Travels to Waterford Part 2

      After mission transfer calls were extended last Saturday, we learned that Elder Hardy, who has been in Limerick for just over seven months, will be going to Paisley, Scotland, a suburb of Glasgow. Elder Hardy has been so wonderful to Elder and I. He was always there for us if we ever needed him. In return, we have always tried to be there for him and his several companions when the tables were turned. We will miss him greatly, but he has been very well prepared to do more in a busier part of the Scotland/Ireland Mission. We will always hold a special part in our hearts for him.

     So this week was, in reality, the slowest week we have ever had since coming here. With Elder Petrovey and his new companion (Elder Jakko from Finland) not in town this week, we have also been put on hold. So we have no assigned lessons for any of our friends and no English class assistance. We did take the opportunity to get a few extra items done while the elders were gone and I, personally, have been catching up on my scripture reading. I am reading the New Testament with Come Follow Me, Jesus the Christ, to supplement my NT learning and I have just started to speed read the Book of Mormon one more time, hoping to finish it again before we return home. But before I blog on Waterford part 2, let me tell you what we were able to accomplish this week. 

     On Monday, we prepared for YSA FHE. The church's general authorities are starting to transition into an updated YSA program starting the first of this year. If you haven't heard, the old senior missionary callings to work with YSA groups has now come to an end. Those currently out serving in this capacity are now ask to serve as Member Leader Support couples. We currently had a senior YSA couple serving in Cork, who now are learning how to support both members and leaders in their assigned area. With this past week being a busy week for many of our Limerick YSAs, our Monday night FHE was cancelled, but will resume this coming week and, by then, our Limerick elders will be back in town.

     On Tuesday, we were able to take our church loaned car into the tire shop to have new tires put on. If you will remember, just before Christmas, four young sisters were in a car accident due to slick roads.  Immediately after that, the mission office advised all car using missionaries to have better tires put on each car in the mission. We had to wait for our tires to be ordered in and then find the time to have the tires put on. As I have said before, I am so grateful to know that our safety is of the utmost importance to not only our mission president, but also to the brethren. 

Our new tires to help keep us safe

     While we were out getting the tires put on, we passed by the only Eastern European grocery store in Limerick that our friend, Sister Smirnoff from Lithuania, said we needed to go to. Well, with the store in the same neighborhood as the tire store, we made it a point to stop by. Wow!!! Now I know what it must be like for many to be in a different country with a different language. I couldn't read a thing!!! Sometimes, I couldn't even tell what the food product was. I literally had never ever seen in my life what the Eastern European's people have used as food products. I know Sister Smirnoff would get a laugh of my innocense. Here are pictures of what I am talking about:

These are bottled mushrooms, though, at first, I was afraid to find out what it was

Real RYE bread. Elder and I love a warm, good rye bread sandwich

Pretzels!!! Yay! That was the easiest one

Macaroni noodles...curly, too!

I have no clue!

Apple juice! Not too bad of a guess, right?

Everyone's favorite, ice cream!

Vitamin C tabs

I'm guessing almond milk?

For sure... sunflower seeds

The store front

     It was a very interesting event. Elder Muirhead purchased a couple of small items to try out and on his way out, he also found an item that he really likes.....a newspaper. These next couple photos just make me laugh. After he sampled his Eastern European treats at home, he put on his glasses and opened up the newspaper from I have no clue where it came from. He actually studied several of the articles for quite some time as though he knew exactly what the written word said. Only Elder Muirhead would do something like that!!!

Elder trying to read even one word from this foreign newspaper

I looked over his shoulder once at it and said, "Good luck!"

     On Wednesday, we stayed inside, keeping warm while we read. I read 20 chapters in the New Testament, one long chapter in Jesus the Christ and 5 chapters of the Book of Mormon. We also spent a little time checking out news from Utah and surrounding areas. It was very enjoyable. On Thursday, we participated on a district training zoom meeting with the Waterford elders and the sisters from Galway and Sligo. We had another great training session and discussed the importance of being obedient. We feel so blessed to hobnob with all of these young elders and sisters. They truly are amazing!

       By Thursday afternoon, we found ourselves going major grocery shopping. I'm pretty sure that  we bought enough groceries to last us for days, which is always the plan. I will be making us Barley Casserole and Chicken Supreme, a favorite Sunday meal when our children were younger.  The rest of Thursday evening was spent on allowing me to study the next two chapters in 2 Nephi, which I will teach tomorrow night. On Friday, I studied most of the day in preparation of the class. I was able to take in a beautiful walk after lunch. We had a bright, sunny day for only a few hours. It was nice to take advantage of it.

On my walk, I felt like I was given a small taste of Irish Spring (not the soap!). I loved it!

     On Saturday, we got a call for help from Sister Smirnoff. She had received a school assignment that she could not figure out what it was asking for. Elder and I went over to her flat and helped her for a couple of hours. While we were there, she fed us lunch. She offered me to taste test a fish liver, which she said was one of her favorite things to eat. She also told me that fish livers, especially from the Atlantic Way, are very healthy to eat. Yeah, I gave it a try. It was interesting to say the least. Once we got back to our flat, I ran out to get one more item for Sunday and this is what I saw in the sky!!

Yeah...no kidding! How many sunsets like this do you EVER get to see? I love the refection of that sky on the river below. This photo I will definitely keep!

     And now...what you all been waiting for...Waterford part 2! As you will remember from my last blog that Waterford was the first area in Ireland discovered and used by the Vikings in the 9th century. It was taken over by Anglo-Norman invaders in the 12th century and was one of the most important Old English centers in medieval Ireland, So before we left Waterford that day, we decided to go to one of their museums which was right across the street from the glass factory, The museum we chose was the Medieval Waterford Museum. This museum is filled with treasures from the Waterford area and its history, The museum also contains several treasures that can only be found in Waterford. We were very excited to be there. Here are some photos taken while we were there.

The museum was well organized and had beautiful displays

As you walked into the museum and read about Waterford's history, this awesome large 3-D map of the city as it looked hundreds of years ago caught your eye.

Here is a signage from 1593 in Gaelic/Irish about Waterford

This medieval chalice dates back to the 13th century

This medieval hat certainly shows its age as it should!

This is a deed established by one of the medieval kings of England. I love the detailed artwork and the amazing hand written calligraphy

Medieval money

A medieval ring found in the Waterford area

And an Irish gold pin. I just love to look at these, especially when they are centuries old!

     As we rounded the corner, we came into another display area that held even more Irish treasures. The next beautiful treasure we walked up to was the indescribable Great Charter Roll 0f 1373. This was a legal document created by the Anglo-Norman people and it shows the power of the English kings in Ireland through the medieval period. The roll is hand created and colored with medieval paint colors that are still vibrant. It was so amazing to stand in front of this treasure and reflect on its beauty and history. It is truly amazing that something like this still exists today!!!! Believe it or not, this roll is 46 feet long and mostly intact!  

These are only two of the many panels that makes up the 46 foot Great Charter Roll. Look at those colors!!

One of the English kings who once ruled over Ireland

     The museum trail then led us into a darkened room where, under glass, we were able to view the Great Parchment Book of Waterford. This book contains the history of Waterford from 1356-1649 and was the first use of the English language for official records in Ireland. This book contains over 200 pages of vellum and displays many of the various scripts used in practice during the late fifteenth to the mid seventeenth centuries. It also contains several French and Latin entries, which makes this book very unique. Even Queen Elizabeth I has several entries in this book!

The complete book under glass

A close-up of one of the pages. Notice the beautiful hand writing

     We were really wowed by those last two displays. If that was all there was, we were certainly blessed to have viewed what we had already seen, but there was one more. Let me give you a short history on the last display that was offered. Waterford is also the city where Christ Church Cathedral can be found. This church has its origins back to the Vikings in the ten century. This cathedral's true name is "The Cathedral of the Holy and Undivided Trinity". Today this cathedral is of the Church of Ireland, but this cathedral also welcomes all members of all faiths. 

     Before 1577, Christ Church was used by the Roman Catholics in Waterford. During the late medieval period, while the church was used by the Roman Catholics, beautiful benediction copes and high mass vestments were a part of their liturgical practice. This set of vestments or sacred clothings were made of the finest fabrics from Italy and included Flemish artistic mastery of embroidery. In 1649, Oliver Cromwell took siege of the city and before the cathedral fell into his hands, several priests hid the sacred vestments in a secret vault inside the cathedral that no one was able to find for 124 years! In fact, the vestments were not discovered until 1773, when the old medieval cathedral was demolished due to raped deterioration of the building itself. Specialist now agree that these vestments were made between 1460-1480. Here is what they look like on display today....543 years later!!!

I literally could NOT believe what I was even looking at!

Seriously, look at the workmanship, look at the fabric, and look at the colors. It truly brought tears to my eyes...so very, very special 

This is the only set of pre-reformation High Mass vestments in all of Europe to survive! Speechless, totally speechless!

     What a day that was for us. Like so many other days basking in the glorious treasures of Ireland, this day will also be held in my memory and in my heart forever. I want to close again by bearing my testimony of the existence of my beloved Friend, Savior and Redeemer, even the Christ! He does live! This I know! Humans then and humans now still seek Him. How grateful I am that I have found Him!  Until next week, God bless you all!