Exchange Miracles

I found my street.  A little different spelling but who cares. 

They always called me Elder Tayne in Ireland anway. 

So this last week I have gone on 4 exchanges it is crazy but it needs to be done haha. On our exchanges we seem to have found a ton of success. I was in the Glenrothes area and we found a ton of people and were able to get some new investigators. it was a great day for Elder Powell and Elder Reeder in Dunfermline as well. They found a girl named Kaitlyn who is really into learning about religion. Thursday we were able to teach her about the Restoration and she felt the spirit so strong she said she felt a drilling. it was weird but it made her want to be a better person. She said she will do everything she needs to to know if it is true. She has been reading, praying, she came to church and she has quit smoking. it is amazing to see how prepared she is.

We were also able to have 2 thanksgiving meals on thanksgiving so we were more stuffed than the turkey's that we ate. Man everyone suddenly looks so thin it is weird. 

I then went on an exchange with Elder Tulip on Friday. Elder Tulip is from England and he had to change missions from the London south mission to the Scotland Ireland mission because he kept accidentally seeing his family haha. He is a great Elder and he works with so much love. I learned a lot about telling people how important they are to God. If you think about it he sees us as the most important thing ever. He would do anything for us. He has sent us missionaries out to tell people how much he loves them. Love will break down the walls of hate and misunderstanding. I often think about the great examples of love that I have had in my life and it is hard to think of someone who loves me more than they do. I just hope I can help people see how much they really are loved.

On Saturday I went on an exchange with Elder Neideck. He is our Zone leader and he is from Germany. He use to be the Assistant to the president. He is one of the best missionaries ever. He is so obedient. We went over to Daniel's house and we were able to talk to him about God. As we talked about Gods love and his plan for him the spirit was so strong. Daniel has rejected our offer to read the Book of Mormon 2 times but this time there was no doubt that he felt the spirit. He told us he envied us for our faith. I then told him that it was not a coincidence that we knocked on his door the same day he had a stroke and we came back the day he came back from the hospital. He knew that there was something there. It was one of the greatest experiences I have had on my mission. He took the Book of Mormon and told us he would read it and pray to come to know if it is true. I love Daniel so much. It is amazing how God has blessed us to meet this amazing man. I just hope that he accepts this great Gospel.

I know that what we are doing is true and I am so happy to be part of it. I just hope I can help people. Just so you all know, my brother, Elder Mitchell Ryan Thayne, has finished his great mission in South Africa cape town mission. He has been a great missionary and a great example to me. I would not be where I am today without him. He will be home for his first Christmas in 2 years in Lehi Utah. I hope that all of you have had a great week. I love you.

Elder Thayne

So I have had my first snow in Scotland. 

Check out my kilt.

Elder Powell and I have gotten pretty good at throwing cards at each other.

Work till ya drop

I have never been more tired on my mission. We are working hard but it is just so different trying to adjust. It gets dark at 4 over here. it is crazy!! we are always working in the dark. haha it is pretty great. Hey it builds character. 

So we had a Scotland East conference and it was amazing. We learned so much and were so inspired. I got to see a lot of friends that left the Belfast Zone before me. 

To be honest there is not much that happened so I will tell you about this one story. We went back to Daniel Paterson, The 83 year old atheist. and he let us in. He remembered we liked Hot chocolate so he bought some for us and had it ready when we got there. We asked him how he was doing and he said, "not so well, I have had a stroke" He had a stroke the day we left and we knocked on his door the day after he got back from the Hospital. He told us he thought that he was dying. He told us that it was a warning to him to put his will together. He was looking at us like there was something more too it though. I can guarantee he thought about meeting God. I can guarantee that he thought it was interesting how we came over right before he had the stroke and right after. He is scared and he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't want to die and have there be nothing after but he is scared for some reason. We are going to work with him and he will accept the gospel when he realizes that this is what he needs to do to have peace for the remainder of this life and rest in the next. Keep him in your prayers he will need them.

This week I have had a humbling experience within leadership. I wont get into the details of it, but it makes me take a couple steps back and evaluate myself. I want to be the best ME there is. I don't want to settle into a comfortable place. I love the atonement because it does exactly that. It will help us move forward from who we once were. Daily use of the atonement will clean us and will enable us with strength. I love this gospel. I know it is true because I have tried it out myself. I hope you all use the atonement daily. It is the best thing to do every night. Look at Alma 37:37. It will make you wake up so refreshed with a happy expectation that the Holy Ghost will be your companion the entire day.

I hope you all have a great week. Keep your chin up.

Elder Thayne

Dumfernline for days

Ok this place is crazy awesome. I am stoked to be here because; my companion, Elder Powell, is a stud, the ward is awesome and the shower in my flat is pretty nice.

I said goodbye to everyone in Ireland and that was really fun/sad because I made so many great friends  while I served there. I am going to miss them, especially Elder Plewe, but I am so pumped for my new assignment.

I took a train to the ferry, a ferry to a bus, and a bus to a car to get to Dunfermline. Scotland I took every mode of transportation :] but I made it. When I got there I found out that we are dropping our only investigator but that is fine because with this fresh start we are going to get so much work done. We are going to see great things in this area. I have had a dinner appointment every day I have been here so far so that is great. The members here are awesome and their accent is so much fun to listen to. Hopefully I will be able to show you all when I get home. In this ward there are 2 sets of missionaries so it was kind of weird to see more missionaries at church.

One day we were chapping in the rain and this old guy came to the door. It was a normal conversation where he said he was atheist and told us to leave. I accidently said, "Let us in." There was an awkward pause and he said we need to come in and get warm. So we did. We talked to him about religion and he kept trying to reassure us that he is atheist but I think he was reassuring himself because he kept telling us he hopes there is a life after death and that he loves to see are faith. We were like "you can have all of that." sometimes it is frustrating. But he really liked us so he invited us back. We are praying his heart will be softened.  If he gets Baptized he would be the perfect voice announcer for General conference cause it sounds like he could narrate someones life.

yesterday we were able to give a recent convert a blessing. It was pretty cool. We then went to try by an Excommunicated member. He said he fell away from the church because he started to get bored of what people would talk about. Now he doesn't even believe in God. I remember when I was young I got pretty bored at church to. But I got bored because I never did the daily things so I wouldn't learn anything new  because I wasn't even trying. I think this is what happened to him and now he doesn't know where to turn. Doing the simple things like praying and reading the book of mormon are so crucial. It really does bring safety for the soul. 

Well I know that this church is true. The Lord is doing a marvelous work and a wonder. I love Scotland and I will see you later.

Elder Thayne

Saying bye to Elder Plewe 

Saying bye to Elder Stanley

My new Shower

Kitchen 

Saying Hi to Elder Powell

I'm Not a Greenie Anymore!

Good news I am not a greenie any more. I am leaving Portadown. I will miss it so much because I have come to know and love the people so much. The Portadown ward is amazing. they are the ones that helped me out when I first started my mission life. I have been here for 7 1/2 months. I am definitely leaving some good friends here. like Brother Donelly and his famous meals, Pedro Martins the best member missionary in the world, the crazy fun Keery's, Sis. Julie MacNally and Lynda Ross, Bishop Moss and everyone else. 

Elder Plewe will be staying here with an Elder White (former zone leader). I will be going to Dunfermline in Scotland. It is in the Dundee Zone. I will be follow up training Elder Powelle from Rexburg, Idaho who I hear is a beast. I will be the District leader to my Old Zone leader, which will kind of be weird haha. I am leaving but I am going to try to love this next place even more than I loved Portadown, which is hard to do but I am up for the challenge. 

This last week I wanted to leave with a bang. But in the end the lord had something else in mind. around 17 joint teaches fell through and it was just one of those weeks. It was pretty hard, but we know that we can expect those every once in a while. The good news, though, is that the elder coming in has so much to look forward to. with Elder Whites experience, he will be able to get so much done.

Our stake conference yesterday was held in the Ulster hall. The Ulster hall was built sometime in the 18 hundreds. It was pretty great because we had 780 people out at it. Our ward took the bus up to Belfast and it was just a party the whole way. 

I am definitely going to miss this place but I know that Scotland will be great. I missed Elder Holland when he came to Scotland and  I might be missing Elder Ballard when he comes to Ireland but that is ok. I will just pretend I got to shake there hands. 

Well I know that this church is true and I know that there are miracles happening every day. The second harvest is coming. Anyway, I love you.

Elder Thayne

These are just some of the families and people that I will miss a ton from Portadown :]

Brother Donnelly and I in front of his farm sign.

The Gilmor's: Me, Stephan, Robert, Helen, Sister Gilmore.

The Keery's: Mathew, Stephan, Jonas, Clair, Me, Lucy, Holly and Jacob

The Monroe's: Me (holding pip), Brian, Emily, Catherine, Lillian and Allison

The Martins': Me, Pedro, Denise, Joyce, Sylvia and Petra

In My Experience, There Is No Such Thing As Luck

This last week was so great! I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Parkinson. He is such a beast, he has only been out for 3 months but you would think that he has been out for over a year. we went to teach these two 25 year old guys and one of their girlfriends. We got there and they let us in but it wasn't a pretty sight. It was a mess and one of them was only half dressed and the other one just came out of the kitchen with a beer in his hand. They started to swear up a storm. Elder Parkinson gave me a couple looks like, "lets get out of here." But I wanted to stay, so I pretended like I didn't see him. They started to ask us some really good questions and we could tell that they were sincere. It was cool because we told them about the Holy Ghost and told them it would be there. We shared a message and they just went dead quiet. We told them they were feeling the Holy Ghost and they knew it. Elder Parkinson and I were walking away from that just saying, "wow...wow...wow" it was so cool because it just showed us we shouldn't judge people and say that they wont feel the spirit. We need to give everyone the chance. 

Later on in the week I went on exchanges with Elder Penman. He is a beast Zone leader! He would rather find than teach. Yeah he is a rare breed. I learned a ton from him. He taught me that we just need to talked to literally everyone. We went up to people in cars and started having good conversations with them. We actually got a return appointment from knocking on someones car window while they were waiting for someone. It was a great day cause we found a ton of sweet people.

On Halloween our day was looking awesome with 4 Joint teaches. The most I would have ever had so I was looking forward to it a ton. Sadly everyone of our lessons fell through. We went to try by a Mormon.Org referral and we found out it was the wrong address. The day was turning out to be a huge disappointment. But then around 7 we got a random text from this guy asking us if we were doing anything that night. We then called him and it turns out it was the Mormon.org referral. He asked us if we could come over right away. So Elder Plewe and I basically ran to his house that was a 35 minutes walk away. We got there and he let us in. He told us it is a miracle that we were sitting in his house. He told us some of his story and let me tell you it is crazy. This guy is so cool and he has gone through so much. He knows English Irish and french, he was in the army, and now he is a rugby player. He told us that no matter where he turns he can never fill this whole that is inside of him so he typed in "Christ" into Google and our church came up. He started to talk to a girl from Arizona online and he listens to Jeffery R Holland talks. When we gave him the book of Mormon he was so excited. He has a drinking problem but he told us that he will stop drinking because he wants to be sober while he reads it so he can feel the spirit. We were blown away. What we thought was a bad day turned out to be amazing.

We are starting to see the miracles come forth. There is going to be a second harvest over here in the British Isles. So when you start to see a wave of people joining the church just know that it was prophesied by our mission president. I am so stoked. 

Oh on the side we are teaching a Jehova witness that had a dream that the church was true. So that is kind of cool. I am excited to see where that goes.

Anyway I love you. But I hope you know that I love this gospel more haha. I have never been happier. I hope you all can feel this.

Elder Thayne

So this is Elder Plewe and I when we went over the Mcilwrath home. They are an amazing family. Just a year ago there boy, the one in the middle, had an asthma attack and was left almost dead. the doctors said he would never live. His father gave him a blessing and he woke up out of the coma. Then the doctors said he would never talk. His father gave him a blessing and he is now talking. The doctors said he would never have his memory back. His father gave him a blessing and he remembers everything. The Doctors said that he will never walk. His father gave him another blessing and he is learning how to walk. Every fast Sunday his father helps him walk up to the pulpit so he can bear his testimony. He is truly a miracle. He is 16 right now and so he is trying to recover as fast as possible so he can go on a mission. I feel blessed to know that family :]

 The other pictures are of an IRA monument. The IRA are a terrorist group haha and it is in the back of a members yard. haha don't worry he didn't put it there. His back door neighbors did.