We travelled to Belfast this week for zone conference on Wednesday. I was worried about navigating our way to the city and then to the stake centre but it went well. We had the Omagh Elders with us but they were not much help as they are fairly new to the area and don't drive. At the conference we met Elder and Sister Angel, a new couple who are serving in Portadown which is in the same district as us. They are converts to the church and it turns out they were taught by Gary Folsom when he was on his mission. Gary grew up in Pincher Creek and Maurene taught him in Primary. A small world! Also, we met Elder Gibb who is from Lethbridge and is the nephew of Max Gibb who lived in Pincher Creek when we were there. We drove him and his companion to the city centre in Belfast when the conference was over on our way home. The Omagh Elders stayed over in Belfast to work with the zone leaders. One day we went down to the library to get some books for Maurene. When we were leaving we noticed an old motorcycle parked outside. We talked to the owner and it was an old, 35 years, military Harley Davidson that he bought and he has not changed it all. It was a pretty cool looking bike! Later that same day, Maurene saw a little car on the street in Omagh that she fell in love with. It was a Ford but I am not sure of the model, I have never seen one like it at home. I am sure it had nothing to do with the color! After finishing at the library we had lunch at a little cafe in the city centre and then decided to take some photos on the church street. There is a street at the top of a hill in the city centre that has four large churches within a block. There was Catholic, Methodist, Church of Ireland and one other we can't remember. It is strange to see four large churches so close together. We got one very nice sunny day this week so we had decided when we got one of those that we would return to the Gortin Glen Forest Park and go on a bit longer hike. So we did that and enjoyed a 3km hike through the forest and also though some boggy peat areas with lots of heather that are on the hills here. We also took a 5 mile drive along this narrow one way road that wound through the forest. It was beautiful but the forest was very quiet, not much animal or bird life. We were invited last week to go to Tom Henry's place after church for dinner this week. Maurene was sick this Sunday so after church I went over to his place for dinner with the Elders and also a missionary who taught and baptized him 10 years ago and was back for a visit. It was a delicious meal but the portions were huge and I was stuffed afterwards. Since we arrived here in Omagh we have not had Internet access in our house. I ordered it the day after we got here but it was going to take two weeks to get all arranged and working. Well, this week the equipment arrived and it was easy to set up and we are very happy to have it. It is important for us to stay in touch with the world and especially to be able to communicate with our family.
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This was the week that we pulled up stakes in Limerick and made the trek north to Omagh in Northern Ireland. It will be a change in assignment also as we will be assigned to the branch in Omagh as an MLS couple. We loaded up the Meriva on Monday morning with all of our stuff. We were quite worried, well I was, that it was not all going to fit. With a lot of prayer and effort, we got everything to fit except for our little Christmas tree. We are hoping it will somehow make it up here before Christmas. We drove to Dublin and met President and Sister Thompson to leave our car with them and take a UK licensed car. So we had to unpack everything and load it all up again. We then drove the last two hours to Omagh, got the keys from the realtor and moved into our little place. It was not as well equipped as we had anticipated, so we did a lot of shopping on Tuesday and have been cleaning all week. To say it was not left clean would be an understatement. But we are excited to be here and look forward to serving in the branch in whatever capacity they need us. They have a nice little chapel here and we have been spending quite a bit of time there. We have to wait until Friday, September 9 to get our Internet service connected so we go to the chapel to use the wifi there to do things like write this blog post. Friday can't come soon enough! We needed to get away from all of the shopping and cleaning for a while so we took a drive a little ways out of town to Gortin Glen Forest Park. It was high up in the hills and we went for a little hike on a trail there and really enjoyed it. We are going to revisit it and do one of the longer hikes next time. We went to the library one day and got library cards so Maurene could check out a few books. The limit was 9 so that is all she could get but she was thrilled that you could keep them for three weeks. We did a little exploring of the city centre while shopping and had a nice lunch at one of the little cafes there. It is going to take me a while to figure out the roads here as they are quite a maze. While we were walking around we came to little memorial park. It was built to remember the people in this city that were killed and injured in the horrible bombing that took place in the 90's. It has a plaque with all of their names and the story of what took place that day. On Sunday we attended Branch Council and then the meetings of the day. The people in the branch were really friendly and we enjoyed the meetings. The branch president didn't have any specific assignments for us, we were hoping that he would. So we will just have to wait and see exactly what he wants us to do. I think we are going to be teaching a YSA Sunday School class and hopefully an Institute class. We just want to be wanted and needed and busy. We are looking forward to our service here. After the hike at the Forest Park we visited the little town of Gortin. They had some beautiful flowers in the square in the town. We will finish off with another "Vive la difference" moment. No real explanation needed.
We were so thrilled on Sunday to have Kailey and Caleb join us here in Limerick for a few days. After a good nights rest we started our adventure with a visit to the Cliffs of Moher. It was the usual very busy summer day but we enjoyed our visit there very much. The weather was fantastic, a sunny day with not very much wind, a perfect day for the cliffs! After the cliffs we drove to Lehinch where we had lunch at a little restaurant in the town and then spent some time walking on the beach. The waves were very high and it looked like they had had a storm there. We then drove down to Spanish Point beach and spent a lot of time looking in the tidal pools. On our way back to Limerick we stopped to explore the Clare Abbey just outside of Ennis. It was a full day but we had great weather and really enjoyed ourselves. The next day we started off at King John's Castle where Kailey helped Maurene pick out gifts for family members to bring home with us when we have completed our mission. When we were finished there we travelled to Craggaunowen. We had a really good visit there and one of the interpreters at one of the villages did a great job talking about what life was like for the ancient Irish who lived in those places. After our walk in the woods we stopped for a lunch of soup and scones in the little house they have turned into a cafe. We then drove out to Askeaton and visited the castle and the Franciscan Friary. From there we travelled across country to Adare and spent most of our time visiting the shops. In the evening we drove up to Lough Gur to visit the ancient stone circle. Caleb really enjoyed this place and it was amazing to think that people 4000 years ago could move rocks that big into place. To finish off the day we picked up kebabs for supper at the Istanbul. They were delicious! We drove Kailey and Caleb to Dublin on Wednesday morning to catch their flight to Glasgow to continue their holiday. It was great to see them and sad to see them leave but we will see them again soon enough. We spent the best part of the next couple of days packing and getting things ready for our move to Omagh next Monday. We had a nice visit with our landlady and her husband on Friday evening. They came over to say goodbye and thank us for being such good tenants. They gave us a nice gift of some Galway crystal and a box of chocolates. They are such nice people and are happy that they church is going to keep renting this house although it will be empty for a while. The Reimers came down to Limerick on Saturday from Galway and took us out for lunch to have a visit and say goodbye. We have enjoyed their friendship and it was nice to have another couple close by to share district meetings with. In the evening the YSA came over for a get together at our place. We played games and ate ice cream sundaes and had a nice time visiting. They put together a nice scrapbook for us with photos and messages from most of them. Both sets of missionaries came over too and it was great to have them there. Both Maurene and I gave talks in Sacrament meeting at church and we took the opportunity to say good bye to the members of the branch. It was difficult to say goodbye, we have made many good friends here especially among the YSA. We are looking forward to our new assignment but it is difficult to leave when we have been in Limerick for almost a year.
Our good friends the Wingets, a senior couple serving in Tralee, lost their car for a couple of weeks due to some drivers licence problems and to make matters worse Elder Winget has a stress fracture in one foot so has trouble walking. So we decided to travel down there one day this week to see if we could lift their spirits, run some errands and say good bye as we will not be seeing them again before they return home in September. We had a great day with them, sharing a meal, traveling to Dingle and enjoying the scenery together and of course playing some marbles. We sure love them and are going to miss seeing them. I hope we lifted their spirits because we sure felt better after having spent the day with them and hope they get their licence issue resolved soon. It has been a busy week of comings and going for the young missionaries here. It was transfer week and we found out on Sunday that Sisters Fechser and Weber were both being transferred to Stornaway and Elder Harker was being transferred to Glasgow. The only one staying was Elder Hoopes. We are sure going to miss all of them and none of them were too excited about leaving. We drove them to the bus depot on Monday to catch the bus to Dublin and then continue their journeys to Scotland. Elder Hoopes had to go to Scotland too as he was picking up a greeny. It was back to the bus depot on Thursday to pick up our two new sisters, Hebbert and Brousseau and also Elder Hoopes and his new companion Elder Walker. We did a lot of driving around with them to get groceries and took them to La Garda for cards. It was a very busy day but we are always happy to be able to help them out. We found out from the mission home this week that our apartment has been leased in Omagh and we will be living at the apartment on Lambrook Drive. It was not our first choice, we liked the other one they found better, but it still looks like a nice place and one we will be comfortable in. We also found out from President Thompson that he wants us to exchange cars in Dublin. He wants us to leave our car there and pick up our new one. So I guess he will have to figure out when he can get the car to Dublin and let us know when we can make the exchange. I hope we can make it before the day we drive to Omagh. It was a long day on Sunday but a good one. I got up at 5:00 am and drove to Dublin to pick up Kailey and Caleb at the airport. They arrived on time and we drove immediately back to Limerick and went to church. They were very tired. We had dinner and then decided to take them to visit a couple of spots in Limerick so they could stay awake. It was a rainy day but we enjoyed ourselves. We visited Mungret Abbey, King John's Castle, St. Mary's Cathedral and walked along the river. After supper they went right to bed as they couldn't stay awake any longer. We are looking forward to the next couple of days with them.
The week started off with news of a big change for us. We received a letter in the mail on Monday morning from President Donaldson informing us that we were being moved from Limerick to Omagh, Northern Ireland and would be serving as an MLS couple in the branch up there. This came out of the blue as we fully expected to complete our mission here in Limerick. We are going to miss the branch and the YSA here in Limerick but are looking forward to our new assignment and in doing something different. Elder Wall and his companion have been looking for an apartment for us up there and have a couple of good possibilities and we will see soon where we will be living. The really nice aspect of the move is that we will have the use of a car to complete our mission. There are other missionaries in Limerick on the move also. We had the young missionaries over to our place Saturday evening for kebabs and move predictions. The kebabs were great but no one predicted all of the moves that would be happening. Both of the sisters are moving to Stornaway on the islands in Scotland and Elder Harker is moving to Glasgow. Elder Hoopes will remain here with a greeny and we will get two new sisters. On Monday we took the sisters on a little excursion to Killaloe. We had never been out there and heard it was nice spot and it certainly was. We explored the little town and had a nice picnic at a beach by the lake. The sisters were thrilled to be able to travel out of Limerick and we had a good day with them. That was not the only trip out to Killaloe this week however. One of our branch members, Brother Kurvink, has been quite sick for a while. So we took the sisters and travelled out to his place to do some cleaning. He was supposed to meet us there but was delayed so we went ahead and did the cleaning and left before he got home. There was a lot to do but the four of us worked hard and we left his place a lot cleaner than when we arrived. It felt good to provide some needed service. Sisters and man in black ready to clean! We didn't realize this but it turns out because of our upcoming move and the visit from Kailey and Caleb that we are expecting soon, our district meeting this past week was our last one here in Limerick. We have enjoyed the district meetings and getting to learn with the young missionaries and especially support them in their work and provide a nice lunch for everyone. We will miss these get togethers and especially having the opportunity to meet with the Reimers on a regular basis. Sisters Weber and Fechser, Elders Crawley and Gunderson, Elder and Sister Reimers, Elders Harker and Hoopes Since this next week is moves week we did the apartment inspections and decided on who would get the coveted Mr. Clean award. We had no idea that the young missionaries would embrace this fun award so much. Both of their apartments were excellent! They were clean and well organized and looked great! The Elders also worked on what they called their "presentation". They had scriptures on display in their living room, Tabernacle Choir music playing softly in the background, all of their food in their kitchen cupboards was neatly organized and nothing in their bedroom closets was out of place. Everything in there was folded and organized and lined up. So we gave a Mr. Clean award to the Elders and a Sister Clean award to the Sisters and gave the trophy to the Elders for presentation. This sure makes inspections fun! We are looking forward to seeing Kailey and Caleb soon and will start to get ready for our move to Omagh. We will be busy for the next couple of weeks!
We spent a great three days this week at the London Temple. The branch had arranged a temple trip for this week so we decided a while ago that we would attend. It has been quite a while since we were able to attend the temple so we were really looking forward to it. Five other members of branch attended. We flew over to Gatwick airport on Wednesday evening on Ryanair and took a taxi from the airport to the temple. They have an accommodation centre at the temple where patrons can stay while at the temple since many come from a long distance to be there. The England London South mission home is also on the temple grounds. Our room was small but comfortable. In the accommodation centre there is a large well equipped kitchen for those who wish to cook their meals and also a large lounge. Maurene brought lots of family names that we could do temple work for with us and we got a lot done in the three days we were able to spend there. There was a cafeteria in the temple that was open for lunch so we were able to eat there and spend the entire day working in the temple. One evening, we walked to a Thai restaurant that was about a ten minute walk for supper and it was delicious, well worth the walk. Of course, the temple grounds were beautiful. We spent time out there in the evening strolling around and sitting on the benches relaxing. We thought that the temple would be busier than it was but the sessions were small even on Saturday. The temple site was located almost directly under the flight path of planes landing at the Gatwick Airport. This made it a little noisy at night since planes were landing evening two minutes or so at the busy airport. We travelled back to Limerick on Saturday evening again via Ryanair. There is nothing fancy about their service, but for a short haul it is fine and their fares if you book in advance are very inexpensive. Below is a photo of a large statue in the Shannon airport that we took after our arrival. They love rugby here! Early this week I got a surprise in the mail. There was a package to pick up and I had no idea what it would be. It turned out to be a great care package from the pipe band in Lethbridge. I sure miss playing the pipes and I especially miss the members of the band, we have shared a lot of good times together.
We had a great week with a visit from Corey and Jay as part of their trip to Ireland, Scotland and England. It was so great to see them and be able to spend a few days with them showing them some of the sites here in Ireland. I travelled to Dublin on Tuesday morning to pick them up from the airport. We drove back to Limerick right away and since they were hungry stopped on the way at Obama Plaza for some breakfast. We got to Limerick and had some lunch and then we spent the afternoon walking around the old part of Limerick and visiting King John’s castle. We had a good time there. We drove out to Bunratty castle after that and then picked up some fish and chips at Luigi’s on the way home for supper. It was great! They headed to bed at 7:30 pm as they were exhausted. On Wednesday morning, Corey and I started off with a run around the neighbourhood. After breakfast, we drove up to the Cliffs of Moher. On the way we stopped at the Clare Abbey for a visit. I think the cliffs were the highlight of their time in Ireland as they both really enjoyed them. They got a little too close to the edge for Maurene! We got a beautiful day which really helps out there. It was the first time we had been there in the summer and it was incredibly busy. Just finding a parking spot was a challenge. After visiting the cliffs we drove to Lahinch for some lunch at a beachside restaurant owned by a Canadian, and a walk on the beach. Corey went wading in the Atlantic but that was enough as the water was very cold. We also drove a little further down the coast and visited Spanish Point. Thursday we went with Corey and Jay down to County Tipperary to the town of Cashel and visited the Rock of Cashel and the Hore Monastery. We had a really good time it was a great looking castle. We had a guided tour and then had time to visit it and the monastery. We went into the little town for a kebab lunch, it was really good. We had supper here tonight and played a game of hearts, I lost of course. Sadly, on Friday we had to drive them back to Dublin to catch their flight to Glasgow for the next part of their adventure. It was so great to see them for a few days but difficult to say goodbye. After dropping them off at the airport we visited a Church of Ireland genealogy library and also the National Library for Maurene to do some research. While downtown we paid a visit to the National Museum and saw some interesting archeological artifacts. We had another family visit on Sunday afternoon! My sister Joan is here in Ireland on a tour for a week and was spending Sunday evening here in Limerick. So we were able to go out to Bunratty for a short visit. She is off to Scotland for a two week visit when her tour is over. Just to finish off, Corey and Jay have sent some photos from Scotland including a photo of the school that Dad attended in Glasgow and the church that he and his family attended in Mosspark. It was great that they got to visit those spots. It has been an exciting and exhausting week for us. So great to see family!
We had district meeting as usual this past week but with both the zone leaders and President and Sister Thompson in attendance. I was asked by our district leader, Elder Hoopes, to give a presentation on setting goals which went well. Afterward President and Sister Thompson met with the young missionaries for an hour or so while we cleaned up from lunch. We would have liked to meet with them for a few minutes but they were in a big hurry to leave. We took the opportunity to do some more cleaning over at the chapel this week. The equipment room in the cultural hall was a mess so we got it all cleaned and organized and we got rid of some junk that had been accumulating there. We also straightened out the library again and Maurene did one of the hall cupboards that is shared by the Relief Society and the Young Womens. After finishing there, we took a short ride out to Adare, which is our favourite little village close to Limerick. We just walked around and did some window shopping and had supper at a sidewalk cafe. This week was the Dublin YSA Convention held at Glendalough. It is a very popular national park about one hour south of Dublin. The convention was held at the International Youth hostel there which was a good facility for an event like this. There were over 100 YSA in attendance which was a record for Ireland. They came from all over Ireland, Scotland, England and even Germany. We drove up on Friday afternoon and gave two of our YSA, Roi and Azariah, a ride up there with us. We saw some beautiful scenery as we got closer to Glendalough. We arrived a little early so we went for a walk and visited an old monastery close to the hostel. It was very interesting and had some very cool structures as well as a large cemetery. There was a good program for the weekend of the convention with a good mix of organized activities and some free time for them to mingle and get to know each other. The entire weekend was organized by the YSA committee in Dublin and they did a great job. They put a lot of work into it and it showed. We supported in any way we could which for the most part meant a lot of time helping prepare meals in the kitchen and cleaning up after the meals. There were three great activities held on Saturday. In the morning the YSA put together kits for refugees as a service project. In the afternoon there was horse back riding, kayaking and hikes. In the evening on Saturday there was a Hawaiian themed dance. Both Maurene and I went on hikes, different ones, and they were both long but beautiful. Things wrapped up on Sunday with our church meetings and lunch and then we went out to the green area behind the hostel for a group photo which was taken by the Stake President using his drone. While we were visiting afterward the group of YSA from Scotland sang Flower of Scotland together and then asked me to join them for a group photo. Then it was clean everything up, say our goodbyes and travel back to Limerick. Needless to say we were very tired but it was a very worthwhile activity. Oh, and on the way home we passed through Hollywood so took a photo of the Hollywood sign on the hill.
I had a couple of opportunities for service this week on Saturday. I volunteered to help out at the Parkrun on Saturday morning and I ended up running the stop watch to time the runners as they came across the finish line. There was a light drizzle all morning but had a good time with the other volunteers and it is nice to take a turn helping out to keep the run viable. After I was finished there I drove over to the Hogan's place. They are a young couple in our branch that were moving to a new place. The young Elders and a couple of other men from the ward were there and we had all of their things moved in not much time at all. Again it was nice to be able to help out. We live near the main hospital here in Limerick and across the street from the hospital is the ambulance centre. Vive la difference! They have two kinds of ambulances here, one that is called Intermediate Care and the other Emergency. The former is used for transfers, taking people to appointments who need transportation etc. and the later is for, well, emergencies. The service seems to operate independently and having the Intermediate Care ambulances frees up the other ones so they are available if there is a true emergency. Maurene and I went out for a walk this week one evening and I took some photos of the facilities. We took a short drive out to Craggaunowen this week to see the historic park out there. It is located between Limerick and Galway. The forest park consists of a number of structures and villages that represent the way people lived in Ireland in the past. It was a beautiful peaceful place and we really enjoyed our visit. There was a little gift shop and cafe at the entrance where we had some soup and a scone after our visit. It was a very interesting place. It makes you thankful you don't have to live in those primitive conditions but also amazes you about how inventive they were to create ways to get things done. When we were arriving we noticed some animals that looked like goats. We were told they were sheep and they didn't need to be sheared, the wool just comes off them when it gets long. The entrance was a cute little cottage. The first stop in the park was the castle that was built around 1550. It was very high and you got a good view of the area from the top. There was a park worker in the castle who was spinning wool from their sheep and did weavings. The next stop was the Crannog. This was a small man made island that people lived on for protection. They built small round thatched houses that were pretty dark inside. There was a worker there that was dying wool in a pot over an open peat fire. The next thing we saw was the Iron Age Road which dates back many years and was found in a bog. Would have been a pretty bumpy ride! We next visited the Brendan, which was a ship built in 1976 and sailed from Ireland to the west coast of North America. The were trying to recreate the voyage made by St. Brendan the navigator in the 6th century. It was made of oak tanned hides. We finished off our visit with a walk in the woods where we encountered some wild boars and then some soup and a scone at the little cafe at the gates. It was a great afternoon. We decided to drive a different way back to Limerick down some back roads and came across a little town called Quin. It is Maurene's favourite little Irish village so far, next to Adare. We took some time to walk around and also visit the ruins of a the local monastery.
This past week was moves week. Besides sending two of our local Elders home this week, we also found out that the zone leaders are going to be moved from Limerick to Cork. So Elder Taylor brought us the key for their apartment over on Sunday evening. We went over there a couple of times this week to clean out the fridge etc. and do a little cleaning. For the time being it is going to be left empty. On Friday we walked over to the Haxhiaj's to water their flowers and pick raspberries and to our surprise they have returned home from their holiday to Albania. We enjoyed going over to their place and working in their yard and looking after it for them. They are such a nice family and would be a real asset to the branch if they joined the church. They brought us some nice gifts from Albania for helping out with their yard. We certainly didn't expect that but it was good of them. We travelled to Tralee on Sunday to attend church and have a visit with the Wingets and the two YSA young women who live there. The church services went well and Maurene was kept busy playing the piano and helping in the Primary. We spent the afternoon visiting with the Wingets at their place and playing a game they called Marbles which was a lot fun. In the evening we went with them and the young Elders to the home of President Knight for dinner. We had a great visit with him and his family and a very delicious meal. On the way home we travelled some back roads that we had not been down before but found our way home despite not having our Satnav that gave up the ghost. We had an opportunity this week to have a visit with Yuan, a convert to the church who was baptized a few months ago. We used to visit with her regularly with the Elders but have not seen her for a while, she doesn't come to church any more. We had a good visit with her and encouraged her to come out to church but didn't get a very positive response. The Elders are starting English classes at the church which interests her and we will continue to visit with her. One thing that they grow well here in Ireland is flowers, all kinds of them. They have flower boxes and planters all over the city and there are lots of flower beds in the parks here. We sure enjoy all of the beauty and colour they add to the surroundings We try to help out the young missionaries as much as we can with the upkeep and maintenance of their apartments. The Sisters needed a new toilet seat so I went to the local hardware and bought a new one and we went over to their apartment to install it for them. These small tasks that we can do help them to focus on what they have been called to do here on their mission. Our new district leader here in Limerick is Elder Hoopes and he got a new companion this week. We were happy to learn that his new companion, Elder Harker, is from Raymond. Always good to have another Canadian in the district! I went over to the Mungret cemetery and completed taking the photos of the headstones for the Billion Graves project. It was nice to get that completed and also started doing the transcribing of the information on the headstones on the Billion Graves website. It was a good week, we'll just finish off with some random photos.
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AuthorThis is the blog of Elder Tom and Sister Maurene Wilson of our mission to the Scotland/Ireland Mission. Archives
October 2016
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