Catching Up With the New Year....

The month of January continued with unprecedented cold temperatures here in Ireland and our water pipes outside under the sidewalk even froze. They were only about 12 inches below the surface as the building codes here are different than at home. And the temperatures had not been that cold for such a continuous length of time in over 50 years. Of course it would be our welcome to Ireland. Ha

A very blessed event took place on 12 January 2010.....the birth of our first Great Grandchild. A beautiful granddaughter, Peyton LaNae Harpel was born to Jessica and Blake in Rexburg, Madison County, Idaho where her father is finishing his bachelor's degree at BYU-I. We were able to see her on Skype a few days later with all the family. She is darling and growing so fast. It is fun to see her cute pictures and see the changes taking place almost daily. We are so grateful for the good health of both Jessica and Peyton. What a beautiful family they are and a blessing to all of us.

I have helped in Relief Society with a few events we have hosted in the branch. First was a "Food Storage/Emergency Preparedness Workshop" which was very timely with the "freeze" that was taking place at the time. There were many people without water and it was a real "eye Opener" to many. We were given a wonderful presentation by a sister in the Dublin Stake who was experiencing first hand the blessings of being prepared for times of disaster because of her diligence in being ready.

In February the Relief Society held a Visiting Teaching Convention, "Love One Another". Our presidency knew I loved Visiting Teaching and as a result, I was asked to give a presentation. I had fun putting things together for each of our sisters. I had wonderful help from my good friend, Barbara, as my files were no longer accessible to me at home. She scanned numerous items she thought I might need and emailed them to me. She became our "resource specialist" for the Dundalk Branch. Everyone knows about Barbara. The event was a great success and the sisters felt motivated to do the best they can in fulfilling their responsibilities in their calling as a Visiting Teacher.

A sister in our branch, Alice Doyle, was called as a branch missionary. This has been great for me, as President McDowell is busy with leadership meetings etc. on Tuesday evenings, so Alice and I attend the weekly Missionary Correlation Meeting and then afterward visit the less-actives and other sisters we feel need a visit. We have had a great time and since she has been a member here for many years it has enabled me to meet so many more of the sisters that are not attending.

March brought our Relief Society Birthday celebration and it was superb. Wonderful food, table settings, decorations and inspiring presentation by 2nd Counselor, Claire Quigley. We had such a fun time. The past presidents were recognized with a pink rose and each of the sisters present received a bookmark and other handouts regarding their value as a woman and Relief Society sister.
We were blessed with Stake Conference in March held at the Dublin Stake Center. Our visiting authority was Elder Teixeira of the Quorum of the Seventy. He was wonderful and we were richly blessed by his counsel.

April brought Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and it was on the same weekend as L.D.S. General Conference held in Salt Lake City and broadcast all over the world. We were fortunate to watch some sessions at the Dublin Stake Center and some on the internet at home. We saw it all. We loved all of the talks but of course there are always a few that standout; ones by Elders Ballard, Holland, Packer, Bednar, Martino and Foster. And of course our Presidency, Monson, Eyring and Uchtdorf. I took notes and I wrote something to myself: "It is never too late to do better. Tomorrow is a new day ---and we can always start anew." "Love your children and grandchildren. Never give up on them-teach them about Jesus and to 'follow Him'." I was so inspired by the messages. I have always loved watching conference ever since I was a small child. My mother taught me to appreciate conference and the privilege of being able to view it as she set the example for me. Thank you Mom.

Every week we have the opportunity to drive to Dublin to District Meeting, Zone Conference or numerous Stake meetings Ron has responsibility to attend. We have at least an hour each way in the car and sometimes more so we have downloaded and burned some cd's of talks given by General Authorities of years gone by. One we have enjoyed several times is by LeGrand Richards who was an apostle and is now deceased, titled "Missionary Experiences". We just love his presentation, humor and testimony. We get these talks on either BYU Radio or the Mormon Channel both online. They have been a great uplift and motivation.

We have been invited to several of the members homes for dinner and it has been a real blessing to be in their homes. The food has been fabulous and their sweet spirits even better. We have been greatly blessed by their acceptance of us.

We have really enjoyed watching "Spring" come to Ireland. First it was the Crocus that bloomed, then the daffodils and now it has been the tulips, hyacinths and numerous other beautiful flowers. The gardens (yards) here are so green and manicured. The hedges are so tightly grown you could never get through them. They are very nicely groomed. We admire the rock and stone work here for walls (like fences) around the properties. They are masters at stonework. In the fields are miles of old rock walls with hedges that keep the livestock in their own boundaries. It is green rolling hills, trees, sheep, cattle, horses and lovely houses dotting the landscape. It is a "grand" site!

The Elders (missionaries) assigned to the Dundalk Branch work so hard to get appointments to share the gospel. The Irish people typically are either Catholic or Protestant and very steeped in tradition. They say "I was born a "Catholic and I will die a Catholic even if I don't agree with the teachings." Very sad for them as they are so stubborn! We love them all though and enjoy visiting with them everywhere we go, grocery store, bank, post office or on the street. For the most part, they are very kind and gracious.

Time has a way of slipping by.....

Time has a way of slipping by and we can't believe it is now the month of May. To catch you up quickly on what we have been doing I will briefly give you an overview and then post some pictures. Probably not all at the same time as I have a meeting to attend shortly. Ha Nothing has changed...we are busy.

Ron has been spending most of his time re-organizing some of the auxillaries in the Dundalk Branch and training leaders etc. We have some wonderful people here and we love them. I have the privilege of visiting less-actives with a sister in our branch who is a branch missionary. We have had a great time and it has been fun getting to know a lot more of the members. I also have the opportunity of serving as 1st Counselor in Relief Society with 3 wonderful sisters. Ron and I, together, have also visited "different" less-actives than the ones I mentioned above. We are having some success in getting some families and individuals back to Church. One of the reasons for not coming is distance. We have members in 16 different communities with driving time to church up to 1 1/2 hours or more just one way. The branch received permission to have a Break the Fast/Munch and Mingle on each Fast and Testimony Sunday and our first one was this past Sunday. It was well attended and enjoyed by all. This activity helped the members connect with one another and also let them break the fast before the long drive home.

In February we had a ALL MISSION CONFERENCE and were told that the Ireland Dublin Mission would be combining with the Scotland Mission the 1st of July. It will be called the Scotland/Ireland Mission with headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. We don't know what that will entail for us but since Ron served his first mission in Scotland he would be most exited to return sometime during our mission. There have been many changes already getting things adjusted for the switch. It is sad and yet exciting at the same time.

I will post this now and add more later.