Monday, March 28, 2016

Sligo 3/21/2016

It’s been a beautiful week here in Sligo. It's been really sunny with no rain this whole week, so that was awesome.
Monday:
We taught Frank again.  This time, he wasn’t really listening to what we had to say. We explained why we need the Book of Mormon but he isn’t very understanding. We explained that the only way to find out is by sincere prayer and that desire to know. Hopefully he will try to pray about it.
Tuesday:
The Zone leaders picked us up at 8:00 am to go to District Meeting in Mullingar. The reason we had to go to Mullingar is because the Elders there had to stay because they were getting their car fixed.
It was a good district meeting. We talked about urgency and always the best task at the right time.
When we got back to Sligo we had a lesson with a man named Joshua (which we set up 15 minutes prior to meeting with him).
He told us after the prayer that that he was praying before we met to find the right church. He also told us that if we wouldn’t have said a prayer, he would not have wanted to meet again. Such a miracle! We taught a great lesson on the restoration. He was excited. He is from Congo so he speaks French. We even set him up with a Baptismal date for the 16th of April which I'm excited for because I know he will get there!
The rest of the night we spent tracting.
For our dinner hour we stopped by McDonalds because it was somewhat close to where we were tracting. We went there mainly to get Shamrock shakes. It was so good. I don’t think I've had one in a while.
Wednesday:
We taught a Polish woman named Berta. We taught her about the gospel and about faith. It’s something she asked for because she had been struggling. Hopefully she will want to meet with us again. She was very interested!
The rest of the day we spent street contacting and tracting because our other lessons fell through. Sometimes it’s hard to tract because people are too busy watching Soccer or Rugby.
Thursday: (Saint Patrick's Day/SIX MONTH MARK!)
The morning was hard to do finding because people were getting ready for the parade. We took some of our lunch hour to watch the parade. It was a great parade. Lots of Bagpipes and Irish singers.
After that it got even harder. Everyone started going to the pubs. We went finding outside the city near a park. We actually found some nice people and there was a nice view of the mountains from there.
The night was harder to talk to people because most of the people were drunk (I guess that's what they really do here on holidays). We did our weekly planning at night because it was just not effective talking to people because no one was listening.
Friday:
We visited Ed, the less active and his girlfriend Caroline. Caroline is really nice because she always gives us food when we come over. She made us sandwiches this time and gave us a Cadbury bar. We talked about Prayer because we know it can help them as they try to come closer to Christ.

After our appointment with Ed and Caroline did basically a whole day of finding (What we call Beast mode). At night we had family home evening. We talked about the importance of scripture study. One of the members cooked a nice meal with turkey, fish and soup.
Saturday:
We taught a man named Richard in the morning. He is from Africa. He seemed very interested when we taught the Restoration. He was very open and wanted to know more.
After that, we basically had another day of finding. It was hard during the night because the Sligo City soccer team was playing so most people were going to that.
Sunday:
The Dublin Stake president, President O' Ferrell, came for branch conference. It was interesting because it seemed like we had a buffet during all of church. The members brought a ton of food and set it out for people to eat through-out the three hours of church.
President O'Ferrell shared with us that the Heavenly Father is only going to give us more members here in Sligo if we take care of the members we already have (Retention). It was a good meeting.
The rest of the day we spent tracting. We found a lot of nice families that we are going to teach on Saturday.
I say it was a good week. It was very tiring but rewarding.
The missionary work here in Sligo is going very well and the members are so nice.
FYI
We mostly cook pasta and rice in the apartment.  Nothing really interesting to mention.
Our apartment is really nice.  We have heated floors.  The living room and kitchen are on the second floor.  We have a washer and dryer at our apartment which makes it nice. We also have a nice TV to watch church videos on. 
Most people in Sligo work in the Electronics industry or in retail shops.  Most foreigners come to Sligo in order to learn English.  There is a famous poet named Y. B. Yates that is from Sligo.

                                                   Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Sligo

                                                    View From A Park Outside Sligo

I hope you all have a great week!
Love,

Elder Joseph Udy

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