Saturday, January 10, 2015

The work for us is done...

We have now been home over two months and getting settled into retirement life.  Our thoughts often go back to our experiences in Scotland...they have been life changing.  We were able to touch the lives of many as we helped them prepare for finding work.  They in turn have touched our lives in a way they will never understand.  I have posted some pictures that representative of our work through the employment center and the workshops we taught.

 Our "home" for the 18 months was the Employment Centre in Edinburgh.  Many hours were spent on the computer preparing material for the workshops and sending emails.





 We set up a sign-in sheet and enticed people with treats when they visited us.  Below is a bulletin board Carolyn prepared.  She would update this board every few months to get people thinking about employment opportunities.  Below is our Centre setup for a Career Workshop.








The people we worked with were a special part of the experience.  Martin Gardner was our supervisor and worked out of the Centre in Birmingham England.  He is a very talented individual and is totally committed to serving the people of the UK regarding employment opportunities. 
 


 We taught workshops in Galway, Limerick, Tralee, Belfast, Beath, Kilmarnock, Glasgow, Dumbarton, Falkirk, Aloa, Cumbernauld, Edinburgh, and Livingston.











This is Eva and Donovan Bowen, and their two daughters.  Eva and Donovan were the Employment Specialists in Belfast, Ireland.  
 




An exercise to get class participants to talk with others.


A youth night in Cumbernauld Ward to stress the importance of planning for a career



 A career workshop in Dumbarton, Scotland. 

In additon to the people with whom we worked, we established great friendships with other senior missionaries during Mission Conferences and activites enjoying the beautiful countryside...


 Elders Jones, Browning, Hansen, and Boden with two younger missionaries.


We enjoyed traveling throughout Scotland with the senior missionaries.  We would usually drive the Mission Van but if there were too many, we would also drive some cars.  Above is Sister Brown, Elder & Sister Hansen, Sister Wagar, the Bodens, and Elder & Sister Browning.

  Elder & Sister Jolly were our counterpart working in the Birmingham Employment Centre


A day trip to see another castle was alway fun...Elder & Sister Jones, Elder & Sister Hansen, Sisters Wagar and Ferguson.

  In February, 2014 we attended a Senior Missionary Conference with all the Senior missionaries working in Scotland and Ireland.


At the end of the conference we gathered around the "stone" which was dedicated by President Brown.  The stone has the inscription - "What e'er thou art, act well thy part".  This is the motto of the mission and wise words to live by...The work is now done for us but the work continues with other missionaries.




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