Waterford Pt 2

Well, guys, I'm staying put here in Waterford!! Which I'm glad, cause this place really keeps you on your toes haha! Even my trainer, who's only got a two transfers left, said this has been the craziest transfer of his mission. Which I figured is a great way to start haha! 

Monday-Last P-Day was a pretty uneventful one. We just did some shopping, walked around to some of the stores here that we've wanted to check out. We did get some sweet Ireland hoodies, and I also finally got a soccer ball! So now I can start practicing for P-Days to come! ;) But ya we really couldn't do much cause it was raining all day. But still a nice break after a crazy week last week! 

Tuesday- This was one of the Zone leaders, Elder Elsmore's, last district meeting, so it was a really good one! The Sister Training Leaders (Equivalent of a Zone Leader) came as well and gave an awesome instruction. After Elder Elsmore requested enchiladas as his final district meeting lunch, so we had some AMAZING enchiladas. I seriously miss La Casita so bad. :( But it was a pretty good substitute haha. That night we went and had dinner at the Bucklands. They're an amazing family in the ward, and have about 5 kids. So it was a little crazy but I honestly love it haha. 

Wednesday- We started off the day by meeting with Dion and his grandmother. They took us out to a super posh restaurant, and man was it good haha! After we talked with Dion more about callings in the church, and it seemed to really excite him that he could help contribute to the meetings. He really is so solid, and we can't wait to see where the Lord takes him. We also met with Lisa. She's doing really well, but it's taking her a bit longer to understand all that we're teaching her. We will probably be planning her baptism for later than we thought because of that, but she still really wants to be baptised, and shared with us that she wants to raise her kids in this church. So that's always good to hear haha! The rest of the day was spent finding. We ran into some pretty crazy people, but hey that's becoming the norm here haha.

Thursday- We had a Coordination meeting in the morning with our possible Branch mission leader... The branch is really mixed up right now, so we're not entirely sure who is the mission leader haha. But we met with Bro Mutebi and talked more about how the members can be helping in missionary work, so it was really good! Later that day we met with Clair, our recent convert friend. She is so amazing, and really just wants to follow Jesus and do whatever he says. She is gonna go on to do some amazing things in the church! Then we had a really strange experience haha. We were calling some less actives in an area we were gonna be in Friday to try and meet with them. We saw a man named Patrick in the ward directory lived there, so we punched in the number on the directory and called it. I could only hear Elder Carlisle's side of the conversation, and it was strange haha. He first asked if we could visit him at his house in Dungarven. then he said that he lives in Dublin. We asked if he's originally from around here in Waterford. He said he is from Brazil. Then Elder Carlisle goes, "Pedro is that you??" Sure enough, the number for Patrick in the Branch Directory was actually a recent convert named Pedro living in Dublin. How that number got in there we don't know, but it was the craziest thing ever!

Friday- We went out to a town called Dungarven and did some service for an older sister in the mornings. She is honestly the epitome of a nice Irish grandma! She is so funny, and it was nice to be able to clean up around her yard. She fed us a bomb meal of spaghetti bolognese. We also went and visited with her less active son and his family. They are super nice and LOVE to game! It was pretty crazy how many consoles they had at their house haha. But it was good to be able to visit with them! That night we were out finding, and we were able to meet some amazing people that we'll be meeting with! It was amazing cause lately we've been struggling with finding, and I was really praying and hoping we'd be able to find some people to teach. THE LORD ANSWERS PRAYERS!! I know that is true, 100%. One crazy story was while we were out chapping. We knocked a door and a little girl answered. We asked if her parents were home, and she said yes. We heard the mom ask who it was, and she said missionaries. "Not interested" So we just handed the little girl a pass along card and went to the next house. A few houses down we heard someone calling us. We look back and there's a woman in her 30's walking towards us. She asked if we were the ones that had just knocked on her door. We told her yes. She then said she's sorry cause she thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses. (They're everywhere here in Waterford) She then just started asking us a bunch of questions about our church, and then asked "What do I have to do if I want to learn more?" That is one question you rarely hear as a missionary haha! It was so amazing to see the Lord answer our prayers, and we can't wait to meet with her and others we found throughout the week. Than night we had MANOK (Moves Anticipation Night of Kebabs) and started getting ready for moves calls day!

Saturday- Saturday we had a member named Alex come out with us for a while. He has his papers in, and wanted a taste of missionary life I guess. And boy did he get it haha!! Earlier before we met up with him, we were walking through the city centre and got stopped from behind by a man. He told us his name was Jerry and he knew the past missionaries, and wanted to meet later that day. We obviously agreed. So we got Alex and headed to meet this guy. We started talking with him, and he knew a lot about the church and the discussions, which really surprised us. He then said he had a secret to tell us. We hesitantly asked what it was. He then told us he's already been baptised! Sure enough when we went back and looked in the Area Book he was in there as a recent convert. So we talked some more with him, and found out he was taught and baptised within two weeks, and hasn't really been to church since. We invited him to come to church, and he agreed! He also told us he has a problem with smoking, but wants to stop, so we will help him with that. So ya that was wild, and poor Alex was just there for the ride haha! That evening we got the moves call, and it was not what we were expecting. We are both staying here in Waterford, but Elder Carlisle has been called as the new District leader! It's crazy case the district leader has never been in Waterford, so ya that was crazy!! And there were a lot of crazy changes in the zone. So that just added to the wild week we've already been having!

Sunday- Never have I had a more exhausting Sunday. I spent the morning writing a talk, as I was asked to speak in church. Then we get there, and we had so many people we had to look after and talk to and make sure they were comfortable with everything. Dion, his mom and his grandma were all there. Dion actually played the piano in sacrament meeting! He's a crazy good pianist, and was super good at it! It was also nice to have a break from doing that haha! Lisa and her two kids were there, and her kids were crazy as usual. We had a new investigator named Kristen who was there. She is Stella's friend, and just moved back from China for school. We had Jerry there as well, and it was just a lot to try and think about for three hours haha. But it all went really well!! It really was a great Sunday! That evening we went back to our flat and just planned for the coming weeks, and for all the craziness with Elder Carlisle's new calling! 

So ya sorry for the crazy long email, but there was just so much that happened this week!! But I know that the Lord is mindful of all of us, and that if we listen to the still promptings of the spirit, we can see miracles happen in our lives. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

--

Elder Palmer

Scotland/Ireland Mission

13 Neptune House

Canada Square

Waterford, c/o Waterford

Republic of Ireland

There's a street art festival going on this week, and this was all done in spray paint!

​The keg truck driving by on a Sunday morning haha​