Weekly Update #12

  From Dublin, hey. Good to see ya'll. Everything's good? Bueno, bueno. This week was excellent. Want me to tell you about it? Okay, I guess I can.

     To kick things off, on Tuesday we continued service work, had a great District Meeting on working with members, and had plenty of good times. I can't recall anything specific from Tuesday that seems to stand out. It was good though, very good.

     On Wednesday we ran around doing service again and teaching an interesting fellow. He was baptized, but was never confirmed. Kinda an odd case, but we're back in touch with him and working on getting his life back in order so he can be confirmed and all that good Jazz. I certainly hope he does well in getting back on track and figuring out what needs to be done and how important it is to get it done correctly.

     Weekly planning was great this week. We had minimal distractions, minimal cases where we broke out in jubilant song or quotations, and minimal times where we fell asleep or had to take emergency action to prevent us from falling asleep. This was certainly a triumph. Elder Oldham is always tired. He says, almost everyday, "I've never been this tired in my life.". Nevertheless, we maintained maximal awareness and planned like two well off Elders. We also called plenty of people to try and schedule appointments. On Friday, we also called the world again, just to be sure they weren't sleeping last time. 

     But the rest of Friday was good as well. Elder Oldham got a scooter! It's a pretty fancy thing, but we got rid of it. Anywho, that's also the only picture I took this week because I've been lazy with the camera usage. 

     Saturday was great. We went to St. Stephen's Green to do some survey finding and we noticed a lot more rainbows than usual. Come to find out, it was a pride parade day. We got us hence and found people elsewhere as to avoid conflicts or confrontations. We then also had the great chance to give a brief lesson to our Polish trainer and his family then we were able to bless his son! Gah, it was so swell! He asked us if we could do a blessing and we were incredibly excited to do so. 

     Sunday, we had Elder Herbertson, our Area of the Seventy, at our ward. He gave an excellent message dealing with some of the themes found in "Be Still My Soul". I invite those who read this to listen to "Be Still My Soul" and to listen to the lyrics and what is being said. Later, we met with our friend from the Philippines who brought his friends from the Philippines. He also invited the Sister missionaries to come as well. The meal was excellent, and we were able to teach them a short lesson on the Plan of Salvation. Our friend is so aggressive with sharing the gospel. We had to reign him down several times while we were eating to not give the lesson we had planned before we were going to give it. It was great. Also, met some folks at church who took a picture of me and sent it to my Mom. Love you Mom! I'm blinking in the picture though. Now you judge me.

     Today, P-Day free day. It was good, we had a good time going around buying stuff. We also got incredibly incredible T-shirts for our companionship! I'll send a picture of them next week. 

     Day after day I am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve. I meet so many great people, and it's honestly difficult. It's hard to talk to people you meet on the streets or to be smiling all day. It's tough for me to be smiling in the sun. Sunlight kills my smile, but I do my best. I've been taking it step by step so far and I've gone quite a distance, but the journey is not over yet. I am so excited for what is in store for me in the coming weeks and I am also anxious and probably rather fearful. I don't know what's coming, but it's gonna be a blast.

God Speed

Elder Kinville

Jacob 6:12 "O be wise; what can I say more?"

Tender Mercies Take 2

People are good. I know that this doesn't always seem like truth, but it really is.

My Mom woke up Sunday morning to a text from an unknown number. This is what the text consisted of:

We kind of love that Elder Kinville's eyes are closed. His eyes are generally closed in about 80% of his pictures.

When my Mom asked who had sent the text, the response that she got:

"The Hunter family from Arizona. We are in Ireland and got to meet your elder today. he's doing great and so engaged in the work. You have every reason to feel proud of him. Happy Sabbath."

Seriously!?!?! Obviously this family has had a missionary out  in the past or currently and knew what this would mean to a Mother. What a blessing! It makes me want to run around town and take pictures of all of the Elders and text them to their Moms.

People are good.

Weekly Update #11

A lovely afternoon from the fair city of Dublin! This week was jolly and fantastic, so let's hit it off.

     To start with, while shopping Elder Oldham purchased a chess set. We have thus begun to play chess during meals and on P-days. We've plated ten games thus far, three ending with draws and one ending with a loss for me, with the remaining six ending in victories. To say the least, Elder Oldham isn't pleased and continues to bring balance to the game.

     On Wednesday, we had to use some heavy artillery with an investigator. We have a good brother in our ward who lays down the law when it comes to teaching and we bring him on joint teaches when the law needs to be stated and enforced. The joint teach went over well, to say the least. We've been blessed in the Terenure ward to have an excellent pool of members to teach with who are willing and prepared to do so. 

     Thursday was a day of service. We started off mowing the bishop's garden and weeding it a wee bit. We then went to chop down the other half of the bushes mentioned last week. After that, we were scheduled to meet with an investigator, but it fell through. Never the less, we continued on to do some finding and whatnot. We also received two referrals, one from HQ and the other from a neighbouring area.

     So, the next day we contacted the referrals. The one from HQ turned out to be some lads being cheeky while the other is a different story. On September the 28th, whoever will be serving in the Terenure area will have the opportunity to speak to a theology society at a local university, followed by a Q&A. This... This makes me want to do all in my power to stay in the Terenure area just to present this. But no matter what happens, I wish the best to those Elders. The concluded this day with a barbeque at a member's house. Our Polish training friend was there, but fortunately we were in proselyting clothes and could not work out.

     On Saturday we continued our service with the hedges and taught a few more lessons. Not much happened on that day. But Sunday made up for it! On Sunday we went on splits. I went with a member to teach the notorious Elvis. While we waited for him, a lady came up and asked which ward we were at. We responded the Terenure ward and she asked about boundaries. We explained that we were on the boundary and she lived in the Finglas area. She asked if we knew the bishop's number for the Finglas ward, but I did not so I gave her the number to the Finglas Sisters. Hopefully contact was made and she was able to figure it out. We did not find Elvis again, but we did meet her, which made the journey worth it. We then ended splits, and continued the day. We concluded with some stir-fry, see the first photo.

     To deal with Sunday, Happy Father's Day to the fathers! There's a picture attached dealing with that.

     Today, we went to Dublina, a cathedral/mediaeval structure that doubles as a museum. It was fun to learn about Vikings and they're dealing's with Dublin. There was also a tower that we climbed to the top of, which was great again.

     Anywho, I think that's about it for the week. Thankful for the many blessings and opportunities I've had to serve thus far in my mission. I look forward to those that are to come as well! The Rathgar Sisters asked me if I prayed for odd things to happen to us everyday. I responded that I did not, but I'm sure glad they happen. The mission would be slightly less exciting if those random-happen-stances didn't happen. 

     Thanks for all the prayers, mine are with you all.

God Speed 

Elder Kinville

Jacob 6:12 "O be wise; what can I say more?"

Weekly Update #10

 Cheers from Ireland! Emailing on Tuesday because we had a Zone Development yesterday that ya'll will get the chance to hear about a wee bit later.

     To start craic off, Tuesday. On Tuesday we had an all Ireland conference for missionaries with President and Sister Brown. I also was able to catch up with Elder Arave, Elder Thayne, Elder Van Staden, Sister Buttars, and Elder Halverson from my MTC group!

 (To make a quick note: all the last names are "spelling errors" according to the spellchecker). Also there, I was able to meet my uncle (another Elder trained by my trainer's trainer) and cousin (my uncle's trainee) and we took a picture of Elder Walker's (my grandad/trainer's trainer) posterity. 

It was fantastic. The addresses given by the senior couples and President and Sister Brown were great as well and definitely will be applied in my mission to make me a better Elder.

After that, we went to a member's house to have a lovely dinner.

     After that, I bought a coconut. What did I do with the coconut? Well, in our flat we had some limes as well. So, I took the lime, squeezed it's juice into the coconut, and drank it all up. Worth it? I think so. 

     Wednesday was good. We taught an investigator who is so close to baptism, it isn't even funny. She just needs to go to church. Anywho, Wednesday was all well and went superbly.

     On Thursday I had the opportunity to trim the garden and hedges for a ward member. We went in, Elder Oldham went off to trim the grass while I went to prune some trees. In the end, I felt like I had deforested half a Brazilian rain forest with all the branches I cut off. It's a good thing we'll be going back this Thursday to deforest the other half. The hedges and garden is looking really swell, though. It gets better looking everyday. We then taught a less active member and did some planning and all that fun Jazz.

     On Friday we went on exchanges with Bray area and I left Terenure for a wee bit. Off in Bray, we first visited a less active gent. After talking, discussing, listening, talking, listening, listening, listening, bearing testimony, listening, discussing, and listening we finally left the house and rushed off to the next appointment. Now, to say a bit about this gent who we did all the above with: he is in his forties, but he plays video games like he is a teen. His flat wasn't in the best of conditions, and the main thing I got from the visit was that I do not want to be like that when I'm forty. Half the reason why I think he is that way is because he isn't married. Who knows? The rest of Friday went off well.

     Meanwhile, in Terenure, Elder Oldham and Holman went off and taught a lesson about the plan of salvation to the Zuu personal trainer we ran into and his family. From what I've heard, it went as good as a lesson could go. I am sad that I couldn't go, but I'm alright that it was still done. We're still meeting with him to destroy our bodies and this Friday we'll meet with him again.

     Saturday was a blast. I can't recall if I've mentioned our Philippine friend who feeds us every Saturday night, but this time was different. When we went, he had two of his friends over and it quickly became a lesson that ended with two new investigators. To say the least, we have been blessed this week with so many good things. It is magical, marvelous, and splendid. We also took back to the flat plenty of leftover food, from which I had another chicken feast. 

     Sunday went about as most Sunday's do. It was fast Sunday due to Elder Holland's address last Sunday. After church and whatnot, we visited the brother in the hospital and played a jolly game of chess with him. It went over well enough for me and Elder Oldham. I enjoyed it and the gent did as well.

     On Monday, I went to my first Zone Developement! That went over lovely and I got a bit of a sunburn from being outside kicking around a yoga ball.

     This week has been a blast. So many great things, so many blessings. Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts. I hope you all have a excellent week and that you too can feel the blessings of our Heavenly Father.

God Speed

Elder Kinville

Jacob 6:12 "O be wise; what can I say more?"

Weekly Update #9

 A good day to you all from Dublin! This week was loaded with things, so let's get down to business.

     Tuesday went decently. I went into a Starbucks for my first time to teach someone. Unfortunately, they did not show up. Sad day, I do say. Anywho, that's about it for Tuesday.

     Wednesday was great, to say the least. We met with the jolly Polish trainer who I am now thoroughly convinced that he is trying to kill me via working out. Now, to say a bit about this: I love that man to death, kid you not, and the workouts he is having us do are intense and well worth every bit of strain. 'Tis mucho bueno. Sister Alleman (Or Allaman, I really don't know how it is spelt) also gave him an English Book of Mormon. The only problem was he can't read English well enough. We'll STP later. We then got some burritos, went to the park, and watched pigeons as they ate the rice Elder Oldham didn't want to eat. There was this one tenacious fellow, Rodrick, who fought off most of the pack. There was also Nick, Mack, Nicky, Jerry, Thompson, Joey, and Billy. Pigeons are fun, let me tell you. Then, there was a spider in our room. Now, this isn't a tiny mini spider, this chap was a Goliath.

After capturing the beast in a pint glass, we attempting to flush it down the toilet, but it resisted. Finally, after waiting for a period of time, we banished the beast into the Dublin sewage system. 

     Thursday went over very well! We taught someone in the park and then we went to a family's house for dinner. Now, this family has two young boys, aged two and four. They are madness. Also, they both can speak German because the father is German. It is so swell, to say the least, because the youngest mixes German and English together in the same sentence. Nevertheless, we had a good lesson with them and then exchanged. 

     For our exchange, I was to lead the Terenure area with Elder Holman, our District Leader, along side. It went great! We did the Zuu workouts in the morning, we studies while his stomach made much noise, and then we went to teach a person but the appointment fell through. Probably the largest of disappointments, but we also did some survey finding. While survey finding, we talked with a Muslin who was a boss. To preface, a week or so before this occurred Elder Oldham turned on a seminar thing about Muslims from an LDS standpoint. During the course of our conversation with this fellow, he asked me what I knew about Mohammad. Due to the listening of the seminar, I was able to answer him. It was a bueno day.

     Saturday we thought we lost our phone. So, we went to the chapel to do some workouts with other missionaries and when we got back to the flat we could not find the phone. We tore the flat apart until we decided that it must be at the church. Unfortunately, the other missionaries had the keys as well, so we needed to get to them to get the keys then the phone but we needed a phone to tell them to meet with us and it was a paradox. So, we made plans to go to a payphone (or if you hear the story from Elder Oldham it was going to be a member's house) to contact them. As we were getting ready to leave, the phone rang. It was a wrong number call, but nevertheless it was a tender mercy to have our phone and to not have spent a morning trying to recover it from where it wasn't. Life is good. Later, we visited the Polish friend again! We also met one of his Italian friends and we'll possibly be hopefully helping him to learn a bit more English. The workout was great and we were able to give him a Polish Book of Mormon. He thanked us but told us that he could not promise us that he would read it, because he honestly didn't know if he would be able to find time to read it. On Friday, we hope to be able to talk with him again with the Alla[e]man's to resume our work. 

     Sunday is the big day. On Sunday, we had a Northern Europe Area conference with Elder Jeffery R. Holland. To say the least, it was a spiritual feast. The other speakers were great and marvelous, but Elder Holland brought it home. For the most part, it was like his talk "Safety For the Soul", but add an additional thirty minutes to it and everything else that makes life good. He stated that if The Book of Mormon was false, then Christ didn't exist because in essence the Book of Mormon is the only book that has yet to be proven false, therefore it stands as the primary witness of Jesus Christ. It's not online yet, but I want it to be so I can read it again. He had plenty of other things to go along with it, like stating how the Book of Mormon came about and how it would be impossible to produce such a work without divine help. It was so good. 

     And that was this week! Attached are several drawings I've done when I had time to do so. 

     Have a great week!

God Speed

Elder Kinville

Jacob 6:12 "O be wise; what can I say more?"

Weekly Update #8

   Greetings from the fair city of Dublin!

     

     First to note, every first Monday of a month is a bank holiday, so libraries are closed. That means emails shall be sent on the following Tuesday. Thus why you're getting this today.

     To kick things off, some people are no fun. For example: Those who don't keep commitments or those who disregard appointments and replace talking about eternal salvation with going to a pub. We had seven appointments set at the start of the week, and everyone fell through. It's fine, though! We still had three lessons and a new investigator, so progress is made. 

     Tuesday was neato. It was moves week, so no district meeting, but we had three of the seven appointments fall through on this day. Wednesday we ate at Boojum's again, this time we were inside during the rain. We also did a hefty game of chair football with most of the Elders and Sisters in our Zone. It was excellent. Three appointments fell through on Wednesday. We also met a rather intoxicated man who said seven or so times "do you know what the Catholic Church doesn't say?" but never told us what they don't say. I want to know, I really do. Please... Tell me...

     Thursday was a day of fun. On Wednesday we scrambled around trying to find a joint teach for a lesson. We finally found one and celebrated by going to sleep. The seventh of our appointments cancelled, but we still taught folks! Bueno! Also, Pizza Hut again. Attached are some pictures!

     Friday. Let me tell you about Friday. On Friday, we were out and about survey finding when we ran into this gent. As we stopped him, we soon learned that he was from London, he was drunk, and apparently he was on the run from under covered officers (FBI he claimed), and only had five minutes to chat. Quite odd, let me say. He then proceeded in telling us his philosophy about life, princesses, life, how he was called by the Good Lord to hunt after the Devil's Disciples, and whatnot. To say the least, it was an interesting conversation. He shared with us his philosophy on life: "You're born into the world with nothing, you leave the world with nothing. Tick-tock." Wisest words from a fellow like that, if I'm to say. Half an hour later, he said goodbye and left us with a final statement, "Boys, boys, good boys, you've really touched me. Thanks for sharing, and may the Good Lord bless you. All respect to you, boys. There's tears in me eyes, y'know now. I'll try not to cry as I head to Frankfort. Tick-tock." Twenty steps later: "Boys! I changed my mind, I found a hankie. All respect!" This is my highlight of the week.

     Saturday came and went like other days and we met with the chap who's a personal trainer and he promptly attempted to destroy our bodies. Zuu is a rough work-out. It destroys all your muscles at once. Avoid it as best you can. This Wednesday we'll be meeting with him and trying to get him as an investigator, so fun!

     On Sunday, we hiked around and WE FOUND ELVIS! WHOOOOOO! That was great news. He's a swell fellow, though he had his family over and it looked like he was a leader of the Romanian mob. Slightly dodgy, but jolly nonetheless. 

     Monday there was a ward picnic that we attended and stuff happened, it was great, overall. This week was a good week. Really enjoyed it and really enjoyed seeing the tender mercies of the Lord. Hope for the best this week.

     And photos! The following are the foods of the Pizza Hut. 

The next one is a view from my desk. The tennis ball is Coach, then we have Jesus telling me that I can do it and a fox cause foxes. 

The final one is Herbert the Joyless Duck. It's an advertisement from Cadbury about their chocolate puddles, and Herbert is in the corner. He doesn't look happy and the ad says 'Discover the joy of puddles'. 'Tis odd, methinks.

     That's all! Hope all is well for ya'll and hopefully you have jolly weeks!

God Speed

Elder Kinville