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.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

It's Christmas time in Belfast. Saturday we went downtown with the McBrides to check out the St. George Market.

Not sure I will eat gammon again soon......

There were foods from all over the world.

Fun booths, fun treasures and lots of people.

Downtown Belfast.

Great shopping mall. The Christmas decorations were up and the Salvation Army was playing carols. Shoppers everywhere and children lined up at Santa's Grotto.....

View of Belfast from the top of Victoria Square.

Belfast.....

Bittles Bar.....such a great building!

Christmas market at city hall.



At home we decided to get into the Christmas spirit.

Our wee tree with our woolen stockings......

It's a nice wee tree.....

Our wee Irish Santa.........

The Nativity that we purchased in England........

A special treasure. When we left Portadown, our FHE family presented us with this beautiful Tipperary crystal bowl. We love it, especially because it came from such wonderful friends.

I think we're ready for Christmas!!!!!!

Visit with the Greens

We had a special treat this week. Our good friends Charlotte and Gary came to visit us from Utah. They arrived Sunday morning after a long airplane ride, a bus ride from Dublin and a taxi ride to our flat. We were so happy when they finally arrived! We went to the Bangor Ward for church and enjoyed introducing them to our friends in the stake. The next morning we got an late start, but headed in the snow to Downpatrick. After finding Charlotte a camera card and exchanging euros to pounds...we went to the museum.

We can't believe all the snow we have had. It is unusually cold and snowy for this time of the year.

Birch dressed up as a viking. I think the clothes were meant for children.......luckily he got the helmet off!

Gary and Charlotte.

We stopped for a "cuppa" soup and enjoyed the white Irish countryside.

Our next stop was Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

This is where Saint Patrick is supposedly buried, although they really don't know the exact spot...it's somewhere close!

Gary at Saint Patrick's grave.



We then headed down the coast towards Newcastle and the Mourne Mountains. We tried to stop at Dundrum Castle, but we couldn't get up the hill because of the snow and ice. They really aren't equipped here for this snow and a lot of schools and shops had to close.

Quite a different scene than it was in the summertime with all the tourists. Birch and Gary ventured down to the beach to find Charlotte a green rock! It was cold....

but it was beautiful.

Charlotte bought her a new wool hat to keep warm!




We found this cute old outhouse. It's always fun to see the old buildings everywhere we travel.

After leaving Newcastle, we headed to Portadown. It was Gary's birthday so we stopped in Banbridge and had a wonderful Irish dinner. Steak and onion pie, lots of potatoes and of course trifle and pavlova for dessert.

We took the Greens to Family Home Evening in Portadown so they could meet our FHE Family. It was a fun evening and I am glad they got to meet our new friends here in Ireland!


The next day we went north to Carrick Furgus Castle.

This is suppose to be the best castle in Ireland. It is well preserved. They just discovered some new treasures here and a group of researchers were having a meeting to discuss the new findings!

We were glad the sun was shinning, but it was very cold!

View of the sea from the castle. Notice the princess sitting in the window.....

The king on his horse....

The walls were really thick.....since there were no glass windows in those days, they covered the windows with animal hides or tapestries too keep warm.

The banquet hall......

Charlotte and the guard.....





After leaving the castle we went downtown Belfast and took the city bus tour. It was very interesting as we rode through all the famous political places, saw the murals and famous buildings. But IT WAS FREEZING!!!!! In fact it was so cold on the bus that we only did half the tour. We'll leave the rest for a nice summer day!

Belfast was beautiful at night and we did enjoy a little shopping and the Christmas market that was set up all around city hall.

I didn't think it ever got this cold in Ireland! But thankfully we weren't in England or Scotland, they have it worse!!! In fact our Mission Zone meeting was cancelled this week because the Mission President couldn't get over here!

Fun, cold, windy night! On our way home we stopped for fish and chips. It was nice to be home where it was warm!

The next day we went to Giant's Ring on our way to Banbridge. It's just up the road from us.

It's a stone age monument.....

We went to Maloney's in Lurgan for a Ulster Fry breakfast, eggs, sausage, bacon, potato bread, soda bread, beans, mushrooms........we don't have them too often!

Merry Christmas!

We went to Ballydougan and then of course to the Linen shop where Charlotte went nuts! We love taking our friends there! I think we are their best customers!!!!

We had such a good visit with Charlotte and Gary and we are so glad they took time out of their busy lives to share a few days with us. Our families have had many great times together over the years and hope we can have many more. When we said goodbye last year to Charlotte we weren't sure if we would see her again, she has lung cancer.....but miracles happen every day and we cherish every moment we have with her! Friends and Family are the very best!!!!