IRISH BLESSINGS

AN IRISH PRAYER:    May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May                 God hold you in the hollow of his hand."                                                We had a lovely home evening at President and Sister Brighton's.  Thank you to all the Neeley's and Brighton's for all the preparation for a memorable evening.  They set a wonderful table and filled our bodies with a great Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage and all the trimmings.

 

 President and Sister Brighton were the mission President in Ireland for 3 years...2001-2003.

 We all enjoyed visiting as we learned the Irish customs.

 We have new missionaries in our midst.  Elder and Sister Batty are on the front left of this lively group.

 Elder and Sister Bird are at the head of this table. 

 Elder and Sister Sanders at the back right of this group invited us to the movie Cinderella.  Art declined, so guess I will have to see it when one of the grandchildren's parents purchase it...hint, hint!

Elder McGarry is a true Irish man.  This is Sister Brighton's hat that she refused to wear...so...

 Elder Sanders tried it on backwards so we could see "the wearin' o' the green".

 President Brighton loves the Irish people and loves his littl' hat!

After dinner we listened to The Celtic Woman perform on a DVD.  They were awesome. 

The concert was performed live at Slane Castle in Ireland.  They are going to perform in Rochester this summer for our friends in New York.  You can also watch them on YouTube.

President told us how Joseph Smith organized The Church in New York.  President had worked to get The Church recognized in Ireland and one of the Stake President's (a farmer from a small community) was to sign the papers one weekend.  He never showed, so President Tom Brighton organized The Church in Ireland!  His signature is on the papers that legalized The Church in Ireland in 2001.

He also told us how The Catholic Church would not let The Church Microfilm the Irish Parish Records.  After 9/11 when the Ambassador's daughter was visiting in New York City, he lost contact with her for several hours.  The sorrow of that day and the feelings the Ambassador felt when he thought he had lost his child, softened his heart and he called President Brighton and opened the records for microfilming.  These were only two of the many blessings The Brighton's received on their Irish mission.  

Today was also the 185th anniversary of the printing of The Book of Mormon.  This is a view of the room where the book was bound in The Grandin Building in downtown Palmyra NY.

I had one more memory from our Oklahoma vacation.  This was the best memory ever and I can't believe I did not record it.  When we went to the 3rd Ward to visit, my dear friend, Angela Montoya came up to me and told me that she and her husband and family had gone to the temple in February!  Her daughter got married in February too.  The Montoya's received their endowments on 7 February 2015 and were able to attend their daughters wedding in Utah.  Their family was sealed on 19 February 2015 in the Salt Lake Temple!  Finally!  I was so excited for them and we held each other and cried as she told me.  This made our mission even more meaningful for me.  I have been friends with Angela for many years now, and praying that they would choose to go to the temple.  My heart is so touched by the choices they recently made.

Hurrah for The Montoya Family.

WEDNESDAY, 25 March 2015
A lovely day in Palmyra.  Temp. might reach 50!  When I swam this morning I had to scrape ice off the windshield before I could drive to the pool.  The snow is melting, yes!
In keeping with the theme of Irish Blessings, Dave & Karen Neeley took us to lunch at the Cole Tower today, a true blessing.  

We got our training in Salt Lake with them.  They are from Salt Lake and were both teachers till they retired.  They are great examples and we are going to really miss them.  They had never served in the temple and now they are old pro's...love you both.  Thank you for taking an afternoon to be with us.

This is the old Elder and Sister they lunched with...it was raining as we drove back to the Inn.

We served in the temple this evening.  It was a long night.  Kind of like the weather in Oklahoma.

We learned there were tornado's at home.  A trailer park got destroyed in Sand Springs, OK.  A tornado hit the same place in Moore, OK that was destroyed last year.  So sad how Spring has come to the middle of the United States.  We do not like tornado weather.  There were some Irish Blessings in the storm.  Not sure who took this photo...it was on facebook.  It is in OKC, OK.

My daughter, Heather, took this photo of a double rainbow just north east of our homes.  We were protected from the storms.  Today the snow doesn't seem so dreary in Palmyra, New York.

Prayers are being said for the people of Oklahoma.

THURSDAY, 26 March 2015

We served in the temple in the AM.  Sister Flint asked her husband to start some tomato plants for me.  He doesn't even like tomatoes, but he grows these orange tomatoes that are yummy.  This is a photo of the starts he planted for me.  They are sitting on a heating pad!  I will be taking them home to Oklahoma with me.  Everyone pray I can get them home safely and grow them.  I am just so touched that Brother & Sister Flint are growing these for us.  I am blessed!  Thank you Brother and Sister Flint, you are so very kind!

It was snowing, huge flakes, when we left the temple.  We are serving in the temple office, together, this evening.  It is supposto snow all evening.  This is the storm that passed over Oklahoma yesterday.

FRIDAY, 27 March 2015

Today we did errands etc.  We have had snow flurries off and on all day.

Elder Bushman got the brakes fixed on the car.  I did laundry and started reading the book "The Lincoln Hypothesis" which is very good.  President Brighton loaned it to me.  We ate dinner at the Yellow Mills Diner.  I always think of Malcolm and Fay when we eat there.  It will be fun to visit with them again someday. 

#BecauseHeLives

SATURDAY, 28 March, 2015

Served all day and came home exhausted.  Watched the Women's Conference on the computer.  It was great.  Thank's to our leaders in SLC, UT.  

PALM SUNDAY, 29 March 2015

Ward conference in Cortland.  President Clay and the Stake and Ward leaders did a great job.

OK OKC Stake also had a conference.  The Ward we will return home to is no longer Village Ward, but OKC 7th Ward.  We will be going to the Surrey Hills Building by the OKC Temple.  This is a longer drive for us, but not as long as from Palmyra, NY to Cortland, NY Ha!

It was over 40 degrees in New York today, we were above freezing!

The Hutchinson's invited us and the Tranquill family for dinner.  They had a feast for us.  We thank them for their kindness.  After dinner we took cake and The Sacrament to the Carman family.  We had a good visit with them and said our goodbyes which was difficult.  We arrived back at Palmyra just before 7:00 PM.  We had a very spiritual day.  Hurrah for Israel.

MONDAY, 30 March 2015

Spring (freezing) break in Palmyra schools...no swimming for me this week.

We chose to go to the Everson's Maple Farm on Bunker Hill Road in Clifton Springs, NY.  Of course it was freezing out.  This is the group who braved the cold.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JON G NEELEY TODAY!

The syrup was cooking down in the Sugar House...and the steam smelled delicious!

 Two of the Everson's grandchildren who helped with the tour.  One hammered in the dripper in the log and the other attached the bucket so we could see how this all works.

 We all peeked in the buckets along the path and tasted the clear sap...it tasted like sweet water.

They also have a path were the trees are connected to piping and it drains into the silver tank at the bottom of the hill.  The sap is then taken to the sugar house where it is boiled down to syrup

The man in the brown coat was our tour guide with his helpers of course.

This bucket was full to the top.

When the warmer weather comes then the tapping of the trees will be over.  Elder Bushman and I are now back at the Inn trying to thaw out from this grand tour this morning.   Mr. Everson gave us a tiny bible that he got from his 6 year old granddaughter this week when she "found Jesus".  This is a good week to remember the blessings of "finding Jesus".  I didn't know He was lost.  I hope if you have lost Jesus that you too receive the Irish Blessings of finding Jesus this week.  So I close this blog as I read the personal Bible shared by the Everson's grandaughter so I too can find Jesus on this week of His final days on earth.  May you feel His comfort and assurance as you serve Him this week. 

Blessings to each of you.  Please remember you are loved.

Grandma and Grandpa Bushman

Elder and Sister Bushman