DECEMBER 19-25 2021

SHEEP…SHEEP...SHEEP… they are everywhere!  Beautiful lush green fields, hedgerows, very narrow lanes you ‘share’ with oncoming traffic…and walkers.  Rarely can two cars pass each other.  You just blink your lights, pull over until they have passed by, and then continue on..until the next car in a few more yards! Our little neighborhood looks out along the Menai Strait water which flows into the Irish Sea (which looks freezing).  Beauty everywhere.  






It’s a quiet time of year for missionary work.  Families are preparing and celebrating Christmas, Boxing Day, and the New Year.  We were invited to the Gills for Christmas Eve dinner/festivities and a few days later to the Quilters home.  They are so inviting and generous, and are teaching us a lot about living here and about the ward.





MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM WALES!  This is our very first Christmas we have ever celebrated together -just the two of us!  We bought a little tree, put our Christmas cards we received on it, put a puzzle together, opened a fun package from our children full of our favorite American treats, Christmas decorations, and a family photo calendar and family photo placemats!  We have family photos throughout our little flat which makes me happy.  We cooked a turkey in the microwave (because we didn’t know how to turn on the oven) and enjoyed talking/FaceTiming with each of our sweet families. The next few days we did a little sightseeing in our village.The name of our little village is……drumroll please!

It has 58 letters, 18 syllables, and our goal is to be able to pronounce it before we leave here in 18 months.  It is the longest city/village name in the entire UK, and 2nd in the world.  Many people come here just to take a picture of themselves under the signs at the gift shop and train station.  Yeah - we are one of those people!!


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