My First Wedding

So this last week we have seen a lot of opposition but so many blessings at the same time. You are probably wondering why I am talking about my wedding. Well it wasn't really my wedding it was my buddies wedding. He has been wanting to get married and when he gets married he can get Baptized as well, but the law was stopping them for a while. They couldn't get marrieds for 2 years and then suddenly they were told they could get married but only if it was within 2 weeks so they through a wedding together as fast as possible. It turned out to be amazing. it was small and very few people were invited but they wanted us to come! It was really special. They had been looking forward to this for so long and finally it came. He seemed so happy.

On Sunday we had the Zone Leaders drive up to interview him. He passed with Flying colors. He is going to be one of the rocks in the ward. He is always talking about doing service and helping out at church. He will be such a strength to the Falkirk Branch

We Also went on Exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week in Edinburgh. It was splendid. It was the first time I was really teaching some chinees people and I realized I really need to teach simply. 

Also we have been teaching Bethan. Her brother had gotten into a car crash last Monday and the doctors suggested to put him into a medically induced coma. We told the branch and they have all been praying for him. Then a miracle happened. He has almost fully recovered and he is walking and talking now. It is amazing to see what the power of prayer can do. We taught Bethan on Saturday and she said she is really excited for her baptism on the 11th of March. Pray for her that she will be able to make that date. 

Life is good. I love the mission. I love prayer. I have really found that God is my most trusted confidant. I can tell him anything and he wont judge me. He is so helpful, he really is. This church is true!

Elder Thayne

Miracle After Miracle

So we have been really busy lately which is awesome. I have been seeing miracle after miracle this last week. We decided we wanted to really be sanctified my last 3 weeks of my mission and see what will happen. So on Thursday we had a interview with president. This is my final interview with him. Let me just tell you that I love this man. I look up to him so much. He has helped me so much on this mission. I know that I was called to the Scotland Ireland mission, partly, because of his leadership. I am really going to miss him. 

Friday we GQ'd a guy that use to know some of the members that I knew in Dunfermline. The way he introduced himself to me was by calling me a Muppet. All I had to ask him was, "am I a muppet or am I a man?" haha he is awesome, he never takes anything seriously.He said he never got baptized because he was scared of water. We asked him if he want's to be baptized now and he said yes right on the street. We taught him and he will be baptized in 3 weeks. He doesn't have any legs so there will have to be 2 people in the font to baptize him. His name is Alister and he is a legend.

We found out that a man, Sebastian, that has been investigating the church forever is finally able to be baptized because his wedding is going through. He wanted to be baptized the day after the wedding but his wife said he should wait a week. I think he should enjoy his honey moon as well. When he gets back we will help him get baptized. 

We started to teach another girl named Bethan on friday and she said as we taught her she felt a warmth in her chest. We invited her to church and she came!!! She was being told so much about the Holy Ghost the whole time we were there. One of the ladies asked her how she felt and again, she described it as warm. She loved church and she turned to me later that day and said she is excited for her baptism. Keep her in your prayers because as we were teaching her today she got a call and she found out her brother is in the hospital because he was just in a car crash. So actually keep her and her brother in your prayers.

Life is good this week. I do want to share one more experience. He had a bunch of the "cool kids in town" making fun of us and telling us we were brainwashed this week. we paid them no heed. Later we saw one of the kids named Kai. He asked if anybody believed us and we told him they do. He said, "how can you show people he is there? he doesn't exist." we told him we could show him. He didn't believe us but we poked at his pride and said he would never know unless he sat down with us for 20 minutes. He said ok so we went into McDonald's. He was telling all of his friends he is going to prove us wrong and he kept saying things like, "Lets get this over-with." So he was pretty cocky. We sat down and taught him and it was one of those extremely powerful lessons about faith and about Gods love for him. He couldn't argue with us and at the end he said, "you know I never thought I would believe in God, but since we've been talking I know that he is there." it was so powerful! Later that day he brought all of his friends up to us and he told me that they didn't believe in God. They were all telling me to show them then Kai told them they would need to sit down with us for 20 minutes inside McDonalds and learn. It was awesome!! Kai was testifying along side us. He was using the analogies about faith that I taught him as he taught his friends. I would then give him a wink. It was a great experiance!

The Church is true. I love God and Jesus is my friend.

Elder Thayne

Companionship Study and Mini Ping Pong

Oh wow, I am sorry I have so much to say but I am tired. Amazing things happened. We have taught loads of people and found loads of investigators. We are happy and enthusiastic about life and about this area.

One thing we are working on though is our companion study. It really helps us teach in unity and have more power to our teaching. We are also working on relying on the Lord more. We are going to council with the Lord, first thing, whenever there is a problem. and we are going to pray before every lesson we have.

We have a mini ping pong net in our flat with miniature paddles. So when we are all ready for bed at night me sometimes play each-other on our dinner table. It keeps things fun. It is great because it we have gotten surprisingly really good at it. I never thought we would be able to do it with hobbit sized equipment.

Funny Story: This guy started walking up to me in the street the other day and he had an angry face. He said, "you have not been saved. You know why? because your Mormon. Guess what, you will never get to Kolob...because it isn't real!"

I kept my cool and said, "Wait...you've never been there?"

He was expecting more so he walked away angry.

Oh man, I love the Scottish people. haha they are some of the greatest people you will ever meet. Just become their friend and you will have a friend for life. Another great thing about the older Scottish people is how patriotic they are. Everyone loves a patriotic Scot. I think We need to be more patriotic.

I love you all. keep it real. 

Elder Thayne

Elder Furko, Me, Sister Kotter and Sister Smith

Falkirk

So sorry I don't have much time right now but I want to tell you I know that this is where I am suppose to be. We whitewashed the area and we had 0 investigators. So Elder Elsmore and I just decided to hit the pavement. We found loads of people and we were able to teach over a dozen lessons and set 2 people with a date. Great things are happening in Falkirk. 

Elder Elsmore is awesome. He is from Mona, Utah. He loves Golf and he going to be a dentist someday. I get along with him so well. We both are working so hard and we both want to be the best we can be. It is great to have a companion that is willing to sacrifice something he wants for what is right. I really love serving with him.

cool story

The first day we were decided that we were going to work as hard as we could so we can get started on the right foot. We prayed that we would be able to find and teach 3 people that day. We made a promise with the Lord  that we would do everything we could to reach this goal. We went out there and taught 3 lessons that day. Emma was one of the people we taught. She was atheist but when we were teaching her about the spirit she felt a deep warmth and she told us she wants to be baptized. 

Life is good. I love the gospel. I will never leave this truth. I know too much. I know what I would be leaving if I did. I am so happy right now. Hope you all have a great day.

Elder Thayne