I am loving Dalkey. The village is so small and friendly. We wave at most of the shopkeepers and I almost feel badly when I don't go in to eat at the local cafes. They have been so nice and welcoming to us as part of the community. Especially the few little spots around Bret's office as we see them so often. The weather has been gorgeous. It is cold when it's windy, but most days a scarf and light jacket are fine and the sun has been frequent and warm. I am sure we will get more rain, it will rain often in the day, but will clear up shortly after so I don't mind it at all. I'm trying to talk Bret into getting a dog. I miss having little Cozette and the parks and views afford the most delightful walks. I've been swimming in the Irish sea now 4 times. Its very cold when you first get in, but soon it becomes tolerable and sends a real surge of energy that seems to last the rest of the day.
The branch is great. It is small and lacks many Priesthood members, but the Sunday School teacher is a young guy who worked at FARMS under Nibley and is absolutely first rate. I enjoy his classes immensely. They are a lovely Irish family that live quite far south on the border of our branch in the countryside and have four young kids, the oldest is our only Young Man--I think he is 12.
The branch president is a lovely Irish Catholic convert who is a gardener by trade and as humble and kind as you imagine. His wife is my favorite. She's likely in her late 50's and also the only member in her Irish family. She served a mission to Japan years ago. Wait, I lied. I think my favorite lady is a tiny, white haired, spunky Irish widow who must be mid-80's-ish and tells the most wonderful stories in her strong accent. She reminds me of my grandmother and shares the same name, Jean. I told her that I'd adopted her and she smiled while folding her arms across her chest and said, "Well, that's lovely lass. We'll see if you don't change your mind 'bout that as you get to know be better." LOL. There also happen to be two other American families who just moved into the ward. All three of the women are originally from Washington state! I thought that a crazy coincidence! Both the other families are working for Microsoft. One is a couple with children grown, and the other a mother and her 4 young children whose husband has been inactive for 9 years. We are looking forward to having them over.
The missionary work is fabulous. My sweet daughter has already been asked about the chruch by her Religious Studies teacher. Apparently Shaynie is the only one who knew any of the answers about Christ's life and works as they reviewed some of the New Testament. I was amazed to hear that Shayne was able to recall the miracle at the Pool of Bethesda (She told the story as the man who couldn't get to the water in time to be healed because others were faster when the angels had stirred the water. So Christ came and healed him. I had shared that story for FHE when I was teaching New Testament in Sunday School early last year--that's a long time ago!) As well as other examples of Christ's healing the blind, raising Lazarus from the dead, walking on the water.... The teacher asked Shayne if she had a website for her church and Shaynie told her www.pleasantview5thward.com (this was the name of our ward in Provo). As that link didn't work, Shayne remembered and suggested they try "www.lds.com." (the actual website is www.lds.org, so I'm wondering if the woman is still confused.) I told Shayne we can write a note in a Book of Mormon and give it to her teacher this next week when they return to school. Exciting!
We had the Elders for dinner the day my mom left and the night before we took off here to Cyprus for a vacation. They are a great set of Elders and we're excited to help them with the work. There are many members who have gone a bit inactive, and we've not had Elders in our branch for a while, so we have lots of opportunities to keep them busy. I've also met a few women at school and I was going to start a weekly hike and a book club to get some of these women into my home and familiar with what we believe. It'll be great.
I loved General Conference. I think my favorite talk was Elder Holland's on the Sunday morning session. He spoke about the early disciples of Christ. He spoke with such clarity and conviction. I notice that in the last few years Elder Holland seems to be quite clear that his role as an apostle is to bear a solemn witness of truth. I'm inspired and amazed at it's power and invitation. I also liked Bednar, Uchdorf, and especially Eyring.
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