DUBLIN....my first area!
February 12, 2018
As Mikey was sending his email this morning, it was deleted and he didn’t have time to re-write it. So he sent us pictures of his journal pages. Mike and I highlighted his last week of events in the following letter…..
Tuesday was hard saying goodbye to my friends but I was so glad to finally board the bus. I said goodbye to President and Sister Bunker knowing that I will see them again. As I sat down on the bus I felt some kind of accomplishment that I made it and it was a spiritual moment I will never forget. The bus ride to Edinburgh, Scotland was about 4-5 hours long. We hiked Pratt Hill and it was amazing! The view was awesome! After meeting President Donaldson and having a variety of meetings I was assigned to serve in Dublin Ireland and my trainer is Elder Valiati who is from Brazil! The AP’s and other missionaries said it is a favorite area to serve in.
This is an excerpt from Sister Call (one of the office secretaries): Tuesday came and so did our new missionaries. One in particular that we were waiting for was Elder O’Connor. He was in the MTC last summer and tore his ACL. He finished out the MTC and then was told he would have to go home for surgery. He hung in there and was determined to come back and here he is. We are so proud of him for sticking to his goals and for working hard to get back in shape. This young man has a constant smile on his face and has such a sweet personality. I got to know him a bit better too.
Wednesday I got up really early and had breakfast with President Donaldson and was able to get to know him better. My companion is a new District Leader and Trainer so we stayed at the mission home an extra day because he has new leadership meetings. I went on splits with Elder Worley into Edinburgh. He helped me out. We went to each lunch at the African Wrap and it was spicy and good. Later that night we went to a baptism at 6:30 and I can’t wait to be able to help someone get to this point in their life someday. We won’t be leaving to Dublin until tomorrow.
Sister Call and Elder O'Connor
Thursday (the following is an excerpt from Sister Calls blog)
“I just walked in the door and there was Elder O’Connor and his companion and trainer Elder Valiati (from Brazil). They were supposed to be on their way to Dublin so I said, “What are you still doing here?” Well, President had them stick around so he could talk to them so they missed their bus to get down to the ferry (3 hours away). So I got them new tickets and put them in the car and drove them over to Haymarket to catch their bus. Elder Valiati has only taken the bus and ferry to Ireland one other time the day after he arrived on his mission and this was only Elder O’Connor’s third day here so I was feeling a bit nervous dropping them off. The construction is so bad over there that you can’t even see the bus stops around all the barricades. They had packed their tickets (which I had just handed them 10 minutes before we left) so I waited for them to find those again. I couldn’t just drop them off, it didn’t feel right so I got out of the car and walked out to the street with them and pointed the direction they should go. They were both silent. I think they were both very nervous. I told them they would be fine and to just find the sign that said CityLink 900 and they would be on the right track. That is literally all I know as well about getting on the bus. I’ve never done it either. I left them and they started moving. I got all the way back into my car and started it up when I had an undeniable feeling to get back out and check on them again. So I did. I walked out past the barricade to see if they were walking down the wrong side of the street but I couldn’t see them. I stood there for a minute and then felt okay so I headed back to my car. The whole time I was driving back to the office I was saying a little prayer – please let them get on the right bus…”
It was a long travel day, seeing so much of the country was so cool. We arrived at out flat and it is right in the middle of Dublin.
Friday was my first “official” day as a missionary. It was one of the best days and I felt like I had been here for years. Two other missionaries stayed the night and then left today to travel onto Galway. We had zero food in the flat so we went and got Mc D’s. We then went street contacting and met so cool people. Later we met up with some other missionaries for pizza. After dinner we continued street contacting and met a guy named William from Brazil. We talked for a while and he is so ready. It was the first lesson Elder V and I have ever given and it was so cool. At the end of the day we had several contacts and 6 committed to come to church. I am blessed to be with Elder V. I am so humbled every time he speaks and am pumped to go out again tomorrow.
Saturday …today was a pretty good day! We had a meeting with the Zone Leaders and District Leaders and it was cool. I am learning things every day. I love Dublin so much already. Today we had a long day on street contacting. We later ran into Sister Call and Sister Gifford and they took us to Nanders to eat. It was great getting to know them better. (Sister Call is from Highland, UT and we (my mom) have kept in touch with her while I was at home.) I am super excited for my first Sunday tomorrow.
Sunday-Today our flat feels like home. At church Sister Bingham the General Relief Society President was visiting and spoke in Sacrament meeting. And then one of the Area Seventy’s spoke, Elder Tunnicliff. I had met him before while I was in the MTC but missed his talk because I was gone getting my MRI. I spoke with him after the meeting and he remembered me which was cool. I met tons of people and they were all very nice. It was like Grandma and Grandpa’s ward. We had a lot of investigators come to church so that felt good. All the members said I would fit in because of my name and that made me feel happy. Later that evening there was a Devotional and Elder Tunnicliff spoke. He told us a story about letting go of the old and bad things and in its place holding onto the Lord.
As Mikey was sending his email this morning, it was deleted and he didn’t have time to re-write it. So he sent us pictures of his journal pages. Mike and I highlighted his last week of events in the following letter…..
Tuesday was hard saying goodbye to my friends but I was so glad to finally board the bus. I said goodbye to President and Sister Bunker knowing that I will see them again. As I sat down on the bus I felt some kind of accomplishment that I made it and it was a spiritual moment I will never forget. The bus ride to Edinburgh, Scotland was about 4-5 hours long. We hiked Pratt Hill and it was amazing! The view was awesome! After meeting President Donaldson and having a variety of meetings I was assigned to serve in Dublin Ireland and my trainer is Elder Valiati who is from Brazil! The AP’s and other missionaries said it is a favorite area to serve in.
This is an excerpt from Sister Call (one of the office secretaries): Tuesday came and so did our new missionaries. One in particular that we were waiting for was Elder O’Connor. He was in the MTC last summer and tore his ACL. He finished out the MTC and then was told he would have to go home for surgery. He hung in there and was determined to come back and here he is. We are so proud of him for sticking to his goals and for working hard to get back in shape. This young man has a constant smile on his face and has such a sweet personality. I got to know him a bit better too.
Wednesday I got up really early and had breakfast with President Donaldson and was able to get to know him better. My companion is a new District Leader and Trainer so we stayed at the mission home an extra day because he has new leadership meetings. I went on splits with Elder Worley into Edinburgh. He helped me out. We went to each lunch at the African Wrap and it was spicy and good. Later that night we went to a baptism at 6:30 and I can’t wait to be able to help someone get to this point in their life someday. We won’t be leaving to Dublin until tomorrow.
Sister Call and Elder O'Connor
Thursday (the following is an excerpt from Sister Calls blog)
“I just walked in the door and there was Elder O’Connor and his companion and trainer Elder Valiati (from Brazil). They were supposed to be on their way to Dublin so I said, “What are you still doing here?” Well, President had them stick around so he could talk to them so they missed their bus to get down to the ferry (3 hours away). So I got them new tickets and put them in the car and drove them over to Haymarket to catch their bus. Elder Valiati has only taken the bus and ferry to Ireland one other time the day after he arrived on his mission and this was only Elder O’Connor’s third day here so I was feeling a bit nervous dropping them off. The construction is so bad over there that you can’t even see the bus stops around all the barricades. They had packed their tickets (which I had just handed them 10 minutes before we left) so I waited for them to find those again. I couldn’t just drop them off, it didn’t feel right so I got out of the car and walked out to the street with them and pointed the direction they should go. They were both silent. I think they were both very nervous. I told them they would be fine and to just find the sign that said CityLink 900 and they would be on the right track. That is literally all I know as well about getting on the bus. I’ve never done it either. I left them and they started moving. I got all the way back into my car and started it up when I had an undeniable feeling to get back out and check on them again. So I did. I walked out past the barricade to see if they were walking down the wrong side of the street but I couldn’t see them. I stood there for a minute and then felt okay so I headed back to my car. The whole time I was driving back to the office I was saying a little prayer – please let them get on the right bus…”
It was a long travel day, seeing so much of the country was so cool. We arrived at out flat and it is right in the middle of Dublin.
Friday was my first “official” day as a missionary. It was one of the best days and I felt like I had been here for years. Two other missionaries stayed the night and then left today to travel onto Galway. We had zero food in the flat so we went and got Mc D’s. We then went street contacting and met so cool people. Later we met up with some other missionaries for pizza. After dinner we continued street contacting and met a guy named William from Brazil. We talked for a while and he is so ready. It was the first lesson Elder V and I have ever given and it was so cool. At the end of the day we had several contacts and 6 committed to come to church. I am blessed to be with Elder V. I am so humbled every time he speaks and am pumped to go out again tomorrow.
Saturday …today was a pretty good day! We had a meeting with the Zone Leaders and District Leaders and it was cool. I am learning things every day. I love Dublin so much already. Today we had a long day on street contacting. We later ran into Sister Call and Sister Gifford and they took us to Nanders to eat. It was great getting to know them better. (Sister Call is from Highland, UT and we (my mom) have kept in touch with her while I was at home.) I am super excited for my first Sunday tomorrow.
Sunday-Today our flat feels like home. At church Sister Bingham the General Relief Society President was visiting and spoke in Sacrament meeting. And then one of the Area Seventy’s spoke, Elder Tunnicliff. I had met him before while I was in the MTC but missed his talk because I was gone getting my MRI. I spoke with him after the meeting and he remembered me which was cool. I met tons of people and they were all very nice. It was like Grandma and Grandpa’s ward. We had a lot of investigators come to church so that felt good. All the members said I would fit in because of my name and that made me feel happy. Later that evening there was a Devotional and Elder Tunnicliff spoke. He told us a story about letting go of the old and bad things and in its place holding onto the Lord.
Mikey on top of Pratt Hill
Traveling to Dublin
Our flat
City of Dublin
Street Contacting
Sister Bingham, General RS President
So great!!! Sister Call is a sweetheart! His apt looks super nice for a missionary apt. Nice city. And Sis Bingham!!! How's he going to top this week? 😉 Sherri
ReplyDelete