Wow! What another week here in Ireland. We had a great shared adventure with another senior couple, the Evenson's, this week along with a surprise assignment from the mission office and several opportunities to serve. I'm telling you, our mission here in Ireland really is wonderful.
This past week, the weather was very mild, but getting colder day by day. Monday was more of a cloudy day with a slight rainfall only a couple of times. Because the weather was acceptable, Elder and I drove southwest to Tralee to join the Evenson's on a P-day drive down to Dingle. That day was "P"erfect for me. I will always look back on that day with a smile on my face.
After we arrived at the Evenson's house (not a flat like ours, but a real house-jealousy here), we jumped into their car and started driving almost due south to the Dingle peninsula. I had heard of Dingle, but didn't know what was in store for me. We drove for about another hour and landed on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. And if that wasn't enough, we actually drove to a real beach. I was so in my glory. I LOVE beaches. Through the weather was cloudy, I was able to capture some amazing photographs. My friends, let me introduce you to Ventry Beach!
Can you believe this photo!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing through the eye piece.
Wow!!! Can you see the sun rays shining down from the sun?
Here I am. Yes, it was windy and cold. Yes, I ran right down to the water's edge and immediately placed my hand in that cold Atlantic Ocean. I even had to back pedal a couple of times as I was so enthralled with the whole beauty and the overwhelming love of being at a beach again. I am proud to say that I was able to keep my shoes dried
Now that's what I am talking about!! What a photographer's dream
From there we drove around Slea Head, a majestic drive along the coastline filled with lots of surprises. Slea Head is a one way drive where you "should" (notice I said should) drive from the southern end and up and around to the more northern part. Most of the drive is on some very narrow roads up on steep cliffs overlooking the ocean. We did have a couple of cars coming at us in the wrong direction. It only added to the excitement. Yeah, right!!!
Around one of the bends on the narrow roadway, we were able to see the Fahan Beehive Huts, which are old houses built by medieval stonemasons. No one knows for sure when these were built, but maybe from the 8th to the 12th century. They believe hermit monks lived in these homes. At one time, more than 400 of these homes dotted the hillsides of this coastline. No mortar was used in any of these homes. They still stand true to this day due to the meticulous stacking of rings of stone that raised in smaller and smaller circles until enclosed. Incredible!
This home which was a short drive up from the beehive huts was also constructed completely of stones. Notice that even the roof and the chimney are made of stone. Some areas of mortar were seen on a few parts of this home, but most of the home is, again, stacked like the beehive huts. We were so amazed that the roof hadn't caved in yet all these years. I can't image how heavy that roof is, can you?
This is Cashel Murphy, which is a national monument here. This structure, which is another ring of stones was used by possibly by the Druids and is dated back to 3200BC. They believe that both pre-Celtic and Celtic tribes also used this monument.
This is a close up which tells more about the monument
And I don't believe that I have ever seen such a dark furred sheep before in my life, We jokingly agreed that his wool will not need any color dyes.
Driving further, we started to move further away from the very rocky landscape and move towards costal waters, but before we completely left that area two more photos landed on my camera.
This seagull was posing just where I wanted it to pose...in front of the sun's refection on the water. I actually got probably about a foot and a half away before I took this picture or scared it off, whichever came first. It looks like I won!
This statue on the road side had no sign, but was a special surprise to us. It certainly was breathtaking to see this statue right on the coast of Ireland
Next we drove to where the fields were more green and coastal image became more astonishing! I really love this next photo. It has a certain hue about it that makes it seem magical!
I love this photo, especially the wave crashing into the land mass and the misty environment
This sheep was grazing on a hill overlooking the coast line. I have seen a lot of Irish sheep from afar, but not this close. I was very happy to see these scattered around this beautiful area
We also stop at a pottery store. The owner and potter was inside creating a huge vase. He took the time to talk with us about his works and then showed us a display room fulled with all types of pottery. I loved this!
Now for the ultimate coolest part of our drive. The Evenson's talked about stopping at Dunmore Head. I had no clue what they were talking about until we drove up to the Dunmore Head sign, then I thought my heart was going to stop! Ready????
Oh boy!!! What a treat! I was so thrilled to be there. Really. I was then told how parts of the movie, especially the last episode, was filmed there. And when I saw the landscape below, I knew exactly why they chose that place to be in that movie!
For all you Star War fans this should look very familiar. Yeah, I walked down and stood right there on that beach. It was so amazing.
As I turned around, a small waterfall was coming down that cliff edge. It was so beautiful and calming.
Ok. This is crazy! While I was hiking down the hill to get to this beach, these two young men were running up. Then, minutes later, they returned with towels wrapped around their necks. They got down to the beach where I was standing and started to take their shoes and socks off first. Those crazy boys ended up in the freezing Atlantic Ocean with waves crashing all over them. The one young man told me that the "water was more than freezing cold, but it actually felt good!" For some reason, I don't think I believed him.
When we got back in the car and started driving away, in the background I saw Skellig Michael, the mountain where Luke Skywalker was hiding out in the last Star War movie. I could not believe that I was that close to that spot. I would not mind taking a touring boat out to that area someday. It has actually become one of Ireland's busiest tourist spots. We will see!
Skellig Michael
We got home that evening just before our weekly YSA FHE. We had a special lesson by our local missionaries who taught about the restoration of the gospel and showed the video "Ask of God". In between their teaching moments, our YSA, Emma, played primary songs of her violin. By the time she played her last number, we were all crying. It was sweet.
Our wonderful elders with Elder Nelson in between them
Emma playing her violin
On Tuesday, we joined our district missionaries for our weekly training meeting. It was a great meeting, but sad at the end. The next transfers will be announced this Friday (12/9) and possibly some of our district missionaries might be affected by the transfer. It so wonderful to work with and love these young elders and sister and so sad to see them move on to other areas in the mission. I can tell you that each of them have impacted my life!
On Wednesday, Elder and I got the opportunity to check out local storage units for use by the mission office. The only storage unit that the church has here in Ireland is up in Dublin. It would be so helpful to also have one here in Limerick. Well, we not only found one, but we were able to get a discount on the rent and spend over a hour with the manager, Trevor. We seriously talked about his Catholic religion and our church, including the Book of Mormon during our time together. We will be seeing him again and we are planning on giving him a copy.
There is the storage unit building in Limerick. It is very clean and very secure.
Later that day, we joined the English Connect class. It's the funnest class ever. It is so nice to do a great service and really have fun doing it at the same time. After class, we joined the missionaries on a zoom meeting to correlate the current missionary efforts of the Limerick branch. These elders have several friends that they are teaching and have one person on date to be baptized. This meeting is also very good as we can put our heads together to solve any concerns. We also found out that our branch member, Sister Byrne, returned home from a four week stay in the hospital that day. We love her and her husband!
On Thursday, we drove one hour away to help another branch family, the Potts. They are trying to finish their new home and move and clean to officially live there. We went over to clean. Elder cleansed the upstair bathroom flooring to prepare for tile and I vacuum out and cleaned all of her new cabinets. After we were done, we drove another 20 minutes away to visit Brother and Sister Byrne. It was so good to see her at home relaxing!
The Pott's new home in a beautiful scenic countryside
Her new kitchen, now with very clean cupboards!
Earlier this week, the mission office called me again and asked if Elder and I could go and inspect another new flat for incoming missionaries this week. We said, "Of course!" This flat is a seven minute walk away from our flat. When this flat and the other flat in Limerick that we cleaned two weeks ago (and is now ready to occupy) gets the new missionaries inside, we will have 6 young missionaries here along with an awesome senior couple by the last name of the Muirheads! He he!
The newest Limerick missionary flat
We finished off this week with Elder and I joining the young elders to teach David again. I love teaching and testifying. Later Friday night, I taught 1 Nephi chapter 16 in the branch's Book of Mormon class. That chapter is so full of seeing God's hand in the lives of Lehi and family. Last of all on Saturday, Elder and I attended the south Ireland district semi-annual conference. There were several amazing and inspiring talks given and Elder and I even sang in the branch choir that day. We sang "Come Thou Font of Many Blessings". Yay for us!!
Before I end, I thought it might be fun to write information about Irish surnames. This is so fascinating to me. Here we go! These are what people believe here are facts:
Irish surnames are some of Europe’s oldest names. Elizabeth I once banned name O’Neill; a surname that is spelled six different ways on one tombstone here. The queen would be very upset to know that today O’Neill is one of the top ten names still in Ireland.
A male's surname centuries ago generally took the form Ó/Ua (meaning "grandson/descendant of") or Mac/Mc ("son/descendant of") followed by the genitive case of a name, as in Ó Dónaill ("grandson/descendant of Dónall") or Mac Siúrtáin ("son/descendant of Jordan").
In contrast to Mc- and Mac-, found in both Ireland and Scotland, the prefix O' is unique to Ireland. Thus any name beginning with O' is without question an Irish patronymic.
Strictly speaking, there is no difference between Mac and Mc. The contraction from Mac to Mc has occurred more in Ireland than in Scotland, with two out of three Mc surnames originating in Ireland, but two out of three Mac surnames originating in Scotland. McCarthy is the only Mac/Mc name in the Irish top ten surnames, and MacDonald is the only one in the Scottish top ten.
In the 1600s, when English rule intensified, the prefixes O and Mac were widely dropped because it became extremely difficult to find work if you had an Irish sounding name. However, in the 1800s many families began reinstating the O and Mac prefixes. Occasionally, the wrong prefix was adopted, particularly adding an O when the original prefix was Mac. Back in the 1100’s, if property was won under warfare of a new clan, the locals would often change their surname to the name of the new chief for life and liberty.
Curiously, putting back the prefix hardly ever occurred with some surnames. For example, originally Murphy was Ó Murchadha, but that surname now rarely appears with the prefix. Murphy has been the most popular Irish surname for at least a century, with the highest concentration now in Co Wexford. But more Murphys live in Britain than in Ireland, with the highest concentration in Liverpool. There are more than 300,000 Murphys in the US, compared to 55,000 in Ireland.
Irish parents have become much more willing to give their children names that clearly reflect their Irish heritage. There are nine such names in the 2015 top twenty: Conor, Sean, Oisin, Cian, Fionn and Liam for boys; and Aoife, Saoirse and Caoimhe for girls. Half a century ago there were only five such names: Kevin, Declan, Bridget, Deirdre and Eileen.
Here are two examples of surnames here in Limerick, though I could literally show you hundreds!
As I leave my blog again for this week, I want to again bear my testimony. I saw God in my life again this past week. He lives. I asked for forgiveness and I felt peace afterwards. I know that my Savior lives and heard and answered my simple prayer. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I am so very grateful for its eternal teachings. I watch President Nelson give his talk from this last conference entitled, "Overcome the World and Find Rest". He is God's mouthpiece for this very day. And last of all, I want to testify of the great peace and joy I feel daily as I do the work of being like Jesus and serving others. May you be blessed. I'll be back in seven days!
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