Week 35: Week 3 of Transfer

Sept. 11, 2017

Wow well it sounds like you definitely had a lot of driving this week! It's good to hear that Tyler is doing good at BYUI.

This week has been bipolar weather wise, with most days raining all day and some sunny parts. We met with John quite a bit this week. He is definitely getting close to baptism. He fed us three times last week though which is a lot. We tried to meet with the other John this week but we weren't able to get a hold of him. You guys seem to not be the only people on holiday this week. Some of the other people we are seeing were out of town this week. We did go over to the McGregors this week. Brother McGregor is a big Ranger supporter. He was a Protestant before he joined the church some years ago. The McGregors are a great family, they are really funny. They love to go and hike hills around Scotland.

I don't have too much else to say about this week except we were chapping Monday or Tuesday evening, we had just tried by someone who didn't answer, and a guy in his twenties came up to us and asked us if we were the Mormon missionaries. We said yeah and he asked us if we could go and knock on his moms door because she had just moved in and he said she was looking for a church. So we knocked on her door and she wasn't in but we tried by later in the week and we had a brief lesson with her (Teresa) and her son Ryan. They are both born again Christians but are open to meeting with us. Hopefully we are seeing them tomorrow. It's amazing how we can see the hand of the Lord in our lives when we experience a disappointment or a challenge.

So here is the Scottish saying this week: chuffed. I'm pretty sure that I haven't told you about this one yet. Chuff basically means like you are happy/proud about what happened. Like for example someone might say, I'm feeling chuff from that football game win.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy your week. Thanks for your emails. They are awesome!

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 34: Wow! Only 2 Days left!

Sep 4, 2017

Well it sounds like you guys are pretty busy with projects and packing! I still can't believe that this is Tyler's last week before he leaves for BYUI.

This week has been good. We had quite a bit of sun this week which was great but unusual. We have continued to meet with John and Gordon. John is progressing little by little which is good. We also met with a guy named David this week. We chapped him last week and he told us to come back. So we did and we found out that his wife is a less active member and that they had a granddaughter go on a mission to Hong Kong. They have a lot of their family that are members. We are hoping to meet with them this week before they go on holiday for two months. We also sent out a text to everyone in the phone this week inviting them to come to church and there was another guy named David who had met with missionaries about 5 years ago that decided to come to church. He enjoyed it even though he was only able to stay for sacrament meeting and we are going to meet up with him later this week.

We have also done quite a bit of finding this week. I don't think I have told you this but football (soccer) over here is quite religious. There is a team called the Rangers and another team called the Celtics. All the people who consider themselves protestants cheer for the Rangers and hate the Celtics. And everyone who considers themselves catholic is a Celtic fan and hates the Rangers. It's ironic because while the rivalry runs deep between the two teams, no one on either side really goes to church often. So the reason I'm telling you this is because we sometimes have people come to the door and say Rangers  or Celtics and then close the door.

I do have a new Scottish phrase though. So over here if you are talking about a child you would instead use the word bairn. Like for example, "back when you were a wee bairn", back when you were a little kid.

Here's a picture of me and Elder Bain.

We don't usually help with the Self-Reliance here in Scotland mainly because the class isn't up and running at the moment but it's something that we invite our investigators to attend and can go if they go. It seems like it is just as big of a program in Scotland as it is in Ireland. I think the Self-reliance course is starting at the end of this month.

So we use pounds here in Scotland. So things in Scotland appear cheaper but because the pound is more expensive than the euro to the dollar, everything is about the same price. One thing that is very expensive to do here is to eat out. It is not cheap like it is back home. We don't do it very often though which is probably good for us. Elder Bain is a great companion. We do have some of the same interests such as we both like sports. I would also say that we both have a strong desire to work hard which is fantastic.

So we went back to the same museum last p-day since Elder Bain had not been there. This time I got my picture in front of the billboard though.

It is sure great to hear from you guys! I hope your busy week goes well!

Love,

Elder Calley