Monday, November 4, 2013

I LOVE Airdrie

Airdrie is pronounced Air-dree.  Me and Elder Davis (one of the zone leaders) took a train to Glasgow, then I took a train with Elder Edwards to Airdrie, it was really fun.  We hopped two different trains but we pretty much went straight there.  Elder Howie is staying in Aberdeen and is the district leader.  I gave him a hug goodbye and I was off.  Elder Edwards is actually normal, he likes to have fun, and he's down to earth. Back home he was really into playing the drums.  He’s been out exactly the same as Elder Howie. So I might be his last companion.  He’s from West Virginia.  He was actually trained in Aberdeen too and he’s been all over.  Airdrie is amazing!!!  The people are nice and the area is fun and I just love it so much and not everything is gray.  It’s like a suburb, that’s why I love it so much. but it has a little bit of a city vibe to it.  There are also a couple castles that I’ve seen so far.  There are rolling green hills on the outside of town. 
We are just really getting everything started so that we can teach people.Church is like a 25-30 minute walk. It’s a ward of about 50 people in just a small nice building.  We walk almost everywhere here 
Pretty much as far as I can tell, most of the UK live in humble circumstances. 
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I would love some thick or thin v neck sweaters. The new dress code says we can have pretty much any color, just not too bright, also if you can get me just a couple of ties, that would be nice, also sun flower seeds and Johnny's seasoning salt, that stuff we use on steaks all the time. Also you know how bad I am at thinking of things to ask for, so surprise me :)
This week has been amazing.  I still need to figure out mail so my weekly letter might be a little late and I forgot my cord to my camera so next week I will post pictures. 
Elder Holbrook told me when I was moving that Aberdeen is just a really hard place and it really molds you and that’s the truth. I know that I’m glad to have learned so much from Aberdeen but this is so much better.
I love my new area! It’s so amazing, I didn’t know you could have fun on your mission!  We are in the nicest flat in the mission and its meant to be a 4 man flat but it’s just us two for now until the lease on the other Elder’s flat is up, but that’s not for 6 months.  It’s a lot closer to Glasgow so things are a little more modern and have kind of more of a London vibe. On p-day today we went to Glasgow and it feels kind of like being in a new area but more like downtown Seattle. Where we are (Airdrie) is a lot more rural and it’s also like four times bigger than Aberdeen and there are a lot more houses and things are more colorful and the people are just a lot nicer.  I'm fired up!
Love, Elder Hanson
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Letter home dated Oct 28 - Nov 3  received in Seattle Nov 14, 2013                               Airdrie
                                                                                                                                                                      Elder Edwards
Dear Family,

October 28
Today was just a day of saying good-bye to some of the ward members.  We had lunch at the Condies and it was really good.  The Condies said they cried when they looked at what I wrote in their testimony book, it's like a year book. I will really miss them and I promised I will see them in Utah when they are done with their mission.  We ended the night also at the Brewster's.  The food was amazing and they showed us pictures of when they lived in Alaska.  Br. Brewster told me to remember to ask after my mission for his son's address that lives in Washington.

October 29
I packed all early in the morning.  It's weird that I can pack all that I own in two suit cases, very heavy but two.  Today we did some little things here and there, got some stuff we needed and finished emailing because we only emailed for a half an hour yesterday and needed to send important information to Elder Howie's parents.  So I just went on the Church website and looked at best ways to help a ward.  Then we went to Jimmy Chung's and it's an all you can eat Chinese place.  Note to self:  Don't eat all you can eat when you have a dinner appointment.  Since it's moves week, everything is crazy but it was good because I got to say good bye to a lot of good people.

October 30
Today we moved to the new flat and the mission office said it's the nicest flat in the mission!  We got here and it is HUGE.  It's weird, I didn't know missionaries could have nice flats and this is really nice.  I met Elder Edwards and he's awesome and actually normal.  The people are really nice here and I was weirded out when people actually said hello to us and we have two neighbors, Mrs. Robinson and Mrs.  Campbell, and they were super sweet and just said, "If you need anything, tell us."  I can already tell I will love this place and the people!

October 31
Today was pretty interesting.  We don''t have food in our flat yet and we were up starving so we went to get cereal because we were thinking what can we live off of.  We also were told to just wait in the flat until people came to give us supplies.  So we had no phone and if we got lost or hurt, we wouldn't know where to go or what to do.  So we just unpacked and got settled in and made a list of what we need.  Like two beds, because last night we only had one and I slept on the floor with a sheet I packed and a pillow. We spent most of the time with the other Elders showing us everything we need to know.  We met the Bishop and I already like him.  He loves missionaries and we helped him put up Halloween decorations for the ward Halloween party tomorrow.  Then we came in at 6:00 because tonight we aren't allowed out later than that unless we can get a ride to places.  Then we just ended the night with games at the flat.

Nov 1
Today was really good, still sleeping on couches until we get our beds.  Today wee started really seriously getting to work and just getting to know the area.  We live only like a 25 minute walk from the other Airdrie Elders and I love them.  Wee hang out with them a lot and tomorrow we all are having a dinner appointment at the Blacks.  Our area is very rural but has kind of a city vibe.  I love it.  Tonight we went to the ward Halloween Party and it was amazing and it was actually really good.  I got to know the ward and they are amazing.

Nov 2
Today was awesome.  The other day we were walking and a woman said, "Jehovah Witnesses?"  And we said, "No, Mormons."  And she said, "Oh right, well I'm in a hurry.  Just visit me around the corner at 9B."  So we went on our way and today we didn't know which 9Bit was so we went to Linglang Crescent Street and both 9Bs had people interesting and invited us in to share a message with them.  Tomorrow we will be going to the last 9B on Linglang to find her.  Today we also had dinner at the Blacks, an awesome family that we got to play uno with to end off a really good night.

Nov 3
Today was really good!  I went to my first ward correlation meeting and it was amazing.  They kept calling us the missionary force and they were so happy to have four missionaries in the ward.  They had us bear our testimonies and introduce ourselves to the ward and we are full of dinner appointments this week.  It's almost like a dream!  They say it's a hard area and they haven't had any baptisms in an entire year.  But that doesn't scare me one bit!  We even raised the baptism goal for next year.  We still need a stronger pool, but the Lord is helping us every second.

1 comment:

  1. So glad you had a good week and that things are going well in your new area! We're praying for you!

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