June 6, 2016

Here is the e-mail we got from Mason this week - 

This week has been crazy - no one had any idea what was going on this moves. But Elder Burgess (Mason's new companion) is pretty cool and he is from Australia. He was going to bring a car with him but then we found out his Australian PROVISIONAL license isn't good over here. You need to be 21 to get a full license in Australia. So Inverness kept the car because their car is going to Germany for some reason. 

So this week, Tuesday we got up and got on a bus to Inverness. Once we got there we got Elder Kinville on the train to Edinburgh then I waited with Elder Hornburger for our new companions. Invergordon was there as well so I hung out with Elder Sorenson for some of the day. Then our companions showed up and we were told by the zone leaders to spend the night in Inverness and I had nothing so I ended up wearing everything for two days in a row. 

Wednesday the ZLs showed up and took Inverness' car and said the car they brought up still needed to be assigned to either us or Inverness so we had to hang around with them until we heared from the AP's. They said to give the car to us but then we found out about the license problem so Inverness kept the car and we took the 3 hour bus ride up to Thurso. After that we went and saw Lee and Naomi so that was fun. 

Also something else that happened on Wednesday after seeing Lee and Naomi  -- our bus didn't show up so about 9:20 we gave up on the bus and started walking the 5-6 miles back to Thurso. And it is mainly fields between Thurso and Castletown , where Lee and Naomi live. But after walking about a mile or two some nice guy turned around and gave us a lift back to Thurso so that was lucky without that we would have gotten into the flat around midnight. So that's one taste of Thurso without a car. 

Thursday we did shopping and looked to see what Elder Burgess would need to do to get a UK license and it will take 6-8 weeks. So we called the ZLs to see what they could do and they said that no one will be getting e-moved (emergency moved) up and the mission doesn't have any cars to give to a team. Then we went out to Wick and saw Rebecca and Arran real quick. 

Friday we went over to the Tolworthys since there was a branch service project on Saturday. We didn't have to do any mucking out but we did some mega weeding; then we washed the horses. 

Saturday we went to the branch service project which was painting the Winkles croft it was really fun. We were there the whole day and painted their whole house. They also gave us lunch and dinner. 

Sunday after church we went and tried by some people and that was about it since we can't really leave Thurso on Sundays because the buses stink. 

So that was our crazy week I am so done with the car thing so this week is ZIT and we are going to talk with president about this and see what he can do. So next move one of us will more than likely be moving I kinda hope I stay I really like the members here and all the service we get to do. Love and miss you guys. 

Here is a picture borrowed from Elder Kinville's blog - their last companion selfie. Now Elder Kinville isn't Mason's companion we probably won't get many pictures!

Bryn's Blog

Monday, May 30, 2016

Here is the short e-mail we got from Mason today - they got moves calls last night and Mason now only has one more moves call that he could get transferred - but for now he is staying in Thurso.

Yesterday me and Elder Kinville were talking and it ended with me getting the phone and counting how many days I have left. Then I just sat there and said "why did I do that to myself, I am so trunky" but then I got over it. So with moves call Elder Kinville is moving to Livingston, the same ward Ann Harrison lives in so she is really happy about that. Elder Kinville is super pumped to go to Livingston. My new companion is Elder Burgess. He is in Aberdeen right now and I have seen him at Zone stuff but never talked to him, and he will be coming with a car, the AP's told us that last night.

But this week was about the same as usual we weren't able to see Rebecca and Arran this week but we did see Lee and Naomi and every one else we normally see. 

In addition to the Tolworthy's we also went and helped out at the Winkle's croft so that was fun. We also had dinner with the Jones which is always fun. One of their sons, who lives in the states, is getting married soon and two of the Jones girls are making the wedding cake so when we go over there we get to try some of the cakes they have made. Then right after the Jones we had branch council which was good. 

Also with moves call the whole day was stressful cause no one in the district got the call till 10:00 so every one was freaking out. 

Other then that everything was about the same. 

Love and miss you guys. 

Bryn's Blog 

May 23, 2016

This is a couple of days late, but here is Mason's e-mail from Monday this week with some cool pictures.

So this week. Tuesday after district meeting we went to the Winkles to do some service. Their house was supposed to get painted on Saturday but they had to cancel due to the weather. But we went over and power washed their house to get it ready. Then we went with them to an old Iron age ruin which was really cool, I almost didn't get in cause the entry way is really small and for the first bit you have to army crawl to get in. 

Wednesday we went to Wick and saw Rebecca and Arran again and had another pretty good lesson with them. Then after that we got a lift from the branch President in Wick and went to his house for dinner. But on the way there he gave me the "get married as soon as possible after you get home" speech. So that was fun.

Thursday we were back out to Wick to visit some less actives one of them is into crystals and crystal healing so she gave us a set of crystals. Then we had a quick meeting with another less active in Wick. Then back off to Thurso for dinner with the ward mission leader, Fraser. 

Friday we went over to the Tolworthy's croft instead of Saturday since we thought the branch would be having the paint the Winkles croft on Saturday, but then they called it off. But we spent pretty much the whole time mucking out the sheep pen. The muck was about a foot deep, and almost two in some places. 

Saturday after the charity shop we went back over to the Tolworthy's to help out some more. We cleaned out the barn a bit then helped tidy up inside. 

Sunday we didn't do too much after church - pretty much just GQing but no one was out. 

Invergordon came up again today and we went out to Old Castle Wick were there are awesome cliffs and took tons of pictures all wearing kilts. 

So that has been our week. Love and miss you guys. 

Here are some pictures they took wearing their kilts - 

May 16, 2016

Mason has officially been gone 20 months (as of May 10) and will be home 3 months from tomorrow - here is the e-mail we got today . . . 

So this has been a good week full of service. The weather has been so good this week it only rained on Sunday and even then not very much. On Monday after emailing we got a call from a member family, the Winkles, who are making a living roof. So it will be like a hobbit roof with grass on it. We offered to help out with it so they called asking if we were free. So we went over and sanded the roof to prep for gluing down the rubber to water proof the roof. While we were working, one of their neighbors asked us if we could help her with her lawn so we said yes and set up for Tuesday to go and see her. Then we had dinner with the Winkles.

Tuesday we went and saw the lady her name is Valerie and we took a look at her ride-on lawn mower and got it going because she was having problems with it. Then we moved some rocks out of the front lawn. Then we went back over to the Winkles and glued down half the rubber mat and then had dinner. After that we went to mutual since we were invited and played cricket, which was a lot of fun.

Wednesday we saw Rebecca and Aaron and had a pretty good lesson with them. Then we went and saw Lee and Naomi Billington, Rebecca is also Naomi's sister. Lee wants to build two gates and a fence for his front lawn so we did some measuring for that. Then we helped mow the lawn. Then they made us dinner. It is always great seeing Lee and Naomi.

Thursday we went back over to Valerie and filled in some holes that were in the lawn then we had to take another look at the mower and the battery needs to be replaced so yea not much more we could do there. Then we went and did some work at the Tolworthy's croft and had dinner with them.

Friday we went out to Wick to look for where to get the wood for Lee and Naomi and did some finding out there and that was pretty much it - nothing to exciting.

Saturday was the usual service Saturday. But at the Tolworthy's croft after mucking out the barn we power washed it and it looked so much better. Power washers are the best.That was pretty much our week - love and miss you guys. 


Another picture "borrowed" from Elder Kinville's blog taken while the were working at the charity shop on Saturday -

May 9, 2016

The e-mail we got from Mason was kind of short today since we talked to him yesterday - we didn't have a great connection so he was pretty blurry - but it was still great to see him and talk to him!! Here are a few pictures from our Skype call . . . 

And here is today's e-mail . . . 

(Mason and his companion started the week going to Invergordon, then Tuesday they went to Inverness, and Wednesday morning they went to Edinburgh for an all-Scotland mission conference). Tuesday we blitzed Inverness and it was just GQing all day. But me and Elder Kinville got to go to Gail's so that was great. 

Wednesday we had to get up at about 3:20 a.m. to get to Edinburgh by 8:00 just to be sure. We went down with Invergordon which is always fun. Then we had All Scotland. This one it was just instruction. no interviews. They split us up into Zones and had us go to different rooms and the Zone Leaders gave us all different instructions. After it was all over we started off again and stayed the night with Invergordon. 

Thursday we helped Invergordon out with a service project at a nursing home that one of the Invergordon members works at. Then they drove us back to Thurso and spent the rest of the day with us because Elder Roach was shattered. We went and saw the Billingtons and had an unexpected BBQ with them because the weather was so good. And during the BBQ at one point all four of us Elders did the cinnamon challenge. It was all really fun. 

Friday we did weekly planing in the morning and some other paper worky stuff. Then we did some finding. Then we went to the Jones' for dinner they are so cool. 

Saturday it was the usual service Saturday but we had to leave the croft a bit early because the branch was having a farewell party for one of the members who is going on her mission to Canada. 

Sunday was church and Skype. 

So it has been a week full of travel, but it's been a good week. Love and miss you guys.

Here are some pictures from the conference in Edinburgh (borrowed from Elder Kinville's blog again - thank goodness Elder Kinville takes pictures . . . )

May 2, 2016

Today we are emailing from the Invergordon church. The missionaries from Invergordon came up this morning and picked us up to take us to Inverness. We have an all Scotland conference on Wednesday so me and Elder Kinville are going to blitz Inverness tomorrow.

So this week not to much happened Tuesday we had dinner with our branch mission leader.

Wednesday was just a long day of finding but when we were walking by Thurso beach we saw a big log that had drifted in. So me and Elder Kinville decided to do the Les Mis "retrieve the flag" pose but then we realized that it took both of us to lift one end of the log because it was at least 300 pounds! Anyway we did it and took some pictures.

Thursday we went and saw a less active lady named Brenda. We were going to see Rebecca and Aaron but there wasn't another guy to come with us so we had to reschedule. Then we went and saw the Billingtons which was great. 

Friday we did some finding around Thurso and then we went to a member's house, the Winkles, and did some work on there croft. Then we had branch council.

Saturday was a normal Saturday. But at the Tolworthy croft I got to clean one of the horses hooves. Its really cool getting to work with horses and learning more about them. 

Sunday after church we went and had lunch with the branch president. Then we went and saw the Billingtons again with him, because he wanted to see how they were doing. 

And that was it for this week. Love and miss you guys.

This is a picture from Elder Kinville's blog - they got caught in a rain/hail storm and took cover in a bus shelter.

The log they found on Thurso beach

Apparently they are still a little bitter about not having a car . . .

April 25, 2016

Here is the e-mail we got today . . . still no car . . . 

 

This week has been okay for the most part. When we need to go to Wick we get an hour nap on the bus so there is a good thing about not having a car. So this week. On Tuesday we were going to see Rebecca and Aaron but Rebecca's brother-in-law wasn't able to make it so we just rainchecked it to Thursday. So we went by David and what a surprise he was drunk but we went in and talked to him. It was alright he was saying how he wants to stop smoking and drinking so we will be helping him with that this week. 

Wednesday not much happened during the day. But we got invited to play basketball with the youth since they figured me and Elder Kinville would have the most experience with it. So that was really fun. 

Thurday we went and saw Rebecca and Aaron and it went pretty well. Other then that I can't really remember anything else happening on Thursday that would be noteworthy. 

Friday we were going to see the Billingtons but they had to cancel so we will be seeing them later this week. But we ended up having a meeting with the branch mission leader. 

Saturday was the usual service Saturday. But at the croft, Sister Tolworthy wants to learn leather work and she got some leather and basic stuff at Tandy to make some stuff for the horses so I gave her a bit of a leather working lesson which was great. Then they gave us a lift to the flat.

Sunday we walked around Thurso after church then we had dinner with the branch President and then he gave us a lift back to the flat and that was that. Sorry Thurso isn't too exciting but that was our week. 

Love and miss you. 

 

Here is a picture I borrowed from Elder Kinville's blog Mason, then two missionaries from their district, and then Elder Kinville on the right.