This week has been pretty great. I love Irvine!
On Tuesday was district meeting; I think it went pretty well! I tried to help the district understand why missionaries in our mission struggle to have success. I talked about how, from my experience, it mostly comes down to the fact that people don't know what to teach, how to teach, or how to act when speaking to people.
Emphasis was laid on sharing the message of the Restoration and teaching/testifying naturally in conversation. On how to act we came to the conclusion that we must be kind, inviting, and boldly humble. Attributes that I'm far from perfect on! I hope everyone in the district including myself can learn how to feel more comfortable teaching people and helping them envision change in themselves.
After district meeting we went to do some service down in Ayr. This week is Remembrance Week in Scotland, so we went to polish a large plaque that displays the names of some of the men who gave their lives for freedom in this country.
The rest of the week we had some fun work! We did a lot of finding. The greatest.
Some members took us out for lunch at a cafe and I had black pudding for the first time. It was really good, but boy did I feel it's after-effects! I won't go into detail.
On Friday the Irvine sister's recent convert, Michael, came out on splits with us. We had planned to just go to a couple of potential appointments with him, but he ended up staying with us for 5 hours! He is great. He just got baptised a week ago and he's already preparing for a mission.
The weekend was hilarious. We had some seriously funny (and moving!) experiences while teaching people in the street, including, but not limited to teaching drunk heroin addicts and praying for them. There are a couple of great guys we hope to meet with this week to invite them to seek God's help in turning their lives around.
Yesterday we met a less-active woman who joined the church 11 years ago but hasn't been coming for quite a long time. Her name is Kate and she has had a really hard life. Dismissing her hard upbringing, in the past two years she's contracted throat cancer and a rare kidney disease, the former resulting in multiple operations that have changed her life. One of them involved removing her voice box, so now she has a permanent hole in her throat and she cannot speak. Her only communication comes from pushing air from her diaphragm and mouthing words with her lips. She is a wonderful woman who I'm excited to continue to talk with and hopefully help make choices that will lead her to a joyful life and a peaceful eternity with our Heavenly Father.
I hope we're all aware of the blessed situations we are in in our lives and we can all learn to be humble and thankful without having to experience the pain firsthand that comes from being naturally selfish in this confused world.
I love you all and I want you to know how thankful I am for my life and this opportunity I have to serve in remembrance of our Savior.
Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.
-Alma 26: 36-37
Love,
Elder Clement
Sparklers at a members home
A bee we found in our jam
A picture from our muscial FHE in Galway before I left
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