Previous emails - https://elderblackwem.blogspot.com/
It rained so much this week you could go kayaking in the rivers on the streets. This is an exaggeration of course, but it was still a lot. I got an email from one of my friends who's serving in the Philippines, and he got hit by a typhoon. I saw the photos and you could definitely baptise someone in what was once streets. Speaking of baptisms, Wednesday was a crazy day, but more on that later. At the moment I was to talk about music again.
I've had about a million song ideas since I've been here. But, as is with the songwriting process, you think its the greatest thing known to mankind, then you realise that its already been done by someone else. Some have been:
Sugar, We're Going Down - Fall Out Boy
Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters
Amsterdam - Coldplay
Domination - Pantera
Blackbird - The Beatles (don't ask)
Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
Circles - The Snuts
Wonderwall/Writing to Reach You - Oasis/Travis
(They're basically the same song)
Duality - Slipknot
Party in the USA - Miley Cyrus (again, don't ask)
City of Delusion - Muse
It's getting out of hand to say the least. The amount of times that this has happened in the past two years has been scary. Maybe I'm just destined to be a cover artist
Also, why is everyone so surprised that they don't celebrate thanksgiving in scotland? It's shocking that I know the history behind it better than most of the people I've talked to. It's a remarkable event, and I do think that more countries should have a thanksgiving esque holiday. I know some countries celebrate the harvest season, but more people should be thankful for things that they have received. But it's surprising how many people don't know the history behind their own holidays. Shocking.
Anyway, thats enough ranting for one day. ON WITH THE SHOW!
The seattle temple is so cool. It's got by far the best baptismal font that I can remember. The font is like on a podium and it's just such a nice place to be in. I always feel the spirit when I'm at the temple. It's such a sacred place. We went to red mill burger, which was possibly one of the best burgers I've had. We played volleyball at the church and I had a lot of fun.
WEDNESDAY
Literally nothing happened today until 6pm. We have a game of pool/lesson with one of the other missionaries' friends who they've been teaching for about a year, and after we have a few games, he says "Y'know, I think it's high time I get baptised" just outta nowhere. Now this is great, but unfortunately he moved to Salt lake city earlier in the week so we probably won't be able to baptise him, but the missionaires there might be. Then, during the institute class, we get a call from the YSA sisters, saying that one of their friends, who was on date for December, wants a blessing. So we start booking it over to her flat, because it's raining like there's no tomorrow, and the lift in her student halls is broken, so we sprint up seven flights of stairs, get lost and eventually give the blessing. Then, she says "I can't wait til December, I wanna get baptised now." So she was baptised on Sunday.
We had a friend come to institute that was given to us from other elders. His name is Josiah, and he is a whole other can of beans. He believes that God has lead him to Seattle, and he's had prophetic visions of events that's happened in his life. He's predicted AI, volcanoes and stuff that have come to pass. He's a really interesting guy, with a lot of stuff going on. He's also pretty good at pool, and every other sport known to the human race.
DO THEY EVEN WANT ME IN AMERICA?
We had exchanges on this day, so I was with Elder Nelson (not Elder Nielson, the mandarin speaking elder). We discovered that my phone had stopped charging, again, so we had to go to the mission office, again, for another phone, again. I also got a call from the travel person asking for a copy of my passport because they thought it was going to expire while I was here. First off, it's not going to. I spent a whole freaking day in Glasgow getting a new one so that it didn't expire while I was here.
So, we went up to the mission home, to receive a new phone and to not get deported. We spent three and a half hours, waiting for the other elders to get back so we could take the car, driving up to the mission home in rain of biblical proportions, NOT getting a new phone because the admins weren't there, dropping off my passport so that ICE don't kick me out, getting lunch (at 3.30), driving back to the church in even more rain than Noah encountered, praying so that we could live to see tomorrow and showing up only a few minutes late for a lesson. So I went, again, most of the day without means to contact our friends. And the next day, for that matter.
Friday was one of the toughest, but at the same time, most rewarding days I've had so far. We had really effective campus contacting for our exchange period, making 5 new friends in 30 hours, but whenever we were doing texts and calls I felt so usless. Probably because I was. We only had one phone, so whenever someone picked up it was nice, but if no one did, it was really boring. I didn't get a new phone until Friday at about 4.30, when my actual companion finally got back from a meeting he was supposed to 4 hours earlier. But again, we had really effective missionary work, based on our situation. And I'm pleased with our attitude during this period of time.
And I get to drive! My license is valid for a year, so I might need to take a test here, which should be a walk in the park, because (sorry guys (im not)) your driving tests are vastly inferior in difficulty to British tests. You guys get it easy. The only thing I'll need to get used to is driving on the other side of the road, and not going round the wrong way on roundabouts. Seattle will taste the wrath of the sleep-deprived scotsman, as we drift though the streets, firing out Book of Mormons as we pass people. It's gonna be awesome
SATURDAY
Today was good. Bible study and uno no mercy again. It's still brutal, but we all had fun. We were supposed to get transfer news today, telling us who is moving and who is staying, but we did not, which sucks. Everytime my phone buzzed I thought that it had arrived, but alas, no transfer news was to be found.
SUNDAY
Priya got baptised today, and it was a really spiritual moment. She already has a really strong testimony and is really devoted to the church. It was a really nice baptismal service, and a lot of people showed up. Unfortunately, the memory of Priya entering into the covenant will forever be largely overshadowed by the conversation I had with Josiah afterwards. We taught about baptism, and he seems to get it. He feels like it should be a big commitment, and other religous denominations make it seem less serious. We had a really productive conversation about the restoration and agency and judgment. He confuses me, because he just gets so much about our religion, talking about free will, the priesthood and baptism, then he talks about the impending zombie apocalypses, and him leading a bunch of astronauts into the new world encountering dinosaurs and mammals who are unable to peacefully coexist. Sometimes it feels more like he's teaching us, rather than us teaching him. I could go for pages and pages about the stuff that he's told me, but I'll just leave it there.
TRANSFER NEWS!!!!!!
They're just shuffling the districts about in our zone. We have two districts in our zone, and they've just moved about who is in what district, so nothing exciting. One of the sisters is training a new missionary, so thats exciting I guess, but other than that no serious changes. Just a lot of unique changes.
The new missionary is probably from Utah. I know that's a hot take, but I've got a feeling. Yknow, you don't get many missionaires from Utah these days...
Scripture of the week comes from 2 Nephi 32, in the Book of Mormon. I have saw this scripture fulfilled throughout the week in my teaching and in my daily activities. Verse 2 says:
"Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?"
When you teach by the spirit, your words are edified and it brings knowledge to your mind. I have saw it work miracles at church meetings and in teaching lessons. I am eternally grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the blessings that it has given me.
Elder Black
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