White January

Its week 5 of the transfer, which means moves planning for President Brown and the APs. I don't know where this transfer has gone! Craziness, Christmas seems forever ago and yet it was a black hole of time, which sucked away the first couple of weeks. I've been here in Cork for nearly 4 1/2 months. That's so crazy! 

Well, we got some really great surprises and successes this week! 

Tuesday during District Meeting, (while Elder Thomas was doing a great job of instructing) we noticed that it was SNOWING!! Brilliant!! It turned off and on all day, and there was an excellent skiff by the next morning! The flakes were HUGE and fluffy and we were all so giddy! We ran out and took photos while it was going. It got stronger later, and the Sister Trainer Leaders came from Dublin to blitz with us, and that was extra fun. Sister Henkel and I went on our 4th exchange together :) We went and saw Ashley, a less-active that was surprised, but pleased to see us. We went to the branch volleyball activity in the evening, and the snow was building up. Sister Henkel and I went out to take a photo, when the next thing we know, Branch President Roy starts nailing me with snow balls! I tried getting him back but kept missing! One of the priests started joining in as well! Then, President Roy went inside and I said to Sister Henkel, "I really want to get him!" So I gathered up a snow ball, mixed up with twigs and leaves and went into the church to find him. Obviously, I thought it would be inappropriate to throw it at him in the church, but I went up and stuck it in his hood.He pulled it out, looked at it, laughed, and nailed me with it, right there in the church! I tried to clean up the pieces, but threw them into President Roy's face when he approached! I accidentally got Elder Hale a bit too  oops... That was a party. 

Sister Morrison and Sister Cannon saw some miracles by finding a couple of promising potentials and meeting a less-active out in a far area that we took advantage of getting to with the STL's car. I'm really excited about the progress we've made, just this week :) Sister Henkel and I took the car out to Bantry to try by a less-active (that doesn't live there anymore). Its a long drive, and it turned out to be even longer when the GPS took us on really narrow country roads, up and down steep hills, and we even had to back out of one route because of the slick slope with the snow from the day before! But it was a good adventure :) The nasty cold rain melted all the snow over the next couple of days though 

We're seeing some progress with our less-active trybys, and it really helps us to focus on the progress we're making!  

Then, Friday we got a call from the mission office with a Church HQ referral! I don't remember ever receiving one, and this one seems really promising! She's been learning from a friend in Salt Lake over calls, and wants 3 things: A Book of Mormon, a blessing, and to learn more! We tried by her address on Saturday, but she was out of town until this week, so we'll try by again! We also got a couple of referrals from a member over Christmas that we're hoping to work with in the near future!

We finally got to see John again, and saw him at his house with the Elders. The lesson went well, and I really felt the spirit as I witnessed him relating to the elders and their inspired teaching as we read the Book of Mormon with him. We'll probably do similar lesson(s) for a short time until we completely hand him over, since we want him to feel comfortable committing to meeting with them. I know its hard, but its the right decision. 

Hannah came to church! It was FREEZING, the heating in the church, particularly the chapel was all wonky from some issues in the building that were worked on over the week, so they shortened sacrament meeting, but it was still good. Hannah came with us to dinner at the Kagari's house, and we saw Bro. Kagari's mum Anita again there as well, who is also a non-member. It got a little bit awkward, because of their similar attitudes about any route will take you to God, which came after making the mistake of discussing politics, which made it non-conducive to a proper lesson, but it was still good to be with her in a members home, and we already have plans with Sis. Kagari and Rachael for this week, to help her investigate some family history :) 

So things are good. They're getting better. I'll admit that its been a rough road to travel, but I appreciate the strength and love my friends and family. I needed to be reminded of the miracles that are brought through my faithful prayers and service here (both in Scotland/Ireland and back home), and that its better to continue to endure. Sister Rydalch said something I loved : "As you work to bring others to Christ, whether they be investigators, LAs, members, cats, yourself, your companion, anybody, you can know that you are successful." I know that is true, and conversion is the name of the game, and it doesn't matter who. Elder Holland reminded us that the most important convert we should have by the end of a mission is ourselves. We aid the work of salvation, its His work, not ours. We'll show our conversion and true respect for all that we did as missionaries after we return home. 

“As we lose ourselves in the service of others we discover our lives and our own happiness.”  Dieter F Uchtdorf   

I love you all. Keep the Faith. He's There. I promise.

Forever Yours,

Sister Kirkpatrick

Revelation and Atonement

Hiya! 

I asked my parents at Christmas to share with me what doctrine they understand better now than ever before. My contribution is the Atonement and Revelation. I feel closer to the Savior than before, understanding who He was as a mortal man, and His deep, abiding sacrifice. How much awe can we experience as we imagine ourselves, standing in the premortal world, watching our brother take upon Himself our sins? He did that for me, because I couldn't do it for myself. I am humbled by this, and I hope to be able to change, which because of Him, I can. I also see how revelation is the rock of our religion, as Jesus taught: 

Matthew 16:13-19

13When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Rock that Christ referred to is revelation through the Holy Ghost, and that is what the church is built upon. 

We had some amazing revelatory experiences this week, and the Spirit testified so strong of our purpose here, to lift, serve, and show our love and trust for the members, so that we can bridge the gap of their work and ours. All the missionaries are united in this effort to strengthen the branch, and to reach out to those who have strayed. 

Monday we had the lovely surprise of teaching Matthew (former investigator) at Dierdre's house! It was good to see him again, and it was definitely a spirit-led lesson about seeking the Spirit in our lives. 

Tuesday we had a good experience with Sis. Kagari and Sis. Hale doing music service at powdermill. Sis. Kagari brought her flute and we played a couple of duets for them :)

Wednesday I got sick again! Shoot! Got my cough and congestion back. Elder Wahlquist has strep throat though, really bad, so keep him in your prayers! The members have been so kind to check with how we are and offer their service and advice, even if its someone to talk to after being just us in the flat for hours! 

We stayed at the Hale's house Wed. night, and headed to Dublin Thursday morning for an all-Ireland conference, with missionaries from both N. Ireland and the Republic. It was an excellent meeting, with great advice on working with members, and the mission's vision for 2015, being a 24/7 missionary! We were back for Institute that evening. 

Hannah is good, the same, essentially. We're trying, taking our time. 

I have to go, but I love Cork! 1 day at a time! Have faith! He is there! 

Love always,

Sister Kirkpatrick

Happy Hogmanay! (Scottish for Happy New Year)

So apparently in Scotland, they say Happy Hogmanay for Happy New Year, so that's where the title of this post is from!

This week has been interesting! We had a lot of things fall through or not go according to plan, but there were a lot of tender blessings this week. 

We made the hard decision this week to hand off John to the Elders, because of convenience (he lives in their branch-designated area) and because we both want him to consistently focus on the gospel, and how it can help him, and feel like he can open up to them on things that he can't with us. We'll be speaking to him about it this week. He and we could use all the prayers we can get.

We saw Hannah on the 31st, and we still are trying to figure out just how we need to help her overcome her main barrier, that she wants to believe in God, but doesn't yet. She feels like it would give her peace about what happens after this life, but she still hasn't had the feeling (or recognized it) or witness that He is there. All she has is our word, but I'm praying to know how to help her find out for herself. Probably one of the most important barriers is church attendance, so if you could pray that she is able to come, that would be so good. He'll accept all the faith you give! 

Another prayer of faith is the hope that we will find and teach new investigators this week, if not, soon! 

New Years Eve, missionaries here are supposed to stay inside, but we got permission to be at the Hale's house, as long as we got a lift home by 9. So we had a good evening making sugar cookies with the elders for members and neighbors :) lots of finger-food! :) We played a fun game that the Hale's got from members in Scotland and Catch Phrase :) We went to bed when we got home, but woke up at 5 to 12 and watched fireworks, flares, and floating lanterns to bring in 2015 :) 

New Years Day was another non-proselyting day. Everybody was hung-over, so the city was DEAD. I've not seen anything like it. We went to deliver cookies to members, but it POURED rain, so it was an adventure! We were SOAKED to the skin by the time we got to the Hale's.

 They took care of us though, and we had fun watching movies with the elders and a couple of single members who came over. Movies watched: You've Got Mail (before the elders got there, haha), The Saratov Approach, Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail, and we nearly finished Wreck-it-Ralph! I am just so stuffed from all the food I've eaten in the last 2 weeks!

...What am I saying, the last 8 months!! 

There's a new sister from Brazil in the Branch that we got the opportunity to serve through this really hard transition, after a lot of miscommunications and misunderstandings about currency and accommodations. It really left a mark on me on how missionary work is truly doing what Christ would be doing if He were here. She was really low when we saw her on Friday, but by Sunday she was so much better! I just wish there was less of a language barrier so we could understand how to help her better! 

I'm so happy to be a missionary. There are days I miss home, or am excited to get back to normal life, but it is such a great opportunity to be close to Christ here, and to work with Him and do His will. I learn so much everyday! 

Sister Rydalch sent this awesome scripture to me: Nahum 1:7. Its a good reminder!

You're all in my prayers! I love you so much!

Take Care,

Love Always,

Sister Mary Ann Kirkpatrick

Dec. 29, 2014 Happy Holidays

Hello!

I hope you all had Merry Christmas!

Irish Christmas was grand! I was sick nearly all week, so it meant a lot of resting so I could feel well for the holidays (nearly made it) It was kind of dismal for missionary work but it was rejuvenating for the soul.

Christmas Eve we went to the Hale's and we watched Its a Wonderful Life, had a steak, baked potato and popcorn shrimp dinner, and had a white elephant gift exchange :) It was really fun and I got a harmonica! It was weird at first to sit and watch a movie, but it was a good one to consider the impact of one person, even if they don't apparently do great, successful, heroic things. Its a great lesson everyone should take to heart, especially missionaries. While we were waiting for transport home, Elder Hale had a good chat with Sister Morrison, a member, Virginie, and I about insights from James E. Talmage on the Annunciation and Conception of Christ's Birth. 

Christmas Morning I got up and 6:30 and opened all the packages from parents and friends and family back home! Thank you so much to all of you who went out of your way to send me something! I loved it all! 

Christmas day was busy, and didn't go precisely as planned, but it was grand. We meant to do service at Penny Dinners, the soup kitchen in Cork, but we kind of missed the memo on buses, so instead the Kagari's picked us up and we did some service at their house :) I love getting to skype Mum and Dad ;) After service and skype and a snack, we went to the Stapleton's, where we got our first round of Christmas dinner, ham, turkey, potatoes (mashed and roasted), bacon-wrapped sausages, fried turnip, and brussel sprouts. We got to watch Frozen with their family, which was fun, being Elder Thomas, Elder Wahlquist, and Sister Morrison's first time seeing it :) Then we got a lift to the Peters' house, where we got some great Christmas Spirit! The house was so lovely and dinner was awesome, pate on toast, melon wrapped in prosciutto, clove ham, bacon wrapped turkey, mashed and roasted potatoes, stuffing, mushed peas, and we had a bit of ice cream cake before we had to skedaddle. The Peters' family tradition is to wait to open any gifts until after Christmas dinner, so after being filled with turkey and ham we got to gather around their Christmas tree and they kindly got us a few inexpensive gifts! It felt a little more like Christmas after that. I really appreciated it. Sister Hale picked us up and took us to hers so that Sister Morrison could Skype there. The elders were there skyping/watching a movie, so we watched Monsters University and had Sister Hale's chocolate cake :) 

St. Stephens Day (Irish Boxing Day) we did weekly planning and because of all the partying still going on, we're not allowed to proselyte, so we went to the Hale's in our pajamas with the elders and watched movies all day :) That never happens as a missionary, so it was awesome :) We watched Star Wars, Episode IV, Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark, National Treasure 2, and at my companion's request, Pride and Prejudice, haha :) The elders complained all the through the latter ;) Elder Thomas was so excited to make dinner for us, and he did a pro job at Chicken Cordon Bleu :) more chocolate and we headed home. 

Saturday we met with a new member of the branch from Brazil, and we cleaned the church with the elders. Elder Goldie and I attacked the library (which has been in a sad state) and betted that it wouldn't be a week before someone went in there and not be able to find what they were looking for. It wasn't even 24 hours. 

Church was good, we went to Gospel Doctrine and Elder Hale taught an awesome lesson from Abraham/Moses on the Creation, with emphasis on how it and science are compatible. I learned a lot, and laughed when Sister Morrison and I had no idea about a congregational hymn we had to do in sacrament meeting. It was a humorous mess. 

Well, I can definitely say I feel closer to the members here and to my Savior after this week. I understand more about who He was and who He is, and I am so so thankful that I have Him as a loving brother and Savior. 

I hope all of you are well and have a very happy start to a new year with hope and goals for the year ahead! I'll speak to you soon!

Love Always,

Sister Mary Ann Kirkpatrick 

Decorating the Hales' Christmas Tree

Cork District December 2014

Time and money: Two precious resources that go *poof*

December 23, 2014

INVESTIGATORS:

so, John is good, I think, we haven't been able to see him except once this week, where we had him over for dinner at the Hale's with the elders. I've been concerned on how he views us, whether professionally or too casually, so that's been holding me a back a bit. I'm probably too worried about it. But we gave him the responsibility of asking his fellowshipper for a lift to the Christmas party and church over the weekend, but came to neither. Bro. Quirke told us that he went to pick him up, but he didn't show, so we're not sure what happened there :/ We'll see how he is this week. 

We didn't get a chance to see Hannah before she left to spend the holidays with her family in England, so we just need to stay in contact with her, as we can, even though she's in another country. 

EVENTS FROM THE WEEK:

We worked on a board for street proselyting, which turned into a much bigger project than we were expecting. We had Moves P-day, which was great, because no one in my district moved! We spent a lot of time with members, which is the best part about Christmas, because its a great opportunity to build better relationships with them! The Branch Christmas party was better than we initially expected at the beginning of the night! We helped the Primary put together Gingerbread houses, dinner was great, and we got to meet a referral, Mary, who is just a BRILLIANT woman. I really hope we get the opportunity to teach her. 

STUDY: 

I have really enjoyed reading James E. Talmage's Jesus the Christ, the couple of chapters precursing and describing the days leading up to and the event of the Savior's birth (chapters 7 &8?), so that could be a good reading for you this week, including the traditional Luke 2 :) Sister Morrison and I have been studying that together, and the thing that has stuck out to me the most is the humility of every character and the entire nature of His Birth, and the joy of the heavens, that the mortals barely glimpsed! They only saw a child, but the Spirit touched their hearts and testified to them His divinity, even if they didn't understand what He would do to save the world. I love my Savior, and have so much respect for his humility more now. I am humbled by His majesty and His gift to me. 

ME:

I'm well. A little under the weather, but I've had a lot of time to reflect on what makes a good missionary, and I know even more now that I want to be a GREAT missionary. There's no reason not to be. 

I have to go now, but I want you all to know that I love you, and that I hope you have an amazing, MERRY CHRISTMAS 

See you all soon! 

Take Care

Love Always,

Sister Mary Ann Kirkpatrick

Christmas in Cork, Ireland

December 15, 2014

Sooos... I'll be staying in Cork with Sister Morrison this Christmas! Yay, its great. There are some really great members here who have invited us, and I'm really excited to spend the holidays with them and the other missionaries. 

I'm not sure what to write about this week, honestly. Sister Morrison wasn't feeling too great a lot of the week, so we did a lot of resting/passive work. (on the computer, with the elders, who were also sick, all of us putting together some Christmas proselyting tools we'll be using this coming week) It gave us a lot of time to think, and I got a good look at all the things that we're here to learn from each other. 

We had some good lessons with John and Hannah this week. 

We brought Bro. Quirke, our branch mission leader on a lesson with John, and they get along really well. We taught about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and it was a great moment when we saw it click with him about who the Holy Ghost is. Bro. Quirke was boss, and without a request from us or John, he offered to give John a lift to church, which has been a barrier for him! It was great. We definitely see the need to involve members with John. And he DID come to church, after a good BoM lesson on Saturday. 

We had dinner with Hannah, which she was great to cook for us and RC, Fezeka. We had a lesson on opposition and the adversary. Hannah's biggest barrier is that she still doesn't want to see or accept that there are black and white choices and consequences that are good or bad. The obvious ones aren't the problem, they're the ones the culture and media of today have down-played to not be a big deal. All we can do is love her, invite her, and testify that doing the little things can help her understand in the long run. I pray that she'll be able to recognize the Spirit, and be able to find a testimony in the BoM and a loving Heavenly Father, because that will change her life. 

A boss member, Brooke, gave us 2 referrals this week! I seriously love members, especially when they understand the spirit of the work of salvation, and want to share the joy of the gospel with their friends! One of the referrals she gave us came to church the week we were gone, so we were hoping she'd be there this week, but alas, not so. Hopefully we'll be able to meet them soon, because Brooke has invited them to all the Christmas activities/programs this week(end)! 

We had a great lesson with some members (Fezeka and Virginie) about our gifts and serving and giving to others from our talents, and we got to write about what we love about each other, and it turned out really good for us to bond and uplift one another, because we're all away from home during the holiday season. I really have loved seeing that I'm finally developing a close relationship with the people here, and I'm glad I have another transfer to deepen that. 

We watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional at the church last night, which was great. I loved the spirit of Christ in serving and loving others, and becoming more Christ-like. If you haven't already watched it, do so! And share it with all your friends! Don't forget to #SharetheGift!! http://www.mormon.org/christmas 

I love you all, and I hope you're all doing well! I can feel my faith tested everyday, and my heart goes out to everyone this Christmas season. It can be so good, and yet so stressful, and hard in several different ways. But I think the trial of faith comes at this time when the Spirit of Christ is so strong so we can remember that He's there to succor us. He came here for us, and He's performed the greatest sacrifice so that we could be with Him again. His was a gift of true love, and I hope we can share that with all those around us.

Happy Holidays!  you all!

Sister Mary Ann Kirkpatrick