Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Week 56 - August 28, 2017

I'm keepin it short this week fam!  We have loads to do for the week ahead, but I am excited!

Wednesday:  We taught a man named Miles from Taiwan!  We invited him to be baptized on Sep. 6 ( My B-day!)   We GQ'd the rest of the day.  The Fringe is still going on here and it's wild.  The population of Edinburgh is doubled, and I have met more Americans this week than my whole mission!  We had dinner with our WML and his family.
 



 
Thursday:  We taught a girl named Joy from China.  She is pretty solid but going home for a few weeks.  We will see when she returns!  We also taught Miles again.  He loved the Plan of Salvation.  Then we GQ'd for the rest of the day

Friday:  We taught Miles again!  He can't come to church this week because he has a job interview, but next week!  We GQ'd for awhile, then had a lesson with a girl named Jane. She is absolutely GOLDEN!  One problem... she is heading back to China this Thursday.. UGHH.  We taught her all we could, but there is just too much and too little time for her to get it all.  We taught another Chinese girl named Viola in the evening.  She is pretty solid. She is going home for a week as well, but will be back for the start of uni soon.

Saturday:  Margaret from Glasgow is heading home to China, but she came down to see Allison and us and say goodbye!  They took us out for lunch and we had a good time.  We then taught another new Chinese guy named Leo.  He is pretty solid, seeing him again this week.  Viola and her friend fed us dinner at the Uni. of Edinburgh Student kitchens, Flippen sweet!  I can't wait for uni! 
 

 
Sunday:  We had Jane come to church with us, and ugh we tried to teach her as much as we could.  It just isn't enough time, and we wouldn't want to rush something so sacred. Luckily, she lives close to Hong Kong, and there are missionaries in Free China, so we will figure it out!  Pray for her!  The ward called me up to give an on the spot talk as well.  I just testified of missionary work and read some of D & C 75 with them.  It's a great section!  We had some planning in the evening and finding.  I am happy the Fringe is ending!  Time to find the elect this week!  😇  Elder Copeland
 
(This past Sunday, Elder Copeland's parents, his brother, and his sister, were able to attend Elder Elsmore's Homecoming.  They, also, were able to meet Elder Calton and one of the sister missionaries who, also, were in the same Scotland/Ireland Mission with Elder Copeland.  It was such a thrill for Elder Copeland's family to meet missionaries they had seen pictures of and heard so much about.)


Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Week 55 - August 21, 2017

WOW, one of the craziest weeks of my mission.  

I don't have any time at all but I will run through the week quickly!

Tuesday: We had our last District Meeting for the transfer.  I invited the Sister Training Leaders to come along as well.  We had a great meeting and were able to hear from Elder Elsmore about some of his mission experiences and advice.  Afterwards, we had a big potluck and sang the mission song to end it off.  We did some finding and taught Cait, who is doing well!  We got her a Preach My Gospel, and she is going to start studying it.  We went over to Brother Fretter's for dinner, then had volleyball in the evening.
 
 (Elder Copeland said:  "I'm going to miss Cork.  This is my first district.")

Wednesday:  We had a great day of finding.  Fiona fed us for lunch, and we taught a new investigator named Susi from Spain. She was loving it, but she is going back home sadly. We gave her the details for the church at her home, and she has a church building the street down from her as well, love it!  We also ran into a less active girl named Adrian, who is a legend.  She loves missionaries and God.  She took us out to this posh Italian place for dinner!  That was class of her.  Bunch more finding in the evening.

Thursday:  We went and visited Charles in the hospital in the morning.  He is getting released so that is exciting, what a funny guy.  We also taught John, had a great lesson with him on Moroni 6, and then Hailey and Cait again.  More finding later on.
 
 (Cait in the center.)

Friday:  We taught Koni in the morning.  She is doing really well.  She was in Dublin Sunday morning, but is still excited for her baptism.  She loved the Word of Wisdom.  What a legend!  We also taught John again.  He loved learning about the temples and wants to go them, but he flappen wouldn't come to church again this week because of some Footy Matches playin!  Ugh.  We went and attempted to visit a Less Active my uncle referred me to.  She told us she would love to see us, she just was busy, but to come back next week! Hopefully that goes well.  We dropped Elder Elsmore off at the bus station, gonna miss him. Proud of the work he has done and will see him again.  We had dinner with the Kagaris again and then played some volleyball!

Saturday:  We were able to teach Phumie in the morning, more troubles with the buses so she wasn't able to come to church again, but she wants to get baptized, soon enough!  We did some service, finding, and in the evening went over to a members for dinner.  We got our moves call as well, and wow I am still shocked.  Elder Bradley will be staying in Cork to train a new missionary (So now I gotta Grandson), Elder Carlise will be the Cork District Leader, and I am now in Edinburgh as District Leader with Elder Huang from Taiwan, from my group!  He is an absolute beast.  Highest baptizing missionary in this mission.  I am pumped but Gutted at the same time.  Bittersweet.  I loved every minute of Cork and it honestly just felt like a dream.  I hope to get back there one day, but I am excited for this opportunity here.
 


Sunday:  Went to church, said goodbye to everyone, and packed up and left to Dublin in the evening. :(

Monday:  Woke up early, got a hair cut from a friend in Dublin, took a bus up to Belfast, had Boojums with Elder Nelson <3 still kicking it in the north haha, took a ferry, then another bus into Glasgow, got to give Elder Wang a big hug, he just went Zl.  And he just casually dropped that PETER AND HIS FAMILY WENT TO THE TEMPLE THIS WEEK AHHHH!  I was about to cry I was so excited.  

 (Peter and his family at the temple.)
 
He is still in Glasgow, and everyone is well there.  Then we took a bus from Glasgow to Edinburgh and got in late late last night.  Exhausting.

Anddd today, busy as ever, learning the area/responsibilities/investigators/members/schedule/etc.  I was able to see Sister Jenna Irvine today though at the mission home and gave her a handshake :) excited to see some more people I know out here!  This transfer is gonna be busy.  There is a big festival in Edinburgh going for 2 more weeks, where the population is doubled, and there are events all over and fireworks.  It's wild. 
 
I will let you know more about the burg next week.  I have no time at all, feeling overwhelmed but excited.  I love you guys and will talk to you soon! 😇
 
Elder Copeland

Monday, August 14, 2017

Week 54 - August 14, 2017

 Lovin 'Cark'!

Another week past already, and it was a good one!  We are planning on having a really fun P-day today for Elder Elsmore's last one, so I don't have loads of time, but I'll try and go through my week a wee bit for ya. 



Monday:  Last Monday we went bowling and played some pool with some of the members. I AM RUSTY.  You'll see me at the alley for awhile getting good again hahah.  It was a good time though.

Tuesday:  We had our District Meeting for the week, which was great!  Then we bounced with the Waterford Elders.  We drove over to Waterford where I was able to interview their friend named Dion for his baptism.   He is a legend!!  He is 16 years old and is talking about how excited he is to go on a mission one day.  His interview went well.  I explained to him how he doesn't have to understand everything before his baptism, but that he needs to have faith, which he does, and he flippen is a genius, knows way more than me at 16!  After his interview, we missed our bus back to Cork, so we GQ'd the town for awhile.  Then we caught the bus back home, it took a few hours.. By the time we got back, the day was over. 


Wednesday:  We were able to teach Cait in the morning as well as Jessica and her friend! We bought Cait some barley cup because she still wants coffee, and then we went out to lunch with all of them.  They're legends.  We also were able to teach Koni again!  She was telling us how she is preparing for her baptism and just wants to make sure she learns everything before then.  We GQ'd for the rest of the day then went over to a member's home in the evening for dinner.  After dinner, we were waiting to get a lift and this kid comes up and asks me, "How do you get teeth so white?"  I just laughed and told her to keep brushing her teeth and she can have white teeth!  It was pretty funny. 

Thursday:  Loads of finding all day, it was class.  All the missionaries got to go out to lunch  with... ELDER CALTON!  He was visiting his mission since he just got back with his parents and they took us to Nandos, ah I love that guy.  He was an amazing missionary and a great example to me in Aberdeen!  
 
 
 
We also taught a new Brazilian named Lucas and his wife. They asked if the church was world-wide and I showed them the church locator, and they have a church five minutes from their home in Brazil.  They were loving it!  Should be seeing them again this week.

Friday:  We met Pumi in the morning.  She is doing well.  The only problem is it is really hard for her to get to church.  She was planning on coming this week, but the buses didn't work out and she wasn't able to make it.  We are gonna figure it out for her this week.  We got lunch with Jessica, taught RC Hailey, and went out to dinner with Tupac.  Pub food is the best food in Ireland, all I gotta say haha!  We had  volleyball in the evening which is wild as always, I Love it!  They even let us play some dunk ball with the hoop out in the parking lot.











Saturday:  Loads more finding.  We did some white boarding with the sisters, and then went and saw Charles!  We also were able to teach another guy from Brazil named Fernando.  He is Born Again, so he wouldn't commit to coming to our church.  He has his own.  They have no concept of authority though and it seems they can never understand the scriptures we teach them through.  Ah well, we continue to do our job to share the message and invite! 

Sunday:  We were planning on having a few of our friends come to church, but unfortunately there were some bus problems and miscommunication.. but Koni was able to make it!  She loved Church and they had a YSA activity as well, so she met a bunch of younger people.  We stayed after for Choir practice, yep... I'm in the choir.. I didn't want to do it, but Elder Bradley loves it, so I took one for the team haha.  I am actually learning to like it a bit more though, and it's good for me to do something I don't want to do! CHRISTLIKE LOVE, Working on it ;) 

So that was the week, pretty busy as always, just finding new people to teach.  This Saturday will be moves call again.  Time goes too fast!  Elder Elsmore will be heading off Friday to Edinburgh.. that'll be sad.  But I am excited to see who comes in.  I would guess that Elder Bradley and I will be staying together, but like always, you never know!  I love and appreciate you all and am thankful for your continued support to me, it means a lot.  Have an amazing week!  Keep Craicin on! 🍀
 
Elder Copeland

Monday, August 7, 2017

Week 53 - August 7, 2017

Hiya, fam! 

Ahh another week, I am getting kind of lazy on my weekly emails, I'M SORRY!  It's just kind of getting to the point where time is nothing anymore, and I know how fast it will all be over, and I just like reading everyone's emails instead of writing.  I'll try and be better!  This week was pretty good, just another week in the dream!  I'll go through the days now though.

Monday: After e-mailing, we went over to this castle that had no roads to get up to, so we ran through a cow farm, a corn crop, and went inside!  It was fun.
 



 




 

Tuesday:  District Meeting!  Went well.  After our DMs, we have a big potluck.  This week was breakfast for lunch, unreal!  We taught a few people.  Nothing too solid, and did some finding.  In the evening, we got to go Volleyball again, LIT!  There are a lot of people that go to it, and it's a good way to show investigators that we are human as well haha.

Wednesday:  Pretty quiet day, loads of GQing.  We were able to teach a German man named Sebastian, very Lutheran.  We had agreements on the Bible... and some disagreements but he was cool!  He roasted these chavs who were making fun of us for talking about God, telling them they better watch out.  It was funny.  We also taught a new guy named Sean in the evening.  He is moving to Italy, but will continue to learn from missionaries there!  The Waterford Elders came over in the evening.

Thursday:  Exchanges!  I was able to spend the day with Elder Carlisle.  That was fun!  It's kind of a cool feeling being with a former comp and seeing how much we have grown and changed, but we had a great day.  We went and visited Charles again at the hospital with the sisters, and set up loads of appointments for Elder Bradley and me.  Some crazy Born- Again lady from America has been here this week yelling at everyone, telling them their gonna burn, doesn't represent Americans too well.  She also was yelling at us.  We just walked by and laughed. 

Friday:  We had a lesson with a girl named Amy, hopefully we'll be seeing her again this week.  We also taught a new lady named Pumi who is from Africa and wants to come to church this week!  We had more finding, and got some boojums with everyone.  We eat there 3 or 4 times a week, its ridiculous!  We had volleyball in the evening again, always good craic! 
 


 
Saturday:  We were planning on meeting John in the morning who was suppose to get baptized this week, but his friend came along with him, who was anti... and yea it didn't end well.  We are pretty bummed out.  We will try in the future.  We were able to teach some more new people, though!

Sunday:  We were able to have one of our friends named Simon come to church with us. However, he use to be Catholic, like all Irish people, and he just couldn't get over that the church didn't have a cross or Mary in it?!  He doesn't want to come anymore but was friendly.  We taught a Chinese girl later on in the evening who could be really solid though! We also got to go over to the Branch President's for dinner, he knows wayyy deep doctrine, he blew my mind!

So that was the week!  Just working hard here.  We are going to focus on getting some of our friends to church this week to help them progress towards baptismal dates.  I am thankful to be in Cork.  I am loving Elder Bradley.  He works hard and has that greenie fire!!  I also got the wee 1-year package from Mum.  Thank you for the candy, I missed it!!!  I love you guys.  Have a great week!
 
Elder Copeland
 
 University College Cork
 
(Elder Copeland was so happy that they got a new Hoover--vacuum!)
 
 
 

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Week 52 - July 31, 2017

Hiya, fam!  

This week was pretty busy, and but we had loads of fun.  I don't have a lot of time left on the computer though (Sorry!  Didn't look at the time, it goes too fast), but I'll go through my week the best I can remember. 

Monday:  Monica's baptism was amazing, she really enjoyed it and it was cool to see how much she has grown already in the gospel.  I am excited to see her progress back home in Australia!  We drove up to Dublin in the evening and slept over at the Elders' flat there.

 (Tradition is to get Star Pizza and go see the spire in Dublin.)

Tuesday:  All Ireland!  It was great to see friends, every one of my comps but Elder Wang was there, so that was a great experience as well.  Elder Elsmore gave his departing testimony, and I'm not too emotional at these things, but I was crying pretty hard haha.  He taught me everything I know and helped me to learn how to be a hard working missionary, grateful for him, and still get to hang around him for a few more weeks!  We had some great instructions from the assistants, and President Donaldson, love that man.  He interviewed me afterwards and we just talked about my opportunities ahead in Cork!   We drove back down to Cork in the evening.

 
(Pictures in Cork.)




Wednesday:  We taught Cait in the morning and helped answer some questions she had and reassured her about her baptism on Saturday.  We did some finding and we were planning on going to see Fiona, and while we were walking, a man called us over.  His name is Robert, from Colorado, and he is here with his wife and daughter on holiday.  He dislocated his arm on a hike and had gone over to the Tralee building on Sunday to receive a blessing, but we were all in Limerick for District Conference.  He asked if we could take him to the church and give him a blessing so we did, and it was powerful.  I was able to give him a blessing and tell him things that I had no clue about in his life, cause I barely knew him.  He was crying afterwards and gave me a big hug and thanked me for the help.  I am thankful to be able to have the priesthood and help others in need.  We also met a new investigator named John.  He was a little wild, but we will see!

Thursday:  MY 1 YEAR!  WOOO!  We were asked by a less-active member in a mental hospital named Charles to go visit him.  He is the bomb, it took us forever to find his building, but he was thanking us over and over for visiting and sharing some scriptures and a Book of Mormon with him.  We just did a lot of finding afterwards and also went out to Nandos to celebrate.  I also burned a shirt with the Elders (Sorry Mum!)


 
Friday:  All day finding, let's goo!  Just building up our area until the evening when we went and played some volleyball with the branch.  Elder Bradley and I go hard and just spike it all over the place.  It's good craic. 

Saturday:  Today was the day!  In the morning, we had a lesson with a new guy named Patrick.  He was pretty solid.  We also had an on the spot with a guy named John who is way solid, a little wild but it's okay, it's part of the fun!  In the evening was Cait's baptism, and it was amazing!  Everything went well and she enjoyed it a lot even though she was nervous.  I am thankful to have been a wee part of her journey and can't wait to teach her and help her progress more in the gospel.

 

Sunday:  We were able to have John attend church with us and Cait was confirmed.  After church, just some finding and planning for the week ahead.

Nothing too crazy this week, just busy as always!  I am excited to get some really good finding this week and try and follow up with all of these people we have taught.  This year behind me has changed me so much and made me into someone I always wanted to be, but never thought I could.  The Atonement is a powerful gift we have been given and all we need to do is is apply it into our lives.  I am thankful for the Savior and for his never ending love  for all of us!  Have a good week and be safe.  I love you guys! 
Elder Copeland