On July 7, 2022, we safely landed at the Dublin, Ireland airport. Finally after Elder waited 57 years for this moment. We were so excited! We were met by 4 young elders who helped us outside of the airport with our luggage and directed us to our van driver, Victor, who drove us 2 1/2 hours south to Limerick. Victor had the most marvelous Irish accent. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him talk to us. When we got to Limerick, he dropped us off at our new address: 20 Rose Hill, O'Callaghan Strand, Limerick, Ireland V94 R1VF, which is a closed gated community. When we entered inside, we found a cozy Irish flat with a living room, a kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. We are still learning how to work everything, but we are safe and happy here.
We have had a few hiccups like we haven't gotten our new SIM card for Elders phone yet, so we can"t make any calls in Ireland and we can't open the locked community gate as that lock is phone activated. It also sounds like the vehicle might have a possible brake problem, so we have been doing a lot of walking the last 4 days. We live right next to the River Shannon (the longest river in Ireland) and very close the Limerick's main attraction, King John's castle. We are also a 10 minute or so walking distance to several shopping areas. The fridge in our flat could not be any smaller, so we have already made several trips picking up fresh groceries, which brings to mind that our freezer is not working yet. Oh well, all is good.
Let me tell you that I have never seen so many shades of green in the natural scenes of any area like I have seen here! All the new friends we have been meeting thank us for bringing them "well-needed sunshine". They say that they have not had a nice summer yet, due to unheard of constant rain storms. We kindly tell them "you are welcome!" Tomorrow the forecast saids 77 degrees. under cloudy conditions, but, hey, no rain!
As I said earlier, Limerick's main attraction, King John's castle is about a 15 minute walk from our flat for us. I have seen it several times from afar and can't wait to go inside. Most of you know that I can be impatient at times, so not be able to go there yet and be inside its massive walls is just killing me. I assure all of you that I WILL be going there soon and I can't wait.
Yesterday, our new branch had a BBQ that we were invited to. We met many wonderful branch members, each strong saints who have strong testimonies. I love hearing their accents. Some of them I can hardly understand. It will come, I know. Our branch president is President Murphy, a wonderful president who already is on fire and wants the very best for his members. He told us that they are getting close to having the first Limerick Stake announced in the church, that he has three young men preparing to serve future missions and one young sister who is very close to putting her mission papers in. He also told us that the branch has not had any senior couples for many, many years. He personally asked me to love the Young Women of the branch and "bring them along." We also were the main speakers in church this morning.
We are both anxious to love, serve and invite. I can already see that we will have many, many opportunities to do exactly that. My prayer is that God will bless us in all we will stand in need of, that we will listen and obey and that we will open our mouths and bear fervent testimonies of Him whom we represent, bringing all unto Christ and His covenant path. We love and miss you all!!!
Great message and love the pictures! You two are going to be so amazing as missionaries in Ireland!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you arrived safely and have such a great flat! Loved your message. You are going to be so good for that branch! ❤
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