Monday is P Day or Preparation Day. So far we have taken a little road trip down to Dingle. (see our last post for some pictures.) We plan to see a few more places in the coming months. We also do laundry and shop, (tho', I must confess, we have actually shopped almost every day this week trying to stock up a bit. ) We don't have much room in our tiny fridge, which is about the size of an RV fridge, so it necessitates more shopping.
Monday night is FHE which we spend at the home of Regina, Alice, Ru and Alfred. Regina feeds us dinner, we alternate an FHE lesson with the Elders and then we play games. Regina and children are AVID game fans. Last Monday we introduced them to Farkle, which they thoroughly enjoyed! Elder Hoppe especially got into it. We are joined at Game Night by Agnieszka, an investigator the Elders are teaching. In the coming weeks the schedule may change a little as we may be alternating FHE nights with another mom and her 3 children.
Tuesday is District meeting day. We pick up the Elders and drive 2 hours up to Cork to meet with the Elders and Sisters in our district. Ray sits in with the missionaries for their meeting and I cook them lunch. Last Tues the Zone Leaders joined us. The tortilla soup was a hit with everyone!
This Tues. we will pick up the Elders and drive 4 hours up to Dublin for the All-Ireland Conference. These are held every 3 months and include all the missionaries in Ireland and Northern Ireland. We'll also get to meet all the other Senior Couples that are serving in Ireland. Since the meeting mostly focuses on the young missionaries and proselyting, us oldies usually sit in until lunch, and then we go find a room and just visit. Since we are so spread out we don't see other Senior missionaries except at these All Ireland conferences, so it will be good to have an opportunity to visit and pick their brains about the mission and what they are doing.
Tues night is Branch Council meeting. We drive out to the Branch President's house and meet with him, Sis. Knight, his wife, the Elders and the second Counselor, Bro Boylen. We discuss branch business, how the missionary work is going and set the calendar. Pres and Sis Knight are stalwarts and the backbone of the Branch. Their 4 children make up the entire Primary.
Wed night is RS activity night. Mostly we gather to do crafts, learn things and perhaps go out to eat together. Sis Knight has two best friends, non-members, who usually join in, as well as Sis. Nash. This week Lori will start teaching piano lessons to the Branch President's daughter, Lauren, with the hope that she can eventually become the Branch pianist.
Thurs is the night Ray teach the Self Reliance lessons to the Knights and their friends, Margaret and Sheila. They are all good friends and the discussion is lively, sometimes going way off the rails, but we have fun discussing the aspects of being self reliant,.
Friday, Lori is responsible for teaching Seminary to Rukudzo, or Ru, who is a fun, vivacious 17 yr old. I have only taught one lesson, but I think we will have a lot of fun while learning the New Testament.
Sat morning we volunteer at the Community Park Run. This is a weekly event held at a beautiful rose park in Tralee, rain or shine, all year round. We go at 9:30 to get the instructions for the post we will be working that day, and by 10 all the runners/walkers have shown up. There are some little preliminary rah-rah remarks, and then they blow the whistle and everyone takes off. They run 3 laps around the park perimeter, get their tag to scan and then go home. A few members of the Branch participate, as well as the Elders. So far, Ray and I just volunteer; last Sat I was a time-keeper and Ray was one of the photographers. It is a fun activity, and the people knew Elder and Sis Winget, our predecessors, so they have accepted us with no problem. We are simply the new Wingets!
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| Us, the Elders, Margaret, the Knight family and James, Margeret's nephew at the Park Run |
Sunday is a busy day! Church is at 10 and we arrive around 9;30 after picking up Agnieszka, and probably other members in the future. Lori is now the Branch pianist and Primary Pianist, as well as the Jr. Primary teacher. Ray teaches Gospel Doctrine and is the one of the Counselors in the Branch Presidency, (not sure which, yet, as he has not yet received his official assignment). It is interesting to sit in church with just a small handful of members, after years of being in full-to-bursting wards. Yesterday we added a new member, a Chinese girl from Hong Kong who is attending the Technical College here. She will be here 4 yrs, so we want to put our arms around her and make her feel like a family member of the Branch. Her English is not very good yet, so we will try to help her with that. Yesterday, we also had a visitor. When he sat down I thought, "another Asian man. I wonder if he is an investigator." Imagine my surprise when he stood up to bear his testimony and said he was from Houston, Texas! Church is always full of surprises!
Sunday evening we go to the Knight's house for dinner. Ashley Ann, is a wonderful cook and we will enjoy many delicious meals there, I'm sure. They live outside of Tralee in a little village called Abbeydorney, surrounded by green pastures. It's always a nice trip out to Abbeydorney.
In between all these activities, we shop, visit people, prepare lessons, drive the Eders here and there, pick people up and take care of household business. Last week, Lori made some cookies and invited in some of the little neighborhood girls to help.
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| Sis Walker with Leah, Sofie and Leila |
As you can see, there's hardly a dull moment for us here in Tralee. We are loving it and looking forward to see what the next 18 months brings!
HASTE YE BACK!
This is a full week, and I'm sure they need and love you being there and bringing your light. Are most of your weeks like this. It seems really interesting.
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