Week 66 Still in Sligo

April 16, 2018

Hey guys!

So transfers came and went and I am staying in Sligo. However, Elder Derry left and went to a suburb of Dublin but my new companion is Elder Fisk. He is from Springville, Utah and has only been out four weeks and is a really good missionary. So I am really looking forward to serving with him this next transfer.

On Thursday we did get to hear from President Nelson and Elder Holland. It was awesome! There was a missionary broadcast at two and a general membership broadcast at 7. President Nelson and Elder Holland and their wives talked about a lot of different things. They talked about how Jesus Christ directs His church through a prophet and how President Nelson has been called to be the current prophet. They talked about a few different attributes that President Nelson had, like how he listens more than he speaks, he has great love for his family and the people he serves, and he is also very humble and has a good sense of humour. Sister Nelson talked about how she has been a witness to President Nelson receiving revelation and how he truly has been called to the prophetic calling. President Nelson touched on how each of us can receive revelation and some steps that we can take. He told all of us missionaries that by the end of our missions, we should be tri-lingual. We should know our mission language, our companion's language, and the language of the Spirit. President Nelson also left the U.K. with a blessing promising that the people here would be able to delight in the scriptures as well as a few other things that I wrote down but can't recall.

So as far as the area goes, we weren't able to see Ovis this week but we met with Kaya and taught her and her friends bits and pieces of the Plan of Salvation and restoration. We have a few appointments set up with various people we met so hopefully they hold. As far as the weather goes, it was fourteen degrees celsius yesterday so I think that's 57 degrees Fahrenheit or so. So the weather is lovely over here. I still can't believe that you guys got snow and church was cancelled. The weather is so different over here.

I love you guys! Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Calley

Week 65: Last week of the Transfer

April 9, 2018

Hey guys!

This week has been great! I'm sorry you guys have had some cold weather, it seems to be a lot warmer here than back home. It's rained almost every day this week which I guess isn't much of a surprise but it was about 60 degrees yesterday and on Saturday.

It was exciting to hear all of the changes from General Conference. A lot of people bore their testimony on things they learned from General Conference in church yesterday and we had a good discussion on the changes in Elders quorum. In the Sligo branch the Elders and High Priests already met as one because of our small numbers.

Speaking of church we were able to get Ovis to come for the first two hours. We taught Ovis about a week or two ago but see him on the street all the time. He came to church before one time and likes coming to church if he is able to but is struggling to understand why we need to repent. So we are hoping to see him later this week on Wednesday or Thursday to share about the commandments.  We haven't been able to visit with Kaya again but we are supposed to meet with her Thursday. We also taught a guy named Von who had a few questions like happens to us after we die and what is heaven like? So we taught him the plan of salvation and are hoping to meet with him on Friday. This week we definitely had prayers answered. Not huge ones but I am very grateful for the opportunity we have to communicate with our Heavenly Father. I know that when we do He will bless our lives and help us in those things that we need in His time.

So later this week we are going to be able to hear from President Nelson and Elder Holland when they address. We have to travel  to Dublin for that on Thursday at 7pm. I am super excited to be able to hear the prophet address us again!

I hope you guys have a warmer and fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 64: Wow! That's a lot of changes

April 2, 2018

Hey guys! General Conference was awesome! Elder Derry and I got to watch every session except for the Sunday Afternoon Session. So I didn't know Home and Visiting Teaching got dissolved until I read your email this morning. Wow there were a lot of changes that happened this conference. There were a lot of good messages as well. I really enjoyed President Nelson's closing remarks Sunday Morning on how we need to make the effort to seek revelation for ourselves. 

Well, the rest of the week was good. We taught a lady named Kaya this week. She has ran into the Mormons before but decided to meet up with us this time. She goes to the Church of Ireland reguraly but is open minded. We're hoping to meet her again tomorrow or Tuesday.

This week was also Easter. Easter here seems to be more like Thanksgiving back home because everyone just gets together for a meal or they do the typical Irish thing to do on the weekend. There were quite a few people who asked us if we do anything special for Easter or Good Friday. We told everyone about how we get to listen to a prophet on Easter and how we can remember the Saviour's sacrifice for all of us and use the gift he has given to us. 

We also had our All-Ireland Conference which was really good. There was a lot of stress on teaching the doctrine of the sabbath day and how covenants that investigators make are between themselves and God.

I am so grateful to be able to serve out here in Ireland. I know that Jesus Christ leads and guides His church through President Nelson. I am grateful for the people I get to meet and help come closer to the Saviour. I hope you guys have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 63: Conference/Easter weekend

March 26, 2018

Hey guys!

This week has been nice and warm. The winter weather has broken and it has been nice and sunny for most of the week. We also moved the clocks an hour forward yesterday. A lot of people were late to church.

As far as our investigators go, Mark dropped us but we taught a lady named Success that is from Nigeria. She is Pentecostal but wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon. We're hoping to meet with her some more this week.

We also have All-Ireland tomorrow and General Conference this weekend. I am so excited to be able to hear our Prophet and Apostles speak. It's interesting that it's on Easter too. I've had a few people that I've GQ'd this week ask me what time the Easter mass for the Mormon church is and I tell them it's at 5pm because we'll be listening to a Prophet and they'll usually wonder who the prophet is and it leads into a nice conversation. It's kind of weird watching the Sunday Morning session at 5pm but it's still fantastic! We'll be watching conference at the church.

Easter is a big event here in Ireland. All of the kids and college students get two weeks off for Easter break, they sell big chocolate eggs here for Easter, and most amazingly the pubs here close on Good Friday. The only other time they do that is on Christmas. I am so grateful that we get to celebrate the Saviour's Atonement and Resurrection. I am grateful for His sacrifice and love for each of us so that we can be able to live with our Heavenly Father again.

I hope you guys have a great Easter!

Love,

Elder Calley

Week 62: Staying in Sligo

March 19, 2018

Megalithic Burial Cairns

Hey guys!

So transfers came and went and I am staying here in Sligo with Elder Derry for a third. You guys must have heard before I did because this transfer is only four weeks due to President Nelson visiting the UK. 

St. Patrick's Day was great. There were a lot of people out in Sligo that came to watch the parade that was going on. So we had plenty of people to stop. We had to be in by six though because it gets pretty crazy in the evening. In the morning there were a lot of families out but after about two everyone was in a pub or at least off the streets. St. Patrick's Day is more like a Fourth of July for Ireland except there aren't any fireworks. St. Patrick's Day was definitely bigger in Waterford than Sligo since it is a bigger city.

We also taught a guy named Mark this week. He's about 20-21 and is a mechanic and Protestant but he doesn't attend church much. He would want his faith to be stronger but he also wants more evidence that God is there. We were teaching him the restoration and at the end of the lesson we asked him how he felt and he said good, he told us that he didn't need to come into town but he did and he ran into us and he doesn't think it was a coincident. He agreed to read the Book of Mormon and get baptized as he comes to know of its verity. We're planning to meet with him on Wednesday. We have a couple other appointments this week as well.

I have been studying in 3 Nephi when the Savior comes to visit America and I was really impressed by the love that Christ shows to the people there. In 3 Nephi 17:5-6 it talks about how Jesus tells the multitude that He must go but the multitude looked "steadfastly as if He might tarry a little longer." And then Jesus has compassion and heals them and blesses their little children. These verses just made me think of how dear the people held to the things that Christ taught them and wanted more. It made me wonder if we hold the gospel as a precious treasure because I have definitely seen the change that having the gospel in someone's life can make. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and the blessings that I have received from living it.

Love you guys! Have a great week!

Elder Calley

St. Patrick's Day decoration in Sligo

St. Patrick's Day parade in Sligo

Week 61: Snow is over and St. Patrick's is coming!

March 12, 2018

Hey guys! This week was a lot warmer than last week. There was sun almost everyday. I haven't seen much St. Patrick's gear up in Sligo though.

This week we taught a guy named Declan. He lives in Sligo but he met missionaries in Dublin about 2 weeks ago. We later met him in Sligo and were eventually able to give him a church tour. Afterwards we taught him the Restoration. He had a lot of questions because he comes from a Catholic background and is still quite strong in his faith. He asked a lot about Joseph Smith and how is it possible to know if he was a prophet. We told him that others have wondered the same question and that is why God brought forth another book of scripture, the Book of Mormon through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We had him read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and Moroni 10:3-5 and explained that by reading and asking God if the Book of Mormon is true we can know if Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. He said that he is willing to change if he gets an answer to his prayers. We are planning to see him again on Thursday.  I am very grateful for the Book of Mormon and the truths that it holds. Our mission president has placed an added emphasis on using the Book of Mormon to answer questions and to use it in finding because it is part of our unique message to the world.

Well church was good yesterday. I was the only speaker in sacrament meeting. We had a really great Priesthood lesson on Elder Uchtdorf's talk Yearning for Home from last general conference. We talked about how each of us have a yearning for our heavenly home and how the main motivation for that is love. I am grateful for the love that God has for each of us and the chance we have to return to our heavenly home through our Saviour. 

I hope you guys have a great week!

Love you guys!!!,

Elder Calley

Week 60: Irish Snow Storm

March 5, 2018

Hey guys so this week we had an Irish winter wonderland. We got about an inch or two of snow (pretty wimpy to back home) but the rest of the country got about ten to twelve inches. It's pretty rare for Ireland to get a lot of snow so they shut down all the shops, trains, buses, and schools all across Ireland for a few days. All the missionaries in our zone got told to stay inside for about two days. So we spent a lot of time calling everyone on the phone and memorizing Joseph Smith History because we had been invited to do so by our zone leaders. The snow here in Sligo melted after about a day so we didn't have an opportunities to shovel any walks but everything was still cancelled so we weren't able to meet with any of the people we planned. Elder Derry and I were suprised that such a small amount of snow could bring the town to a halt. Back home it would take a foot or two of snow to cancel anything. Other places like Mullingar and Dublin had enough snow that church was cancelled yesterday. Sligo was the only unit that met yesterday. We only had sacrament meeting though because some members have an hour or so drive to get back home. Testimony meeting was fantastic though we were small in numbers. We did teach a couple of lessons but the people we taught weren't able to meet with us again since they were leaving for Canada this week. The lesson that we teach the most is the restoration. We haven't been able to get a hold of Ovis or Edna yet though we stopped by her house a few days ago but she wasn't in. We got a few appointments set up for this week though.

As far as St. Patrick's day goes there haven't been any decorations up yet. I'm sure there will be in the next week or so.

I love you guys,

I hope you have a great week!

Elder Calley