"...so we told her that God would be happy as long as she was happy. So that was nice."

Hey family,

Sorry about the bad attitude toward moves last week. I've gotten over it, in fact I've seen the benefits that it may bring to the area.

So yeah this week went quite well. Some fun adventures.

First off: Seamus. We found him while tracting. He seemed very happy to see us, said that some of us had come by years ago, and they were gonna bring him a bible. We figure he meant the Book of Mormon, or else some Jehovah's Witnesses came by and he confused us. That happens a lot. 

Sometimes people say "Hey Jehovahs" as we walk by. Usually we just carry on, but recently I've been stoppiing and saying, "No, Mormons!" and then it leads to a fun little conversation. 

But anyway, we gave Seamus a Book of Mormon, and he seeemed real excited to hear from us again. When we stopped by he asked if we wanted the book back. We told him to keep it, but he said he'd already taken a look through it. We asked him what he liked, he said the pictures. 

We asked if we could maybe take a few minutes to tell him where the book comes from and stuff, and he says "Sure, but let me see if my parents will let me." Keep in mind this man is late 40s looking, with graying hair. He peeks his head into the living room, says "Hey mom, do you want these people in your house? No? Oh ok." He said this all super fast, and we didn't hear a response. So we're pretty sure he lives alone and used the weirdest excuse I've heard so far. He's probably a bit loopy. But we'll stop by some other time maybe; he's fun to talk to and he has a very thick Northern Irish accent.

Also, our recent convert, Dil, dropped us. Sort of. He is being discharged from the hospital, and he is going to Belfast as soon as he gets out. We asked if we could maybe stop by to say good bye before he left, and he starts ranting about how the Lorenzo Snow book talks about focusing on priorities, and that our priority should be knocking on doors rather than visiting him. So that was kind of a bummer. Oh well.

We helped out at the Lee's house again. This time Sister Lee's brother was there from Belfast. We weren't sure if he was a member, and if he was active. But then he started asking us about the elders and sisters in Belfast and stuff, and was complimenting and praising us for our work. It's so nice to talk to members! We dont get much of that in our small town with 40 ish members.

Gertie is doing great; Her husband is leaving her! Woo hoo! This is a good thing. She actually prayed that it would happen, since he has been downright awful to her for years. Meeting with us has given her the courage to stand up to him. She is so innocent too; when she told us this, she was super worried that God would be angry with her for not trying to keep their marriage together. It sounded like she had done her best to work out disagreements, but in the end he was rotten and disrespectful, so we told her that God would be happy as long as she was happy. So that was nice. 

Her scheduled baptismal date is May 4th (Star Wars day), so if she comes to church the next two weeks she should be able to make that. Getting to church might also be easier for her now that he is gone. Can't wait!!!

We met a guy named James this week. He is exactly like Brendan Bradley, a guy who we haven't talked to in about two months. He's a Catholic, bus driver, 70s, widower, and he calls us by our first names. They are both the SAME. It's kinda weird. Anyway, he seemed very familiar with the church. He said we wouldn't be converting him, but he seemed to disagree with the Catholic church's teachings and seemed to believe in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and such. So we'll see. 

Also, we talked a lot about evolution. He told us that he believed in evolution, and that the Garden of Eden was actually just a period of time before man had evolved. Kinda weird. But my personal opinions are fairly similar (not the Adam and Eve thing). I don't see why God/Jesus couldn't have created the earth THROUGH science/evolution. It would make perfect sense. I convinced Elder Holm that this could be the case; he loves quoting that talk about an "explosion in a printing shop" or something like that. I can't stand that talk. I convinced him that it is possible that God created the universe THROUGH the Big Bang, but we don't know for sure. So yeah, it was good. 

Church yesterday was lovely, as was the dinner at Tom's. We also helped the YW/YM come up with ideas for a video they need to make for an All-Ireland youth activity. 

Overall it was a good week. I thought it would drag on and on but it flew by. I think it's for the best that Elder Holmes (all the locals call him Elder Holmes) and I are staying together. 

Have a great week, and stuff.

Love,

Spencer

Pictures: My history of planners, and the various ways I have personalized them. Enjoy.