The Scotland Adventure Begins

We left the MTC on the afternoon of Wednesday, 9 October 2013. We spent the afternoon and evening at Bill and JR’s packing and repacking!

We left Salt Lake City on the morning of Thursday 10 October 2013. Our trip from SLC to Minneapolis St. Paul was uneventful. We had a plane change in Minneapolis. What a high tech airport! At various locations they have IPads for you to use and places to recharge your electronics. The IPads are also used to order your food. This is the one at our table. 

 

This is the IPad we used to place an order for our food.

We made all of our connections and made it without any problems.

Our seats from Minneapolis St. Paul to Amsterdam were in the last row of the plane. Actually, they weren't bad...and we were close to the bathrooms, which came in handy. Also, we boarded in the second group, so we found spots for our entire carry-on luggage. That was a blessing. Even though the flight was an all-night flight, we couldn't sleep…

. 

Sunset reflection on the wing of the airplane

By the time we boarded the plane from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, I was sooooooo tired, that I slept the whole flight (about 1 1/2 hours).

Edinburgh, Scotland

We were met at the airport by the Mission President and his wife.

President and Sister Brown are wonderful. They took us to the mission home, talked to us for a while, showed us around the mission home, and fed us some lunch.

A senior couple serving in the Mission Home drove us to Glasgow. I was tired very hard to stay awake for the drive from Edinburgh to Glasgow, I think I did, but Ron dozed in and out of sleep on the the drive. 

We are staying in the flat (apartment) for a few days with Elders and Sister Whitney. They’re being transferred to Limerick, Ireland. When they leave, we’ll live in that flat.

Well, once we had a minute, I started unpacking and discovered that I was missing one of my large suitcases. Panic! We spent over an hour trying to find the correct number and person to talk with. We finally connected with the correct person. They confirmed they had my suitcase, so Elder and Sister Whitney drove us back to the Edinburgh Airport. It was an hour drive one way. Everything worked out, and I picked up my suitcase. 

On Saturday, 11 October 2013, the Whitneys drove us around and showed us some points of interest (grocery store, the bank and the church).

In the evening, we attended a baptism.

Note: Since we’re all part of a heavenly family, and since we consider everyone our brothers and sisters, we call everyone either a brother or sister. I mention this for future clarification…

After the baptism, we talked with two brothers (men from the Glasgow Ward) that shared a lot and were very entertaining. They had a Scottish brogue, which was difficult to understand all the time, but I think I understood most of the conversation! One of them was on a football team (Scotland) and also played some American Football. The team that he was on played an exhibition game against the Oakland Raiders. His claim to fame was his fantastic tackle he made on Jim Plunkett. He was very proud of the fact that he played against the Oakland Raiders…He isn’t very large, but he sure is tough!

Everyone has been so kind and friendly.

On Sunday, we attended two wards. We started at 10am and got out at 3pm. It was Fast Sunday, so we listened to a lot of testimonies. There are good strong saints here in Glasgow. We had to chuckle at one sister's when she mentioned that, "Glasgow is cold, wet and miserable." Boy, doesn’t that sound like Portland’s weather; thus, we feel right at home J

We also went to a "Patsy's dinner." Patsy and Scott are members of the Springboig Ward. Every fast Sunday she puts on a dinner for the YSA and a few other special people. Their home has a small kitchen and only one oven, but the spread she provided was unbelievable. She prepared a very large pan of potatoes, a corn dish, a broccoli and cauliflower dish with a cheese sauce, green beans, cooked carrots, couscous, pork loins wrapped in bacon, apple sauce, some other dishes and homemade bread. There was so much food. She also had three desserts (gingerbread with a custard sauce, a chocolate gooey cake, and a banana/caramel/whipped layered dessert that was to die for). There were about 25 - 30 people. It was wonderful. I can't believe she does this every Fast Sunday, which means she does it once a month. It was amazing.

Wonderful Dinner

Scott & Patsy

On Monday we met with a person to look at a flat. It’s closer to the church, so the location would be great, but we won’t move if the flat isn’t a good one.

We then took the Sister missionaries grocery shopping and then to the Library. We now have a Glasgow library card.

When we received information from the Mission Home, we were told to bring a GPS. Actually, we were told three times in the letter to bring a GPS with us. So we purchased one in the United States, but returned it prior to leaving the states. (Not a good move!) The first day we were here, we realized the error we had made. There was no way we could find our way around Glasgow without a GPS. Thus, while we were out with the sister missionaries, we purchased a Garmin. The letter was correct; we needed a GPS to find our way around here. The roads are so confusing. There are a lot of roundabouts, no straight roads, no direct routes, no shortcuts and no visible street names. Thus, these are great conditions for a GPS!

On Monday afternoon, Sister Whitney and I prepared and light dinner for FHE (family home evening) and for the YSA (Young Single Adults – 18 to 30 year olds). That will be one thing Ron and I will continue doing - every Monday we will prepare a light supper for FHE. Since FHE is held at the church, we’ll transport the supper to and from the church building, which is also the Glasgow Stake building and is about three miles away.

On Tuesday morning, Ron and I attended the District Meeting. This is a meeting held every Tuesday for the full-time missionaries. (Either a District Meeting or a Zone Meeting is held on Tuesday.)

The Whitneys stayed home, so they could pack. On Tuesday afternoon, we took Elder and Sister Whitney to the Edinburgh Airport. They are being transferred to Limerick Ireland. They had a weight limit, so we took one of our large suitcases in case the Whitneys needed to transfer items into it, so that they wouldn’t go over their weight limit. The plan was to leave the extra items at the Mission Home. (Sound familiar? Yes, the Whitneys over packed. They did what we did to Bill and JR... When we left SLT, we had to leave some items with Bill and JR, which they graciously agreed to store for us for the next two years.) After we left the Whitneys at the airport, we drove to the Mission Home and transferred all of their items into a large box, which will be left at the Mission Home until arrangements are made to get the box to the Whitneys in Ireland. 

Our large suitcase was empty once again, so we took it back to our flat. Needless to say, we'll need it in the future…

We’re very busy with all the teaching appointments that we have with the younger missionaries. We are also very busy with all the fun activities and work that goes along with working with the young single adults (YSA). Serving a mission in Scotland has been a wonderful experience.

Here are some photos of our flat (apartment). That’s our washer. It’s in the kitchen. 

Washer and dryer as one unit.

Since the dryer doesn't work real well, we use drying racks to dry our clothes.

Drying racks are also made for the heaters.
There is a heater in the bathroom. Thus, we heat our towels so that they are nice and warm after a shower... 

Here's another drying rack, which is in our bedroom. It’s the heater with a wire drying rack attachment. The flats are decorated/furnished by the landlords.

We love it here in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Wednesday evening we attended an Institute Class. We were in charge of the refreshments. We had no idea of how many students would show up. We were expecting maybe 10 people. Well, thirty showed up. Needless to say, we didn't have enough food. Next week we’ll do better.

Talk about dedicated YSA. Some YSA don’t have cars, so they ride the train and busses to get to Institute. Some travel two hours to get hear. A group live 50 miles away, which means they travel 100 miles every Wednesday night to attend Institute.

The first week we were here, Ron and I attended one class. I did pretty well in understanding most of what was going on, but one guy must have been speaking a foreign language, because I don't know what he said. Oh, he was speaking English with a real Scottish brogue and some slang too...

There are two Institute Classes being taught this year – Book of Mormon and Teachings of the Living Prophets 

Photo of the Institute Classes

On Thursday we drove to downtown Glasgow to the Apple Store. My IPhone gets very hot and rapidly loses its charge. It’s fully charged in the evening, and by 3am, it’s in the red zone. We talked to someone at the Apple Store. They suggested my phone could be losing power because it's trying to run a program and can't. They suggested I run the updates, which I did; and it's still not working well… L

When we arrived in Scotland, my clock never changed, so I went into settings and set it for Scotland time... It’s now keeping time better J – but it’s still not holding its charge. I’ll keep working until I solve this problem. We don’t have cell service here in Scotland yet.

Photos of downtown Glasgow and the store with all the old sewing machines.

Yes, what you are seeing are old sewing machines.
They are being used  as their store window display.

On all three sides of the store windows.

It's really cool!

Rain or shine - lots of people in City Center.
(That's what they call downtown Glasgow.)

Beautiful old buildings.
Also, great public transportation. That's how everyone gets around.

Also on Thursday, we helped the Zone Leaders out. They took their car in for some repairs, so we met them and took them to the repair shop after the car was ready to be picked up. The Zone leaders are the only ones with a car. All the other missionaries take public transportation and/or the walk everywhere.

After dinner on Thursday evening, we met two other Elders and joined them for a teaching appointment. After the appointment, we drove them to their flat.

Driving here is sooooooo confusing. It's not just the fact that you're on the left side of the road, but you have roundabouts. Even with the GPS, we get lost. Well, we did Thursday evening; and it took us a long time to get home; but we made it! I'm so glad Ron is a good driver and enjoys driving. Being a passenger is very stressful!

Glasgow is made up of old buildings, small shops and very narrow winding roads, which makes it very interesting.

Friday we picked a Sister up at her flat in the Village in East Kilbride and took her to the Mission Home in Edinburgh, which is an hour away. She isn't well and is going home to get better. I don't know the details. After she gets better, she would like to finish her mission and would like to come back to Scotland. I hope everything works out for her.

The people here are so interesting. I love it.

Jill, I have seen more red heads in the first three weeks than I have in two years in Portland. I know how much you love red heads, which means you would love it here!

Calum has 5 other brothers. Three of them are red heads and three are not.

Sure do luv ya. Lots of love from us to you ... Take care. 

Cheerio the nou!

~Tracey 

p.s. Ron sends his love too.

Love you and like you, sweet dreams, have a good night’s rest. See you again when we FaceTime! Love you lots.