Settling in our New Surroundings

Dear Friends, we wish we could take each one of you on a little tour of our new city and country.

Waterford City Center

After having lived in Plymouth, England we are not quite so overwhelmed as we could have been as much here is similar.  Still much is different also.  Karen and I were walking around the "City Center" as they call it.  They use that term because many people do not have cars and a great deal is crammed into a relatively small area which makes it easier for them to walk to every place they need to go.  I suppose it all started way back when there were no automobiles and shops and businesses sprung up wherever it was convenient to put them. Roads were eventually made wherever the trails had been before, and therefore they are narrow and winding.  Now too much has grown up around them to make them easily passable for modern automobiles and delivery trucks, so many of them are one-way only, and there are no sidewalks and you learn to walk attentively.  The people are kind and thoughtful, and always smile when you smile at them.  Motorists often are quite courteous and patient because there are many pedestrians and one must be careful.  You don't dare take your eye off the road here.



Here is Waterford, the Quay (pronounced KEY) which runs for nearly a mile, next to the river, where many businesses have location.  There is also parking, but you pay a $2.35/hr to park.

All of this makes the city center a most adorable and wondrous place to be.  Many of the roads are completely closed off to anything except foot traffic. The young missionaries spend most of their "finding time" in the city center.  The sister missionaries are particularly good at stopping people and starting up conversations.

Waterford Meeting House

 Who can resist two lovely young ladies wanting to speak to you.  The Elders and Sisters always bring investigators to Church. Each week we have 60-75 in attendance and about 3 to 6 of them are investigators.

Karen received a Calling last week as a Family History Consultant.  She was very happy for the Calling, and we now visit members who want to work on their family history and she takes her computer and helps them get on the website and show them where to go and how to do it.  She is very good at that.
Gary also has a Calling as teacher of the "Teacher Training Coarse."  This is very fun for me.  We sit at a table and and discuss the material, and the 5 students are so fun to talk and discuss with. They really don't need me there, but they all pretend they do, and we have helpful discussions.

Here is Sunrise near Waterford.  When the sun is shining there is no prettier place on earth I think.






They have some thatched roof homes, but many fewer than we remember in England.  There are almost no "Row Houses" like we lived in in Plymouth, a good number of duplexes, and double duplexes.  Single family homes are the going thing here.  And grass, lots of grass.

Thanksgiving has come, and it is interesting that here in Ireland, they do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but they do go all out for "Black Friday."  I wonder how they get the date right for black friday when they don't have a thanksgiving to proceed it.

We had all of the missionaries over for dinner that day, and the sisters were very happy to help with some of the preparations.  Sister Henkel from Germany is whipping the cream for the pumpkin Pie.  She nearly made butter. We had one can of pumpkin somebody brought here from Scotland, you cannot buy it here in Ireland. Sister Knab is stuffing the mushrooms. Everybody was awed by he cuisine.  Elder Coombs always says "everything is wonderful
if it is made with love.

There is an american girl, Emma, here who we also invited, and an investigator from Spain, Solange, who works as an Au' Pare.  Karen cooked a very nice feast, but by the time we thought about taking a picture of it, it was gone.  We sent everybody home with an additional plate of food for the next day.  We really don't have room in the fridge for many leftovers.


The money here is the Euro.  It has been used here for over 10 years now, but many people refer to the Euro as the "Quid," which is the old word for "Pound" which they used when they were part of the United Kingdom.  Elder Coombs gave me this picture.

We have been looking into the Irish language, which nearly became extinct under English rule, but now is mandatory in school.  All Irish are proud to have their old language back, but only young children really can speak it.  They are taught in school, but after that they let it go.  We have asked many people what words mean and few of them know.  I will get some better pictures of signs for you at a later date.  Here they add the Gaelic word along with the English one.

In one very sweet ladies home, this sign was posted just inside her door.  The words are written "Cead Mile Failte" but pronounced it "Cade Meela Falcha." And many people know that phrase.  So I guess Irish (Gaelic) is a treasure to them, but a mostly unused treasure.

The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning

On the 7th, we had a baptism in the Pond.  These two Africans, one from Ghana, and the other from Nigeria, wanted to be baptized like Jesus was.  We either use the pond, or travel 2 hours each way to the nearest font. They really liked the idea.

Jonathan Agyeman Amofa

Look closely at Jonathan's face right after he came up out of the water.  He was shaking when he reached the shore where we were waiting with towels and blankets.  They held up blankets around them so they could change their clothes immediately then we took them home.  They were confirmed the next day in Sacrament meeting.

Karen and I got to speak in church the other week.  Karen was asked to speak on "The Priceless Riches of the Holy Temple."  and they asked me to speak on the "Divinity of the Marriage Covenant."  They seemed to go well.

What we love most to do here is visit members of the Branch, especially those who do not attend meetings.  We have always been received pleasantly, even by a couple who truly do not want us to return.  When we bring cookies, it works even better.

So Karen is baking today as I write the blog.  She seems to know just how to make things work.  We normally carry several   small bags of cookies with us at all times.  She experiments with different recipes and the altitude makes a difference, so I get to eat the ones that are not quite good enough.

Karen and I have a plan for our teaching.  We find a subject that needs teaching, then we find a "Mormon Message" video that goes with it, add a scripture or two, testify to the truth of it, Commit the person or family to live it, or read about it, Promise them blessings for doing so, start and end with prayer.  We pour over the videos to find the right one, Karen is best at doing that, I am best at ad libbing and backup. It works pretty well, and the possibilities are endless.  We learned this from the missionaries here and from Pres. Shamo who is working with similar things for the YSA.

Here is David and Janepher Mutebi.  She has recently been baptized, and we are teaching her the "new member lessons."  They have two very cute little daughters and one more coming this week.  They are so very sweet.  They also have moved house to another apartment nearer the church, and without the long cement stairs going in.

Billy and Katie Power

Here are the Powers, Billy & Katie.  They are stalwarts.  He did not marry until he was in his 50's, and she is 20 years younger.  She had a brain tumor when she was 19, and now functions perfectly although she walks like she had a stroke.  They are a most wonderful couple.  He wanted children, but when they married she was probably too old. He knows his time will come to raise children.

She drew this picture from a tiny postcard, and he says it took her over 3 years to do it.  Karen is teaching her family history and Billy and I talk about some of the Branch members that we are unable to find.  He has been a clerk a number of times and knows a lot about the older members.

Burglar Alarm?

Brother Michael Duggan is starting to come back to meetings.  The elders are working with him.  When we went to visit, he opened the door, and this is what we saw.  He is replacing his entry way flooring.  He has been struggling for some time with some aspects of he gospel, and is making progress.  Our Elders are good for him and he is doing quite well.


This young man, Kieran Dalton, is 62, He invited us in, and when I asked him how he was doing, he said, "I am hungry." I asked him where his money had gone and he said "I am not good with money."  What did you spend it on I asked.  He said "goodies."  So we took him out to dinner.  I spoke to him a little about the signs of the times, and he stated that he believed all of that, and when I asked him if he knew where the church was, he said he knew and he would be there Sunday.  We talked about how he needs to pay his electrical bill and tithing first before he buys goodies.  And maybe some food also.  He said he was going to start doing that this week.  We will keep in touch with him.  He seems to have a good heart and just needs someone to love him and help him find the way again.

We are so happy to be here and to be involved in such a great work.  I think we have found our rhythm and are now expanding our abilities.  There are so many things for us to do and so little time.  There is a major industry here known as Waterford Crystal.  We go by the beautiful building and showroom nearly every day, but are in to much of a hurry to stop in.  We will find the time, but not quite yet.

Bless you all for your good works and happy hearts.  We love you all and pray for your wellbeing.
Grammy and Grumpy, elder and sister weber, ma and pa.