March 7, 2016

Hello Everybody! Another week has come and gone.  This week was a little slow, so the update isn't very long or very interesting.  Sorry about that, but hey! That's the moves week for you! Anyway, here it goes!

MONDAY- was email and clean day so we did just that.  We emailed and then we headed back to the flat and Elder Bates started packing while I cleaned.  Nothing much really to report.  We also had dinner with a member at a place called Eddie Rockets.  It's like this American style diner, so it was pretty great.  But other than that, nothing much to report for Monday.

TUESDAY- was pretty fun. We did some GQing in the morning and then we headed back to the flat so Elder Bates could finish packing since we had to head to Dublin that night.  We also visited 'P.F.', which was good.  So I made some cookies, Elder Bates finished packing and then we headed to Dublin to spend the night with the Zone Leaders since we have a crazy moves day tomorrow.

WEDNESDAY- was nuts! We got up at 5:30 in the morning so we could take Elder Bates and the other missionaries that are moving to the bus station.  That was an early start.  Then the rest of us that didn't move spent a good chunk of the day taxiing other missionaries around to their individual areas.  Once we had a few minutes of free time, we did a little bit of looking around Dublin.  Dublin is a really nice city.  We went to this touristy shop and I got a hoodie and a shirt.  Then at 5:30 in the evening, Elder Giles arrived.  He was born in Utah and has lived in Arizona for a few years but he and his family have lived all over Europe.  Elder Giles spent most of his life in Germany and England.  His parents are in England now for the next three years.  

We quickly rounded up our stuff and headed back to Bray since we had a dinner appointment with the Rosas that evening.  The dinner went well, they made pork chops and chips.  It was nice.  Then we headed home and absolutely crashed from the exhaustion.  Good day though.

THURSDAY- We had some weekly planning.  Always good doing weekly planning, especially with a new companion.  After planning, we made a stop by McDonald's and got a Shamrock Shake.  Yes, everybody, that is correct.  I had a shamrock shake.  In March.  In Ireland.  It was as awesome as it sounds.  After that, we spent a good chunk of the day doing some finding and Elder Giles unpacked.  Thursday was great.

The Shamrock Shake, in March, in Ireland!

FRIDAY- was awesome!  We did finding pretty much all day and then we had a meal appointment with Tom and John McDaid.  They are really nice guys.  They fed us ramen.  My first Ramen meal appointment.  It was great!  But we just had a really good time on Friday.

SATURDAY- was great, too.  The weather was absolutely fantastic!  It was really warm and sunny in the morning! It was so great!  It made finding so much better but later that evening, we went to the seafront to go GQing and no joke- a giant hail storm hit right as we stepped onto the boardwalk.  It was really crazy!  But it was kind of fun to just stand there and watch people run all over the place seeking shelter.  Gave us a good chuckle.  Then we did some more finding to finish off the night and we called it a day.

SUNDAY- was nice and relaxing.  We had church, which was good.  It was fast and testimony meeting and also Mother's Day, so there were a lot of good testimonies.  Then after church, we went over to the Jackson's house so Elder Giles could Skype his family.  That was really fun.  I didn't Skype though.  I gotta wait until May when it's Mother's Day in America.  After that, we headed back to Bray to have dinner at President Bunda's house.  They made this really good spaghetti stuff.  I have never eaten so much in my life.  Fasting this week made me starving.  It was great.  But that was Sunday!

Well this week wasn't the best in terms of finding potentials,  but we are looking to turn that around in the coming weeks!  People are becoming more hardened by the day!  And we need to work harder to combat that!  The Lord will bless his people.  I know this to be true.

Till the work is done!  Love you all!

-Elder Mickelsen

February 29, 2016 LEAP YEAR!!!

Hello again everybody!  This week was nuts! It went by really super fast, and it also had a lot of stuff going on.  Holy cow, I'm exhausted after this week! But this week has made me see the importance of this work!

MONDAY- was LONG! We had spent the night at the Zone Leader's flat the night before so I could go and get my GARDA card in the morning.  (A GARDA card is basically an Irish Visa) So we woke up at about 3:30am and then we got ready so we could leave at 4:30 to get to the station by 5am.  So we got up, got ready and then the Elders that needed to get the cards waited outside the GARDA station until 8am.  It took forever and it was freezing! But we're all good.  I was prepared.  After we got let in, we started the process of getting the card.  Some missionaries told me that it would take all day but we got done in about an hour and a half.  So we were out and done by 9:30.  It was pretty great!

Afterwards, we got to hang around Dublin for a bit, and then we headed to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Done-Leary) to email.  After that, Elder Bates and I headed back to the flat and relaxed for a bit.  Then we went shopping.  Afterwards, we did some finding to finish off the night.  I finally went to bed at 9:30.  So I had had a very very LONG day.  But it's all good.

TUESDAY- We had District Meeting.  It was very good.  I gave some instruction on how to have an uplifting personal study and the rest of the meeting went really well actually.  After the meeting, we headed back to Bray.  We had lunch and then we went and visited a less active named, 'P.F.' He is a really nice guy.  We read Ether 2 with him and went over the concept of problem solving.  It was a good lesson.  We are starting to break through to him.  Sometimes he doesn't listen, but we finally got him engaged in the lesson this time.  Woo!  After 'P.F.', we went chapping for the rest of the day.  It was pretty good.  We didn't get any potentials, but the people were nice for the most part.

WEDNESDAY- was nuts.  We did finding all day.  All day.  We started off in a neighborhood that is relatively close to our flat, and then we headed to a neighborhood that is on the other side of town.  It was a long day.  Lots of people were talked to, but no one interested.  But it is all good.  We have our good investigators, so it's fine.  Then, on Wednesday night, we had dinner with 'T'.  She is an investigator.  She joined the church years ago and then she left and now she wants to join again, so we have been teacher her.  She made some good curry and chocolate pudding.  It was pretty good.  Then we gave her a blessing because she is sick.  Hopefully she gets better!

THURSDAY- was a nightmare!  We had to go to Wicklow for a service project, so we were supposed to catch a bus at 11:30 but Elder Bates forgot hi leap card back at the flat.  We had to run back and then we missed the bus.  So we waited another hour for the next bus, and when we got on, there wasn't enough money on his card for the ticket, so we had to get off. The next bus came 30 minutes later, so we ran back to the flat to grab some money and then we missed the next bus.  Finally at 2:45, we caught a bus and we were all good.  We went to a lady's house named 'A'.  She fed us a really big lunch and then we went out and mowed her lawn and clipped her hedges.  It was a good service project.  Then we headed back to Bray to teach our English class.  That went well.  We had 4 Brazilian students there.  So it was pretty fun.  But that was Thursday.

FRIDAY- To start off, we did some chapping in one of the neighborhoods we have been working on and then we went to the Branch Mission Leader's house for lunch, which was pretty great.  They made some dang good chili.  Then we headed back to Bray and did our weekly planning since we didn't get a chance to have it yesterday.  So we did our planning and then we had a few try by's later in the evening, but they fell through.  Turns out, one was a fake address as well  So it was a little bit of a bummer, but we just kept on going in the area to finish off the night.

SATURDAY-was pretty good.  We taught 'A'.  She is a really golden investigator! We taught her the Plan of Salvation last time and she told us this time that it really made sense to her.  So this time, we taught her about Prophets.  It was such a good lesson.  She was involved and actively participating.  It was great.  After that lesson, we headed home to grab some lunch and then we headed back out to do some finding.  It was pretty good.  We didn't find a lot of people during that time we were there, though.  So it was a little odd.  After that, we went to the church building to set up the chairs and fill out the progress record for our Branch correlation meeting tomorrow.  Then we went and taught the 'M' brothers.  They are two brothers who are less active but they are really good guys.  Then we finished off the night with some pizza from Apaches.  It was pretty great!

Elder Mickelsen and Elder Bates

SUNDAY- was good.  It was Branch Conference today so all the stake leaders were there.  They talked a lot about working towards our goals and working hard.  It was a really great meeting.  After that, Elder Bates and I had some lunch and then we went and did some finding while we waited for our dinner appointment with the Bundas.  It was a really good dinner appointment  The Bundas are a really great family.  We are teaching their son since he is getting ready for baptism.  It was a really great time.  After that, we headed home and awaited our moves call.  

And the verdict is: Elder Bates is leaving!  I will be staying in Bray!  I am really excited to stay! I really love it here!  I will be sad to see Elder Bates leave but we had some good times.

Anyway, that is my week!  It was crazy! Sometimes the work can be exhausting and demanding but it is all worth it in the end!

Til the work is done!

-Elder Mickelsen

February 22, 2016

Hello again everybody! This week has been lightning! So quick! It was just go, go, go! I am having so much fun! This week was filled with lots of travel, exchanges, and some really good times.  So here we go!

MONDAY- was p-day.  We just did our regular pday thing.  We were supposed to be in Dublin early to get my GARDA card but that was rescheduled to today (Feb 22) So anyway, we emailed and then we went and got hot chocolate, and then we headed back to the flat and we played Star Wars Imperial Assault.  It was a really fun board game that Elder Bates has.  That is how we wasted the rest of Pday.  Then we headed out and did some GQ-ing to finish out the day.  All in all, a pretty good day.

TUESDAY- We had District Meeting.  It was a pretty good meeting.  We talked a lot about the traits we need to be the best missionaries that we can be.  So it was a pretty great meeting.  After that, I went on exchange with Elder McCappin, our district leader.  He is from Australia.  We had to travel all the way down to the bottom of our area for a lesson with a recently reactivated member named, 'C'.  That was a dang long train ride.  Like, 2 hours.  It was crazy.  The lesson went well.  We covered the things we need to do to feel the Holy Ghost more in our lives.  So it was pretty great.  After that, we headed back home, ate some McDonald's and then did some GQing to finish off the night.

WEDNESDAY- was pretty good.  Elder McCappin and I spent the morning in Dun Laoghaire. We were GQing on the pier and we met this guy named 'E'.  He said he would like to learn and that he was available right then and there.  So we took him to a cafe and we taught him a little bit of a lesson.  Then he had a friend show up and we were able to teach her a bit as well.  She wasn't as interested, and 'E' doesn't live in our area.  But we did draw maps of the countries where we live, and everybody was rather impressed that I could draw America and give a rough outline of where the States are.  So that was a plus.  Then after that, we traveled back to Dublin to exchange back.  Then we came back and we had a lesson with 'P.F', a less active.  It went alright.  The Branch President wasn't us to do the self reliance lesson with him, but he really doesn't get much form them, so we suggested trying to teach the missionary lessons again.  So we'll see how that goes.  And that was Wednesday.

THURSDAY- was crazy!! We had to help a member move some furniture in the morning, but we got on the wrong bus since we had the wrong address for them.  So we got on the wrong bus since we had the wrong address for them.  So we ended up taking a few hours to try and find out where we were and to find buses and to get back where we needed to be.  Finally, we made it to them and we helped out.  So it all worked out in the end.  Then afterwards, we headed back to Bray and made some lunch and then did our weekly planning.  Which was pretty fun.  Then afterwards, we taught our English class.  It went pretty good.  We had the students give presentations on topics of their choice, so it went well.  Then we headed home and passed out for bed.

FRIDAY- was okay.  We taught 'C' which was alright.  We aren't' really sure if he wants to learn, or if he is just going for informational purposes.  He has moments that hint to both.  But we are supposed to keep teaching him this week, so we are gonna find out and then make some real progress.  Afterwards, we headed to Dun Laoghaire again.  But it was rough.  I was pretty sick that day, and I was trying to work through it, but I just realized that it would be better to rest than to kill myself in the rain and cold when I was as sick as I was.  So, I regretfully admit that I went back to the flat and took a nap for an hour to finish off the night.

SATURDAY- was awesome.  We started off the day by chapping in an area just next to our flat.  We are starting to get an organized plan of attack aging for this area now.  After that, we had some lunch, and then we GQed main street.  It was pretty happening.  Not any potentials, but it was all good.  We did teach a referral that we received, though.  It was him and his whole family! So we got 8 new investigators on Saturday!  Hopefully the whole family progresses, but we will see how it goes.  After that, we set up the chairs at the church, and then we went and saw, 'T.M.' It was a good lesson.  We read 2 Nephk 2 with him.  That is a dang good chapter.  I couldn't believe how good it was.  It just hit me in that lesson.  Anyway, after that, we headed home for the night after a good day's work.

SUNDAY- We had church, which was really good.  We had some good speakers and some less actives there, so it was a great day.  We also had a really good Elder's Quorum and Sunday School lesson as well.  So church was really good.  After that, we GQed around Bray and then we had a Dinner Appointment at President Bunda's house.  They make some pretty good food.  And we also shared a quick spiritual thought and we were able to talk about missionary work.  It was really rushed since we had to go back to our flat so the Zone Leaders could pick us up and take us to their flat to spend the night to come with us to get my GARDA card. (That is the story for next week).  And that was Sunday.  Well, that was my week!  It was awesome! I love missionary work more and more each day! It is the best! Nothing brings me more joy than to see people coming closer to Jesus Christ.  And nothing brings me more sadness than to see people drift further and further away.  The Church is true, this work is marvelous, and I love every last bit of it!

Til the Work is Done!

-Elder Mickelsen

February 15, 2016

Another week gone! Holy cow! This past week has been crazy! From talking to people and then finding a very interesting mystery odour in our flat, this week has been crazy! So buckle up and prepare yourselves, here we go.

MONDAY- is Pday.  So, we emailed and then we looked around Dun Laoghaire for a bit.  It is kind of a pain to have to take the train a half hour to the library, but it is a beautiful train ride.  It's absolutely, extremely legit.  So in Dun Laoghaire, we looked at some shops and then picked up some groceries.  Then we headed back to the flat and tried to plan our next Pday move.  Nothing much really came from it, as I am absolutely shattered form traveling all week, so we took a little bit of a rest day. (But now I am hyper as ever, so we are gonna go harder this week!) But Monday night we had a try by, but she decided she really wasn't interested, so we moved her record to the former section and went finding for the rest of the night.

TUESDAY- Low and behold, we went to Dublin!  Again! Thant means I have been to Dublin 5 times in the last 6 days.  It it pretty ridiculous, though.  I do love Dublin.  There are tons of people.  Definitely a good tourist place.  Couldn't live there though.  Anyway, we had our District Meeting, which was pretty good and then we traveled back to our area to go finding like mad.  We also had a lesson with 'A'.  She is the Au pair of one of the families in our brach and she is super solid.  She is from Brazil and is Catholic, but she does like some of the aspects of the Gospel.  We taught her and it was a really good spiritual experience.  It was pretty great  Afterwards, we went to go teach a less active named, 'P.F.'  He is so eccentric.  He lives alone and really likes video games so the branch president is trying to get us to teach the self-reliance lessons to him, so it went okay.  It was weird talking to someone who knows a lot about video games, though.  I haven't had that in a while.  There are a ton of gamers in Bray.  Sometimes it be a bit annoying, but it's all good.  Then after we taught 'P.F.', we did some more finding and chapping in the area and then we headed home for dinner and bed.  I am really looking forward to the sun staying up longer.  This whole dinner at 8 thing is starting to get annoying.  But the sun stays up longer and longer each day.  Woo!!

WEDNESDAY- was okay, we did some GQ-ing in Dun Laoghaire but it was kind of unfruitful.  It was Ash Wednesday though, so there were a ton of people with ash on their foreheads.  It took me a while to figure that one out.  The people here are nicer, but they still don't really want to hear it.  Lots of atheists here.  It's pretty fun.  After that, we went to Greystones and did some chapping then we came home and went to bed.

THURSDAY- We had our weekly planning.  It was fun.  We are sifting through our teaching pool making sure that we prioritize those who are progressing the best.  We want to help these people progress!  After that, we went to a neighborhood to go chapping.  Not many people were home, though.  But, we did get to talk to some nice people and that made the day.  We also taught English again tonight.  We did mock job interviews as well as teaching the students some basic interview and applicant dialogue.  It was a good lesson.  Afterwards, the night was done, so we turned in for bed.

FRIDAY- Today was pretty good.  We went and taught a guy named 'C'.  He is an interesting one.  He has all these questions about things that don't really matter, and it is hard to get hime to focus on the simple doctrines, but we are working with him.  Hopefully, he will start to progress.  After that, we went back to the neighborhood we were in the other day and we finished that off for the rest of the night.  Nothing much to really report for Friday.  Oh, it was Lincoln's birthday though.  So happy b-day, Abe!

SATURDAY- was pretty fun.  We went to Dalkey in the morning, which is a nice little tourist town right on the ocean.  It was really beautiful.  We had a try by of a guy that we found on a teaching record we found under our couch! So that was fun!  We then headed to Eddie Rockets for lunch which is like an American style 50's diner.  It was pretty good.  They have some dang nice sweet potato fries.  We also went to the church to set up the chairs for sacrament meeting.  And then we also filled out the progress record for this week so we would have it for Branch Correlation in the morning.  And we typed out a list of scriptural references for 'A' on the Plan of Salvation.  After that, we stopped home to drop some things off and we smelled it.  The most disgusting, sour, awful smell I have ever smelled.  Upon further investigation, we found out that someone had given us tupperware full of chili before I got here, and that it had somehow come open and had been leaking for who knows how many days.  It leaked through the bag it was in, and all over the floor.  Don't ask why it wasn't in the fridge.  I have no idea, and quite frankly I have been trying to figure it out myself.  Anyway, after discovering the rancid chili juice, we went to the Tesco across the street and picked up some cleaning supplies and cleaned the kitchen.  The missionaries before us had left it pretty disgusting and it was about time for a good clean.  Elder Bates and I came out on top.  We cleaned the heck out of the place and now it feels like a whole new flat.  It's awesome!  Then it was time for bed.

SUNDAY - was great! We had one investigator at church, so that was awesome.  Her name is 'H' and she has been coming to church for along while now.  She really enjoys it.  She just needs to be baptized now.  I also got the chance to meet some more of the members.  We have a lot of nice people in the branch.  It was a good meeting, although the room is tiny-ish, we had a great meeting.  After church, we had some lunch and then went and tried by 'H's house to see if we could meet with her this week.  We met her Dad outside, who is also investigating, and he said he would call us with a time.  Then we did some finding in the area, and headed back to make some calls to finish off the night.  All in all, a pretty good day.

So that is my week! Kinda slow, but still pretty awesome.  Bray is a good place.  I really love it here. Just remember that the Lord has a purpose for everyone being where they are in that exact moment. You never know when someone is noticing you! And something amazing can come from something unknown!  Love you all!

Til the work is done!

-Elder Mickelsen

February 8, 2016

Beaches of Bray

Hello again everybody! This past week has been pretty great! I have moved, traveled and been all over the place this week! I'll jump right into it since I know everyone is dying to know how things are!

MONDAY- We did the usual P-day things.  We emailed and then we cleaned the flat.  I also spent some more time packing all my crap.  I can't believe I had so much stuff.  Needless to say, some of it stayed behind in good ole Lisburn.  But other than that, nothing much really happened on Monday.  We did get dropped by this guy that let us in earlier that week, but it was all good.  He just didn't want to be associated with anything about Joseph Smith.  We encouraged him to keep praying and then we went on our merry way.  We also went over to the Reid's for dinner.  They made some dang good chicken curry.  It was awesome.  I really am going to miss the members here, but I am so excited to start a new chapter of my mission.

TUESDAY- was crazy.  First off, we headed over to the British Heart Foundation to fill out some paper work for volunteer work, but we didn't end up filling anything out since I am leaving and they said it would be better for Elder Tolk to just bring in his new companion and fill out the necessary forms.  

So then we went to Argos and I got a duffel bag to hold some more of my things to move so everything wasn't so cramped.  Then we headed home and finished packing.  We also had a dinner appointment with the Daniel Hamilton Family, which was really good.  They made this pasta bacon veggie dish thing and it was awesome.  Afterwards, we headed over to the Tesco deli to teach 'N' and to say goodbye.  We had a good lesson and Elder Tolk is going to start teaching her friend, 'A'.  I also went and took pictures with people and then we turned in for dinner and bed since we have a long day tomorrow.

Castle in Dublin

WEDNESDAY- MOVE DAY!! We got up flipping early in the morning to be able to make it into Belfast a little before 6:30am since Elder Plewe, who was staying the night with us, had to be at the train station by 6:30 to catch a ride to Scotland.  Afterwards, we had some crazy times driving around the city to get missionaries and their luggage rounded up so we could all be ready to make our moves.  Finally, at 9:00am, myself and the other Elders headed to the Republic and got on the bus to Dublin.  That is a dang long ride. But, we made it and then we brought all our stuff to the Finglas Chapel and waited there for our new companions.  

Train ride from Dublin to Bray

Once everybody was at the church, we still had half the day left so we walked around Dublin and checked out some of the stuff they have here.  DUBLIN IS SO BIG IT MAKES ME SCARED BUT IT IS SO COOL!! I will have to get some pictures sent off, but i will be working on that this week.  We went to this burrito place called Boojum, where I proceeded to unknowingly order a burrito that would be about the size of a rugby ball.  IT WAS SO INCREDIBLE! I miss good Mexican food!  Then we went and stopped by some toy stores and stuff.  Finally we headed back to Bray.  

Bray Boardwalk

For all of you trying to find a good vacation spot, Bray is so cool!  The train ride to Bray is absolutely stunning!  I was dumbfounded! I was speechless!  My companion, Elder Bates, and I live less than 5 minutes away from the beach! And that is walking!  The scenery is brilliant!  I love it!  I then started to unpack and then we had a dinner appointment.  Ain't no rest for the righteous!  After the dinner, we traveled home and headed to bed.

View of Bray from the Cliffs

THURSDAY- was awesome! We had weekly planning and then we had a lunch appointment with our ward mission leader.  He is really a cool guy.  They made us burgers and fries.  It was delicious.  It was almost like America.  They live in this really posh area called Dun Laoghaire. (pronounced like "Done Leery") It was pretty fun!  I am excited to start teaching here! After we finally finished weekly planning, we did some finding, and then we taught an English class to finish off the night.  Speaking of which, if anybody has any good ideas on how we can teach an English class, give me a shout!  But that was Thursday.

FRIDAY- was hectic.  We had a couple lessons with our investigators, which were their first lessons.  So it went okay.  These two investigators are pretty talkative and have tons of questions.  They just think way too deep about stuff.  So we'll see how they progress in the future.  After the lessons, we traveled back to Dublin to stay the night with the Elders there since we had an All Ireland Conference the next day.  Once we arrived in Dublin, we realized that we forgot our suits so we had to go all the way back to Bray.  We decided to sleep in our own flat and left early the next morning to make it back to the Conference.

SATURDAY- was the Conference.  We had Elder Halstrom, one of the senior presidents of the Seventy, come speak to us.  So it was pretty great.  We learned lots of great things!  After the conference, we stayed in Dublin to blitz the areas with the Terenure Elders.  It was pretty fun.  Elder Perkes and myself taught a few lessons and we did some good finding.  I got a potential investigator named, Bob.  Only the  second guy I have met named, Bob, so it was pretty cool.  Especially since he was middle eastern.  But Saturday was a good day.

SUNDAY- was Stake Conference so we had to travel all the way back to Dublin, again.  It was a great conference.  The train from Bray left late so we got to the conference about 15 minutes late but it was all good.  After the conference, I met some of the members of our branch and then helped give the Melchizedek Priesthood to a recent convert in our branch.  Then we traveled home and did some finding for the rest of the night.

All in all this has been a crazy week! But it has been awesome!  I am excited for this next chapter in Bray and for all the things I will learn here!

Never forget how good the Lord has been to us and to our families!  Always be singing praises to him!

Love you all!!

Til the work is done!!!

-Elder Mickelsen

February 1, 2016

Elder Mickelsen and Elder Tolk's last day together.
Cody is off to Bray!

And there it is folks! January is gone! Done and dusted! It is so hard to believe! My time in Lisburn is also coming to a close.  This coming week I will be moving to Bray.  It is a seaside town just outside of Dublin! I am so excited to be heading to the Republic! I am excited to start this new chapter in my missionary life.

MONDAY- was Pday, I think I am going to stop saying that every week since it is a well established fact now, and the repetition is starting to get a little boring.  But as always, we emailed and then we went to an all you can eat Pizza Hut buffet.  It was glorious.  Never offer missionaries all you can eat.  You will regret it.  Then we spent some time in a book store just hanging out.  It was really relaxing.  After that, we headed to Tesco and got our normal grocery haul and then we went home for some chill out time before our dinner appointment with the Johnsons.  After dinner, which was delicious, especially the mint Oreo cheesecake, to die for! Then we did some try by's in the evening and finally headed home.  Great day.

TUESDAY- We had the last District Meeting of the transfer.  It was a good meeting.  We also got taken to lunch by a member from Holywood.  She took all of us missionaries to Frankie and Bennies.  It was delicious.  I had a classic American waffle burger (forgive me, mother) and then I had a cinnamon ice cream caramel waffle. (You don't have to forgive me for that one) but being the American that I am, and seeing that an Irish restaurant offered a "classic American waffle burger" and having never heard of such a wonderful invention in my entire existence, I reasoned out the pros and cons in my mind and came to the inevitable conclusion of, "What the heck." So I got it.  It was really good.

Afterwards, we traveled back home and Elder Tolk and I GQ-ed the area for a bit and we also went chapping for a minute. Then we went to the Galley for dinner with Sister Kirkpatrick.  It was a chippy restaurant.  Probably not the best choice to get a giant waffle burger for lunch, but I persevered and am still alive! Even though I am pretty sure my blood was like 99% bad decisions that day.  But it is all good.  Then after dinner, we met 'N' and the Bishop at the church to give her a blessing.  That was a good experience for her.  She said she felt the Holy Ghost really strongly.  'N' is doing very well.  After the blessing, we GQ-ed the park for the remaining 45 minutes and then we headed home.  Awesome day!

WEDNESDAY- was good.  We just did some finding all day, and nothing much really happened.  We did have a lesson with a less active named 'I.J', and that was really good.  He even made us a surprise dinner.  He was a really nice guy.  After the lesson, we had to catch the train back from Dunmurry and then we did some chapping.  Good day, though.

Coolest Missionaries around!

THURSDAY- was an interesting day.  We had our weekly planning, which was a little dry since we don't have investigators to plan for right now, but it was still fun.  We got done with it pretty quick.  Then we traveled to Dunmurry again for a few lessons we had set up earlier.  They didn't go through, but we did have some fun buzzing random flats in apartment complex and asking people to let us in.  After not being let into an apartment complex, we went to another try by of a young guy who seemed pretty solid.  Turns out he gave us his grandma's address and she was rather surprised to see us.  But she wasn't interested.  Oh well.

After that, we walked around Dunmurry some more and we got let in by a guy named 'J'.  At first he was like, "I decide when you leave." and at the end he committed to read the Book of Mormon and we set up a return appointment with him.  It was a really spiritual lesson.  Oh the powers of the Holy Ghost!  Then we traveled back to Lisburn for a dinner appointment with our Bishop.  They always have good food.  We chapped on his street for a bit and got a return appointment from his next door neighbor, but that fell through.  

Nevertheless, we were determined to share the gospel with someone.  So, after dinner, we went down an alleyway, (forgive me again, mom) and we talked to this giant smoking dude outside a pub.  (At this point, I take full responsibility for my actions) and he was okay at first.  He was a bit slower than most and he's asked us where we were from.  I said, "Idaho." 
And then he said, "Australia?" 
And I said, "No, America." 
Then he goes, "I've been to Manhattan.  What part of Manhattan are you from?" 
At this point I figured he wasn't going to know what I was talking about so I said, "West." And then Elder Tolk lost it and had to turn around because he was laughing so hard.  The guy pokes him and says, "Who are you laughing at?"
Elder Tolk goes, "Elder Mickelsen." 
And then I go, "I'm cheesy." which makes Elder Tolk laugh even more.  
Then this giant guy, who could be likened to one of the giant cronies in a thriller film goes, "You know what happened to the last guy that laughed at me?"  And he was 2 inches from Elder Tolk's face.  
Elder Tolk says, "What?" 
And the guys goes, "I broke his jaw in 4 places with one punch."
Elder Tolk was like, "Dang." 
Then the guy chilled out somehow and said, "Listen boys, if the police ever ask if you know Big Mark, you never met me.  Got it?" 
And we said, "Yep, Got it." and then we got the heck out of there.  That was awesome!  It was also kind of scary, but awesome!  Then we headed home and hit the hay.

FRIDAY- was a good day, as well.  We had a lesson with a former investigator named, 'G.F.' It was okay.  She doesn't really want to believe, so we just taught and left it up to her.  Afterwards, we just GQ-ed the city centre for a while until we finally talked to this guy named, 'R' who was really nice.  He is our friend now because of the following experience.  The story goes like this: While we were thus engaged in an engaging and riveting conversation with our new chum, 'R', a lady nurse called to us from a distance to help her assist a man who was clearly suffering from the plague of what the Irish call, "Drunk."

We arrived to the rescue and had to peel him off a tree, as he thought he was going to die if he went through.  Finally, we got him to the cab place and they said thy wouldn't take him drunk, so the lady phoned the police.  The police promptly stated that this was an ambulance problem and that he would need to be taken by them.  So she called the ambulance and we waited for an hour.  During this hour, the nurse diagnosed that he had had a stroke and that he was drunk.  And he almost fell off a bench.  All the while, we continued our conversation with 'R'.  Finally, the ambulance came and he didn't want to get in because he thought they were going to cut his clothes off.  I'll never forget spending an hour with the Drunk Stanley.  It was awesome.

SATURDAY- We did a little bit of finding with the Portadown Elders since they came up to help us talk to more people.  It also snowed like mad today, but didn't stick.  It was a pretty fun day.  I got the most violent and angry response to, "Hiya, how are you doing?" Once I asked the question, the man promptly told me to, well, I'll let you figure that one out.  But then we went home and had some lunch and then we walked around Lisburn and talked to all we could.  Good day, though.

SUNDAY- was awesome.  We went to church, which was really fun.  The whole meeting really focused on the Plan of Salvation.  It was a good meeting.  Afterwards, we went home and made some lunch.  We made egg sandwiches and pancakes.  It was delicious.  And then we did a GQ marathon to close out the night.  And then as we were walking around town, we decided to see what a Presbyterian service was like. It was interesting.  Really nice people there, though.  Really nice.  The minister was okay but the people were better.  Then we headed home and got our moves call.  This is when I found out that I am headed to Bray.  It should be really exciting!

Well everybody, that is my week!  Tune in next week for what this upcoming week was like!  Always remember what Christ has done for you and never forget who you can become with his Divine help.

Til the work is done.

-Elder Mickelsen

January 25, 2016

All the Elders came to support Elder Nathan Reid (Cody's hugging him) who just got set apart and is heading to the
Salt Lake City Mission
(Elders Plewe, Parkinson, Penman, Reece, White & Richards)

Another week has come and gone in the blink of an eye!  Hard to believe that January is almost over! I've been gone 6 months already! HOLY COW! Anyway, here's how this last week went…

MONDAY- was Pday. Woohoo!  We did our emailing and some hanging out around Lisburn.  We didn't need to shop since Elder Tolk's parents sent us a shipment of groceries over the weekend, so we were set! (Shout out to Elder Tolk's parents though!) And then for the rest of Monday, we decided to just rest for a while.  I didn't realize how tired I was until I laid down to rest.  That was nice.  After that, we went over to the Harness home for Family Home Evening and dinner, which was very legit.  Then we turned in for the night!

TUESDAY- was awesome!  We had our Zone Interview Training!  It was a good meeting.  We talked a lot about how we can apply the message for real and how to be better missionaries!  It was actually really nice to have a lesson where we learn how to apply our knowledge in real world scenarios and not just have a deep doctrine lesson.  Some missionaries get really into their doctrine and think that we need to be basically living the Law of Moses.  I get a little tired of people taking tiny things and then blowing it up into an hour long sermon.  Honestly.  The Gospel is simple.  Don't over complicate it.  Over complication leads to a sense of worthlessness and thinking that you just can't be what Heavenly Father wants you to be.  So please don't over complicate things!  

Anyway, the rest of the day was good.  We were able to learn some good stuff!  After the conference, Elder Tolk and I went to Portadown for an exchange and I got to drive!  It was so awesome!! I loved it so much!  I was on exchange with the District Leader, Elder White.  It was a good day.

Elder Nathan Reid (who is from Lisburn)
He got called to the Salt Lake City Mission

WEDNESDAY-was pretty good as well.  We were still in Portadown, (and I was still driving.  Did I mention that it is awesome?)  And we went around and GQ-ed all day.  Lots of the people in Portadown are Portuguese so Elder White GQ's them in Portuguese while I just stand there and smile.  It was a good exchange, though.  After that, we drove back up to Belfast and went to the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast.  It was so good.  I received even more instruction on how I can get people to understand the importance of our message.  We are the only church that saves, and I desire the salvation of all souls. 

We then went to McDonald's and headed home.

THURSDAY- was pretty great.  We had our weekly planning, which didn't take very long and then Elder Tolk had a doctor's appointment.  So, we traveled to the doctor and I got to watch the World Championship Bowls on the TV in the waiting area.  If you ever want to feel so much excitement as to be compared to watching a lawn bowls game, shoot yourself in the neck with an elephant tranquilizer dart.  That is a pretty good comparison to how it was.  After the doctor, we headed back to our area and we chapped around for a bit.  No one really wanted to talk us, but no bother!  We just went to the city centre and GQ-ed all the people there.  Really eventful day, that one.

FRIDAY- was pretty fun.  We went to Dunmurry and hunted down a fake address.  Surprise! Surprise! But, when we did call the apartment number, an older lady answered and we asked if she would let us in anyway, and she said no.  So we headed back to Lisburn to spread the good word there!  We were supposed to meet a couple at the church, but they didn't show.  Nevertheless, the good work will roll on.  We did teach our investigators, 'G' and 'A', though.  And that was good.  We had a good spiritual lesson with them.  I think they will progress, but it might not be as speedily as we would like.  But this work is so great!  After that, we traveled to a member's house to teach her the first discussion.  She is kind of lonely so we were really just there for company.  But, she liked hearing the first lesson.  Good day!

SATURDAY-was good.  We taught 'T' and we had a really good lesson with him.  I think we finally broke through.  He committed to come to church and we have a plan and everything to get him there.  Hopefully it works out.  Then we went to the Galley and had some lunch.  Then we GQ-ed the rest of the day away.  We are finding some good potentials.  I am excited for what the future holds!

SUNDAY- was pretty great.  We had church, and we got 'T' there!!! Woohoo!!! And church was really good as well.  After church, we did some finding and then we had a dinner appointment at 5:00 WHICH LASTED FOR 4 HOURS!!! It was absolutely insane.  We were at the mercy of our ride and he was just chatting away.  But there really isn't much to talk about on Sunday since we were in the Eternal Dinner Appointment.  But it was a good day nonetheless!

Anyway, that was this past week! A good one indeed!

PONDERIZE: 3 Nephi 11:15

And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into His side, and did feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surely and did bear record, that it was He, of whom it was written by the Prophets, that should come.

Til the work is Done!

-Elder Mickelsen