When we are out of town we try to attend church if possible. This has lead to some interesting experiences including bilingual English/Spanish meetings in Belize and ASL meetings in Seattle. In Dublin I expected familiar rituals and hymns in charming Irish accents. We got something a little different. We attended the Finglas ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This ward includes the downtown area of Dublin. There are other wards in the suburbs that may be more like what I was expecting, but we weren't there.
On our first Sunday the kids and I found our way to the church building at the Slaney road bus stop across the street from Glasnevin cemetery. We walked in with several others from the same bus. I had wondered if they were going the same place when the hopped on the bus in white shirts and ties or churchy looking dresses. After we sat down we got a surprise. The kids former piano teacher and ward member from California was there! She was in town just for a couple of days with a BYU study abroad group. It was so good to see her. I was feeling a bit lonely since John had to delay his arrival for a few days to get things finished up at home. There were a lot of moving parts to get taken care of before we could leave.
One thing I didn't expect was when the bishop specifically invited the Portuguese speaking members of the ward to participate in the testimony meeting. I didn't expect there to be so many. It turns out that there are a lot of Brazilian and other students who come to Dublin to study English. We were told that Ireland is one of the few places where you can work while in the country on a student visa.
I also didn't expect such a large number of visitors from the US. On the first week there were 12 kids in the teen Sunday School class. Nine of them, including my two, were visiting from the US. It was the same with the women in Relief Society the next week. There were a handful of women who lived there and nearly as many visitors, mostly from the US. A few were in town for only a few hours off of a cruise ship. Others, like us, were there for longer.
On our second week we talked to a family from Arizona. They were there for three weeks while the Dad worked for an International tech company. They had kids about the same ages as our kids. We later ran into them at the park playground. It was fun to get to know them. We invited them to Rome for a visit. It is unlikely, but you never know.
On our last Sunday we met a young woman from Utah who was heading home after visiting Germany and Italy with a friend. It turns out that she knew my nephew and was on the High School track team with him years ago. Small world. She had a few hours to kill before she could check into her hostel so we invited her to have lunch with us and helped her get a bus pass. She had arrived in Dublin at 1 am and "slept" in the airport before coming to church. She was great and seemed to enjoy the crazy family who adopted her for a couple of hours. When we got to our bus stop we ran into the crowds spilling out of the pubs in preparation for the national hurling championship game that afternoon. Hurling is a uniquely Irish game played with a ball and a stick, something like field hockey crossed with rugby. I saw an ad that described it as the fastest field sport in the world. It was fun to see everyone dressed in their team colors getting ready for a good time. I am, however, glad that I wasn't in the stands with them as they continued to down the beer.
I also talked to people from Dublin who were so very helpful. One woman was very kind and seemed like the kind of person who would know everyone. She introduced me to the man who runs the family history center at the church. I later spent part of a Wednesday morning there, which led me to the national library, and later the valuations office. But more on that later.
I also asked another woman about seminary for the teenagers. It turned out that she had been a seminary teacher for eight years. In California the teenagers attend early morning seminary before high school. I wondered how they did it here with so few teens and such large distances. She said that they used to do it in the morning before school, but had switched to meeting weekly. There is also an online version for students who live far and wide. I'm thinking about Rome and how My Boy will be able to participate in seminary, especially since he doesn't speak Italian. Perhaps he could join the Irish online students. It is only one hour different and he really liked Ireland.
I'm looking forward to church in Rome, but it will be harder since it won't be in English.
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