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!

Elgin!

5/1/17

Alright so surprise time....I moved!!  I am now in Elgin, in northern Scotland. It's a small town with an awesome branch, I am going to love it here!

So I'll recap my week...

 

Wednesday......Dylan got baptised!!!!! WOOOO!!! I met him three weeks ago on the sidewalk. We had a good 10 minute talk about finding direction through the Holy Ghost, and he said he's been looking to go to church for a while now but hasn't known where to go. Every lesson we had with him was amazing!! He loves the Book of Mormon, has introduced himself to so many members at church, and is really excited to get the priesthood soon!

P-day with Sister Six. 

Scotland!

We had a great district meeting. I was able to see Sister Brousseau, who is a great friend! We  grabbed lunch at Cheeky Nandos with Laura and Ruth, two young women from Edinburgh. They are the coolest ever, I love them both so much!

 Thursday..... I officially moved :)  Sister Christensen (my new comp) and I took a train up to Elgin! We met some members and got all moved in. It's honestly such a great town, very different from the big cities I've lived in!  It's crazy to think I will finish here!

So that's about it! We've been working really hard here to get the work going. We're already seeing so many miracles, so I'm excited to see what in store for us here!

Love you all, talk to ya soon!

Meetings on meetings on meetings!

4/24/17

What a great week, full of meetings, but it was good non-the-less!

Colin's baptism. with Elders Bradshaw, Giles, and Moore

On Tuesday we had a new leadership training. We instructed the new STLs and DLs, they are going to help the mission so much!  It's great to see the up and coming leadership.

Wednesday, the new missionaries came in. They are also such powerhouses! Honestly, every missionary that comes in is better than the previous. It's going to be an amazing two years for them. We got to climb Pratt's hill as well, Sister Six and I got to talk about everything we are going to accomplish this transfer. It's gonna be a good one! 

 

Thursday, we had MLC. It was also a great meeting! The new STLs are going to crush it, I'm so proud of them! It was great to see all my friends as well. 

Our friend Dylan is getting baptised this Wednesday! He is from the Caribbean, is 20, and is a professional paintballer. Literally, he's the coolest! When I stopped him on the street we had a nice conversation about how faith can lead to happiness, and here he is two weeks later getting baptised! What a boss. 

Sister Six is an awesome companion. We are so similar! We've been having loads of fun and have gotten a lot of work done. 

I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about agency lately. We have all been given the gift of agency, the gift to be able to choose for ourselves. The commandment are given so when we choose righteously, we receive blessings. We cannot be forced to obey, or even do it complacently. Blessings from commandments only come when we choose for ourselves. When we choose poorly, we end up in situations that limit our agency and have negative consequences. By simply choosing the right, we ensure that we keep our gift of agency and get to accomplish all we need to.

Love you all so much, I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Stayin' in the Burgh!

Paxy and I have served together for 5 months.

With Paxy in the Burgh

4/17/17
I'm staying in Edinburgh! My new companion will be Sister Six. She was my very first exchange back in June last year. She is a chiller, I'm so excited! We are gonna have a good transfer :)

We went to Stirling for a day. Sister Brousseau and I got to spend the day together, it was so good to catch-up! I love her so much, and it was great to be in Stirling.

We had to stop by Glasgow for some business, that was fun! It's a huge city.

Monday, we went to the beach and had a bbq! It was so good, we grilled pineapple and everything. Best day ever :)

Sorry I don't have loads of time to email, it's moves week so we have a lot of work to do.

Love you!!!! HAPPY EASTER!!!!

My Petey is heading home

From Aberdeen to Dub City!

We packed so much into this week!!

 

Monday night, we drove up to Aberdeen for a conference. Sister Paxman, Elder Tullis, Elder Jones, and I instructed on planning and how to use the new Daily Planning Aid to best use every hour of the day. It went really well! I also got to catch up with some of my friends from Ireland that I hadn't seen in ages. Driving home from Aberdeen was a party as well, we had good banter. 

I had an exchange with Sister Wayne this week. She's been out about a month, but she is already a boss! Her teaching skills are really good and we had fun finding throughout the day.

 

That night, after the exchange, we flew to Dublin. WOOT! No problems flying over, but we didn't get to the flat til about 1am....ouch. It was a late night. The day in Dublin was great! We saw Boon, taught loads of Brazilians, ate delicious food, life was good :) I was with Sister Jorgensen, she is always good craic. 

 

Hanging with the Dub squad!

 

 

Boon made us a picnic!

Highlight of the week!!  We flew back in time for our friend Colins' baptism! He is a legend. We've been teaching him for about 2 months now, and he's had the coolest journey! He's from Scotland and is super solid. It was a great baptism, I got to speak about baptism. It went really well. Afterwards, the members had pizza and biscuits for us. It was so good, they just made it an awesome experience for Colin!

Wow, long one this week. Another bonus: the sun is out!!!!! It comes up around half 6 and doesn't set till about 8. Honestly it is such a blessing! The sun makes people so much happier here. I love it!

 

For P-day, we went to the Pentlands reservoir and explored a bit. It was so windy, it was actually crazy! We played capture the flag and frisbee. After all that, we came back to the mission home and played some games. We played signs, which went amazing haha. Then we played the cereal box game. It's where you have to bend down and pick up a cereal box with your mouth without your knees or hands touching the floor. You rip off a layer of the box every round, until at the end, it's just a piece of cardboard on the ground. Plot twist, I actually managed to get it. It was hilarious, but man I was so sore the next day!!

 

Food highlight of the week: Howies. It's this really nice British restaurant. A member from Washington took us. I had Cullen Skink...... it's actually amazing, despite the name. haha

 

Thank you all for everything, I hope everyone has a happy Easter! Remember the reason for it :) Love you!!

-Sister Stapley