Weekly Update #95

   A good morning from the far south of Scotland! Shia surprise, I got moved and they sent me to Stranraer. It's a pretty neat place, but let me tell you about this week.

     Monday was good! We did the usual Monday things and we tried to find this lighthouse and cliffs, but got a bit lost and found some Shetland ponies instead. 

It wasn't cold enough for them to have sweaters. After that, we had an FHE and the evening was done.

     Tuesday was grand as well. We went about doing work for most of Tuesday, visiting a friend in the evening. That was it. Work and good craic.

     On Wednesday we started off with the Quilting group, which was nice. We had a good time there. After, it was mainly working and then we had a dinner and then visited a family until the end of the night. It was grand. 

     Thursday morning we started off by watching a broadcast for all the missionaries, and it was nice. A few things were changed, but I'm alright with it. It isn't anything major or super big. After that, we went to Whalsay, another island, and did some work out there. Taking the ferry there was fun and we did quite a bit of walking in the wind while we were out and about. It was good! Then, we finished the evening off with a dinner with a family. It was good.

     Friday was the day of the news. We got it Friday evening, but during most of Friday we were out and about, doing some work and visiting a few people. When we got the news, it was pretty tough. Elder Giles didn't really want to go and I didn't either. But, it had to happen, so we made it so. 

     Saturday and Sunday were both bitter-sweet. We helped Saturday morning peeling some potatoes for the Burn's Supper that evening. We told the folks we were helping that we were moving. After, we visited one of our friends and told him as well. It was tough. We then visited with a family, had a nice conversation with them, but also had to inform them of the move. Then, at the Burn's Night, everyone else found out. It was a good meal and evening, I wore a kilt! After that, we went to the Youth Cafe and told all the people there as well. 

     Sunday, we bore our departing Lerwick testimonies, had a lunch, said goodbye to a few more families, then we caught the ferry and were off. Me and Elder Giles took our final selfie. 

     I am going to miss those islands. The Shetland Islands. They're a fantastic place that God created. What a blessing it has been to have been able to serve there, to learn about the culture, to been able to meet those fantastic people. Sheltand has its own special home in my heart.

     Monday was mainly travel. We docked in Aberdeen, drove down to Glasgow without a SatNav, I got on a train with Elder Ritchie, and we took a train to Stranraer where I unpacked and we met a few of the members. Elder Ritchie is a champion, so far. We're totally on the same wavelength. I'm excited.

     Today we visited with a friend and came to email. That is that.

     Thank you so much for the support! I wish you all the best! Take care and have fun!

Godspeed

Elder Kinville

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

In the name of progress!

Weekly Update #94

     A good morning from the magic Shetland Islands!

     The rest of Monday was great! We went to find this cave, only to discover it was a seacave and we didn't have a boat. So, we took pictures and saw some pretty neat cliffs. 

After, we went shopping and went to a fantastic FHE where we had some fun with lights and exposure times on cameras. I don't have any pictures from that, but hopefully I will get some!

     Tuesday we started off with a grand District Meeting. After that, we had our lunch and then went out and about to do some work. That was most of Tuesday, just doing work. It was grand.

     Wednesday was fun. We started with the quilting group but as we were leaving some joiners came in to do some work on the building, so we stuck around to make sure no mischief was brought up. After that, we went by one of our friends and visited him. We finished up the evening with some work and whatnot.

     Thursday we weekly planned, then went about to do work, like the usual. And sheep. Here's me and some sheep. 

This reminded me of Thurso. But after sheep and all that, we went over the a family's house for dinner and it was fantastic. I was a fan of it.

     Friday we started off with work, like usual. We then went about, visited a friend, and then did a bit more work. Not a whole lot to say that we did that was extraordinary. 

     On Saturday we had a blast. We went over to one of our friend's house, helped him clean and move some furniture around, and then we had a lunch. While there, he warned us not to go into the main town, because there was an anti-Trump march going on. I thought it was funny. After, we went to a family's house, had a pleasant visit with them and then we went to the Youth Cafe and closed out the evening. 

     Sunday was good! There were a nice number of people who showed up for Church and the classes were grand. After, we had a lunch, did a bit of work, stopped by and visited another firend, and then we had dinner at a family's house. Now, I am obliged to inform you of this, because the mother in this family told us we had to mention it in our weekly emails. After dinner and dessert, the kids wanted to play a game. So, they got the game Gas Out. For those who do not know, Gas Out is a game where there's thing sound machine in the center of the table, you play a card with a number on it, press the machine a certain number of times. However, after a random ammount of pushes, it will make a pretty massive fart noise, indicating that the player who last pressed it is now out, and so on until there's one left. I loved the game, I really did. I didn't win, but I had fun. Elder Giles did, too. So did the family. 

     That was my week! Thank you all for the support, emails, prayers, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Cheers!

Godspeed

Elder Kinville

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

In the name of progress!

Weekly Update #93

     If I were to shorten this week to one word, that single word would be: fire. Fire. This week was a blaze! It was fantastic! And there's going to be a few pictures!

     So, after emailing we went out to see this old viking ruin village thingmy, but we got distracted and found this really neat cliff and rocky bits and we ended up going to the Southern-most part of mainland Shetland! That was neat. We also found a really old viking house, too, which was alright. We ended the night with FHE.

     Tuesday we rocked and rolled out with a District Meeting in the morning, which was good. After that, we went about, did some work around town, and then visited one of our friends. It was a shortish evening, but it was good!

     Wednesday we rocked and rolled out with the usual work about in the morning. The rest of the day was pretty much working  about. 

     Thursday, we did the usual. We visited a friend in the morning and had lovely conversations there. In the evening, we had a fantastic dinner at this family's house and they invited us over to watch the Scalloway Fire Festival with them.

    Up here in Shetland, they are proud of their viking ancestry. As many know, the vikings had a lovely tradition of burning their kings/chiefs/jarls in galleys when they died. So, the Shetlanders do the same thing every year around this time. They call it Up-Helly-Aa. Now, every island/town has it's own Up-Helly-Aa and Scalloway had their's on Friday. IT WAS SO EPIC!!!! AAAAHHH!!! So we watched fire Friday after doing some work and visiting some friends. It was grand!

     Saturday was good as well. We did some work and then we were invited to a friend's birthday party, so we went. It was great! After, we had the Youth Cafe, which was also a lot of fun!

     Sunday was a fun day. After church, we had a lunch and then did a wee bit of work before we went to a family's house for dinner. And that, was about it for this week!

      I am really excited, mainly because January 31st is Lerwick's Up-Helly-Aa, and I AM EXCITED! It should be great!

     Thank you all for the support and emails! Have a grand week!

Godspeed

Elder Kinville

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

In the name of progress!

Weekly Update #92

     Another wonderful week in Lerwick has gone by, so let me tell you about it.

     The rest of Tuesday was pretty relaxed, we didn't do a whole lot, but we enjoyed it. Here's this neat beach in Lerwick. 

We also had Branch council. That was good.

     Wednesday we went about and saw some friends. In the morning, we were at the quilting club where we had a grand time there. After, we visited one of our friends, went to a family's house for dinner, and then had another visit with some friends and a grand conversation to top it all off! It was grand. 

     On Thursday morning, we went over to another friend's house and had a wonderful conversation with him. We haven't seen him since before the New Year, so it was good to catch up. He also gave us this epic painting. The mountains in that painting totally remind me of the Tetons. 

I love the painting, it sits across from where I usually sit in the flat. My favorite thing, so it is. Later, we did some work about the town and then we went to another family's house for dinner.

     Friday was a fun and grand day! In the morning, we did some work and then we visited one of our friends. After that, we dropped off a carpet cleaner that's been in the flat for a while, and that was good. Then, on somewhat of a spur of the moment type deal, we tried by these people who the missionaries used to meet with and had sort of vanished right before I came up here. We tried by and they were in, they let us in, we had a grand conversation, and it was great! Fun times!

     Saturday was also a good day. We started with coordination for the Branch missionary work. After, we did some work before it was time to go to the Youth Cafe. It was great to be back at the cafe. We had a good time there, and after we got kebabs. 

How can you top it off?

     So, there's this member in Lerwick, his name is Bob. He is fantastic, some of you know about Bob. He calls us every now and then and leaves us a voicemail just saying "James Bond, James Bond" or sometimes "The name's Bond, James Bond." Anywho, he gives the missionaries nicknames and also a little Shetland flag pin, and this week I got my pin! 

It's super neat, I like it! He's already given me my nickname, it's Quite Sensible. But during Church, he gave me the pin. After, we had a lunch with a family, then did some work before going over to another family's house for dinner. We had a wonderful time there! They're so much fun. And that was our week!

     Today, we'll be seeing some old ruins and whatnot and it's going to be good!

     Thank you all for the support, emails, letters, prayers, and everything else! It means a lot to me, I kid you not. Have a wonderful week, ya'll!

Godspeed

Elder Kinville

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

In the name of progress!

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY WE THINK WE SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, BUT IT WAS CLOUDY AND MY CAMERA COULDN'T CATCH IT!!!! :D

That's all, thanks!

Godspeed

Elder Kinville

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

In the name of progress!

Weekly Update #91

    From a festive Lerwick, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hopefully everyone is in tip-top, ship-shape, because I certainly am. I am emailing on Tuesday rather than Monday because it was a bank holiday yesterday and Lerwick was closed. I've never seen a whole town closed before, but Lerwick was. I am impressed.

     The rest of Tuesday we did something. I can't remember what, but we did it. It was grand. 

     Wednesday was a fantastic day. After going out and doing a bit of work, we were walking by the sea (because Shetland is an island, y'know) and we actually saw a sunset! 

Granted, this was 3:00 PM, but the sunset was magical! There was also an otter, but that's a different story. After doing some work out by the magical sunset, we went off to a dinner and then ended the night visiting a friend. It certainly was magical.

     Thursday was grand as well. We did some grand work in the morning, had lunch and whatnot, went about and did something, probably some more work, and then closed out in the evening having a blast at a dinner with a family.

     Friday was good, and I remember what happened Friday! We found a neat sign after we parked infront of it. 

I enjoy that sign. But we spent most of Friday visiting with a friend. It was great, great time there.

     Saturday was New Year's Eve! We spent a good portion of the day at a family's house and we had a blast over there. It was fun. Really fun. On the way back to our flat it was pretty slick. We handled it, though. Elder Giles is a champion driver. 

     Sunday was a new day, new year. It was grand. Elder Giles and I had the opportunity to speak in church. It was fantastic. After church, we had a lunch with a family and then went over to a house to celebrate the rest of the New Year. It was fantastic.

     Then on Monday, we had a good day. We went about and did a wee bit of work and then after the day was done and dusted, we went with a friend to FHE. It was incredibly fun, we played Cluedo (Called Clue in America), and I was so close to winning. But then someone forgot they had the room card and didn't show it when I asked so I got out, but it was worth it. 

     It's been good, it's going to be good and I am so excited for what's coming up. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and please, keep doing good.

Godspeed

Elder Kinville

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

In the name of progress!

Weekly Update #90

A good wintery morning from the wonderful island of Shetland! Christmas is done and dusted, and it was pretty neat, let me say. 

     The rest of Monday was grand. I went out and about with Elder Guymon in Aberdeen and that was most of that day. Pretty slow and calm. Some of the pictures here are of the neat lighthouse we saw last week and of Frankie's, that famous fish and chips place we went to with Arave and Harvey.

     Tuesday we traveled down to Edinburgh and had an All-Scotland Conference. That was fantastic, because it was more like a Christmas party than anything else. It was grand! In the evening, we caught the train back to Aberdeen.

     Wednesday was another day in Aberdeen. We went around with Elders Guymon and Forbush and we had a right proper good time doing so. In the evening we got on the ferry to head back up to Lerwick.

     Thursday morning we arrived and it was a right proper gale. The wind was blowing and it was nuts. We got back to the flat, visited some friends, and then had dinner at a member's house. It was grand!

     Friday was gusty as well. In fact, pretty much everyday except today has been bretty gusty. Like, 90 mph winds type gusty. It's pretty fun, dodging roof-tiles, trying to walk against the wind, trying to stand. It was pretty fun.

     Saturday was Christmas Eve! That was grand. We listened to Christmas music, did some work, and then the Church had a fantastic Christmas Eve Carol service, which was spectacular. We then made gingerbread houses. Elder Giles' was pretty good looking, mine had some issues. But, being super creative, I made the best of it. It was grand.

     Christmas was on Sunday, and it was great. We went to a member's house for breakfast, which was spectacular as well, and then went to church. After, we went to a family's house for the rest of Christmas. It was fantastic. I Skyped with my family and whatnot and it was all fantastic. We had a blast as well.

     Monday was Boxing Day/Feast of Stephens, which was also grand! We did a wee bit in the morning, then went to some friend's house and then went to a member's house for FHE, which was also spectacular! It was a great week all round.

     Today, is P-day. We've got to clean, shop, and whatnot, but we've got some good things planned. It is going to be bueno, let me say.

     Thank you all for the support and everything else! I hope you all have had a very Merry Chirstmas, and ya'll should have a Happy New Year! 

Godspeed

Elder Kinville

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

In the name of progress!