Well, this week went by so fast! I loved it. It's so good to be so busy that before you realize it, it is already Saturday afternoon. What made this week so busy you ask? Well for one, the mission office contacted me late Monday to announce that I would be helping again with flat inspections for the young missionaries in the southern district of Ireland this week. This, along with our other assignments/obligations, really filled in my time.
On Monday, we held another YSA family home evening. That night, I arranged a zoom video with the young sisters in Palmyra, New York, who toured us through the Grandin Building. It was so wonderful to see the inside of that historic and meaningful building and remember times past. Most of the YSAs never even knew what went into to get the Book of Mormon printed almost 200 years ago. Several of them had an eye opening experience.
We have an older single male adult in our branch, who has always refused to join us, but he surprised us and came that night. We are hoping that he will come again. After the zoom meeting ended, it sounded like everyone like the presentation. We, then, asked the YSA representatives to plan the next FHE, including finding others for both prayers and the spiritual thought. They accepted and we are excited to see how well they do. This coming Monday, they have chosen to do another game night. Those are always fun and crazy! They have also elected to do a YSA BBQ on September 24th. More planning will happen this coming week along with a sign-up list to know who will be bringing what.
Every Tuesday morning we have our district missionary training meeting. Some of the young elders and sisters travel up to 2.5 hours one way from all over to attend. That alone really sets a huge example for me. They are so faithful and obedient. Elder Muirhead taught a 5 minute portion of the training again and talked about obedience and keeping the commandments. He, again, did a very good job. It literally took him about 4-5 hours of study to find what he was looking for to give in his 5 minute address. I remember that on that very morning, just minutes before we needed to leave for the meeting, he excitedly announcement he just finally finished and was ready to teach. Nothing like cutting it close, right???
We also have branch presidency correlation meetings every Tuesday night at 7:30 pm. This week was weird, because I was also invited to attend 30 minutes before, the district YSA institute class. I enjoyed both meetings, It was just a little too long for me to sit and watch. We have a very good branch president. President Murphy is very easy to work with and has a great sense of Irish humor. I haven't caught onto all of his jokes, but the rest of the committee laughs and laughs. I'm really trying. It is a little easier to understand most of what is said. since we arrived.
On Wednesday morning, I started doing the first of five flat inspections. I started with our young sisters. They nailed it. Everything was almost perfect. Sister Foy did an amazing job reorganizing and tidying their huge bookcase. I gave them extra brownie points for their efforts. Later that day, I inspected the young elders here in Limerick. Though they weren't as good as the sisters, they did an exceptional job for young men.
The mission office here is very strict and detailed about what flat inspections should look like. Not only are we assigned to inspect all areas of the flat, including all appliances, etc, but I also have a list of about 40 individual items that need inspecting. It takes about 45 minutes to inspect each flat and then another 40 minutes to type up the report and sent it up to Edinburgh. The second from the last flat was not so good this time. I had to give those elders many assignments to complete and then report back by that night. One of the elders living there was packing his bags to go home on Friday, so he had items scattered all over. I think his heart was thinking more about returning home than passing an inspection. Bless his heart!
On Wednesday afternoon, we meet with our single mother friend and spent over one hour discussing ways for her to prepare for the temple. It truly was the highlight of my day!!! Later, we joined our Limerick elders as they taught English Connect to anyone who wants to learn how to speak English. There are many here in Limerick from Brazil and Chile. We have come to realize our importance of attending that class is not only to support, but by using Elder Muirhead's presence, the class can run as scheduled even if only single young females come. Right after this class, the young elders and us joined another zoom meeting for the branch's missionary correlation committee. Our meeting this last Wednesday went longer than expected, but much planning was also accomplished.
I did two more flat inspections on Thursday. I love the relationship that we both have with our district elders and sisters. It is very rewarding to work with the cream of the crop who are so totally devoted to the Lord, Jesus Christ. It truly is a honor to spend time weekly with them. I tried to spend some time working on my lesson for the Friday Book of Mormon class. I did the best that I could that day. We ended our evening by driving out to a branch member's home about 40 minutes away to have dinner and talk afterwards. It was a lovely evening. We drove home in the dark and relied heavily on our GPS to help us navigate on those narrow roads. So many cars here in Ireland drive really fast on those oh so narrow roads. We sometimes feel like we are new, beginning drivers again. Always on alert. No fun!
Friday found us finishing our last flat inspection with the elders from Tralee. After the inspection was completed, I also completed all the paper work involved and then finished final preparations for my weekly Book of Mormon class. That night, our class almost doubled in size. That was cool. We started that night by discussing quickly the major points that led up to the first vision and the Moroni visit in greater detail. Class started late, so I was only able to teach half of what I prepared, which was just fine, because we did have several good discussions throughout the time allotted.
One subject we discussed was the idea of a "throne theophany", what it is and to look closer at the common pattern that has almost always appeared when a theophany occurs in scriptures. Are you aware that many saints from the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon and even the Pearl of Great Price had throne theophanies? What I found interesting is not only the many commonalities that can be found in just about every theophany, but that many times a book was given for that prophet-to-be to read. This all made greater sense as I applied Joseph Smith's and Father Lehi's theophanies into the pattern. I know, I'm weird like that! Cut and paste the info below into a google search if you want to know more. This is a good article.
The Throne-Theophany and Prophetic Commission in 1 Nephi by BT Ostler, BYU Studies
After class, Elder and I went for a walk to start another Friday night date. In my walking travels this past week, I found some food trucks!!!! Yeah, in Ireland!!! I was so excited! One food truck advertised that they sold street tacos. My favorite! Yum, yum!!! Though these little circles of deliciousness were a little pricey (it is very hard to find corn tortillas in Ireland), they were so worth it. The owner from Mexico was cooking that night and made this senior missionary very happy. Afterwards, we both stated that we were a little hungry, so we decided to get a treat. What we didn't know was just about every store, except for the pubs, were closed and locked tight. We did find a fake Seven Eleven and purchased two ice cream treats. As we crossed over the River Shannon bridge, we were also treated with a beautiful light show being reflected off the calm river waters. Seeing that really made the end of our date night special.
On Saturday, we were privilege to feed the young elders lunch. This was special to us because it was also transfer call day and one of our elders, Elder Schneider, got the call up. He will be assigned to Dublin starting Monday as a district leader. We ended our missionary week Saturday night by showing the movie "The Fighting Preacher" to branch members. The missionary leader of the branch has decided that we should have a monthly movie night and I have been asked to get and show the movies. We had 13 in attendance, complete with popcorn and drinks. This movie was never promoted in Ireland, so our branch never saw it before. After the movie finished, those 13 members were so very grateful to have see it and expressed how uplifted and motivated they all felt. I love that movie and the spirit that it brings every time.
Before I close, I thought it might be fun for you to see some of the Irish store fronts here. Some you will not recognize and some you will. Limerick is a very busy city with much to see. I hope you enjoy these few photos
As I close, I was reminded again this week, especially from watching The Fighting Preacher movie, that one person certainly can make a difference in the lives of others. I am so grateful that Elder and I are here, serving these saints at this time. I want these good saints to be able to meet their long awaited goal of becoming a ward/stake to be accomplished. There really isn't anything more important to them. I am so grateful that in daily small ways that Elder and I can help, support and lift. It makes me smile to think that an ordinary Utah couple in their retirement years could be an instrument for God Himself. I invite each of you to also make a difference to someone today. Though I feel so unworthy at times, again I am grateful for the opportunity. I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ. Small miracles happen here daily. Elder and I vow to continue to serve and continue to love. May God bless each of you this coming week!
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