June 12, 2017

So this week was really good! The weather was mental for summer, but I guess that is Scotland for you. We had alternating periods of freezing downpours, and then we would be roasting in the sun. In the same day. the morning would be Baltic, so you know, you put on an extra layer, and then come 3 o’clock, it feels like June again and you are dying because you are wearing said extra layer. So it's been fairly bipolar this week! haha! But it was good!

We had the opportunity this week to visit a few people and have some good conversations! First off, we met a guy named Kearon. He was pretty funny. He was absolutely hammered, but it was a functioning hammered. (Until my mission I didn’t know that was possible) but ya! He was a nice guy. He had met missionaries some 4 years ago and he recognized us and called us over to his corner of the alleyway. We just got talking and he was saying that a lot of his family had passed away and that he didn’t want to change religions. He opened up about some of his struggles, and we were able to tell him that he will see his family again and that God can help him. Also just joking around a bit as well. Even though he didn't want to meet or learn, he accepted a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and took our number. But it felt good to be able to tell him about God's plan for him.

Then we met this guy named Martin. He is a nice guy. He has met missionaries before as well. He is a former investigator and the friend of a member. So we ran into him in the street and he invited us over. He has got a lot of struggles as well. We talked to him about all the things that are possible with the gospel and shared some of 2 Nephi 2 with him. He liked it. He wants to have us over for dinner sometime so we will see how that goes. Hopefully he will decide to take the lessons again.

Other than that, we had a funny experience this morning. So lately, this dog has been going mental every night and every morning in our flat building. It only started 4 or 5 days ago. So somebody called the police when the dog was barking at about 1 am last night. So this morning the police came to our door. Now, it's not very often that we get people knocking OUR door, so I was curious. The Police officer just wanted to ask if we knew the person with the dog and if we had seen them lately. We were talking for a minute and after they finished their questions, they headed off. When I came back into the room, Elder Rodriguez was like, "Who was that?" and I said, "The Police" and he goes, "Why?" so I tell him what happened and he is like, "Oh that's good. When Police knock the door I think, OH NO! WHO DIE? SOMEONE DIE! I’M LEGAL!!"

So basically he was freaking out in the other room that the police were gonna ask if he was legal. (He is legal though, so nobody worry)

OH and earlier in the week, we were blessed with a particularly strong downpour, BUT there was no wind, so we were able to use UMBRELLAS. For anyone that is unaware, you might be thinking, "Elder, why don’t you use an umbrella all the time?" Well my answer in the 99.9% of the time, rain comes with some crazy wind. And wind's favorite food is umbrellas. They will eat it up and completely destroy it. And then once your umbrella is incapacitated, it will start raining harder. It's almost like a sick joke of nature. But anyway, we were in the town, and I got tired of holding my umbrella, so I decided to insert it in between my back and my backpack to see how it would work. And I will tell you, it was genius! Plus, I didn't even look that stupid! Well, Elder Rodriguez thought I looked dumb, but I felt like a beacon of ingenuity and clever wit on the street. Please see attached photo

Anyway! Love you all!

-Till the work is done

-Elder Mickelsen