Stitches, broken car.........

Hello!

As you could tell from last week, i split my finger open, and had to get
stitches.  Little did i know, that was just the beginning of our problems
for the week.  This should have been the worst week of my mission, but
lucky for me, Heavenly Father is merciful and allows you to forget the bad
times.  I want to start and end my email this week with this thought.

In the span of two days--Monday and Tuesday--I got stitches, our car broke
down, our washing machine leaked, our appointments cancelled, and we
weren't even in our area.  About the car.  On Tuesday we were driving to
our service appointment, and we made a left turn, hit the gas, and tried to
accelerate; pretty normal.  However, when we hit the gas to accelerate the
car made a weird noise, and then made the sound when you rev the engine in
neutral.  We pulled off to the side of the road, and the "Park" gear
wouldn't lock the car.  Luckily the Sister's were coming to do service with
us.  They picked us up and we called the guy in charge of cars.  Long story
short, the tow truck picked it up and took it to the Chevy dealer.  A lot
of Chevy Cruze cars had been recalled for the right axle.  That ended up
being the problem.  The axle snapped in half.  They said that it could take
3 days or 3 weeks to get the part.  On top of that, all our appointments
cancelled for that night.  It was just great!
The Sister's had to get us for district meeting the following day
(Wednesday), which mean we had to give them the miles from us that they
used.  Luckily, the Chevy dealer got us a rental car, but it wasn't going
to be available until the afternoon.  So we went with the Sister's for the
whole day to their various appointments; not the most ideal situation.
Anwyay, we get the car, and to my dismay we find out we now have unlimited
miles!  The world was now our oyster.  This was the best blessing the Lord
could have given us.  Now we could drive wherever-whenever.  Only problem
was it looked like a chic car.  But I'd take a smart car or a bug if it
meant i got unlimited miles.
At this point, the week started to point up.  We were able to see some
people we normally wouldn't (because of miles limitations).
On Friday, we went and Taught our investigator and had a great lesson with her.  We
asked her to invite her daughter, and so she did.  Her daughter came out,
and we taught the whole family--minus her husband--and taught them the
restoration.  She look SO happy.  We invited her daughter to be baptized
and she said yes!
Saturday and Sunday nothing really happened.  Same old same old.
So to refer back to the beginning.  It should have been the worst week, but
the 1 hour we were with our investigator and picked her daughter up as an investigator
made the whole thing worth it!  I would do that every week if it meant i
could find more people to teach.  I can't even imagine Christ's joy for
what he did for us, and then to see us make correct choices, and eventually
return to Heavenly Father.  I'm confident he has never thought twice about
what he had to go through for us, and he would willingly do it again.  Love
ya!  Have a great week!  I love serving the Lord.

Forget Yourself
Elder Birrell

Battle wounds

A bird "pooped" on Austin...luckily it missed his tie!

Austin cut his finger and got 2 stiches

Hello!

My letter today will be a tad short, since my left hand-middle finger is
out of commission.  I cut it on a glass jar this morning, and I'm gonna go
get stitches after emailing.

The beginning of the week was good!  We went and visited a less-active in
the Sister's area who lives in the Ghetto!  Everyone on the street sells
drugs.  We watched like 3 drug deals go down!  Best place to watch poeple
watching.  It was so good.  We taught our investigator and she asked a lot of great
questions.  She still doesn't see her self coming to church, but she wants
to start reading the Book of Mormon!  We had district meeting on Wednesday,
and then i went on an exchange into fairview with the elder's there.  It
was great!  That next morning i went tracting for the first time on my
mission.  I hated it!  I'm glad i don't have to tract on a daily basis all
day long.  It's long, boring, and unfruitful.  No one wants to talk to you!
Thank heavens for members.

On Thursday we went to dinner at a members house, the Townsends.  They're
awesome!  They moved up from the Greensburg area (my last district).  We
had Panera Bread soup and Olive Garden dressing (my kryptonite!).  We
basically had Dating 101 with them.  It was SO funny!  I
am not looking forward to that world.  Too scary and stressful.

On Friday we went to a members house in Erie, and he always cooks some
gourmet food!  We were with the sister's as well.  He made us lobster
salad...

Overall, it was a slow week lesson wise.  But it was super fast!  We have
goals and plans to make this coming week more productive!  We just keep
having things that pop up and eat away our time.  It's amazing how little
time you have on a mission.  Have a great week!  Love ya

Defend the Faith
Elder Birrell