July 11, 2017

Tell The World I'm Coming Home

This week we had exchanges in Dundee, it was great to catch up with Sister Hill again!!  Today we went hiking with the District, It was good fun, lots of banter, I fell in the river (of course...), and overall just a chill way to end my p-day adventures. I said goodbye to most of the ward on Sunday, the Alloa ward is amazing and I love the members so much!

Whoa I can't believe this is it! I've been spit on in Belfast,  adopted by Brazilians in Dublin, climbed the Cliffs of Moher, drank from the waters of Loch Ness, ran the Tay Bridge, spent nine straight hours finding in the Meadows, and dodged drunk men in Paisley. I've driven cars and mega vans, rode trains and buses, flown through storms, trekked the highlands, biked  to castles, and ferried across the Irish Sea.  I've served in all three countries and left a piece of my heart in each.   I've made new family from all over the world and had enough laughs to last me a lifetime. This has been the best adventure of my life!

Above all, I am grateful for the things I have learned. Getting to spend all day, everyday sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is the best. My faith has been tested, but the more I study and share, the more my testimony is strengthened. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and that through Him, I can become the person He knows I can be. I love reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible and learning more about what I can be doing to better follow Him. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and the love He has for us all. I know that Christ lives and loves us!

I'm going to miss these countries so much.  My family has grown and grown-- between missionaries, members, and random people on the street that have become some of my closest and dearest friends. There's not much else to say other than how completely grateful I am for this opportunity to serve!! 

Love you all, see you soon!!

---

Sister Megan Stapley

Scotland/Ireland Mission

January 2016-July 2017

 

What e'er thou art, act well thy part

 

"Houston, We're Preparing for Re-Entry"

AH another great week :) :)

Tuesday was my last zone conference ever. Crazy. It was all of Paisley, Glasgow, and Edinburgh zones. All seven of the sisters from my MTC days were there!  We all shared our departing testimonies. We've all had such different experiences and all changed so much, it was amazing coming back together for the end!  It was an emotional experience. 

MTC reunion

So, as part of the conference, all the missionaries going home this transfer are taken to another room and instructed, basically, on how to get a job, get an education, find a spouse, and such. Whoa, I literally have no idea how to be a real life adult!  haha  It was a hilarious meeting, mainly 'cause Garner and I were bantering the whole time.

MTC district reunion

Thursday, I went back to Edinburgh for my final interview with President Donaldson. It was so great to chat with him!! To be honest, I was really struggling with the idea of leaving the mission. It has become my home and my family! But President and I talked a wee bit, and I'm feeling more ready now :)  I love that man so much!

Last p-day we just chilled at the park, had a picnic, listened to music, it was a great day! The sun was out in full force, so I got some more freckles. Flip ya. I LOVE MY DISTRICT!

Not much else to report on this week. I love the members here in Alloa, I love the missionaries I serve beside, and I LOVE being a missionary! There is honestly nothing better. Life is so good!!!!

 Well, my boot broke this week. Worn out!  haha

Love you all, speak soon!!

Happy Father's Day!

 

 

It's been a great week!

We talked to people this week in the town center, it's been pretty busy with the nice weather!  It's funny, I've only been here three weeks but I'm already friends with all the city regulars, like the lady who owns the local bar and the men who sit outside the convenience store. We also went to Stirling University and met some really cool people. Stirling is the place to be!

There was a great Father's Day theme in church yesterday. It reminded me how grateful I am for my dad and for all the father figures I've had in my life! I am so grateful especially for my Heavenly Father, I know He loves us all no matter what, and He is always trying to bless us.

I studied this week a bit about obedience. Obedience is a key to unlock the blessings from heaven, but we sometimes see it as a way to chain us down. When we are obedient to God's commandments we can see the bigger picture. As I am, I can't see into the future or even begin to understand my path in life. But God knows. As we obey the promptings of the spirit and do what we can to follow Jesus Christ, we can obtain blessings that we could not have even imagined!
 

We've had dinner appointments on dinner appointments, I am SO grateful for the people here that are taking the time to feed us. The food is also flippin delicious!

Love you all, have a great week!

Sheep Herding in Scotland

This week was great!

Tuesday was the rainiest day of my mission! I'm not even kidding. We went to Edinburgh for a Zone meeting, then headed back to Stirling for the rest of the day. Man, it was bucketing!! It didn't stop for a single second all day long, I have never been so soaked!

The rest of the week was spent finding and teaching a lot of people. I love being in Alloa ward, the members here are sooooo great! The city of Stirling is small and there are tons of tourists right now! Gonna be honest, I don't know anything about the history of Stirling, but apparently it's pretty famous  because people are coming from all over the world!

Today, we met with our district and hiked around Alva Glen. It was beautiful! I'm with a really fun group of missionaries:  an elder from Cali, my comp from Finland, and an elder from Australia, a brand new elder from Japan, and Elder Keim. (That'll make 11 months serving in the same area as him.)  We had so much fun hiking! There were loads of sheep that we tried to catch, which usually ended with us just slipping and falling all over the place. The trick was to not slip in the sheep crap.....it was everywhere. Literally everywhere. Ya, it was a good day. Then we went and got a chippie afterwards, so it's been a good day!

Love you all, have a great week!
-Sister Stapley

Stirling Struck Gold!

Streets of Stirling

I love Stirling so much!  We talked to loads of people this week and met some very fine folk!  The city is small and beautiful.  We've got the Ochils on one side and farms on farms on farms (with highland coo) on the other. It is gorgeous here!

The sun was out full force at the beginning of the week, then Scotland struck again.  We were teaching a lesson in the library when, suddenly, we're getting pelted with hail shooting out of the vents!  Then, a huge leak erupts in the ceiling right next to us and everyone scrambles to save the books.  Don't worry, all the books got saved and it was so much fun.

Scotland strikes!

The Alloa ward is amazing and the members take such good care of us.  I don't think I've ever eaten so well!

I'm not sure what else to share, we're just working our tails off here!  Sister L is teaching me some Finnish words and our district is boss. I'm just so thankful every single day that I get to be here.

Lee sent some pictures from Elgin!!

Love you all loads, have a great week!
Sister Stapley

Where in the World is Sister Stapley Now?!!

So, I will start with the end of the week and work backwards.....

I got moved!!!!  I am spending my last 6 weeks in the legendary Stirling city and with the legendary Sister Lehtimaki! I am SO pumped...this area is amazing, the ward is the best, Sister L is hilarious, and we are going to work so flappin hard.  Warning:  I ma going to come crawling off that plane. :)

Saturday was Lee's baptism!  He was baptised in the Findhom River, it was beautiful.  The baptism, itself, was very special for this amazing guy.  It was the best feeling in the world and I know I was in Elgin to meet Lee and witness his baptism.

Findhom River

The weather was insane this week and it got up to 30 degrees celsius!  The sun was full force for 2 and 1/2 days and I got a bad sunburn.  It's all good, though, just prepping me to go back to real life in the states.

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting in Invergordon. Get this....their chapel is in an old closed down bank.  There is a legit safe in the main room, and to get to the family history area, you have to take the pin out of the emergency exit door and punch this little lock thing.  It is the coolest chapel ever!!

Not much else this week. Just the craziness of moving. I'm so grateful for my month in Elgin and everyone I got to meet. I'm so grateful I got to serve with Sister Christensen, she will continue to light that area up!

I'm so excited for this last transfer and all the miracles we will see.

"And thus we can see that by small things the Lord can bring about great things."  I love this scripture.  We are small and powerless. but by using us, the Lord can accomplish greatness.  We might not think the little things we do can make a difference, but every little contribution we make helps bring a greater purpose.

Love you all!

The road from Elgin. 

Aber-DREAM, Scotland!

Literally, what a week. Buckle up for this one!

I drove us down to Aberdeen for conference. It was an amazing conference and so good to see everyone! Shout-out to Sister Sams, it was her birthday on Tuesday. WOO! We took a train back to Elgin after the conference and then taught some good lessons. 

Thursday, we went down to Dundee for exchanges. I was with Sister Hill, oh my days I love her!! We had so much fun and it was nice being in a city again. I just talked to as many people as possible. 

 For morning exercise I finally got to run the Tay Bridge!! That thing is a legend in the mission, and it was on my bucket-list. It's a 2.25 km long bridge that crosses the Firth of Tay. We ran it so fast! My legs were so dead the next day!

Megan's view of Tay Bridge

Aerial view of Tay Bridge

We had a good rest of the week as well. Lots of lessons, the weather was rubbish on Saturday, but we were inside teaching most of the day. This next week is gonna be great, our friend Lee is getting baptised on Saturday!!!!!!!!!! Lee is like my older brother out here, he is literally the best. It's so cool seeing how the gospel has changed his life, he is an incredible guy! Saturday is going to be amazing.

 

Monday, we grabbed lunch with the Hebrides district since they came down for the conference. Afterwards, we went to the Spynie castle with the Smiths. It was so fun! :) It was a good thing I was in a  dress or I would have been climbing all over everything! Well...I still climbed all over everything, but never too close to the edge, I promise. 

Thanks for all the support from everyone, hope you all enjoy the rest of May and are getting pumped for Summer!! Love you all

Happy Mother's Day and Proper Rioting!

Another great week in Elgin!

We taught a lot of lessons this week! Our friends out here are so cool, they all have such different back stories and different interests. It's amazing how the Gospel has the ability to bless everyone, no matter what they've been through! We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with some friends on Saturday. Man, I actually love that film! Every time I watch it I get hyped about sharing the Book of Mormon with people. 

Funny moment of the week that will help you understand what Elgin is like:

So the bus times changed this week. There we are at the bus station waiting for our bus and right next to us is this group of 15 or so elderly folk. They start getting real worked up because the #36 bus has not arrived yet. One finally arrives, but because it was early, it just sits there not letting people on. So these old people start proper rioting. One yells "They're doing this to confuse the elderly!" and they start running as fast as they can to the bus and pressing against it. It was actually one of the funniest things I've ever seen. hahaha

 

On Monday we went to the beach!!! I love the beach so much, I think it's funny how often I've been to the beach on my mission considering I'm serving on a rainy cold island. But the beaches here are lush! We grabbed ice cream afterwards, it was a nice chill day.

Skyping home was great this week! Hope you all had a happy mother's day! 

Love you all, see you soon!!

Bantams and Beautiful Days!

What an awesome week here in Elgin! The sun was out and I got more freckles. Aw ya.

So, Monday we had a pretty relaxed day. Got shopping done, walked around the town, it was nice! Today we'll probably hit up the beach or something, so that'll be cool! 

Tuesday, we took a train to Inverness for District meeting. I saw Loch Ness,  that was cool! Best surprise ever though when I got the the church.....CHLOE (Sister DeMille) was there!!!! WOOO!!! It was such a nice surprise, seeing her was def the highlight of the week! We caught up for a little bit, it'll be cool to see her and all my other mission friends back home! 

We taught a good amount of lessons this week and got some quality finding in the town center. We should have a couple baptisms within the next month! That's exciting! 

Other highlight of the week: We got to do some service! I built a chicken coop. Flip ya. Oh ya, not a chicken coop. A bantam coop. Totally different...haha.  It was awesome, there's a couple that live way out of town in a cottage on a farm. They are in good health, so we gave them a hand getting their garden and chickens ready for summer. Honestly, it was the coolest thing ever, it's so beautiful out there! The directions to get to their house are literally: bike for about 15 minutes, turn right at the pig farm, bike for another 20 minutes, they are in the one cottage you'll see. I love it!

"Turn right at the pig farm"

Church was pretty good, this branch is so nice! We have Family Home Evenings on Monday nights and our investigators get to come, it's so fun!

I got to study a lot this week about confidence. There is a great talk by Elder Holland that led me on a lot of great scripture chases. One of my favorite quotes from it is-

"God will also provide the means and power to achieve that purpose. Trust in that eternal truth." Anytime God speaks to us through revelation, He doesn't just call it good and leave us to our own devices. As long as we're doing out best, He will make sure we can accomplish everything He asks. And we can take confidence in that!

I love my mission so much, I'm so excited to see you all soon!