Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

It appears that we have been way too busy to get our blog updated. So, here goes from November 17 to December 26.

This picture is of Sister Maureen Allison and Brother & Sister Seaman. They are in one of the cottage meetings that we have weekly on Tuesday nights. We have non members and less actives that also attend when they can. It gives us the opportunity to share our message of the Savior with them in a non threating enviornment.

November 24th we took 4 formerlly less actives to the \Preston England Temple. What an awesome experience to share with them.

Here is the picture of the ones that went through the session with us, the other two went to an earlier session, pictured are: Irene Lowe, Maureen Allison, Ann Laverty, and you probably don't know the last two. haha

The countryside in England doesn't look much different than Scotland.

Georgous sunset.                                  

If you have or have seen my Old World Santa, this is what I want to make when I get home.

We went to Pitlochry to see the Stage production of White Christmas. It was the first to be allowed to be performed outside the United States. It was wonderful. Going in we thought the chimneys all lined up were an interesting skyline of the little town.

This is President and Sister Brown just before the performance. They are from Scotland and take everything in stride with the weather. (They don't know any different)

The Ward is taking great care of us during the holidays. They have signed up to take care of us each and everyday from Christmas Eve to the day after New Years. They are wonderful and will be life long friends.

Hope not to take so long to update next. We love you and hope you had a wonderful Christmas and the most prosperous New Year. All our love,






 

Well, as most of you know, I am not allowed to put up a Christmas tree until after Thanksgiving. We wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving here in Scotland with the Elders & Sisters of our Zone. Because Thanksgiving was after moves week, we decided to hold our T Day Dinner on Monday Nov. 12th. Now, since Thanksgiving day is OVER, I put up the tree. We found it in a charity shop for a whopping £3. and the decorations and lights another £3. Couldn't hardly go wrong with that. We hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and you can enjoy a picture of our tree until you are allowed to put up your own.

 

 

 

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Wow! A lot has happened since our last post. We have been very busy hence, no updates until now. In our last post there is a picture of the Majola family. Charity Majola was attending the Temple Preparation class and was anxious to attend the Temple. The end of September she died in a tragic accident. She was from South Africa and the service that was held was worth being here all by itself. It was amazing! There were about 150 Zulu tribe members in attendance. The opening hymn was one that they knew and the harmony was AMAZING. It sounded like you had been transported right to South Africa. The tributes also following their customs, were something we will never have the opportunity to witness again.

 

Our Temple trip is November 23-24th. We have gained permission from the Area Representatives to travel with our little group to the Preston England Temple. We are so excited. So far, we have one couple and two single sisters that are going to the Temple for the first time. Hopefuly, we can repeat this success again before we leave here.

 

I almost forgot.....On Oct 2nd we woke up and I couldn't find the laptop. Of course, I awakened Elder McConnel and stated "what did YOU do with the laptop" Nothing was his reply. He got up, came into the living room and said "my watch and wallet are gone". After further examination we found that the front and back door were unlocked (which HAD been locked the night before) the car keys and car and my purse were also missing. We found the purse in the back yard....dumped all over. So long story short, all of our identification, credit/debit cards, wallets (2), watch, phone, Temple Recommends, cash, laptop and car.....all gone. We had been told to keep the key in the door after you lock it so you can get out in case of emergency. BAD IDEA. The police said that there are two ways they get in, 1) somene with a small hand reaches in through the mail slot and pulls the keys out, then opens the door. or 2) they have a device that they put into the keyhole from the outside, attach it to the key and open the door with your key still in the keyhole.

 

We have been able to replace everything now and life is back to normal except, we sleep a little lighter, and keep a chair propped up against the door and mail slot. The most scary part of it, they entered and walked right past us sleeping, then on into the living room. Elder McConnel had been awakened by something, went to the restroom and normally would go on into the kitchen for a drink and look at the clock to see what time it was. This particular time, as he started to enter the kitchen, the Spirit prompted him to just go back to bed. We feel that they were perhaps still in the house and he scared them away. We feel this because the watch and wallet were placed on top of the iPad and they didn't take it. Also, there were things in the purse that they didn't take of value, and a keyboard.

 

We know that satan is pretty upset with us and has been causing a lot of trouble with us and the members of the Temple prep class. But, he will NOT prevail. The sooner he realizes that, the better off we will all be.

 

We are so very greatful for the blessing of following the Spirit and the continual guidance we receive each day. The Spirit is truly our constant companion and that has been wonderful. It is our desire that everyone can experience the feelings that we have come to know on a daily basis. There is no way to describe how it impacts and blesses your life. Even in adversity, there is a calmness and feeling that the Lord is watching over us.

 

 

On our way back from flat checks we saw a sign for a castle. We didn't have time to go inside, so we didn't get close enough to take a good picture without paying. This is a sneek peek through the trees. Isn't it interesting how it is painted up?

Look at that....the McConnel's are taking over the world. The next day there was a van that said "McConnel Roofing"

 

This is perhaps the most interesting thing we have seen. It is the Falkirk Wheel. It takes boats from the canal below, they drive into the slot at the bottom of the wheel and then in the next picture it shows how it cycles around to get it to the top, which takes it to the canal that goes to Edinburgh.

Our Lowe friends will appreciate this. This is the Loch of the Lowes.

Hope you can read this. In 1969 the Daughters of Utah Pioneers posted this plaque of the Scottish Mission. Missionaries arrived Dec. 1839, and by the time they began the migration 1852, there were over 3,000 members. It is interesting to see from a different prospective how the migration affected the saints that stayed here. At times we feel a little guilty that so many left this beautiful country and their families.

 

Between the sessions of General Conference, one of the sisters from Irvine served the missionaries a beautiful meal. Many of these Elders and Sisters were transfered a week later.

Never have seen the New England states in the fall but, maybe this is a taste of it. Isn't it beautiful!The colors changed everyday and now today......well, lets just say the trees may get a little chilly.

 

This was taken from the Stirling Castle looking toward the William Wallace monument.

From the Stirling Castle looking in the opposite direction.

The Elders were transfered out and we now have SISTERS!!! They are WONDERFUL. This is Sister Harris, from Blackfoot, Idaho

And...Sister Parks from Utah.

 

 

 

Our first Zone conference with our New Mission President; President & Sister Brown. They have been very accepted by the local leadership, since they are from Scotland.

 

 

One Sunday when we came out from church we found there had been a torrential downpour. This poor car nearly got drowned in the water.

 

This poor chair shows how deep the water was out our back door.


 A beautiful day in Stirling, Scotland. We tood this from the Stirling Castle to show the ancient circles that are surrounding the castle.

 

 These two pictures show the before and after dynamics of the Castle. As shown left, the stone walls are grey,




Below you will notice it has been treated with a yellow plaster as it was done originally. This made it appear as gold from a distance when viewing on a sunny day. (Don't know if they had more sunny days then) haha

 

 

At district meeting, following instruction and the Elders and Sisters just killing time playing a game of spoons. They got pretty violent!!

 

 When you try to visit a Castle on a rainy day, this is how it is done. We had about an hour to kill waiting for our next appointment for flat inspections and thought we would take a look. I guess you can tell we didn't see much. Maybe in 6 wks time it will be better.

Saying goodbye to Elder Davidson from Rexburg (at 6am no less) Yes, Elder O'Bagy from Utah is staying.


 

OK, this is the third time I've tried to get this post on with pictures. If it doesn't work this time you will just have to wait until we get home. Well, maybe not. I'll get it figured out sometime today. I hope.

We have been very busy with the less actives since the end of July we have been able to get 6 of them into a Temple Preparation class we started a week ago.


This is a picture of the Majola family that is working to be an eternal family. Her husband passed away about 4 years ago.












This is Sister Irene Lowe. We have become quite fond of her.

Our mission office couple the Grahams, went home to England and have been replaced by the Rasmussens from Pocatello, Id, Anybody know where that is????

 

 

 

 

We did manage a day to drive into the highlands and attend a Highland Games. We were curious as to what exactly that was, now we know it is a Scottish version of a county fair.


These are Highland Blackface Sheep. They all have these beautiful horns.

 

The Highland dancers were amazing. We sure couldn't have kept up with them.

 

Traditional backpacking with Highland Pony

 

Scottish version of shot put. It weighed 56 lbs. Also, now you know what's under the Kilt!!

Scottish version of wrestling. They bear hug and can't let go. First one down, loses.

 

July 21st, 2012

Today we woke up early and GUESS WHAT????? It wasn't raining!!! AND there was sunshine!! So, we took a 12 hour P-Day and drove up to Aberdeen to the Castle Fraser to watch a Jousting exibition. I took some pictures with the IPad and CAN'T firgure out how to get them onto the blog. So, I am sending them in an email to my daughter-in-law in hopes that she can move them over to here. Wish us luck!! The rest were on the camera and that technology, I have figured out. So, here goes.


The Relief Society had a berry picking activity, they picked all sorts of berries. We were pretty pleased to get this many out. I think that is more than we get on Sunday!!














We took this especially for our Robertson friends!!!
The Robertson Arms Hotel!

If you will notice there is a castle in the middle left of the picture.

Strange way of raising potatoes, with all the wet weather this is what they have to do for a while to get them going.

This is a sword exhibition, the guy in the blue lost.

The four teams for the jousing exhibition, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. This is a professional team that is world known.

Hope to have Temple pictures next month, we love you all and hope this helps you see a little of what we have been able to see.

This is a picture of our out-going President and Sister Griffiths. They left the mission July 29th. They were awesome, but our new President and Sister Brown are wonderful as well.

 After the farewell dinner for the Griffiths we took a tour of Edinburgh. This is the residence of the Queen when she is in town, the Holyrood Palace. A new meaning to living like Kings & Queens!!

 This is on the Royal Yachet!! In this room there is also a full size grand piano and aboard is also the Rolls Royce, just in case they wanted to take it ashore somewhere on their journey.

 At the farewell, they had a Stake President in Edinburgh that is also a professional singer. Amazing!!

 Only in Scotland would you see this!! He moved VERY slowly while he played.

 This is our district. The sister on the far right is Sis. Patterson from Calgary, Canada. She goes home this next week. Next to her is Sister Rindlesbacher from Clarkston, Utah, Elder Davidson from Rexburg, and Elder O'bagy from Layton, Utah. The ones on the far left, I think you know.

 We were invited to a sister's home that we have been working with to activate. She invited us over for prawn coctails.....Well, that was just the beginning. Her name is Anne Laverty. 

 

 This is typical of the housing in Scotland. We are very fortunate to have a flat that only has 4 in the building, and with off-street parking.

Well, that about catches us up. Hopefully, next month we will have a Temple date for Sister Lowe. We are excited with her progress and hope we can activate many more like her. Love you all....