October 19, 2015

Hello Everybody!  This week was filled with awesome things! Let downs, fall throughs, discovering the best chippy in Lisburn, and making contact with our golden investigator!

MONDAY: Well, Monday we had P-Day, and it was pretty great! We went to a restaurant called Bodenes, and they make the best American food I have had so far on my mission.  It was so good! They also had PROPER FRENCH FRIES! I was so happy! We also just really sat around and chilled on P-Day! It was a great day to relax!  We also watched the Mountain of the Lord and subsequently spent the rest of the evening doing Brigham Young impressions.  But it definitely made chapping a lot more fun!  But that was Monday.

TUESDAY: Tuesday was great.  We had district meeting, which was awesome because Elder Thayne gave the instruction period to the Lorimer's since it is their last district meeting.  Plus, the Lorimer's also fed us french dip sandwiches, and Elder Lorimer sat down and gave us good advice for the rest of our lives.  He gave us tips on how we can be strong in the Church, be successful in work, and have strong families.  It was pretty awesome.  We had a few try-by's that didn't go so well, be we were able to find 2 families on our way back from the dropped appointments.  So that was a big bonus; made up for the loss.  But the rest of the day was spent chapping, and then we had our quarterly ward council that night, which took up a ton of time!  It was a really good meeting though, and while we were there, I realized that I was in an official "big boy" meeting of the Church! So that made is really awesome for me.  But that was Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY: Wednesday was undoubtedly the worst day of the week.  We had a whole day filled with lessons to teach and there wasn't any time scheduled for chapping, but EVERY SINGLE LESSON FELL THROUGH!! And we ended up doing what Elder Allred calls, 'A Burnout Chapping Session.'  So, that was about as fun as crawling through salted razor wire, but hey, we still found some people to teach! And we discovered the best chippy we have ever had.  They have this thing called a southern fried chicken supper and it is incredible!  They take southern fried chicken and put it on a big ol' pile of chips and then they cover it in this incredible chicken gravy!! It is to die for and could quite possibly be the death of me.  I'm sure the nutrition facts on that meal would make even the worst of us cringe in disgust.  BUT IT WAS SO GOOD! But the was Wednesday.

THURSDAY: Thursday was alright.  We had weekly planning, which takes a decent part of the day and it was really good since we were discussing how we could make sure that our investigators keep their commitments and return appointments.  So we had that discussion, and then headed out to chap whilst we awaited a lesson we had later that afternoon.  But the lesson fell through so we chapped some more on the way to another lesson we had for that evening, which also fell through. So we were kinda down, but the day was over, so we had to head back and just make sure that we tried our hardest the next day.

FRIDAY: Friday was alright.  We spent the day chapping and had some chicken suppers for dinner and called it a day.  Nothing real to report on Friday.

SATURDAY: Saturday was when the week started to pick up.  We taught a less active in the morning and just showed him President Nelson's talk on why the sabbath is a delight.  It was quite a good lesson.  After that, we headed home for lunch, and then headed out to chap on the way to an appointment.  We had a good time talking to everybody, and then when we arrived at the lesson, it fell through.  So we had a head start on making it all the way back from the other side of town to teach another lesson.  So we walked all the way across Lisburn to this lesson and it turns out that the guy gave us a fake address…so that was a sucker punch.  But Saturday night we were able to make contact with 'M' again and find out what was happening.  She had been going through some stuff that week with her past and she had the police involved trying to get the people away from her, so we weren't able to teach her, but she said she still wants to learn.  So we have a lesson this week coming up.  So that was an awesome boost.  Then we got chicken suppers and headed home.  That makes a total of 3 chicken suppers in 4 days. THEY ARE SO GOOD AND I "CON'T" CONTROL MYSELF!!

SUNDAY: Sunday was really good.  We went to Ward Council and then to Church.  Church is always good.  It is a nice time for reflection and thinking. After Church, we headed over to the Jackson's for dinner and we had a really good gospel discussion with them.  It was fantastic.  We also went to the Lorimer's farewell fireside with the Jackson's and it was awesome! They have such good teachings for us!  And they have made such a difference in this country.  But it was an absolutely fantastic day!  I don't know if it could've been better!

PONDERIZE: This week I have chosen to ponderize Helaman 5:12.  It reads: And now my sons, remember, remember, that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build, they cannot fall.

Anyway, Talk to you all soon!  Remember: Things come after the trial of our faith!
Love you all!!

-Elder Mickelsen