Itchy Owie Bug Bites

Hello everyone! It's been a grand week here in Derry!

We've been teaching a some people this week. I think in all, we had four lessons. One was with a guy who we had to pass to the Coleraine elders, because he lives in their area, another was a man in his 20s called Nathan. The Sisters in Lisburn had his number, and he responded to an invitation to church saying he was living in Derry, but would be interested in checking it out. They gave us his number, and we set up an appointment for Tuesday. He asked loads of questions, all leading to the message of the Restoration, so we pretty much taught that whole lesson. He has a Catholic background, but fell away from it in his late teens. Recently he's been wanting to get back into the "religious scene." He met some missionaries and was curious about us, so there you go! He seemed pretty enthusiastic about everything we told him, and accepted the commitment to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it! He was out of town during the weekend, but we'll be seeing him tomorrow!

We also saw Patrick for the first time since before Christmas, he hasn't been coming to church since he got back from Dublin, and has said how he wants to start coming again, but didn't show up yesterday. :( He finally met Sister Cox and got along really well with her! We're supposed to be meeting with him later this week, so hopefully we can get in contact with him!

Annnd Anthony, our recent convert. He's been MIA since Sister Peterson left. He kept on ducking out of church and appointments, but we were finally able to meet with him a few days ago. He had used the excuse that he was sick and getting ready for exams, but we found out the REAL reason when we met with him. He's reverted back to some bad habits, and has just felt pretty down and "too naughty to come to church." We had a nice long chat with him, and got him to commit to doing a couple things to help. We also had a little miracle. I've always heard people say that one time, when they were really needing an answer, they opened the Book of Mormon to a random page, read a random verse, and it had some powerful message, just for them. Well, I've tried that a few times, and I haven't really seen it work yet! But with Anthony, he took my copy and told me to stick a card between two random pages. I did, he opened it to that page, picked a random verse, and began reading it aloud. I got chills and teared up a bit as he read. It was completely meant for him. INCREDIBLE. God is real, the Spirit is real, and miracles are real! Anyway, he came to church yesterday, and we're seeing him tonight and then later this week.

Sister Cox has been waking up each morning with tons of bits all over her body. It's settling down now, but she's been pretty miserable. We don't really know where they're coming from, and have called the mission office and other people trying to figure it out, but yeah, they seem to be going away. One night, I gave her a makeover! She had some makeup tucked away in her suitcase (she doesn't do makeup) and I did her face up. Then I decided to go all out and gave her a rockin mustache. She looked GREAT!

I think that's about it for this week. We were outside in the streets a lot and visited some members.

I love you all and miss you! Have a lovely week!

Sister Syphus X

Some sweet older ladies in the ward, Lavinia and Wilma! They're the best!

The rest... you're welcome.