"...The Lord won't be offended if I read it will he?"

Hello everyone!
This past week has been filled with plenty of packing, Greenock good-byes, tons of travel, and now I'm loving Lisburn.
We said cheerio to some members and investigators.
I find face-to-face goodbyes just kind of awkward. But it's nice to get a photo with them because I might not see some of these people again.
I always get this feeling of uneasiness; leaving an area I've become familiar with, and heading off to somewhere I've never been to serve with a companion I've never met.
Speaking of which, Lisburn and Elder Dewsbery are fantastic!
He's from Canada. (That makes six foreign companions so far, and only two Americans.)
We have similar sense of humour, we both are here to work hard, and yeah overall it's just been a great four days here.
We do a LOT of tracting and street contacting, which I don't mind.
It's especially nice when it's sunny; the people's moods seem to correspond with the weather.
Northern Ireland is rainy, but not as much as Greenock. So we're doing well here.
Fun stories from this week mostly occurred as we were out finding.
We met a few crazy born-again Christians, who always tell us that all you need is Jesus, because he's already saved us. Then we say that's true, but he does ask us to keep His commandments, does he not?
We met one man who went to a Baptist church, and the whole time he told us that the way to salvation was "JESUS, and JESUS ONLY!"
We agreed, but then we asked what his opinion on baptism was. He said it didn't matter, because it's JESUS AND JESUS ONLY.
We went away thinking it was ironic that our church is called the Church of Jesus Christ, and his is the Baptist church. These sort of people always have problems with the Book of Mormon too...unless they are newly converted to Christianity, like a born-again man we met in his 20's.
We offered him a Book of Mormon, and he said "Sure...The Lord won't be offended if I read it will he?"
So I opened up to 2 Nephi 33:10 and read it to him. He was pretty excited.
It did get a bit awkward when he asked if we thought it was a sin to drink and get tattoos, which he loved both of. It was difficult to answer his question kindly yet honestly...hopefully we were able to do so.
Another funny story...well, we thought it was hilarious but it may sound silly to yous....We knocked on this guy's door and told him who we were and what we were doing on his doorstep.
He said, "Well...I'm actually watching TV right now so..." Didn't try to say he was busy, but didn't want to say he wasn't interested...I thought it was pretty funny.
Oh another one: We were talking to a man on the street, and I offered him a pamphlet.
I reached into my bag hoping to grab the "Restoration" or "Plan of Salvation"...but for some reason I had a "Law of Chastity" pamphlet in there and that was the one I pulled out.
I saw it, said "Oh...wrong one..." reached back in and pulled out the correct one. Elder Dewsbery and I went away laughing pretty hard.
I truly do enjoy Finding; it's sometimes hard to get out and do it, but it's always worth it whether you find receptive people or not, we usually have funny experiences interacting with people.
Well that's about it for me. Hopefully this week has a lot more fun stories, and also spiritual stuff, and I hope we get to teach some of the people we met who seemed interested.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention, the bus and ferry ride were pretty fun.
There were 10 or more missionaries all on that bus, so the normal civilians riding probably loved being surrounded by a bunch of American Mormon missionaries.
The ferry was a fun experience as always. Didn't take any photos, because I've already been on it twice and I'm guaranteed at least one more.
Love yous all! Have a fantastic week.
Love,
Elder Spencer Ashcraft Burt

Photos:
Turning an ordinary painting into a gospel-related painting.

Elder Johns and I on the bus from Glasgow to Cairnryan.

"...I've loved my time here in Greenock; the members, the area, the people we teach, the sights..."

Hello! 

I'll cut to the chase: I'm moving to Lisburn, N. Ireland on Wednesday. It's just outside Belfast. 

Excited to return to Northern Ireland!!! But sad to leave Greenock, as I always seem to be with transfers. Oh well, I may be able to see Tom Henry at stake conference or something. That would be so great!

So the next couple days will be full of goodbyes, packing, cleaning our flat to make the new guy feel welcome and whatnot.

This past week was pretty good. Kind of weird thinking, "Hey, Grandpa's funeral is today..." but then just carrying on with my everyday doings. 

It honestly is kind of easy to forget about until something reminds me of it, just because as I said last week, it doesn't directly affect me. I have taken some time to print out and re-read your emails and look at photos of Grandpa.

I'm gonna talk a bit about the cool things that happened the last two weeks, since last week I didn't really tell you much about the work here.

Best part: The Beith elders had a baptism last-last Friday! 

A super great lady named Jeanie, who they just started teaching a couple weeks ago. 

I had the privilege of doing her baptism interview. It was a great experience; apparently she was really nervous at the idea of an "interview", so I made sure to be friendly and casual. She said she really enjoyed it. 

Her baptism was great. We got to attend it, and go to the branch social afterward. It was sort of like being a member of another branch for a day! 

Then we slept over at the Beith elders' flat. So between the baptism, the interview, and exchanges, we've been traveling between here and Beith quite a lot the past few weeks. It's a beautiful bus trip.

I really enjoyed going on exchanges with Elder Howie. He is going home tomorrow, and he is the most solid missionary I know. 

It's been great being HIS district leader; I feel like I go away from our exchanges with a renewed conviction to be the best I can be. And he says he learns a lot from me too. 

We had loads of success on our exchange in Greenock; we just talked to everybody, shared the Book of Mormon, and had good laughs all the while. Elder Smiler is great too. But I absolutely love my exchanges with Elder Howie.

I also went on exchange to Beith. We stripped wallpaper from a lady's walls. It was actually quite fun. 

We don't seem to get much service opportunities here in Greenock. Maybe we don't offer enough, or maybe people just want to be independent. 

We went and visited a less-active guy on our ward list. He let us right in and was super friendly. 

He knows the doctrine, knows it's true, and knows it's a good thing. He even said that he wishes more people would read the Book of Mormon, because then they'd know what we're all about rather than just read rumors online. 

When I asked if he still reads his Book of Mormon, he said he didn't have one anymore. So of course I offered him one, and he turned it down, and wouldn't tell us why. 

He made it quite clear that he knows he needs to go back to church but he just won't. But he wouldn't give a clear answer on WHY. 

I found it pretty frustrating, just like, come on, you know it's true! Just come back! There always seems to be one of those in every area. 

We've also been teaching a really nice couple who are in the process of changing their life. 

They have three kids, who they just regained custody of. They have a history of drugs, crime, violence, etc. but they are on their way back. 

It must be really hard; the father brought up a few concerns that must be a real struggle. 

One was that he couldn't find any work, and the only way he could provide for his family was to deal drugs, so he asked us if God would understand if he's doing it for that reason. 

Really hard to answer that question. Of course we had to tell him that that was not ok, but I could totally understand where he is coming from. 

It's a difficult life to be in I'm sure. Hard to get out once you're in. 

Hopefully the gospel will help a lot, you never know what the Spirit and the feeling of belonging to something can do for someone.

Sad news: The day after Jim Craig passed away, Joe, one of our [usually drunk] investigators was found dead. Elder Smiler and Elder Jackson were trying to call him, and his sister answered and said he had died. 

Real sad, most likely alcohol related. Really weird week of death, but I suppose Joe might be hanging out with Jim and Grandpa as well. Why not?

We had stake conference this weekend. It was pretty good. Not much else to report.

Overall, I've loved my time here in Greenock; the members, the area, the people we teach, the sights, the scenery along the coast, etc. But hopefully N. Ireland is a bit less rainy! 

Excited for a new adventure. 

Did I mention that I'm no longer a district leader when I move? I get to rest and be a normal missionary again! It will be kind of nice, but I'll miss some aspects of it.

Welp, I love you all and hope you have a great week. 

Love, 

Elder Spencer Burt

Photos: 

Some abandoned building in Paisley

A submarine!

The McMillan family (members)

I got some awesome use out of the panoramic feature this week.
(Views from Gourock, the ferry, and atop a hill in Dunoon.)

"...with renewed strength, for that's what Grandpa would want me to do."

Monday, February 24
Dear Family,
Thanks for your wonderful emails, they filled me with emotion, both sadness but also happiness.
The spirit was strong. What a blessing it is to have modern technology to communicate such feelings in matter of seconds.
I don't want to be the bearer of more bad news, but coincidentally our friend Jim Craig passed away this morning.
He was in the hospital in a bad state for the past week or so, but we didn't expect him to go.
I think there's something special about it though; He and Grandpa died within 24 hours of each other.
This may sound odd, but I can see them meeting up in the spirit world, and both being excited about the fact that they had a friend in common.
I can almost see Jim telling Grandpa that I was able to visit him in the hospital, just hours after the rest of my family had gathered around Grandpa's bedside during his final hours.
I dunno, but I feel like there's something special about it. I am convinced that they are together.
We don't exactly know HOW the spirit world works; although Jim wasn't the most faithful member in his last years, his mental state I feel may excuse him from that and he may finally be in a state of rest and happiness, with his new friend Lyle.
Of course, even happier is envisioning Grandpa's reunion with Barb, his parents, siblings, etc.
Especially Barbara.
I have felt strong feelings while reading all your emails, partially sadness, but also a very powerful spirit.
That's so great that everyone gathered together for the last couple hours.
It sounds like everyone had a very spiritual experience. Hope these feelings are a reminder of what we all know.
President Brown was very good at giving me the news. As soon as he said he got a phone call from you I sort of knew what was going to happen.
I expected him to go during my mission, but recently I've felt some hope that he'd make it till the end. But that's ok because the Plan gives that reassurance that life never really ends.
I love you all.
I'll keep pressing forward as best as possible, in fact, with renewed strength, for that's what Grandpa would want me to do.
Love,
Spencer

"Why would we be miserable when we have the Joy of the Lord with us?!"

I have some cool stories from this week. Let's cut to the chase.

We as a zone and a district have focused on using the Book of Mormon in our proselyting efforts this week. As a District Leader Council, we set a goal of 200 Books ofs Mormons to be given out in the week between our whole zone (13 sets of missionaries).

We felt like it was achievable, but we are only halfway right now and tomorrow is the last day. But it has given us a big push to distribute them a lot more, and I think I've given more out this week than I have in the previous month! The Book does truly have a spiritual power, a converting power. 

Example:

Yesterday we were out visiting people with the Branch President as we usually do on Sundays. We asked if he could drop us off in Largs on his way home, because it's about halfway between Greenock and his home in Irvine. So he did, and we did a bit of missionary work. 

We assumed there would be buses to get us home, because it was only 7:15 at night when we went to the bus stop, and we've been in Largs far later than that before and still gotten home on time. But apparently the last bus on a Sunday is at 7:00! 

So we didn't want to bother the members by making them drive an hour round trip to pick us up, and taxis would be super expensive. So we got a train! Only drawback: There is no train from Largs to Greenock. 

So we took a train to Paisley, where we got off and hopped on a train to Greenock. We ended up getting home after 10:00! Oh well. As we sat in the train, I thought to myself "Maybe there's a reason we are here." 

There were these really friendly mother and daughter who we had a brief conversation with, and I decided I'd be bold and offer them a Book of Mormon right there in the train station. Why not, I've got nothing to lose! 

But before I could, this man came up and started talking to us. He was a bit drunk, and he loved to swear, but he liked talking to us. We sat by him on the train, and continued our conversation, mainly about what we missionaries are doing and why we do it. 

He asked us our first names; I told him mine, and he said that if my name is Spencer then I must come from a really rich family because all the Spencers he knows are posh.

I told him it wasn't really the case. And then I told a wee lie, just to try and spark up more gospel conversation. I said "My parents actually named me after Spencer W. Kimball, have you ever heard of him?" No... "Well he was one of the prophets of our church back in the day." haha! 

It didn't work though, he just shrugged it off. But we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon, and when we had him read a couple verses and asked him what he thought, he said "I can't swear when I read this book!" 

Although he was a bit drunk and super cheeky, and at one point he said that it all sounded like a scam that someone made up to get money, in the end he said he wanted to believe and so he kept the book and agreed to have missionaries come over (he lives outside of our area). 

So I thought it was a cool experience; even a hard tough guy who claims to not believe in anything says he felt something different/special in that book. 

That was just last night; the rest of this email will be backtracking a bit. 

On Tuesday we exchanged with our zone leaders. I was in Johnstone with Elder Windhausen, a German who sounds American. We had a good day; we gave out four Books! (by the way; is it Book of Mormons, Books of Mormon, Books of Mormons, Book's of's Mormons's, or Copies of the Book of Mormon?) 

We just talked to everyone we saw as we went from appointment to appointment. I used to be really diligent in doing that, but for some reason in Greenock I find it more difficult. But I just need to man up and start doing it again! 

I think the push/almost a competition of sorts to give out BoMs will give us both the drive to talk to as many people as possible. 

Who knows, maybe the person we let walk past us without stopping to talk with them is searching for the Gospel? You never know.

Have I told you about the super nice and funny older lady named Susan who gives us Irn Bru and chocolate every week?

We saw her a couple times this week and we're working on getting her to the temple! She is excited for it, and when we reviewed the law of tithing with her she was ecstatic, excited to give back to the Lord one tenth of all He has given her. 

She's the sort of lady who grew up as a super-Christian, a member of the Salvation Army. (That's quite a popular church out here...is it so in America? I just know that the Salvation Army Santa rings a bell for donations or something.) 

She's someone who will just LOVE the temple and the extra dose of Spirit that is felt there. 

Also her husband has passed away, and she talks about how she would never marry another man, and that he'll always be her husband. So she's excited to be sealed.

Friday we were on exchange again; this time I was in Greenock with Elder Jackson. It rained ALL DAY. 

It was a miserable Valentines' Day. Only joking! Why would we be miserable when we have the Joy of the Lord with us?! (That's something Susan often says, she's so great!) 

Although it was raining heaps, we had a good time. 

Another cool Book of Mormon story: On Saturday as we walked to the bus stop to meet back up with the Beith elders to re-exchange, we stopped to talk to a man outside a barber shop. 

He was Muslim, and very clear that he was not going to change. But he asked US what the book we were holding was. 

We told him, and then offered it to him...he said no, but then went inside to ask if his friend, who owned the barber shop, would like a copy to keep for customers to read while they wait. 

We expected a no, but he came out and asked for a Book of Mormon and a bunch of pass-along cards! So there we go, we may have planted a good seed in the barber shop. 

While I doubt that the Muslim guys will read it, it just may catch the attention of a customer searching for truth. Sweet! 

Also, speaking of planting seeds, when we were on the train yesterday, I realized that one lady was paying attention the whole time and seemed to be listening interestedly. 

I think several other people on the train heard our conversation and testimonies we bore of the Book of Mormon, and who knows, maybe those seeds will take root and grow someday.

Saturday night we had dinner with the Gilchrist family (Traci, Kenny, Marc and Oliver) they are still going strong. Kenny will be baptised I'm sure of it, but it may not be while I am still here. 

Bummer, but oh well, I'm not on a mission for myself, it's for them.

Ok, that was my week. Sounds like you all had very adventurous weeks! Keep it up. 

Share the gospel with your friends, even if you're in the Promised Land of Utah.

Love,

Elder Burt

Photos!

Eating a Deep-Fried Mars Bar with Elder Windhausen...probably the unhealthiest thing one could ever eat...but I drank a Diet Coke with it so it's all good!

View of Millport from Largs

"If we love Him enough, we'll make the right choices."

Why hello family! 

I'd like to begin by sharing an introspective insight I experienced last week. 

Whilst on my mission I've learned that many of the Old Testament prophets were "slow of speech" or not powerful in speaking, which I had no idea of before. 

Moses and Enoch are two examples I've heard who were this way. And hearing this has always stuck out to me; I think because I can relate. 

God called them to do crazy difficult stuff, and they were able to do it anyway. As most of us know, I'm not the most confident when it comes to speaking to groups of people, or even people on their own, especially in a new situation. 

But as I've relied on the spirit, I've been able to accomplish lots of stuff that I wouldn't be able to do on my own, even if it does scare me to death while I'm doing so. 

Also, I've noticed that some of my favorite scriptures while I've been out are in D&C when the Lord assures missionaries that they just need to study His word, seek the spirit, and open their mouths, and they'll be able to say what they have been called to say. I can say I've seen that in my life these past 14 months. Pretty cool I'd say.

So, last Tuesday we had the Scotland West Conference, where the Glasgow and Paisley zones met up at the Glasgow stake centre to hear President and Sister Brown, the AP's, and Elder Herbertson of the Quorum of the Seventy speak to us. 

It was very inspirational; I filled up several pages with notes of things I thought were brilliant. But toward the end I almost felt overwhelmed; I thought I could never apply ALL these things, especially in the short term. 

Luckily Elder Herbertson had a Q/A session the last half hour or so. After a bunch of other questions that just added to my feeling of overwhelmment (word?), I decided to ask him what he felt the MOST important message we should take away from the meeting, and apply immediately. 

He said "Love the Lord and Serve the Lord." So I've been trying to focus on that. If we love Him enough, we'll make the right choices. Sweet.

Other stuff that happened this week. We had a "missionary fireside", also known as "Fill the Font" night. It used to be a regular tradition; from what it sounds like, the branch would pretend to have a baptism, so they'd have talks, music, they'd fill the font up half way and open the doors, but the only thing missing was the baptism. 

Sounded weird to me at first, but apparently it was really nice and spiritual. 

The branch is sparking it back up again, but a bit different; instead they're just having a fun/spiritual thing every month, and calling it Fill the Font still. 

So last week they had both of us give short talks, then we watched a talk by John Bytheway that President Wilde had on DVD. It was pretty good. Mostly funny. But also inspirational. So I think they're doing that once a month, with a church movie or something each time.

We visited TONS of less-active members this week, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But in a way, we could be using our time better. I think sometimes we try to avoid tracting at all costs, so when we have free time we try to contact people; members, less active members, investigators, potential investigators, etc.

I don't mind tracting, but it seems most of my comps don't like it. Which makes it hard to have the spirit or have fun when one of us is bored or miserable. 

Anyway...we haven't seen Jim Craig in over two weeks...when we go by he doesn't answer, and his door is locked. (He usually tells us to just come in so he doesn't have to get up and come to the door haha.) So he is either out of town for some reason, or he's dead. Hopefully he is not dead. 

Have I mentioned Susan before? She's an 80-year old widow who is semi-active. She's been on the border of active and less-active my whole time in Greenock, but she is so funny and so fun to visit! 

She gives us Irn Bru and chocolate every week when we go to visit her, and she tells the same stories about her kids, grandkids, and husband over and over, but in a very entertaining way. We keep telling her to write a book, but she hasn't yet. We get to meet some interesting and fun people.

On Friday we went to teach Joe (of the F4) and he said he had no food and no money, and couldn't get any until Wednesday. 

We checked, and it was true...so we being nice and merciful told him we'd bring by some cans and a spare loaf of bread from our flat to last him a couple days. But of course, when we got to his flat with the food, he had borrowed £20 pound from a friend, so we didn't feel quite as heroic as we would have if he had truly been relying on our donation. Oh well. He's coming along, slowly but surely.

Yesterday I gave a talk, on...missionary work of course. I encouraged members to "do missionary work", and gave tips and experiences that I thought would help them. 

Lots of them came from my mission, one experience that I DIDN'T have (I kind of shared how I missed a lot of missionary work opportunities back home, especially with some of my acquaintances from the USU dorms...and encouraged them to seek out opportunities and act on them) and a lot of tips from the "Power of Everyday Missionaries" book. It's brilliant! 

But apparently I went over my allotted time, which I found out after I heard the branch president clear his throat behind me and I looked back and he pointed to his watch. I felt like I hadn't talked that long, but I guess I did! 

So I've officially reached the point in my life where instead of having to stretch out my talk to fill the time, I now have to be more concise and make sure my talk isn't too long. I guess that means I'm an adult now! 

Not to be prideful, but I felt like my talk was really good, both when I was preparing it and when I was speaking; but then I felt bad for talking too much afterward. 

But that's another hurdle cleared I guess, I usually feel like my talks are rubbish after I give them, and I feel weird when people tell me it was good after church...but this time I was just like, "Thanks, but I think I spoke a bit too long..." haha.

Also, this week we went to the Isle of Bute with the Cains to visit a member couple. It was a beautiful drive.

Welp, I think that's it for the week.

Thanks to you all for the emails. And if you are reading this blog and haven't emailed or written, it would be so cool if you did.

Cheeky eh?

Anyway, Have a great week family and friends. Love yous!

Elder Spencer Burt

PHOTOS!

This is Elder Carter...apparently he is a cousin of Trevor Burt, but on the other side? That's what grandma told me, so I got a picture with him at the conference. He said he heard he had a distant cousin in the mission but he didn't know it was me. So yeah. Family reunion of sorts?

Nice photo on the drive from Largs.

House.

"...Elder Smiler and I were roped into singing a duet..."

Hello family! 

Hope all is well in Utah. Things are going pretty good here in the United Kingdom. By the way, did you know that in the autumn of this year they are voting to decide if Scotland will remain part of the UK or become independent? Pretty exciting, I'm pretty sure I'll be around for that. 

Might be in Ireland, but it would be awesome to be in Scotland to witness the havoc that will ensue probably no matter what the results are. I'm hoping for some riots!

Anyway, I've had a pretty good week. I forgot to bring my planner so it will all be from memory...I might accidentally leave out a few things of significance that happened...hope the Spirit brings it to my remembrance.

Let's see...Tuesday we had our usual district meeting. Then Elder Maughan came on an exchange with me to Greenock. We had a lot of fun, and got work done. 

Hey, that would be a good mission motto: "Have fun, and get work done."

We taught two of the Fantastic 4 this week. Joe is the most solid of them all. We taught him about how to find out if the Book of Mormon is true (read and pray about it) and he was really excited about it. 

We talked vaguely and briefly about baptism...then a few days later he called us and said "I've been reading some of the book, and I think it's time for baptism." 

We are pretty excited for that, but it will be  a wee while till that can happen. But "baby steps" will eventually get him there. That would be a great success story!

Wednesday we had P.E.C. (Priesthood Executive Committee) and it was not bad. Ironically, while I've been on my mission I've looked forward to church meetings like PEC, ward council, etc. 

Well, not district meetings because I have to plan them out and conduct and instruct every week...but I suppose I'm learning a lot from being a district leader these past several transfers. 

I've sort of found myself lately being enthusiastic and excited about the work side of a mission, but ironically I feel like my testimony has been dwindling a bit...sort of like when I pray or testify or teach it's just like going through the motions that I've been doing for the past year +. Any suggestions?

I know, study and pray...but sometimes I feel like I'm going through the motions with those things as well. Any certain things you have studied or read or thought about that have strengthened your testimonies? I'm open to advice.

Thursday was the usual Thursday. Friday was a nice Friday. 

Saturday there was a baptism in the ward of a wee girl who turned eight. It was awesome; over 60 people attended! Tons of family and friends, many of whom are either non-members or less-active members. 

I had a few good conversations with a few of them and they seemed like they could be receptive, but of course I didn't go around asking people if they wanted to be taught. 

I figured I'd let them just bask in the spirit there and maybe have the member family follow up with them later or something. Baptisms are always fun.

Sunday Elder Smiler and I were roped into singing a duet in Sacrament meeting. 

The music director in the branch is not an easy person to say no to, and she asked us a few weeks ago if we could sing in sacrament meeting, singing a song of her choice and on a day of her choice. 

We're not too fussy, so we did it. I'm not the best singer...I mean I can sing and hit the right notes as long as it's within my range, but I don't think I have the best soloing voice. 

But people came up afterward and said it was very good, which is nice. But I'm not that naive, I know that even if it was rubbish people would be nice and say it was good! 

Haha but i'm not too bothered either way, if it was good then that's good, but if it wasn't, then I might not be asked to sing at church again! :)

Sorry, not too many cool stories this week. If I recall any that I missed I'll share them in next week's email.

Until then, fare thee well.

Love, 

Elder Burt

Photos: 

Stumbled upon this old photo of me and the one and only Tom Henry! Man, I was skinny...I think I've put a few pounds back on since Elder Holm left me.

Taking more photos in kilts in our flat! Trying to look intense.

Viking statue made of plants and stuff in Largs.

"The branch organized a fantastic dinner and party...Piping in the Haggis..."

Dear Family,

Here's the cool stuff that happened this week:

We taught some of our drunk friends this week (we sometimes refer to them as "The Fantastic 4"; three investigators and one less-active member who is our source for meeting them all) a new one was added to the picture. A really nice guy who hangs out with that whole crowd, but he says he doesn't drink! 

Pretty awesome. He asked a lot of good questions. He seemed to enjoy our visit, although it was regularly interrupted by loud outbursts from one of their friends--He's not included in the Fantastic 4, he's not quite worthy. He was just loud and obnoxious and super drunk. I asked him to be quiet once while we tried to watch "The Lamb of God," but he got pretty mad. Dropping F-bombs the whole time, but it was great because the two present members of the F4 would always say "Hey man, don't swear!" 

It is always a fun experience with them...sometimes it can be really spiritual but sometimes it's very un-spiritual and I just have to appreciate the funny side of it. 

We are thinking of trying a method where we set up specific times with them twice a week, and have them promise to be sober for that short period of time, because most of them say that they can stop drinking and they've done it before, but it's just hard. 

So if we can get them in a super receptive state of mind without the alcohol interfering, then chain reaction hopefully will make them desire to feel that spiritual high all the time. 

Also I took some advice from an elder and a member in Beith who said that it's not bad to ask them to not smoke while we're there, because it does kind of distract from the spirit, and again, that one hour of resisting the urge to smoke will prepare them for hopefully someday living the word of wisdom 24/7. 

But that of course is in the distant future, but you know, step by step. 

A scripture somewhere says "By small and simple things, great things come to pass." Or maybe it's just the beginning of the Restoration DVD, which I have seen who knows how many times in the past year or so.

We had a brief visit with the flag-loving guy and his friend (also less-active, who practically lives with him but they are not a couple). Good fun. 

In the middle of a conversation about something totally different with the lady, the man randomly said "I have a flag of Azerbaijan." And did that several times throughout our visit, naming off random flags that he has. I think I've mentioned him in emails previous, right?

Another funny story: we were going around with the High Priest Group Leader, visiting people on the ward list that he and we have never met, trying to see if they would like to have home teachers come around in the future. 

One lady we went to lived in sort of an old folks' home by herself. (Side note: In almost every apartment building there is an intercom thingy where you have to press the button of the person you want to see, and they answer on this wee telephone-like thing and ask who it is, and if they choose to, they press a button that unlocks the outside door.) 

We buzzed her apartment, she answered and asked who it was, he said he was with the church, and she said something that we couldn't understand, but then we heard the door unlock so we went in. 

But as we approached her apartment she came out quite angrily, saying "Who are you?! I didn't let you in, who are you?!?!" 

The member told her who we were and she asked angrily for proof, so I took off my name badge and held it up, I felt like a cop. Then she said, "Well, I haven't been a part of your church in years and I don't want to be." 

But luckily, the spirit must have prompted our HPGL to be a little persistent, and he explained that we like to reach out to all the members of the church, and he noticed on her records that she had been a temple recommend holder in the years past, so he brought that up. 

She still was a bit defensive and said it was a long story and she didn't want to talk about it...but then two seconds later she just said, "Oh, why don't you just come in and I'll tell you." So we went in, ended up having a lovely visit. 

Turns out we mostly just scared her by buzzing her apartment intercom sort of late at night (it was around 8:30) and that's why she was kind of defensive. 

Turns out she had been sealed in the temple, her kids are active members in other wards around Scotland and England, and she just hasn't been out in years for some reason. 

So what started out as a bit of a scary and contentious encounter ended up being a nice visit, and she said we're welcome back any time. People are interesting.

We went out to Dunoon again for our weekly correlation meeting. This time they drove us around to try and contact some of the inactive members who lived out there. 

One of them, who didn't even live IN Dunoon, but several miles outside of it in a wee village, let us in and had a good discussion. 

Not really interested at first when we knocked on his door, but then, again, he let us in and opened up a lot more about his past with the church and what not. Pretty cool.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

Saturday night was the Greenock Branch Burns' Supper! January 25th is Burns' Night here in Scotland. 

Robert Burns, aka "Rabbie Burns" was a famous Scottish poet. So every year Scots take a night to commemorate his life by being as Scottish as possible basically. 

The branch organized a fantastic dinner and party in the building; loads of non-members and less-active members came out, and everyone loved it. 

Brother Gibson let me borrow one of his son's old kilts that didn't fit him anymore, as well as a kilt jacket and a sporran (that's the awesome black purse looking thing around my waist). 

He lent Elder Smiler one as well, but he decided not to wear it, but instead he just wore the kilt jacket, which was kind of cool because it made him look like a mariachi guy. 

But anyway the party was super fun; we ate haggis, neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and mashed potatoes), some members recited some famous Burns poetry, lots of good music by the branch president and his family, and a few other members. 

There's this tradition where one member carried a haggis on a plate into the hall, and marched around with it while President Wilde played the bagpipes. 

Apparently this is known as "Piping in the Haggis." And then it is set down, and someone else "Addresses the Haggis," where they basically talk to the haggis in a crazy thick Scottish accent and some words that I have never heard before...and then he cuts it open. 

Really different but fun. Almost like an animal sacrifice, except it's a haggis. Anyway it was a fun night. 

The best part was wearing the whole kilt get-up. Best part: Brother Gibson said that the kilt looks so good on me that he might let me keep it! But not the accessories. 

Still, that's pretty awesome! I might have me own kilt soon! 

Traci, Kenny, and their kids Marc and Ollie came as well. Kenny and Ollie wore kilts, as did the Gibsons' son who "Addressed the Haggis". Nobody else though! 

Most others did wear something tartan, like tartan trousers, ties, etc... Really fun night.

Sunday was good as well, as usual. Our branch president made a change so that our meetings now last between 2.5-3 hours, which is nice but kind of seems long because I'm used to just two hours! 

But it's for the best, because everywhere else is three hours, no reason why we can't do it as well.

So yeah, overall, it was a real fun week! Hope you all had a good one too.

Oh yeah, and a fun quote that Kenny told me to say if someone calls your kilt a skirt: "You know why it's called a kilt? Because the last person who called it a skirt got kilt." 

Ooh, intense. Can't wait to use that when I get home and wear my kilt everywhere I go.

Love yous all!!!

Elder Spencer Ashcraft Burt

Photos:
Bagpipes!!!

Ollie in his cute wee kilt

Me, Elder Smiler, Ollie, Kenny (Elder Smiler ruined it with his un-kilted-ness, but Kenny told him to get in the picture with us so I had no choice...)

Me and the Gibson family

Kilt!