After a busy two weeks in the office and no Saturday travel, we got up early Saturday morning, did our chores and located our GPS postal codes and off we went. About 20 minutes from Edinburgh we found a beautiful small (on the scale of castes) castle that people still live in part of the time (Lauriston Castle). Located right on the banks of the North Sea--it is beautiful. The grounds/gardens were really amazing. We walked several of the trails then left in a hurry to catch our ferry in a village named Queens Ferry to visit Inchcalm Island. It took about 30 min to reach the island. Inchcalm Island is famous for 3 reasons. 1st of all it has the ruins of a monastery dated back to the 1200's. 2nd it has become a natural habitat for several rare birds, including the Puffin (which we didn't get to see because they are only there between April & July.) The other birds we were careful to avoid because they were nesting and will attack--and they are pretty big birds!! The ruins of the monastery are some of my favorite ruins we've seen. I opted not to go to the top of these ruins when I heard them say we would have to climb on hands & knees through dark tunnels! Sister Call did it and was exhausted the rest of the trip! The 3rd reason is that the island was a fortress during WW1. There is a picture below of a tunnel that was used to transport ammunition. It was dark and scary, but I climbed the stairs to it and walked the tunnel through and then back again. The island is surrounded by the Forth River and was heavily used during the war. There are several islands in the Forth River and they are all call Inch . . . something. The pictures below are labeled so you will know castle from monastery ruins, which I guess is pretty obvious.
On the missionary side of things: We attended baptisms for three people on Wednesday evening. Two young men from Mainland China and a man in his 70's. The ward is growing!! We took sister missionaries out to eat on Thursday. Friday we had a big to-do in my official duties. One of the flats that the Elders live in had their boiler explode! The boilers are what holds and heats water to provide both hot water and water for the heating system. The water gushed into the flat below them and then to the flat below that. Of course, the Elders had flooding too, but not nearly as much damage as the other flats. Anyway, the fire department was called and they turned off the water in the building and the electricity. I had to evacuate the Elders and protect them from really irate landlords from the apartments below!! They were not happy campers and were just looking for someone to blame. Come to find out this had happened before with the previous elders, so I made the decision that it is time to close this flat and look for something new. It was a pretty hectic day, but we handled ourselves well if I do say so myself and fortunately, no one was injured.
NOTE: My sister, Kay, has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will have surgery this Thursday. It is early-stage and they are very hopeful that everything will work out. I'm asking for my family and friends to join Kay's family in prayers for her. She is a wonderful person who has been service oriented all her life. I wish her the very best of care and a bright, hopeful future. Love you, Kay
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