Oh, Stornoway! The place I call my home!

I like to preach to the sheep. Most of the time they talk back :) 

This is the Stornoway church building. I love it. And it is SOOO close to our home! :) 

Quote Of The Week:

"The mission is tough, pretty much the whole thing, But the reason why every missionary loves and cherishes it is because of the growth and guidance from the Spirit during all the hard times. Cherish the hard times and seek how you can grown in the Spirit." -Dale Larson

Scripture Of The Week:

John 14:27- We are promised peace. How incredible is that in a world that we live in where nothing seems to slow down. We have no need to be worried are fearful. The Lord has a plan for each and everyone of us. If we be sure to keep the commandments and put our Father in Heaven first before ANYTHING then we WILL be blessed. I can promise that. I have seen it happen. I am so grateful for the peace that Heavenly Father gives us. In moments of stress and panic if we only sit and breathe deep, read a scripture, and say a pray I promise we can feel of that beautiful calming, peace.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUM! I didn't forget, I PROMISE!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I hope you all know how much I love you and pray for you. :)

This week was CRAZY! On Tuesday we made cookies for our Zone Leaders and District Leader. We got picked up from our flat by the Maddock's at 2pm and they took us to the airport. Sister Brozzu and I flew over to Glasgow. It was a fun flight!!! The plane was so itty bitty! Sister Brozzu was a little nervous on it, but I told her that it is like a game... "Are we gonna live? Are we gonna die? Hmmm... we won't know till we hit the ground!" Hahaha! We got to Glasgow around 5pm. The Zone Leaders picked us up and dropped us off at the 4 Sister Flat. Then they left us. Luckily I served in Glasgow, so I was so comfortable being left with Sister Brozzu in this big city. I went to go visit my friends... but we had bad luck. Willie had literally JUST left when we got there!! And my friends Sammy and Stuart moved about 2 months ago... I was pretty bummed. Then we were going to visit Pierre and Sister Barnshaw, but Pierre had the missionaries over for a lesson and I couldn't remember EXACTLY how to get to Sister Barnshaw's and I didn't want to get lost in Glasgow in the dark... So we went over to my friend Maddy's home. It was so nice catiching up with her. She is GREAT! I love her so much! Then she took Sister Brozzu and I to get hamburgers and chocolate milkshakes for dinner! MMMMmmmmMMM! It was good. And while we were there some elders and sisters came to join us. It was a PARTY! :) Man, I love Glasgow. It was nice to be back.

Now, don't think I've gone apostate. We didn't just go to Glasgow to see my friends and eat yummy food. We went there for Zone Interview Training on Wednesday. It was an amazing meeting. The Spirit was so strong there. We focused a lot on How To Begin Teaching. I think it is so good to go back to the basics sometimes. I got to have a nice interview with President Brown. He is so nice. I could have sat and talked to him for HOURS! But ain't nobody got time for that.... Then I did something pretty awkward.... I saw an Assisstant to the President and had a MAJOR brain fart... for some reason in my head I thought he was my Zone Leader, so I asked him how he liked the cookies. Then when he said, "What cookies?" I realized that we didn't make cookies for the AP's... So I just said, "Oh... what? I don't know.. Never mind." Which made him under the impression we had cookies for him and I just ruined the surprise... Well I ran over to Sister Brozzu and asked if we had any cookies for the AP's and explained my mistake. Haha, luckily we had Subway for lunch, so I took one of those cookies and made them split it. Then I confussed of my awkward confusion. Haha, hmmmm, as I'm sitting here typing I'm realizing that story might only be funny if you were there. Sorry for such a lame story. I feel as if I don't share enough stories, but I don't know what kind of stories to share. Emailing just doesn't do funny stories justice!!!

Thursday, Febuary 12, we went on exchanges with the STLs, Sister Johnson and Sister Montgomery in Irvine, Scotland. It was a fun exchange. I was a little bummed at first because I missed Sister Cannon so so much... but Sister Johnson and Sister Montgomery are lovely. :) We did this think called "street boarding". It is where you take a white board and you go on a street and you write something catchy on the white board and talk to people about it. The first one said "We believe in Jesus Chirst, do you?" Then we stopped EVERYONE we saw. It was so fun. We were there with some elders as well. And you don't stop people with a companion, that way you are stopping more people. I met a man named Chris Thor. He was so cool! He was dressed in a really spiffy suit. He looked like he could be a super hero. I told him he lived up to his name. He took a Book of Mormon and said he might want to learn more someday. That was the most success I found that day. But it is always fun talking and meeting new people. Right when we decided to leave, the 4 of us sisters said that we would stop one more person before we catch our bus. I went over and started a conversation with a lady. She was kind and had some quiestions, then out of NO WHERE a lady charges over to me and starts yelling "How dare you call yourself a Christian. You aren't a Christian. You worship the devil. You don't read the Bible. You changed the Bible!" And a whole bunch more horrible things about us that I shouldn't type... As she was screaming at me, the lady I was talking to walked away. When I tried to talk to the screamer she shoved her hand in my face and yelled as she waked away. It was interesting because in the beginning of my mission I would have felt so defeated and dejected, but it was at this moment that I realized that was the closest I could feel to Jesus Christ. How amazing is that? HE knows exactly how we feel. He took on every emotion we have ever felt, but we don't have the same opportunity to understand Him. While Chirst was on the Earth many people were unkind to Him. They put a crown of thorns on His head and mocked Him. If all I need to take is some lady yelling at me and calling me names on the street because I am trying to share a message about my Savior and Redeemer who can bring us so much peace and happiness, then I will take it with my head held high. I know that my Redeemer lives. I am so greateful for all that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have done for me.

We took a train back to Glasgow on Thursday and the Zone Leaders picked us up and dropped us off at the airport. We were able to get some yummy food from Tesco... well, I thought it looked yummy and ended up not liking ANYTHING I bought for myself. Luckily Sister Brozzu was kind enough to share. I slept the whole 45 minute flight to Stornoway. :) Not too shoking I'm sure.

On exchanges Sister Johnson and I talked a lot about "boldness" because that is what I am focusing on this transfer. My whole mission I have been committed to be more bold, so I decided I would work REALLY hard on it. Sister Johnson said something that really stuck with me:

B  =Believe

O  =Obey

L  =Love

D  =Diligent

When we are bold we believe that the person we are being bold with will change. We believe that we are being prompted by the Spirit to be so bold and direct with them. When we are bold we are obedient. We are doing and saying what we are guided to say and do no matter how uncomfortable we may feel. When we are bold we are speaking with love. When we are bold we are diligent. We are doing exactly what the Lord wants us to be doing at that moment. Then Sister Johnson explained that being bold doesn't mean pointing the finger and shouting repentance at people. There is a kind and quiet boldness as well. I really learned a lot on this exchange. :)

Friday, we went to a funeral for our friend Davy's mother. He was so strong and brave. He knows his mother is okay and that he will see her again. It is amazing to see what hope can do. In the evening we went to a Retirement Center and Sister Brozzu was able to play her flute with a band. She is so good! Tonight, one of the men that was there, named Allen, said he would come to Family Home Evening and play the guitar for us. We are so excited!!!

Well, that's me done I think. I don't want to be too long winded :) Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am so silly. I forgot my camera charger in Limerick. BUT Sister Brozzu was kind enough to send me a few pictures, so I will try to figure out how to send them over.

This coming week is going to be a week full of miracles. Keep your eyes open for them all. The Lord is blessing you all the time :)

Love you all! 

<3, Sister Kelsey Michelle Griffin