THANKSGIVING IN SCOTLAND

The bishop of our ward and his wife hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the Young Adults and the missionaries. Most of the missionaries are American and we have several Americans who are here as students, so it was especially nice for them. However, even those from Scotland or other countries wanted to come, and they really enjoyed the dinner and being together. I reached out to some of the girls from the U.S. to help with food, and they really came through! We made some of it too, and the bishopric took care of the rest. We expected about 30 to be there, and we actually had about 35 in total. 

This is Ramik. He has been coming to church and YA activities for a couple of months now, and is getting baptized on December 6. He is from India, and he has his family there interested enough in the church that they are having scripture study groups with their friends- learning from the Book of Mormon. He brought a friend to church with him today who also wants to be taught by the missionaries.

We rode the bus to Dalkeith Friday and walked along this river path. It was very cold, but beautiful. 

We had another Linger Longer after church today. The missionaries and the YA's love it, even though we just serve pancakes every time!

We woke up to snow this morning! Everything was white and beautiful.

 

GLASGOW

 Last Saturday, we went to Glasgow. The Glasgow Stake hosts a Ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee) once a year for the YA's in the area. They came from as far away as England and Ireland to attend. We got there at the beginning, and there was a lot of excitement in the air. Everyone was so excited to get going that they were practically jumping around. They had to cancel the event last year due to COVID, so there hasn't been much opportunity for the Young Adults to socialize with each other, and this is something they especially like to do. It's an evening of traditional scottish dancing with an authentic band, which consisted of two accordians and some drums. It was really fun to watch, but I didn't have the energy to go out and try it (or coordination).

Some of our YA girls.

Before the dance, we had some time to drive out to Loch Lomond, which was about an hour away. It's very beautiful, and we got there right around sunset (which is about 4:00!)

We also had time to see the Glasgow Cathedral and adjoining necropolis. There was quite a view of the city from the top!

Ironically, we ended up back in Glasgow, right next to the cathedral, again Wednesday, when we took one of the sister missionaries and her companion there to see a doctor. The doctor sent the ailing sister to the hospital, where we stayed with her until about 10:00 p.m., when the nurses said we had to leave. Whe had already waited for hours to be seen by a doctor, and they said it would be longer still, and that her tests couldn't be done until the next day. So, we brought her companion home with us and she spent the night in our extra bed, had breakfast and watched a special mission meeting with the Area President, Elder De Feo, who taught some really interesting things about the gospel and missionary work and just how special the missionaries are. Since Charles couldn't miss Institute class that night, which he was teaching, we didn't go back the next day. The sister leaders picked her up and took her home to pick up some things and then back to the hospital. The sister who was admitted was discharged with a diagnoses of UTI and some antibiotics. I suspect she has something else, but we'll have to wait and see. The NHS (national health service) is free here, but it is also not very good. 

NOVEMBER

 

We had an activity last night for Guy Fawkes Day, but we only had five Young Adults come to it. We met at a park called The Meadows, near downtown, and we took a lot of hot chocolate. They didn't drink nearly all of it, so Charles ended up having to carry a lot of it around in his backpack!

We thought there would be fireworks and bonfires, but we only saw a few fireworks and no bonfires. There wasn't much going on at The Meadows.

FHE was charades and pizza, which were both a hit.

We volunteered with a group of missionaries from our zone to gather donations for the annual Poppy Appeal. We just had to stand on a corner and people came to us and dropped money in the bucket. The collections are for those in the Armed Forces or veterans who need help, so lots of people want to contribute.

While we were out- our corner was on the Royal Mile- we saw this iconic red phone booth that is now an ATM.

The vests were a little dorky, but they definitely identified us as legitimate!

We went to this place called the Lauritzen Castle this morning that is more like a mansion than a castle, but very pretty grounds, especially with the fall colors.

We also went to a place called Cramen Island, and near that is a trail on the Almond River, which empties into the bay. It looks similar to the Leith trail.

We walked out to Cramen Island. It's not too far, but you can only go at certain times of the day or you run the risk of being stranded out there. When the tide comes in, the walkway is completely under water. The island was used as a military fortification, and the barriers next to the walk way were made to keep ships from getting through.

MISSION OCTOBER

 

We got to go on the stake temple trip Saturday to the Preston, England Temple. It's about a four hour drive from here, but the closest temple to us. There are not yet any temples in Scotland or Ireland.

Going on a coach made for a very comfortable ride with beautiful scenery along the way.

This is the view from the front of the temple.

The ward had a Halloween party, and the YA's were asked to set up the scary room, or spook alley. We were given a big bag of stuff from the last time they did it, but no instructions. Thankfully, we got some help and sort of figured it out. A few of the YA's helped set it up, and several wanted to help scare the victims. It turned our really well, and with the lights off and people creeping around inside it was quite scary.

There was also trunk or treating.

This is a photo of the YA's who were there.

I had to get a picture of this guy dressed as the wolf/grandmother in Little Red Riding Hood.

The pumpkin carving contest the FHE before Halloween was quite a hit. People got very creative.

I don't have any pictures, but we had kind of a special week, with three apostles visiting the countries of the UK and Ireland at the same time. There was a special missionary meeting Tuesday where we had a group photo taken with Elder Ballard, and he also spoke to us, along with his son, the McCruddens, and Elder De Feo. 

Elder Ballard and Elder De Feo spoke again Saturday at a special broadcast for Youth and YSA's, along with Elder and Sister Holland and Elder and Sister Cook. These apostles all served as young missionaries in the UK, and have a special interest in it. They were very sincere in sharing their feelings, and letting the young people know just how much they believe in what they are doing. They said there was no other reason they would serve well into their advanced years if it wasn't true and they want the youth and Young Adults to know it. We watched this broadcast in the Chorley Stake Center, adjacent to the temple.

They spoke again Sunday at a special stake conference broadcast for all of the stakes in the UK and Ireland. They said it may never happen again- having three of them there at once. 

Elder Holland doesn't look very well, and alluded to health problems, and Elder Ballard talked about how at age 93, he is getting close to being on the other side. Most people their ages are in rest homes or something, but they are still working and serving. They have to work hard to keep up with President Nelson, who is 97 and going strong.