Week 92:Alexandre got Baptised!!!

Oct 15, 2018 

Hey guys!

So we had a baptism in the lake this week with Alexandre! It was kind of cold and it was very different from the font but it was good. There were a few members there as well. Alexandre was really excited for his baptism all this week and he loved his baptism last Saturday. Funny story though, it was raining pretty hard all day Saturday and it would have been not so fun to have a baptism but we decided to go ahead with it and by the  time we were ready to go to the lake for the baptism the rain had stopped and by the time the baptism was over at the church it was raining again. So it's great to see small miracles from heaven. Our Heavenly Father is definitely looking out for us.

Also Elder Statie confirmed him yesterday which was awesome! This was Elder Statie's first baptism and he was really excited for it as well.

Oh I forgot to tell you guys but last week we met a referral for a guy from China named Dewei. He's really cool, he met missionaries up in Belfast but moved to Athlone for work. He loves the scriptures and learning from the missionaries but has a lot of questions about the gospel. We're hoping to see him again this Saturday or next Saturday since he works weekdays. Also last night we had ZLC and so I'm in Dublin for P-day. So I'll try and take lots of pics.

One of the messages that inspired me at conference was Elder Rasband's talk on fear. Like he said in his talk a lot of us have fear in our lives when we are faced with having to do some task but as we turn to God and focus on Him we can't fail. Last night at ZLC they showed us the Bible video of Peter walking on water and it was interesting how he didn't fear until he took his eyes off of the Saviour. It was then that he started to sink. 

I love you guys! Have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 91: Wow Conference Was Awesome!!!

Oct 8, 2018

Hey guys!

So Conference was really great! It'll be weird to see all of the changes take place when I get back. I really loved the talks though. There was a theme on getting through hard times with the Saviour's help.  One of my favorite talks was by Elder M. Joseph Brough. I really liked his talk about hard times and all the examples he gave briefly of people in the scriptures. How no matter what they went through they were still able to find joy. I know no matter what we're faced with we can get through it with the Saviour's help. I think this applies to so many people that we meet and teach and to everyone in general.

So Alexandre is doing good. His knee is getting better and with the amount of spare time that he's had recovering he's been reading the Book of Mormon quite a bit. His baptism is scheduled for this Saturday. He should be all ready to go this time. We don't need any permission to baptize in the lake since we don't have a baptismal font. I imagine the lake will be similar to lake superior this time of year. Eugene is also doing good. We don't get to see him as often as we do Alexandre but we finally got him to commit to reading the Book of Mormon before we see him again. 

Oh yeah transfers. So both Elder Statie and I are staying in Mullingar for another six weeks. Elder Statie is a really good companion. I've learned a few Spanish words and phrases like hasta luego means see you later and a few other words like batata means bicep.

I hope you guys have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Calley

Thank you so much for the package and letters! I loved them! 

Week 90: Fall is here!

Oct. 1, 2018

Hey guys! This week was pretty good.  Alexandre had an operation on his knee last Tuesday and it was worse than what he said it was going to be so we had to postpone his baptism until October 13th. However, thank you so much for your prayers! Also Alexandre had his baptismal interview on Thursday and he is all good to go for his baptism. As far as Eugene goes he came with us to church yesterday by himself. Alexandre was home due to his knee. Eugene loved church and we reviewed the restoration lesson with him and it was really good!

As far as the rest of this week goes we went on exchanges with the zone leaders on Friday in Dublin. Dublin is a huge city and it was really fun. Also the weather out here has definitely changed. It has been pretty cold the past couple of days and I think it has caught Elder Statie a little off guard. He's used to 30-40 degree weather. (sorry that's in celsius not farenheit) He is very excited for when the snow comes in the winter though.

I am really excited for general conference this week! We'll probably watch it in the church. They have a projector screen that we can watch it on which should be awesome.

This week I've been studying in Jacob 4 and how God gives us weaknesses to help us rely on him and Jesus Christ more. I thought that was really interesting because often times we just think that our weaknesses are just road blocks but there is a reason for them in our lives.

Well I hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Elder Calley

A picture of the Liffey in Dublin that I took from the bus

Me on the plane last week. The other Elder is Elder Berry

Me in the church foyer in Mullingar

Exchanges with Zone leaders

Dublin Quay

Week 89: Dublin, Dublin, and more of Dublin

Sept. 24, 2018

Hey guys!

So this week has been crazy! Elder Statie and I have had to do a lot of travelling this week. On Wednesday we had All-Ireland in Dublin. Elder De Feo was there and he gave some really awesome remarks. One of the scriptures he shared with us was Mosiah 4:9-10 which talks about believing in God. Elder De Feo told us that if we believe in God that we can accomplish what He wants us to do. Belief is a source of power that will not only lead us to act but allow God to bless us in the things we need. 

Then on Thursday night we went back to Dublin for a mission leadership conference in Edinburgh. So I flew to Edinburgh from Dublin with all the zone leaders and district leaders in the Republic of Ireland and Elder Statie stayed in Dublin with some other missionaries. It was a good conference. Elder De Feo was there and one of the things that President Macdonald is focusing on is member missionary work. They gave us some great ideas. One of them was something called the Book of Mormon challenge. I'm not sure if you guys have heard of it but it's something the church is doing in the UK and other parts of Europe. There are 21 questions about the Book of Mormon and a scripture that you can read and ponder about the question as well as a quote by a general authority. I've been doing the challenge in my personal study and it's helped me to appreciate the Book of Mormon more.

So I flew back on Saturday and we taught Alexandre and Eugene. They're doing good and Alexandre is excited for his baptism this Saturday. We've taught him most of the commandments and will teach him the rest on Wednesday. He even came with us to Stake Conference yesterday. We had Helen drive us and Alexandre to Dublin for Stake Conference. Stake Conference was good and many of the talks were powerful. 

So that's my week in a nutshell.

Oh yeah here's a bit more about Elder Statie. So I think I told you he is from Bonaire in the Carribean. Bonaire is part of the Netherlands and is off the coast of Venezuala and has about 26,000 people. Elder Statie's primary language is Spanish, but he also speaks Dutch, Papiamento which is spoken by the people in Bonaire, Aruba, and Curacao which are islands next to Bonaire. He also knows some English which is nice. Both of his parents are converts. He is also a very good cook which is a skill that is few and far between when it comes to missionaries. He also likes photography.

I love you guys! Thank you so much for your testimonies and spiritual experiences that you share! They are great!

Love,

Elder Calley

Oh yeah so when it comes to Mullingar there isn't much to see in the town. There is however a cathedral here that is one of the biggest in Ireland but we haven't gone to see it. The economy here is mainly run by the shops that are here.

Below is a picture of all the Irish missionaries that were in Edinburgh.

Week 88: Sounds like a fun trip!

Sept 17, 2018

Hey guys!

This week was good. We're still teaching Alexandre and Eugene. We taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ and word of wisdom last Saturday and Alexandre and a friend of his Matthew came to church as well. I think Eugene had something pop up but we'll definitely see him on Saturday again. Elder Statie really enjoys teaching Alexandre and Eugene because they understand Spanish even though they primarily speak Portugese. 

So the bikes are okay in Mullingar. Mine got a flat this week but we were able to repair it. We don't usually use them every day but we use them often enough to get to some of the more far out places on the outskirts of Mullingar. Sadly it isn't really possible for us to bike to other towns in our area like Athlone of Tullamore.

So also this week we're having an all-ireland conference again but Elder De Feo from the Area Presidency is coming to visit. So we've been asked to study chapter one of preach my gospel and how we can better work with members. So that's what I've been studying this week. It's been really interesting how no matter where we are in life or the problems we face there is some aspect of the gospel that can help us if we turn to Jesus Christ. I also was asked to give a talk in church yesterday on forgiveness. It was good but I mainly focused on how it can be easy for us to get angry with other people and their decisions but when our Heavenly Father forgives us He forgives and looks at our potential so if we are struggling to forgive someone we can look at their potential and not focus as much on their actions and decisions at the moment.

I hope you guys have a great week! 

Love ya,

Elder Calley

 But here's Elder Statie, Elder Kilgour and me on the ferry to Belfast.

By the way we have only had one district meeting with Dundalk. The original plan was to skype but I think it got changed to them coming here. We don't have district meeting until next week due to all-ireland.

Week 87: Mullingar is Great!!!

Sept. 10, 2018

Hey guys!!!

So this week has been interesting. It's been kind of deja vu since I have been here before when I was in Sligo but it's good at the same time. 

So Elder Statie and I saw a miracle when we were chapping last Monday, literally our first day together, and we chap into these two Brazilian guys named Eugene and his brother Alexandre. Alexandre answered the door and saw that we talk about Jesus Christ and just let us in. We taught the two of them the restoration and came back on Saturday to teach the plan of salvation and they came to church with us yesterday! They are super cool and we're going to see them again on Saturday.

Church was good yesterday too. We had Alexandre and Eugene there and it was also the primary presentation for the branch. They have about 10 primary kids and I was asked to play all the primary songs that they sung which I discovered that I don't really know any songs from the children's songbook really well. It went okay though. I'm once again the pianist in the branch which is nice and it brings back a lot of memories from when I had to play the organ.

So Mullingar doesn't have a car but we have bikes to get around. There really isn't a lot of public transportation in Mullingar since it is pretty small. This transfer they actually don't have missionaries in Sligo. We don't cover their area though and we're in a district with Dundalk now. However on the bright side the flat in Mullingar is just as big as the Sligo flat which is nice.

Love you guys!!! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 86: Back to Ireland

Sept. 3, 2018

Hey guys!

So this week was kind of crazy. So there were some e-moves in the mission and I got moved from Motherwell to Mullingar. I'm also no longer with Elder Kilgour and my new companion is Elder Statie (it's pronounced Stotsy though) and he is from a small island in the Carribean called Bonaire just off the coast from Venezuala. He's been in the mission for about a week now and is really funny.

My last week in Motherwell was good. I said goodbye to everyone and we taught William about ministering and what a ministering appointment consists of. It was interesting because the last Sunday I was there the third hour lesson was on ministering but we got asked to do something for sharing time in primary and so we walked in late and I thought the lesson at first was on member missionary work. I guess it just goes to show that ministering is very similar to missionary work except instead of teaching non-members you visit members.

So a little bit more about Mullingar. It's a town of about 20,000 people right in the middle of Ireland. They have a branch here that averages about 40 people a week and that's about all I know so far. I didn't get here until late Saturday night so we got to meet the branch yesterday. They all seem very nice. It's been interesting finding where everything is since we're whitewashing but I'm sure it'll be an adventure this week.

In my personal studies this week I've been studying the end of Jacob, Enos, Jarom, and Omni and it's pretty interesting to see their different experiences they had with teaching the people. Each of them had some form of apostasy occurring during their time whether it was on a larger scale or within themselves. Both Jacob and Enos turned to prayer before they were able to help others or themselves come closer to God. It was just a really good reminder for me that no matter the situation we can always turn to our Heavenly Father when we are faced with a situation where we don't know what to do and He can help us to know how we can best face our situations.

By the way here's my last Scottish word for a while. Apparently if you say to someone that they're grassing you then it means they're lying to you. I hadn't heard that word used before like that so I'm pretty sure it's a Scottish phrase/word.

I love you guys! Have a great week!!!

Elder Calley