Moves Week...Dun dun duuuuuuun

K we'll start at the beginning of the week. We drove some sisters to Belfast, stopping at KFC along the way for some lunch. We got the family size bucket to share and a 2 litre bottle of pop to pass around. Classic road trip. Then we drove back to Dublin with some different sisters to get them all moved into their new place. They brought carrots for snacks. Not as classic road trip...haha but just as fun.Then it was time for Tuesday and Wednesday....Moves Days.

We woke up at 4 to take some sisters to the airport. We had a day of missionary work (yay!), and then prepared to pick up everyone and their mom from the bus station and drive them to their areas. Only problem....there was a huge rainstorm that night, so everything was delayed. All the sisters passing through Dublin missed their next transportation mode, and got to stay at our flat instead! Because there were so many sisters, Sister Petersen and I got an extra car to shuttle them! When we were alone in the cars, we had to stay within sight of each other, and have each other on the phone the whole drive. It was so weird haha! SO imagine fitting 8 sisters and ALL THEIR LUGGAGE into two marivas. Let me tell you, it's the best game of Tetris in the world. All the new sisters seem really cool though, I'm excited to get to know them!

 

 There are 11 sister teams in Ireland.  So we do exchanges 3-4 times a week. The sisters come to our area, which is nice.  We have zone conferences in a couple of weeks.  The 3 zones are Dublin, Belfast, and Limerick.  Dublin is the HQ of Ireland and Edinburgh is the HQ of Scotland.  Limerick is the only part of the mission I haven't visited yet, I'm looking forward to going there.  We fly to Edinburgh for MLC next week. 

So the rest of the week had smaller events. We sat outside in the pouring rain at 5 AM to get the Garda cards for the new sisters. There was a huge gorse fire on the hills because Tuesday was a heat wave (it got up to 70 degrees....wow. And then the torrential downpour was the next day). Most our investigators dropped us, so we'll be rebuilding the teaching pool this next week. We start exchanges this week, so life will be crazy all over again!

 

Spiritual thought of the week:

"Every one of us is called to wait in our own way.  We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good.to us that we can't possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer. We must learn that in the Lord's plan, our understanding comes line upon line, precept upon precept.  In short, knowledge and understanding come at the price of patience." -Elder Uchdorf 

 Sometimes, you just have to wait it out. Heavenly Father knows what we need and when we need it.  If life isn't going your way, evaluate and see what you can do better.  Pray about it, do your best, then patiently endure.  Not wait, bur endure.  On a hike, you don't sit down after a couple of miles and say, "Well, I've walked this far,  the waterfall should just come to me now."  Nope, you gotta keep walking.  So enjoy the journey and patiently expect the prize. 

Love you all!

 -Sister Stapley

"In Dublin fair city, where the beaches are so pretty"

I'm staying in Dublin with Sister Petersen! But man, the rest of moves is crazy! Every single sister team in Ireland is changing except us. We'll have 11 teams to exchange with, and around 7 new trainees! Ireland is moving right along :)

Last Monday, we went to the pier and fed seagulls, it felt like home! Except these seagulls were vicious...about a dozen of them would hover about 2 feet right above where we were sitting and threaten us until we fed them. It was hilarious!

We went up to Belfast on Tuesday for exchanges! It was so nice to be back in Belfast :) It's like home! 

There is this couple we teach from Africa named Moses and Zenum. We went to their flat the other day, and they were babysitting these three adorable little girls!! We had a family home evening with them where they acted out different Book of Mormon stories! And then, they decided to do our hair. Fun fact, they all have weaves. So they told us they would do our hair like theirs. I don't think I've ever been in so much pain!  haha But it was so fun! 

I also ventured to Eddie Rockets for the first time. It's the "American Burger Joint" of Dublin. It wasn't American at all. But nice try. 

So ya, today we are busy moving all the sisters around! We're driving up to Belfast and back today and then driving everyone to the airport in the morning. It'll be a crazy week!

Love you all so much, I appreciate all the emails! I want you all to know that a mission is the best thing I could have ever decided to do. It has completely changed my life, and my future is going to be that much more amazing because of it. I wouldn't trade it for anything!!

-Sister Stapley

3 Countries, 24 Hours, Dozens of friends! Conference week was a success!

What. A. Week!

So Monday we went and hiked to Hell Fire Club, a cool old run down building with a killer view!

 

 

 I had to get my Garda card this week.  It's basically a card that means I can live here. The Republic is super strict about it. So in order to get one, we had to go stand outside the office at 4:30 AM, wait til it opens at 8, and try to get out by 10. Imagine the DMV, and then multiply the craziness by 100. We literally slept on the sidewalk from 4:30 to 8. The homeless people were giving us weird looks. The funniest part is we were 10th in line already. By the time 8 rolled around, there were over 200 people in line. CRAZY

Sleeping on the sidewalk!

Tuesday, we drove to Belfast with the Zone Leaders to catch a flight to Edinburgh for Mission Leadership Council. MLC was such a cool experience! Elder Herbertson of the Seventy came and talked with us. He led a really cool study session where we dived into the parable of the talents. Wow, mind blown. I got to have an interview with him later, and it was really nice to chat with him! We spoke about the mission, about struggles and successes, and he shared insights with me about how I can help move the mission along.  I just hope I can measure up!  It was also great craic (pronounced crack, it means good fun and good conversation--the editor had to look it up!) seeing my friends from all over the mission :)

 

Right after MLC, we drove to Glasgow and flew back to Dublin. We nearly missed our flight, we arrived at the airport 15 minutes before it was supposed to leave. But tender mercy, it was delayed 30 minutes. God is looking out for sure.

Splits with Sister Joregnsen

Thursday we had exchanges with the Cork sisters, which are Sister Esplin and Sister Jorgenson!! It was so fun seeing my MTC comp again!! That night, we drove to the bus station and back about 100 times picking up sisters from all over Ireland and driving them to where they were staying the night. They were all coming to town for the conference on Friday.

Driving in Dublin

Friday was All-Ireland Conference! Elder Herbertson came and spoke again. He talked about how we all stand together and drive to defeat the adversary. President shared a bit about how our mission is like an athletic event. We have to leave it all on the field! I related well to it, it got me super hyped for the coming week! 

 

We had a ward bbq on Saturday. SO much fun!

 

It was so nice to see all my friends this week, it really helps lift me up! I am excited for this coming transfer (moves call is next Sunday, I'm decently sure I am staying in Dublin, but we'll see...), and I'm excited to see even more miracles!! 

Random guy in the subway with my name tattooed on his leg!

Sista Stapley Outtttt

Anthems in a Jar!

So I'm sorry ahead of time, I don't have much to say this week, but this next week is going to be the best week ever, so stay tuned :)

This week we had a couple exchanges, so that  was fun! I love being able to not only see my friends, but work with them and find success! I was with Sister Dahl from Logan and Sister Hall from Denmark!. They are both so great! Sister Hall is coming to BYU after her mission, and I am so flipping excited! She is such a boss, we def totes be friends on the other side.

We taught snoop dog again, and he has a baptism date!! We have a couple other friends who want to get baptized so we are doing what we can do to help them. 

We had a zone district meeting with all the missionaries from Dublin, it was so fun! And very very spiritual :) a senior couple here made us breakfast that morning!! They made French toast like Kneaders. I literally cried. Food makes me cry like none other. I was so happy. Tomorrow,  we drive to Belfast to fly to Edinburgh for mission leadership counsel. I am so so so so excited to be back in Edinburgh!! It will be a great day :) Then on Friday we have an all Ireland conference! Elder Herbertsen is coming to speak with us. It will be such a powerful week! 

Jacob 4:7. What a scripture. It talks about grace and weaknesses. I have so many weaknesses, but Christ is helping me use them and become a better person. I would encourage everyone to read it and then find another scripture in the bible or Book of Mormon that resonates with you and connects with Jacob 4:7. Find a way to reflect it for your life. 

Love you all so much!! Have a good week, and stay happy :)

Dinner!

1/3 done....WOW!!

Helloooooooooooo world!

I hit my 6th month mark this week! HOW CRAZY!!!! This time next year, I'll be home......weird. 

We had an INCREDIBLE week! We taught more lessons this week than I've ever taught before. We worked so flippin' hard, and it paid off :) Now we are working to keep it up and expect success! 

Highlights of the week.....We taught this one guy who is a spitting image of Snoop Dogg. Gold chains, sunglasses, a weed necklace, everything! He is so excited to learn about Jesus Christ and come closer to Him, and I am so so so so excited to teach him :) :)

For my 6th month mark we bought a chocolate cake and devoured it. Best idea ever.

It was scorchingly hot this past week!!! It was up to 80 degrees!!!! OH MY DAYS I WAS DYING. It was for only 2 days, now it's back to rain, so that's fun. 

I cut my hair. I'm trying to decide which was more difficult, getting it cut or leaving home for 18 months.....it's a toss up.

Hangin' with Sister Frescher

We had some more exchanges this week, so that was fun! Again, the work here is just doing amazing.

Dublin is amazing. Seriously, this city is incredible. There's so much food. I love it.

Sorry I don't have much else to write about, we were finding and teaching all week! 

Peacock picture fail!!

Sun Swag!

European chocolate!

80 degrees and sunny!

 

Yes, you read right. Here in sunny Dublin, it is 80 degrees and there's enough sun for me to get a tan! Dublin is the coolest city, there's so much going on all the time!

We had a great week on exchanges! We had three this week, and we'll have another three this next week. It's hard work, not gonna lie. We hit the ground running every morning at 10 and go all day, only stopping for dinner. I'm learning so much about diligence, perseverance, and a ton of patience, mainly for myself. I wish I could do more here, honestly!

Today I'm getting my haircut. I know, it's scary. I'm getting about 6 inches off, so it'll still be long, but more manageable.  I know this is the most important news of the week, so make sure you sit down and give yourself a couple minutes to take it in.

I got to go on exchange with Sister Sams and my granddaughter, Sister Ligertwood! She's from Australia!! It was so fun to see my posterity, they are both such hard workers!! 

We ate at this bomb restaurant for breakfast one morning, I got the best pancakes ever. The syrup here is golden amazingness. Seriously, it was life changing. I can't even describe it. It's kind of the consistency of honey, and it's rich as Bill Gates standing in a gold mine. I'm going to send a bottle home if I can. 

This week I've been studying Ether 12. I love verse 27, it talks about how our weaknesses make us strong. Grace will help make up our weaknesses, but won't get rid of them entirely. We need those weaknesses to help teach us. Through overcoming weakness, we become strong. We have strength in spite of weakness. I love that so much, because I have plenty of weaknesses, but when I don't dwell on them and instead work hard to push through them, I am able to grow. 

Love you all so much! 

Sister Stapley