Dearest Family and great Friends,
We start this letter with news of the United Kingdom, and the history-making voting results that are facing this area. We imagine that you are quite aware of the news yourselves, but we thought it may be of interest for you to know what the locals are saying and the general feeling here. First of all, we should explain that we don't watch TV even a little, and yes we do have internet that pops up headlines, but we have not followed the political opinion issues closely--except through the members we talk to. The idea of Great Britain leaving the EU has been a little bit of discussion ever since we arrived, but it has seemed like most people thought it was just a nutty waste of time, (and something to speculate over like the crazy options for the U.S. elections) ---until lately, and then we have been feeling like quite a bit of sentiment was rising, especially in Northern Ireland which is of course part of Great Britain.
The Republic of Ireland saints have not said much about it, but it is easy to overlook that the two parts of the Emerald Isle are two countries with entirely separate politics---and the decision to stay in the EU or not is not even partially the business of the Republic. We share all this background because feeling the strong opinions of those who favored leaving the EU, we were not surprised when it indeed won out. But yesterday we had a fun dinner with some members (in the Republic) and the discussion bounced around between the football (soccer) finals, the EU vote, and the immigrant issues. It was indeed lively!
The surprising thing for us to learn was that the economists of the UK were seriously surprised with the result. They did not think it would pass and so no plans were made for what would happen to the stock market. Reminders again, that we don't follow the news, just the feedback from real people--and now there is a bit of a shock wave hitting everyone. Apparently the polls were heavily stacked towards the proposition failing, but the reason it passed is that the younger people (who are not happy that it passed because of the ramifications that it will have for the future,) were complacent and didn't vote as heavily as the older generations who did not want their earned economic strength to be lost as Europe faces the challenges of the refugee crisis.
So what does this have to do with our mission? We honestly are not sure, but we feel it will be making some impact not too far down the road. As the details of the consequences unfold, there are speculations about many things to be affected. Some will be economics, some will be just red tape: the now invisible border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will not remain invisible, nor will passage to England be so easy. It is quite certain that the refugee issues will become more serious and the prejudices become more obvious.
As it is right now, we are learning that there are a number of places that house refuges, but most refugees in Ireland now are from Africa from some years ago. Some have been here as long as ten years and have been moved from one facility to another, but all of them are basically the same. The government has purchased older hotels and each family is given a hotel room. They have a small fridge and a microwave but nothing else for a kitchen because they eat all three meals in a common area. Regardless of the family size they have one room.
We start this letter with news of the United Kingdom, and the history-making voting results that are facing this area. We imagine that you are quite aware of the news yourselves, but we thought it may be of interest for you to know what the locals are saying and the general feeling here. First of all, we should explain that we don't watch TV even a little, and yes we do have internet that pops up headlines, but we have not followed the political opinion issues closely--except through the members we talk to. The idea of Great Britain leaving the EU has been a little bit of discussion ever since we arrived, but it has seemed like most people thought it was just a nutty waste of time, (and something to speculate over like the crazy options for the U.S. elections) ---until lately, and then we have been feeling like quite a bit of sentiment was rising, especially in Northern Ireland which is of course part of Great Britain.
The Republic of Ireland saints have not said much about it, but it is easy to overlook that the two parts of the Emerald Isle are two countries with entirely separate politics---and the decision to stay in the EU or not is not even partially the business of the Republic. We share all this background because feeling the strong opinions of those who favored leaving the EU, we were not surprised when it indeed won out. But yesterday we had a fun dinner with some members (in the Republic) and the discussion bounced around between the football (soccer) finals, the EU vote, and the immigrant issues. It was indeed lively!
The surprising thing for us to learn was that the economists of the UK were seriously surprised with the result. They did not think it would pass and so no plans were made for what would happen to the stock market. Reminders again, that we don't follow the news, just the feedback from real people--and now there is a bit of a shock wave hitting everyone. Apparently the polls were heavily stacked towards the proposition failing, but the reason it passed is that the younger people (who are not happy that it passed because of the ramifications that it will have for the future,) were complacent and didn't vote as heavily as the older generations who did not want their earned economic strength to be lost as Europe faces the challenges of the refugee crisis.
So what does this have to do with our mission? We honestly are not sure, but we feel it will be making some impact not too far down the road. As the details of the consequences unfold, there are speculations about many things to be affected. Some will be economics, some will be just red tape: the now invisible border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will not remain invisible, nor will passage to England be so easy. It is quite certain that the refugee issues will become more serious and the prejudices become more obvious.
As it is right now, we are learning that there are a number of places that house refuges, but most refugees in Ireland now are from Africa from some years ago. Some have been here as long as ten years and have been moved from one facility to another, but all of them are basically the same. The government has purchased older hotels and each family is given a hotel room. They have a small fridge and a microwave but nothing else for a kitchen because they eat all three meals in a common area. Regardless of the family size they have one room.
In addition to a room and food they are given equivalent of $20 week for other expenses--but no job, They are however able to take some classes, and some are wise enough to take advantage of this while they wait for a work permit or citizenship---which some ladies still do not have after 8 years. Unfortunately they did not get started right off with their education because they thought their situation would be quite temporary, but has been so long. The sad thing is this arrangement is a huge drain on the economy, so Irish and European citizens are feeling that the refugees come with the intention of taking advantage of all the free social benefits and not having to work, and they are not very welcomed. In reality the refugees would be happy to work. We know a person's self esteem and spiritual growth are linked to being able to be self reliant, so they are not really happy at all. On the other hand, if they are given the permits to work soon, they are so happy to work, and they are very willing to work for any price and so they are underpricing the Irish laborers. Again, they are not welcome.
As we had dinner with the two fun Irish families, we heard what seemed like a most candid review of what the real political issues are. These saints are making a huge effort to follow the council from General Conference and befriend and welcome refugees, but just like Americans who don't really want to have many Hispanics, the Europeans don't want to feel like they are losing their nation, their benefits, their safety, etc., to immigrants. And so as many countries have so much corruption and violence and good people feel they need to flee no matter what the cost, the problem becomes more widely spread. Many of these people are the professionals who have enough means to try to escape, and they are risking everything for a better life.
This week we have been especially aware of these things because we had a special presentation at the Stake Women's Conference from a lady who spent a week helping at a Syrian refugee camp in Greece. She seems to know the situation very well and is trying to get the members to be ahead of the government effort.
We also are acquainted with a younger man who came from Iraq a few years ago and is now studying the gospel with the missionaries. We assisted in one of his lessons and then helped him with his job search efforts. He has been taking courses to especially prepare him for a career with airline services and was finally given an opportunity to interview. Just getting an interview was a huge step to success and he was preparing with full effort. We felt he had a wonderful chance because of his fine qualities, but the week of his interview he received news that his father was seriously injured by a car bomb and is in intensive care. He was so devastated that he said he did not go anywhere all week until his interview and then he did not do very well. We feel so sad for him. Finally on Saturday night he came to the Church for our movie night with a few investigator friends and he seemed a little better just to be out.
One time when we were talking with him, he told us about a time about 10 years ago when a car bomb went off across the street from where he and his mother were shopping. He saw that people needed help and against his mother begging him not to go, because many times there is a second attack on those who rush in to help, he went to the rescue. He said it was a horrible and difficult thing to do, but he hates the violence of his country and needed to do something good. He is such a great person and we really hope he can have some miracles now for his life: having his father live, a good job, and discovering the gospel. Stories such as his definitely help us keep things in proper perspective.
We have been keeping you updated on the swans and their babies that we see on our morning jog. The young swans are getting quite large, but they are still not very pretty. We were thinking about this as we taught a Self Reliance seminar to a youth group in one of the wards. We were trying to get them to realize their true potential as sons and daughters of God, so we showed them the video of President Uchtdorf telling the story of the ugly duckling. We would like all of our grandchildren to look at this video and think about how wonderful they really are. (It can be found on lds.org)
We had a neat experience Sunday night. It was the last class of our Self Reliance Foundations series that we have been teaching every Sunday night in Clondalkin. We have come to really love the saints who have been attending, and it was an emotional experience to know that our weekly meetings were ending. We had a little "graduation ceremony" in which we presented them with a remembrance gift. We were surprised when they presented us with a gift as well: some beautiful flowers and a very nice box of candy, accompanied by a sweet card. We've really made some wonderful friends here. The pictures that accompany this letter are of this group of friends. What wonderful people!
Well, hope this letter hasn't been too boring. We certainly are keeping busy. As Sean O'Malley would say: "On Prancer, on Vixen: it's off to Cork and Tipperary and Limerick and Letterkenney and Dundalk and Skerries and all other points on this fine isle of Ireland, it is! May yer pockets be heavy and yer heart be light, Aye!
We send our love and prayers and hugs. We think about you continually and pray for you constantly.
Love,
Grandma and Grandpa
Lynne and Lanette
Mom and Dad
a.k.a. Sean and Susan O'Malley
This is the Cole family, who have been attending the class. We didn't have very many in attendance this night because of the Ireland-France soccer game, but these folks have been stalwarts.
Rebecca and Addison Cole. Rebecca is a great little pianist and a babysitter for the class. She cares so much for her younger sister.
Graduation night. The numbers were few because of the soccer game, but the Spirit was strong.
Here is the class again.
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