It rains every day. Literally. Except today; it's bright and sunny outside. But it will probably rain later on.
The branch here is very small. Smaller than Omagh. I think we had 19 members (not including us) at church yesterday.
But the funny thing is, they have a HUGE building to meet in! Apparently there used to be a big army base here, so lots of Americans were over and I guess enough to have a huge ward. So now we have a tiny branch and tons of room.
It's a unique church; it has three stories. The main level has the chapel and the Sunday school/priesthood/relief society rooms. Upstairs they have offices, primary, library, and storage. And down in the basement there used to be a gun range or something? I haven't had the chance to see it yet but apparently it's there.
This week we've done a load of less-active work. Most are old sisters who live on their own, so we have to stand on their doorstep and chat and share a message with them.
And there's only a few adult males in the ward, and I think none of them actually live in Greenock, they are in surrounding towns and they all have jobs and stuff so it's kinda lame. I feel like that rule has caused more inconvenience than anything for missionaries and members worldwide.
Let's backtrack!
Last Monday and Tuesday we had fun visiting a few people. We also taught Stewart, and we had a member with us from a similar background but is now an active member with a wife and two kids in the church. So he was perfect as a friend for Stewart.
Also we visited Jack and June Topen, a sweet old couple, The Keoghs, the Williams, and a few others. We taught Mark, who seems to be slowly making his way toward baptism hopefully maybe.
Elder Pallin and I actually talk and have conversations in the flat. He loves singing...all the time. Which might eventually get on my nerves, but I'll try to not let it. Sometimes we have disagreements on how the work should be done, but overall it's a good companionship.
Here's a funny story; I was by myself on a train from Dundee to Edinburgh! Quite the adventure. Apparently they thought I could handle it and was responsible enough.
Turns out it was a bit weird in the end because at the train station I saw one of the YSA girls from our ward and she was going on the same train, so I ended up sitting by her and it was even weirder than being totally alone! Haha! But it was nice to have someone to talk to rather than being all alone with just my sadness of leaving Dundee.
Hey, so ya know how when I got to Dundee the wheel on my suitcase got shredded and I had to drag it and ended up buying a new one? Well...the same thing happened to the other suitcase that I came out with when I came to Greenock.
Probably because those suitcases are kind of old and cheap and have lasted a long time because they have only been in cars and airports and such. But the sidewalks here are super rough, so I guess the heavy suitcase combined with the bumpy sidewalks plus old wheels makes for broken wheels. So I might buy a new one, or I might just drag it to my next area when I move.
Thursday was Halloween. We had to stay inside the flat after 6:00 pm.
The rest of the week we did a lot of travelling to get to less-actives' and potential investigators' homes to see if they are in. Something might need to change here if we want to see miracles. Gotta do some finding.
Overall a good week.
Love you all!
Elder Burt
Photo: Jack and June
Blonde Jesus with a blue robe (in the Liff Road bishop's office)
Photos from the train from Dundee to Edinburgh. Amazing views!
