Surprise! ... Surprise!

The October Belfast Blitz and the Pizza Boxes to prove the "225"

It was a good week!!!!(:

From Rachel Goodfield-Tucker
(from Omagh):
"After a tough few weeks,
Noah had a surprise visitor
knock our door....
I think these photos speak for
themselves.....
These 2 have a special friendship."
Elder Penman was able to give
Noah a special priesthood blessing
to help him with his difficulties. 

  We blitzed Omagh again. This time I got to see Maggy Cathcart, Iris Macfarland, and Brother and Sister Foster. It was good fun, as they say it here, "good crack, so it is." We tried by some of the people that I taught when I was there. Some of them remembered me, but some didn't. IT WAS so good to be there again though. I didn't realise how much work we did there until I was walking the streets and seeing all the streets we tracted! 

From Sister Maggie Cathcart: Karen, Wanted to let you know Elder Penman is in Omagh today. He is doing fab....He and Elder Giles met up with my sister Iris and I at 5 pm this afternoon (3 hours ago ) and we cleaned the church. He was asking about Elliot and his mission and he told me he has never once been homesick. He is working very hard as zone leader and loving Scotland/Ireland and especially Northern Ireland. Don't be worrying.....Maggie

  

  We went on another blitz in Derry/Londonderry. That was fun. I have never been flipped off and yelled at so much in one day. You would be surprised with the colourful vocabulary they used. I always just laugh it off. One of these times, I was with Elder Grant. He is related to a Brother Mcdonald in Dunfermline. He actually looks pretty much like a ginger version of him!

October Belfast Blitz

The White Board and the "line"

More of the "line" in Belfast

We had the Belfast blitz! We had all the missionaries in Northern Ireland, again, up in Belfast to do missionary work. We set a goal to hit 220 people found. We got 225!! The bad part is now Elder Beckstrand and I have to sort out where all these people go and who will call them...It's a good problem to have. It was a full day of finding. At one point we had a huge line at a whiteboard for people waiting to get to right down what makes them happy! It was sweet.   We finished it by having tons of pizza! 

Elder Beckstrand, J___,
Elder Penman

 Well we got a baptism this week. J____ got baptised!! It was sweet. He had been 2 weeks clean from smoking and so we moved his date up, off of our Bishop's and Mission President's counsel. It was so amazing to witness. The water heater was not working so it was freezing cold water.  He had to get baptized 3 times. The first time his elbow was up, the second time the prayer was wrong, the third time his elbow was still up but the member baptizing him pushed him way under! It was great  We were so looking forward to the confirmation, but we got a call. J___'s brother had came over that night and started pulling out cigarettes and alcohol and J____ slipped. I have never seen so much disappointment on someone's face. He asked "what have I done?" like his life was over. We told him it was a mistake and we will have to move the confirmation. He will get there!   

J___with the Elders and the member
who baptised him

I invite all of you who are feeling inadequate to study D&C section 1.
Elder Penman

With Elder Tolk

World War I memorial commemorating the "Ulster Volunteer Force"
Kilcooley, a neighborhood of Bangor, County DownThe Battle of the Somme, fought in the summer and autumn of 1916,
was one of the largest battles of the First World War. 

Elders Penman and Tolk found
a street break dancer

A Bug!! An ORANGE Bug!

The Elders helped to push this family's stalled car out of traffic

"Chapping"

Elder Grant?

Let them Eat Cake....or something. 

Inside the apartment

Praying in Faith

 Oh...! What a week. We had so many good things happen this week. I have had prayers answered in a very Literal way, and very directly.

Elder Penman and Brother and Sister Lorimer

   Well we had to say good by to the senior couple, Elder and Sister Lorimer. They are some of the most amazing people this world has to offer. Elder Scott Lorimer was best friends with Gordon B Hinckley and James E Faust. He told us the most fantastical stories about just chilling with those two men. He brought a whole new life to the people that they really were. If you thought President Hinckley was funny from the pulpit, you haven't even begun to touch the surface. The Lorimers were the people who were leading the second rescue of the Willey and Martin hand cart companies. So when you go on trek, he is the man that helped put all of that together and buy all of that land and follow the Spirit and journals of where they traveled.  They had the chance to chill in the prairies of Wyoming with so many general authorities and alone with the First Presidency! They are Power Houses!! We sadly had to say good bye to them today!








    Last week we got to climb Cave hill. It was a blast. It made me miss trail running so much!! It was like hiking through a forest at some points, to a view of all of Belfast!! We could see Scotland from up there--it was sweet!  We jumped around on this tree that had fallen over. We were bouncing each other off the end. It was like riding a mechanical bull!

Beckstrand, Penman, Parkinson, Stanley

   Our friend J____ is still looking good for the 31st of October. 8 days off smoking and he said no to someone who offered him Tobacco. That's the first time ever. The minister has a baptismal date. He still is struggling with a testimony of Joseph Smith. We Skyped the Romanian missionaries and they taught the Romanian family in Romanian. It was so weird because the whole time they only spoke Romanian. Elder Beckstrand and I sat there and prayed the whole time for those top missionaries!


   So this week I had two stories I want to share with you, out of all the good stuff that happened this week. So the Lorimers told us that we should find a man that was a YSA. He lives in the Cave Hill Ward. So I told Cave Hill about him and prayed that we would be able to find him. Literally, the next afternoon Elder Beckstrand and I are park contacting and we were going to walk by these two younger people flirting, but I had a feeling that I needed to talk them. I spoke to him and he said I'm a member of your church. He told us his name. It was him! The one that had disappeared.  We got him to come to the Lorimers' farewell fireside and he had a spiritual witness that the church can help him!! Next one, I was looking for a Romanian family that the last Elders told me about and because we can Skype Romanian missionaries we can teach them now. But the only info we had on them was a street, Landseer Street. I was telling God that we could go and chap on that street but that would be a waste of time because they are all Romanian and we don't speak it and we don't have enough pamphlets to give them. So I told God we need another way. I prayed that we would get led to them. We were GQing last night and we walked past these men in a car wash. I felt so strongly to talk to them. The man we talked to spoke little English so we were giving them a card and 2 others came over and one of them got excited and pointed at the "Mormon" word on the card. He said in broken English "2 came by." We asked where he lived. You'll never guess.... Landseer street. We got their address and now we will see them again and set up Skype.

I know God hears all of our prayers. He may not answer as directly but, like in Enos 1:12 I know that this is true and if you pray in faith it will be given unto you! In the name of Jesus Christ, I testify of this!
Elder Penman

"I Did Raise My Voice That It Did Reach the Heavens" by Walter Rane 

Enos: 1:10-12

And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold,the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.

And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.

The Power of Prayer

We had a good week. With a lot of good stuff. 

    So we went on exchanges with the AP's this week. And Monday afternoon we got told we needed to

Sister and President Donaldson

prepare a training on obedience for the next day. So we took 30 minutes out of our day to make a 30-45 minute training. It ended up being a success. We all got to have our interviews with President Donaldson. I love that man sooooo much. He has the biggest and most amazing presence around him. He taught me a very good thing and told me so many things I can do to prepare me for my life. He is so inspired.

    We are teaching 3 new people. A woman that has a 6 month old child, who is absolutely amazing, a man from, you will never guess, Independence Missouri!!! Cool huh? The last man was taught while I was on exchanges in Coleraine. At church this week we had the born-again minister come. He is awesome! He asks some crazy questions and he believes everything he reads on-line but still, he came to church and enjoyed it.  We have been having so much fun street contacting at the Queens University. We are starting to chalk out the Plan of Salvation right in the middle of the walk way. It was funny because later a religious group came up and was handing out leaflets and people were asking what's that drawing behind and they would get side tracked by the drawing we did. I kind of felt bad.

 

I have been praying for the Spirit to guide my thoughts as I pray and think about what I am going to say. I had an amazing experience happen while we on exchanges. I was saying a prayer to close the exchange and following President Donaldson's example I was going to ask for some help for this missionary.  I opened the prayer and pleaded for the Spirit and thought what I should say. Then I knew I should plead for a blessing upon him and his family. In the prayer, I felt strongly encouraged to pray for someone in his family that has lost their way. So I did as I was told and after the long prayer I looked up and was shocked to see this missionary in tears....It was so surprising. He told me one of his family members was struggling very badly, and the words that the Spirit directed me to say were exactly what he needed at that time.

Praying by the true order of prayer has changed my life. I am able to have a real and actual conversation that means something and uplifts me. It gives me the strength I need when I am down. Through the true order of prayer I have been able to receive a very certain knowledge that I can not deny, that the Savior

Gethsemane by Adam Abram

suffered with blood and sweat, laying face down in the garden of Gethsemane. He did it alone. He suffered so much that when you see it, the only thing you want to do is help but you don't understand how. Revelation is amazing. I can't even put into words what I'm trying to say. But I know that Jesus The Christ suffered in the Garden Of Gethsemane and He bled from every pore. I bear my witness that the atonement is real. There is no doubt in my mind that it happened, I say this in name of Jesus Christ.  

    I love you all so much and miss you! The Scotland/Ireland Mission is the most amazing place to be. I love being a missionary!!

Elder Penman

Jacob 4:6  

Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

Zone Leader's Training Board

Zone Leader's Training Board

Elder Beckstrand at the market

Elder Neideck with unknown lady

Elder Harman

"Mystery" Meat

Elder Beckstrand (E. Penman's companion)