My Scotland Mission:

8 June 2017 Three weeks into my mission.

This week the Conference for Senior Missionaries was held in Edinburgh. There are 11 couples & me and my companion that make up the senior missionary group. The group is from our whole mission, which includes Scotland, Ireland & the Republic of Ireland. I had talked with most of the people on the phone, but it was so nice to put faces & names together. I though it might be a little uncomfortable being a widow with so many couples, but they made Sister Call & I feel very comfortable. We enjoyed lovely meals at the mission home (which our office is joined to) which is a lovely elegant Scottish style home. We had a daily schedule of events, including firesides, devotionals and today, the last day we toured the Rosslyn Chapel (built in 1446) and Hopetoun estate (built in 1699). I'll talk more about these places later & include some pictures. The theme of one of the firesides was on marriage; the stages & what takes place in each stage. I guess some of the senior couples struggle a little with being together 24/7 for the first time. So anyway, I was asked to close the meeting with a presentation on my last years of marriage. I called it the "stage of gratitude" or the "stage of tender mercies." It was a little emotional to give the presentation, but I felt good about it and received many nice remarks. Did I mention that we still fit a few hours in the office each day of the conference and stayed after in the evening to finish up? The Lord's work is never finished!! Here is a funny office story: I've told you that I'm in charge of all housing for the missionaries (senior & younger)--well today I got a call from 2 elders (young male missionaries) to tell me their sink and washing machine were not draining right, so they dumped a whole container of Draino down the sink, that didn't work so they dumped another whole container of Draino in the water setting in the washer!! When that didn't work they took some of the plumbing apart and then they couldn't get it back together again!! Of course, my job is to call the leasing agent and explain to them this story. Oh Boy!! We recently had a fire in one of the buildings where we have missionaries. The place including the missionaries apartment was completely burned. The missionaries got out safely and the only thing they found unburned was a backpack and a duffel bag that although burned, their passports and journals were inside safe & sound. Pretty much a miracle. By the way, the fire started because someone grilling on their balcony dumped gasoline on the hot coals & it exploded upward to the ceiling and then the building burned--moral of that story is . . . forget the gasoline!! Well, tomorrow is Saturday and it will be a day of new adventures.

Love to all,
Sister Gifford

Rosslyn Chapel built in 1446
Still functions as an Episcopal Church

Pratts Hill & beautiful sky in Edinburgh
Orson Pratt climbed to the top & there dedicated the country of Scotland
open for missionary work. All new missionaries climb to the top the
first day they arrive to serve their mission and return before they
leave the mission.