March 28, 2016

Hello again, everybody! This week has gone by even quicker than the last and it's hard to believe that March is coming to a close! We had a really good week with Zone interview training and some good finding sessions, as well as teaching some less actives and finding a new investigator!!! Woo!!! I will just jump right into it then…

MONDAY- was fun.  We walked around Bray in the morning and just looked around at the shops and then we ate some lunch.  It was a pretty good morning.  Then, we headed up to Dun Laoghaire to do our usual emailing and then we went back to Bray to do our shopping as well as look at a music store that is right by LIDL's (which is where we shop). It was pretty fun.  Next we dropped our groceries off and headed out to do some tracting and GQing.  We were supposed to have a less active lesson with a lady named, 'S', today, but she got sick last minute and had to cancel.  So, we just did some good finding.  People are opening up here now! They actually talk to us! The only thing is that they are all tourists, so we will have to teach em quick! hahahaha! But this week started off on a good note.

TUESDAY- was pretty great! There was no District Meeting on account of having Zone Conference tomorrow, so we were able to spend another good day finding.  In case you haven't noticed, we spend a good chunk of our time finding! We don't really have anyone to teach.  Our only investigator is having some Visa problems, so we are trying to build up our teaching pool and keep this area alive! But we are finding like mad! So we spent a good amount of time knocking doors in the morning and then we went to go and teach 'P.F.'  He is a character.  He likes to have us over, but sometimes he doesn't really listen that well.  Lucky for us, we have struck a gold mine with the living scriptures cartoons! (Thanks Elder Allred!) So, he was really engaged in that.  We showed him the story of Helaman and the Stripling Warriors and it was really great.  We focused on the fact that if we know we are being righteous and we know God is on our side, we can never truly lose.  It was a great lesson.  

Afterwards, we went finding some more and then we went home to have some dinner.  Then we crashed hard because we have to get up early and head to Dublin for Zone Conference in the morning.

WEDNESDAY- So today we had Zone Conference.  It was pretty fun.  I always enjoy meeting up with the other missionaries in my zone, even though I don't really know most of them.  Being around other missionaries is just fun in general.  You are around people you can relate to and have a good time with.  It is great!  We learned a lot of good things in Zone Conference.  And although it felt a bit hasty and sped up at times, I came away knowing more than I did when I went in and also realized that my teaching style is the way that works for me and I don't need to change anything to conform to what every other missionary thinks I should do.  That is the main thing I learned.

I also had a good interview with President Donaldson.  He was able to guess my concerns without me even saying anything! It was crazy! He gave me some solutions on how I could work on improving my area and growing the church in Bray and I was very thankful for that!

After Zone Conference, we headed back to Bray and we did some GQing by the seafront and on a road that is just off the main street.  Afterwards, we headed home for some dinner and some wind down time.  Then we headed to bed.

THURSDAY- was good.  We did our weekly planning and then we had some lunch. Then we did some finding pretty much all day until we had our English class, which nobody showed up to, so we did some more finding and went home for dinner.  Thursday was definitely the low point of our week. But still good!

FRIDAY- was also just finding.  I don't really know what else to say.  We talked to a ton of people and also knocked on a ton of doors.  There were quite a few people in town because of Easter this weekend, so that was great.  But for the most part, Friday was a blur.

SATURDAY- was nice.  We went and set up the chairs and did the progress record first thing in the morning since we had a pretty booked evening.  We did that really quick and then we went out and GQed the main street.  Then we had some delicious lunch.  Afterwards, we made some paper eggs to put in the hymn books for the Branch on Easter.  We wrote little spiritual messages on the back and then added the church's new hashtag, #Hallelujah.  It was pretty fun to make those, then we went and visited with 'J.Mc.' We showed him the Hallelujah video and then a Mormon Message about God's constant shower of blessings on us.  It was a pretty good lesson.  I really felt the spirit when the Mormon Message was playing.  It is really a good one! Especially since the only thing the sky does over here is rain!! 

After that, we headed down to the new investigator appointment that we had scheduled but her husband hadn't arrived home yet, so we just shared some spiritual thoughts on the doorstep and we set up a return appointment to come back and teach her more.  It is very exciting!  Especially right before Easter! Bray might be seeing a "Resurrection" of it's own!  I hope so!  And then after the doorstep lesson, we headed home and had our dinner and then we went to bed.

SUNDAY- was really good. Church was the best part of the day.  We had so many people at church! We had 2 investigators and we were able to re-establish contact with the one when she came to church.  It was really good! Also, we had some less active members as well! Things at church were just great!  I also spoke in Sacrament Meeting.  I spoke on the Atonement of Jesus Christ as taught by the Book of Mormon Prophets, as well as the Nephite Easter.  I had never thought of 3rd Nephi 11 as the Nephite Easter before and it shined a whole new light on the chapter for me!  I would encourage you all to read that chapter and put yourself in the position of the people and really think what that was like!  I was a really amazing thing that happened! Ack, it was just so good!

Then after church, we went and did some more area book finding to clean it up a little bit and see if we could call anyone and wish them a Happy Easter.  Afterwards, we headed over to the Bunda's house and had some lasagna! It was awesome!  Then we taught Mathoni.  He is a typical 7 year old, but he is learning!  Then we headed home and went to bed.

On the cliffs of Bray at Sunset

Well, that was the week! It was really good!! Things are starting to look up here in Bray!  And I am getting excited!  The season is changing and what better time to change ourselves and celebrate this time of New Life!! This Gospel is True!! Love you all!!

Till the Work is Done.

-Elder Mickelsen

March 21, 2016

Hello again! I feel like this past week never even happened! Holy cow, that was fast.  Well, I will just go into my week now since I don't really know how to write a better intro than that.  But here we go!

MONDAY- was P-day.  We woke up first thing in the morning and went and hiked the Bray Head.  It was a beautiful hike!  I took lots of pictures, some of which probably showed up in last week's email.  But it was awesome! Then we went and looked around some of the little touristy shops around Bray and then we had a branch FHE activity where we taught a lesson and also played some games.  Elder Giles and I came up with a game.  We threw marshmallows into each other's mouths!  It was awesome! It was a really good Family Home Evening.  Good way to end the day!

TUESDAY- We had District Meeting and it was pretty good.  Elder Giles and I instructed.  There was only one other missionary team since the sisters had to be somewhere else, so it was a tiny meeting.  But we had a lot of fun! After the meeting, we went on exchanges and I went with Elder Taylor and we went out and GQ'ed in Dublin City Centre.  Holy cow! That was a ton of people! Dublin was super packed last week with St. Patrick's Day coming up and there were a ton of tourists getting in early for the festivities.  St. Patrick's Day is like a 4 day event here!  It's nuts!  But we had a lot of fun talking to people in the city and we even got a few potentials out of it!  

It was really nice having a wealth of people to talk to, as we sometimes get stuck in ruts here in Bray.  It was a good refresher!  We then finished up the night be eating at Boojum's which is like a Costa Vida kind of place.  It was really delicious! Then we spent the night in Dublin.

WEDNESDAY- We got up and Elder Giles and I headed back to Bray.  Once back in Bray, we went and did some GQing and chapping whilst we waited for our dinner appointment.  Nothing much to report on finding.  Just a lot of politely rejective people. But no matter.  

We then had a dinner appointment at the Rosas, and then made some good pasta.  Andy, their son, also gave me a haircut! And it is pretty good! He offered, and I was in need, so I got one.  Wasn't gonna turn down a free haircut!  He did a pretty good job, though.  After that, we headed back home and hit the hay.

Andy Rosa giving Cody a haircut! Lookin' good!

THURSDAY-  St. Patrick's Day! It was pretty fun.  We started off by going to the church to do our weekly planning.  And while we were in there, the parade was going by on Main Street.  So we go to see a piece of the parade from the church window.  It looked good but President wanted us to avoid large groups of people and to stay away from parades, so I can't really say how good it was.  But I heard there were 40,000 people in Bray, which is well over the average population, so that was cool!

After that, we went over to the Jacksons and had dinner and little spiritual thought.  We shared a message about how we can only be saved through Jesus Christ.  We are especially focusing on that this Easter season.  Especially with the new #Hallelujah videos coming out from the church.  But that was St. Patrick's Day.  Pretty crazy, I know.

FRIDAY- We had a flat check so we did some last minute tidying and stuff around the tiny flat and we passed the check.  So that was great! And then after that, we went out and did some tracting and some GQing on the seafront.  Still not a lot of people are interested, so it can be a little tiring sometimes. But we did have a dinner appointment that night in Greystones.  We headed down there and it was a good appointment.  The member made us some fish pie.  Fish pie is pretty much cottage pie with salmon, tilapia, prawns and other kinds of fish.  (I try really hard to like it, but I just do not like fish. Any fish. At all. Period) but I do appreciate the efforts of the members to feed us:)

Afterwards, we headed home.  Things have been a bit dry with teaching this week.  I did hear some good news: I just found out that a man that Elder Tolk and I found in Lisburn just got baptized! That is awesome!!

SATURDAY- We helped a member load some trash up from church to take to the recycling place and we also helped another member decorate for the St. Patrick's Day party that night.  It was a pretty fun way to spend the morning.  Then we went out and did some tracting and GQing, but to no avail.  We are going hard here, but this is a trial period for us.  To see if we will work hard even in the dry season.  So we go hard! 

Setting up for the St. Patrick's Day Party for the Branch

Then that night, we had the party.  It was pretty fun.  Lots of good food and lots of good people.  The members brought a lot of friends, so we got to talk to a ton of people and got some numbers to set up appointments in the future!  So that is very exciting! Baby Steps!  But the activity was great! Irish music and dancing and stuff. Then we headed home and went to bed.

SUNDAY- was pretty great!  We had church and it was a good meeting.  There has been a real focus on the Atonement for speaking topics this month and I enjoy hearing everybody's opinion on the center of our gospel and of Heavenly Father's plan.  It was really good.  The rest of church went by pretty smoothly and then we did some GQing on the seafront before our dinner appointment at President Bunda's house.  They are from the Phillipines, so they make some dang good food!! They made pork and rice and a vegetable salad this time.  It was pretty good.  I enjoyed it very much.  We were also able to teach their son, who is preparing for baptism, the Plan of Salvation. We tested him to see how much he remembers from Primary and stuff.  He did did pretty good, so we had a great lesson with him.

All in all, a pretty good week! A little slow on the finding front, but for the most part, it was a good week!  Lots of things were learned this week.  I learned how I can grown as a missionary.  My desire to share this wonderful message is burning brighter and brighter everyday! It is amazing!

Til the work is done!

-Elder Mickelsen

March 14, 2016

Hike to the top of Bray Head with Elder Giles

Hello everybody!  Sorry this email is so late today! Elder Giles and I went out and hiked the Bray head this morning so the first few hours were devoted to that!  It has been a good day so far.  The view from the top is incredible!

This past week has been a good one, a little slow with appointments falling through, but still a good week nonetheless!  Anyway, here it is…

Panoramic View from the top of Bray Head

MONDAY- We emailed and then we shopped and then just took a chill day since we were both exhausted.  We spent some time at Church, and that was fun as well.  I got to practice my piano skills! But Monday was just a nice relaxing day.

TUESDAY- We had District Meeting in Dublin in the morning.  It was a pretty good meeting.  I gave some more instruction.  For some reason, I have been asked to instruct at the last 3 District Meetings and Elder Giles and myself will be instructing again tomorrow.  But it's all good.  I love teaching!  After the meeting, we headed back to good ole Bray and taught 'P.F.'  He is less active and we have been seeing him for the past little while.  We finally decided that it would be a good idea to show him the Book of Mormon animated series and we were right!  He was very engage in the show and he paid attention.  Normally, he isn't very attentive during the lessons, but this one worked out really well.  After that, we spent some more time chapping.  No potentials, but we were working hard!

WEDNESDAY- We did some chapping.  We also did a bit of GQing.  It was pretty nice.  We then returned to the flat for lunch and then we decided to do a little bit of area book finding.  We were able to set up an appointment from that, so we were stoked!  We then spent the rest of the day finding some more.  We met tons of people.  There are lots of foreigners in Bray, so sometimes you meed some real characters! Anyway, we finished off the night with some dinner with Erik and Erin.  They made some awesome tacos.  Like, some of the best tacos I have ever had in my life.  It was absolutely amazing!  That was an incredible dinner appointment. After dinner, we played some Farkle and then we headed home.

THURSDAY- was good.  We did some phone calls in the morning and then we went out finding.  Bray is a small town and we don't have many people to teach, so we spend a lot of time finding.  But then we had a lunch appointment with our branch mission leader and he made us some tacos.  They were awesome, too!  Tacos, Tacos, Tacos!!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!  It was really good!!  I have had a bit of tacos this week.  But after lunch, we went to the Church and did our weekly planning.  Pretty uneventful there.  Weekly planning can be a real drag sometimes.  Ugh! Afterward, we did some finding on Main Street.  It was okay, but we didn't find anybody.  Main Street was pretty dead for some reason.  But then we taught our English class and it went really well.  We only had one person show up this week and his name was Sergio.  He is from Rio and he is really cool.  So we taught him some English and then we turned in for dinner.

FRIDAY- was pretty uneventful.  We did a lot of finding.  And I mean, a lot! It was crazy.  And the even scarier part is nobody was home all day!  The town was like a ghost town. It was a little bit weird.  At least it seemed like that.  But later that evening, we went over to the Scott's for dinner.  They made us homemade pizza! It was pretty good.  Elder Giles and myself made our own pizza even!  It was pretty fun.  After dinner, we almost missed the bus and it only comes once every hour, so we had to run as fast as we could and wave it down to pick us up.  That was awesome.  It just really confirmed to me how much I hate running.  But we made it! Woo!

SATURDAY- was pretty fun.  First thing in the morning, we traveled to Arklow to go see Collette.  The drive down to Arklow is a really pretty drive.  She fed us and it was awesome.  She make chicken and potatoes and stuffing and a whole Thanksgiving dinner, pretty much!  When she let us in, she said she had just made a "light" lunch.  Tell you what, that meal about put me to sleep! It was great! Collette is really nice.  She is a recently re-activated member and we are helping her get her testimony back.  She has been reading the Book of Mormon a lot lately and she can't put it down! So we are helping her understand what is in it and we also gave her a blessing since she will be having surgery in a few weeks.  It was a really great lesson.

After that, we headed back to Bray and went by to teach 'A'.  He wasn't in. Again.  We tried to call him and text him but no answer.  So we just went finding.  Then we had a sit down and really just thought about what we can do better in this area.  We have some really good ideas so hopefully things start getting better!  That night we also ordered some pizza.

SUNDAY- was good.  We had a really nice church meeting.  Elder Giles spoke and the meeting was very enlightening. The rest of the classes were good and I taught Gospel Principles.  The lesson went well.  After church, we did some more finding and then went through some potentials and invited them to Family Home Evening tonight.  But Sunday for the most part was more relaxed.  But still a good missionary Sunday.  Well everyone, that was the week!  Hope all of ya'lls have had a good week as well.  Talk to you soon.

Till the work is done!

-Elder Mickelsen

Practicing my selfie skills :)

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