The Ministry, Strawberries, Irish Coffees - Days Thirteen and Fourteen

Monday, July 7 & Tuesday, July 8, 2015

The end of this portion of our trip was creeping in. We could all feel the reality of it. But that didn't stop our past two days from being jolly. Our time in Portadown, Northern Ireland and our times with the friends will always be treasured memories.

The convention campaign here is nearly over, so we have been spending a lot of time inviting everyone possible! Some days were spent with the congregation in their territory, others we worked as a team and did our country territory. Since this was our last day, we did a mixture of both. 

The friends were such a joy to work with in the territory. Tea break was "spot on" as usual. And then did a few return visits with this dear sister, Louise, who has so many returns that it's hard to make it back to all of them. Today she started two studies!

A lad named Viggo went in service with us as well. We all had a blast together! He is part of a lovely Polish family, the Stanschecks (spelling?). They let Nicole hold their chickens, and me hold their bunnies. It made us miss our lil' animals. Much love to that family also for their kindness.

PS. Viggo, we don't like animal meat that much. 

We ended our service day by taking a few photos in our personal territory. The countryside was gorgeous today. The rain started in on us, and it made it smell just like home. Like an Ohio/Pennsylvania summertime rain.

As a thank-you, we made dinner for our super sweet host family. Thank heaven they liked it! Afterwords, we picked some strawberries for tomorrow's big breakfast. Julia will be making strawberry pancakes, and we'll make some eggs. Yum!

By the way, it was determined that there is only one proper footwear for berry picking: heels. Thanks, Kayla, for setting the precedent. ;)

Heard of Irish Coffee? I never had. The girls did, though. So it quickly became another thing we just had to try! Julia gave us the step-by-step. This is the heavenly result.

And Julia, modeling her creation.

We will miss this family so much! They've been a real blessing to us. And been true friends. We'll miss this little monkey too. She's been our adopted little sister for two whole weeks. We hope that someday when she's grown she can come visit us!

Until next time, Portadown. We will be back.