Oct 16, 2017
Hey guys! It's great to hear from you! I didn't know that there was a storm supposed to hit Ireland. (Tropical Storm Ophelia — previously a hurricane, was to make landfall today) Over here in Cumbernauld it has just been really rainy, so not much different than the usual. Haha. I haven't heard anything about it but it sounds like we'll just have typical Scottish weather for another week.
So this week, we did a lot of chapping. John and Gordon have both been going through a rough patch with things. John has had some negative comments from friends and family about meeting with us and Gordon has been struggling with feeling comfortable about coming back to church on a regular basis.
Yesterday, however, was Stake Conference in Glasgow. It was very good! There was a General Authority from the Seventy there. I forget his name but it might have been Elder Boon? He gave a really good talk and he touched on missionary work and how great members are in helping the full-time missionaries. President and Sister Donaldson were also there. President Donaldson gave a really great analogy in his talk about the sacrament prayers that I thought was brilliant. He said, "The sacrament prayers have to be given word-perfect. Everyone knows that. But when the priest messes it up, what happens? Even though the expectation of perfection cannot be lowered, the person giving the prayer gets a second chance, and a third, and a fourth, if he needs them. No matter how many mistakes he makes along the way, when he does finally get it right, the outcome is counted as perfect and acceptable. God, like the bishop, cannot lower the standard that we ultimately become perfect, but He can give us many opportunities to start again." I really thought that analogy really helps us understand God's Plan for us and how essential the Atonement is in that Plan.
So in two weeks time we are having a zone conference and Elder and Sister Renlund are going to be there. It should be really amazing to have an Apostle come and visit and instruct us.
So I did learn another Scottish word this week while we were doing service at the garden right by our flat on Saturday. It's bowfing. Apparently bowfing means that you are smelly. We certainly were bowfing after service in the rain that day.
Hope you guys have a great week!
Love,
Elder Calley
Thank you guys for the package! It was great! I was really chuffed from all those letter. I loved all the candy especially the powerade and hichews. The candy here is not as good as back home. The French chocolate was really good as well!
