Week 100: December means it's Christmas

Dec. 10, 2018

Hey guys!

This week was good. We're still teaching Mitch. He's reading the Book of Mormon and came with us to volleyball last Friday but wasn't able to make it to church. We're hoping to get him to come this week and will be seeing him again on Wednesday. Otherwise there has been a lot of finding this week.

So tomorrow is All-Ireland and so we're going up to Dublin today. It should be very good. 

Oh yeah a week from last Saturday was the branch Christmas party. It was good. Most of the branch showed up and even a suprise visit from Santa happened for all the primary kids. We were able to get a less active man from El Salvador named Rodolfo to come. He enjoyed it and was excited to meet everyone there.

Yesterday in church there was a sister who gave a talk about moving forward with faith but she related it to the Christmas story. Everyone in the story had to move forward with faith somehow. Whether it be Mary or Joseph who had to have faith that everything would be okay from what had been revealed to them, the sheperds who had to put their faith before their fears and follow the angel to see Jesus, or the wise men who only had a star to direct them and yet had the faith it would take them where they wanted to go. I know that as we put faith in God we will see miracles in our lives.

Well I hope you guys have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Calley

Yeah, we've had the introduction to Come, Follow, Me manual in Cork branch and last week we actually had 2 hour church with a potluck after. It was cool to see the difference.

Week 99: Christmas is Coming!!!

Dec. 3, 2018

Hey guys!

This week has been good. We taught a guy named Mitch that goes to the uni here in Cork and another guy named Laszlo from Hungary. They both agreed to read the Book of Mormon but they weren't able to come to church this Sunday. We're seeing them on Tuesday and Wednesday though. 

Yeah so Cork is a decent size city. Thankfully each team of missionaries has their own flat here. We also basically have free run of the city since we all serve within the same branch. So we all get to find and teach anywhere we want in the city but Elder Barlow and I mainly just stay on Patrick Street and Grand Parade which is right in the city centre but sometimes we'll walk down to the uni and GQ around there. By the way the other missionaries in the city are Elder Berry form Wales, Elder Alfonso from Spain, Elder Richardson from England, and Elder Skelton from Arizona. I never realised that it was one of the sunniest and still rains on average 206 days a year. I think this last week counts for at least 5 or 6 of those.

So I haven't done too many fun things in Cork. Usually for p-day we play rugby or american football which is pretty fun. Actually now that I think about that I have done some fun things. Every Friday the branch does volleyball for YSA and if we as missionaries bring investigators along then we can go too. It's a lot of fun.

So this week I've been studying Alma 56 about the 2,0000 stripling warriors and the faith they had instilled in them by their mothers and how they kept fostering that faith. A few things they had that made their faith what it was were their being steadfast, obeying with exactness, and putting trust in God continually. They didn't doubt in the things that they did but had trust that God would deliver them. I often think that some of these things are things that can easily be forgotten and it was a great reminder for me when I am in situations that I may not necessarily want to be in or that might be hard to be steadfast, obey with exactness, and at the end of the day trust God that everything will be okay. 

I love you guys! Have a great week! Good luck decorating the Christmas tree.

Love,

Elder Calley

Weeks 98: Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Nov. 26, 2018

Hey guys! 

This week was good. Cork has been great so far. The city here is 200,000 something so there are always people to talk to here in the city centre. They also have a Uni called UCC here in Cork so there are a lot of uni students to talk to as well. Everyone tells me the branch here is supposed to be around 100 people but yesterday we got maybe 60 people at church. I think a lot of people were away on holiday. So for Thanksgiving we went over to the Thompson's an American family that moved here from Utah. It was very good food. We also had another Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night at the Kalgari's which was good too. By the way Black Friday actually is a thing here in Cork and Friday night the city was buzzing since all of the shops were open late.

So this week was pretty good. We got a lot of potential people we could teach but it's getting closer to the holiday season and people are just getting more and more busy. But there are still people wanting to meet with us.

This week in my studies I studied Alma 8. How Alma was called to teach the people of Ammonihah and he was rejected pretty hard the first time but when he was asked by an angel to return to the same city that hated him he didn't hesitate to go. He prayed and asked for help and found Amulek but as he connected with God and pressed forward he was able accomplish what God had in store. I like this story because it reminds me that whenever I'm going through a hard time I can pray, reach out to others, and as I continue to be diligent in my efforts then I know that what my Heavenly Father has in store will come to pass maybe not in the time I want it but it will.

So here are some pictures of the city at night. Apparently right before I got here they put up and turned on all the Christmas lights and there's a lot of them here in Cork.

Great to talk to you guys! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 97: Cork it is!

Nov. 20, 2018

Hey guys!

So it's good to hear you got the video from Helen. So yeah I'm all the way down in Cork now. I took a bus from Mullingar to Dublin Sunday night and then a bus from Dublin down to Cork Monday morning. My new companion is Elder Barlow who is the district leader in the Cork district which also includes Waterford. So Elder Barlow is from Taylorsville, Utah, he's been out for 14 months and he's a huge football fan.

This week was nae bad. We were able to get Alexandre to come to church on Sunday which was great! We almost got Dewei to come to church too but we couldn't find him a lift. All the other members had full cars or were out of town.

Yeah Thanksgiving is this week. I keep forgetting since they don't really celebrate here but we have a dinner appointment at one of the members houses for Thanksgiving. I don't really know any of the members here in the Cork branch but I think it's around 100 members who come each week.

This week I've been studying about patience and how a big aspect of patience is handing our will over to God. Often times it can be hard to be patient in things that we want now but I read a cool story in a talk this week. "In the article “Tommy and the Gumball Machine,” Jean Ashby tells the story of her son, Tommy. Her little boy was following her into a store and was allowed a penny to get a gumball out of a machine. His mother continued into the store to get a cart, and the automatic door closed behind her. When Tommy struggled to turn the handle on the gumball machine, he became distressed. His mother noticed, but couldn’t get back through the automatic doors. She indicated that he should take a step towards her, so the doors would open, but he clung to the gumball machine, afraid he wouldn’t get his treasured gumball if he stepped away from it. It seems like some of us are like Tommy by the gumball machine. We feel that God has deprived us of something we really want, when he might actually ask us to step away from it for a time so that he can reward us with it at a later time." I just thought this story was really cool since it really shows how although we want something  now as we turn to God, He will help us. We may not get that righteous thing immediately but I know with God's help we can receive it in His own time as we put trust in Him.

I will try to send you guys some more pictures of Cork this week but here's a picture of Alexandre, me, and Elder Statie

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

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 96: No snow in Ireland :)

Nov. 12, 2018

Hey guys!

So I showed Elder Statie the picture of the car with snow on it and he just said it looked like paradise. He just can't wait for the snow here and I keep telling him he won't see any snow.

This week was not bad. We're still seeing Alexandre every now and then. We're hoping he can receive the Priesthood this week or next. We weren't able to see Dewei this week but he said he would most likely be free this Saturday.

This week I've been studying Ether 12:27 and 3 Nephi 5-8. It's been interesting since in Ether 12:27 it says that if we have faith and humble ourselves then we can receive strength and help from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It made me think that one thing that could be stopping us from having faith and humility or in other words turning to God is pride. In reading 3 Nephi 5-8 the Nephites gained a lot of pride relatively quickly and that is ultimately what stopped them from the Lord being able to bless them and they rejected every opportunity the Lord gave them too. I just thought that was interesting since often times pride can get the best of us and blind our vision and stop others from helping us when we really need help.

Oh yeah we also went on exchanges this week in Dublin. It was really good and also really rainy. Hahaha. Usually when we're there we go to O'Connell Street which is just of the north side of Liffey river. It's one of the busiest streets on the north side of the city.  

Here's a picture of the Quay. We were on the bus leaving and we just missed a nice storm.

Love,

Elder Calley

Here's another picture of the Quay.

Week 95: Winter is Coming!!!

Nov. 5, 2018

Hey guys!

This week has been good. It's been getting colder but it's not bad. Elder Statie keeps asking me where all the snow is and I tell him he'll probably have to wait for Christmas. Elder Statie likes the cold and the rain since he has always had sun and warm temps in Bonaire. It's been a lot of finding this week with a few appointments falling through but we were still able to visit Alexandre this week and taught a good lesson on how the Lord can help us through challenges that we face.

We also weren't able to see Dewei since he had to work overtime again but we'll probably see him this Saturday.

This week should be good. Today is Guy Foxe day. Guy Foxe was a guy who tried to blow up Parliament and people celebrate by building huge bonfires and setting off fireworks. If you're in England they set off fireworks celebrating that he didn't blow up Parliament but in Scotland and Ireland they celebrate that he almost blew up Parliament.

We also have exchanges tomorrow in Dublin which should be fun. Also in my studies this week I studied Alma 37 where Alma is giving counsel to his son Helaman and I like how he mentions the Liahona and how it pointed where Lehi and his family needed to go. I often think our Liahona's are the Holy Ghost and just like the Liahona the Holy Ghost cannot guide us unless we have faith that God can help us and we are diligent in doing our part to make what we need come to fruition.

Sorry I forgot to take pictures again but I hope you enjoy the video I sent you.

Love you!

Elder Calley

Week 94: Happy Halloween!

Oct. 29, 2018

Hey guys! 

This week was good and super cold! I think some of the weather from Minnesota has been blown over to Ireland. Hahaha. We haven't had any snow yet but it's been good. Elder Statie is always amazed at how cold it is and how there isn't any snow on the ground yet.

So as far as teaching goes we're still seeing Alexandre. He is awesome! He's still coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon. We saw Eugene on Saturday as well and we talked about Alma 32:34 and how if our faith is dormant than we won't have increased understanding, enlightenment, or able to find answers to our questions. We invited him to come to church but yesterday morning he woke up sick so he didn't come. We'll continue to work with him though. Also we're teaching this guy from China, Dewei. I'm pretty sure I've told you about him but he lives all the way in Athlone and so we travelled there Saturday to meet with him. He's met with some missionaries in Belfast and loves studying the scriptures but was a little cautious about committing to church since it is an hour away. However, we told him we could arrange a lift for him if he could come and he told us maybe this week.

The rest of this week was good. We had All-Ireland on Tuesday which was great! Also Halloween is pretty big here in Ireland. Everyone is decorating and every once in a while you see some kids dressed up in their costumes.

Well I hope you guys have a great week! 

Love you guys a lot!

Elder Calley