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