Week 26: I'm not in Waterford anymore...

July 11, 2017

Hey fam! How's everything going? I have never heard that a six month mark was called a bump before. Interesting to know. It's hard to believe that it has been six months already. The time seems to fly out here. So yesterday was moves day which is why I am emailing you today. I got moved from Waterford to Cumbernauld in Scotland. Cumbernauld is a town to the northeast of Glasgow. They have a ward of about 30 members I think, I haven't met any of them yet. My new companion is Elder Udy. By the way Elder Watson was companions with Elder Udy before he trained me. This is his last transfer before he goes home. It feels a little bit like deja vu with everyone that I serve with going home.

Anyways, it sounds like you had a good fourth of July. We had pancakes and pie at district meeting last week to celebrate the 4th. Last Friday, Elder Plewe started his trek to the mission home to fly back to Utah. So I spent a few days in Clonsilla which is a suburb of Dublin.

Our investigators in Waterford were doing good when I left. Ion is still reading his scriptures but wasn't able to meet with us before we left. Dion however, is coming to church this week so that should be exciting for the new missionaries! He calls us every night to let us know how his studies went. He read almost half of the Book of Mormon, from 2 Nephi through Mosiah while he was Elder Plewe's and my investigator. He is very diligent at reading his scriptures everyday. Hopefully the new missionaries can baptize him soon. One of the new missionaries going to Waterford is fresh out from the MTC.

This is my first day in Cumbernauld so I don't know much about the place but I'm sure that I'll get to know it better over time. The people here in Scotland have a very different accent and it will take some time getting used to. I was talking to someone at the bus station last night and I only understood every other word he said. The great thing about being a missionary is that the work and the gospel are the same everywhere!

Sadly, I do not have any pictures to send this week. The computers here don't have an sd card slot but I will definitely send pictures next week. Thank you guys so much for the package. The letters were great. Tell the young men they are awesome!

I love you guys,

Elder Calley

Oh yeah forgot about my new address. Oops didn't mean to leave that out. It's 12 Ivanhoe Road, Cumbernauld, Glasgow G67 4BH. Elder Udy was already in Cumbernauld. This is his 3rd transfer here. The ward here in Cumbernauld sounds a little bit smaller than the branch in Waterford, which is really weird. Hopefully I'll pick up some Scottish terms. There is one last Irish one though that I have. Sometimes people will say, That took the mick out of me. It essentially means that took a lot or took everything out of me. It was great talking to you! Talk to you next week. Thank you for your prayers!

Elder Kyle Calley

 12 Ivanhoe Road

Cumbernauld

 Glasgow, UK

G67 4BH

Week 25: Transfers next week

July 3, 2017

Hey guys! How's it going?

So this week Elder Plewe and I have spent a lot of time finding. Claire has been doing good. She wasn't able to come to church this week because she was visiting family in Dublin but we did talk with her over the phone and are meeting with her tomorrow. But I do have a picture of us with her at her baptism. The picture is not with her in white because she was really shy to take a picture in the first place but one picture is better than none right?

 So funny story about our other investigator Ion. His name is actually spelled like an ion but it's pronounced like 'yawn'. He has continued to read the Book of Mormon but hasn't been able to meet with us.

This is also Elder Plewe's last week. He leaves Friday for Dublin and then on to Edinburgh. With him leaving Friday it also means that I have to go somewhere else too. Probably to either Dublin or Cork. We're going to Cork tomorrow for district meeting and so I will probably get your guys' package then. I am super excited for the letters! For some reason Dad I didn't get your email from the 19th of June until this morning.

Roasting marshmallows at the Condemi's

tuning guitars @ the Condemi's

Dinner @ the Condemi's home

So because Elder Plewe is at the end of his mission we have had three dinner appointments this past week which is a lot for a typical week. A lot of the members have been trying to have us over before Elder Plewe leaves. And one of them was at the Condemi's. I don't know how to play guitar by the way but we were trying to tune the strings for them.  We also went over to the Moylans and to Sister Porter's house to do some service. Brother Moylan brought out some of his historical costumes and replicas for Elder Plewe to try on.

 

At Brother Moylan - some of his historical costumes and replicas

In my studies this week I came across a scripture that I thought was really neat. It's Mosiah 2:24. It's King Benjamin giving his last address to the people. And he says to them that if we do what God commands us to do he will immediately bless us. I thought it was really interesting that as we keep the commandments we are immediately blessed because most of the time it might not feel that way but it also may not be in the way that we expect.

Last P-day we went to Waterford Castle. It's on an island and so we took a 2 minute ferry to get from one side to the other. Waterford Castle is also a hotel/resort so we didn't go inside of it but the outside is neat.

 

I love you guys and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Calley

P.S. So this Saturday is moves call and so I will either get moved or have to pick up my new companion next Monday. So there is a good chance that I will not get a chance to email you until next Tuesday.

Week 24: Transfer is winding down

Jun 26, 2017

Hey everyone! Conas a ta tu? (That means how's it going in Irish)

This past week has gone by quick as usual. We've been gqing and chapping a lot. Our recent convert Claire is still coming to church and meeting up with us to be taught the recent convert lessons. She is still really solid. The highlight of my week was teaching this guy that we chapped named Ion. His name looks like ion but it is pronounced yawn. He's Romanian and he speaks little to no English. He was however interested in meeting up with us this week. We met with him briefly this past week and taught him simple things at first like about the Book of Mormon and about prophets and apostasy because it is hard for him to understand English. He comes from a protestant background and goes to another church in Waterford but says he has some issues with it. We gave him a Romanian Book of Mormon and restoration pamphlet. Within the next two days he had read five chapters of the Book of Mormon and half of the restoration pamphlet and he understood what he was reading really well.  At the end of one of our mini lessons with him he finally pulled out his phone to use google translate to communicate with us. He told us that we have something different and that he was going to test what we had told him. We knew that he was feeling the Spirit because we were feeling it too. It was amazing to know that even though we speak different languages the language of the Spirit is the same and can speak to everyone. Ion is probably the most exciting thing that has happened this week.

Kilkenny castle grand hall

Last P-day Elder Plewe and I went to Kilkenny to go see the castle there. It's pretty big and the best part is that we got in for free because their cash register wasn't up and running. It was really good.

This is the grand hall by the way.

 

Sorry this email is short but everything in Waterford is going good. It has not rained very much this week which makes sense because it looks like rain all this next week.

Love you guys,

Elder Calley

By the way our moves call or when I know if I'm staying or leaving is a week from this Saturday so on the 9th of July. I am guessing that I am staying for a fifth transfer but anything can happen. Elder Plewe has two more weeks left on his mission. He's a really good companion though and he works hard.

Week 23: You've got Missinary Mail!

June 19. 2017

Hey guys!

It's been very warm this week. Sunny almost everyday this week. This week we went up to Dublin on Tuesday for Zone Conference. It was really good as always. I guess you saw a picture of Elder Plewe and I with Elder Flynn who got released three weeks ago. He served in Waterford for six transfers (9 months) and came back to visit for the weekend. Elder Plewe and I keep joking that I will be here for six transfers since that is a long time to be in an area.

 

Speaking of the weekend how was Father's Day Dad?  I hope it was really good! By the way they do celebrate Father's Day over here but I think it is a little bit more low-key. The primary kids did sing a song yesterday in church though.

This week not too much else happened. We have continued to teach Sean and Claire. Sean enjoys meeting with us but still hasn't been able to come to church. Claire still enjoys meeting with us. We taught her about the temple and callings. She was excited at the prospect of being able to have an opportunity to serve through a calling. We also went over to the Gibbons this last Friday. The Gibbons live up in Carlow, which is about an hour north of Waterford. They are a really nice family to visit. Brother Gibbons is in the Branch Presidency here in Waterford.

Yesterday during church in gospel principles, it was chapter 18 which is on faith and Elder Plewe was teaching the lesson. He gave a really good example of faith. He explained that he was going chapping one day in Northern Ireland and saw a guy cleaning his gutters. He said that they stopped him and talked with him and got on the topic of faith. He said he wasn't interested and didn't believe in faith and so Elder Plewe asked him why he was cleaning his gutters and explained that he was cleaning his gutters because he believed that he would need them when it rained. He then went on to say that the guy had faith in cleaning his gutters. It was an interesting story because sometimes we have doubts and don't think we have a lot of faith. And while our faith is centered on Jesus Christ, we can have faith in a lot of smaller things like praying everyday that can help build our faith in Christ. It reminded me of Alma 32:26 where Alma is saying that even if you have the smallest drop of hope you can use that and turn it into faith.

Anyways, the rest of my week has been good. Elder Plewe is a really great companion. We don't go running together that much but we exercise every morning inside the flat. The teaching pool is coming along. We have gotten a few people who are willing to meet up with us everyday this week which has been really great!

The computer keyboards over here are a little bit different like some of the symbol keys are swapped around but mostly everything is the same. As far as the Irish language goes, I think it breaks more rules than English. The classic example is of a place called Dún Laoghaire. No one can pronounce it right the first time. In English its Dunleary which is a little bit easier to pronounce.

(We asked if they sold Lucky Charms in Ireland and if he’s using a backpack now, which we noticed in some of his pictures.) I sure wish they sold Lucky Charms here but they don't. I do use a backpack some of the time because I can hold more stuff in it and everyone here uses a backpack. It's one of the things that they say not to have in the mission call but President Donaldson is okay with us using. I still use my shoulder bag some of the time.

Well I am sorry that this email is a bit short but not much happened this week. I'll have to remember to write down what happened more often. The work here in Ireland is going good. I don't see a lot of rainbows over here and most of my shirts are still mostly stain free.

Love you guys a lot,

Elder Calley

By the way it is very light here. The picture at the top was taken at 9:30 at night while we were on the bus home from All-Ireland.

 

Week 22: We Had a baptism!!!

June 12. 2017

This week Claire got baptized on Saturday out in Cork. There was a decent attendance there which was great. The baptismal service was great, and the Spirit was strong there. Brother and Sister Ryan drove us down from Waterford which was really nice of them. She also got confirmed yesterday as well. She was really excited for her baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. The members in the branch are really nice and most of them talk with her in church. They are really great at making her feel welcome at church.

 So most of our week was helping Claire getting ready for her baptism. The only sad part of it is that I didn't take any pictures because Claire was very shy about taking pictures. Sister Ryan took one picture but hasn't sent us it yet so if I get it I will try to send it today if not for sure next week.

Our other investigators, Sean, Michael, and Dion are going pretty good. Sean is willing to get baptized and come to church if his mom is okay with it. Michael wants to get baptized but still wants to attend the born again church he is currently attending so we will try to explain baptism a little bit better next time. Dion really wants to get baptized but has to still get permission from his dad. One thing that Dion is really good at is studying every day. He calls us every evening and tells us what he learned from his studies that day.

So this week we have All-Ireland Zone Conference in Dublin on Tuesday. It should be really good. Waterford has been much busier between doing service for members, meeting with investigators, and finding. The time here seems to fly by. It's hard to believe that I have been out for five months already.

Last P-day we took a look inside Reginald's tower which is a Viking/medieval tower that was originally built by the Vikings. It was interesting, there are some cool relics in there.

 

 And yes, I did take a few pictures.

 

Oh, by the way I did learn two new Irish phrases this week. The first one is "its all hunky dory" which basically means its alright or everything is good at the moment. The other one is "it is lashing outside". That one might be easier to figure out because it has been lashing just about every day this week.

Thank you guys so much for your prayers. They have definitely helped and have been felt over here in Waterford. Thank you guys so much for everything that you do.

Love,

Elder Calley

Oops, I forgot, so I was the one who baptized her and I also performed the confirmation. Things with Elder Plewe are good, we both do the cooking but it isn't anything fancy.

Week 21: Trasfer 4

June 5, 2017

Hey guys!

This week seems to have gone on forever. It's been busy trying to consolidate from two teams of missionaries to one. This week we have been doing a lot of GQing and Chapping (Chapping is what we call door knocking over here).

We've been able to continue to teach Claire this last week. She has a date for this Saturday and she is really excited for it and also a little bit nervous. We'll probably have the baptism down in Cork, the Ryans offered to drive us down there if needed. The nearest baptismal font is in Cork so that is why we are going there but there have been investigators who have been baptized in the ocean in Tramore before from what I have heard. We still have to teach her tithing and have a baptismal interview for her but we have times to meet up with her to teach her. We've also been able to teach Michael and get him with a date for July 1st. It was interesting because before he had expressed that he was not interested in being baptized but we invited him and he said yes, which was great. So we'll continue to meet up with him and help him reach his goal.

So tomorrow we have to travel to Cork for district meeting and have exchanges with the district leader, Elder Scholz. It's kinda weird to have to travel on a bus for two hours instead of a twenty minute bus ride out to the church here in Waterford.

There has been a lot to do here in Waterford now that there is only Elder Plewe and I. Elder Plewe is really good. He works hard and is very humble.

Flip! (Flip is like the universal missionary word that everyone uses over here, its pretty much like the best two years with that word). Well it has been great emailing you guys. I am emailing from the internet cafe that we go to in Waterford because today is a bank holiday and the library is closed. They seem to have a lot of bank holidays over here. I will send pictures next week though. Talk to you guys next week,

Love,

Elder Calley