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

January 18, 2016

Hello again! This past week has absolutely flown by!  I can't believe it! I almost feel like I don't have anything to write about! In the blink of an eye, another week has flown by! This week was filled with finding pretty much all day everyday so apologies in advance for this potentially boring update! (unless, of course, you find joy and splendor in the seemingly mundane and grey details of a story) In that case, sit down, buckle up, and enjoy the ride!

MONDAY- Woo! Monday is Pday! Big surprise, I know.  But it was a good Pday nonetheless.  We did our usual email sesh, then we went to the food court at our local mall for some grub.  Following which, we walked around town checking out the random shops and tiny places around Lisburn.  We spent a while in this book store called Eason's.  It's comparable to a Hasting's back home.  And we read a few car magazines, and checked out the Guinness Book of World Records.  There are some really weird people in this world.  People who just have one desire, to think of the most ridiculous thing they can possibly do, and then they do it and become somewhat famous.  It's pretty awesome!  Then after that, we headed to the Johnson's for dinner.  They made us some Mexican food!  It was great! Oh how I have missed a good old taco! And then we went to the church and we taught 'N' and one of her friends to finish off the night.  It was a pretty good day!

Found a furniture store and decided to test out the recliners.
We must have been reclining a little too long because
we got kicked out.  

Elders Tolk and Mickelsen

TUESDAY-We have our District Meeting and now the Portadown Elders have a car, and they can give us lifts!  It is great!  We don't have to ride the train anymore! A car is about 10000000000000000000 x's better than the train!  After District Meeting, we headed home and made some lunch.  Then we spent the rest of the day GQing people and finding new investigators.  No one was interested, but it's all good!  Just an off finding day.  It fluctuates all the time.

WEDNESDAY- All finding except for one lesson and a dinner appointment.  I'll just explain the lesson.  We taught the three new investigators I mentioned last week the Plan of Salvation.  I made some visual aids and was able to lay out a giant Plan of Salvation on their table.  It was very well received but teaching 3 people all at once is interesting.  One of then has honest questions, the other doesn't think she needs anymore, and the last one believes in the standard Born Again mantra of just having faith in Christ and being saved.  But we can work on that. Good lesson overall, though.

After that, we finished off the night at the Harkness home. We had a dang good dinner and then taught a wee little spiritual thought.  We also had the opportunity to give Brother Harkness a blessing.  It was a very spiritual experience.  It reaffirmed to me the reality of God and his love for us.  Very good.

THURSDAY-We had our weekly planning and then we had some lunch.  Afterwards, we GQ-ed the town and then the city.  We also had an appointment with a guy named 'M' who wanted us to help him quit drinking, but he never called us back or told us where he lived or anything.  So we couldn't really do much about that.  After we did our morning finding, we went over to Phil Hamilton's for dinner and a coordination meeting.  It was pretty good.  They made chili and rice.  Normally, I am not a big chili fan, but you'll be surprised at what you can eat as a missionary.  Absolutely everything is good as a missionary.  Or my taste buds are all dead.  Either one.  After dinner, we tried to stop by 'S' but she wasn't in.  So we just GQ-ed he night away and headed home for the night.

FRIDAY-was pretty good.  We just GQ-ed.  All day.  All stinking day.  Some new rejections today, as well. Some people didn't want to talk to us because we were American, not Mormon, American.  Yeah, I know.  Blew my mind too.

SATURDAY-We had some lessons planned for Saturday, but they all fell through.  So we ended up just GQing all day.  I feel like I use the term GQ a lot and nobody really knows what it means.  It stands for "Golden Question" and it's basically missionary lingo for, we are gonna talk to absolutely every lying soul that comes within two miles of us.  So there ya go!  Anyway, Saturday was also awful in the sense that my blood sugar dropped all of a sudden and I had a crazy headache all day.  Then, we left the heating on at night and I about had a heat stroke in the middle of the night.  Really sucked, but I am all good now!

SUNDAY-We had church, and then we went out and did some GQing and walked all over the place trying to find people to teach.  People weren't really interested but we did meet nice people.  Not the usual mean, busy, people.  But nothing really happened on Sunday.

Well folks, that is me!  This week was a bit drab, but I am still super stoked about being here!  It's awesome!

I'll leave you all with my ponderizing scripture for this next upcoming week.

Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100

Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.

He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved, shall not be counted worth to stand.  Even so.  Amen.

Til the Work is Done!

-Elder Mickelsen

January 11, 2016

Hello again everybody!  This past week has absolutely flown by!  I really feel like I just wrote the weekly update yesterday!  I cannot believe how fast things are going!  I actually just received word that it is January now.  I just sat there and thought, "Dang." But time really does fly!  Well, I know you are all probably just itching to hear about this week, (okay, maybe just Mom) but here we go…

MONDAY- was a good Pday.  I took Elder Tolk and taught him how to play snooker.  He picked it up quick and we had a good match, but I came out on top!  Woo!  And then we walked around town just looking at different shops and things that I had never really been before.  It's amazing how much stuff I didn't notice.  Being here for almost 6 months, I thought I had a knowledge of what Lisburn has, but I guess not!  Anyway, it was a fun day.  We ended the night with some pizza.  But it is not anything like the regular good ole American pizza.  O, the day when I eat regular pizza again! Anyway, that was Monday.

TUESDAY- Elder Tolk and I did some finding in the morning and then I went on exchange with Elder Plewe.  Then we did some GQing and chapping all day, so there isn't much to report.  We did find one potential, though, so hopefully we will be hearing from him soon.

WEDNESDAY- Elder Plewe and I were together all day since Portadown was busy teaching, so we got an extended exchange.  It was pretty good.  We did some more finding, and a crazy ton of walking!  We talked to as many people as we could.  People are starting to open their hearts again.  People will briefly stop, if but a moment, and listen to something we have to say to see if it interests them.  I believe this area is going to see a major welcoming of the gospel in the near future.  We exchanged back around 2100 and then we headed to bed.

THURSDAY- We had Weekly Planning, which was pretty good.  I don't really like it because we are sitting down for so long, but I do enjoy setting up an outline for how we want our week to go.  It makes things flow just that much smoother, but after Weekly Planning, we had some lunch and then we went and GQed the nature footpath for a while.  After no success there, we decided to head back into the center of town to talk to all the people there.  On the way, we chapped a neighborhood, and we found a potential named, 'G'.  We set up a return appointment for the next day and then we headed to town.  Nothing much happened there, and then we headed home for dinner and bed time.

FRIDAY- Nothing really happened on Friday finding-wise, but we did teach 'G' and 'N'.  'G's lesson was good.  It turns out she has 2 friends that are living with her, so we were able to  teach all three of them!  They all went to the Belfast Bible College, and are pretty well versed, but they don't use it against us.  They are really good to teach.  They all committed to read the Book of Mormon as well.  It was a pretty good lesson to teach.  We have a return appointment for Wednesday and we have to bring 2 more Books of Mormon because we didn't now we would have three investigators!  Then we went and taught 'N' the Plan of Salvation with emphasis on Temples and things and then we headed for bed.

SATURDAY- was good.  We taught 'T' in the morning, and that was a good lesson.  We showed him the talk, "Faith is not by chance, but by choice", from this past conference.  He liked it.  I think we are getting through to him.  After that, we just went finding for the rest of the day.  So nothing much else to report.

SUNDAY- We had church today.  It was a pretty good service.  We had a lot of good speakers, although, I can't really remember what they spoke about!  We also had a good time talking with the members afterwards.  Then we went finding for the rest of the day and talked to so many people that I lost count.  Then it got really bitter cold, and we went inside for dinner.  All in all, a good Sunday.

Well, that was my week!  Hopefully, all y'alls are having good weeks as well!  Time flies when you're having fun!  Talk to you all soon!

Alma 5:13

A mighty change was wrought in their hearts!  Can ye feel so now?

-Elder Mickelsen

January 4th, 2016 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hello All! This week has been pretty crazy!  Some totally unexpected things went down!  But it's all good. The week was pretty much almost the same thing every day, so here we go!

MONDAY- was only email day because we were going to have a little bit of Thursday night off, as well as all of Friday.  So we only got to email for one hour.  Then we went shopping, and then decided to go chapping for a good part of the day while we waited to teach 'N'. Her lesson was good, but her friend was listening intently so we are hoping to start teaching her soon.  Afterwards, we went home and had dinner.  Exciting, I know!

TUESDAY- We had District Meeting.  It was good.  We then had a District lunch at Subway and then retired to our respective areas.  It was a pretty good start to  our day.  After, we did some chapping and GQing and then we had one of our lessons fall through.  So we did, wait for it, MORE CHAPPING AND GQING!!! WOOHOO!!!!  It was good, though.  I have come to enjoy it.  It is pretty fun.

WEDNESDAY- was very…dynamic.  We went and did a giant GQ loop on a footpath around Lisburn but there was an enormous rain storm the night before and it had caused some debris to fall to the ground.  We were making our way around fallen trees, an overflowing river and even a mudslide.  It was quite the experience.  Then there was a crazy ice storm that really hurt, like really! Pain. Cold. Icy pain!  But we headed back to the flat and dried off, had lunch then it was all good!  We went out and did some more GQing, and low and behold, the flipping sun came out!  We were dumbfounded.  Then we went over to the Harkness' house to have dinner and to teach a lesson.  It was a good time.  Soon after arriving back at the flat, we received a call from the AP's and found out that a missionary in Limerick Zone (down south) went home and they had done some crazy e-moving to fix it, so Elder Allred was bring transferred to Bangor to be the new District Leader and Elder Toll, who is in my group, came down to Lisburn to be my companion. We are on Special Assignment, which means that none of us is Senior or Junior companion so it's pretty great.  We get along fantastic.  I was sad to see Elder Allred go, but my current companion is still awesome!

DJ-ing the New Year's Eve Party 2016
They both look a little sad from the sudden transfer earlier that day.  They both loved their companions and the people they were teaching.  But, they are happy to be able to work together!

THURSDAY- Elder Allred left and Elder Tolk arrived.  We had weekly planning, GQed for a bit, and then had to go in because of New Year's Eve.  So, we went to the Church and helped set up for their party an also played with some DJ equipment, which was pretty fun.  Then we went home and headed to bed.

Niamh took these pics of Cody.  He wasn't smiling in the first one because he was sad from Elder Allred being transferred so she told him to pose and smile for the second photo.  Haha!

FRIDAY- was New Year's Day and nothing much really happened.  Elder Tolk slept a lot and I got a chance to read a ton of Jesus the Christ.  IT is a really good book if any one is looking for a good read.  We also went to Five Guys, which is brand new in Belfast, and it was a good taste of home.

SATURDAY- We went bak to work.  We started by teaching 'T' in the morning and then having Subway for lunch.  We love Subway.  Then we basically GQed all day and did some chapping, and we found out that we have quite a good rhythm of teaching and talking to people.  We get along pretty good.  So there's nothing much left to report from Saturday.

SUNDAY- was good.  We had church, which is always a good time.  Even though I fell asleep for about 10 minutes in Elder's Quorum, Don't tell anyone.  But church was just the right boost we needed to push through for the week and get back into the grind.  Afterwards, we did some tracting and GQing and we had a try-by.  She answered the door but said she wasn't interested anymore.  It wasn't exactly the best thing to happen, but oh well.  It wasn't her time, I guess.  Then we just did a giant GQ loop home and had dinner.  

Well, that was this past week!  Sorry if it wasn't that gripping to read.  It was a good week, though.  Anyway, here is my ponderizing for the week.  

D&C 100:5-6

Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;

For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment what ye shall say.


Til the work is done!

-Elder Mickelsen

December 28, 2015

Hello All!! This weekly update won't be too long again since we only have about an hour to email and I'm flying through it! Here we go!

MONDAY -  We had a half P-Day since it is Christmas this week and we have a few more days off, so we just emailed.  Then we shopped and did some regular proselyting!  It seems to me, that the closer we get to Christmas, the more hardened people got.  Ireland is a place where the topic of religion is a wee bit…volatile.  So it gets hard sometimes, but we push through and make the best of it!

TUESDAY - We did a really giant GQ loop in the morning to make sure we shared as much Christmas spirit with people as we could and then in the evening, we taught a referral from one of the counselors in the mission presidency! And he was our joint teach! Lemme tell you, teaching with a member of the mission presidency is really good!  I highly recommend it! She committed to be baptized in the first weeks of February!

WEDNESDAY - We did another giant GQ loop and it was really fun.  Rejection is part of life and we just blow it off.  Sometimes if the person is particularly rude, we will say something along the lines of, "Your opinion does not change the fact that there is a God, and that he has restored His Church back to the Earth."  Thankfully, we don't have to say that hardly at all, but there was a time or two when we did.

THURSDAY (Christmas Eve) - We had weekly planning and then we went and did one final Christmas finding session.  Still, no one was very interested.  For the evening, we went to the Johnson's and had some take out.  Then we watched Big Hero 6, which is a fantastic movie, by the way.  Then we traveled home and hit the hay.

FRIDAY - Christmas!!! It was great!  Elder Allred and myself both opened our presents and then we proceeded to make a giant American breakfast as per the tradition of our forefathers.  

We made eggs and bacon, as well as hash browns and tiny little roasties.  We also made a big ol' stack of waffles with a waffle maker that we found underneath our sink!  It was such a delicious breakfast!  After that, we went out and delivered cookies to the single elderly sisters in our ward and shared a wee Christmas message with them.  It was very good.  After that, we went over to the Whithorns for a Christmas dinner and it was huge!  I didn't even come close to finishing!  And then we traveled to the Reid's, where they gave us free reign over their TV.  So we watched Dragon Ball Z with Nathan.  It was awesome!  Then we headed to the Johnson's again and Skyped our families.  That was really cool!  It has really been a long time since I had seen them! It was good to talk and to chat with them.  After our Skype call, the Johnsons let us play their Wii, since their kids were busy with a new PS4, so we played Super Smash Brothers for a bit.  It was awesome!  

SATURDAY - We had another day off! Boxing day is cool!  First off, we went to town and I picked up a new suit, then we went to the Parker's and watched the Man U Game.  It was pretty fun.  Then we played FIFA and got absolutely destroyed!  It was almost an embarrassment.  But it was fun. Then we went back over to the Reid's and watched the LEGO movie and Hercules and had some Chinese food.  It was pretty good day!

SUNDAY - Was back to work!  We went to church and then GQ'ed for a while.  We found a potential! She is an older lady named 'S'.  So we are excited to see if our teaching come through or not.  It should be good!  

Well, that is it for the week!  Hope you all have a fantastic week!  Talk to you soon!

Ponderize D&C 20:16 (Get it? 2016! Haha!  It's a good one!)

16 For the Lord God has spoken it; and we, the elders of the church, have heard and bear witness to the words of the glorious Majesty on high, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

-Elder Mickelsen

December 21, 2015

My Christmas Onesie PJ's

Hey Everybody! How are things going? Good to hear! (Just imagine me pausing to listen like Dora does!)  But things have been awesome here!!  I am going to give a short weekly update since we only have 1 hour to email today and I'll be Skyping on Friday!  Woohoo!! You know what that means??? It's Christmas!  I have been  out for a while now!  At the end of this transfer is my 6 month mark! WOW! That was fast! Anyway, here we go…

MONDAY - is the same as always.  We emailed, shopped and played snooker.  To which Elder Allred and myself are still tied.  The battle will continue after the New Year! But we also did a bit of finding to build our teaching pool!  No luck, but mean people are awesome! We just laugh at it now.  We love opposition! Just like in video games, it means we are going the right way!

TUESDAY - We just had a whole day of finding!  Woohoo!! Also, this week was pretty warm…lots of sunshine!  It should be close to 18 celsius on Christmas.  We have a jet stream from the Caribbean coming in! Woohoo!!

WEDNESDAY - You guessed it! Finding!  It was starting to get exhausting, but we powered through! We found 'N' exactly like this.  We have faith!  And FAITH IS POWER! (That's my motto!)

THURSDAY - Weekly Planning!  And we ate 6 tubes of sour cream and onion Pringles…which was a bad choice!  But is was awesome nonetheless.  Weekly planning can be a drag sometimes, but it is necessary!  The Lord can't guide your footsteps unless you are willing to move your feet!

FRIDAY - We had our Ward Christmas Party.  It was fun.  They did a little Nativity and it was a good one.  Roberts 1st has still got 'em though! They also had a ton of food!! Chicken curry is fantastic!  Put it over some rice and it's enough to make a grown man weak at the knees! It's awesome!!

SATURDAY - We taught 'T' and then we taught 'N' a recent convert lesson.  Her friend from England was there so we kind of taught her as well.  Her friend was interesting… but it was an okay lesson.  After 'N', we went finding! Woo!

SUNDAY - was the Christmas service in Church.  It was really good.  They read scriptures and sang all the songs.  It made me excited to be here for Christmas!  What better way to show my appreciation for the birth of the Saviour than to serve here!  Sunday was also spent finding!  We just love love love it!

Anyway, this week has been fantastic.  I encourage all of you to remember Christ this Christmas.  And always be grateful for all you receive! 

Moroni 10:33 is my ponderizing for the week! We can become holy without spot through Christ!

Merry Christmas Everybody! And a Happy New Year! And to my family, SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!

Til the work is done!

-Elder Mickelsen

Monday December 14, 2015

Niamh's (Neve) baptism
December 12, 2015

Hello Again! This week has been jam packed and flew by quicker than I can possibly try to comprehend!  We had so much going on!  From teaching and finding, to playing a Farkle Tournament and getting our moves call! It has been a wonderful and miraculous week!

MONDAY- was P-Day, as we all are aware. (I'm pretty sure I say that every week, so I'm gonna roll with it) And it was a very good day.  We did our usual email and snooker, in which Elder Allred and myself tied.  So it's a tie breaker this week!  But we did our usual P-Day things and then headed over to the church to have 'N' try on a jumpsuit so we could take it to a member and have it washed for her baptism.  After that, we took her over to the Jackson's house to teach her another lesson.  We taught her on Enduring to the End and making sure her conversion was permanent.  And lemme tell you, 'N' has a very, very, very strong conversion.  It was truly a fantastic day.

TUESDAY- We went finding! Woohoo!  We haven't had a day to find in a very long time and it was pretty awesome to go out and knock on doors and talk to people in the rain!  We also read the Book of Mormon with Sister Walsh, and that is always a fun time.  We listen to her stories and talk to her for about 30 minutes and then we read a good chapter out of the good ole blue book, and leave her with a prayer.  They have been some good lessons.  

After Sister Walsh, we headed to the church to give 'N' a mock interview right before her real interview.  She aced our interview, and then after her real interview, Elder White (Our new district leader) told us that she was the most prepared person he had ever interviewed for baptism and that she was super solid.  That made Elder Allred and myself very happy!  It was awesome! We also had a District sleepover at our flat because we were taking the train to Dublin early the next morning.  We have been to Dublin twice this transfer, and it is really a great time!  After having a gospel discussion, we headed to bed for our early start the next morning.

WEDNESDAY- All Ireland Conference! They are so much fun!  We all get to meet together and see our friends and also hear from some pretty good speakers.  This time we heard from Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy, and he is also the Europe Area President.  It was awesome!  He had such good things to share with us and made us all super pumped to be missionaries! I have heard a good deal from Elder Kearon this past transfer, and I can testify that he is called of God!  After the conference, we made it back home and headed to bed.  Traveling like that really takes it out of you!

THURSDAY- We had our weekly planning and we also taught 'N' her LAST LESSON!!!! We weren't totally sure what to go over, but we covered what she can expect as a new member in the church and how she can best serve in the Ward.  It was a pretty good lesson.  We also had a dinner appointment that day with Daniel Hamilton, and it was a good dinner.  They had a chicken and leek bake that was more like soup, but it was delicious.  We also had coordination.  But Thursday was a great and marvelous day and a day well spent.

FRIDAY- was Awesome!! We got up and got to wear normal street clothes because we were going to the church to clean the font for our baptism!  Woot woot!  And after we had done so, we helped the Bishop clean up the kitchen since it was just barely renovated.  So that was pretty fun.  We also had a big old slot of time to go finding and we spent it GQ-ing in the park.  It was good!  We didn't get many people interested, but it doesn't really deter us.  We know we have the truth and nobody will stop it from coming forward.  After our big day of finding, we headed home around 8pm for dinner.  It was a spectacular day.

Happy Baptism Day!!

SATURDAY- is what you all have been waiting for!!! 'N's baptism!! It was fantastic!  But first we went up to 'T's house and taught him the Tree of Life.  We have these Book of Mormon animated stories and we showed him the tree.  It was a great lesson.  He is starting to come around and our work is beginning to pay off.  After that, we had lunch and then we headed to the church to get things set up.  We cleaned the chapel, set up chairs, turned the heating on, and of course, filled the font.  It was an amazing experience to finally see that font fill with water!  Then we finally had the baptism!  It was a fantastic service.  We had two speakers, Elder Allred and Nathan Reid.  Then we had the baptism, performed by Elder Allred.  During the time they were changing, we had a short testimony meeting and quite a few people bore their testimonies.  When 'N' finally did come back in, one of the members of the Bishopric asked her to bear her testimony and she got up and the first thing she said was, "This church is true.  I knew it from the moment I met the missionaries."  It was so powerful!  The best part though, was that she didn't now that you had to close in the name of Jesus Christ, and so she just finished talking and then she hit the podium and walked off.  We were stoked.  It was so awesome!!!  After the baptism, we cleaned up and headed home.

Elder Allred baptized Niamh on Saturday
Elder Mickelsen confirmed on Sunday

SUNDAY- was also a pretty good day.  We went to church and I had the opportunity to confirm 'N'.  It was a very spiritual experience.  I was excited and she was, too!  As I told her to receive the Holy Ghost, I felt it come to her and she knew she had it.  It was super awesome!  We also got a referral to teach one of our mission president's counselor's cousins!  They came to our Ward and said that they wanted and needed us to baptize them.  So we are committed to baptize more people now!  

And the moment we've all been waiting for… Elder Allred and myself are staying one more transfer in Lisburn!  Christmas in Lisburn is gonna be awesome!

Anyway, I hope all of you are having a fantastic time no matter where you are.  At this time of year, the most important thing we can do is think of the Savior and the great gift he was to not only us, but to mankind.  I encourage all of you to watch the Church's new Christmas initiative video on LDS.org and take Elder Ballard's Christmas invitation to bing a friend.  Tis the season!  Till the work is done!

Enos 1:7-8

And I said: Lord, how is it done?

And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen.  And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, they faith hath made thee whole!

-Elder Mickelsen