Pettit's Highland Highlights: Maybe It IS Fall-Time Harvest!

Dear Family and Friends,
As we look back on this week we think it has zipped by--- in more than one way --the time has passed quickly, but maybe that is because the scenery has been constantly zipping by. We have been in the car so much that perhaps it has been a time warp. We realized this morning that we have only been in Dublin one day in the entire week, but such good experiences we have had.
As we think we mentioned before, with the summer now past, the efforts to get classes started and get routines going for Self Reliance is really coming together and making us happy with the "harvest" of our efforts.

So here goes a review of our travels and week's experiences:
Monday was a really fun day with Steve and Marilyn Leininger in Northern Ireland: Giant's Causeway, lunch in a quaint little café, and the rope bridge which had been built up to be a wonderful, scary thing. Well, we guess it is a matter of perspective (Ireland is a little smaller than America), but the bridge took all of 30 seconds to cross. Not very long, not very high. Oh well. The scenery was pretty. We also stopped in the Belfast area to see a castle, but it was closed. We felt a little like the scene in Princess Bride, except that no one came to the little door. We hurried back to Dublin in time for English class - or perhaps we should say a little late, thanks to Elder Pettit's wrong turn trying to find a castle. Oh well. We really did have a pleasant day.

Tuesday was the day that we did stay home in Dublin, but it was quite a busy day. Because we got back late on Monday night, Grandma had to hurry to make muffins (she's going to write a book titled "Preparing Food in the Shortest Time Possible") for the district meeting. After the meeting, we picked up Steve and Marilyn and took them to Trinity College in downtown Dublin to see the Book of Kells. Because it was "Freshies Day" at Trinity, the campus was crawling with students. It looked like a scene right out of "Chariots of Fire." We tried to get them in to see the first edition of the Book of Mormon, but were surprised that they only let people see it during the summer because the students are on campus. (Really???) We decided to leave Steve and Marilyn downtown and we returned home to get ready for Institute class. They took of tour of Dublin and seemed to really have a good time. Good thing we came home because Grandpa was called to the Sisters' flat to meet with a repairman. The traffic was terrible, and what should have been a twenty-minute drive turned into an hour (each way.) The starting time for institute was looming, and preparation time waning, but Grandma pulled it out. Have you ever cooperated on a lesson while one of you is in the car on the phone? Grandma was also making cinnamon rolls for the institute class while she was preparing the lesson. A real blessing came in the lesson, however, as the Holy Ghost was doing the teaching. We had greater-than-usual participation by the students, and they seemed to really be learning some very important doctrine. It really was super fun, and we are so grateful for the blessings we witnessed.

Wednesday Steve and Marilyn took a train to Cork, and we were faced with choosing between three good options: go to Bray for a finance class, Terenure for a devotional, (both quite local) or Belfast to attend the Stake Self Reliance Committee meeting. We decided to go to Belfast (2 hour drive), and we were so grateful we did. The committee meetings in that stake are just getting going, and it was important that we be there to watch the process and give our input. We felt, once again, that the Lord is in charge, and He will make the right things happen.

The next morning we were double-checking the arrangements for SR training for a missionary before he went home, when we discovered that our information was wrong and he was in Tralee, where we were going that evening. So we threw together our things and took off 4 hours earlier than planned. We were so blessed to be able to teach him while we were already going to be there because Tralee is on the far south-east side of Ireland and a trip back would have been so hard to do--and he only had a few days of his mission left. The training went well and we were relieved to be able to complete our group of returning missionaries for this transfer.

Our plans to be in Tralee to see their class has been in place for a few weeks now, but the unexpected joy was in how well the class went. Getting the branch to start a class was not easy, but once the idea of having the couple missionaries teach it, it has been great! They started the finance class with just the Branch President and his wife who invited her two non-member friends. (Since then another group has started in the branch). The really fun thing about the group is that the non-members are almost the most excited about it. They came on time and were ready to go! When the Sister Missionary asked for a report on their commitments, it was amazing what detail they gave and the level of commitments they have been reaching for. They are working especially hard to build an emergency fund and the lesson was to continue that and start a food storage. It seemed like the one lady was especially eager to know what the prophet is telling us to do.

That night , Thursday, Marilyn and Steve met us, and we stayed in Tralee so that we could have another fun adventure the next day. The Leiningers had done their homework on Ireland and knew about Skellig Micheal, the filming place of the last scene in Star Wars, which is near to Tralee. The rocky island was a refuge for Catholic monks in the 6th Century. It began as just a huge rock outcropping, but we have learned that they carried in soil, carved the steps seen in the movie, and of course built the monastery. It is seven miles from shore and somewhat restricted to visitors. They arranged for an excursion--but it was dependent on the weather--which ended up being one of the windiest days since last winter--and we could not go out. Instead we walked about a mile to the end of the bay and viewed it from the steep cliffs along that shore. Equipped with props, we did some amazing filming ---that doesn't look much like the movie, but was very fun. We wondered how long it took the Star Wars crew to get a day that was as calm as is in the movie. We worried that we could get blown off the cliff edges especially when we were laughing so hard at Steve trying to get the cloak on in the wind!

After our filming experience, we drove on to Cork, where we held a graduation celebration for a Finance class Friday night. This, also small branch, has now 'graduated" a Starting and Growing Your Own Business class and a Finance class, with a Job Search class to begin soon. We are proud of them because they also thought they were too small to be able to get any groups together. We had made candy leis for the graduation along with rolled up "diplomas" of a talk by Elder Holland and best of all, we think they felt proud of themselves. We drove home late that night--but glad to sleep at home. Marilyn and Steve stayed in Cork and flew to Scotland the next morning.

Saturday, we caught our breath a little, but decided that since we would be going in the general direction of Sligo, to leave in time to catch the class there before going further north for Sunday. Once again, we felt we were guided to be there. The sharing of the faith and blessings that have resulted in the lives of those who are taking the class were stories too long to share now, but so remarkable. It is truly humbling to hear these good people share their love of the gospel blessings--more accurately, the miracles, they have experienced. Whereas we are supposed to be strengthening them, they are strengthening us. They are so genuine and so good to us.

Our accommodations for that night had not been easy to make. Anything reasonably priced was sold out, so we stayed in a less than wonderful B&B. When we were getting ready for bed late that night and knowing that it would not be the best sleep ever, Grandpa remembered that Grandpa Lewis Godfrey had served his mission without purse or script and had to rely on whatever accommodations were offered him. It made us realize more than ever how blessed we really were, and of course we were able to make our commitment the next morning in Londonderry. You may remember the song "Londonderry Aire" which surely must have been about this beautiful city, but it is interesting to us to know that it was a city quite divided by religion. In the center of the city is a beautiful modern "Peace Bridge". We visited there before with the Clydes and loved seeing the ancient walled city, but didn't realize that on one side of the river lived the Catholics and on the other side, the Protestants---and they were not friendly. Even now the city name is controversial, with some preferring to call it Derry and leave out the "London" because they are not a part of the UK. They ward goes by Foyle Ward to avoid any bias. (true!) Our presentation in sacrament meeting and joint priesthood/Relief Society went well, although they are a little ways off from getting things started.

After the meeting, we were invited to the house of a newly-married young couple whom we had met through the YSA program. We attended their wedding in the Foyle ward in August, and it was so fun to have them invite us to their home. We knew it was a sacrifice for this new couple to feed us, but we decided that it would be good to get to know them a little better. They are such a good couple with a bright future, and, although it took awhile to prepare dinner (2 hours!), the food was good and we had a wonderful visit. We are proud of them and the standards they are keeping. They are renting a "cottage" in the middle of a small village about 20 miles from Londonderry. The setting is idyllic, but a real surprise came when we asked them when the cottage was built. Can you guess? It was built in 1610. The original part of the cottage is over 400 years old! It has been renovated and is really quite cozy, but I don't think we've ever been in a house that old! There are probably very few structures in America that were built that long ago. It gave us a new perspective.

Since dinner was so long in coming, we left later than planned, and were certainly tired when we got home. We enjoyed just sitting down and listening to the Women's Conference--and thinking of you all having seen it recently. It was good food for our tired souls. We have literally been to every corner of Ireland this week. Today (Monday) we have been catching our breath a little, and have just finished English class tonight. As always, it is fun to work with these eager young immigrants who are making such an effort to learn English.

The week has been tiring, but very satisfying. We are amazed at how much the Lord is involved in moving this work forward. Things could not be "hastened" as they are without His intervention. We are continually watching as miracles unfold and hearts are changed, and we are grateful for the blessings we feel. We are learning so much - about ourselves, about how the Lord works, about prophecies being fulfilled. We are looking forward to listening to General Conference this coming weekend and getting our "buckets filled" once again. As Elder Holland put it: "It is no small thing for us to declare to the world that there are Apostles and Prophets on the earth again - but we do."

The Church is true, and the Lord leads it. We are loving this mission, and are so grateful for your prayers in our behalf. We pray for you and think about you constantly.

Love,

Grandma and Grandpa

Mother and Dad

Lynne and Lanette

Elder and Sister Pettit

Aye!