Derry, Part 5

Well, good news: all of the packages you sent have arrived! (I assume that's all of them). They are all waiting under the stairs until Christmas. Which is gonna be a difficult wait. But hey, what are you gonna do? I'll tell you what I'm gonna do: open 1 on Christmas EVE! HAHAHAAH!

I will skype you at 3:00PM MY TIME! So send me your skype details and I'll get some stuff worked out on my end, and if we need to we'll fine tune things over email beforehand. It'll only be for about an hour. That's all I've got right now. 

Michael isn't talking to us anymore. He looked a lot into anti-mormon conspiracies, so I'm not surprised. I think he thought we were free masons.  

I know you'll have your own opinion, so is it Book of Mormons or Books of Mormon? Because I would say--if I was being totally proper--copies of the Book of Mormon, but usually I just get lazy and say Book of Mormons. 

How have you been lately Dad? I hope your esophagus hasn't been causing you too much ache. 

My watch is solar powered, right? Because I think it ran out of battery again. And if it is solar powered, it's tough out of luck, because we ain't getting any sun over here. 

Did you know I've met a plurality--more  than one--people who strongly believe that the earth is flat. It's like a puppy swallowing a hand grenade: it's absolutely horrifying, but you just can't look away. 

This painting is hanging up in our flat.

Oh, and send me some good christmas pictures that I can print and put in my album

Seeyoulaterloveyoubye!

Pictures!

Giant's Causeway

Derry, Part 4

I received a package in the mail on Friday, and did not consider at the time that I ought not to have opened it. So for the past few days, I have been enjoying the long-johns you sent. When the other packages arrive however, I shall be appropriately prudent. Don't worry about addresses, it looks like we won't be moving for a while. We were considering it because of the state that the flat was in at the time, but now the heating and lights and everything are fixed, so we likely won't be moving at all, especially with the flat being in such a prime location. We are very close to the city center. 

I want you to know that your prayers for me and Elder Price have been very much appreciated, and that they have been answered. Yesterday on Sunday was the Belfast Stake Conference, which was broadcasted on account of the recent snow (which freaks the Irish out, because they never have snow). Right after the broadcast, a man came to the church and tied his dog up outside. He had a brief conversation with the bishop, and then the bishop ushered him into the bishop's office, and told us to go and talk with him. His name is Michael, and he had just decided recently that he was fed up with the Catholic church and was looking for a church that had more solid beliefs and practices. He saw the sign on the building, and said to us: ''The sign was clear; 'the Church of Jesus Christ,' so I decided to come in and see what yous were all about.'' We met with him later that day at the church and gave him a tour. We taught him about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the prophet Joseph Smith, modern day prophets, and the Book of Mormon. He did not accept everything strait away, but he made it very clear that he was open to it, and that he was going to take the steps to find out the truth for himself. He told us he was going to read the entire Book of Mormon and then pray to God regarding it. And he is currently scheduled to be baptized on the 30th of this month. 

It is unseasonably white here. I wish we had a sexy truck like that to power through it. Of course, there's nothing really to power through. There's barely any snow, but even with so little snow, the Irish just don't know what to do. It's actually pretty funny. 

We had our all-Ireland conference on Friday. The drive to Dublin was pretty long. We had a little bit of instruction of course, and then we did reenactments of scenes from the Book of Mormon, just for the heck of it. Then President Donaldson came in and started throwing fake snowballs at us, and we had a huge fake-snowball fight in the gym. We had a fairly nice turkey dinner, with all the fixin's: stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. It was great. Then we watched Moana. It almost becomes a bit exhausting to sit through a full-length movie.

That sounds like Tierney is having quite the time. I was able to speak with the Dundalk sisters recently. I was worried the Romanian family wasn't going to be very receptive to them, since Sorin (the dad) has said before how he doesn't really like the idea of female preachers, but apparently they love the sisters. In fact, Sorin wants one of the sisters to marry his oldest son Abraham. He's gonna get a wedding gift and everything. Unfortunately, they've only been able to meet with Jude once, and not in a few weeks since. And even worse is that for whatever reason, Alicia is no longer investigating or working towards baptism. That was very unhappy news. 

Well, that's me. Doing really well. Yous have a great week.

Seeyoulaterloveyoubye

Derry, Part 3

1. We haven't moved yet. The lease expires in January. We are looking for a new place still. 

2. Do you still have any of the emails about mailing and packages? Because I'm sure that was specified in one of those. Or check the call packet. You have that, right? 

3. [Boots? Shoe size?] I might get them myself, except I don't trust myself with buying quality boots. So I guess I'd just have you pick them out. I'm size 11, except actually size 9 in dress shoe sizes. That's what I know. 

4. [What for Christmas?] Canadian maple syrup? Other than that, no. 

5. [Where on Christmas?] Moves call is on the 16th. So if we aren't moved out of Derry, there is a member who's house we can spend Christmas day at. 

6. [I don't know either] I don't know

7. [How's the video call going to go?] I haven't had really anything told to me about video calls yet

They'll probably start telling us things about video calls on Friday. That's our all Ireland Conference. And while I know that Alicia and Jude haven't been baptized yet, I don't know how they are doing. I'm gonna find the Dundalk sisters at the all Ireland conference and ask them about it. Oh, and about Buffalo Rider, there is a Russian elder in the district who thinks that movie is hilarious. I figured that since it is an old western movie, maybe you had seen it. OOO! O holy night is a challenge to sing. But I believe in you! 

It's really just my black shoes that have worn so bad. My brown shoes are still doing great. There is absolutely nobody to teach. And nobody wants to talk to us. And there have been so many people telling us that we're wasting our time, and that we aren't wanted, and blah blah. But I'll admit, it's been getting to me. We have no new investigators, and I haven't been able to contribute one bit to this year's mission wide goal of 450 baptisms. And the year is almost up. And I think we're only at, like, 373. It really gets difficult to keep spirits up. It has definitely felt like a lot of going through the motions this week. 

It hasn't been all negative though! Since this is such a ''religious'' country, they really go all out for Christmas. And that's been pretty cool. And this P-day, we're truckin' down to Giant's Causeway! WOOHOO! Finally. We've been trying to go for weeks, but crap just kept coming up. 

That seems to be all I've got. For now. Keep on keeping me updated. I hope y'all get better soon, and don't spread your disgusting germs too much. And don't worry about sending long emails, because I've got plenty of time to email. 

Love, Elder Lybbert

Pictures!

View of Belfast

Christmas lights in Derry

Derry, Part 2

Oh my heavens west virginia! I drool over the thought of venison burgers, venison jerky, and venison steaks! I've been wanting to go hunting, let me tell you. Which is weird, 'cause I likely wouldn't have before (at least, not as much), but now I really do! 

i dunno why we don't get bikes! Bikes at least; usually, our area being so big, we'd have a car, but the mission has had to be more careful about where they place cars now, since apparently the first presidency has been cracking down on that. We don't have any solid investigators yet. Apparently before I came, there were a few, but they've all sort of dropped off the radar. Yeah, if there's a clear difference between here and Dundalk, it's that people like talking to us even less. Religious groups have obviously caused a lot of problems here, so another one is a little much for some people, even though it's the only right one. They just don't seem to get that. Also, while the branch in Dundalk wasn't the most helpful with missionary work, the Foyle ward is a bit worse. They really don't like working with us. They like us working with them to do ward stuff, but they don't like doing missionary stuff. I don't know the bishop's name (shame on me) but he's a South African fellow, and he's really weird. We have new pass along cards with the #lighttheworld on it. There's lots of Christmas lights set up all over Derry and Belfast and Coleraine. 

It's been a very busy week. We had three days of exchanges in Belfast and Coleraine. It was good, but nothing moved forward in Derry at all, being that we are the only missionaries in the area. Also, the heating in the flat broke while we were away, so it has been froken freazing! A kind member donated a small electric heater to us for the time being. It has been so cold here though. It has snowed once, and hailed a few times. That coat I have is terrific. I bought a beanie, and some new trousers, because one pair has tragically torn. I've gained about eight pounds, so when I hopped a fence a few weeks ago...well, it was too much for my poor trousers to handle. If it's okay, I'm gonna see if I can get some thick socks pretty soon, and maybe order some thermal underwear as well. 

If there is any mail to be sent, you might consider just sending it to the mission home for the time being, because we might be changing flats soon. The one we are in right now is breaking down constantly. YOU DIDN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION! Have you watched an old movie called Buffalo Rider? AND WHY WILL NOBODY TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT MY COUSIN IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS!?!?!?!? 

Anywhoseph. See y'all soon! Love you bye!