Merry Christmas!

 HALLELUJAH!

on a Silent Night

It Came upon the Midnight Clear

a Joy to the World

as Away in a Manger

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

saying Angels We Have Heard on High

and testifying Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

so Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful

Come and see, come and stay...

and I will give you rest

HALLELUJAH!!!

Merry Christmas!

with love from

Sister Muirhead 

Off The Grid!

      To start my blog this week, I'd like to explain that our wi-fi stopped working very early Tuesday morning. I have only experienced this concern one other time in my life and I remember that it wasn't very fun. I hate to say that I need modern technology, especially being as old as I am and remembering what life used to be like decades ago without it, but it's true, I need it! Through this tragic experience, I have also become more aware of the more important things in my life that I now yearn for, especially my family. my home and my comfort. I also can testify of the great blessing it is to NOT have to use modern technology to talk to God and pray for divine help. I'll be forever grateful that Father's plan is available at all times for all people, whether they are on the grid or not!

     The weather this week has dipped pretty low here. The local people are complaining and stating that they haven't seen low temperatures like this, this early in a very long time. They wonder if this is the start of a long, cold winter. Today it is very sunny, but it is also close to freezing. I guess time will tell! So we just bundle up anytime we go outside.

I had to take my hat off so you could tell that it was me! Can you tell that I am also smiling?

     On Sunday, our branch welcomed a new branch president, President Kelly. He will do this branch a great job! He called as counselors an America and a Brazilian. With the melting pot of the population of this branch, I love that he called priesthood holders that will be able to connect with all members in their language. We also had one of our local missionaries need to leave by train on Sunday to go to Scotland to serve. We were asked to take he and his companion to the train station that afternoon and then go back later that evening to pick up Elder Hardy and his new companion, Elder Petrovay.

Elder Petrovay on the left and Elder Hardy on the right

    

     As I walked into the chapel last Sunday, my relief society president, Sister Jackson, came running up to me. I saw the stress on her face and asked her what I could do to help. She asked me if I had read the lesson for the day, which I relied yes. Then she asked me if I would be willing to teach the lesson in one hour. I told her yes, trusting that God would help me again. I re-read the lesson quickly through twice and one hour later found myself standing at the front of the room teaching a small class of sisters.

     On Monday, we did our usual P-day items, like shopping and cleaning. By early evening we were preparing for the next YSA FHE game night. We played a game that we had never played before called "Seek". It is a trivia game that uses questions from all the scriptures. We elected to focus only on the Book of Mormon questions. Elder Muirhead was elected to be the reader of the questions and the rest of us separated into two opposing groups: the missionaries VS the young women who were present. By the end of the game, we were all surprised to have the young women beat out the elders. We girls all thought that was a great accomplishment!

     On Tuesday, we spent most of the day trying to get the internet to come back. We started and restarted it many times, moved the router all over our flat, called the elders for help and finally ended up calling the mission office and their internet specialist. When it appeared that our internet would stay down, we went over to a close-by grocery store and jumped on their internet to let family know of our predicament. 

     Wednesday found us doing more personal study time most of the day. Without the internet and another Book of Mormon class coming up this week, I am trying to use the few resources that are available to me. I know that the Book of Mormon promotes the Spirit and I have no doubt that all who come that night will be enlightened and inspired. Wednesday night, we went to the weekly English class with the missionaries. One of our YSAs told us that she had overheard that Elder Hardy's birthday was this week. We decided to throw him a small surprise party after class, but only we were the ones that were surprised!!! Elder Hardy's birthday will be in two more weeks! We all laughed and then ate the birthday cake bought just for him.

It didn't take long for this cake to disappear!!!

     Earlier this week we found out from the mission office that the flat where our young missionaries have been using for years is having the lease end, so these missionaries will have to move by the end of this month. They elected to take the flat furthest away from the city, which is only a 15 minute drive, because they have a car that they use. All the other missionaries in this area have to take trains, buses or walk. These missionaries are also very excited to move. They went over with us weeks ago to help do the final cleanup of the flat. They are also excited because they will be the first to occupy their brand new flat. For us, it looks like we will be helping them move and clean until the work is done.

     I was able to get into the chapel Thursday afternoon to use the church's Wi-Fi. It was so nice to be able to manage my online accounts and reach out to family. I spent about one hour doing that and then our missionaries joined us. They had scheduled a teaching opportunity with a friend named Bred (pronounced bread) from Honduras. He is here learning English, but is still very limited with his English speaking abilities. The elders invited us to stay and support them. We love these opportunities. He was taught the plan of salvation. It was cool because the missionaries taught the best they could in limited Spanish. The spirit was definitely felt.

The plan of salvation in Spanish on the white board

     Early Friday morning, we went back to the church to help set up the chapel for a branch member's funeral. Our new branch president met us at the church and stated, in seeing us waiting in the parking lot ready and able to support, that we were "a God sent" to him. We were able to vacuum the whole chapel area before we helped him set up the needed chairs. 

Our Limerick chapel. We have the largest chapel in our district. Some branches rent building space to meet their needs

     After completing that assignment, we found a quiet room and zoomed into our weekly district training meeting with our district that has grown since this past week. Our district got a new zone leader, a new district leader, one new young male missionary, two new female missionaries and a new area to teach in called Slego (up north). Pretty exciting!!! After our zoom meeting with our district, we attended the funeral for Brother Vaughn. Our branch president asked us afterwards to stay and stack all the chairs back as he left to the dedicate Richard's gravesite.

Here is Elder Muirhead stacking chapel chairs as asked.

     As Elder and I and the world of Ireland gets closer to Christmas, I thought that I would spend a little time telling you what I am seeing here. There are so many people out shopping here, just like home. I have seen both old and young carrying many bags and wrapped gift every where I go. What I don't see are any Christmas store items with reference to Jesus Christ. I see lots of angels, Santas, Christmas trees and all the rest, but no Jesus. I am so glad that I am here to light the world! Here are a few Christmas photos.

I have made all of our YSAs a Christmas present. They will get them next week at our FHE Christmas party

I also constructed this construction paper Christmas tree! It's not perfect, but it will do for this year

Every empty walking space outside in the city centre has been transformed into tiny Christmas booths. This is a candy store that has been getting lots of business. The Europeans sure like their candies!

     On Saturday, our branch had a lovely Christmas party. There was singing, a Christmas nativity that the youth put on for us and lots of treats. They even set up a beautiful Christmas tree. That made my heart so happy. Everyone who attended felt the spirit of Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season! After the party, Elder and I went out to eat at an Irish restaurant called Sambros. It's a take-off of Smash Burgers at home. These burgers have been the best that we have tried here since coming. After that, we attended our Christmas gift to each other and went to the University of Limerick to see "Peter Pan", the play. I am a big fan of Peter Pan ever since my childhood. At this date in time, I'll probably also be a fan!

The Limerick branch youth and their version of the birth of Christ. After they read their short part of the part, they each, individually told the audience why Jesus's birth was important to them. Wow!!What a great way to take their learning of this amazing event to the next level.

After the nativity play, many of the branch joined in Christmas games. Boy, the youth of this branch are so competitive!!

Elder and I at Sambros waiting for our food

This restaurant is the only one of it's kind in this part of Ireland. The place was packed. This is their version of a "real" American burger and they almost fooled us. After our first bite, we realized that they snuck in an Irish piece of ham right smack dab in the middle of the sandwich. Oh boy!

This was the front stage screen that the audience saw before the play started. Being one of the oldest living experts on Peter Pan still on the earth today, this plan was not what I had imaged it to be. Even though I didn't like it as much as I had hoped to, the mass of children in the audience certainly did. It was so good to hear the children interacting with the stage characters and laughing so hard.

     I thought for this nest week"s newest exposure to Ireland and its customs, that I would blog a little about the foods and labeling that are used here. To tell you the truth, Elder and I still struggle with the limited food choices and cleaners that we have available for us here. We both feel that most of the foods here just don't taste right to us. Yes, their organic vegetables (the only choice here) and their cheeses and ice creams are good, but most of the other foods are just so different. Their fruits are also very good, but once again, they are organic and spoil very quickly.Where is Costco and Walmart when you need it, right???????

     We have accepted that Europe is definitely not America and we have found some foods that we don't mind eating. The problem is that we are basically eating the same foods every week. We also don't like the water here. It taste like sea water and smells to me. We have recently purchased a filtered pitcher that has made a big difference. Enough complaining! Let's get to the meat of this blog portion! (That's a pun...food....meat. Ok, not one of my best joking moments!) (I get that!)

Here is laundry soup. There are several different names for this product. It was this bottle shape that allowed me to find laundry soup in the store for our use. It makes sense, only different

This is liquid detergent for doing dishes. If the bottle wasn't in the same shape as in the states, I would need longer to be sure. The product label makes sense, but still not what I am used to.

Here is what they call Special Flakes. They are not telling the truth!

Now this is special! Yum, yum!!!

I hate these.  People here love them. Yuck, mushy peas. Even the thought makes me shudder!

I could not find this product for months because I didn't know what I was looking for.  It's in a box form and I know it now!

This is a real treat for Elder Muirhead. Fresh, organic Irish cream! Two swallows has it completely gone!

They package their jello in pre-made packaging that is a bar of jello and you just have to cut it up in cubes. I'm not a fan!

Their custard here comes in a hard to open box. Elder has tried it. He said that it tasted different to him, but he finished it off in less than 3 minutes!

Let me tell you how much the Irish love their potatoes, especially fries that they call chips. This is an early morning delivery of "Frytastic chipping potatoes". This pallet was filled with these bags that came as high as just under my chin. Check this next photo out...

This huge, very, very long truck is the transportation across southern Ireland of these chipping supplies. It is literally the longest truck on Irish roads!

You can't even get a simple box of pizza here without a large serving of fries included. Crazy!! More ketchup please!!!!!!

     As I come to the close of this blog, I want to focus on the birth of my friend, my Savior and my Redeemer, even Jesus Christ. Oh how love the Christmas season. I love the story of His birth, the knowledge of His condescension and His perfect love. I love to find the many ways during this season to cheer up the sad, serve with my whole heart or simply just smile at another. I LOVE the feelings my heart feels as I do these small acts of kindness. May we all take the time to be more like Him and bring the Light of Christ to all we meet.

 

     Here is a wonderful rendering of Joy to the World by the Tabernacle Choir performed in 2006. Copy this link and paste it into the YouTube search bar. Hit the search button and open the 2006 performance. Boy, if this doesn't bring the Christmas spirit into your heart, I don't know what can! ENJOY!

https://youtu.be/DLT9dSt8cwg

     

Another Trip to Dublin for Zone Conference

      This week started for us with our Sunday morning session of district conference. The conference was amazing, just like the ones in our beloved Provo Grandview East Stake. One of the speakers told the story behind the hymn that has been sung by the Tabernacle Choir, "It Is Well With My Soul", by Horatio Spafford. I had heard this story many years ago, but had forgotten about it. Hearing it again brought me great comfort and hope. I love this hymn. It is so calming and majestic to me. I thought that I would include this article that I found in this blog for we truly all need comfort and hope. The hymn can be found sung by the Tabernacle Choir on the YouTube link below, if you would like to hear it. You will need to copy and paste the link in the YouTube's search bar:

https://youtu.be/Eg5O2y1UXw4

"Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) was a successful lawyer and real estate investor in Chicago. He and his wife, Anna, had one son and four daughters and lived a life of philanthropy and service in their church, until 1871 that is. In that year they lost their four-year-old son to scarlet fever and a few months later the great Chicago fire wiped out the majority of their property holdings. They made it through the next two years until, in 1873, tragedy struck again. The Spaffords had planned to visit Europe as a family, but business kept Horatio behind. On the voyage, the ship that Anna and their four daughters were traveling on struck another vessel and sank rapidly. Only Anna survived; she sent a hauntingly brief telegram to Horatio bearing the words “Saved alone.” 

One can only imagine Spafford’s grief upon receiving the news. It must have been paralyzing. But on his own voyage to meet Anna as his ship neared the place where his daughters had drowned he was inspired to write the lyrics for hymn “It is Well with My Soul.” Unlike many heartbreak songs, it focuses less on what what was lost and more on where hope can be found. No doubt Spafford was shattered by the loss of his daughters, but his heart turned to the faithfulness of God in the midst of loss and the work of Jesus to rescue sinners. The hymn does not diminish or gloss over pain and tragedy but rather proclaims that God is present in them and greater than them."

Horatio Spafford

That story is so inspiring to me. I love it!

     Early Monday morning found us leaving our flat to drive up to Dublin for another zone conference. This zone conference was to be extra special because our area seventy, President Boom, would officiate. We arrived to Dublin just before lunch time and joined the Evenson's for lunch and a trip to the Ireland National Museum of Archeology. Our lunch was amazing! Probable the BEST lunch ever in Ireland. We found a food shop in Dublin called Mr Burrito Dublin. Oh yeah, baby!! No kidding...this was heaven! I got the pulled chicken burrito and elder got three tacos. You can bet that I am already looking forward to going to Dublin again to serve the Lord and to eat a burrito!

My new food best friend!

     After lunch, we went to the museum. All the national museums of Ireland in Dublin are free to the public. Ireland has 4 national museums in Dublin, but Dublin actually has more than 40 museums scattered within the city, most of them having a small admission fee. This museum was interesting to elder and I because it houses seven exhibits and many of the real "treasures" that have been found in Ireland extending over centuries of time. Here are photos of some of the items we saw there:

This is the entrance to the National Ireland Museum of Archeology

This is the huge rotunda inside looking up

These primevial tools from 3,000 years ago where found here in Ireland

This is a partially preserved longboat found in a bog in Lough Lurgan and did measure 50 feet in length during it's use, This longboat dates to the Early Bronze Age and is carved out one enormous solid oak trunk

Early Bronze Age pottery

This is the real deal! This presumed staff topper came from Newgrange, where I had that unbelievable spiritual experience months ago. This is truly one of Ireland's treasures!!

Every door that we walked through to get to another exhibit looked like this! Very ornate and beautiful

This beautiful staircase was how we got up to the second floor

This is a real Celtic ax. Pretty cool stuff, huh!

When elder and I went to Lough Gur, they displayed a replica of this in their visitor centre. This one is the original which was found under the ground by two boys using sickles. This treasure dates from 1200-800 BC. Lough Gur is home to Ireland's oldest and largest stone circle

This is called a dord, an Irish horn, dating back to 1,000 BC

This fine gold necklace is what's called the Coggalbeg hoard. It was made in Ireland and dates back to 2300-2000 BC

I loved this treasure! This is a kingly robe made from animal furs from centuries ago. It was found in one of Ireland's bogs. If you haven't heard about these historic bogs, they have preserved for us to perfection anything buried in them, including humans!

This medieval shoe came out of a bog. It is so well preserved

I love these kilts pins. I have been trying to found an antique one while I am here, but they are hard to find

Do you all remember Brian Boru? He was the high king of Ireland in 1002 AD and owned the famous iconic Irish harp that I pictured months ago. This is a case he owned which they think he had either treasures or a book inside for safe keeping

This piece of pottery is outstanding, not only because of its shape, but also that it still shows the original paint from almost a thousand years ago

The last room we visited was the Egyptian exhibit. I LOVE everything Egyptian. This room was very cool for me! This photo shows Egyptian writing on stone

An Egyptian face mask and collar. It blows my mind that I can stand in front of articles like this that were in existence thousands of years ago

This museum had several sarcophagi. It was great to stand in front of one again. Many years ago I was privilege to go to Egypt and see many of its wonders! That trip was one of my best life experiences ever!

     As we left the parking garage to go to our hotel, I couldn't pay for my parking ticket. It just wouldn't take my credit card. Elder Muirhead noticed that another car had just passed through the gate next to the one we were at and so he decided to go to that gate. Unfortunately, he totally misjudged the curb and we ended up with a flat tire. It was the same tire that we had just got replaced only months ago. We had to change the wheel to the spare and hoped and prayed that we would make it back safely to the hotel 30 minutes away. We did!!! Hallelujah!

Here is my elder doing his thing. I am so happy that he knows so much about cars, especially tires (Ha ha)

One of the Christmas decorated buildings along the River Liffey in downtown Dublin. Very beautiful!

     After arriving to the hotel and getting a late dinner (wasn't part of the plan), we headed to bed to get prepared for our zone conference. Our mission president, President McCrudden, was so excited to show off his amazing missionaries to President Boom. He even wanted his senior couples to provide a special luncheon that day, so all of the missionaries got showcased. 

     President Boom told a personal story while he was teaching us that proved to be a great miracle in his life. He said that right after being sustained as an area seventy, that he was asked to attend several training sessions by his priesthood leaders. He had only attended one of the trainings when he received a phone call with an assignment. He was asked if he would be willing to go as an area seventy to an East Germany Stake to preach and testify even though he wasn't fully trained yet. He immediately said "yes". After he hung up the phone, he became very troubled and told his wife and family what was just asked of him. He told us that his troubling problem was that he never really learned how to speak German. "I took a little German in school, but didn't like it and dropped the class", he said. For the next few weeks, his family gathered around him to help him take a crash course. He still felt so unprepared.

     As time got closer to his assignment, he needed more help than what he was already doing for himself. He stated that he really didn't want to use a translator, as the power of his testimony and teachings would be lost in translation. So he went to the Lord. He said that he prayed and fasted many times up to the day of the event. When it was his turn to speak, a miracle happened. He testified that as he stood at the pulpit, that he alone by himself, was able to give his talk in German! He then gave us a powerful lesson on faith, prayer and fasting. He ended his teaching by quoting Ether 12:6, "for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith". Very powerful!  Here are a few pictures from the conference.

Area Seventy President Boom, his wife and us. The mission president made me the official photographer and with that comes special privileges!

Feeding a large crowd like this takes a lot of planning and coordinating. It's such a great feeling when everyone is happy afterwards!

Our official Irish December 2022 mission photo taken by me and the timer on my phone

Sister McCrudden made sure that President Boom knew that each and everyone of us were President McCrudden's shining stars!!

     After we returned back to our flat, we still had a busy week. With transfers happening again this week, I was assigned to do two flat inspections for both Galway and Limerick and the accompanying paperwork.  In Limerick, for the Christmas season, the city sets up a nearby park with an indoor ice skating rink, concession stands, a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel. Elder and I strolled over there after lunch to see it. The following are photos of our adventure.

The indoor ice skating rink

Some mime performers

Elder and I by the merry-go-round

     On Wednesday night, we joined the missionaries in the weekly English Connect class. That night we had 9 people, including the missionaries, in attendance. Three of the newer attendees stated that they would like to come to church on Sunday. It is always wonderful to hear that commitment.

     

     On Thursday morning, I went out to see the huge fog display outside. Everyday now, it gets a little more colder than the day before. The fog was so thick that you literally could not see anything.  Look at the photograph that I was able to take a little later when the sun popped out!

     

Isn't that stunning???

     Later, we asked the young elders to go with us to the new missionary flat, just across the river from us, to help us move furniture around. Because we all had several items that we needed to take up to the flat, Elder Muirhead dropped us off nearby while he went to park the car. The young elders and I went right to work and were able to move the one bed into a different bedroom, along with tables, chairs and nightstands. During the 20 minutes we were moving furniture, I kept running down the stairs to let Elder Muirhead inside the secured unit. Every time I went down, Elder Muirhead was no where in sight.

     When I went back up the second time to where the elders were, I asked them to call Elder Muirhead to find out where he was. Elder Muirhead never answered the phone and, once again, was not found down by the secured door. The young missionaries and I decided to go outside and walk around the nearby blocks to find him. After walking for 30 minutes and not finding him, I decided that he must have gone back to our flat, so the three of us started walking back there. After another seven or so minutes went by, Elder Hardy got a phone from a strange number. It was Elder Muirhead calling using a stranger's phone. We quickly turned around and found Elder Muirhead on a nearby street corner. What a blessing. He was missing for over an hour.

     When we met up with him, he explained that his phone would not dial out. He looked for and asked strangers if he could make an emergency phone call and did so until someone was finally kind enough to offer their phone to him. During the time he was missing, we thought that maybe he had a hard time just finding a parking space for the car or found something interesting to look at. I have to admit that I was anxious to find him to say the least. We felt so blessed that the Lord, again, protected and helped us that morning. Later in the day we went out one hour away to help the Pott's family again, who are still cleaning their new house while trying to move in. We also spent time with Sister Smirnoff, who wanted us to review a college paper she had just finished and needed to submit. We hardly had to help her as she did a really great job on her own.

     On Friday, we meet with our friend, David, whom we have been helping the young elders teach the gospel to. Just as a reminder, David is very well versed in the Bible and has been to many churches in his quest for truth. A couple of weeks ago,  after a great lesson, I thought that we had David coming closer unto to Christ. This week, he had a harder time accepting the Great Apostasy. He continues to accept invitations to learn more, so we all feel good that he is still interested. By Friday night, I was found teaching another Book of Mormon class. Here is a picture of us with David.

Elder, David and me

     Early Saturday morning, a hard frost covered Limerick. With the fog still thick and the weather being damp and windy, even the sidewalks were slick. I was amazed to see how heavy the frost gets here. I'm sure that I haven't seen the worst of it yet. No blade of grass, no car windshield, not even spider webs were spared. Check this next photo out.

I don't think I have ever seen this thick of frost before. The strands on this spider web were as thick as baby yarn and what a beautiful natural design!

     After lunch on Saturday, Elder and I went back over to both of the new flats to finish getting them prepared for occupancy this coming week. At the newest flat, we emptied the vacuum cleaner, set up the smoke/CO2 detector, put away new dishes, a slow cooker and some baking pans and then we made the beds, assuring all looked nice. We then drove over to the other new flat across town. We placed a new slow cooker there, along with baking pans and a new smoke/CO2 detector. We also took away unwanted items and then boxed them up for storage. I will have two more items to complete on Monday and then, I think those jobs will be completed. 

     I continue to be so blessed while serving here. The hand of the Lord is seen so often to us and many of our prayers are answered immediately! I'm so grateful for these many wonderful experiences that will forever be mine and will always be held sacred in my heart. I AM a daughter of God, He knows and loves me and I still have so much more to do for Him. Because of Him, I am better today than ever before, changing everyday. He lives! I love Him! Until next week, God be with each of you!

Love,

Sister Muirhead