Mom, Dad, Family, Friends,
I love you. I love Heavenly Father! This week has been great.
Monday We had dinner with Kirsty, Dee, and Gillian. It was really great, and really necessary. Gillian has been going through a lot of stress and trials recently, and she needed to get out of the house and leave the kids with her mum. Kirsty was great, and made us an excellent roast with veg, and shared shared really great insights during our lesson on repentance. It was so good, and when we left, and Gillian gave us a lift home she told us how much she appreciated it, how much love she felt in their home and how she hadn't been out of the house without the kids in years. We really enjoyed it.
Tuesday we had exchanges! Oh, what a day. We had District Meeting in the morning, and exchanged with the sister trainer leaders afterwards, and I stayed in Falkirk with Sister Hales, meaning I had to lead! We had lunch with Iris, which was insane, there were a ton of people there, and she fed us half a chicken with veg and potatoes and bread. But the lesson went well and she told us that she was coming to church and bringing Andy with her!
We were finding most of the day in Grangemouth and Camelon, not a lot of success, but I got to know Sister Hales better! She asked me a lot of questions about myself, the work, how I felt about the work and the branch and after this transfer. Oh, the job of a Sister Trainer Leader.
We saw Flora in the evening, and we helped her move a few things so she could put new carpet down in her bedroom, and she generously gave us sweets and treats and Sister Hales a teddy bear! She was concerned that Sister Passey had left, but we assured her that she hadn't and that we'd come to see her again soon!
There was craziness and length to nightly planning Wednesday on my own.
Wednesday We exchanged back after a little bit of service and finding, and I was never so happy to see Sister Passey again! So stressful! She really does so so much. We ate lunch and headed out to Denny. One of our appointments fell through, but we got to teach Nick with Sister Jackson! We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went so well! He's already read up to Mosiah in the Book of Mormon and in our lessons, he is just so great. We asked him what he thought repentance meant and his answer sounded like it was straight out of Preach My Gospel! Ah! And he told us he wants a book about on just Jesus Christ and his life other than the Bible, so we referred him to "Jesus the Christ" by Talmage and he ordered it right away, and it should be coming today! He is just so so prepared. Missionary Manna from Heaven. And Sister Jackson was just great with him, and she had a really great experience, so we asked her to bear her testimony and include the experience at fast and testimony Sunday in August.
We taught a new investigator named Paul as well. He has a mental disability, but is high-functioning and he seems to understand what we're teaching. We went with Sister Kew, but instead of inviting us in, he wanted to stay outside, so we stood and taught him the Restoration! It went rather well, and he's a little more open to thinking about going to church, and was quite receptive to reading the Book of Mormon. He said that he felt "the tingleys" when we were teaching. Oh, Paul :) The Holy Ghost is really so great.
Thursday We had weekly planning and we got to teach Scott with Sarah! She said, "He talks too much" after we came out. Aye, he does, Sarah, Aye, he does. But we were able to teach him about prophets, Christ's earthly ministry and a little about the Apostasy using plastic cups. He seemed to like that. He really is very attentive and analytic about details most people miss and sees significance in them. We had dinner with Kirsty and Dee and a good Missionary Coordination Meeting and Branch Council afterwards.
Friday we did service for Amber again, and we should have had "before" and "after" shots! The difference was huge, and its finally a good space for the little girls to play in! There's still a lot of work to be done, but she was wowed and so grateful. It really made it worth it. She was a little emotional, because she had been to her husband's grave that morning, but she confided in us and trusted us to work in her memorial garden. I really hope and pray that we can teach her about the Plan of Salvation. We did some LA finding in Camelon for most of the rest of the day.
Saturday was crazy. After all week being hot with little-to-no rain, the heavens gathered, the thunder rolled and the rains poured upon the land! We traveled out to Linlithgow, which was a lot shorter bus ride than we were expecting. Its a really posh town, and a little more geared towards tourists and historians, since Linlithgow Palace is where Queen Mary stayed. There are a lot of mansions there. So we were out on the street when the rain started again and it was like someone had thrown us into the shower and turned it on full blast! Everyone had scattered and hid and we just kept going, laughing hysterically. It was definitely flash-flood status. It didn't last for too long, and afterwards it was just spitting for the rest of the day. We weren't able to find who were looking for in Linlithgow, and we didn't find anyone new to teach, but it was sure fun! We had dinner with Sister Kew, the Elders, and the Eagleshams that night, and it was good, and funny, as always. I absolutely love Sister Kew! We went by Paul to see if he could come to church if we found him a lift, but he was expecting a friend over about noonish, so that was a nay.
Sunday was miraculous. PEOPLE CAME TO CHURCH! AH! Iris was there with Andy when we got there, giving him a tour of the building and introducing him to people! Flora came! Total surprise! And Nick came!!! A progressing investigator at church! Miracles! So so happy, and totally an awesome day. Nick, Iris and Andy had to leave after sacrament, but Nick was definitely chewing on a lot of thoughts when he left, and we heard that Andy had really enjoyed it and would be back! So exciting! And Relief Society was really great, Sis. Meade taught from "Following Up" by Elder Ballard, and it was really inspirational, and we felt a lot of love and support from the sisters, and hopefully it inspired some of the other sisters to get involved!
We taught Scott at the church that evening, and showed him the Restoration DVD after a church tour, and he talked for Scotland. Sometimes its hard, and frustrating, but he really is interested and beginning to progress. There are definitely some things that he have to change (his mind about) as he continues to learn, but he likes what he sees, and I hope he comes to understand and accept! Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out what is actually his opinion, because he always shares so much about what he's learned, or read, or seen, or heard from other sources. Teaching the Plan of Salvation will definitely take a while.
Whelp, that's me! I love you all so very much! Thank you for your prayers and love! I know God lives and that he loves us!
Love,
Sister Kirkpatrick
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