"...they say the closing prayer and their words are amazing..."

Dear Family,

Well first things first, Elder Smiler and I will be staying in Greenock for another six weeks. (That transfer flew by! they all do...)

Pretty excited. Some things we need to work out...we both need to work on being more obedient and diligent...I feel like I have slacked a bit when I got to Greenock for some reason. Cant' let that happen, YOSAFTMO! (You only serve a full-time mission once)

Can't leave thinking I could have done more. But sometimes it is really hard.

Anyway, this week has been pretty good and great. 

So you know how we have to take ferries like once or twice a week to visit members/less active members/etc? Well there's one more. The Isle of Bute. 

We have a couple of members who live out there, and we've been planning to go out there for a while now but just never got around to it. 

So we finally did on Saturday and we met a lovely couple who have been members for 20 years or so, they were sealed in the Temple two years ago, and because it's kind of expensive to buy a ferry ticket each week they haven't been out to church for a looong time. 

But we are going to talk with the branch president and hopefully find a way to get them out, they are so solid! Still reading their scriptures, still have pictures of Jesus and temples all over their walls. Really felt good to find "lost sheep."

Tuesday we had a pretty good district meeting. Afterward I went on exchange with Elder Howie in Beith. It's a bit smaller than Greenock, a bit less rainy but still flippin wet all the time. 

We met some great people; one investigator who loves martial arts and fighting, who told us loads of stories about him getting in fights as a bouncer. Which was pretty cool because he's pretty small; shorter than me, and looks quite skinny. 

But apparently that gives him a big advantage because the big guys just underestimate him and then *BANG!* Kind of scary at the same time, because if he wanted to he could knock us out cold.

It was fun seeing a new area.

We had a district leader council on Wednesday. The instruction was brilliant; we talked about how it is our duty as leaders to "correct" missionaries' conduct when necessary. 

We watched one of the Bible Videos on Mormon Channel, where Jesus basically calls Peter Satan after something he said that was insignificant. 

At first I was taken aback, didn't expect Jesus to do something so rash, but then we discussed and our zone leaders explained that sometimes correction is very harsh and sharp and clear, but it is necessary. 

For example, when Christ corrected Peter harshly, it was because it would mold him into the person he wanted him to become. Jesus knew that Peter would be the head apostle/President of His church after he was crucified, so when he saw Peter do something that would perhaps lead him away from that path, he needed to be put back into place. 

They informed us that as missionary leaders we have the duty to help others reach their full potential; If we believe someone has potential to become a district leader or to train a new missionary, we must make sure they stay on that path, and give correction if necessary. 

Kind of a scary thing for me...Sorry for my soapbox about that, it's probably boring and inapplicable to you all, but it finally clicked with me that day WHY we are expected to correct other missionaries. I've been sort of reluctant about it my whole time being a district leader. 

But also, I need to try and "get the beam out of my own eye" if necessary, before I "pull the mote out" of another [missionary's] eye." I read that parable today...I definitely am not perfect, so if I am going to be correcting others I need to make sure I am doing my best as to not be as the Scribes and Pharisees; Hypocrites.

Wow, sorry about that whole paragraph... 

Let's see...what else happened this week...we visited a TON of less-active members. We seem to have a lot of them here, and we work with a lot of them. 

But I feel like we need to focus on one or two rather than spreading our efforts thinly to lots of them...help a few regain a solid testimony and become active, and then work on them one at a time. 

This branch would definitely be a ward if all of the less-active members were active, but I suppose that's the same for anywhere.

Oh yeah! On Thursday, Brother and Sister Cain took us out for dinner in Dunoon. It was to "The 51st State", an American-themed restaurant. Pretty cool! 

Had a classic American burger and a chocolate milk shake...I have been trying to eat better for a few weeks now but the members make it hard haha! Photos will be attached of me showing my American Pride.

I already mentioned the success we saw on Saturday...however after that we seemed to be quite unsuccessful. We had three lessons cancelled on us between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, and none of the people (investigators and less-active members) we were hoping to come to church were there.

I almost forgot; here's a pretty awesome and spiritual story. While teaching one of our drunk friends, he said an AMAZING prayer. 

When we first started teaching him, he would just kind of start praying when we invited him to..."Ok...I just want to thank you for sending the elders here...hope they have a good day..." etc. 

We never told him to pray our way or anything, but after a few visits he started following our example, and our last visit with him he said a really great prayer, if we hadn't known otherwise we would have thought he was a member! Crazy. 

I've actually seen that quite a bit here in Greenock. Sometimes in a lesson that's all jumbled and it feels like we didn't teach them anything and they didn't come away with anything, I've seen it twice with multiple people where they say the closing prayer and their words are amazing, and they sound like they really want to change their lives and often they talk about joining the church! It's crazy. 

They always say, "I don't know where those words came from!" And we say "well duh, it's the spirit!" (not really)

So that's the week. I feel like I typed a lot but didn't have that many cool stories. But I got a lot of cool pictures! Enjoy!

Love you all!

Spencer

  

Loads of photos: 

Me with American stuff!

UTAH!

Trying to teach about the Book of Mormon to a stone wall/door thing.

Me on a ferry coming back from Rothesay (that's the name of the main town on the Island of Bute)

Me standing in front of the ferry in Rothesay

Me standing in front of the water

The Rothesay coast/esplanade

ALMA TERRACE! In a town that has two or three members in it.

"...he was about to get into a fight, but...remembered...about "casting the first stone" and he decided to not fight."

Good afternoon/morning/evening/night! Depending on where you are.

It's been a fun week. Finally some solid missionary work without being interrupted by a holiday! Although I did have my birthday, which was fun, it was still full of missionary work...or "missionary fun". (I think some apostle said that.) 

Funniest experience: Tuesday for district meeting, we held a joint-district meeting in the Paisley elders' flat. Story: we all got to the Paisley church, where we meet for district meeting (Greenock and Beith only) and then the Paisley district consisting of Paisley, and two sets of elders from Pollok. 

However, the family history guy who without fail has been there every Tuesday to let us into the building, didn't show up. The Paisley elders made loads of phone calls to see if we could get someone to open it up for us, but to no avail. 

So our only option was to either go to another ward building, which would have been like an hour bus ride away, or just go to the paisley flat, just around the corner! So we did, and we had a joint district meeting, with 10 missionaries all crowded into their living room. 

The other district leader and I sort of changed our plans and combined to have a twice as awesome district meeting. Quite a funny experience. Photos to follow.

Then we went to Largs and Millport on Tuesday. 

We had dinner with the Gibsons, an awesome member family that takes a ferry and drives 30 minutes to get to church from their wee isle of Cumbrae. 

Whilst there, Brother Gibson let us try on kilts for the upcoming Burn's Supper! (In honour of Robert Burns, a famous Scottish poet.) Photos of that to come as well.

Then on Wednesday we had a crazy birthday party! No, not really, I just opened up packages from yous and also Gam. Fun stuff! I made our tree into a birthday tree of course. 

I was on exchange with Elder Jones that day in Greenock, which was super fun. We had some good laughs and also got a lot of good work done. 

Went out on splits with the Branch President and his 2nd counselor, and visited a number of active and inactive folks. 

Elder Jones sang me a birthday song on the guitar. And the Cains gave me a card the following day, so that was nice! Good quiet laid back birthday.

Thursday we went to Dunoon for our usual dinner and "correlation meeting" with our Ward Mission Leader. We also did some tracting around the area. 

We had some guy who asked, "What if Joseph Smith was a false prophet and you're actually following the Devil, not Jesus?...Not saying he IS, but what if?" So that was kind of weird. 

We tried to tell him, "Well, we know he's not, and you can know for yourself too if you read and pray about the Book of Mormon..." but he didn't really give us much of a chance to speak. Kind of a crazy guy. Good fun!

We met with a few of our drunk investigators last week. Once on their own in their own flats, and once when two were together drinking. 

When they are on their own, they are really humble and sincere, but when together they are really cheeky and loud and funny. 

One of them LOVES the "Finding Faith in Christ" DVD, and he says he watches it every night before bed. He told a story of how he was about to get into a fight, but then he remembered a quote from the movie about "casting the first stone" and he decided to not fight. So that was pretty cool.

We met a new guy this week, someone that some sister missionaries in Glasgow ran into and referred him to us. We taught him and he was really sincere, and he sent us a text basically saying that he believes this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and he wants to unite with it, but he's moving soon down to England so we need to make sure there is a smooth transition to the missionaries wherever he is going.

Well that's about it for this week. 

Apologies; this week's email session seemed to FLY by. I Promise I will send letters home soon!

Love you all!

Elder Spencer A. Burt

Photos:

Joint district meeting in the living room!

Kilts and special kilt-jacket things

Taken from the train in the morning

Birthday tree

I love Irn Bru. ("iron brew") a classic Scottish drink

"...they are THE golden family that every missionary dreams of finding, teaching, and baptizing!"

Dear family and friends and blog readers, but mostly family.

So first off, remember Stewart, the hip-hop loving, chain wearing investigator in Dundee? Well he got baptised! We had a zone conference on Friday and Elder Tinsley, my Dundee zone leader who is now an AP told me that he was scheduled for Sunday. 

So last night I called the Liff elders' number to find out if it happened, and sure enough it did! So that's exciting. Even though I wasn't there for the baptism, I'm still super pumped because I found him and was part of the teaching process, kind of the opposite of how I wasn't there when Jimmy was found, but I was there for the teaching and baptizing. So yeah, that's three people baptised so far. Feels good.

So let's see. Since Thursday...we had zone conference on Friday (well really "zone interview training" where half the districts meet in the morning and the other half in the afternoon, and President Brown interviews each of us to make sure we're all doing superb, and the APs check our planners and area books to make sure we are doing all the right planning and record keeping. It's fun.) 

After ZIT I went on exchange with Elder Maughan, who was in our district my first two transfers. So this was my third time exchanging with him. 

We had fun. It's pretty funny, we both remember stuff that happened on our exchanges almost a year ago. Feels like it was just yesterday! Well, not really yesterday, but yous ken what I mean.

We went and taught Traci and Kenny, and we decided to talk about temples, 1) Because we felt like it might be a good way to help motivate Kenny to be baptised, and 2) One of Traci's friends told her that she would get special "Mormon Underwear" when she got baptised, so when she asked us a few weeks ago we told her that we'd explain at a later date. 

So yeah we talked about temples and what is so special, and what types of ordinances go on there. Then Kenny asked if that's what it meant when people at church would say "sealed" with their family? And we told him yes, and they both said they want to be sealed!!! 

So yeah they are THE golden family that every  missionary dreams of finding, teaching, and baptizing!

Saturday we taught the Jehovah's Witnesses that I mentioned last week. Well, we didn't do much teaching. They were definitely less contentious than the ones we taught a few weeks ago. 

This couple was more friendly, not trying to trip us up in our words, but just directing us to interesting scriptures in the Bible that kind of influenced their doctrine. 

But of course we were there to teach them as well, so Elder Smiler and I would be interested and then insert any bit of doctrine we could, and ask what they thought of the Book of Mormon. But they would sort of avoid it and change the subject. 

So it was a bit of a mess, I think what we'll do is propose to them that we alternate visits; one day they will get to teach us and lead the discussion, and then the next we will. Etc etc. 

Because I'll admit, they know their deep Old Testament doctrine better than us, and they can sort of justify their doctrine using verses in the Bible, but we just need to give them the chance to realize that the Bible can be interpreted in so many different ways, and that is why we need the Book of Mormon and modern revelation to help us know what the truth really is. 

They live on the coast of Wemyss Bay, which is absolutely beautiful.

We made our weekly trip to Dunoon to have dinner and a meeting with our branch mission leader. It's pretty expensive doing that every week. 

Of course it is reimbursable by the mission, but I wonder if we should start just meeting with him after church, so as to "care for the widow's mite," which I think I heard either someone in general conference or else our mission president say about wise use of church funds.

Sunday was good, we had branch council, the first of 2014 and the first one with our new branch president and the new callings he has issued. 

He proposed that we extend our church times. Usually we have 40 minutes for Priesthood/Relief Society, 40 for Sunday School, and 40 for Sacrament Meeting. 

Now he wants to extend the first two bits to about an hour but keep 40 minute Sacrament Meeting. Seems weird to me, because Sacrament Meeting is the most important, but still it will be nice to have longer class times. 

Then after that we went out with President Wilde (the branch president) and visited some members and less active people. 

So yes, it was a good week. Even though it was only four days, I managed to type up a super long email as usual. You're welcome!

Also a fun fact: about a month ago I bought some cheap juggling balls, and now when I need a break from study or planning or when we have some spare time in our flat, I juggle. 

I'm getting better already, so just imagine what sort of awesome juggling moves I'll be doing when I greet you at the airport in December!

Love you all! Have a super fantastical week.

Sincerely, 

Elder Spencer Ashcraft Burt, District Leader

PS The Amazon package came today! Seen here under the birthday tree, complete with the beautiful missionary ornament from Charlotte and Ryan.

My Hush Puppies shoes from Kater Shop.

I went ahead and bought me a cheap pair at a post-Christmas sale--classy brown shoes, kind of pointy-toe-style that is common here in the UK. only £10!

"...they all loved it and felt the spirit and prayed together after it."

First time emailing in 2014!

Well, it was a good start to the year so far. Yesterday we went to Paisley and played some New Year's Day football, a tradition in the stake. We went down with the Cox family, the same ones who I Skyped from.
Unfortunately we were playing on a wet, muddy pitch, and I didn't have any cleats to wear, so I was slipping and sliding all around in my running shoes. It was fun though! Might consider getting myself a pair of boots if we end up playing regularly.

Then we went to the house of our super-friendly investigator and watched a couple movies, because A) No members invited us over ... and B) He didn't have anyone to spend the day with so it was a win win! 

We watched DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE! It was pretty funny. Now that I'm out here, it's easier to distinguish which of the actors have legitimate Irish accents and which ones are super fake. Good classic film. 

Then we watched Shrek The Third and Shrek Forever After, sort of a Shrek movie marathon. I thought they were both brilliant! 

Which is odd because I remember seeing Shrek 3 and thinking it was rubbish a few years ago, but maybe all movies seem really good because we aren't allowed to watch them ever out here. So far, it's a good 2014.

Other cool wee stories: 

We went to visit this one guy we met a couple weeks ago. When we first taught him he was drunk as a skunk, and the lesson wasn't that spiritual or promising. So we kind of had him at the back of our mind, but then we thought we should go visit him again and see how he was doing. 

Turns out, he had watched the Joy To The World DVD we left with him...multiple times, and he invited friends over to watch it with him, and they all loved it and felt the spirit and prayed together after it. 

So although they were all likely drunk at the time they watched it, they were still quite receptive. So we talked with him a bit, set up a time to come back the next day, and when we did his two friends were there. 

They were all drunk, with bottles of vodka and "cider" sitting on the floor, so at times they were yelling at each other to shut up but other times they were listening intently to what we had to say. Interesting, and yet spiritual experience. Drunks are always interesting.

We went to Wemyss Bay the other day (which looks like it would be BEAUTIFUL in the summer time) to try to contact an AUF. 

While tracting near his house, we knocked on this door where as soon as the lady answered she called for her husband and said, "I think you have some visitors!" Then he came to the door and warmly greeted us, said it's been a long time since he's seen any of us. 

We were wondering at first if it was another long lost member, or what, but turns out he's a Jehovah's Witness who used to have discussions with missionaries quite often. He says he has a copy of the Book of Mormon AND The Pearl of Great Price, and he reads them every so often. 

Which says a lot, because every other Jehovah's Witness we've met has accused the Church of being wrong for having additional scriptures. But apparently he's a bit more receptive. We didn't get much time to talk, but we're seeing him again this weekend. Should be fun.

Let's see...other stuff to tell you...Oh yeah so New Year's eve we were MEANT to be in bed at 10:30 as usual. Our plan was to be IN BED at that time, but stay up until midnight watching Animated Book of Mormon stories that Elder Smiler has on our wee dvd player. 

However the fun kept us up a bit late...and when I finally laid down in my bed I was totally knackered. We were laying down just talking for a while, then I started to drift off around 11:55, then woke up at 12:01. So I wasn't even conscious for the New Year! Oh well. That's missionary life for ya. Tired all the time.

No updates on Traci and her family, they have all been sick lately so we haven't had a chance to visit them and they weren't at church. 

So there ya go, that's my week for you all. Next email will be quite short; we will be back to Monday emails as far as I know, so only like four days until I email again. Have a good four days!

Love, Spencer

Photos:

Too many Christmas gifts to hold at once, so here are some select ones! Thanks again!

My very first district...REUNITED! 

L to R: Elder Neilsen the DL, Elder Maughan, Me, Elder Holm, Elder South. 

Only one missing is Elder Kelly and he is away home now. And the Chamberlains as well, also home. 

But it was great to see them all! (Elder Maughan is in my district now, and the other three were in the Missionary Christmas Choir a couple weeks ago.)

"He laid down his sweet head, so he did!"

Friday, December 27, 2013
Well, Skyping was great with you all the other day. Time sure flew by! It was a great time. I feel like we could have talked for hours and hours! I guess we'll have to save it for Mum's Day.
Christmas was nice. We had a nice meal with the Cox family, we watched a bit of Despicable Me 2 and Toy Story 3 at the members' homes we visited that day, and then yesterday we watched Monsters University!
It was really good. Moral of the story: College is pointless; just quit and go work in the mailroom and you'll end up at the top! Just kidding. It was really good.
I think the Scottish couple we watched it with was probably really confused about the whole fraternity/sorority thing because I don't think they have that here. Remind me to never "go greek" when I get back to USU so I don't end up like those monsters.
Well the past week and a half have been really good. Lots and lots of travel.
We went to Glasgow for our district meetings last Tuesday and this past Monday, so we could practice our Christmas carol singing with both Glasgow and Paisley zones for our Christmas Eve performance.
It went really well; we sang in the middle of this posh indoor shopping mall. People were gathered around just listening to us for the whole two hours. It was awesome!
I have grown to love learning to sing actual choir parts. I'm a tenor, I discovered. Sometimes my voice is strained or cracks when I try to hit some of the higher notes, but I noticed myself getting a lot better even in these past two weeks of practice.
The highlight of the weeks: The Missionary Christmas Concert in Paisley last Wednesday. (Different from the previously mentioned one.)
This was a group of uber-talented singers from our mission who traveled around that whole week to each of the five stakes in Scotland and performed. It was amazing.
There were some really powerful performances. A few men's ensembles, a few a cappella duets, some piano and violin performances. Overall I just left feeling amazing, feeling like I was on a spiritual high. Music is amazing. Also Elder Holm was there as part of the choir and I got to talk to him for the first time since a Dublin conference over six months ago! It was nice.
Funny Ollie story (Traci's three year old son) we were with them on Christmas Eve talking about the nativity, and asking what they knew about the birth of Jesus. He said, "He laid down his sweet head, so he did!" It was adorable.
And I was sitting next to him on the couch as we watched a Christmas movie, and he offered me some of his blanket, "Elder, do you need some covers?" So cute and funny.
Well I forgot to bring my camera with me so I can't send photos of the Christmas festivities. But I will on Thursday. (Unfortunately no email this Monday again for some reason...) We have less email time today because we Skyped for an hour the other day. I loved talking with you all, it was great! Just wish it coulda been more time! Thanks so much for the gifts as well. I have enjoyed them thus far. Unwrapping each wee thing was so exciting to discover what surprises lay on the other side of the paper. And Skype was even better.
Hope you all had a great Christmas and have a happy New Year!!!
Love,
Spencer

"...it is a good thing to have a balance of those two things."

Crazy! Christmas is pretty much a week away!!! 

Skype: The members who invited us over said 5:00pm would be best for Skyping...but they could probably compromise for 7pm, since we have to be back at our flat by 9, and Skype sessions always go a bit over the expected time. (Which is good.) 

So I'll check with them and see. Hopefully they reply to my text within this email session. If not, I'll maybe jump on the computer during our lunch break to make sure we're all on the same page. Yeah, disobedient technically, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Anyway, this week has been pretty good. Elder Smiler is a really cool New Zealander/Polynesian. We get on pretty good so far. He keeps telling me he loves me because his last companion was super intense and angry sometimes. So it's nice to be appreciated for my relative laid back attitude.

Our host family just texted and said that 5 would be ideal for them because they go to visit their family after that...however maybe we can go to another family's house after their's and make it work? For now: let's plan on 5:00 Skype, but hopefully I'll get something worked out between now and then.

Elder Smiler likes to be stylish; clothing and also the way the flat is arranged. So the past few days he has repositioned furniture, reorganized stuff, etc. 

It looks nice. But I just can't be bothered either way. As long as it's warm inside, there's a bed, and enough food to survive, I'm good.

Well last week was a lot of me sitting around while Elder Pallin packed, which was fun! Not really, but kinda necessary. 

Monday night we went to Traci's for dinner. Every time we visit they tell us how thankful they are for what we have done, apparently we made a big change on the whole family! But it wasn't us, it was the spirit! 

I think I always feel like I don't teach the gospel very well, but then moments like that make me feel like others have much more confidence in me than I do. 

Like yesterday, the branch president came out teaching with us, and he told us we were fantastic teachers, whereas I always like when members contribute to the lesson because I feel like they put it in a more simple, understandable and relateable way than I can. But it's ok, because as we have seen thus far it's the holy ghost that converts the people, not our words.

A TON of travel this week! We went to Dunoon on Thursday, where our branch mission leader lives.

It was an interesting day; weekly planning, which takes about three hours. Then a lunch break. Then we had to get a bus from Greenock to Gourock, where the ferry port is. 

We missed the one we meant to get, because the driver didn't see us waiting for it and he just drove by. So we waited 30 minutes, in this time we had a nice chat with a friendly old lady going to the same place. 

The next bus never came, and the lady said she'd just get a taxi to the ferry terminal, and offered to let us go with her for free. 

So we got to the ferry on time, but only on time to get to the member's house for dinner. 

Then we had a brief coordination meeting, and by the time we got back it was like 8:30! So yeah, lots of travel, and waiting for buses and ferries. 

Then the next day we went to Millport, which was basically the same. 

Have to get a bus to Largs, then a ferry to the Isle of Cumbrae, where brother Gibson usually picks us up and takes us into the actual town of Millport. 

Dunoon, Cumbrae, and the ferry journeys are beautiful, but sometimes it's dark when we're traveling so we miss out on a bit. Apparently the summer there is AMAZING though; they say that Largs and Millport are the tourist hot spots in the summer for loads of Glaswegians. (People from Glasgow.)

ON FRIDAY I BURNED A SHIRT AND A TIE! Don't worry; they were ones that elders had left in the flat, the shirt doesn't fit me or Elder Smiler, and the tie was old and stained. So I didn't feel bad for wasting clothing. 

Man, it ignited so fast it was scary. Photos attached. Luckily it had rained earlier that morning so we didn't have to worry about setting a wildfire.

On Saturday we went and taught Kenny, Traci's husband. He's real solid. Wants to get baptised, just not sure when yet though. And have I told you that their wee boy Mark wants to go on a mission when he's 18? 

Such a solid family. Still amazes me that it all came from just knocking a certain door, right time right place.

Hmmm well I think that's it for this week. It was a nice week, as will this upcoming one. 

Still trying to find a balance between being a chill, laid-back missionary, and a super serious strict spiritual one. I hope to find that balance someday, whether here or after the mish, it is a good thing to have a balance of those two things.

Love you all! Thanks for everything. TTYL!

Love,

Elder Spencer Burt

Photos:
Beautiful sunset on the bus to Largs

Before

After (Again, don't worry, the grass was soaking wet. And we had a two litre jug of water just in case, because we are responsible!)

"By small and simple things, great things truly do come to pass!"

Hey the news is in and I will be staying another transfer, and Elder Pallin is moving to Dublin.
My new comp is Elder Smiler from New Zealand.
Crazy, I've had so many foreign companions! Let's review them all:
Elder Hunt (England)
Elder Holm (Nevada)
Elder Gomez-Castillo (Spain)
Elder Meyer (Australia)
Elder Winn (Utah)
Elder Pallin (Canada)
Elder Smiler (New Zealand)
So I've only served with one fellow Utahan, and only two Americans! Pretty crazy.
I'm excited. I've met Elder Smiler before, he seems really fun and has a goofy side I think. So we'll have some fun and also work hard and be spiritual.
So this week was real good. We have met quite a lot of new folks that are kind of interested in learning more through members.
Not the typical "referral" they encourage us to ask for, where they tell us who of their friends are interested and we go and seek them out.
No, these are people that have been inside members' houses when we go visit, and they end up sitting in on the lesson and we tailor it to them rather than the member we planned on teaching. This happened on three instances this week.
Each time they seemed really interested and they accepted the invitation for us to come around to their house or else meet up at the member's house again to teach them more. It is really cool, just investigators coming out of the woodwork so to speak.
Also, Traci's husband Kenny is solid! We visited them on Saturday night, answered any questions he had about the church or the baptism, and then taught him about the Restoration and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and he was real excited. Said he was open to the idea of baptism someday.
So yeah, their whole flippin' family will probably join the church and it will be such a great miracle! Just because we were tracting in the right place at the right time that day. By small and simple things, great things truly do come to pass!
Also, their son Mark who is seven years old apparently talks to Traci about how he wants to go on a mission to America when he is 18!
It just blows my mind how much of one missionary can affect countless lives. So rewarding!
One day last week we went to Dunoon. It's part of our branch, but we have to take a bus and then a ferry to get there. But it is beautiful! I'll try to attach a photo.
We went with the intention of trying to contact some less-active members and also some AUF's, and do some tracting in between.
But not much success. Except one older couple; we realized that the man's birthday was the very day we were going, and the Paisley stake has encouraged us to give out these birthday cards with Jesus on it, wishing them a happy birthday and encouraging them to come to church.
We heard through the grapevine that our surprise visit had a massive effect, and they are both planning to return to church!
We had a zone meeting this week. Good fun.
During it we practiced singing Christmas songs for an upcoming performance. Every year all the Paisley and Glasgow zone missionaries go to a mall in Glasgow and sing carols to raise money for some charity. And apparently we always make loads of money for them, so they like having us do it. It will be fun!
It's weird that Christmas is coming; there's no snow on the ground. Well it did snow a few days, but just flurries accompanied by freezing, strong winds, and none of it sticks to the ground so far. So not a "winter wonderland" just yet but maybe it will get snowy closer to the big day.
I went on an exchange with Elder Davis, we had a good time. Exchanges are always fun, even when you get along good enough with your companion it's nice to have a change. And also to learn from our leaders.
Well, that's it for this week.

HEY! IMPORTANT! When do you all want to Skype? There is a member family that wants us over for Christmas day and they said anytime that suits yous. So what time would be most convenient? Let me know ASAP so I can make sure it's fine with the family and then let you know in advance if it's ok. Deal? Deal. I'm very excited to talk to you all!
Love yous lots! Happy Holidays!
Spencer

Photos:
The Paisley Zone...missing a couple people because they were trying to work out the self-timers on THEIR cameras. But oh well.

Amazing sunrise in Paisley!