Livingston, Part 7 - August 27

Sister Tanner's been there for quite some time, huh? I remember seeing her in the directory a while ago too. That's cool. This weekend was moves call. Elder Skelton has moved to Airdire, leading he Airdrie district. Yes, the namesake for Airdire, Alberta. I, on the other hand, move not. I am to be in Livingston with some new blood. I'm gonna meet him tomorrow, so for today I get to just chill in Edinburgh at the mission home. They have real, true to life, good food here! This past week was the bummest, basically just cooked oats mixed with discount lemon curd for every meal (besides a few dinners; bless Livingston ward). I usually go highschool style and just don't bother with breakfast. Anyways, our funds should be replenished by tomorrow. I hope my trainee is money savvy, because that's something I just won't be able to teach. 

Ah man, I remember some other time, I think it was when fires were going off in the north of Alberta or something, when there was just a thick smoky miasma for a few days/weeks. So that's weird, huh? I hope things start to...cool down, in regards to that. Situation. Sorry. 

I guess that is pretty soon, huh? the start of school? Shewt. I'm probably gonna die in just a few minutes by the way. But no bother. I have cookies. School starting is kinda good for us, because we get to see all the stressed college students who have been humbled and need help! I also have popcorn. It's gonna be a flompin' party in Edinburgh! 

Everyone who I went to the MTC with is either in Mission leadership now, or they've gone home. Or they're me. Or they're sisters. It's true, one of those applies to everyone in my MTC group!. 

You gonna canoe!?!? That's awesome. Just on a lake, yeah? Or down a river? It'd be so nice and peaceful to be on a lake, ya know? calm waters. Just hakuna and matata. 

We have a couple of families who we could potentially teach. One of them is a referral (we haven't met them yet) and the other is a young Hungarian family we found chapping. The couple's name is Adam and Eniko (or Enzi for short), and their wee son is Samuel. They were protestants in Hungary, but haven't had a church since being in Scotland. They miss it. 

Well, I hope everything is going well. I hope you are not being too stressed, and I pray that you are healthy and happy. 

Love you.

Livingston, Part 6

It has been as productive as we can make it. We have been working hard to find somebody to teach, but so far it has been troubled or less active members we've been teaching. There are actually plenty of non-members that come to church, but they don't want us to teach them. Sad day. 

Chapping is a Scottish term. I don't know why, it's just what Scots say, so it's a mission-wide term. And when I say GQ, that was a term President Donaldson started for street contacting. It means Golden Questions. 

So I've still just been reading through the Book of Mormon, cover to cover, looking especially for things pertaining to selflessness and charity and humility. I've also been looking at the step 3 topic ''Trust in God,'' and thinking about that. It seems to involve specifically trusting in God instead of the arm of flesh, a la Nephi. 

We helped an inactive member do some of those 4 picture quizzes. I aced the movie character one. We got into a water balloon fight with the primary kids. We are being pretty low on funds, so the members have been feeding us very well. 

It's pretty funny, because we often hang out in the main part of Bathgate to GQ. There is a cinema that looks like an old church right by us, and an external screen plays movie previews, so now I've seen stuff about a new Predator movie, and Ant Man and Wasp. 

well, that's about it for now. Love y'all!

Livingston, Part 5

I had a good week. Well, except for wednesday. I didn't like wednesday. But the rest of it was sound. We went to Edinburgh for a day, and there is a big festival going on throughout all of august called ''the Fringe.'' The population of Edinburgh more than doubles this time of year. There was lots of posters and flyers being handed out for various shows and acts that would be going on. It's been quite hot for the last while, but recently it's started to become very misty and cool. This morning me and Elder Skelton ran to the church. He wants to start running in the morning now. Other than the DAs we get every now and again (which is usually fish and chips) I've pretty much been living off diet coke and plain tortilla wraps. So I want to try and make myself better food this week. We've been chapping doors less and less, and moving toward GQing (street contacting). That's usually what happens when we burn out chapping in an area. Today, I believe we will be going with an inactive brother to go get some poutine and icecream. Yum yum. 

So, I suppose everybody is getting ready for the new school year. Is everyone excited? Who's going into what grade? What schools will be attended? How is Amanda's driving going? How about Laura? I saw some videos of Justin last week and it freaked me out. Here he is with this sexy, l'oreal commercial wavy hair, and some deep deacon voice, and taller than the Belfast zone leaders. I can no longer in good conscience or good sense call him ''boy''! Also, Jenna's just gonna pump out another one, huh? Freaks. Love you!

Last monday, me and Elder Skelton blew about £26 on some takeout food. As you know, Scottish takeout food has two distinctive features: 1 - it comes in a pizza box, and 2 - it's disgusting. They just throw a bunch of vaguely indian whatever into a pizza box, throw in a can of irn bru, and charge £13 for the whole caboodle, it's called a muchie box. And we got one each, which was a huge mistake. I could only eat half before I was critically ill. Skelly boy somehow managed to eat the whole thing. I could almost hear the voice saying ''FATALITY!''

Livingston, Part 4

That's terrific news. I'm very glad to hear that, and I'm also very happy for you and everyone that was praying that you weren't going to have to move. I guess you have a bit of rest on that subject now, huh? No need to worry about that, at least for a while. Right? 

It has been a progressive week. I'll give you that. Personally, that is. What does that mean? What am I even talking about? I don't know. I want to feel like something happened. We might do mini golf today. 

I had some stuff to send, but I don't think it'll work. This is the worst computer ever. 

We are no longer in a hotel. The hot water got ''fixed'', so we can use the bath now. Which is a lie, it did not get fixed, hence the quotation marks. So bathing sucks. 

I...honestly have no idea what else to say. Sorry. What would you like to know? 

Going back and reading some of my first journal entries is weird. I think I was a lot more prideful back then. I thought I was the beez kneez. I thought I was so cool. I have been brought very low since then. 

Know that you are always in my prayers, and I love you!

Livingston, Part 3

Yeah, it's been a tough week for us too. I mean, besides the fact that we set up no appointments for the hundreds of houses we chapped. The shower in our flat is broken, so we've been staying at a hotel. It would be fine, except we're constantly having to go between this place and that place, our hotel and our flat, this town and that town, running to catch buses, and we're constantly in a rush for something. I'm so like my mother, in that I hate rushing in any capacity for anything. 

Elder Travis Skelton from Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Parents are Holly and Todd. 

There isn't much in the way of mosquito-like pesties. There has been a bunch of flying ants, but they don't bite. Some people talk about the midgies, but they've never bothered me. Sometimes I wake up with new spider bites. I certainly don't miss the mosquitoes. 

How's work going, Dad? Have you been enjoying your job? How are all of my little sibling doing? Getting into trouble out of school? 

It surely has been stressful. I will not add any stress, I will but pray for my lovely family. I miss you all dearly.

Livingston, Part 2

Scotland is a lot like Ireland in many ways, but in many other ways quite different. We are somewhere between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Edinburgh accent is easy to understand, but the Glasgow accent is...not. So I have a hard time understanding some people. Livingston is not really busy enough to street contact effectively, so we pretty much tract all day every day. It's more door-to-door than I've ever done. Ever. Elder Skelton is such a good missionary. I feel like he's training me. I have to make sure he's not dragging me along, and just keep up with him. I still haven't seen President MacDonald that often, but I understand he's settling in well, and he's still a big goof. Another difference I notice from Ireland to Scotland is that people close the door much faster. 

Everyone looks so big now. Amanda really looks like a younger version of Mom, doesn't she? 

We walk everywhere so far. No car, and no bikes. We are getting some bus passes on Tuesday. There are quite a few little towns in our area, and it's all quite suburban. These places are where people live if they can't afford to live in Edinburgh. There is quite a large shopping centre, about 50 minutes to walk there. 

Today we need to clean our flat and wait for a guy to come look at our leaky shower. We make most of our own meals, but we should have a few DAs this week. Elder Skelton is a good cook, and he likes to cook too, so...yeah. 

We had one investigator, but he dropped us on Sunday like a sack of hammers. He left after Priesthood opening where an upcoming activity was being discussed, and apparently we aren't supposed to have fun. We are gonna meet another guy hopefully tonight. 

I found a really nice CD player in my room. So that's cool. 

See you later! Love you! 

Livingston, Part 1

Hannah was indeed baptized this weekend. She is more than ready for it; she is so mature for a girl of only 13 years or 14. There was a man come in from Denmark named Christian Olsen who served in Bangor before, and also taught the Cunninghams. He did the honor of baptizing her. We the missionaries joined in the circle as Bishop Puckerin confirmed her the following day. So I am very happy about all that. Helen came to church for the first time in a few weeks. Apparently the last lesson we had with her had made her feel nervous and pressured, so she was very hesitant to see us again. But she just couldn't stay away. Alas, I shall not likely ever see her baptized. 

This week was rough for Belfast. On the 11th and 12th and a little bit of the 13th, there was some bad rioting going on in Belfast city, some of it involving pipe bombs and other explosives. All of the missionaries had already been instructed to stay in their flats NO EXCEPTIONS, just like every year. Everyone was safe, especially me and Elder Mueller in Bangor, because Bangor is generally just less violent. Nonetheless, we stayed inside for most of the 11th and all of the 12th, playing card games, texting people, and watching Studio C comedy. And going stir crazy. 

This Sunday was my last in Bangor. I've been called up north to Livingston. That's right, I'm a Scot now. I am in the Edinburgh district, being just between Edinburgh and Glasgow. I think. My new companion is Elder Skelton from Arizona. He's a big guy, very tall and broad, and he's just a few transfers younger than me. It's a new country, a new mission president, and the first time I've had a companion who's younger than me. I'm sure-fire out of my comfort zone. It's been a long trip by ferry, taxi, and train. Scotland is very scenic, and I was travelling with some very good missionaries too: Sisters Potter and Khoo, and Elders O'Connor and Moffitt. We had at least 10 big pieces of luggage between the 5 of us, and a few smaller pieces too. It was quite the hassle to travel with it. 

That's so great to know, that you probably won't have to move. Please do keep me updated about that. And if it doesn't work out that way, that just means the Lord has something better in mind doesn't it. Justin riding Keda is so cool, especially since Keda is one of the horses I was the most nervous about for some reason. 

I must sign off soon. I'll include a picture of me and Helen, , and some pictures of Elder Mueller beating me up, and a picture of me and Katie (Chinese investigator), but the picture with me and Hannah will likely need to wait until later. 

Love you!​

Bangor, Part 21 - July 9, 2018

Well, admittedly I do worry sometimes about everything at home, and it even seems to me sometimes that being on a mission here is harder on everybody than me being at home was. But at your insistence that you feel blessed, I remain. It doesn't help that we just had a visit from an RM who served in this mission (Elder Mueller's trainer, actually) and he said to us: ''I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but the day I got home was the best day of my life. And being at home is the best.'' and I'm just like: ''thanks.'' He's great though, and the ward sure loves him. His name is Brendan (or Brandon) Tolk, and he's the son of renowned pianist David Tolk. David was there too, and he preformed piano music at a fireside on Sunday evening. It was wonderful. 

At church on Sunday, there was a box full of church books. I took from it Great Are the Words of Isaiah, and A Topical Guide to the Scriptures, and the Discourses of Brigham Young.

I know nothing more at this time about transfers. I'll have to wait until Saturday. And on that Saturday, Hannah is still scheduled to be baptized. She has been taught everything, is going to be interviewed on Tuesday, and it's all good. We found out that Helen hasn't dropped and isn't avoiding us, just some circumstances have kept her from coming to church. Things like a holiday, and her mother's health, etcetera. We saw our Chinese friend Katie again the other day, and I think we're friends now. 

Honestly, giving talks has become one of my favourite things to do. I've become so comfortable with it. What was the topic? This Sunday, the topic in sacrament meetings focused a lot on social media safety and following the prophet. 

Man, hauling hay. Lots of fun, with the right attitude. And lots of exercise, whether you like it or not. Justin's kinda the man now, huh? And Tamara sent me a video, and Olivia was riding a horse in it. Holy canolies, is she tall now, or what? 

Love you, family!

Bangor, Part 20 - July 2, 2018

The Donaldsons went home on Saturday, and the MacDonalds moved in to replace them. We will meet them on Wednesday at a short conference in Dublin. I am excited for that, though I will sorely miss the Donaldsons. Both President and Sister Donaldson had that quality where they made each individual missionary feel like the favourite. Lots of love generated from that big, big man, and his little-bitty wife. But in the future, I might be able to meet them at a mission reunion in Utah. That's a happy bonus that you could see comes from a mission: you know people from so many different places, and it gives you an excuse to travel, even if it's only to Utah. 

I missed home yesterday. And yes, I did take time to sing my national anthem. I wished a little bit that I could watch the fireworks, sitting on a picnic blanket drinking grape soda with my favoured blood relatives. 

Helen. She didn't come to church and she isn't answering her phone. We may have scared her off; she may have felt too much pressure to be baptized. To be honest, I'm not too worried about her. She has so many supportive friends in the church that she won't lose contact, and she will likely be baptized someday, just not while I'm around. Hannah is still set to be baptized on the 14th this month, and is excited. We're teaching her again tonight. I think she will be baptized by stake president Noble, because she's pretty close to that family. President Noble is a cool guy, I like him. 

It is likely that I will be transferred, and will move to a new area on the 16th. I kind of hope I do too. I've been here long enough. But if I am assigned to stay, it would not be the end of me. 

Poor Mackie. Hopefully he now will know to be more careful around horses. Sounds like a lot of fun with the horses though. You must be having some good weather conditions for it. Magic is a bit of an ornery beast then, huh? Are those some new seats at the counter? 

Sometimes while my companion is emailing his girlfriend, I take some time poking around on family search. CFB Lybbert; what a manly man. I actually wasn't sure if I had pioneer ancestors, but there you go. Danish blacksmith pioneer. I still wish I knew more stories about Grandfather Lyle, but maybe I'll have to send a letter to grandpa for that. I know next to nothing about mom's side of the family. 

I'm alright. I could be a lot worse. God takes very good care of me. 

Love you!

Bangor, Part 19

Me and Elder Mueller talk about hunting and hiking and outdoor stuff a lot. As is customary, he has done a lot more than I have. Which makes me feel boring at times, but not too bad. It's making me want to spend some time doing that though. I only have to wait a year now!!! I'm still not sure about riding the horses. Am I the only one who finds riding horses scary still? 

So, we are still seeing and teaching Helen on a consistent basis. She makes fun of me a lot because one time we had to postpone an appointment with her because I forgot to find a joint teach to come with us. Honestly, she will not let me live that down. Anyways, she hasn't told us directly, but we heard through the grapevine---the friendly church member grapevine---that she has a date in mind for baptism. Possibly the weekend of the 13th/14th, which is her birthday I think. So cool! There's someone you can pray for. Also, there's a 14 year old girl named Hannah who is also going to be baptized that weekend. 

We had a few new investigators pop up this week. Other than that, not too much. But the baptism dates have me excited. We don't have as many dinner appointments lately (since its the summer and people are away) maybe one or two a week, but that's still better than in Derry and Dundalk. I'm gonna have to get some pictures with some people before I leave here (presumably after the same weekend of scheduled baptisms) because I love everyone, but I definitely have some favorites, like Scott (ward mission leader in 1st ward), and Sister Reed (gives us food every Sunday since I've been here), and some others. 

So, how tall is everyone now? Who's gotten bigger/smaller?

Love you so much! 

Bangor, Part 18

Well, no new investigators this week. But, things could be worse. I have a good feeling about this coming week. We gonna make something happen. 

The weather here has stabilized at slightly cloudy. Hasn't moved much beyond that point. 

I was thinking of tu this father's day! Well, who else? Again, I'll just say how proud I am of my lineage, and how inspiring my fathers are. Especially you. I got to thinking how often I thought you would be disappointed in me, especially if I told you things that were embarrassing to me. I thought you might be embarrassed by me, or something like that. But I was always instead just impressed by how much you loved me instead. That's a man I want to be to my sons. Unless I pull a Van Waardhuizen, then I'll have to be that to daughters only 😁 I love my mom!!!!

We got some honorary father's day candy at church, as is customary. But we were also in two wards, so we got two treats! 

Dude, Justin is turning out sooo awesome. I'm gonna have to get him to teach me a bunch of things when I get home. 

It's not as easy to get out and do things in Bangor for p-days. Everything cool is a few hours away, and we have to get there by public transportation. In Dundalk we had a car, and were pretty close to a bunch of cool places. In Derry, we could get our neighboring area Omagh to come and take us places, because they had a car and they loved us. By the way, I hear that Derry has the car now. It's because the new Elders in Omagh can't drive. One of them is Obedmoth Cosmas (look him up, he's really cool). 

Anywho, that's it for now. Knockout drawing once again, Mom. Olivia, you are just the sweetest! 

Love you very much! Thanks for writing me so loyally Dad! Happy father's day! 

Bangor, Part 17 - June 11

What a week. Nothing really happened out of the ordinary, but with Elder Baklan gone I've had to do a lot more. In fact, I'm pretty sure Elder Mueller is making me take more of an active role on purpose. He's cool though. He's 20 months on his mission. He's from Vancouver Washington. He's a regular gun-and-knife nut, and he loves country music, and he voted for Donald Trump, and he loves dogs, and....yeah. Lots of stuff. 

Well, leading the companionship is more stressful than I would've imagined, and it's only been a week. I think I'm too stupid for this job. But anyways, haven't seen or heard from Steve, we taught Helen about the commandments. Helen's problem seems to be that she's too comfortable being not-baptized. She gets to enjoy so many benefits from members (babysitting Nathaniel, helping her move, going to activities, et cetera) with none of the commitments. All though she is trying to keep the word of wisdom now (not too much of a challenge for her) and she's still coming to church every Sunday. 

Yeah, so this last all-Ireland conference is President Donaldson's last one. He leaves on June 30th, if I remember right. I'm excited. To meet President MacDonald, I mean. 

Aw, that sounds like a very good day. Jim Bardgett gave us some weird brand of root beer on Sunday, and it was not good. So I guess the younger horses just aren't ready for that kind of trip yet, huh? Maybe soon. Still lots of summer left, isn't there? Everyone here is pretty sure that our idyllic summer weather that we've been experiencing is only temporary, and should've been over a long time ago. Me, I'm confident it'll go on for a wee bit yet. 

I don't think I have any pictures for you this week. Sorry about that. I think Elder Mueller looks like a broader version of Daniel. More of a football-player figure rather than basketball-player. 

talk to you again soon! Love you!!

Bangor, Part 16 - June 4

Transfers happened this monday...but not for me! I'm staying right in Bangor. Elder Baklan, on the other hand, is moving to Pollock (in Scotland). I am pretty happy to be staying. This will now be my longest area. And it's really growing on me too. It may just overtake Dundalk as my favourite area. My new companion is Elder Mueller. I haven't met him yet; I'm waiting in Belfast for him to arrive, since he's coming from Motherwell (also in Scotland). I know that he's been on his mission for over 1.5 years, he's from somewhere in the US, and he will be the Bangor district leader. That's pretty much it. 

Helen is doing really good. We are still inviting her to keep commitments whenever we teach her. I'm excited to go over the commandments with her; we'll be able to address a lot of her questions. On Thursday, we had a barbecue with her at the bishop's house. As promised, I made a pan of nanaimo bars. And as promised, she made us bananas wrapped in bacon. They taste as good as they sound---no really, they're pretty good. I'll send some pictures (probably later today, when Elder Mueller gets the chance to email). 

I had a feeling that the hat wouldn't be your size, let alone your style. But I also figured that you might either just have it as a keep-sake, or you could let someone else have it if you like. Just at least take a picture with it on. Tea cakes are very good, and I think Jaffa cakes are one of me favourite things. Elder Price was straight addicted to those caramel wafer things. Oh man, Elder Price. Whenever I see him we have lots of fun, even if it's just reminiscing about good old times in Derry. 

Um, to be honest, nothing has happened yet with Steve (that's the guy who we ran into). He keeps setting up times and places to meet, and then just doesn't show up. That's not unusual per say---in fact it kind of happens a lot, you know how it goes---but I did have high hopes for Steve. 

Anyways, looks like I don't have a lot of time today. At least not yet. Maybe I'll be able to send some more stuff when Elder Mueller gets here. We'll see. But know that I love yous. I've been testifying a lot about the Book of Mormon. It's my favourite thing to testify of. It's the holiest book that I've ever been able to hold. Me and Elder Baklan were making an ABC list of titles for the savior. My favourites are usually Master, and King, and Lord. 

Helen, Ben (ward mission leader), and bacon-wrapped bananas

Bye for now! 

Bangor, Part 15

Yeah, I'd say there is a good chance that I'll be transferred this next move, being that I've been here since February and thus far they don't tend to keep me in one place for long. Which is why I was gonna just bring up the matter of a journal, just because I don't know if you've sent me anything, but if you have I'm not sure if I'll get it in time. If you have something to send, maybe wait until my next address is sent? 

...are you sure you aren't going to get into trademark issues with a name like Kodak? No, but honestly, that's a good name. That sounds like a fun trip actually. Well, maybe it was tough at the time, but so good to have something like that to look back on for certain. Hey, how is driving going? For Amanda and Laura? How is school going? they must almost be done now; I hope everyone is studying diligently! 

We didn't see Helen during the week, because her mom broke her wrist. So that's poo. But we saw her on Sunday at church, and she booked a time for us to come over and have a barbecue with her! She's gonna make her speciality, which is...bananas. wrapped. in....BACON!! Bananas wrapped in bacon. How awesome is that? I know, it sounds weird, but she swears that it's the best barbecue item there is. So I'm excited to try it. I got to try a few things this week. There was that ward activity where we made our native foods. There was Scottish, Filipino, Ukrainian, Canadian, and Chinese. And of course, an assortment of random dessert items to fill in the gaps. Chinese was some simple but delicious dumplings (they were the first things gone). Filipino was Bicol Express, which was quite tasty served on rice. Scottish was---you guessed it---Haggis. I really liked it. Elder Baklan made some borscht, and some pryaniki. Both were very well received. The poutine I made was a'ight. It got cold, so it wasn't too good. But the nanaimo bars were a big hit, and now I have a bunch of women in the ward asking for the recipe!! 

Canadian

Chinese

Filipino

Scottish

Ukranian

We were able to help out this nice lady and her son on Saturday. They needed a place to stay for the night, and...well, it's kind of a long story, but to make it short, I prayed for angels to come and help them, and surely angels came and gave them a room to stay in. I felt so happy that night. I had been able to experience doing all I could, and then hearing God say: ''I'll take it from here.'' Something else that happened was we were late for our bus unexpectedly, so we were trying to outrun it to the next bus stop, but we were too late. A fellow stopped us when we were walking back to the bus station and said: ''hey, are you with the latter day saints?'' and I replied breathlessly: ''yup, that's us!'' and he explained that he couldn't talk for long right then, but he would like to see us soon because he was going through a hard time and needed something new in his life! So that was cool. 

Do you know the Nashville Tribute Band? President Donaldson got them to come over to Edinburgh to preform for the missionaries, and the performance was broadcast to the Irish missionaries as well. The audio and video was rubbish, but it was still fun. Elder Price---my old companion from Derry---was there too and we knew the words to a lot of the songs, so we sang along to them, and then just had some good time to catch up. Also, at a member's house, Elder Baklan found a creepy little doll based on a Russian kid's show. 

....I've sent another package, but I guess maybe it hasn't got to you yet. Be on the look out. It'll be the last I send for a while, because it turns out that it costs money to send packages. 

But I love y'all! 

Bangor, Part 14

I am very happy to know that my package arrived safely, and apparently with everything still in it. Honestly, I've been a little bit afraid that someone has been tampering with my mail. Every letter I've gotten from Aunt Suzanne has been already open by the time I get it. I thought that was normal for international mail, but apparently (according to Sister Donaldson and others) that shouldn't be. And of course one of the letters I got was just an envelope with no actual letter. Maybe the next time someone sends a letter they should not put ''Elder'' on the address. That could make a difference, and it is something we've been instructed to do recently. 

Well, all I know about mother's day is that I will be skyping you at least after 4:00 my time, because that's when we're done with church. We still have to find out who's home we will be going to at that time. We may have to go one at a time again. Either way, I will let you know for sure by Sunday, but for sure it will be after 4PM my time. 

President Donaldson will be finished his mission at the end of June, when I reach my year mark. Then he will be replaced by President MacDonald. So I will have a different mission President for each half of my mission. That's all okay with me. I will miss President Donaldson; he's quite a remarkable man. Of course he used to be a 70, but he also was a detective, and a heavyweight boxer in his youth, and the only active member of his immediate family since he was 7 years old. I am excited to learn about President MacDonald as well. 

That's so good! The garden is in the same place as usual? How often do you think you'll need to tend to it? It will be good to be able to spend some time over there. One of the members in the ward reminds me a lot of Melody. I miss her. 

Well, I learned a lesson this week: the difference between the disciples of christ and those who oppose him is love. Our work needs to be motivated by love, not by wanting to hear someone else admit that they are wrong. That's why we don't go up to Jehovah's Witness stands and start roasting them about their beliefs, even though they and others come up to us with that intention. When they do come to us being so hostile, it's easy to make it a battle, but we need to be different than them. If that makes sense. It certainly makes sense to me. The old saying is fight fire with fire, but I find that fighting fire with water is much more effective. 

Whenever I show missionaries my photo album, they always say how me and my brothers all look similar, and even me and my sisters, but me and me papa look pretty much the same. And yeah, that picture shows it nicely too, being that dad is young in that picture. Who's the companion? 

Remember in February when I said there was an investigator named Helen? Well, out of the blue she has been in contact with us and wants us to teach her. FINALLY! I've been waiting for this ever since I moved to Bangor. 

Love yous

Elder Lybbert

President Donaldson

Bangor, Part 13

We've decided to turn our attention and our efforts a little bit. We are going by map and looking for inactive part-member families. We are currently helping two different individuals return to activity---one of them after 10 years of being inactive. We have gotten one referral from this approach so far. We are working closely with one of the ward mission leaders to this end. So I hope that will go very well. There's just been such little success from street contacting and tracting, so we're trying to be creative. 

No especially interesting stuff to tell about. I'm now avoiding some members who I know for a fact are talking about Infinity War, and what the post-credit scene is, and what the ending is, and such and such. I've actually just been considering having y'all just spoil all the movie endings for me so that I won't have to worry about it. 

The other day, it was raining quite fierce. Occasionally we would flee to the indoors, but whenever we did that the sun would come out and the rain would stop. And then we would go back outside and it would start pouring again. 

Aren't we a funny pair, you and me Dad? You love to teach, and I love to give talks in church! I gave a talk on how the Holy Ghost has been a companion to me in my life. It provided me a unique opportunity to remember all of the times in my life when the gift of the Holy Ghost has been such a boon to me. I thought a lot about my early school years, and about being ordained to different offices, and on my mission thus far and such. I'm an old missionary now, you know. With only a little over a year to go. I think I say it quite often, but I might say it again: I thought my biggest challenge would be getting along with my companions, but that isn't a very big challenge at all! I also get along with the members, though not as easily; I allow myself to be quieter around them. And the rest of the people...are a challenge. But we're getting there. I've still got about 13 months to get this right. 

P-day looks like it's gonna be standard. I might try and get some black trousers to go with my suit jacket. Although, I might be getting a little bit big for that one. Yesterday we got froaken stuffed! Stuffed HOOORD! And sent to our flat with a whole tuna casserole and loaf of bread. I love Bangor!!

And I love you!! Thank you so much for the pictures. And the love. And the prayers. Bye for now!

Elder Lybbert

Bangor, Part 12

No, nobody has ever said that. ["Fiddle dee dee potatoes!"] But I have heard ''Top of the morning to ya''! Twice! both times were kinda just jokes. 

What a fast week. I feel like there was not a lot that happened. There was a few things. We helped out a member with his garden. There was a lot of wild garlic growing, so we smelled strongly of it. We had a dinner appointment directly following. They were afraid that they had put too much garlic in their sauce, but it turns out it was just us. 

I am still in the first book of Nephi myself. It's very good, isn't it? The book of Mormon. I had always said to myself that if there was any christian religion that was right, it is ours. Those times when I said that were actually miserable times. The best of times are more like when I say: I am glad that ours is the true church, and that Jesus saved me from sin and death. I had that kind of attitude this week. Looking forward to the week to come. 

I've just finished putting together the March gift package for my siblings and have sent it on it's way. I hope and pray that it arrives intact and untampered. I won't spoil what it is. It's not much though; just some amusing such-and-such. 

Everyone here is so very happy about the combining of the high priests and elders quorums. Most of the elders and high priests are acting like they thought of it first. 

This has also been one of those weeks where I've been missing spending time with my family. I love y'all so dearly. What can we do though? I am so grateful for your prayers. We will find someone new to teach this week. At least one person. 

By the way, Massimo De Feo's talk is worth reviewing. 

Isn't it wonderful to know how God loves us? He saw it fit to sacrifice his best behaved child and give him the worst pain that there is so that I, and you, and everyone could be spared that, and then be the best that we can be. So wonderful. 

Well, I have a lot of emotions this week also. The last letter that Aunt Suzanne sent arrived as an envelope. An empty envelope. The letter was not with it. So, I don't know the last thing that she sent. How is Amanda's driving going? How is Laura's driving going? Update me on everyone's age again. I forget some. 

Having a good week? A great week? Isn't Avengers coming out soon? You can tell me what you think about it, but no spoilers!! I mean it! I've been doing so good so far keeping away from spoilers for Spiderman and Thor and Black Panther and Star Wars, so don't ruin that streek! Especially when we have our skype chat on the 13th. I'm still looking for a place to do that from. Should be at a members home again. So I also have yet to determine a time. 

I suppose that's it. For now. Say hi to everyone for me!

Bangor, Part 11

This week we got our moves call, and found out that we will not be moving. So me and Elder Baklan will be together in Bangor for the next foreseeable 7 weeks. I am okay with that, because me and Elder Baklan get along well and Bangor is a nice and agreeable place. We have dinner appointments pretty much every day for the next 19 days. I love all of the members that we visit; they're just great people. We have to rebuild our teaching pool; we've had to drop a few investigators who were going nowhere fast. I bought a new shirt, and it looks pretty good on me. 

Okay, here are 3 things I've noticed that are decidedly different, especially about Northern Irish people (because that is different than Republic people):

1. Irish people are very touchy. They will often have there hand on your arm, shoulder, or hands when they are talking personally to you. And that's among strangers. 

2. There is a lot of mental illness in Northern Ireland. More than normal, I would say. I have been told before that one of the causes of that is a lot of inbreeding. So a lot of the people you meet will have autism or aspergers or some other disability. 

3. A larger part of the people are very very open about their personal life. Stopping people on the street to talk to them, you are quite likely to get their entire life story. 

So, you probably know that Wendy W. Nelson (Russell M. Nelson's wife) was born and grew up in Raymond Alberta, right? Well, I heard that she was a Lybbert, or was related to the Lybberts somehow, do you know anything of that? Do you think it would be easy to find out? 

You also may know that Russell Nelson and Jeffery Holland started their world tour this last week in London. Their message was broadcasted to all of the British missions, so we got to watch it too. I wish y'all could have watched it. There wasn't any new announcements, it was mainly talking about the themes of conference: revelation and ministering. There were two sessions: one at 7:00PM for everyone, and one earlier in the day at 2:00PM for missionaries. At each sessions, the speakers were Sister Holland, Elder Holland, Sister Nelson, and President Nelson. It was a very special and unique thing to be a part of. And the Sisters are very good speakers, who are rarely heard from. I wrote a lot down, but here are few notables:

Elder Holland noted that the book of Ether is over 1000 years of history contained in about 30 pages. Hence, we can infer that the Book of Mormon is not to be taken as a history book; it's the things of God which are contained therein. 

President Nelson talked about the Solemn Assembly. There were, of course, a lot of people who had threatened to be there to voice their opposition and to protest. And many showed up and were there in the conference, but because of the spirit present they were silenced. 

Sister Nelson emphasized how there are missionary efforts going on on both sides of the veil. Many have accepted the gospel in the spirit world, and are anxiously waiting and cheering us on to do missionary work on this side of the veil so they can have their ordinances done in the temple. 

President Nelson concluded the session by promising a blessing for the missionaries. Included in that was a blessing on our families at home, that they will be taken care of and that the sick and afflicted will be healed. I was just thinking, that can give us a lot of hope.... 

I'm sorry, I was not part of the family fast this week. I don't really know why, but we've been advised in the white handbook to not fast for things going on at home. But I have been praying; plus, you've been blessed by the prophet. So there. 

I have been ever so slightly trunky for the past couple of days. But that should get better right soon. I hope. 

Love y'all!

Bangor, Part 10 - April 9, 2018

So, this week was, as suggested by the subject-line, long. Quite long. I guess ol' Satan figured out that I'd changed and he's trying to through it in my face. Sent a lot of mean-spirited people our way. No matter though, I'm still standing. Better than I ever did, actually. And I'm just lookin' like a true survivor. Feelin' like a little kid. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

We helped someone move apartments. She's a former investigator who is---I hope I don't sound mean for saying it---a mooch. She's always asking for money. And food. We've been to her place; she has lots of food. Anyways, her old place was just the epitome of nasty, and we and the new ward mission leader spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning it up. I was in charge of the kitchen, so....lucky me. I said a prayer of thanks afterwards for my strong constitution. Anyways, she is moved into a new place now in a better and safer neighborhood. We are hoping that this can be a good new start for her. We each took vigorous showers following the ordeal. 

We've also been taking buses to a neighboring town in our area called Newtownards. There's a lot of inactive members there we're trying to find. I also bought a new piece of luggage in a charity shop to replace my broken luggage. £6.50. Not bad; hopefully it'll last me for a little bit. 

Elder Baklan has been teaching someone over skype. The investigator is in Limerick zone, in the south of Ireland, but he only speaks Russian, so it's up to Elder Baklan to teach and translate and such. And I just stand by. It's basically just some extra study-time. 

Holy cow. Everything is just gonna be so different when I get home, huh? It's not even been a year yet, and there's already some pretty big changes happening. I have been remembering my family in my prayers. 

Okay, so below are pictures of us and a few other teams having lunch in Belfast at the student union building, and good times at the train station in Sydenham, and Elder Baklan teaching a Russian over skype, and being by the sea in Bangor. 

Love yous!​

Back in Baklan

Belfast Lunch

Beyond The Sea

Good Times

Bangor, Part 9 - April 2, 2018

Me and Elder Baklan watched the first session of conference in the clerk's office at church. Elder Baklan is very good with computers, so we were able to hook up the computer to the TV. We watched it live at 5:00PM. We had with us a couple of greasy, salt-and-vinegar doused fish-and-chip suppers. Despite the seeming meagerness of the setting, we both felt the power of God that was present during the solemn assembly. Whenever the Aaronic priesthood was asked to rise, I was excited to know that my boy Justin was standing up. The other sessions I watched on Sunday at the Stake centre in Belfast. The Sunday morning session was live. I haven't been able to watch the concluding session yet. Some of my favourite things was when President Nelson exhorted the men of the priesthood to give blessings! I also really liked the talk given by Lynn Robbins. Any talk that was given by the First presidency was especially powerful to me this time around. It has encouraged me to align my will with the Lord's, though I am still seeking how best to do that. 

One of my previous companions, Elder Milburn, went home early. I wasn't told why, but I know that missionary work was sometimes very hard for him. I still have one of his name tags for some reason. I'm gonna have to send that to him. I still haven't figured out how to package Justin's birthday present. Oh, and Happy Birthday to Amanda and Tamara! Amanda is...17, and Tamara is...22? 23? I'm sorry. So, so sorry. Did you have some cake? 

That is very good news about Laura. I hope that she will feel much better than she did before. Just so you know, girls can do so many things that guys can't. I don't fully understand why, but it's true. Do you remember that Romanian part member family in Dundalk that I used to talk about all the time? The 13 year old boy, who suffers lots of mental stress, is now a deacon in the Dundalk branch. His father Sorin, who used to be quite hostile toward the church, is now asking to be baptised. This is a report that I heard from the sister missionaries, about 4.5 months after I was there. Sisters are truly amazing. The Holy Ghost is even more so. 

I can't see or predict how the new changes to some organisations and traditional means will turn out, but of course I know that it will be very good if it's done right. I am looking forward to being a part of that. I really did not expect to see such changes and adjustments. Wow. I reiterate the sentiment of Neil L. Anderson: I hope we have President Nelson for another decade or two! 

We travelled to Belfast a lot this week, to have interviews with President Donaldson, and for a zone leadership council. We also had another long trip down to Dublin. I enjoy those, because it's just hanging out with the district for 3 hours at a time on the bus. The All Ireland conference was also very inspiring. All in all, I can't say for sure what's happened to me, but I've changed; I can feel it. I'm just not the same. In a good way for sure. And I'm ready for more too! 

Thank you for all of the news from home. How are my grandparents doing? Please give them my love, and my aunts and uncles too. 

Bye for now! Love y'all! 

Bangor, Part 8 - March 26, 2018

Northern Ireland being a very protestant area---church of england, church of ireland, methodist, presbyterian, born-again-non-denominational, yadda-yadda---St. Patrick is not as revered as he is in the republic. So in that respect, it's not too big a deal. But then again, it's still a bunch of Irish people who look for any excuse to get their drink on in a most debaucherous manner. So we were instructed to not proselyte that evening. 

According to Elder Baklan, the church in Ukraine is as good as anywhere else. There is of course a temple in Kiev, but actually I'm pretty sure he does not live in the boundaries of a stake, he's just in a very large branch that's part of a district. His parents were some of the first Ukrainian converts. Elder Baklan himself is a good guy; he really knows his stuff, which is really good, especially when it comes to tracting which not a lot of people are good at. We get along very well. We've already got to teach people from the 1st and 2nd ward teaching pool, which is great---it isn't just finding all day every day now---and we have a dinner appointment pretty much every night now. 

Me and Elder Baklan have been working on doing a proper exercise in the morning. He likes to do exercises that involve just his own body weight. As for me, I discovered that the now unoccupied flat that the 1st ward Elders stayed in has a very impressive set of dumbell and barbell weights. So we had someone from the ward help us move those over to our flat, and now I am set up. Hopefully I can convert my weight and become awesome! 

How's Grandma and Grandpa doing? How is Grandpa Van? Are you pretty much back to normal and fully recovered from being sick? Has Laura's surgery already gone through? 

Happy Birthday to Justin and Amanda and Tamara and James and anyone I missed!!! 

There is a very good spirit about everybody in the wards, being that it's so close to Easter. A lot of very good talks were given on Sunday. As it was in October, Saturday morning session will be at 5:00PM, I will watch Priesthood session at 10:00AM the next day, and then the Saturday afternoon session at 1:00, and the Sunday morning session at 5:00. Then the Sunday afternoon session will have to be watched on my own time, probably on pday. Whoa, it's already been 6 moes? Heck, I'm a 9 month old missionary. 15 moe to go. That's pretty funny. 

I really love all of the members in the 2nd ward. I've only just met the members of the 1st ward, but they also seem very agreeable. The Elders quorum are great guys, really fun to be around. 

About Bangor specifically, I think it may be one of the most picturesque places I've served in. Probably because it's right by the sea; I do love that. The people are agreeable and usually polite, but pretty much every single person has already been spoken to---recently---by missionaries. So in that respect, a unique challenge is present. My MTC companion Elder Christiansen was here before me, and in his words he ''really went ham on the area.'' So whenever we ask people if they have met missionaries before, they usually say something like: ''Yeah, I remember one of them was a ginger-guy.'' But yeah, basically the challenge here is that everyone thinks they've heard it before. The best investigators always come from referrals, so we are trying to meet with the ward mission leader's girlfriend again. Probably on wednesday. 

So, all I've been able to figure out for sure is that Elder Crawley is in Lethbridge, though I didn't get where exactly. The new Zone leader in Belfast, Elder Nelson, is from Mountain View!! Also, I understand Elder Heggie is doing great in Paisley---just baptised someone. 

Enclosed is a picture of one of our district meetings, where we all decided to wear crazy socks, and a picture of Elder Wotherspoon after he found some menstrual care pads that the sisters had left behind, and a picture of me, Wotherspoon, Hicks, and Baklan on the train from Belfast (Baklan is the front left). 

thank you for writing me! I love yous all very too much!