Yesterday was so, so, so fun!
Zone Development is a new thing our mission is doing, where once every transfer we have a whole P-day dedicated to having fun together as a zone.
So yesterday was the first one, and basically the entire Belfast Zone (all the missionaries in N. Ireland, about 30) met up at the Stake Centre and we played sports pretty much all day.
Soccer, frisbee, a talent show, (I juggled while Elder Spackman attempted to play a set of miniature bagpipes he got as a gift, it was funny) dinner, and then soccer with a huge yoga ball, with added rules that you can hit it with your hands but can't hold on to it. It was crazy fun.
My legs are pretty sore, but it was worth it. And now we get time to email and shop and stuff. Hopefully President Brown continues to carry on this tradition every transfer. We all love it.
Sunday, we had Ward Council and then church.
Our new ward mission leader is brilliant; he is trying to implement this idea where members of the ward go and put leaflets in letterboxes, and then we elders will go and tract the area a few days later.
1) It helps the members to get involved without having to start a gospel conversation with someone.
2) It gives us something to follow up on when we tract.
3) If and when we do find someone solid, it will get people excited about the process, especially the member who did that street!
So I think it's a great idea. And when he brought it up to the ward council, one of the ladies said that some, including her, might even knock the door while they're at it! So we'll see how that goes.
Church was good. Kathleen Graham (Ashley's mum, Nelson's "wife") came, along with her daughter-in-law who was visiting from England.
We tried to get her daughter-in-law's address so we could send her name as a referral to the missionaries in her area...she said she's too busy right now but maybe we'll get it someday.
Then after church we went to Newcastle with the James family. Nicole (the mom) drove us to some of the awesome scenic spots there, and it was a beautiful day so we saw some great sights and got some good photos.
Saturday Elder Spackman had a terrible migraine...and it just so happened that our appointment in the afternoon cancelled on us. So I let him rest for a wee while.
Then we visited the Grahams (Nelson, Kathleen, Ashley, and his kids Joshua and Zack) and had a good lesson, then had dinner with Jim, one of the members who feeds us weekly.
We did "service" for him by putting photos from his camera onto his facebook page because he didn't know how.
Friday we had a bunch of our plans fall through, and so the day seemed to drag on and on...but then we ended with a D.A. (dinner appointment) at one of the awesome members' houses, a young married couple with a hilarious wee baby boy.
The dad's brother was there too, they're both in their late 20's and they love talking about their missions and they're hilarious.
Thursday we had another D.A. at the Johnson's house...a family with an Irish mom and an American dad. They met at BYU, lived in Utah for a few years, and now they're here to stay.
It's kind of odd to meet Americans out here who AREN'T missionaries.
Like last week at Subway I met an American who was doing study abroad in Glasgow and decided to come to Belfast for the day. Their accents stick out like a sore thumb, so I'm sure mine does too when the locals hear me talk.
Wednesday was way fun. We volunteered at the British Heart Foundation charity shop, then we went to the park near our flat and met up with Rachel and Noah. They are recent converts from Omagh!
Elder Spackman served there just a few months ago, and he found and taught them, and baptised Noah. He is Rachel's son, 8 years old.
So they came to Lisburn to visit Elder Spackman, and we had a lot of fun. Noah loves to play, and run around the playground yelling and screaming.
They're way nice, and I was especially happy to see them because we tried SO hard to find and baptise someone in Omagh, and finally it happened!
Tuesday we had district meeting, visited and had dinner with Ian, a nice member who can't come to church because his daughter visits him on Sundays and the mom won't let her go to church. Lame. But he's way nice, and he loves talking about American Football.
Well, a lot of these members I've told you about are ones I've seen already, but we just had loads and loads of member dinner appointments this week so I figured I'd give a wee background story on each one.
It was a fast yet slow week, if that makes sense.
Well, as usual, my hands hurt from typing so much. I better go. Love you all!
Oh wait one more thing. When do you want me to SKYPE on Mother's Day? Less than two weeks away! (It is on the 11th, right?) We have a solid member who will let us do it whenever suits yous. So let me know by next Monday if possible.
Love you all! Have a nice week!
Photos:
Taken near Newcastle, Northern Ireland
