October 19, 2015

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

 

This week was pretty good.So Tuesday we had district meeting in Dundee then I went on exchanges with our,district leader's companion who wasn't feeling good so it was a flat day. Except for Tuesday night cause Fred had his baptismal interview in Dundee with Pres. Donaldson. Fred won't be getting baptized really anytime soon. 

 

Wednesday after exchanges we went and saw Fred again, then I don't really remember what we did - most likely just finding. 

 

Thursday we made a progress record for the people we are working with. Then it was out to Arbroath to see Fred. After that we went to meet a girl that Elder Kemp and our district leader talked to on exchanges but she gave them a false address. Then we had dinner at the Glanville's which is always fun. After that was ward council. That was Thursday.

Friday we spent most of our day in a town called Brechin we just did some finding and also met an older couple that the sisters were teaching. They are pretty cool and solid so teaching them will be nice. And that was really the noteworthy stuff for Friday.

Saturday we did service at British Heart then back out to Brechin to meet with someone we talked to the day before but he was busy when we came by so nothing happened there. We also saw Fred again.

 

Sunday after church we had lunch with the Bishop and his wife and the Hayballs and their daughter and granddaughter, that was really fun. The Hayball's daughter is so funny. Then we went and saw this one less active member who I think I told you about last week. That was really good we shared the Mormon messages bearing your burdens with hope. It went really well, then it was back to the flat for dinner and that was our week. Love you.

 

 

The Hayball's daughter from California was visiting her parents before they leave to go home. She took a picture of Mason and his companion and sent me a text yesterday with the picture.

October 12, 2015

Mason has been gone 13 months (and 2 days) now - here is the e-mail we got today -

We are starting to figure things out here in Montrose. There are a few investigators left from the sisters that were here before us and we have started working with a few of them. Things have been kinda busy and the days go by really fast.

 

So this week on Tuesday we had a zone meeting it wasn't anything big that President came to. The Zone Leaders want us to commit at least one person a day to baptism which is pretty crazy. But after that the Hayballs took us to KFC for lunch, then they took us to meet a member of the ward who has some kind of cancer. Then we went to a member's house for dinner. The Rollo's they are really cool and the husband does falconry so he has some falcons and even an owl which is really cool. It took a while to get there since they are in the middle of nowhere. 

 

Wednesday we pretty much spent the whole day with the Hayballs. They where putting together a packet with some flyers from the ward and a DVD to give to less active and part member families. Then we went and delivered a few of them. Then we went back to the Hayball's flat and had a late lunch with them. Then we went and did a bit of finding, but nobody was out cause it was raining. Then it was back to the Hayball's for ice cream with some kids from a part member family. Then we went and saw some of the investigators that the sisters where teaching, the Newtons. 

 

Thursday the Zone Leaders came and blitzed our area. I was with Elder Ilori the elder who trained Elder Campbell. That day was crazy. We went and saw another investigator that the sisters had, a man named Fred. Then we did a lot of finding in the small city centre and Elder Ilori is crazy - he made so many appointments with people who didn't keep them so we had to sort that out later. Then we went to the Glanville's for dinner - that is kinda the highlight of the week. They are just so funny. Then after that we had some time so we decided to do some finding and we met this young couple and ended up going to their house and teaching them. They are pretty cool - they both from traveller backgrounds and they said they would come to church but they didn't so not too sure how solid they are but we will see. 

 

Friday nothing to exciting - we had to do weekly planning since the Zone Leaders came on Thursday. We met with Fred again, and the sisters had him scheduled for baptism this Saturday so we are trying to get him ready for that. Other than that not too much happened on Friday. 

 

Saturday we did service at British Heart in the morning. We then went and saw Fred again. We then went to the church and started making his baptismal program. And that was pretty much it.

Sunday after church we went to the bishop's house for a late lunch. The Bishop and his wife just got back from a trip to the temple and they got some root beer from an LDS book store right by the temple so they gave us two cans, I was loving that. Then we had a less active who wants to start coming back to church call us out of the blue so we went and saw him and that was it. 

So this week has been a bit crazy. Love and miss you guys so much. 

October 5, 2015

Mason is now back in Scotland in the Montrose ward - here is the e-mail we got today.

Hey Mom things are going good over here so far.  Montrose is a little like Ayr but much much much smaller. But coming over on the ferry was pretty much the same as last time. Getting up here was a bit of a hassle since we had to go to Edinburgh then catch a train, then get off of that train in Dundee cause there was a train derailed so we got a bus to the next train stop and got on a train to Montrose, but the flat is pretty close to the train station so it wasn't too bad. But we did drive through Ayr on the bus and me and Elder Cragie who also served there were just like "I still remember how to get around here." It felt weird to be back in Ayr.

So anyway on Thursday we unpacked and did some shopping and just got settled in. We also met the bishop and his wife, they are really nice. Then we had dinner with the Glanville family who live just across the street from us. They are so funny and crazy like each of them are AT LEAST as crazy as Bryn. So it's going to be really fun having dinner with them every Thursday. 

Friday the senior couple up here gave us a tour of the area. They will be going home in a month so they are going to try and talk Pres. Donaldson into letting us keep the car which would be really nice. Pres. Donaldson is also really fond of the area cause this is were he was trained when he first was a missionary.  

Saturday not much happened but then we got a lift from the senior couple, the Hayballs, to the Dundee stake center for conference. They showed the Saturday morning session, then we stayed the night with the zone leaders. Then Sunday was all conference with the Priesthood session in the morning then the Saturday afternoon, then Sunday morning. My favorite talk was Pres. Uchtdorf's Priesthood session. Then the Hayballs took us back to the flat. So its been a bit of a crazy week. Love and miss you guys.  

I "borrowed" this picture from Elder Kinville's blog - this was while they were traveling to Edinburgh. I will miss his pictures since Mason hasn't been great about taking and/or uploading a lot of pictures lately.

As usual I did a street view of his new flat address and here is a picture - it is the first black door (on the right).

September 28, 2015

After only 6 weeks in Dublin, Mason is headed back to Scotland - here is the e-mail we got today with the details. 

Hey so first off the reason there wasn't much info about moves on Facebook is because the APs sent out a text telling everyone not to tell members where they are getting moved to so they can't put it on Facebook. (Usually we find out about transfers as soon as the missionaries get moves calls because the church members in the mission post it on the mission Facebook page. I told Mason there wasn't a lot of news about moves on the Facebook page so I guess that is why!) But me and Elder Kinville are moving! I was really surprised to hear that. I'm whitewashing into the Montrose Ward in Scotland; I might see Pres. Brown (his first mission president) since that ward is in his stake. My new companion is going to be Elder Kemp. We were companions for a day when Elder Carter went home and I had to go back and pack to leave Inverness. He is cool, and I am kinda happy to be going back to Scotland. But it will be crazy since we are whitewashing into an area so we are going to need to figure out everything when we get there. It’s going to be crazy this next week or two.

But as for this week, Tuesday, after district meeting we went on exchanges, and I was up here with Elder Stoker. We went and saw a recent convert from one of the past sets of missionaries, then it was lots of finding and we were able to talk to some pretty cool people.

Wednesday we did our weekly planning a day early after exchanging back. We did go to Pizza Hut one last time. Then we went to the church to prepare a presentation about the church we were going to give at Trinity College. That took up the rest of the day.

Thursday all I can really remember is that we worked out with Marcin which was really fun. He had us do the Zuu test which you need to pass to become a Zuu instructor and we did fairly well. It's ten minutes of non-stop workouts and every minute you have to do a certain amount and then switch to the next workout even if you haven't finished the other one.

Friday we had Reynaldo come and follow us around all day which was pretty fun. He bought us KFC for lunch. We taught a lesson with him to a guy named Ozzy - a Brazilian born again. It went pretty well. He just has a lot of questions and things that need to get cleared up. Then we went and did some finding in St. Stephens Green but we were told by one of the officers there that we can't approach people in the park and that was our prime finding place. So after that me and Elder Kinville went and got gelato at this one really good place in City Centre.

Saturday we had to do some more work on the presentation in the morning. Then in the afternoon we did a zone blitz in Dublin just outside our area which was crazy. So one of the reasons it was so crazy was right as we were setting up, a protest for abortion came right down the other side of the street. Also a bunch of crazy people. We couldn't stay for too long cause we had a lesson to teach with a Brazilian girl, Nubia. But we came back just as it ended, and some of us went out for dinner. We went to this one American diner called Eddie Rockets which is really good.

Sunday after church nothing much really happened other then we went and saw Marcin and had a lesson with his family which was pretty good we mainly talked about family with him. Then we went back to the flat and played Disney monopoly as we were waiting for moves call.

Then so far today, we went and saw Marcin at 6:30 this morning which was really good. He was sad to hear that we are both leaving.

So the rest of the week will be taken up with packing and getting to my new area. 

Love and miss you guys.


This is a picture Mason sent from their last Pizza Hut buffet - I am guessing these are supposed to be their "sad" faces that Pizza Hut is closing!

Mason is moving to Montrose, Scotland. It is about 60 miles north (and a little east) of Edinburgh and it is right on the east coast of Scotland. Wikipedia says Montrose is a "coastal resort town" and it actually sounds a little like his first area in Ayr - just on the other side of Scotland.

This is a picture of Montrose (thanks to Google images) - 

And here is my Google street view picture of the church in Montrose

September 21, 2015

Mason e-mailed later than usual today, but we finally did hear from him - here is his e-mail . . . 

Sorry I'm emailing so late - we worked out with Marcin this morning and the library closes from 1-2 pm. 

This week was pretty good it was a bit slow on the teaching side. But on Tuesday Elders MacFarlane (district leader) and his companion Elder Stoker came up and blitzed our area after district meeting which was a lot of fun. We mainly did some finding, but at night we had some real fun. We made fajitas and oreo milkshakes and played around it was great. 

Wednesday morning we had to get up at 5:15 because the sisters had to go to a meeting in Scotland so we took their car for the day. We mainly took the car so we could get my bike fixed. The Elder who was here before me messed up my bike so we needed to take it to get it fixed so that was most of the day. Then we had dinner with the Harrnos family - they are really cool. The husband is German and the wife is from Utah, and Syd would love their two little boys they are really funny. Then we had to go to the airport because the sisters were back and we got a bus back to the flat. 

Thursday we did go to Pizza Hut and we will be able to go one last time this week. Then we got a call from the bike shop saying my bike was already done so we borrowed the car from the sisters again to pick it up. We got caught in major traffic so that was our day done. Dublin traffic is the worst!!!

Friday not much really happened on Friday or Saturday other then seeing Marcin Saturday morning. 

Sunday after church we went to Reynaldo's for dinner with the sisters then we taught Marcin and his family which was really cool. His kids needed to go to bed for school today so it was a short lesson but still really good. 

So that was our week. It is crazy that moves call is on Sunday this move has gone by so fast. I don't know what will happen with move but Elder Kinville has been here for six months so he most likely will be getting moved but we will see. 

Love and miss you. 

Mason didn't send any pictures but I "stole" this picture from his companion's blog from this week - thank you Kinvilles!! These are the 4 elders in their district.

September 14, 2015

We are now officially in the second half of Mason's mission - his year mark has come and gone!  Here is the e-mail we got today with a few pictures of his "hump" day . . . 

It's weird that its now the second half of my mission. This week not to much happened, it was a bit of a slow week so we didn't see too many people. But we did see Daniel, the metaphysics guy, and we took Michael the crazy one with us. We called it Michael vs. Daniel and the first lesson we had with them this week in the first ten minutes of the lesson we talked about crystals, abortion, feminist poetry, and Nostradamus. So that was fun. That was pretty much the highlight of this week. It's always interesting to see Daniel cause he talks about his Metaphysics and it sounds like the most complicated live action role play ever. We saw Marcin twice this week the second time he didn't have a lot of time so we just went crazy fast and hard it was awesome. If you want to see what we do with Marcin look up "zuu" on Youtube. 

On Sunday I had to give a 15 minute talk but I ended up only giving a bit less then five minutes because Sister Solum took 20 minutes and then the stake president was there and wanted to give a few remarks so that was kinda nice. 

I got your package on Thursday during studies thanks so much I love the picture book it's so cool. But on Thursday we got some bad news - Pizza Hut is closing on the 27th of the month so Elder Kinville is depressed. 

Friday we didn't do a whole lot for my hump day we did burn a white shirt which I have a video of. There were some shirts that other missionaries had left behind so I just burned one of those instead of one of mine. Then that night we got some pizza from a place called Apaches Pizza so that was pretty fun. 

Then on Saturday the zone leaders came for a surprise blitz of the area. I went with Elder Barton (one of the other Elders from Cottonwood) so that was great - we just talked about home and when we were in Ayr district together. So this has been a pretty good week over all. Love and miss you guys so much.

These are pictures before and after the white shirt burning and at the end of the pictures there is a link to a video of the shirt burning.

Video of the white shirt burning

I am having trouble playing the video from this link - hopefully it works but if it doesn't I will try and get it fixed . . .

September 7, 2015

It is hard to believe but it was one year ago this week - this Thursday, September 10 - that Mason left on his mission. I wasn't sure this day would ever come - but we have all survived and we are so proud of him and how well he is doing!!  He is keeping super busy in Dublin - here is the e-mail we got today!!

Sorry I'm emailing later (he e-mailed about 4 hours later than usual) the reason why is because I needed to get my GARDA card which is a year long visa for the Republic of Ireland. Elder Barton called us last night and picked us up so we spent the night at his flat then we got up at 5 a.m. this morning, and we got a few more elders who needed to get their cards. They dropped me and two others off at the GARDA station at 6:30 and after waiting forever we got our cards at 11:20 so it was a lot of waiting. Then we all went out to lunch at Burger King which is better over here than in the states. 

So I'll just give you the highlights from this week. Tuesday we worked out with Marcin; other than that we really didn't do much that I remember.

Wednesday we had all Ireland which was really cool. All the missionaries in Ireland got together for a conference so that took up the whole day.  

Thursday I went on exchanges with a greeny missionary in Bray, we taught a born-again who brought his guitar and just wanted to sing Christian Rock the whole time. But we were able to get a lesson going when the branch president showed up. It wasn't the best lesson cause he kinda wanted to bash with us. They said they will give him one more chance to see if they will keep meeting with him. 

Friday we exchanged back then did weekly planing; and had dinner with Reynaldo and that's pretty much all I remember.

Saturday we had a lesson with Daniel, the one who is into metaphysics. We watched Prophet of the Restoration with him and did a bit about church history so that was pretty good. But he likes going into the deep stuff so we are thinking next time we see him we will go over the book of Abraham and Moses. Then we had a lesson with a guy named Ozzy who is pretty cool. A member from the states came with us named Eric who is super cool. The lesson went really well, we went over the plan of salvation and he had a lot of questions so we were only able to cover about a third of it. The sisters had a baptism that night so we went to that. It was really good but took a few tries to get it right, his arm wasn't going all the way down, but it all worked out. Then Reynaldo took us to an all you can eat Chinese place which was pretty good. Syd would have liked it cause the chicken was very good!

Sunday after church we had dinner with Reynaldo and the sisters. Then we went and taught Marcin and his kids, before the zone leaders picked us up. So that was our crazy week. The weeks seem to be going by faster and faster its crazy. Love and miss you. 


Mason didn't send any pictures today, but I sent a Facebook message to his companion's mom and when she replied she said she had some pictures and she sent them to us - so here they are! 

Mason and his companion, Elder Kinville

Dinner with Reynaldo

The 4 Elders in their district