Journal Entries Dated September 15-22, 2013

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Today was pretty good!  We had 3 people confirmed in Sacrament meeting.  It was Ian, Yolanda, and Lindi.  I personally confirmed Yolanda, it was my first time so I was scared!  But I think I did okay.  Other than that, nothing really happened.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Today wasn't the best day.  All of our appointments AND our backups fell through.  We tried teaching people on the street, but nobody wanted to listen.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow!  The highlight of my day was seeing a drunk guy get thrown off the train, that was funny!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

In my opinion today was pretty good.  We taught a lady named Debbie.  She was a media referral through mormon.org.  She basically said she's been drawn to the Mormon church and has been researching us for a while (aka reading the Book of Mormon, researching all of our beliefs).  She said since we responded so fast, she took that as her answer,  She wants to be baptized!  She's a solid investigator.  Later we had dinner with Bishop and his wife.  They have a 3 month old baby and she is so cute!  We went out and saw one of his home teaching families with him.  This lady had just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.  We gave her a blessing.  I anointed it and Bishop sealed it.  I got a letter from Papa today and it had a picture of me and him when I was little.  I'll take a picture of it and show it to you!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Since this week is transfer week, today was P day.  We toured around Dublin and went to a museum, it wasn't that fun.  I think it's just because touring and shopping aren't really my thing, I just wanna do something physical!  But it was fun hanging out with other missionaries.  I got some funny pictures along the way as well.  We tried to catch a bus home so we could get to some appointments, but there were riots and protestors and the Garda (Irish Police).  They were crowding the streets so no buses could get through.  Ireland is a crazy place!  I got your package and it was great!  The jacket was nice but the pictures made me the happiest!  The frame is set up right by my chair were I study.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Today was .....interesting.  We had a lesson with a born-again Christian whose sole purpose in meeting with us was to prove us wrong.  He was saying a bunch of weird things about the end of the world.  He took the parable of the 10 virgins literally and said in the end, we would marry Christ.  Weird, right?  I just sat back and tuned out because I know it wasn't going anywhere.  We had dinner with the 1st counselor in the bishopric and his 4 kids.  We shared a message in Mosiah 18:9 and how we need to look for those people who need our help.  I was prompted to share the story of Sadie and Barney.  I shared how Barney led Sadie to the food bowl every night when she was blind.  I also shared how he kept taking her food bowl out to her after she died.  I could tell the story touched their hearts.  I was grateful that I listened to the promptings of the Spirit and that it helped me know what to say at the right time.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Today was pretty good.  We met this guy from Nigeria.  His name is Fernandes.  He sat down with us and told us he wanted to follow Christ.  After the lesson, I committed him to baptism!  He's a great guy, he's reading the Book of Mormon, and praying to know if it's true.  He asked if the baptism he already had wasn't valid.  That is the toughest question anyone can ask but he took our answer quite well.  The only other interesting thing that happened was when a drunk guy stopped us.  He basically told us we don't know God, so that was interesting.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Today we saw Debbie, our "Golden" investigator.  We sat down to teach her the Plan of Salvation when she told us, "I got my answer, I wanna be baptized!"  She's already read through all of 1 Nephi and half of 2 Nephi.  She is our most solid investigator.  Other than that, nothing really happened today.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Today, was pretty good.  Instead of Sacrament Meeting, it was Stake Conference.  All the missionaries in the zone were there so I got to see Elder Benesch!  President Brown was also here too.  We had dinner with a member and some recent converts.  We had South African barbecue.  It was delicious.  So overall, it was a pretty good day.

Hope you enjoyed my experiences!  Love you!  Elder Austin