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