Road trip! Road trip! On the LEFT side of the road!

What a crazy week! So we've had Zone Conferences all over Scotland and I've seen a ton! We have a car and I am the driver.  I get to drive everywhere! It's so much fun, I missed driving so much! IT WASN'T EVEN THAT HARD TO SWITCH TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD! We drove to Dundee on Tuesday and up to Aberdeen on Wednesday. It's about three and a half hours to Aberdeen. In the UK, people think that's super far. Coming from America, it felt more like a normal weekend getaway drive for me.   haha

 

The countryside is BEAUTIFUL here! Oh my gosh, really it's amazing. 

I got to see Sister Esplin and some other sisters from  the MTC!   I've met tons of new missionaries! There's so many great ones out here, I'm happy to get to know them! By October, there will be 26 new sister missionaries in the SIM, and only 2 go home!!

We spent most of the week outside our area, so we didn't get to teach many lessons, but once the craziness dies down things will get back to normal missionary work. We are stationed in the Edinburgh city center and I'm excited to get to know the area better.

Sister DeMille is awesome! We're actually getting another missionary, Sister Paxman, to be in a trio with us until the end of the transfer! It'll be such a party

Sorry no pictures this week, we've been super busy! It's really fun talking at Zone Conferences and getting to call all the Sisters, I'm learning so much about how the mission runs. At Zone Conference, we've been focusing on working with urgency, it's really cool to instruct on and hear how other missionaries do things. 

** Since Megan didn't send any pictures this week....here's a photo of the cleats Erynn was able to get Megan at the Nike outlet sale in Portland.  They will stay here and wait for 13 1/2 months for Megs to break them in!**

Last Monday, we went out and played American Football with the Zone Leaders and President's Assistants. We had a great time, but pathetically, all of us were sore for the rest of the week. We played way too hard but it was nice to  play sports again.

Next week, we'll finish Zone Conferences in Paisley and Glasgow. And then it's almost moves week again! This is such a short transfer, we'll see what happens! Thanks for all the emails, love you!  

I've Scots to go to Edinburgh!

Wow, so much has happened this week, I don't know where to start!.

First off, here are the pictures from Telis' baptism! It was soooo awesome!  He is a cool guy and will be a great member!!  I'm so glad I got to meet him and talk about our Savior with him!

Here's a scenic view from our flat in Belfast. I'm going to miss it so much there!!

Hello  Edinburgh! I'm companions with Sister DeMille from Cedar Hills, Utah! She's so awesome, we are going to work a ton here.

This last week, all the new missionaries came in, so we got to hike Pratt's hill! The new sisters seem really cool, I'm excited to get to know them better! 

This upcoming week, I am going to be all over Scotland! We have Zone Conferences in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee. Sister DeMille and I will be instructing at all of them, so we won't be in Edinburgh much this week! We have some more coming up in the following weeks, I'll let you know as they happen! We will also start going on exchanges with the sisters in Scotland. There are 8 different teams we'll be exchanging with, so we'll definitely be kept busy this transfer! Sister DeMille goes home after this one, so we are sending her out with a bang :)

 Edinburgh is a  HUGE city with tons of people! We talk to people at the University mostly, so we meet people from all around the world! The ward is amazing, there are a good amount of cool young single adults! I don't have much time to take pictures, but I'll send them as I get them. 

Love you all so much, hope you're enjoying the sun! 

-Sister Stapley

So long, Belfast!

So a ton has happened. I'm just going to throw it all out there and explain more when I can.

I'm moving to Edinburgh to be companions with Sister DeMille and to be a Sister Training Leader. I got the call last night, they gave me 15 hours to pack my life and say goodbye to all my friends here in Belfast. 

Emma

 

Telis got baptized last Saturday, it was amazing! I'll send pictures when I have more time. 

Sorry this is so short, but I'm literally leaving to catch a plane right now. I'm very excited for this opportunity to go to Scotland.  I have absolutely loved my time in  Belfast, this place became my home and these people became my family. I've loved working with Sister Sams and  have learned so much here. I'm sad to be leaving, but I know that God has a plan for me and He'll help me do whatever it takes to succeed :)

A few hours later.....

 

So I'm in Edinburgh right now! We're getting everything situated, it's absolute madness! I'm going from being in a ward where it's just me and my companion to the Edinburgh Ward with 12 other elders!   Edinburgh is a huge city, I'm excited to get to know Scotland!

 

My life is about to get crazy here, my companion is insanely hard working, I am straight going to get whooped! It's going to be really good for me though, I hope I'm still standing by the end of  my 5 weeks with her. Also, she's a Hawks fan, so I'm happy :)  We will travel all around Scotland to have exchanges with the sister missionaries, train at zone conferences, and orient the new sisters to the mission.  I'll write more when I get a chance.  

Fun with Sister Sams and Emma!!

Love you all!

-Sister Stapley

 

 

 

DRUMROLL.....!!!

TELIS IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!   And drumroll for affect...................HE WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED IN THE OCEAN!!  (we'll see if it gets approved)  Yes, this is the same body of water where the TITANIC sank.  We joked that the opening hymn will be "Nearer My God to Thee"....too soon? 

President Uchtodrf was awesome!  He spoke to our stake- which is all of Northern Ireland.   He is such an incredible speaker! He talked about making small changes in our lives to make a big difference. He also spoke about how we can each be a better friend.  He was so good and so personable!  People started lining up at 4am. About 900 people came, I'm not sure there's that many members in all of Northern Ireland.  We guess some members came from Scotland and the Republic.

The Queen's University

It was Sister Sams' birthday last Monday, so we went and had a picnic with all the missionaries in Belfast.  We played football and a bit of rugby (both non-contact), which was so fun! 

So Belfast Oktoberfest is going on right outside our flat. It looks like a party! They have giant swings and other carnival stuff set up in the city center. 

Hope everyone at home is doing well, try to make those little changes in your life to help bring about a big difference! 

-Sister Stapley

I canny even.....

Dang. What a week. I'm not able to fully express what happened, but I hope you can sense through the world wide web how flippin excited I am!

Highlight of the week: Chris got baptized on Saturday!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! He was so happy and excited and could not stop smiling!! It's so cool to see how the gospel makes people so happy!!!!! I can't even.... Or, as they say in Ireland, I canny even......

We also went to Bangor last Monday to look at the beach! It was so awesome!!! I GOT TAN! Ok jk I got more freckles. But hey, I'll take it. We played american football and just walked around  It was so so so so nice! 

On Tuesday we went down to Dublin for a giant conference! It was so cool seeing all my mission friends from the Republic! 

This area has definitely been a struggle for me, but I would not trade it for anything! Being able to meet Chris and witness the joy the gospel brings to his life is absolutely incredible! They never said it would be easy, but it will definitely be worth it. #cornyquoteoftheday 

I love you all so much! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate them!

P-day crepes!

Break out the sunscreen!

 Editor's note:  We got this picture forwarded to us from Chris' baptism yesterday. (5/14) It made our day to get a picture just minutes old! 

Mother's Day skype. 2016

 

Shannon was able to skype with us from Arizona.

It's supposed to get up to 71 degrees today. Literally, this is the hottest day of the summer. I'm stoked!! Sunscreen...yes please!

 

  

 So, this is the Toast Trolley, or Beer Bike, or Pedal Pub.   It is a small cart powered by about 10 people pedaling.  It has a bar in the middle and it blasts 80's music all night long.  Every weekend, we hear it from our balcony as it t goes around our block. Usually, it's a bunch of women at a bachelorette  party or something like that. Literally, best thing ever......women shouting Whitney Houston songs at the top of their lungs. I love it. 

I'll have lots of pictures to send next week.

Well, apparently Prince died.....

 I was saddened to hear about the loss of Prince. He contributed a lot to the world. Mainly the song Raspberry Beret. What a jam. Haha, raspberry jam....dang I'm good.

 Nap time on P-day. Poncho from Sister Stribling!

This last week we got to go to Dublin to visit the sisters down there. It was so fun, Dublin is beautiful! I was companions with Sister Muller again, and Sister Sams was with Sister Petersen, from Snohomish! We have a ton of mutual friends, so it was really fun to talk with her. 

 We have a new friend named Telis! He's 22, from Portugal, and is super cool. He loved coming to church and is loving talking about Christ! 

Chris is continually awesome. We're preparing for his baptism on May 14th!

 Woot woot!!

WE WENT TO FIVE GUYS THIS WEEK!!!!!! Literally, best decision of my life. It tasted like a real American burger and shake! Like, I almost cried. K I might've teared up a little bit, but come on, it's FIVE GUYS!

Not much else to report on here, the weather is improving! Well, actually, it snowed Thursday. But the sun is starting to come out more! 

Happy May everybody!

I'm super excited to skype home on Sunday! Hope everyone is well.

 Love you all!!