Our Last Full Week As Missionaries for the Scotland/Ireland Mission!

      Wow!!!! Believe it or not, this was our last full week as Member Leader Support missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Scotland/Ireland Mission. What a wonderful, amazing journey this has been for me. I will forever be grateful for all the many Christ-like opportunities I have had while serving here, for the continued path for my better growth and refinement and for the faithful, lovely eternal friends that I have now have here. It has been a very successful time in my life.

     This last week was just as packed with much to do as all the other weeks were! On Monday, we had an all zone P-day. All the young elders and sisters gathered here in Limerick to share food, their experiences and their hopes and desires for their area of the vineyard. Elder and I were called upon to transport companionships and be available to assist in any way. While the missionaries were together that afternoon, the mission office contacted me and assign me to complete 4 flat inspections and 3 vehicle inspections  before we leave. See what I am talking about having the rest of our days busy here!!! Like Nephi, I will go and do! By that evening, the missionaries had invited many YSA over to the church to watch President Oaks and his wife give the World-Wide YSA Devotional. It was great to see so many in attendance. The Limerick branch even got a new YSA from Provo, Utah! Her name is Ellie, she will be here for at least one year and she is awesome.

     The Limerick branch relief society president, Sister Jackson, invited the sister missionaries and us over to her home to share a lasagna dinner, which also included her friend and branch member, Phillip O'Rourke. The six of us had a wonderful time, which also included the sister missionaries leaving them with a spiritual thought. I totally fell in love with Sister Jackson right from the start when we first came here. Though she is only 4 foot 9 inches tall, she is DYNAMITE!!! If you need something done, she will not only do it immediately to perfection, but will also do it with a smile. She will be greatly missed in my heart! 

Our group photograph!

     On Tuesday, our entire zone (the 2 districts) all gathered again, this time including the senior couples, and had a district counsel meeting together. This meeting for our personal Cork district had a recent miracle. This is a great story!!!! One of our newest elders, Elder Eyre (the tall curly redheaded elder in the picture below) had a dream when he first came to Waterford, his assigned area 6 weeks ago. He told my district about his dream 5 weeks ago when we gathered the first time in Cork. In his dream, Elder Eyre said that he was to meet an older man whose name would be Brian. He also said that Brian would reject the elders at first, but would then want to learn from them and would accept the gospel. Pretty cool dream, right??? Every week since then, we have all inquired if those Waterford elders had found Brian yet. The answer was always, "no!"

     Today, as we counseled together about our friends, Elder Eyre announced that late last week, while on exchanges with one of the Assistants to the President, that Elder Fromgren addressed an older man, who, after seeing the elders name tags, immediately shouted that he was already a Mormon! This caught the 2 elders by surprise, for neither one of the elders had ever seen this older gentleman before. As they questioned the man why he answered how he answered, the man stated that he had joined the church years ago, but stopped going to church. The elders then asked him if he would like to have the elders give him some lessons and the older man agreed. The elders asked him his name and he responded "Brian!" Elder Eyre thought that he was going to pass out when he heard that! Elder Eyre still can't believe that he dream is coming true! Brian also gave the elders his phone number. The elders reported on that day that they have called him twice, without Brian responding. Could this really be the Brian in Elder Eyre's dream and is this also the rejection? I don't know about you, but I can't wait to heard how it all ends!

Our entire zone!! Elder Eyre is the tall redheaded one in the back row

     On Wednesday, Elder and I spent some time cleaning our flat and making sure that we cleaned out all of our garbage. Wednesday nights here is when we take our "bins", as they are called here, out to the front of our complex for an early Thursday morning pick-up. Because this will be our last bin pick-up, we wanted to make sure that most of our unwantables would be removed tonight. Have I told you that we have 4 bins assigned to us to mange every week? One large bin is for our general garbage, another large bin is for our recycled stuffed, a smaller bin is for our organic garbage that always needs to be put in a bio-degradable bags and the last very small bin is for all our emptied, cleaned glass containers. One week, the general and organic bins would be picked up and the next week, the recycled and glass bin would go out. Ireland can enforce large fines if you are caught not following their pretty strict disposal instructions. I was finally able to make contact with the mission office about our assigned inspections coming up. The office are allowing us to make arrangements so that Elder and I can get ours done earlier next week as we don't have as much time as the other senior couples will have to complete them. 

Our four garbage bins

Washing the windows

     On Wednesday afternoon,  we had our last missionary lesson with Suzann. She has certainly become a dear friend to me. On the past Saturday, Suzann attended the Galway baptism service. We were all interested in hearing what she felt about it. She could only describe it as "different". That wasn't quite the answer I was hoping for. After talking to her about why we baptize by immersion, we moved into telling her more about the restoration. By the end of the lesson, the sisters asked her if they could teach her next week at her home and she agreed! For that I am very excited! After her lesson, Elder and I helped some of our branch members decorate the gym for the big branch dance coming up this Friday night. Later, Wednesday evening, we joined the sister missionaries to help them teach the English Connect class one more time. I have really loved that class. It is so helpful to so many and is entertaining at the same time. It is also a great way to build relationships and trust! I am so grateful that the church has that program to share and introduce new friends to the gospel.

     On Thursday, we had back to back zoom meetings, one for the upcoming flat and vehicle inspections  and a quick branch missionary correlation meeting. Afterwards, I cleaned all of the four bins inside and out and I also cleaned the inside of the oven. By Thursday evening, we drove the elders and ourselves out to Gemma Graham's home for our last dinner appointment here in Ireland. I love Gemma. She made us a mixed meat stew that was served over rice. It was very good. 

     

My very clean oven! I should get a star for that effort!

Gemma's mixed meat stew. Yum, yum

Our neighbor, John's, blooming roses

A beautiful afternoon for a family jaunt around the neighborhood

     We started out early Friday morning by going back over to Gemma's home and we helped her clean up her front yard. A day or two ago, Gemma trimmed her front hedges making them even all the way across. It was such a chore for her that she left the clippings on her lawn. That's where Elder and I came in! We raked the clippings into piles and then put all the clippings either in her bin or in bags for easy removal. It was a pleasant hour spending time with her and allowing us another opportunity while here in Limerick to serve a friend in need! 

Another yard looking good!

We filled this bin right to the top

     After an early dinner, Elder and I went to our chapel to help the missionary correlation team complete the final preparations for the branch dance that would start at 7:30 pm. We are hoping that we will get a good turnout. We had been told by several branch members that there hasn't been a branch dance in "they can't remember how long!" Well, tonight is the night and our small branch is the place!

     That night, we had just over 30 people attend. It looked like everyone had a great time. The DJ played some good music. There were fast songs and some slow songs. Many of the older couples danced as desired and the YSAs and the teenage girls danced almost every song. Elder and I danced one slow dance together. That was nice. We have only danced several times in our almost 50 years of marriage. I'll take every dance from him that I can get! The snacks were also great; in a wide variety and plenty of them. To keep mission rules, Elder and I earlier to be in our flat on time.

The snack tables. There were 2 tables of them!

The DJ's set-up. He had great music and a fun light show

Branch members stepping to the beat

Isabella dancing a slow dance with her dad! So sweet. This moment reminded me of my favorite photo of my dad...

and I dancing together when I was 3 or 4. I love this picture so much!!!

This is a fun photo of Isabella rocking" out!!

    The next morning, Saturday, we were up early to get ready for a very special meeting in Dublin. We had the opportunity to help drive the senior couple serving in Tralee, our good friends, The Evenson's. It was very nice to have lots of chatting in the car while we were driving. The momentous meeting was an very special devotional with a very special person.....Elder and Sister Quentin L. Cook, an Apostle of the Lord!

Yep! How exciting!!! This was one of the most important devotional in Ireland in recent years!

     So we had known that Elder Cook was coming to Dublin (and not Edinburgh as is typically done) for several weeks. Bishop Causee, Elder Carl Cook and Elder Boom were also coming at the same time. About one week ago, President McCrudden called an all mission zoom meeting and explained to us that assignments needed to be changed and that possibly only Elder Carl Cook of the Seventy would come. We  were all still very excited! We were also told that all the Ireland missionaries would have a special devotional that afternoon, while all the ward and branch members would attend an evening devotional. The attendance for both devotionals was more than anyone would have expected. They even put together a wonderful youth choir for the evening session to sing for Elder Cook.

     After arriving to Dublin, all the Ireland assigned missionaries, both young and old, gathered behind 10 empty chairs sitting outside of the stake center for a professional photograph with Elder and Sister Cook. President McCrudden asked me to re-arrange the group for the picture perfect shot, which I felt honored to do for him. Within minutes, a large black limo pulled up into the driveway and, to our surprise, Elder and Sister Quentin Cook stepped out of the car! What an amazing moment of unspeakable joy that was felt in my heart. Words can't do any justice!

Sitting placement before the meeting

Elder Cook basically bounced out of the limo to wave to us missionaries! We all loved that!

He just kept coming closer and closer to our group of missionaries assigned in Ireland. His huge smile told each of us how much he loved and appreciated us for serving the Lord

After the group photo was taken, President McCrudden escorted Elder and Sister Cook into the chapel

Elder Cook and his wife literally shook every missionary's hand that day. This photo is so tender to me. My sweetheart shaking hands with an apostle of the Lord! It doesn't get cooler than that!

     Elder Cook and his sweet wife, Mary, gave wonderful messages in their devotional addresses. I will close this blog with some thoughts from Elder Cook. We also heard from our wonderful mission leaders and several of the area seventy leaders from the Europe North Area. Here are a few highlight of what some of these leaders stated. "The gospel is ALL worth it!" "You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apples in the seeds". "There is safety in following the prophet".  Sister Cook loves music and had all of us missionaries sing to her one of her favorite songs, "Hark All Ye Nations". In her address, she told us that the more we are like Jesus Christ, the more we will have the Holy Ghost. She also said that when we experience times of disappointment, to remember that the Savior knows all of our successes! Never give up. I loved that. As we drove back to Limerick, we were able to listen to Elder and Sister Cook give their evening adult devotional. It finished our evening off in a special way.

     On Sunday, May 28, I finished my last 2 chapters in the Book of Mormon! I made a goal to read the book again in its entirety before I left Ireland. After, as I prayed again to know of its truthfulness, the spirit filled my heart with his sweet tender fillings that can never be denied. It is true! Once we arrived at church, Elder and I sat up front on the stand to give our final sacrament talks. We were given the topic earlier that week of how to receive personal revelation. We were also given only 5-7 minutes to talk on this subject and then bare our final testimony. Ok! This can be a problem for 2 obvious reasons. One reason is that it is very hard to lecture on receiving personal revelation in only 5 minutes! Are you kidding me?? Those 5 minutes barely skim the surface of that subject. Secondly, how can you even expect me (ME!!!), after giving my heart and soul to the work, bare my final witness to my beloved branch members in only 2 minutes? Well, I did what they asked, but I could have given so much more. I guess I will just have to save that for another day. 

My favorite book of all time!

     After the intermediate hymn, we were both surprised to hear our 2nd counselor in our branch presidency take the time to not only acknowledge many of the services we preformed while there, but to express the branch's deepest gratitude for all of our love and efforts. That was very humbling to me. I certainly did all that I did because I loved each and every member of that branch with all my heart. It was never an effort to serve them. It truly was true joy! The last sacrament speaker today, a district High Councilman, also stood up and acknowledged from the district our efforts and also expressed their love and gratitude. After the meeting ended, our good branch president also approached us and personally thanked me for "a job well done"! Now that did cause the tears to start flowing and it didn't stop as we were met by branch member after branch member, who, too, not only thanked us, but hugged us and kissed my cheek over and over again. Wow!!!

     Before I end this blog, I thought that some of you might like to know that we will leave Limerick this Wednesday after being released as full-time missionaries. We have planned to travel a few days in Birmingham, England and then a few more days in Edinburgh, Scotland. Our due date for our Salt Lake City arrival is June 8th, into the loving arms of our precious family. In saying that, my blog will also extend 2 more weeks, which will include our travels. We ask for your prayers starting this coming Wednesday until we arrive home safely. Thank you for helping us in that matter!

     In closing, here is a short summary of Elder Cook's address to us missionaries. He started by having us read along with him the purpose of being a missionary as found in Preach My Gospel. It reads that we are to invite other to come unto Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We were ask to tell everyone that we meet this very purpose and then invite them to church. He talked of how so many in the world have lost their faith and that we are the Lord's emissaries to help gather and bring them all home. It was so powerful! He expanded on several other points that he brought up, which helped shed more light for us.

     As he closed his talk, he told us of his very personal and private testimony of the Savior. I hope one day that I, too, can say the exact words he used! It was so incredible. He asked us not to repeat what he said to us, but allowed us to express the feelings we felt. My heart was full. He also gave us an Apostolic blessing from the pulpit. He said in time, that we would come to understand that this mission would bless not only each of our own personal lives, but that it would bless everyone that we love, including our future generations. He said that even our children's children will have opportunities to teach their posterity of our testimonies gained while serving here in Ireland. This was such a tender moment for me! How I love the Lord! How I trust in Him that this promise will come to pass. 

     May each of you be blessed for the service you render on behalf of the Lord. We truly are His hands and His feet and just like we need Him every hour, the Lord needs us too! 

     

     

Coming Full Circle as Our Mission Comes to a Close-Part 2

       Thanks for waiting for the 2nd part of this blog. I am so excited to continue to detail for each of you the last 2 full circle areas that we just crossed as our mission comes to a close. But before I do that, I will quickly take you through this week's missionary service. I know, I know...the suspense is killing you!

     On Monday, we spent our morning getting a few groceries, but mostly washing our clothes from our visit to Northern Ireland. Since Elder M and I are officially living out of our suitcases until we get back to Utah, the best we can do is keep our clothes clean by washing them as often as we can. And believe me, we can do a lot of washing because our washer and dryer are so small. I am so ready and excited to use our oversized American appliances again; and believe me,,,,,I will!!! Later that night, the sister missionaries and us drove out to the Faloon's house again for another homemade meal. They BBQ'd pork chops and chicken for us. Sister Faloon made an incredible exotic fruit salad that I could not stop eating!  At the end, she presented us with 3 different kinds of desserts. So good!!! 

     Tuesday, Elder and I started our morning with our district mission correlation zoom meeting. We really appreciated having this meeting on zoom that day, especially after driving so much last week. If it wasn't on zoom, we would have been asked to drive down to Cork (2 hours one way) for the meeting. After discussing how each companionship could help their friends more, the main theme was to tell of who had been the greatest influential person in your life so far. To tell you the truth, I have had so many influential people in my life, and certainly since I converted to the church, that it would be hard to name just one.

     I really don't want to skip anyone, but I do want to say that I have had many family members, including many now deceased, many living members, amazing friends over the years, many, many instructors throughout my longevity of all my educational experiences, my blessed neighbors, wonderfully faithful missionaries and incredible leaders both past and present of the church who have guided me forward. The more I thought about it, the more gratitude I felt in my heart for all the loving, guided examples of Christ-like love I have come to know. As of recent date, that question has been a deep soul searching question; one that has stopped me in my tracks and has giving me hours of thoughtful thinking. Thank you to all of you who have been so very patient with me and have brought me to where I am today!!!

     After our zoom meeting, Elder and I went over to St Mary's Cathedral here in Limerick to listen to our last lunch time concert of this mission. A quartet of string musicians played for us that day. They were so very good. They played some classical and then some South American Samba music. I loved how they played off each others rendition, to keep building upon on another's talents. And, oh my, the acoustics!!!! It was their last number that totally blew me away. I have never heard anything like what they played last of all. I still can't believe it. They so played it to perfection. Their last number was "I want you back" by Michael Jackson. It was so amazing!  So fun!!!

The quartet of strings ar St Mary's Cathedral

     After that wonderful concert, I came back to our flat and went out to our freezer to empty anything still in there that could make a good addition to a pot of soup! I found green beans, corn, carrots and potato chunks. I threw that in with some cooked ground turkey, an onion, quinoa, some mushrooms, chopped celery and some chicken broth and presto! Homemade turkey vegetable soup. It was so good! I only have 5 more frozen meals and 5 small ice cream bars left (I wonder who will get the odd bar???). The last 2 meals, my Danielle's Taco Bean Soup, will be eaten our last 2 days here! Yay!!!

We add a couple of Rosemary flavored crackers and a small handful of cheese into our bowls and  "bellissimo"!!! After dinner, we joined our branch leadership committee in their correlation meeting.

     On Wednesday, The sister missionaries and us joined our friend, Suzann, in a missionary lesson which centered on the restoration of the gospel. We had a wonderful lesson. Suzann had a few questions which were answered by using scriptures and at the end of our discussions, Suzann stated that she felt good about what she heard. The sister missionaries also set up for her to watch a short video. Our missionaries have asked Suzann a couple of times if she would like to be baptized. Each time, she has answered that she doesn't feel quite ready yet, which is just fine with us. The video that the sisters had her to watch was a church video that shows how little children describe baptism. Suzann really enjoyed watching it. Of course, after the video, she had a few more questions which were answered. The Galway sisters have a baptism at our Limerick chapel this Saturday and Suzann stated that she would like to come and see what it is like. We are very excited!

     After Suzann's lesson, we picked up the elders and the 4 of us drove out to the Pott's home for the young elders to enjoy a meal with them. I was very excited to enjoy another serving of Mexican burritos with the Pott's family. If you will remember from the last time, Sister Pott's makes a killer beef taco filling from scratch. Once again, she did her magic and everyone was very happy, especially Elder Guiurelli. Why, do you suppose? This is so funny!

     Elder Guiurelli is totally from Italy. Pasta he knows! They don't do Mexican foods there at all. He has had a couple of burritos since coming out on his mission to Ireland, but he has never learned how to wrap the meat filling inside the burrito shell. He told us that he just makes the biggest mess having his Mexican meat filling fall out all over the place. After hearing this, Brother Pott's stepped up and took the burrito wrap packaging, turned it over to the back side, and showed Elder Guiurelli the pictured instructions of how to make it so your filling stays inside the wrap. By the way, by this time, Elder Guiurelli's companion, who, too, is from Italy, had already ready learned how the make a burrito and he was half-way done eating his! Well, Elder Guiurelli not only wrapped his burrito to perfection, but, very proudly, he didn't even spill the smallest particle out onto his plate. Check out this photo!!!

No, that's one happy young man!!!

     Thursday, found me up very early in the morning as the sun was shining down upon Limerick. I grabbed my camera and lenses and walked quickly over to a place that I had been eyeballing for several days. I was hoping to capture another awesome photo and in reality, I was fortunate. Lately, the early morning sky here is bright blue until later in the morning or earlier afternoon when the clouds appear again. Today, even the River Shannon was calm. So, off I went. Here is what I captured.

I wish the water was just a little more calm, but I'll take this one. 

Our neighbor, John, planted several tall rose bushes against the back wall where we live. This week those roses exploded. I just had to take a picture!

     Elder and I got a text message Tuesday from our landlord announcing that she and her husband wanted to hire a local rental agency to help them rent out their flat in the future. The Casey's wanted to show the new agent what the flat looked like. Elder and I took several hours to shine up their flat making it look the very best it could. The Casey's were very pleased with our efforts. We, too, were pleased, as now we will only need to do a quick wipe down before we go! 

     

Yay for cleaning supplies!!!

     We ended up Thursday night in a zoom meeting with the branch missionary correlation team. All of the missionaries gave their reports and spoke about how several of their friends were coming to the baptism this Saturday in preparation for their own baptism. Then, we turned our attention to the next branch activity...next Friday night's branch dance for all 12 years and up. This is the first dance that the branch has held in many years. The leadership is very excited. They have reserved a DJ who has a great playlist, lights and decorations! The branch will supply the refreshments and drinks. We are even hoping that several branch members will be brave enough to grab the microphone that night and belt out a favorite song. We talked about what still was needed and who would be doing what. It was a very productive meeting.

     On Friday, the Galway sister missionaries, together with us and the Limerick sisters went over to the chapel to prepare all needful things for the Galway baptism that was scheduled for the next day. Our Limerick chapel is the only chapel in this district that has a baptismal font. The Galway sisters received a referral a short time ago and taught Gabriel C., a 62 years old male, all the missionary lessons that were required of him in just 1 month! Gabriel has a very special story to tell.

This is the baptismal font clean-up crew! From left to right: S. Bakkland, S. Gonclavez, me, S. Lopez, and S. Caruss

     He was raised Catholic and was baptized Catholic, but always knew that the Catholic Church was wrong. He literally has spent his whole life searching for the truth! I don't know how the referral came about, but all of us are so happy that Gabriel was found and sent to the missionaries. The Galway missionaries stated that they and Gabriel would meet twice a week during that one month's time and everything they taught him was accepted 100%. After the missionaries taught Gabriel about family history and especially about the temple, the temple became the only goal in life for Gabriel! So, on Saturday, Gabriel started to fulfill his new life's goal to go to the temple being baptized into the church. When Elder and I got to the chapel earlier that morning to support the service, Gabriel had already arrived. He was so excited!!!

Our newest Limerick district member, Gabriel. After the baptism, Elder and I went shopping and later that night, we and the sister missionaries joined the Kelly family for a wonderful roast beef dinner. 

These are the Sunday shoes of many of my branch female friends. Go girl power!!!

     Well, that was our week. Let's jump in and complete part 2 of our full circle! When I was a young teenage, I was fascinated with 2 subjects: the sinking of the Titanic and the Lough Ness monster. I became interested in both, even though one of them really did happened, because it seemed so mysterious to me. I loved seeing the few black and white photos that maybe showed "Nessie" in the lough, as much as I loved to read about the Titanic's sinking that fateful night. Even though Lough Ness couldn't be closer to me right now, it was actually the Titanic that I was able to make a full circle with.

     The RMS Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland by the Harland and Wolff shipbuilding firm and the White Star Cruiseline. The Titanic, then, was one of the largest (over 880 feet long) and most luxury ships owned in the world. On its maiden voyage from South Hampton, England on April 12-15, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg that caused the ship to sink in less than three hours. The Titanic featured a large first-class dining room, 4 elevators, a spa/sauna and a full size swimming pool. The Titanic also had 16 (bulk) compartments, that, if the hull was ruptured, the ship could not sink or at least that was the claim. Because of its luxury and claim to be unsinkable, many rich and famous people were aboard that ship that night. 

The Titanic!

     As we all know, for many reasons, the Titanic did not make it to its destination in New York City. Between ignoring several iceberg warnings to not having the one key to unlock the cabinet that held the only set of binoculars that could have been used that very night to having difficulty in the dark of the night to see icebergs until it was everlastingly too late, the Titanic was doomed. When it was realized that the ship would sink, women and children were put into the available 20 lifeboats that could have saved 1,100 passengers, but in reality only 705 people were rescued from those boats. Though the lifeboats in numbers exceeded the safety regulations specified back then, in reality, the vessel could have used twice as many. In total, over 1,500 passengers were lost that night with the ship that was as close to 400 miles from its destiny. There were some silver linings in the after mass of this tragedy as it helped change many rules of the seas that, since, have been a blessing. 

     And who (not me!) could ever forget August 1985, when the wreckage of the Titanic was discovered on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean? I think that it is funny that even as I write this blog, that a company released the first full size digital copy of the Titanic wreck. If you haven't seen the image, it appears to fill the largest stadium in London, England. On the 100th anniversary of the sinking, the Titanic Belfast Experience opened its doors to visitors. Titanic Belfast was actually built on the same land (and near the water) that the original Titanic was constructed on. The museum is incredibly huge and has many different exhibits of the Titanic, all referring to the many different stages of the ship's existence. It was, to me, more that awesome! It greatly surpassed my full circle expectations!

The newly released digital copy of the Titanic wreck just developed and released

Ok! Here we go!

If a quick glance of any building can leave a lasting impression, this one saids it all! The first exhibits in the museum introduced the imagination of building luxury liners in the 1900's and the beginning stages of this great accomplishment 

Behind the museum as seen in the last picture, if you stepped aside, you would see this lone standing H & W hoist that still stands today

An antique poster advertising the White Star Line of luxury ships. Notice that these luxury liners sailed off from Liverpool to New York every Wednesday

This is an original sign for employment opportunities with White Star Liner company

This is the original time clock that all employees used while working at the Belfast shipyard daily.

This is the drawing room, though ship plans are no longer drawn here, it is still just steps away from the museum. Designing and construction were the next 2 exhibits in the museum

This is a photo of the Titanic being constructed with it's sister ship, Olympic, sitting besides her

This room had lots of original DETAILED drawings of the Titanic. There were literally pages after pages of them. It is no wonder to me now, how they knew 100 years later, what the inside and outside of the ship looked like

In this portion of the museum, you boarded a mechanical ride (like in Disneyland) and you were taken to what appeared like the bottom inside of the ship as it was being built. It, too, was very impressive. Elder loved to see how the riveting of the outside of the ship was done using 4 men to "hammer home" each rivet.

I absolutely LOVED the original photos that the museum had. Just like for each of you, these photos made me feel like I was really there!

This is one of my favorite Titanic photos. I love how each of the men are looking up at those propellers in total amazement. 

This is an original Titanic launch ticket. Did you know that 100,000 people turned out just to see the launch from Belfast? The launch took just over one minute and there were no complications at all!

The next exhibits focused on the diversity of the people who were on board for the voyage, the differences between 1st, 2nd and 3rd class accommodations and what the ship really looked like on the inside. This is an original table ticket for one of the 3rd class passengers, second sitting

This is what the first class dining area looked like

The famous grand staircase

These are White Star first class china plates. There was a display at the museum of the plates that each of the 3 classes would use for their dining experience. It was quite the comparison...a very stark difference

This is what some of the carpeting would have looked like on the Titanic depending on which class you were assigned to

This is my other favorite original photo of the Titanic. I was surprised to see this photo re-created in the 1997 movie version, but loved that it was included

The next couple of exhibits discussed the tragedy about to happen!! There was also a heart-moving display of a minute by minute account of the sinking and the help the Titanic never received soon enough. Though there were many contributions that ultimately led to the sinking, the final investigation conclusion was that the ship sank after hitting a large iceberg, causing exterior damage to the ship. This photo shows how close the ship was to arriving in New York City and the pathway of the iceberg field that night

When I read about this contributor of the sinking years ago, I came to the same conclusion. The printed statement above these unusable keys tells the story. I have thought so many times since, that having these keys could have made a huge difference that night. I LOVED seeing these keys that close to me that day. 

This, my friends, is one of the only twelve surviving original lifejackets from the Titanic. The other eleven are in private holdings. I had to hold back my tears standing in front of it. It was very moving to me

With this illuminated board positioned right behind the lone lifejacket, it didn't help my feelings at the moment. Too few lifeboats, poor management of loading passengers, and no other rescue ships close enough to help. Such a sad tale to tell

One of the crew members threw several deck chairs into the frigid waters that night to saved himself. When the Carpathia arrived one hour after the Titanic had disappeared under the water, this deck chair was brought onboard and can still be seen today in this museum. Amazing!

Of everything displayed at the museum, this object took my breath away. It is said (sometimes in disagreement) that this is THE violin that Wallace Hartley played that night as the ship sink. When Harley's body was found, which was positively ID, this violin (in its case) was strapped across his body totally out of the water. Of all the personal stories of that tragic night, I LOVE this story of Mr. Hartley and of his outward gift of comfort and peace to all left on board until the end is, to me, the story of an angel!

Is this not the cutest!!!!

The last couple of exhibits covered the discovery of the wreck in 1985 and what the future holds for the Titanic itself. 

This was a cool way to show what is must of looked like when Mr. Ballard and his crew found the wreck and were able to correctly identify one of its boilers. Elder and I watched the people below us for several minutes as some of the original images passed underneath them

Seeing that, we went down to join them. My golly!! I was mesmerized! Of all the wonderful museums I have ever been in, in my whole life, this one ties for first place!!! It was amazingly done in every way! Oh, by the way, the other museum that also scored first place almost 20 some years ago, was the Cairo Egyptian Museum that once held the treasures of King Tut

     After leaving the Titanic Experience, across in the next slipway, is permanently docked the last White Star liner named the Normadic (1911). This ship is the only surviving vessel left that was designed by Thomas Andrews, who also designed the Titanic. The Nomadic was the go between vessel from the larger liners picking up and delivering passengers, mail and needed supplies. Our ticket that allowed us to enjoy the Titanic Experience, also allowed us to walk onto the Nomadic and personally see that last White Star liner. It was a little piece of history that we got to enjoy together. Here are a few photos.

Here is the Nomadic in slipway number 1 where she was originally built

It was from this slipway that the Nomadic was lifted up slightly by a crane, with a greased hull, that allowed the ship to slide sideways into the water on it's christening

The is one of the 1st class areas for passengers on the Nomadic

An opened porthole

A piece of antique luggage to gave the baggage area a more feel of reality

     Our last full circle event happened on May 12, when Elder and I visited our last Irish castle. I have to admit that just even saying that causes my heart to be sad. But, all good things must come to a close! Since coming to Ireland almost one year ago, I have had this castle on my list to visit. I was ecstatic that we were finally able to go visit this one. This castle, just north of Galway near the bogs of West Ireland, is called Kylemore Castle. This is a newer castle in Ireland, being constructed in 1868 by a man named Mitchell Henry. He literally built this castle because of the love that he had for his wife. (I give all of my married, female readers to invite their husbands to show their love by building them a castle too!) Today, the grounds are owned by the Benedictine Nuns, who have been in residence there since 1920. Here are my photos from this castle.

Welcome to beautiful Kylemore Castle with it's beautiful refection on the lake!

Any way you look at this castle it is just breathtaking

This is the the advertisement when the property went up for sale in 1902

A beautiful vestment possibly used in the abbey

This is the greeting room. In 2019, the estate received a new renovation that has made it look spectacular

Historic keys and other artifacts that has been related to this castle over the years under different owners

An original bookcase from years ago

The woodwork in several rooms were gorgeous. This wall is what guests would see as they entered the front doors of the castle

The face on this grandfather's clock looked like one from a fairy tale book to me

This was the Henry's formal living room. Like the previous rooms, this one, too, was amazing

An original piano. Notice the candle lighting that this piano provides

One of several fireplaces

A formal dress from the late 1800's

Mrs. Henry's sewing box

Entertainment for the children

I loved this wedding dress and the antique camera that stood behind it

The Henry's formal dining room. Beautifully set to perfection!

This wooden panel is above another fireplace in a second sitting room.

     All in all, this castle truly was a mansion of made with love. Every inch was beautifully designed and crafted with care. I am so happy that we took the time to visit it. On the same grounds is also an abbey that Mr. Henry built. Although it is only 150 years old and quite small, it was such a quiet haven for me. Even the walk through the wooded path along the lake was so refreshing to my soul. The ground also feature a large walled garden. Because we were pressed for time, we were not able to walk through that portion. I guess we will just save it for the next time. Here are photos of the abby.

Didn't I just write about how peaceful and pretty the walk to the abbey was? I really wasn't kidding!

This is Kylemore Abbey! Sitting on the edge of the lake with the mountains standing behind was an amazing sight

All curved out of stone. This little abbey was just as beautiful as was so many others here in Ireland!

Wow!!!!!

Beautiful stained glass

Sitting inside was quite the experience for me. I literally sat there for over 30 minutes! I needed it and my spirit really needed it! I truly found rest there

     This whole trip from start to finish will always be a welcomed memory for me. Gosh, we saw so much and, at times,  experienced many deep tender feelings. It was certainly all worth waiting so long to see every part of the trip. In closing, I would like to leave another spiritual thought with you. A question was posed to our small branch today from our district president. President Roy asked us to evaluate the following question, "Do you know the Savior or do you know of the Savior?" His immediate timed pause after asking the question just about stopped my heart. What a question!!!! And I have thought since that it is one of those great questions that we should ask ourselves frequently. 

     Seriously looking inside myself, including my heart, I think I can answer for myself that I go in either direction depending on the situation. So my next question to myself was, "Are you satisfied with where you are?" This answer for me seemed easier to answer. My answer to the second question was emphatically "NO!" So, since then, I now want to find ways of knowing Him better. 

     I also have come to realize that by applying all the many "primary" ways that all of us have been taught to do, like reading your scriptures daily, morning and evening prayers, obeying God's commandments, going to the temple, etc are just the beginning to come to know Him. I also know that for each one of us, to answer these questions for ourselves are very personal and that there is not just one way to come to truly KNOW Him. So, my quest changed again today. I so love that as I age, I can still desire to be even better than I have ever been. The prophets were right about one thing...and that is that it will take a life-time of asking, seeking and knocking to endure to the end. May we all recommit and make a greater effort to know Him. Elder Rasband promised me months ago in an all mission zoom meeting with him that if I will come to know Him better, I will love Him more, and if I love Him more, I will serve Him and my fellowman with all my heart.