1 Month!!

Hello Everyone!! So I'm gonna start just going by day cause there's way to much to try to do it any other way haha. 

Tuesday- Had my first district meeting, and it was awesome! I learned a lot about first approaches and how to improve them. We had to drive about 2 hours to get there, and another 2 hours back, so that took up a majority of out day. We did have a dinner appointment that night though with the Ryan's. They are an awesome older couple and Brother Ryan is actually in the District Presidency. That day we were also on splits with the Zone Leaders #, so after that we went and knocked doors for a few hours and got an appointment set up with a Less Active member named Patrick, which I'll talk more about later. 

Wednesday- We spent the ENTIRE morning out street contacting with the Zone Leaders. Well I say with, but they actually had us all split up and try to stop people solo, which was a little terrifying, but really good to be able to practice that! And we actually got a ton of appointments set up for the remainder of the week! Also got to drive for the first time today! very nerve racking, but so awesome!
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Thursday- This is when things started picking up! We started by meeting with a guy named Jon. He was nice and liked to talk, but sadly after an hour of teaching he told us he wasn't really interested in learning more, so that was sad to hear. But then we were able to have a lesson with a recent convert named Clair. She is amazing and really firm in the church. We were able to talk to her and answer some of the questions she had regarding the restoration. 

Friday- We started today with a lot of street contacting, which we do a lot if you couldn't tell haha. In the after noon we were able to meet with another recent convert named Stella. She is a Chinese college student who is super solid. We just kinda talked and for to know here a little bit better, and she actually told us of a friend she had who was investigating the church but then returned to China for the summer. She will be returning in September and wants to learn more, so we're excited to meet with her! I then had the strangest meeting ever. So we went to the house of Patrick, the less active we met on Tuesday. We get in and immediately you can tell he's a bit off. But he was nice so we continued to talk to him. Then someone knocked on the door, and in comes in an older African man. Me and Elder Carlisle were both confused, and he then told us that this was a Jehovah's Witness he invited over to talk with us. He basically wanted us to bible bash with this Jehovah's Witness instead of meet with him. Luckily we had to leave soon, and his son wanted to show us his CRAZY Star Wars collection he has. So we got out of that one without much damage done, but ya definitely a meeting to remember haha. After him, we luckily ended the night on a high note with a meeting with a African lady named Lisa. She is amazing and loves Jesus and God and wanted to know more when we met her on the street. We taught her an awesome lesson and she said she wanted to be baptised! So we're excited to continue meeting with her!  

Saturday- I call this the day of miracles. Me and Elder Carlisle fasted this day to have help in our area, and man did that pay off! We started off by meeting Dion, the investigator set for Aug 5th. We had a great lesson and watched the restoration video, and the spirit was there so strong. Then came two interesting lessons. They were both Muslims, and man are Muslims set in their beliefs! They believe that Jesus was a prophet, but not the Son of God. And in both lessons they wanted hard evidence, which we obviously can't give it to them. They had to have that witness from the Holy Ghost. So try as we did to show them countless scriptures and show them this, they didn't accept it didn't really want to meet again. So that was a little disappointing. But then came the point where the fasting all payed off! We met with the coolest Brazilian couple ever! They told us they'd seen the hand of the Lord in their lives cause after 7 years of trying, they'd just been told that they're pregnant! So they were prepared by the Lord to hear our message, and received it so openly. They Accepted baptism wholeheartedly and we can't wait to keep working with them! Then came the second miracle of the day! We were finishing up with dinner and getting ready to head out the door when Dion called us. Dion's situation was tricky cause his mom is totally willing to let him be baptised, but his dad was hesitant. Because he's under 18, we needed both parents permission to be baptised, so we were a little worried that he might not be able to be baptised soon if he didn't get his dad's approval. But he called us and told us he'd talked to his dad and he'd seen nothing wrong with him getting baptised! So all in all, fasting works!!

Sunday- We spent most of Sunday traveling to and from the District Conference we had. The lower part of Ireland isn't big enough to have a stake, so they have what's called a district, which is split into branches instead of wards. So we had to travel 2 1/2 hours to this District conference, and then 2 1/2 back. But the conference was amazing and it was good to be instructed and learn more!

And ya that's been my week! Its been amazing to see the Lord preparing those people that are ready, and am so excited for another week. Love Elder Palmer