Christmas in Dundee

This week was a good one. Even though we were all sick and had 2 days off for Christmas and boxing day, somehow we still managed to get a good amount of stuff done. We taught the most lessons that I have taught since I got to Dundee. We had 2 investigators at church, and we had a good overall week. It was a well needed success after a long and very difficult transfer. We taught a lady named Cheryl twice, she was a referral from a recent convert in the other ward and she is stellar. She is really receptive to the gospel and just the spirit in general. She came to church and really enjoyed it. So we will teach her again today and extend a Baptismal date for the 17th of January. And the other Elders have an investigator who was being taught online who they have taught heaps who is being prepared for the 17th as well. So things are finally looking up. Hopefully we can increase the teaching pool and be teaching a few people here. That would be awesome. 

Christmas was great and it was really good to get a couple of days to relax and hang out. We watched so many family movies, it was awesome. Absolutely loved it. It was so good getting to Skype you all as well. That was a great blessing. It was just great to see everyones faces. It is sad that it was such a short time, but a short time is better than no time. We will get new years day off this week so we have got one more day. And then back to work everyday. Pretty full on time over the Christmas period, you would think as a missionary it would just stay the same still but it gets way busier with all the ward activities and stuff. Its been Chocka block full. 

Well. Love you heaps. Here are some pictures from the last little while. Much love. 

Elder Tang

photo: me as rugged up as I can possibly get. It didn't snow, everything on the ground just froze because it was like -3

Christmas Day Skype 

Wet feet in a country that always rains not good

PRETTY DANG IMPORTANT! The boots you got me were faulty I think. Well the right one. Because the left one is fine, but the right one got a big crack in the sole and water is soaking through the bottom when its really wet. Im not sure what you want to do, but my right foot isn't waterproof anymore. Elder Mulville has these Ecco shoes that are pretty good. The are called Ecco Gore-tec, pretty dang durable and waterproof as anything. Or just more Rockports, because they are really good aside from the crack in the right shoe. 

Moves call was this week. Elder Mulville is off to Ireland. Im gonna miss him, he is such a good companion. And my new companion is going to be Elder Allred, I know him a little bit, he is cool. And Im getting "promoted" I guess to be a District Leader. So Im staying in the same area but my job has changed, Elder Merrill who was the District leader is moving to Glasgow and Im taking his job I guess. So that should be fun. It will be weird having to give instruction and stuff like that. 

So moves call is probably the biggest thing this week. We also were in a Christmas show at the church that was pretty fun, all the missionaries in the area sang in the choir, it was all about remembering the true meaning of Christmas, it was really fun. Ill send some pictures. I also found a guy named Aiden who looks a lot like me, he is an American exchange student in the Bingham ward here in Dundee. Pretty cool. 

New comp..

. This week was really tough for teaching too. We have been praying really hard to meet someone who is receptive, because we are really just feeling like nobody cares right now. There are so many people so caught up in so many unimportant things that demand their attention constantly that sometimes, we just cant even get people to stop for a minute to talk to us. That's a hard part of the work. 

One thing we did that was really fun this week was we sang in a choir that was part of a big Christmas show. It was a play about remembering the birth of Christ for Christmas. Really awesome. Ill send some pictures because it was heaps of fun. 

We have had quite a few chances to give service to ward members in small ways, I am really grateful for those opportunities, I love helping people, and as a missionary sometimes you can feel like nobody wants to be helped, but when you help someone who wants and needs it, rather than needs it but doesn't want it, the feeling is just stellar. 

Here are some pics from my last week or two.

Dad forgot to post this one

I must admit, I am not a great writer either. But hey, the atonement is real, I will repent. 

We haven't taught a lesson yet since Ive gotten to Dundee, there were no investigators or less actives being worked with when I got here. So Elder Mulville and I are basically starting from ground zero. We are getting along really well, I love this kid, he is a cool as a cucumber and he is a great missionary. We are working hard with the members trying to serve them so that they can trust us. The reputation of the missionaries over the last year has not been great, so we are really struggling to get the ball rolling. I love the Ward though, they are fantastic, and I love Dundee. Last week we were just out finding people all day everyday. Its really exhausting business, Im so tired every day haha, I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow. 

The boots are great, dry feet are a tender mercy. It rains so much in this place haha. Im looking forward to getting back to sunny Brisbane one day in the far away future. 

I just finished the Book of Mormon again today, this one took me a while, about 3 months. I was studying about humility, all of Christ like Character depend on humility, you cant have any of Jesus' attributes without having some degree of humility. Not teaching has been a humbling experience. Its really hard to get things moving when nothing is happening. I cant even imagine how hard it is for the Lord to get his work moving, I guess he is all knowing so he is more efficient, but Im sure its still a struggle. 

Elder Tang

Falling out my third Story window

Sounds like it was a really great trip! I love the photos! Dads beard is killing me! That thing is flippin awesome! Im so jealous. Thou shalt not covet thy fathers beard... At least I think that's what the scripture says. 

This week was pretty rough. Coming off a week where we had pretty successful finding I had a hard time when this week no one really was listening to us. We were just talking to brick walls all week, lots of rude people and heaps of really closed minded people too. By Friday and Saturday its safe to say I was more than frustrated. I hate it when people will not even listen enough for us to tell them about the restored gospel, it really grinds my gears when they just keep walking when we try to speak to them or they just shout NO NO NO NO to everything we say. They don't even know what we are telling them, and its the most important message they will ever hear. Its really hard to preach to people who are so hard hearted. We had a man this week whos door we knocked on who said "for me to believe in God he would have to come down, stand in front of me, and say 'Im God, what can I do for you?'" He told us that he didn't believe in God basically because his neice died and he said that if God was there his life needed to be better. He was so arrogant and blasphemous, we then testified about how opposition is a part of Gods plan and that he would never learn anything if God was just his butler, to which he responded "YOU WONT PREACH TO ME!" 

That was just one of many people that just grinded my gears this week. Its so humbly to have to just not say anything to these people who are so prideful and contentious. Suffice it to say I did not have the best week. 

In order to combat a bad week this week we are starting fresh and we have to have a good week. Im trying to avoid thinking about the pressure. 

The Church has launched a HUGE Christmas initiative online and across the world, its a great opportunity to try and help people realize what they are actually celebrating, especially because I think that every year the real spirit of Christmas is getting pushed more and more aside. You have probably already gotten the whole run down from the sisters, if you haven't though, ask them about it because its a lot bigger in the states than it is here. Hop on facebook and share the video that's on Christmas.mormon.org its awesome. 

Well that's about all the news for me this week. Pretty boring. Sorry I don't have anything too outrageously exciting. We did have a great thanksgiving dinner at the Bishops house, that's was good. 

Love you. 

Miss you. 

Elder Tang

Dundee is actually a place as well as a fictional character

Elder Mulville and I

This half week has been amazing. Elder Mulville is great, he is so relaxed all the time. And the ward is awesome. Its a big ward, about 150 members. Sunday was awesome. 

We are basically starting from ground zero, we aren't working with anyone right now and apparently the members haven't been very supportive of the last few missionaries. But we are going to change all that. We have prayed a lot about helping the members get more excited, and so we spent a lot of time on sunday while I got to know as many people as I could and shook everybody's hand coming in and tried my best to smile and be as warm and friendly as possible. I think we had a good impression. We went to Bishop Keoghs house for dinner and introduced the set a date program from Elder Ballard to their family (they have 10 kids! WOAH!) Sister Keogh jumped on it, she is a real go getter. And Bishop Keogh had some experience with the same program in the past where it worked really well. There are apparently some families that will be a lot harder to win over, but we are off to a great start. 

I didn't really do anything on my birthday but Elder Mulville told one of the Keogh girls that it was my Birthday on Friday and so Sister Keogh has booked us for dinner next week where she will make a late birthday cake, I have never been so pampered in my life. 

Dundee is looking like it going to be awesome, I love that we have an opportunity to work with so many great members to expand the work here. Its really just awesome! Im so excited for this area. 

A little more about Elder Mulville, he is a convert, baptized one year ago, his story is fairly similar to Jacks, so it is really cool to serve with him and to hear his story. He is really smart too, knows heaps about the gospel. I am really excited for this companionship. Its gonna be awesome. 

address is 2/R 174 Lochee rd, Dundee (I am not completely sure about the postcode, but you can probably find it on google maps) 

Elder Tang 

Elder Barton

Transfers are here!

Dear Friends,

Im sorry but Im really terrible at writing as you all can probably tell. 

So the moves call has come in and after 6 months Im getting kicked out of Stranraer, they are offically sick of me. Well I hope they arent haha, but Im getting moved this week to Lochee in Dundee. For all who dont want to bust out google maps its right up on the North East coast, almost up to Aberdeen, just a little north of Edinburgh. Im going to be Senior Companion to Elder Mulville, I dont know anything about him yet, but Im certain that will change. 

The Last few months have been hectic, no baptisms or anything big in that way to update you on, just little experiences everyday where the Lord reassures us that we are doing the right thing, if youre not careful you could miss them. 

I have been learning a lot about love lately, its something I want to get better at. Jesus Christ loves everybody, he loves us all more than anything else, he didnt withhold anything from us when he was atoning. I wish I could have that kind of love, I havent quite figured out how yet. Its one of those mind boggling mysteries that I am trying to figure out by constant pondering. I have a pretty easy time loving the people I spend a lot of time with or that I miss from home and all that jazz. But unfortunately I cant figure out how to love every person I meet yet. I think at some level I do, but I just need to get it out and throw it around a bit... Its easier said than done. One thing I have noticed more though is the more you truly come to love the Saviour, the more you can love others. 

Do you love the Saviour more than your nets? (to find out what I am talking about go hit up John 20, and think about what your nets are) 

Are we each ready to leave our nets behind??? Its a big question. But asking ourselves that will help us to put into true perspective what its worth. Even down to the smallest things, do we love him more than our comfort? Or our easy going lives? Are we willing to make sacrifices. Thats what I have been pondering lately. 

Love yous all. 

Elder Tang

These are a couple of extra details he wrote his mother....

This week was busy but pretty uneventful. Other Than the lesson we had with Matthew which was awesome, he accepted the baptismal commitment and we will see him again this week. He is going through some really hard stuff and needs help, the good thing is unlike so many other people he is willing to accept help and recognizes that going to God is the right thing to do, its pretty amazing really. 

Elder Barton, he has been my favourite companion, the guy that I am replacing in Dundee is coming to be Elder Bartons companion, its pretty weird, Ive never heard of a swap like that. Im a little scared, I have never moved areas before obviously, and Im right in the middle of a big city. The ward there is supposed to be really big, Im looking forward to that, I would just love to sit in a big congregation again. So there are some good and bad things as far as nerves. But all things considered I really have needed a change. 

So a little logistics update, it snows a lot in Dundee apparently, so I will need some boots I think. Ive got a link for some,  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-Martens-Boots-Brown-Gr-45/dp/B003SX0ICQ/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1415011431&sr=8-22&keywords=mens+doc+marten+brown   I think Dad said he had some Docs on his mission and they lasted forever. I also tore through the knee in my older black suit, too much praying. (seriously thats what did it) I stitched it up a couple of times but just kept tearing more and more, proabably due to my dodgy repair job, so I can survive on just the one suit for a while but I may need some money for another one soonish. Im sorry to be always asking for stuff. Im trying to make everything stretch, I feel bad asking for stuff all the time. Maybe call the boots good for xmas.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-Martens-Boots-Brown-Gr-45/dp/B003SX0ICQ/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1415011431&sr=8-22&keywords=mens+doc+marten+brown

thats the link again because I dont know if it worked. (Im a size 8 european, Use your best judgement I guess) 

Elder Barton my son....

This week has been good. We had some good success, we had 3 investigators at church, which is the most Stranraer has had, probably in years. Im not sure. And it was just a really long, really busy weeks all in all. 

Ok let me tell you something about Elder Barton. 

He is a fantastic missionary, really prepared and has really stepped up to the challenges that Stranraer presents. He is from a family of 5, all sisters, he is the youngest. He is the first in his family to serve a mission. He is so tall, 6 foot 4. I feel like a midget. He has a girlfriend in at BYU (he came straight from highschool and she went to college) and she seems pretty cool. He didnt have much to say at first, he was kinda nervous to speak, but he has come miles from where he was. What a killer missionary he is. Ill send a photo. 

I have been getting quite a lot out of my studies lately, I have been studying about a lot of christ like attributes like charity and love and humility, there are so many things I need to improve on. Its actually ridiculous how far we have to come to become like the Saviour, Im not even close. Atleast I have no shortage of things to do in my list of Godlike qualities, always got something I can be busy with. 

I am so excited for Patch to come to the mission, I had a weird feeling he would come here, at first I thought I just hoped, but now I think God maybe revealed it to me a little bit, out of a love for me, just a nice thing for him to do right? He will be a really good missionary, it will be weird to have a missionary here that is family, that will be really cool. I hope I serve close to him so I can see him often. That would be awesome. 

I have had a good week, its been exhausting, but its been good. 

Elder Tang