Last Pictures of 2010

Loving the Irish sheep!

Trail marker at Shaw's Bridge

Winter wonderland!

Shaw's Bridge.

Frosty trees....

The river Lagan, just down the road from us.

Wee robin redbreast.....

Lock-keepers cottage.

Beautiful Ireland!

Happy New Year!!!!! May the luck of the Irish be with us!!! All the Best for 2011!!!

Christmas with the YSA

We are enjoying the young single adults in the Belfast Stake. We have a church building in Rosetta that is used as the Centre for Young Adults. We feel very fortunate to have the whole building just for us, as most centers only have a room or two....

One activity we participated in was putting boxes of goodies and gifts together for the British Troops.

The YSA were amazing! They worked hard and got a lot done.

The woman in charge was overwhelmed with the help and the YSA. She has done this for five years and has never had so many volunteers to help her. As a thank you, she is sending a box every month to one of the YSA in the Stake, that is serving in the military.

We had a great evening.

Some fun,

and writing letters.



A couple of weeks later, we had the YSA Christmas Dinner at a country club in Bangor.

There was a good turn out. The food was great......

The decorations were wonderful......

The company was extremely good.......

And the entertainment was the best we've seen in a long time!!!!

Everyone took a turn at karaoke......

It was great!

It was a really nice evening!




They YSA girls then sang at the Relief Society Christmas party. There is a lot of musical talent in the group.

It was a nice evening too.



We also had an institute Christmas party. The YSA from Omagh came and joined us.

Fun games.....

Good food!!!

Great people!

We attended the Holywood Ward Christmas party. Another night of good food and fun entertainment by the YSA.

The holidays have been busy. On Christmas Eve the YSA put on a beautiful Christmas Carol Service. We love being with these young people. They are the future of the Church and they are faithful, good people!

Christmas in the Mission

On December 19th we headed to Dublin for the all Ireland mission Christmas party. It was a pretty cold and snowy day. President Griffiths didn't want any of the young missionaries driving so they all caught the train and Elder Holt and I traveled with the McBrides in the mission van. It was filled with luggage and Christmas packages for the missionaries.

It was cold and slow going but we made it and soon we were warmed by the spirit of the meeting and the association with the other missionaries.

The Relief Society in Finglas Ward served us a wonderful Christmas dinner.

Everyone enjoyed being together.

Young and old....er.....

Sister Neely brought the journal of her ancestors that were here the same time as mine. We are sure they knew each other since they were in the same places at the same time, and talked about the same people! That was fun!

These are the cute sisters serving in Bangor.

Our dear friends, the McDowell's....we know they will be transferred soon and it will be hard not to be near them. We've been close since the MTC!

It's always fun to see the other couples. The Hancocks are on page 60 of the November Ensign! The Richins are serving their third mission....They will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on St. Patrick's Day! They are all great examples to us.

They Geilmans and the Neely's. We all received mission scarfs, ties and tee-shirts! It's fun to see everyone wearing them at zone conferences!

President Griffiths. We watched the movie Remember the Titans and related it to missionary work. It was a great afternoon.

Sister Griffiths and daughter Kate. All of their family was able to join them for Christmas. Kate just returned from a mission in California.

Elder Evans left Portadown to be a zone leader!

Our Belfast district...

The Belfast Zone.... We had a wonderful Christmas and we are enjoying the holiday week.

Contemplating....

I am sitting in our little living room in Belfast, Northern Ireland contemplating the past year.....

One year ago today, we arrived in Ireland to begin this new adventure. We were greeted by the mission president and his wife. We were whisked away to the mission home for a short nap and then spent the day at the Christmas Market! Ironically, today when we got up we decided to go to a Christmas Market! We have so many good memories of the past year and in some ways can't believe a year has passed. Other times it seems like so long ago that we were home....We are grateful to be here, thankful for our family and friends who support us, thankful for the new friends we have made and for this beautiful Emerald Isle. We are looking forward to the next 11 months, hoping it brings another year of great experiences.