This week, Elder and I were able to more fully and personally celebrate Holy Week here in Ireland. I love Holy Week. I loved following Christ every day of His final week through scriptures, videos and general conference talks for years. Both President Nelson and Elder Stevenson stated the importance last weekend of our need to not only come to understand better the events of this week in the life of Christ, but to also find additional time for worship at home on "this most important holiday".
One desire that I have had before our mission ends here is to read the Book of Mormon one more time in its entirety. Just by chance, in my current personal reading of the book, I was finishing the Book of Helaman and ready to start 3 Nephi. When Elder Stevenson suggested reading 3 Nephi 11 as part of our Easter celebration, I got excited for 3 reasons. My first excitement was knowing that I had, without knowing, primed myself to DO just that! I also was very excited knowing that I could also supplement my reading of that sweet chapter by watching the church's newly released 3 Nephi videos. But my biggest excitement though was the fact that I had NEVER read 3 Nephi 11 ever personally on an Easter Sunday in commemoration and worship of my personal Savior. This is the year and I can't wait! I know that I will have a very special experience!
To inform you of our doings this past week, I will start on Sunday. Being here in Ireland, we got to watch Sunday morning general conference at 5 pm. That still seems so weird to me. Elder and I were able to sit right next to one of the young missionaries' friend, Colette, from the Congo. I noticed that she agreed with several things spoken during that conference by shaking her head in a positive way, until President Nelson spoke. Wow! She agreed with just about everything he said. That was so cool to have witnessed. In a different room at the church, our new Brazilian friends were also watching Sunday morning conference in Portuguese with Brazilian members on hand. They had even more of a reaction to President Nelson's talk!
They stated afterwards that they immediately fell in love with President Nelson. They not only loved what he said, but they truly felt the spirit touch their hearts more than once! On Monday night for FHE, these 3 new Brazilian friends, 2 branch Brazilian returned missionaries and us were the only ones in attendance. We spent the whole hour talking about how wonderful every general conference is for us members, the great knowledge that is always given and the introspective desire we get to change and become better. They, too, expressed that because of President Nelson's talk, that they want to become better. Very cool!!! Earlier that day, the mission office called us and asked if we would drive up to Galway again (1.5 hours away) and remove a couple of items that were left behind in the old flat that the young sisters had just moved out of. So, off we went. We had a pleasant drive and were able to remove the items as requested and return safely home just in time for FHE.
Driving back from Galway
Tuesday was a busy day as we had 3 zoom meetings to attend throughout that day. Our first zoom meeting was with our district missionaries. Our main decision was using the Preach My Gospel chapter on how to find people. We all were to shared experiences, come up with ideas to improve our approaches and even do some role playing. Elder and I were asked to give the doctrinal message in which we taught about how Jesus only did His Father's will. We also taught what Elder Maxwell stated years ago, “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar". Later that night, we joined with our branch president and other branch leaders to discuss auxiliary needs and then listen as a group to the new church's temple and family history instructional video. Our last zoom meeting was shared with the combined senior couples of the entire mission where we shared experiences of how we have seen God in the details of our lives.
On Wednesday, I enjoyed some time in a nearby park that I had never gone into before. It was only like a 10-12 minute walk away from our flat. It was so nice to just sit and relax while hearing the children laugh. Later, we were scheduled to help the young elders teach lessons to friends and then help in the weekly English Connect class. All of the lessons and the English class were cancelled as no one came for us to teach. It became very apparent that we may not see the 2 Bolivian sisters ever again. My heart is saddened to maybe never see them again, but I pray that God will bless them in His wisdom.
Welcome sign to the People's park.
Beautiful flowers surrounded me everywhere I walked
This group of children was having so much fun. I loved it!
This is a very famous gazebo in Limerick. Why, you might ask? It not only has old school class, but it is actually a working drinking fountain!
I also have had a little extra time in the past 2 weeks where I have been able to complete a task that I wanted to finish last August, but never found the time to even start it. For family and some senior missionaries that served with us in Palmyra, New York 2020, you would remember that before I left to return home from that first mission, that I hand drawn a sketch of the Smith family log home. That sketch sits on my piano at home. I liked the idea of personally drawing a sketch that had meaning to me while serving on a mission. So, at the beginning of this mission, I also wanted to sketch something again. The closest object to sketch near to me here in Limerick that did have meaning to me was King John's castle. Well, I was able to finish my sketch this week and it, too, will sit framed on my piano next to my log home sketch. This is how it turned out.
Sister Muirhead's sketch of King John's castle
As our time here in Ireland is getting less and less by the week, we still wanted to visit another castle that was nearby. The castle we choose was recommended to us by several people. That is a good thing, because there are literally over 3,000 castles here, so to have someone else preview a castle and give it a good report is awesome! The castle we visited is called Kilkenny Castle. This castle has the longest continuous history of occupation in all of Ireland. It was first built by the Normans in 1195 to control the River Nore. The famous Irish military leader, Strongbow, built the first castle there. The castle has been updated with every change of possession since, so today, one can view the medieval section then all the way up to the newest upgrade done in the early 1900s. The castle was eventually sold to the Castle Restoration Committee and remains in their good care ever since. It was a wonderful castle to visit and the small city centre was lovely. Here are some photos
This is Kilkenny castle
Here is a photo of the outside of the castle from inside
This photo is taken through some of the old pieces of window glass still parts of the castle
Another photo taken through the castle medieval windows
When we first entered the castle, we walked through the medieval section first. This photo is the original twig and mud ceiling when it was first built
We also stood in front of several defense windows and saw the view soldiers would have seen from the inside of the fortress turrets. Very cool!
For entertaining, the castle had a "breakfast room" that served as a place to eat their breakfast, but also served as a gathering room for only the women after dinner. When the castle was sold to the restoration committee, this room's beautiful wallpaper had been partially stripped. The committee hired an artist who drew in the missing parts, showing what the decor of the room would have looked like then
This room was used for the formal dining room when guests were invited
This is one of the windows in the dining room and the view outside to the garden area
After touring the main floor, we were escorted up this staircase to the family's living quarters
The castle now displays several large tapestries, which covered the whole wall. The guide said that there was a time when the castle owned hundreds of tapestries like this one. She also said that the tapestries were handmade to the exact dimensions of the wall where they would be placed on to help heat the rooms
These two connecting rooms were both a family room and a study. The rooms were very large and beautifully decorated. The yellow wallpaper is not only stunning, but actually gave more light into these two rooms before electrical lighting was available
All the window decors were totally amazing. Wouldn't you agree?
The furniture in every room is not original, but is of the same time period. Some of the pieces were so very delicate, like this piece
The woman of the house's bedroom
The nursery
This was the last "Great Hall" room that we got to visit while inside the castle. This room had many cool items, especially the ceiling and the many paintings on the walls
Close-up photo of the ceiling detail
A double fireplace
One of several dated benches placed in this great hall
This is a photo of the end of the great hall. The medieval windows were massive and so impressive
After the inside castle tour, we were invited to walk on the beautiful grounds, both in the front of the castle and in the rear of the castle, which we did. I loved this castle. I liked how one could see, not only the very original sections of the castle, but how parts of the castle reflected the many changes that occurred over the years. This castle is also one of only a few Irish castles where you can still see the outside moat. Elder like the castle because he said every room felt warm to him. He is very practical! Let's look at a few more pictures of the castle's outside views
This was the staircase that led us outside. Not too shabby, huh?
The front lawn is about 40 acres. While walking through this portion, I saw children playing soccer and others just enjoying the stroll
A photo of the beautiful gardens in the back
A photo of the back of the building with statues
The beautiful fountain in front of the back of the castle
This is the Kilkenny city centre. It was absolutely adorable. There was a farmer's market in the walkway to the right that day and, yes, the train was also working!
We stopped at one more spot while we were there called St. Mary's Cathedral. This cathedral is fairly new and was built in 1857. In the small city of Kilkenny, it is a most beloved cathedral. An interesting fact about this cathedral is that it only has one bell in the bell tower. The inside of the cathedral was beautiful. Here are a few photos from there
The front of the cathedral
The side of the cathedral and it's bell tower
The inside of the building
The front of the building inside with amazing stone arches
The main altar
The mosaic stone ceiling overhead of the main altar
Well, another castle crossed off our list and only 2 more remaining, but that will be for another day! We did have one more meaningful experience this past week and that was spending time at a dinner appointment Saturday evening with 2 of our favorite branch members, Brother and Sister Byrne from Tipperary. These 2 members are such an example of Christ-like living. It was Sister Byrne months ago that I visited while in the hospital as she was very ill. Sister Byrne has major health problems, but is as happy and hopeful as anyone I know. She is amazing! Brother Byrne is such a wonderful, kind, giving his all, friend. We always love to spend time with them. They, both, are also incredible cooks! Yum, yum!!
Brother and Sister Byrne
In closing this week, I want to again testify of the living reality of my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Studying His life during this Holy Week has given me a greater appreciation of His amazing teaching skills, His great obedience to His Father's will and His never-ending love for all of His Father's children, including me! I can't even begin to express verbally my deepest feelings for Him, but, hopefully, I am showing Him daily how I feel through my obedience to His commandments and to any and all whom I can serve while on earth. Our mission president invited us all months ago to learn of Him better and increase our love and appreciation for Him. I am trying to do this more than ever. In doing so, it has, again, changed my life. I am so very blessed!
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