a cup of water and whoever had the same answer as them would get splashed with the water. So it was a really fun day.

So not a whole lot else has been going on this week - love you guys and miss you.

Mason

February 16, 2015

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

This week has been pretty good.  We have see the South African family, the Austin's, three times this week.  We went there for dinner on Tuesday and the made lasagna and they are doing awesome. Every time we go over they just get better and better.  The lessons are just mainly answering their questions. They said that whenever they are home they walk around with a copy of the Book of Mormon for whenever they have time to read. They keep on telling us stuff that they already do - like tithing.  They don't pay tithing, but they set money aside and donate it or do something to help others with it. One of their dogs died this week from eating too much chocolate so that was sad. We went to see them when that happened and left them a "Plan of Salvation" pamphlet and when we went back after that they had read it three times. They also have the Gospel Library app on their phones so they just keep studying more and more - it is awesome! Something else is that they have watched some of the "I'm a Mormon" videos but they also watched some of the "I'm an ex-Mormon" videos but they said that the ex-Mormon ones were just petty and they found any reason to leave the church. They all have a really solid testimony so it is great. They should be getting baptized next month. (I e-mailed back and forth with Mason for a few minutes this morning and asked him about the family - there is a mom and dad a 19-year old girl, 17-year old boy, and a 4-year old girl - or maybe that was supposed to be 14 - I will ahve to ask next week.)

Some of the members here are really cool but we don't have fixed dinner appointments with any of them, and nobody can match up to the Gilardi's (the family in Ayr that really takes care of the missionaries). I have talked to other missionaries and they say it all goes downhill from Ayr. I also haven't heard anything from Elder Scheuermann about Alistair so I will need to e-mail him and find out what happened. (He sent an e-mail to Elder Scheuermann while we were e-mailing back and forth and Alistair ended up not getting baptized this weekend and Elder Scheuermann said he was still getting baptized but it will be in the Lord's time.)

Something else that happened this week was that we went to this little chippy (fish and chips restaurant) for lunch in the small town where we were working and it was just mobbed by punk school kids. After we got our food we walked a bit away from them to eat and then one of the kids threw a fish at us then a small rock and the were just yelling at us.  I wasn't paying any attention to them so I don't know what they said but then after that we just walked away. That along with the Austin's were the most exciting things that happened this week. Sorry, but I don't think you will be getting many pictures while Iam here because there really isn't anything exciting in Cumbernauld.

We also had zone interview training so it was good to go and see other missionaries and then Sunday was stake conference so we got tot see the zone again so that was really good. So that is my week.  Love and miss you guys.

Mason

February 9, 2015

We got a great e-mail from Mason today.  Things were better the second week in his new area than they were the first week so that was nice to hear.  Tomorrow is his 5-month mark - and I feel like time is finally starting to speed up a little.  Here is the e-mail . . .

Things are going better this week.  Elder Rogers (Mason's new companion) is doing a bit better and isn't quite so disobedient anymore but it still kind of feels like he is dragging.  I think his companion before me was the bigger problem and Elder Rogers just didn't do anything about it. I went on exchanges on Tuesday with the district leader and they live in a four-man flat. I had more fun in that one day than the rest of the other two weeks I have been here combined.

The coolest thing ever happened this week.  On Wednesday I was closing up nightly planning and I just felt like I should pray for people to teach. Then, the next morning we got a call from the mission office about 2 self-referrals we got that asked for a Book of Mormon. The first one was a single woman who had heard about the church and wanted to see what it was like and she really seemed to like what we talked about with her. We just explained a bit about the church and the Book of Mormon. Then the second referral was a family from South Africa who moved to Scotland and the entire family of 5 is really interested in the gospel.  First off they said they found a video on YouTube about our beliefs and found they believed the same things. Then they had a family prayer about the church and turned the whole thing over to God saying if it is what He wants them to do they will do it. Then the mom had a dream of her oldest daughter getting married in the temple!!! How crazy is that? They had already done research about the church so most of our time with them was answering their questions. We talked to them about the priesthood and relief society and home teaching. They brought up the Word of Wisdom and said they don't drink alcohol and they would give up coffee in a heartbeat. They are so awesome and the spirit was so strong. They already seem like members - they are so awesome! We are seeing them again for dinner on Tuesday and I can't wait!

So not much else to report on this week other than that, and I got my second haircut of the mission so it has been a good week.  Love you and miss you!

February 2, 2015

Mason made it to his new area just outside of Glasgow, and he is serving in the Cumbernauld ward.  Here is this week's e-mail . . .

So, first things first - I MISS AYR!!!!!!!! When I told the members that I was getting moved to Cumbernauld they said that it started out nice but went into a slum as fast as it could and stayed there, and they were right. (The rest of this paragraph are the answers to the questions I asked him about his new area.)  Our flat is okay. It has a washer and dryer in the flat and the bathroom is warmer than the Ayr bathroom so that is very nice. So with moves, me and Elder Scheuermann took a train to Glasgow where we met up with a lot of other elders and then we met up with our new companions and went to the new areas. We don't have a car here so it is mostly walking or taking trains.  The ward is pretty nice and there is a girl here who is studying to be a hair dresser so she gives free haircuts and she has your color hair and acts kind of like Bryn so it is a bit weird. There are some really nice members here. We have two investigators - one has been coming to church for over a year now so really all she needs to do is get married to the less active guy she is living with and she is good to get baptized. Right now they are planning on getting married in October. And the other investigator is an older Catholic lady who is an "eternigator" but I haven't met her yet. I did get everything packed in my suitcases and I had the perfect amount of space for the deep fryer so that worked out really well.  The weather here is about the same as Ayr but we do have snow up here.

Before I left Ayr one of the members told me that I'll be one of the missionaries they really remember. He also said that his kids call the four of us missionaries in Ayr the Scooby Gang, and that we really made an impression on his kids. He said that his oldest son, Michele, who became a priest while I was there models the way he blesses the sacrament after the way I do it.  He said his son says "alright, this is the way Elder Wynder does it." Needless to say, when we come back to visit Scotland, we are going to Ayr. That is all for this week.  Love you guys!

Mason

He did tell us a little about his new companion, but he asked me not to put all of it in the blog - apparently his companion is not the most rule-following, hardest working missionary in the mission from what he did say. I did a little searching on Google Street View maps and I think I found his flat. I will have to send this picture to him next week and ask him for sure - but I think this is where he lives.

And this is the Cumbernauld ward building.

I made a Dropbox account for him so he could upload his pictures so if anything happened to his camera he would still have his pictures. Here are a few pictures that he uploaded that we hadn't seen.