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