Dear Family, and Friends,
We have found ourselves traveling the roads of Ireland quite a lot again, and to give you an idea of how much, we have had our new car for about three weeks and it now has 3,000 miles on it. It doesn't seem that we should have that many miles, but when we think of all the places we have been just this week, it makes sense.
As we have been driving, we have noticed a few more signs of spring. For one, Ireland is quite famous for their sheep,---and now there are lots of little white lambs in the green fields. They also say Ireland has the most shades of green, which are now noticeable along the motorways. The highways are mostly lined with trees and hedges which up to now have been mostly brown. Now that they are greening up, we are impressed with the variety of colors within the hedges and rows of trees. Quite intentionally they have planted so many different kinds of trees and bushes next to each other, with so many shades of green and some blossoming, that it really beautiful.
Since we mentioned the sheep for which they are famous, we might add that they are good cash products for the farmer. Wool is used among other things, for making wool jumpers (sweaters) and wool skirts. Most of the children in Ireland wear uniforms to school and the girls mostly wear wool pleated skirts. Many of them are plaids of various colors but some are solid colors. In addition to the wool, mutton or lamb is commonly sold in the grocery stores.
Now for the quiz from last week:
Which are real Irish towns? Dunfanaghy Blessington, Carrickfergus, Leprechaunsey, Holywood, Castleknock, Smithfield
(only one is NOT) The NOT REAL Irish town is Leprechaunsey--Surprised?
What are the meanings of these words: Slan: park bench , so long, bridge (so long)
Amach: exit, greetings, school (exit)
Ramps: bridge, sidewalk, speed bumps (Speed Bumps)
Aiereforte: fortress wall, tower, airport (airport)
Ta: Hi, Yes, Bye, (yes)
Nil: No, gone, don't worry (no)
The Pykles family sent in their guesses and we were impressed with their intelligence. Anyone else have fun with it?
Our news of this week's work is basically that we are staying quite busy and being blessed with people we have met. The classes we have been leading sometimes feel like revolving door classes because commitment is hard to establish. A few people are not still coming, but others are starting to ask if they can bring friends. It keeps the numbers fairly stable, but not the roll. In general, many people who have career challenges have not learned the necessity of staying with their goals, so it is difficult for them to keep their commitments. For example, we needed to substitute for a Job Search class 2 hours away, and so we made a big effort to call, text and call again those who were supposed to come. Of the four members, (yes only 4) two attended. When we got back in touch with the man who didn't show up, but had said he would be there only a few hours earlier, he explained that he had company come and then that made him late with doing his laundry so he couldn't come. He apologized, like that solved the problem. We didn't know quite what to say to him.
In contrast we were so impressed with the two single mothers who did come--with their children to stay in the nursery. They have not had any responsible examples in their families of workers, but it makes them want to be able to do better for their children. They are trying now to get the skills and attitudes needed to be prepared to get an education and work that will change that culture and give their children a good example and desire to work.
Our efforts to help Self Reliance become established in the various wards is not automatic, but we are feeling gradual progress. And the real progress we hope for is blessing in the lives of the class members. Just today we spoke with a lady who is in the Finance class, that has been on our minds. She is expecting a baby and they have so very little money since her husband's job is pizza delivery. We feel we should be working with the husband to help him get a better job, but our communication of what we could offer seemed to not be making the translation. They are from Romania, and we just learned he is not a member. Finally today when we talked to her again, she seemed to understand our offer and she said her husband would possibly meet with us because just this morning he asked her why she kept all of the blessings from her church to herself. She was so excited and hopeful that being helpful friends to them, may open his heart to want to learn the gospel. It feels like our message had to wait for the right timing. We hope so!
But waiting for ways we can be of best help will still be the case at least for awhile with our desire to help with the refugees. This week we got an address for the refugee camp and drove there to see if we could volunteer in the middle of the day when we are not so busy. We were able to get in the gate, but the office said they don't use volunteers. It really didn't make sense to us, except that everyone we ask about it tells us that getting volunteers could become a job security threat. From there we contacted the central office who asked us to apply, and they would get back to us. Ireland has very tight entrance borders made quite secure by the fact it is an island, but it does consent to take a few hundred refugees/ year. It is so small in comparison to the refugee crisis of other European countries, so maybe they do handle them fine, but we wish we could help care for the truly needy.
We hope our letters find you all well and happy and recognizing the blessing of the gospel and your bounties in life. We encourage you to all work to keep your testimonies strong, respond to opportunities to help others, and love and support each other in the family. We send our dearest love and prayers for each of you!
Hugs and Kisses,
Grandpa and Grandma, Mom and Dad, Lynne and Lanette
We have found ourselves traveling the roads of Ireland quite a lot again, and to give you an idea of how much, we have had our new car for about three weeks and it now has 3,000 miles on it. It doesn't seem that we should have that many miles, but when we think of all the places we have been just this week, it makes sense.
As we have been driving, we have noticed a few more signs of spring. For one, Ireland is quite famous for their sheep,---and now there are lots of little white lambs in the green fields. They also say Ireland has the most shades of green, which are now noticeable along the motorways. The highways are mostly lined with trees and hedges which up to now have been mostly brown. Now that they are greening up, we are impressed with the variety of colors within the hedges and rows of trees. Quite intentionally they have planted so many different kinds of trees and bushes next to each other, with so many shades of green and some blossoming, that it really beautiful.
Since we mentioned the sheep for which they are famous, we might add that they are good cash products for the farmer. Wool is used among other things, for making wool jumpers (sweaters) and wool skirts. Most of the children in Ireland wear uniforms to school and the girls mostly wear wool pleated skirts. Many of them are plaids of various colors but some are solid colors. In addition to the wool, mutton or lamb is commonly sold in the grocery stores.
Now for the quiz from last week:
Which are real Irish towns? Dunfanaghy Blessington, Carrickfergus, Leprechaunsey, Holywood, Castleknock, Smithfield
(only one is NOT) The NOT REAL Irish town is Leprechaunsey--Surprised?
What are the meanings of these words: Slan: park bench , so long, bridge (so long)
Amach: exit, greetings, school (exit)
Ramps: bridge, sidewalk, speed bumps (Speed Bumps)
Aiereforte: fortress wall, tower, airport (airport)
Ta: Hi, Yes, Bye, (yes)
Nil: No, gone, don't worry (no)
The Pykles family sent in their guesses and we were impressed with their intelligence. Anyone else have fun with it?
Our news of this week's work is basically that we are staying quite busy and being blessed with people we have met. The classes we have been leading sometimes feel like revolving door classes because commitment is hard to establish. A few people are not still coming, but others are starting to ask if they can bring friends. It keeps the numbers fairly stable, but not the roll. In general, many people who have career challenges have not learned the necessity of staying with their goals, so it is difficult for them to keep their commitments. For example, we needed to substitute for a Job Search class 2 hours away, and so we made a big effort to call, text and call again those who were supposed to come. Of the four members, (yes only 4) two attended. When we got back in touch with the man who didn't show up, but had said he would be there only a few hours earlier, he explained that he had company come and then that made him late with doing his laundry so he couldn't come. He apologized, like that solved the problem. We didn't know quite what to say to him.
In contrast we were so impressed with the two single mothers who did come--with their children to stay in the nursery. They have not had any responsible examples in their families of workers, but it makes them want to be able to do better for their children. They are trying now to get the skills and attitudes needed to be prepared to get an education and work that will change that culture and give their children a good example and desire to work.
Our efforts to help Self Reliance become established in the various wards is not automatic, but we are feeling gradual progress. And the real progress we hope for is blessing in the lives of the class members. Just today we spoke with a lady who is in the Finance class, that has been on our minds. She is expecting a baby and they have so very little money since her husband's job is pizza delivery. We feel we should be working with the husband to help him get a better job, but our communication of what we could offer seemed to not be making the translation. They are from Romania, and we just learned he is not a member. Finally today when we talked to her again, she seemed to understand our offer and she said her husband would possibly meet with us because just this morning he asked her why she kept all of the blessings from her church to herself. She was so excited and hopeful that being helpful friends to them, may open his heart to want to learn the gospel. It feels like our message had to wait for the right timing. We hope so!
But waiting for ways we can be of best help will still be the case at least for awhile with our desire to help with the refugees. This week we got an address for the refugee camp and drove there to see if we could volunteer in the middle of the day when we are not so busy. We were able to get in the gate, but the office said they don't use volunteers. It really didn't make sense to us, except that everyone we ask about it tells us that getting volunteers could become a job security threat. From there we contacted the central office who asked us to apply, and they would get back to us. Ireland has very tight entrance borders made quite secure by the fact it is an island, but it does consent to take a few hundred refugees/ year. It is so small in comparison to the refugee crisis of other European countries, so maybe they do handle them fine, but we wish we could help care for the truly needy.
We hope our letters find you all well and happy and recognizing the blessing of the gospel and your bounties in life. We encourage you to all work to keep your testimonies strong, respond to opportunities to help others, and love and support each other in the family. We send our dearest love and prayers for each of you!
Hugs and Kisses,
Grandpa and Grandma, Mom and Dad, Lynne and Lanette
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