Titanic experience relived, BoM in Braille, Brighter Hair is Better, a Whirlwind Trip Around the Mission, a Unicorn & a Famous Chapel

My dear companion took me to the Titanic Museum for my birthday. Impressive place that just opened this month, commemorating 100 years since the fateful event.

Our District - Elders Kelly & Ellison and Sisters Chichoni & Olsen

 These six volumes = ONE copy of The Book of Mormon in Braille!

 Flowering Cherry Blossom Trees are all over Scotland and Ireland

 Amazing Scotland!

 Hair? The Brighter the Better!

Elder B. at Dunnottar Castle, a ruined medieval fortress located on a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th - 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been an early fortress of the Dark Ages.

 Rapeseed (bright yellow flowering fields) are cultivated mainly for their oil-rich seed, the third largest source of vegetable oil in the world. SO many of these fields are in bloom right now both in Scotland and Ireland. Very beautiful! 

 His Majesty's Frigate UNICORN, has 46 guns, was built for the Royal Navy in Chatham dockyard and was launched in 1824. It was a fast and powerful warship and was one of the most successful and charismatic ship designs of the age. It is a unique survivor from the brief transitional period between the traditional wooden sailing ship and the revolutionary iron steamship and is now one of the SIX oldest ships left in the world. It is docked in Dundee, Scotland. (I love the mascot!)

 The Rosslyn Chapel is a 1400's building. It is currently undergoing a 13 million pound conservation and site improvement project. The book and movie, "The Da Vinci Code" has made it even more famous!

 There are definitely more sheep than people in Scotland. It's lambing season. Aren't they just so darn cute?!

Some more Northern Irish Vocabulary

jumper - sweater
trousers - pants
pants - women's underwear

Much love,
Sister Blick
xxx

You can't get there from here.

On my way to Muckanaghederdauhaulia

Lost, trying to find Boneyafter

I always have time to read all the road signs as I drive by at 60 mph

I did manage to find the church on Sunday

I agree with this road sign and approve the effort to entice children to attend

On a recent day, my companion and I went for a wee walk around the neighbourhood. Our walks usually consist of her racing along just below the speed of light, with me straggling along about 15 yards behind, struggling to catch up. She has the traditional Navajo roles confused and thinks she is supposed to walk in front. As we strolled along I began to think about how the streets are typically named in a given area. It is not unusual to see a local neighbourhood sporting the same main name, but with differing prefixes or suffixes.

For example, you will see Royal Street leading into a small enclave with street names like Royal Gardens, Royal Lane, Royal Court and Royal Pain. If you are looking for a specific address, it can be very complicated if all you have is 7 Royal. You don’t have any way of knowing which one of the several Royals is the correct one. To further complicate the art of finding one’s way around, there can be a house number 7 on each one of the various Royals.

To add to the confusion, it is not a foregone conclusion that Number 6 will be next to Number 7. They will, most likely be on opposite sides of the street, but not necessarily directly across from one another.

For example, we were taking one of the young missionaries to hospital (Notice the absence of the article “the” between “to” and “hospital”. They don’t waste an extra word here when they don’t actually need it. No one ever goes to “the” hospital; they just go to hospital – it’s quicker.) and were looking for the address located at 245 Stranmillis Road. I punched the address into our Satnav but it wasn’t in the database. However, 244 Stramillis Road was in the database, so we figured it was close enough. What we didn’t figure was that we could not, and should not have been figuring in the first place.

We drove along, looking for something that somewhat resembled a hospital. Eventually, we pulled over into a lay-by (A lay-by is a paved area beside a main road where cars can stop temporarily and find out where in the @£$# they are.) and phoned someone who knew where it was. It turns out that Stranmillis Road is quite long and 244 is on the opposite end of the road than 245. We were more than a mile from where we were supposed to be.

Anyway, I was writing about street names. Apparently there is a protocol for getting someone’s address. It goes something like this:

Us: Where do you live?

Them: Do you know where Ballyhackamore is?

Us: No.

Them: It’s just past Knocknagoney, but if you go all the way to Upper Gallwally then you’ve gone to far.

Us: Is it close to Gallifrey?

Them: Haha! You’re a Dr. Who fan, so you are.

Us: What is your street address?

Them: 23 St. Jude’s. Just turn at the wee garage on the corner; you can’t miss it.

Us: Wanna bet?

The next day.

Me: Do you think he meant St. Jude’s Street or St. Jude’s Avenue?

Companion: Neither one. I thought he meant St. Jude’s Road or St. Jude’s Mews.

Me: What if he meant St. Jude’s Parade or St. Jude’s Circus?

Companion: He gave us his address, not directions to an amusement park.

Me: Look! There is St. Jude’s Rise, just across from St. Jude’s Crescent.

Companion: Stop studying the constellations and help me find this place.

Me: The only thing I can find is Hey Jude by the Beatles 'cause it’s on my iPod.

Companion: Play it; we aren’t going to find the address anyway.

Here is a partial list of address names commonly seen around Belfast:

Alley                Arcade                        Avenue                       Bank               Bridge

Centre             Church                       Circus                         Close               Corner

Cottages         Crescent                     Court                          Courts             Drive

East                 Embankment             Farm                           Gardens          Grange

Ground           Green                          Grove                          House             Heights

Lane                Lodge                         Lower                         Market             Mews

Mount             North                           Parade                       Passage          Park

Place              Road                           Rise                             South              Square

Saint               Street                          Terrace                       Villas               View

West               Wood                          Wharf                           Walk                Walkway

Here is a typical exchange between me and a local:

Me: Excuse me sir, I am trying to find Whispering Cottages.

Him: Eh?

Me: I am trying to find Whispering Cottages.

Him: Oh, are you trying to find Whispering Cottages?

Me: Yes.

Him: [Silence]

Me; Do you know where that is?

Him: Yes.

Me: Well, can you tell me how to get there?

Him: Do you know where Lower Ballyknackwhacky is?

Me: No.

Him: Well, it makes no difference; you can’t get there from here.

Bring your Satnav (GPS) if you come to visit. Otherwise you can’t here from wherever you are.

Elder Blickenstaff 

Caves, Wee Trucks, Old Amazing Houses & . . . Chickens?

Marble Arch Caves

The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural limestone caves located near the village of Florencecourt in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. They are formed by water draining off the northern slopes of Cuilcagh Mountain. They were first explored by Édouard-Alfred Martel and Dublin naturalist Lyster Jameson in 1895. Using a canvas boat, with candles and magnesium flares for light, Martel and Jameson found 1,000 feet of passages. Better technology allowed later explorers to find an additional several mikes of cavern. Part of our exploration of the caves was by boat.

A wee truck that I'd love to take home with me!

One of the major highlights for me as of late, was being asked by our sister missionaries that work closely with the YSA's, if I would sing with them at a baptism. I was honored. We sang "I Am His Daughter." It's an Especially For Youth song from 2010. Really pretty, and very fitting for the occasion. We had one of our YSA's sing with us as well. So I was the old gal of the group, but really enjoyed the opportunity to sing for our wonderful Joanne. (See her in the last photo.) She's one of the many reasons we're over here. Such a sweetheart!

The Argory

An Irish gentry house was built in the 1820's. It was the former home of the MacGeough-Bond family. It is surrounded by 320 wooded, riverside acres. Four generations lived in this home before it was turned over to the National Trust.

Ardress House

This "farm house" was built starting in 1660. An amazing spread for its day.

Feeding the chickens in the back of the Ardress House

Gonna be famous! We are making a video to be used in all the stakes and districts in our mission and beyond to help encourage/entice or at least get senior couples to think about going on missions. We went down to Limerick, Ireland last Saturday, we're headed to Dublin this coming Saturday. We are going to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdine, Scotland the week after that. Each couple gets a whole minute to share their thoughts and feelings about serving a mission (with a companion of their choice)!

Irish Gorse

This is Irish Gorse. It’s a yellow, wild, flowering, thorny, MEAN ;( bush.

It is abloom all over the island. So pretty, but don’t get too close!

Farewell to one of the YSA's. Elder Mark Boyd flew off this morning for the Missionary Training Center in Provo to begin training for his call to the France Paris Mission. Such a sharp young man! He'll be missed at the Centre, but know he's going to be one fantabulous missionary. Our prayers are with him as he embarks on this new experience. We are so proud of "our" young single adults for making good choices, and making a difference in the world.

Mount Stewart House & Gardens

Mount Stewart is an 18th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, now owned by the National Trust. It is situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough. It was the home of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry. The house and its contents reflect the history of the Vane-Tempest-Stewarts, who played a leading role in British and Irish social and political life. The family bought the estate in 1744 with money acquired by Alexander Stewart (1699–1781). Amazing gardens were added starting in 1915.

The Best EVER Preparation Day Companions!

Sisters Chichoni & Olsen,

Joanne McConnell, Darren Shiels and us.

Mount Stewart House & Gardens.

lorry - truck
gorgeous - how something can taste as well as look
all the best- good-bye

Love, love LOVE you all!
Sister ffatsnekcilB

Warning: Step away from the Candy!

Our wee kitchen, where we are hiding something under the sink.

The demon-possessed washing machine!

Notice the bottom left button. This is the symbol for making your shirt dirty. It works as advertised.

This is an actual sign that I drove past on my way to Ireland a few weeks ago. It should have been posted in front of our washing machine before the landlord brought it home from the store.

Today we turn our attention to the Northern Ireland version of washing one’s clothes. This happens in what is commonly called a washer. I’m not quite sure why they call it a washer, but I shall tell you about the demonically possessed machine that occupies our flat.

Most of the so-called washers here are located in the kitchen, right next to the sink. This allows the machine to use the same drain that is plumbed for the sink, ensuring that any water that might be backed up the drain from an obstacle can easily backfill the sink with clean, sanitised water from the machine. Another benefit of locating the washer in the kitchen is that you can store your laundry detergent right next to your cooking pans ensuring a clean, fresh laundry smell baked right into your cookies.

Our washer is what is called a combination washer/dryer. Now one might be tempted to think that some genius engineer has figured out how to wash and dry the clothes in the same machine. Alas, this is not the case. What has actually happened is that some genius marketing guy has figured out that if you tell people this machine can wash and dry the clothes in the same compartment, they will buy it. Millions of these have been sold and we are hopeful that the engineers are frantically working out a way to make them do something useful.

The Candy Company manufactures the washer we have. Candy, as the name implies, has absolutely nothing to do with candy. It is an Italian appliance manufacturer, which probably explains why it doesn’t do anything that one might expect from something called a washer.

Our Candy is a brand new “high-efficiency front loader” with “several options for washing and drying your clothes so they come out perfect every time.”

The theory is that you put a load of dirty clothes into this enchanted box. Add some detergent and push a few buttons. Walla! Just like magic, your clothes are first washed and then dried. When you open the mystic box, your clothes are clean, dry and ready to be worn to your next appointment.

The sad reality is that none of these things actually happen. Valves open and water is poured into the machine. Then, depending on which buttons you pushed, it turns very, very slowly for anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of days. Every once in a while it stops, daring you to open the door. Then it turns in the opposite direction even slower than before. This goes on for what seems like a week or two. Then, magically, it drains out the water and turns even slower until next month. Eventually, after making sure you have run completely out of other clothes to wear, it stops.

Then things get really tricky. After it stops you are lead to believe you can open the door and retrieve your belongings. But, NO! The door will not open no matter what you do. Even if you call or eat Candy, nothing happens!

Sometime during the night, when you are not paying attention, the washer receives a signal from Peppino Fumagalli that it is ok to unlock the door. (Peppino is the Chairman of the Board of the Candy Company. He used to work for Geppetto, until they got into a dispute over who owned Pinocchio’s nose.) In the morning, you are allowed to open the door.

However, the worst is yet to come. Yes, you do have your clothes back, but are they clean? NO! Are they dry? NO! Are they worse than they were when you put them in? YES!

First, this machine is not designed to actually drain the soiled water when it is finished with the washing cycle. Therefore, whatever you have accumulated in the cylinder from every single previous wash cycle since the machine left Italy, is floating around to be applied to whatever clothes you have included in your most recent cycle. This results in each load coming out slightly dirtier than it was when it went in. I have searched in vain for a way to break this cycle, including washing a pizza box to see if it would absorb the evil spirits that Candy built into the design.

Second, the drying cycles do not actually dry anything. I am not sure what they do, other than consume electricity, for which we pay dearly. I do know that if you put a load of clothes into the machine and select a drying cycle, the first thing it does is open the water valve and let in a 5-second flow of water, causing you to urgently push every button on the machine because you think you accidentally turned on a wash cycle. Then it laughs (in Italian), turns off the water and proceeds to make a lot of drying-sounding noise without any actual dry-making activity.

So what does this all mean on washday? We select a wash cycle randomly because they all fail to wash about the same. We do not select a dry cycle because we haven’t figured out what this does not do. We take out the so-called washed clothes and spend about an hour trying to pick off the largest pieces of lint and other fashionable items we don‘t want to show. We iron everything and then we hang it on a rack to air dry. Sometimes for variety we hang it to dry first, then we iron it. One time I tried ironing my shirt after I put it on. Although I was very careful, this is actually something you only need to try once, or less.

The one thing besides family that we truly miss from back home is a washer that washes and a dryer that dries. But hey, we got Candy!

Elder Blickenstaff

a fish, a castle, red doors & daffodils

Sister Blick kissing the Big Fish

This Big Fish is a tourist attraction in downtown Belfast. The outer skin of the fish is made up of ceramic tiles decorated with texts and images relating to the history of the city. Material from newspaper headlines are included, along with contributions from Belfast school children and a time capsule.

We had a run of sunny days! Six in a row! Amazing! Beautiful and warm! Up to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit). We were having a heat wave! But now we’re back in the mid 40’s. It’s all good. Warmer weather will come again. Our time sprung forward two weeks after yours did in the states, so the days are longer and life is wonderful!

St. Nicholas Church of Ireland

Built in 1182. I found a headstone here dating back to 1775.

We have brilliant firesides here with bishops and other ward members and their wives from our stake. They tell the YSA how they met and about their conversions and some faith promoting stories about scary and miraculous things that happened with church members here during “The Troubles.” These are amazingly faithful people!

Scone Truck! Love it!!!

Red Irish Doors

I have noticed a LOT of red doors over here, so I did a little research to see what might be the reasoning or symbolism “behind’ all the red doors. Do you know, in Irish folklore, it is thought that painting one’s door in red keeps away bad luck and wards off ghosts and evil spirits? There are also many other spiritual references to indicate safety lies behind this painted door. In a religion prominent on this island, a red door represents that the blood of the Lord has been smeared on it and the area behind the door is holy and sacred. Kind of makes me wish our door was red, too.

Yellow Daffodils are EVERYWHERE!

All month the country is a-bloom with yellow daffodils. (A few white are in the mix but most are yellow.) They are really beautiful. Other flowers are blooming or have yet to bloom. And we thought it was beautiful in the winter!

We had a fabulous conference weekend. We got to hear Saturday mornings session live at 5:00 p.m. Saturday evening.

All the remaining sessions were shown here on Sunday. Priesthood was at 10:00 a.m. One of the sweet local member sisters fed all 20 of us missionaries a great lunch. 1:00 p.m. was Saturday afternoon, 5:00 p.m. was the live broadcast of Sunday morning and 9:00 p.m. was the live broadcast of Sunday afternoon. Made for one marathon day! Loved every minute of it, so I did! Is it just me, or are General Conferences getting better each six months?

Some of the towns over here are just fun to say. I want to give you the ABC’s of fun Northern Irish town names. As you read these, give it your best Irish accent. Have fun!

Aughafatten

Ballygalley

Cullybackey

Donaghadee

Enniskillen

Feeny

Glengormley

Halfpenny Gate

Inishrush

Jonesborough (the only town with a J name)

Knocknacarry

Lettershendoney

Magheraveely

Newtowncloghoge

Omagh (only O town)

Portavogie

Q? No Q

Rasharkin

Shrigley

Tullywiggan

Upper Ballinderry

Victoria Bridge

Waterfoot

No X’s, Y’s or Z’s

(Nope, I didn’t make any of these up. They’re all real places!)

Adieu and love to you!

The Sis