Winter 2011 - Two Winters and One Summer in Scotland . . . how did we manage that?

Since the Holidays, and even before, we have not had a single P-day that has not been dreich (bleak, miserable, dismal, cheerless, dreary - pronounced "dreeg" in the usual way the Scots spell a word and then say it totally different).  We have only had a couple of non-dreich days when we were at the archives.  Can't wait for winter to end.  (But the days are getting longer and light nights are soon ahead. :-) )  Still, P-days must go on.  Since the Holidays, we have visited the Scottish Parliament, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Rosyln Chapel with the Sisters going to Ireland, Castle Campbell and the National Museum of Scotland on our free Saturdays.

We did a tour of the Scottish Parliament at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.  Here we are looking down on the chamber where parliament meets.  The new parliament building is totally modern, if not futuristic, set among the quaint old Edinburgh architecture.  It stands out and no one can miss it and has caused much controversy in the city, though it helped to take the tour and learn the meaning behind its design.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official Scottish residence for the Queen of England in Edinburgh.  By law, she has to spend at least one day a year here.  It is good there is some return on the investment.  The rest of the time they do take tourists through . . . for a fee.  This palace is the site of murder and much of Mary Queen of Scot's history.

We have blogged Roslyn Chapel before, but here are the Senior Sisters who have now gone to image records in Belfast, Ireland.  And returning to Roslyn, we got to see the chapel ceiling with all of its intricate stone carvings, which we had not seen on previous visits as it was covered by scaffolding for restoration.

Castle Campbell commands the most beautiful view of Dollar Glen and the village of Dollar.  However, to get its full impact, one must see it on a bright day when the flowers are in bloom.  Still we enjoyed stomping around the castle and its grounds.

Then we took a nice walk down part of the glen.  After sitting all week in a windowless camera room doing very repetitive procedures, these walks are great therapy and eliminate large fees for psychiatric care.

The Falkirk Wheel is really an interesting piece of engineering.  And it really was built to showcase Scottish engineering, as any commercial application has long since gone to other means of transportation (as in trucks - that is lorries, sorry.)  This "Wheel" and a  lock raise a boat up from the Forth & Clyde Canal to the Union Canal and is the world's first and only rotating boat lift.  A hundred years ago, it would have been commercially viable - now tourists get a ride.  The cost was 17,000,000 GBP ($27,000,000 USD) to build and it was completed in 2002.  It's unique to see and we can only hope lots of tourists take a ride.

Our son-in-law, Mike, has clients in the UK and worked in a weekend visit with us between trips to London, Aberdeen (Scotland) and Oslo, Norway.  Here we a figuring out how a lock works.  Pretty ingenious as they had to do it with hand labor only when locks were first used. 

This is our third trip on dreich days to the museum, and will likely be our last as we have now toured the seven floors and have seen at least a good part of the 50,000 (yes 50,000) exhibits!  It has been our "go to" place on bad weather, winter days.  (Linda inserting now on Ned's blogpost:  By the way, our camera lies!  I have not put on 50 pounds since I arrived!!!  It's true that I'm anything but thin, but it's so darn cold and humid and windy here, that when I layer sweaters, jackets and coats, it looks like I'm auditioning for a Dough Boy commercial!)

We finished our afternoon in the museum at Greyfriar Bobby's Bar - er, Restaurant.  It has been highly recommended to us and did serve a nice meal. 

Christmas, Hogmanay and other Delights - 2010

Christmas should always be a magical time of year.  This one was made more special by the archive being closed from the last half of Christmas Eve Day through the fourth of January.  And we NEEDED the break! 

Nothing quite like a beautiful Christmas tree in downtown Edinburgh to get you into the spirit of the season.

The archive missionaries have started a tradition of having a Christmas Breakfast.  We hosted eight of us on Christmas morning at our flat.  After a hearty breakfast and a good long Scottish "blether," we all went to our individual flats and videoed or talked with our children and grandchildren the rest of the day.

The breakfast tradition includes waffles with maple syrup (they don't  have that in Scotland) or fruit and whipped cream and egg omelets.

The archive sisters in our kitchen on Christmas morning.  The three of us in the middle have been together at the Scottish archives throughout our missions and will all-to-soon be returning home.  The sisters on both ends are new to their archive missions and are temporarily in Scotland awaiting the completion of new archive facilities in Belfast, Ireland where they will serve after January.  Interestingly, the sister on the far right and Linda graduated from high school together and have never crossed paths since graduation until they met again in Scotland in December. 

A Christmas tradition of our family being perpetuated.

Between Christmas and New Years we took a wee trip to Pitlochry, a beautiful little village in Perthshire.  We were having so much fun we stayed an extra day. 

High Street in Pitlochry

New Years Eve day found us in Edinburgh.  Edinburgh hosts a huge Hogmanay Festival  - 80,000-85,000 people - the biggest New Year's celebration in the UK.  We chose to see it in the daytime and it was fun to feel the excitement in the air and watch everyone having a good time.  Over sixteen big amusement park rides plus game and food booths, big screen TVs, bands, a Ceilidh and an ice rink go up on Prince's Street and in Prince's Street Gardens.  Traffic was blocked off and it was unique to walk down the middle of busy Prince's Street . . . only on Hogmanay!

Prince's Street Ice Rink next to Waverley Train Station.

New Years Day we were invited to a ward member's home for steak pie and trifle.  With us are the mission office sisters.  Our holidays also included contacts with those we have worked with, but those visits are much harder to capture on camera.

We had put off a trip to Glasgow for a long time, but worked it in after New Years and before we had to go back to work.  Glasgow is more industrial than Edinburgh, more working man.  The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, however, was not working class.  Nice, and we especially enjoyed the art work and the explanations and details about the art pieces.

Inside the museum we listened to an organ recital of old Scottish tunes.  "Absolutely brilliant" and some we have become familiar with and recognized.

It is hard to believe that we have celebrated our second Christmas in Scotland.  We remember so well the excitement of just arriving last year as we began our mission and now, a year later, we still feel excited because of  the good people we know and love and the joy we've felt serving as missionaries amongst them.  We have strengthened our testimonies as we've served, built lasting friendships, made incredible memories, and are better people for having been here.  A joyous year!

2010 December Happenings

December . . . that wonderful Christmas season . . . and we attended many fun activities and had several others postponed because of the "big snow."

Thai Dinner in Edinburgh

We forgot the camera but spent such a nice evening in town in the snow (on the bus) to meet with our dear ward member, Beth, at her favorite Thai restaurant, Phunket.  Beth is from New Zealand, serves so faithfully in the Edinburgh Ward and works as a nurse.  She always has a huge smile on her face and an enthusiastic approach to life and was one of the first to welcome us into the ward over a year ago.  Since she is alone, it was fun for all three of us to be out together celebrating the season in early December.

Christmas Zone Conference

We love opportunities to attend mission conferences and feel of the spirit and the instruction there.  Our mission president  had a good Christmas story at December zone conference.  There is nothing like Zone Conference to give you renewed zip for your mission!

Here our mission president and his wife get into the spirit of the day, and we did not see nor hear any of that Bah Humbug!

Sisters from the Edinburgh Ward prepared a great dinner for all 70 of us (less than half of our missionaries now that we include Ireland).  They are the unsung heroes of the day and some of our favorite sisters!  Delicious Christmas turkey  meal!  Tasted SO good and the tables were beautiful!

YSA Holiday Dinner

The YSA's planned an American Thanksgiving Dinner - all the traditional trimmings - but it got snowed out.  We made up for it later in December with a "Holiday Dinner," and it was delicious.  Turkey, dressing, Scottish stuffing, cranberries, potatoes, gravy, veggies and pie . . . the only thing we missed was pumpkin pie.  The Scots don't eat pumpkin pie and pumpkin in a can is only sold at Jenners Dept. Store in the heart of Edinburgh.  Not an easy thing to come by.  We cooked the meal in the mission home kitchen (lucky our stake center is next door!).  Any night with the YSA's is a fun night. 

Our Chinese members are just great.  We're not sure how many turkey dinners they have had, but they do enjoy trying new things.  Qi Feng ("Chi Fong"-center) has joined the church since we arrived, just received the Melchizedek Priesthood and has now returned to mainland China visiting five temples in Europe on his way home.  What a terrific, faithful, strong member he is.  He will be a well-prepared, great leader in China when that can happen.  The girl seated next to Qi Feng, Jessica, has been a member of the Church longer than any of our other Chinese converts in Edinburgh and is also serving on the YSA Council and is the Chinese Institute teacher.  She is a terrific leader, a "mother" to these good kids, and her testimony is solid.  One of the joys of our mission has been the miracle of watching these Chinese students embrace the gospel.  They love and support one another and are so quick to be obedient to Gospel principles.  Pioneers of today!

Emma Finishes her Quilt!!   

Way back in August, Emma started a lap quilt for her 92-year old Gran - with some heavy mentoring.

It did get finished by Christmas and her Gran was so pleased.  It took us a long time, but was a great accomplishment for a girl who has never held a needle in her hands (pieced and quilted by hand).

New Senior Sisters in the Archives

In mid-December, we welcomed two new sisters from St. George and California to temporarily live in Edinburgh and work in our archives.  They were actually called to be archive missionaries taking digital images in Dublin, Ireland, but since that project is not approved yet, they were sent to Edinburgh until they can go to Ireland by February (they hope!).  The missionaries in our archives were assigned by the mission president to care of them and help them get settled.  When Ned and I went to the mission home to pick them up, two of us recognized each other!  After graduating together from Davis High in 1966, there was Mary standing in the Edinburgh mission home kitchen ready to serve the same kind of mission that we were called to!  We weren't close friends but went through junior high and high school together and certainly knew one another and shared mutual friends.  It's been great fun to have her with us in the archives and see her daily.  This is Mary's first mission and Anice's second mission, having served her first in Hong Kong.  We admire the senior sisters who serve missions SO much.  They go out all alone at older ages and are assigned someone who will be their companion for their entire mission (at least that's how it is in our mission).  Mary is my age (62 - I'm not ashamed!) and Anice is 75,  but a fearless, willing, good sister.  The missionary couple that Ned and I replaced in the archives here live in Colorado, but she too, was a member of my graduating class at Davis High.  What are the odds?

Davy Holt Concert

We were invited to share a delightful evening at the home of a counselor in our Stake Presidency in Livingston in early December.  This talented, personable man makes his living as a performer of Scottish folk tunes doing gigs throughout Scotland and he invited another professional vocalist to come to his home and sing for a small group of stake leaders.  Once again, we forgot the camera, but a picture wouldn't begin to portray the lively, toe-tapping Ceildh music that we clapped and sang to as Davy Holt performed.  These Scottish folk singers use such heavy brogue as they sing that you miss plenty of words, but their songs tell the story of Scotland and are filled with good humor and heartfelt love for their country.  We have acquired plenty of Scottish folk CD's and as we drive in the country, we sing all the words we can figure out together.  No one cares when we're in the car alone!  From these songs, we know all about their drinking in the pubs, fighting between the clans, battles against the English, and what Scottish men wear underneath their kilts!    

2010-12 Dunfermline - "No man can become rich without himself enriching others" A. Carnegie

The richest man in the world was a Scot, born over the Fourth Bridge in Dunfermiline, about twenty-five minutes drive from our flat.  Andrew Carnegie (prounounced Car-nay-gie in Scotland) was born in 1835 and, with his family, immigrated to America when he was thirteen, for better opportunities.  Industrialization had economically destroyed his father's weaving business.

In 1901 (age 65) he sold his steel empire for $400 Million, which, adjusting for inflation, is more than the fortune of Bill Gates!  He then gave three-fourths of it away.  His philosophy was to direct his own charitable gifts that mankind might better themselves rather than give to the poor directly or other charitable organizations.  His libraries, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pitencrieff Park in Dunfermline, Carnegie Hall, etc. are examples of his method of giving - gifts that go on giving.   

Andrew in his study, with his wife's picture on the wall.  This original furniture from his study is in the Carnegie Museum in Dunfermline.

  The public was denied access to a huge estate in the middle of the village directly across the street from Carngie's childhood home.  After pressure from Andrew's mother and her family, the Laird of Pittencrieff was forced to open his grounds to the public one day each year, but excluded the Carnegie family.  When Andrew became wealthy and Pittencrieff came up for sale, he bought the entire estate, opened it to the public and made a magnificient park that is still the center and highlight of Dunfermline today for all to enjoy.  He wrote about Pittencrieff Park (the Glen):  "The most sacred spot on earth to me.  No title is precious in all the world as Laird of Pitencrieff." 

The first of the 2,509 Carnegie Libraries was opened in Dunfermline in 1883.  It's still in use and a beautiful building.

The garden of the Abbot House near Dunfermline Abbey/Palace and Carnegie Library.  Great little cafe where we went to find a "Steak Pie" - we each had one!  Don't ever come to Scotland without having a steak pie!  Yum!

Every village in Scotland seems to have a "High Street" (Main Street).  This is Dunfermline's, paved in cobbles, with plenty of fun, cute shops.  The street is very narrow all the time, but when the snow is piled on the sides, it becomes a parking nightmare and a one-lane road where every driver must give and take to get through.  Dunfermline was the ancient capital of Scotland and many of the old royalty were crowned, lived and buried here (National hero and ancient King Robert, the Bruce is buried in Dunfermline Cathedral-minus  his heart which is buried at Melrose Abbey in the Borders).  Full of history and one of our favorite little villages.

How could you resist going into a store called "Pink String & Sealing Wax?"  One of Linda's (the non-shopper) favorite shops.

2010-11-28 Thanksgiving Weekend in Edinburgh

SNOW . . . SNOW . . . AND MORE SNOW!    Record-breaking early snows have closed and cancelled much of life here in Edinburgh this week.  We arrived a year ago to the worst winter in 30 years and the jinx goes on.  This major snowstorm was the earliest in Scotland in 17 years but everyone "tells" us that this is not typical.  Church was cancelled Sunday except for the 50 who arrived without getting the message (20 of us missionaries among those 50) so we held a short Sacrament meeting and then were all invited to the mission home for pancakes since the mission president and his wife couldn't get to their speaking destination.  The airport, schools, and many businesses and offices are closed and we couldn't get out of our flat (tiniest little hill out of our car park) to go to work at on Monday.  No matter . . . the archive gate was frozen shut and few others could get there either!  Ned shovelled and hacked at the ice later that day and all the missionaries made it in to work on Tuesday (though a majority of the Scottish employees didn't) but there are 5 new inches of snow this morning and we are all home again for the day.  We estimate we have had 18 inches of snow in 3 days . . . which is really unheard of in Scotland and they are just not prepared for that kind of storm.  With "tinfoil" weight cars, no all-season tires, and few snow plows, the world stops and everyone stays home and hunkers down.  But it is absolutely beautiful!!!  We are in a great location and can walk to our nice mall for any groceries we need and are warm, dry, and cozy.

Edinburgh missionaries shovel out the mission home car park after church.  Great kids!!!  Some of the outlying villages/suburbs around Edinburgh (where our bishop lives, for instance) have snowfall nearing 3 feet! 

Our mission president works on the long mission home drive.

YSA kids of the Edinburgh Ward after our mini-church block Sunday.  The lad on the middle right spoke for his missionary Sacrament meeting Sunday before leaving on his mission for Leeds, England.  Just a tiny congregation to see him off as he leaves for the missionfield Friday.  The girl in the stocking cap is our YSA president and the boy next to her is her counselor.  Terrific kids!!!  We have seen four of our YSA boys leave on missions from the Edinburgh Ward while we've been here.  The Edinburgh Stake is second in the European Area for number of missionaries currently out serving and our YSA president (Katie in the stocking cap) has just announced that she plans to serve a mission next spring.

A snowy night from our flat kitchen window with the lights of Edinburgh city in the background.  Christmas in Edinburgh is something everyone should see!  It's a fairyland of lights, delicious smells, skaters on the ice rink in Princes Street Gardens, and festive decorations that mingle with the ancient castle, St. Giles Cathedral and the old buildings for incredible beauty and timelessness.  Edinburgh was voted the most beautiful city to see at Christmastime in the UK.  It takes your breath away and transports you to another world at night during

the holiday season!

  

So what do you do when you're stuck in a little flat and can't get out to do your missionary work?  Well, of course you put up the Christmas tree . . . . and

make paper snowflakes . . . well his first didn't turn out much like a snowflake but he got much better . . .

. . . and snuggle up and quilt!

2010-11-21 "I Nuv Doze Guys"

We couldn't believe what our 26 month old grandson was saying in this video clip and we just had to share it!   It's bragging, but it's really worth watching!

I Nuv Doze Guys from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

2010-11-12 Unexpected Trip to England

Posted by Ned

In October of 1963 I was asked by President Thorne to dedicate an area now known as the Wharfe Valley for the building of a ward.  Two pairs of missionaries there in three months found five families that were brought into the Church and formed the nucleus of the new branch.  There are now third and fourth generations of one of the families in the branch and active members from all of the families blessing other areas of England, Ireland, and the USA.  The unexpected trip came as I was given permission from the Area President to attend and speak at the funeral of Sister Iris Shaw, who was the first member my companion and I "tracted out" as we started to form the new branch.  Sister Shaw has stayed active and involved in the Church, ultimately serving her own mission, as a widow, in the London Temple.  The service went well and was short.  Only the branch president and I were on the program.  In England they only have closed caskets and, at least at this funeral, there were no flowers.  I was humbled to have the opportunity to both open the door and close it on Sister Shaw's church life.

After the funeral, we gathered in the cultural hall with the family and friends and had a great reunion.  Later in the evening we had dinner at the Wheatley Arms, pictured above, with some great close friends that have descended from the branch.

After the dinner we went to Chorley, England, stayed at the Accommodation Center and the next day attended a session at the Preston Temple (which actually is located in Chorley, but Preston is a large city nearby).  A very special, unexpected trip.

2010-10-30 Heaven Must Be Like this Autumn P-Day!

Autumn is beautiful everywhere but we have perhaps never spent a more perfect fall day than our recent Saturday going north to Perthshire.  It was calm, dry and relatively warm and the autumn leaves were at their peak and stunningly beautiful.  We walked and talked and drove and listened to our Scottish music and wished the day would never end.   

Driving north along the River Tay.

I (Linda) took this picture while we were driving and leaning across the car through Ned's rolled-up driver's window.  It was such a picturesque scene and we didn't dream it would ever turn out as we were going fast.  Doesn't it look like a jigsaw puzzle picture?  Scenes like this are all over Scotland!

Scottish names are so fun and unique!  This is the gorgeous walk we took in the Loch Tummel area.  This week we have also traveled on Blinkbonny and Tullibody Roads for more unique names.  Killiecrankie Pass is a natural dividing line in this part of Scotland separating the Highlands from the Lowlands through the centuries. 

  

The trestle train bridge along the River Garry.  Trains going north travel daily on this bridge.

Intensely colored leaves along the walk. 

Here's the train bridge from the bottom looking up.  It's 54 feet high and a beautiful structure.  We love the stone bridges throughout the country.

Few people were out walking on this gorgeous day so we had the path mostly to ourselves.  Wouldn't you love to walk here daily?   

Love this Scottish moss on the stone walls.

River Garry

The river from high above on the Garry Bridge.

My handsome man is just about as nice as the autumn colors!

More color.

Isn't this a gorgeous photo?!

Queen's View at Loch Tummel.  After our Killiecrankie walk, we barely made it to Loch Tummel before dark (which you will remember comes very early in Scotland).  This view high above the loch is named after Queen Victoria when she visited this spot in the 1800's.  Sheep and cows were in the green fields, the grass rolled right into the loch and the leaves were gorgeous as the sun was setting.  No way to do the scene justice via a photo! 

Loch Tummel at sunset!  The Killiecrankie/Tummel area has risen to one of our top three favorite spots in Scotland after this weekend!