Mission 1/2 over. . . and more wanderings

Ruins of  Caerlaverock Castle

Hello everyone! My goodness, I've had a hard time finding minutes to do my blog--I know, no excuses. But honestly, I'm just busier and busier at the mission office. My days are full and our evenings are spent teaching with the missionaries, attending baptisms and yes, even the office. We just welcomed 9 new sister missionaries and seven elders to our mission and transferred missionaries all over Scotland and Ireland. Guess what; one of the new missionaries is from my hometown of Flushing, Michigan and graduated from my high school. His name is Elder Hicks. He got quite a kick out of my graduating in 1959 and he just graduated last June! We had fun talking about places we both knew.  Speaking of places, let me take you back through pictures to Giffordtown. If you remember, I couldn't get them to post last time. So here goes!

Love the sign!!

Giffordtown Hall

Standing in the middle of the only street in town!

                                                               

     Giffordtown was fun to find and explore; no gas station, no store, no fast food. Pretty much just a little quaint town where people live and are happy with very little.  

Gifford  Farm 

                           On to our next adventure . . .  Caerlaverock Castle. With its own authentic moat and has the shape of a triangle. We found this one in Dumfries Scotland about 2 hours from Edinburgh. Very well preserved ruins with many sculptures still intact even though it was built in the 1200's.

  I need to start keeping track of how many castles we've seen and how many we have yet to see. I only have 8 months left to see them all!                                                                                           Our next adventure was our 1st "Burns Dinner" Everyone in Scotland celebrates the life of the author/poet      Robert Burns. The restaurants are full to capacity and many private dinner parties are held all over the country. It is a night of bagpipes, dancing, singing old Scottish ballads and lots of poetry reading. But the biggest part of the evening is the introduction & carving of the Haggis. At the beginning of the evening, a man dressed in full kilt attire dances out to the bagpipe music with a tray of Haggis (formed into a shape like a big pot roast or ham).  A poem was read and then another man wielding a big sword whacks the Haggis into two pieces.  The dinner was mashed potatoes, turnips and, of course, Haggis! My companion had never tried Haggis--see the picture below. I decided that night (my 3rd time for Haggis) that I really don't like it--I don't care how you fix it!

The ceremonial "bringing forth the Haggis" dance!

                                                     

Haggis up close & personal!!

 Our next adventure was a 3-day trip to Dublin, Ireland.  We made the trip specifically to see/hear the General Relief Society President, Sister Bingham. She & her husband and a General Authority Elder Tonycliff
& his wife all spoke at a Sunday night fireside. I'm not sure how or why they came to Dublin, but it was sure a special meeting. Sister Bingham and the General Authority also spoke in the Sacrament meeting. We flew to Ireland (only a 1-hour flight) and then used taxi and bus service to get around. During the day we used the tourist Hop On-Hop off bus.  We stayed in a little cottage owned by the mission that was right behind the church. No one told us to bring things like soap, towels--you know, the bare necessities! :-)  So we roughed it a little--maybe more than a little, but it was free. This was a total historic journey. I loved Trinity College, and the Book of Kells, which are lavishly decorated manuscripts of the four Gospels (in Latin) dating back to 521 AD. Trinity College was founded in 1592.

Elcho Castle - closed for the season, we'll go again in the Spring.

We drove all the way to Perth to have our picture
taken with this statue!

       

O' Boy, Haggis for the 1st time!!

A snapshot of beautiful Scone Castle. We went there for the
 Snowdrop {winter flowers} Festival

I saw my first Highland Coo (cow) while at Scone Castle. they are the coolest cows ever. . .and I know my cows!

Isn't he cute!

So that's a few adventures, but this is Saturday and we just arrived back at our flat after another whole day of adventure--fill you in next time!

NOTE: Hi mom, sorry it has been so long between blogs--I've just been very busy enjoying my mission! I wish you were able to visit me here. I know you would love it. Scotland is such a diverse country. Edinburgh, where I am, is such a big & really old city and then today we drove about 2 1/2 hours and found mountains with snow on the tops. We drove along the Loch Lomond lake for miles and miles with mountains on either side. Just beautiful! Then we went to Pucks Glen and hiked for about an hour straight up, it seemed. We saw beautiful old trees and several waterfalls. I'll probably me sore for church tomorrow. Did I tell you that I teach a Sunday school class for young adults from 12-18 quite a challenge with such a large age spread. But, I'm enjoying it most days at least--sometimes they just sit and act like their are bored too death!! I think it's just their age, can't be my teaching Ha Ha! I will set a time up with Kay to talk to you on the phone soon. We'll just have to figure out our time differences. Love you to pieces and hope you are doing well. 

NOTE:  Hi Holly Dale. This is your ggma just writing a note to you to say hi and tell you that I love you and miss you. When I get home from my mission I promise you I'm coming to visit you. I might have to share your room, would that be ok? I've been wondering if you play hockey too or do you do something else you really enjoy? I wish you would draw me a picture and send it to me so I could hang it up in my office. I was also wondering what your favorite book is and what your favorite toy is. Please give mommy, daddy and Levi big hugs for me and consider yourself hugged with a great big kiss on the cheek. Love you and I will be waiting for a picture.

WANDERINGS to Giffordtown

What a wonderful "almost 9 months" this mission has been. Our mission had 407 baptisms in 2017. How wonderful it is to attend these baptisms, as each week there is at least one if not more friends baptized. Many of them my companion or I have helped teach, so we have a real bond with them. Our ward is growing by leaps and bounds. Our Chinese new members are strong in the gospel and continually invite their friends to join them at church. Most of them will return to China and being members there will be a real challenge for them. They have strong testimonies of the Gospel and I'm sure will influence many when they return to China.

One of our senior couples (The Winters) are finishing their mission this week so we will have another couple (The Helps) taking their places at the mission office. They were both born & raised in Africa and have fairly strong accents, although they have lived in the states for 30 years. It will be fun getting to know them. We actually have 4 new couples joining our mission over the next few weeks, but they will be in outlying regions of Scotland/Ireland serving in various roles.

WANDERINGS: We have visited some interesting places--New Lanark, Scotland was a thriving cotton processing plant in the 1800's. It is a whole village built on the Clyde River that has some fairly powerful rapids, which, of course, provided the power for the mills. Robert Owen was the founder of New Lanark and the cotton mills. He had a vision as to how people should be living and working. He opened schools, built houses for people to live in inexpensively, introduced the "8-hour workday, changed the age to 12 (from 8) for working at the mill and built shops that employees could shop in cheaper than in town. For those of us who have "Endicott Johnson" memories; kind of reminds me of the methods they used for their employees. We finished our day there hiking 2 miles along the river's edge, sometimes with steep dropoffs on the side of the path--scarey!
                                                                                                               
            Clyde River - New Lanark

Along the path of the river

                                                     

T

Village of New Lanark 

Our next WANDERING was to "The Scottish Deer Centre" It was just that! Lots of deer, but only so, so on our rating scale of wanderings. Here are a couple of pictures & you'll see what I mean--just lots of deer!! But as we left the deer park we saw the "SIGN" of all signs--"Giffordtown" to the right.

Happy New Year! and some wanderings

Entrance to the Edinburgh Christmas Market  

My daughter, Lorre, came to visit over the Christmas holiday. It was a rush at the office until she arrived, trying to get everything caught up for a few days vacation. I actually had Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday off, then worked Thursday & Friday while Lorre was in London. She went to London by herself, by train (only 3 1/2 hours)-- very brave! It is the first days off I've had since I started my mission in May. We packed a lot into a few days; had a schedule and stuck to it. We walked the mile between the Edinburgh Castle and the Holyrood Palace & toured the palace--darn, the queen was not there; Lorre was sure she had an appointment with her! We ate typical Scottish foods & Lorre tried Haggas, which she likes better than I do. We took plenty of taxis and buses and walked what seemed like miles and miles. We saw a stage play, Aladan, I took her to my two favorite restaurants, we went to Mary Kings Close (which is a tour of how the poor & middle-class people lived in the early 1800's). A "Close" is an alleyway with dwellings on either side. On Christmas Eve Lorre and I  spent the evening with one of our newly baptized sisters at her flat eating traditional mince pies and then

Lorre touching Greyfriar's Bobby's nose for good luck

we all took a taxi to St. John's Cathedral at 10 pm for the special organ music before midnight mass. Keep in mind that Lorre hasn't even had a nap and we are going to midnight mass! The church is a famous, very old Episcopal cathedral. We went to the mission home early Christmas morning and helped prepare breakfast for 18 missionaries. We played games after breakfast and then had some beautiful piano music. During all this time, my companion, Sister Call, was with her family in Ireland. Senior missionaries do not have to be together all the time like the young missionaries, but actually most of the time we are--I have missed her and it has been very lonely since Lorre left Sunday morning. I hope you enjoy the pictures of our Edinburgh wanderings.

At the theater to see Aladan!

                                                   Lorre in front of the Elephant House
                                                (where much of Harry Potter was written)

I just loved all of the cards, notes & pictures I received from family and friends. What a surprise to receive the envelope full of cards from Amy Martin.  And, oh my goodness my grandchildren and great-grandchildren need to stop changing/growing so fast.


Could I get a little serious now . . .  I am almost half-way through my mission, which is very hard to believe.  I truly feel like a different person than I was last year at this same time. I'm much stronger emotionally and indeed just much "stronger" from walking so much. I feel younger and I'm certainly more adventuresome.  But the biggest change is in my humility and compassion,  I have found that I can live with so few personal belongings, I can live without a lot of personal belongings, without a clothes dryer and without the safety net of family and friends close by. My testimony of my Saviour Jesus Christ has grown by leaps and bounds. I know that God lives, that my Savior Jesus Christ lives, I know that the Holy Ghost is there to guide me and to teach me.  I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true,  and I'm so grateful for the strong testimony that I have of knowing that families can be together forever. My Temple marriage to Larry is my most prized possession, just knowing we will be together for eternity is such a blessing.  I pray that I can seek after Christlike attributes this next half of my mission and pray that each of you will be touched by the Saviour's love that He has for each of us individually.

Mia - one of my favorite restaurants. Yummy food/good company.

Lorre at the Holyrood Palace, waiting for the Queen!

Ruins of the original monastery at Holyrood Palace.

Famous Victoria Row - cool Harry Potter store here.

The Palace

         

Ruins of Holyrood Monastery

NOTE: Hi Mom! Sorry, it has been so long since my last blog==I just got carried away with Christmas and getting ready to have Lorre visit. My mission is busier than I ever thought it would be and I love it. I'm in the office every day from 7 am until 5:30 (if lucky, sometimes much later). I work lots of hours trying to find new flats for the missionaries to live in and also closing flats that we are not going to use anymore. Plus lots of other things that fill my days right up. My visit by Lorre was lots of fun and she loved touring Edinburgh. I made four batches of peanut butter fudge and they all turned out perfect (a miracle). I gave all the missionaries in Edinburgh a container of fudge, plus Lorre and I ate our share LOL. We didn't even make popcorn--just ate lots of fudge! The weather has been rainy for days and it is dark by 3:30 pm, so we are now going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. Matthew & Jennifer are coming to visit in March and then Andy's family in May. Lorre & I are thinking about going to Spain when I finish my mission. She would come here to meet me when my mission ends in November and we would go from Scotland to Spain. Spain isn't that far away. Then I plan on visiting each of my children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren from there. I've got big plans, hope they all work out! Well, mom, I hope you are feeling good and staying your usual happy self. I sure do miss you and will look forward to a visit with you after my mission is over. Much love, your missionary daughter-Sister Gifford

NOTE: Hello, little Holly Dale. This is ggma writing to you. I loved the pictures of you and your family shopping for a Christmas tree. Sure reminds me of when we lived in Vermont. What did you get for Christmas from Santa? What was your favorite gift? Have you and Levi been able to go sledding or ice-skating--I bet Levi is really good on skates since he plays hockey. Why don't you draw me a picture that I can hang up by my desk at my office? I would really love that. Maybe Levi could do one too. I love you a whole bunch- can you give your family a big hug from me? 

Thanksgiving & After Thanksgiving Wanderings

FIRST I'LL START OFF WITH PICTURES THAT WOULDN'T POST LAST TIME

 

Yummy Sister Gifford Sauce!! This is Sister Donaldson, the President's wife.

My Italian "sauce" dinner for 40
Missionaries

This is the Mission home kitchen & my
garlic bread in the foreground :-)

         The following are pictures from the Mining Museum

Mining Shaft - deep & dark

It was dark down there!!

                     

Engine Room - original engine from the "1800's"

Thanksgiving table set for 22 missionaries & yes
it really is just one long table in the mission home!

Chalk the dark bird up to "Scottish ovens!"

Senior & Jr Missionaries - Seniors did the cooking!

      These are our Edinburgh Missionaries

O.K. we are caught up in pictures--hope you enjoyed. Now let me tell you about a fascinating week at the office (well maybe fascinating isn't the right word). To start with two of our young sisters on a dark winding road lost control and ditched their car, totaling it. The Lord took good care of them as the only injury was one slight concussion. But it shook the sisters up. They came to the mission home for a couple of days to rest and de-stress. Then we discovered that two of our Elders were living in a haunted house (believe it or not) and so in one day, I had to find a new flat in Dublin, no less. Which I accomplished and they are at peace now (the missionaries, not the bad spirits). Next two sisters, again in Dublin, were threatened by a homeless person with a hypodermic needle as a weapon. She had been watching the sisters and followed them to their flat. They gave her what money they had, so the President figures they aren't safe in that area. So guess what--another new flat to find in one day in Dublin. I'm convinced that this "flat finding" in one day or even a week is truly the hand of God in the works. I'd go into real estate when I get home, but I know it will never be the same! Nor would I want it to be.

Thanksgiving was quite an adventure! It was a regular office day for us because they don't celebrate the holiday here. We were back and forth from office/desk to the kitchen all day--quite tiring to say the least. Then there was the clean-up! Oh boy! It was worth it all when each young missionary filed by to say thank you. They were from England, Romania, Taiwan, China and, of course, the US. After a wonderful evening, we went next door to the church to help teach an investigator. The Lord's work is never done, and we are finding some of the best times are when we are helping to teach the Gospel.

Saturday we started the day at a private school across the street from the church/mission home at a Holiday Bazaar. Didn't buy a thing but enjoyed mingling with the Scots.
                                                                         

At the Holiday Bazaar

Private School across from the church/mission home

                            After the Bazaar, we visited Dollhousie Castle and it turned out they had a Falconary Habitat, which was amazing. Thought my grandkids & great-grandkids would enjoy seeing these pictures. We got to watch them feed the birds, which was pretty gross, but educational -:)

                                                                                       

Two young women ran the Habitat and actually held the birds and cuddled with them. We kept our distance since
they weren't used to us! The white owl above was at a
wedding today, he held the wedding ring in his beak at
the ceremony. Pretty neat huh? There were probably around
25 birds and most of them outside. Did I mention that feeding
time was pretty gross?

My last picture shows snow on the mountain caps just outside
Edinburgh. We drove up to the ski slope and found it to be
very busy.

NOTE: Well Hi mom--I don't have too much more to say (which is unlike me), but want you to know you are always in my prayers and I miss you a lot! Stay well and stay happy.

NOTE: Hi Levi, how are you. It's ggma writing and I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you. I'll bet you are a great big brother to Holly Dale. I loved the picture of you in your hockey uniform. How is your team doing? When I get back to the United States after my mission I plan on coming to visit you. So until then, keep happy and help mom and dad all you can. Love you bunches.

                                       

Full weeks and Full weekends & some Wandering

Sister Call & Me enjoying the evening!

Wednesday evening we had 5 baptisms--yes, five! One right after another. Pretty special evening. I'm posting a picture of those that were baptized and the missionaries that taught them. It is wonderful to watch Nicholas & Bahadir (newly baptized) pass the Sacrament they are both wonderful and it is such a joy to know that we helped teach them. They are both French and doing well at learning English. Our other friend, Nicky, who was recently baptized is coming to church every week and is really strong in the Gospel. Sister Call and myself have been assigned to be her Visiting Teachers. Oh yes, with everything else we are doing we have to find time to do our Visiting--we have 5 sisters assigned to us. My Sunday school class is going well. I taught Self-Reliance through Education & used my sweetheart husband as the example of someone who succeeded through education. I cried, but just a little!

Sister Call and I were asked to decorate the church foyer for the Building's 50th-anniversary celebration. We did the best we could with the time we had, which wasn't much! It was a pretty big deal and several members of Parliament attended. We shopped for decorations and ran to one store or another every day last week and then decorated on Thursday night. Friday was the big event and almost 200 people attended from all over Scotland. Did I mention that this was also exchange week for missionaries coming and going (Doesn't that seem to roll around fast?) It's every 6 weeks, but sure seems like the weeks just roll into one another. After taking the decorations down we readied ourselves for some wandering. Off to the National Miner's Museum. Now, this may sound boring, but it was actually one of my favorite things we have done. An actual miner was our tour guide and took us down to the mining shaft. A little freaky. Sister Call & I both have miners in our ancestry so this was an interesting adventure. I found out that the pasties the miners took down with them for their lunch were made with one side pudding (dessert) and the other half savory with meat.
I had never heard that before. I learned to make pasties from my husband's grandmother, Grandma Hansen.       

Because it was exchange week, we spent lots of extra hours at the mission office. We had 7 missionaries leave to go home and 13 new ones arrived. We usually help our mission president's
wife with some of the cooking, but this week the housekeeper/cook was not able to be there so we each sort of took a day of cooking & organized it. I planned dinner for 40 missionaries. I made Andy's (my son) Italian Sauce, cheated and bought the meatballs, had salad and my now famous garlic bread. Brownies and ice cream for dessert. I have posted some pictures of that fun day. Boy was I pooped! Well maybe I'll post some pictures, I'm having trouble with the computer & phone working together. Will have to post the mining pictures and the Italian dinner pictures some other time.

Of course, Scotland does not celebrate Thanksgiving, so the office staff will be in the office and cooking up a Thanksgiving dinner at the same time. Our President & Sister Donaldson are from England, so we are treating them to an "old-fashioned American Thanksgiving dinner." I am making baked corn, cranberry fluff, and pumpkin bread. I wish all of my American friends & family a very Happy Thanksgiving. To all my children, I love you and I will surely miss you.

PS: Turkeys are hard to find when the country doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving LOL


NOTE: Well, hello mother! how are you doing? Can you believe that I have been on my mission 7 months? My goodness, how time flies. It is fairly cold here now and lots of cold rain. Hoods & umbrellas are very useful. Hoods are easier, but really mess my hair up! I'm starting to calendar plans for Christmas while Lorre is here. We are going to see a stage play, Aladdin and, of course, to my favorite castle. It will be just the two of us for Christmas because my companion will have family here and they will be traveling during Christmas to Ireland. I have 2 days after Christmas off from the office. The day after Christmas is Boxer Day here, which is a national holiday. Lorre and I will be spending that day on the Royal Mile which is the mile between Edinburgh Castle and Holywood Palace, where the Queen of England stays while she is in Edinburgh. They fly a special flag when she is staying at the palace. So anyway it will be a fun time. Take care and stay well. Lots of love from your daughter.

NOTE: Hello Grayson. Sure was fun to talk with you and seeing the special things you brought back from Disney World. I loved that sword, but just remember not to hit the dogs with it because then you can't play with it. I think you will be making lots of interesting art-work at school for Thanksgiving and Christmas. you'll be able to bring it all home and decorate the house. If you can, take a ride around your neighborhood in your car on Thanksgiving day and pretend I'm with you. Then you can tell me all we saw together on the ride next time we talk on the phone. Well, I sure do love you. Be good and help mommy and daddy all you can. Love ggma


                                                                                   

Pictures of the building being built. Real Scottish Heather in the centerpiece

                                                                                       

5 new members==very special

 

Look better in person!!

My helpers!

A BUSY LIFE . . . but still some time for wanderings!

I never knew the life of a missionary could be so busy! We are in the office from 7 am - 5:30 pm. We are gone almost every evening teaching with the missionaries. We very seldom get back to our flat until around 8 pm. Saturdays we try to clean our flat early, do a little laundry and then head out for some wandering and lunch. We are determined to see everything there is to see in Scotland, and as much of Ireland as we can while serving our mission. But in the meantime, here are some other things that are going on. I've been asked to take a long-term assignment teaching the youth Sunday School class. They can;t extend an official calling to a full-time missionary but can make an assignment. My call is large 8-10 and is made up of primarily 17 yr olds. I have taught six weeks and I'm really enjoying it I've also been asked to head-up a committee for RS to take care of sending birthday cards, event calendar items, etc. to the RS sisters. My companion, Sister Call, is the organist and heads up the ward music as well as being the genealogy specialist. Our ward seems big, but most of the people are visitors--so we do feel like we are really needed. This week we have an assignment for the 50th celebration of our ward building. Lots of dignitaries are attending (some parliament members) so they have asked us to make the foyer look really special as a welcome/staging area. We are so busy during the week that our Saturdays are really important to us. Saturdays are the only days we can wear slacks & we appreciate that! Actually, we stay in our missionary attire with our badges on until we go to bed at night or 9 pm. You can believe me when I say that I'm usually in bed by 9 pm. :-). We do a lot of walking and lots of stairs, so we get plenty of exercise. No one has elevators, not even stores--so if a flat we are going to inspect is on the 3rd floor, it's all stairs! Sometimes it seems like a thousand steps--oh my gosh sometimes it's quite miserable. But my heart must be getting pretty strong!

The office has been very busy . . .with the colder weather coming on and the missionary flats all turning their heat on I've had to do what we call a "safe house" check on all 107 flats to make sure there fire alarms and CO detectors are working (and that they have both). Last year two Romanian missionaries died in their flat as a result of CO poisoning. Along the same lines, I have had many flats have their boilers (everyone has a boiler that heats the water for both heating and faucet/shower use) burst, leak or just plain stop working--so no heat or hot water until I get someone out to fix the boiler. I had to go into the office before church today to solve an emergency boiler problem. It all keeps me really busy, because along with all these "little problems" there are always new flats to find and some to close down. Does it sound like a crazy mission??? Well, I guess it might be, but I really do love it. Yes, a lot of it is temporal, but there is always spiritual mixed in.

Saturday's wanderings: We were on the way to see Edinburgh Castle, but never quite made it. We decided on the Oiink for lunch, which is down on the Royal Mile, which means you have to park far away and walk. They pull the meat off a whole pig and put it on a yummy roll with your choice of stuffing flavors and sauce. I will post a couple of pig pictures that I took outside the window. It was worth the walk and wait--it was delicious.

The Oiink - Really Yummy!

After lunch we started walking to the castle and found ourselves exploring every "Close" we came upon. A close is an alley dating back to the early 1800's where the really poor people lived. We found all kinds of interesting stuff and also some gardens that were completely hidden away. I took lots of pictures and as you view them just remember that these were taken in various closes. We never did make it to the castle--that's for another Saturday.

NOTE: Hi mom, just catching up with my blog and wondering how you've been doing. Anything interesting going on there? How about the family--what's new? It is starting to get a little cooler here, but milder than I expected it to be. I'm not wearing a winter coat yet, but will probably need to start this week. They say it has been an unusually warm fall and much drier than usual. Lorre is coming to visit on Christmas Eve. She will stay almost a week. I'm very excited. I'm really looking forward to showing her around Scotland. Matt and Jennifer are coming to visit in March for a week. Then Andy and Heather & children in I think May. I hope you are well and just remember I love you bunches mom!!

NOTE: Hi little Ainsley. how are you doing? Are you having a fun time at school? I was looking at pictures of you and Grayson on my telephone last night and couldn't believe how much you have grown. I love the picture of you in your dance class. Are you still going to dance classes? I also liked the video of you and Grayson at the beach running into the water. Is it too cold to go to the beach now? ggma loves you to pieces--here is a great big hug and kiss!!!

Love to all,
Sister Gifford

Lovely old building in background.--loved the plants found this in a close.

A close filled with old statues.