Cork, Ireland - Here We Are

Much time has passed. It is all a whirl. We are finally settled in a flat in south Cork, Ireland after quite an experience. Leaving home the way I wanted to leave was very stressful. I wanted the our bedroom painted and new carpet layed. It did happen but was the most physical and mental undertaking I have experienced in a long time. We went through things we haven't seen since we moved to our Cottonwood Heights home. My head was so mixed up. It was very difficult to leave the family, expecially the little children. They are my life blood. But, we did get out of SLC on time and really didn't have a problem until we arrived in Dublin, Ireland.

When we arrived, they sent us here and checked our Passports and Visas, then there to do the same and then somewhere else. We thought we were through until we walked into a big room with queues back and forth. We waited for at least an hour and then were sent to a window to check Passports and Visas. The man behind the window did not like our answers or Visas. He asked us who said we could stay for a year. Then he proceeded to rail on the Church for thinking we could just send missionaries whenever we wanted and for how long we wanted. He asked us how much money we had on us and where we were going to get money to live for a year in Ireland. He took our pictures again and finger printed us again and stamped our Visas for one month and told us to report to the Garda (police) in our area and they would decide if we needed to go home or could stay. I would have turned around and gone home if I had known how to do it. Mind you, his language was very Irish, not American and we had to work really hard to understand him. Mike was mad! The irishman was not kind a all. There was another irishman standing back of us listening and he was standing there with a big box of rat and rodent poisoning. I thought, "Oh no, what have we done". He sent us through and by then my ankle tendon was hurting me so much that I literally dragged my right leg on to the luggage claim. I really thought our luggage wouldn't be there and Pres. Griffiths and his wife wouldn't be there either but they were. Whew! He asked me about my limp and I told him I tore a tendon while jogging two weeks before we left and he said he had experienced that two times and had surgery for it. He was very sympathetic and said it would be a while healing and not to push it. Ha!!! I had already pushed it to the brink. They took us to the Finglas Chapel in Dublin where a lunch had been provided by the Relief Society President and we chatted for a short time. He left us for meetings and his wife hurried off with their kids that were visiting. We were given a car, taken to a B&B and told to be back at the Chapel the next morning for church. Mike had to drive, just like that! He sits on the wrong side and drives on the other side of the road. Crazy! Thank goodness the chapel was just up the busy street. We got up Sunday morning, went to church, loaded up our suitcases and started for Cork. We knew we would be late arriving in Cork as it is about 4 1/2 hours from Dublin. We were excited to get there and find a flat. B&B are about $100 American dollars and we needed every penny we had. We read a map and it seemed a straight shot so we headed. The first thing we ran into was a Toll on the road. We had some euros but we had to figure out what was what on the fly. We put money in until the arm lifted up and the light turned green , which we took to mean GO. We did go and actually loved the ride. I sat there and wrote a list of all the things I was learning about Ireland in two days. The scenery was absolutely heavenly. I started counting all the castle and ruins we saw. It is a fairy land. I don't think the Irish realize how beautiful it is here in their homeland. I hope some of them do and don't try to change it. There wasn't one place to stop to go potty anywhere. You have to pull off in some little village to find a potty. We did stop at a beautiful little village called Port Leishe (pronounced Port Leash). I was so excited and thrilled at what we saw. The people are so friendly (not like the immigration officer). We have to go back and take pictures of that little village.

Two Weeks To Go

This is a most interesting experience! We have been tried and tested thoroughly. Every morning and evening prayer contains a plea to not let "you know who" come into our home or affairs. It makes me wonder what we are to do that is so very important to him that he works overtime on us. Praying for protection really does make a difference in the day and night.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about where we will be, Scotland or Ireland. We received a funny letter from Pres. Griffiths secretary. The good thing is we can still laugh and we have experienced confusion and fear before many times. I responded to her this morning and told her I would stuff my bra with money and please meet us on the 2 of August. We'll see what happens. I still know the Church is true and I also know that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor.

We have accomplished most of what we have to do. We have our fingerprinting appointment today and that will finish all the things we have to do except figure out the money problem once we get to Scotland or Ireland. Our Visa application can be sent tomorrow.

I am limping on a bad tendon from jogging and Mike is slowly walking from a strained back which he has never had before in his whole life. We are a sight. I laugh when I see us move and then I cry from anxiety. We will be fine in time. We have two weeks.

Scotland-Ireland- Here We Come

We were finally able to get together on Friday afternoon as a family and open our call to see where we will serve. The call was to Scotland Edinburgh. We are so thrilled and it brought tears to our eyes. We know that the call includes Ireland because as of July 1, 2010, Ireland will come under the Scotland, Edinburgh mission. The current mission president will go home at that time and will not be replaced. I am sure we will end up in Ireland but able to travel to Scotland for meetings, etc. This is very interesting because when Mike was called to serve in the Irish Mission in 1962, Ireland had just become an official mission of the Church. He served without a mission president while President Stephen R. Covey was coming with his family. The missionaries served from March to July in Ireland without a president. Because of the poor economy and slow converts, they are putting the two missions back together. We will serve under Gary Griffiths. He is from West Jordon, Utah. He was born in Provo, Utah and is about 53 years old. We are finding many connections with him as we go along and are very excited to serve under him. His son served under our good friends, Judd and Pauline Morgan as they served in Winnipeg, Canada. The Relief Society President in our Butler 12th Ward, Mary Margaret Morgan Hansen, that I serve with as first counselor also served in Canada and served with the Griffith's son. We hear only great things about them and they will serve the whole time we are there. We feel so honored and excited to serve the Lord and are trying to get ready both inside and out. We have pages of medical things to get done besides everything else. Here we go!!!!! Jayne




s

Mission Call

Dear Friends and Family, Today is April 28, 2010. I have just created this blogspot to record our experiences on our mission. We received our call yesterday, April 27. We received notice from our Bishop, Bishop Terry Thatcher that it was in the mail. We watched Monday and Tuesday and no letter. I called the couples missionary office and talked to a fine gentleman about the timing of the call and he assured me that it would be there on Wednesday as they made the call on Friday, returned the call for the inclusion of a packet and a signiture from the Prophet and then it gets mailed. I promptly got the stomach flu and went down for a day or two as the rest of the family either recovered or came down with it too. What a mess. The call came on Wednesday and we haven't opened it yet as we are waiting to all be together. So much for pictures and all of us being together. I especially want all my grandchildren to be there. I want to be an example for them to emulate. They are so precious to me that I can hardly fathom being away from them for any length of time. Soooo the packet now waits for us.
Jayne