McMurray Scotland-Ireland Mission Blog

 Blog #10 - Mission Life Is Great The Dundalk Branch boundary, outlined in blue. Dundalk is on the northeast coast and clusters of members are located in Dundalk, Drogheda in the south east, then up to Monaghan in the north west. Some members live across into Northern Ireland (above the blue line in the north). Some in Newry, and one as far north as north of Armagh. We sometimes just change lightbulbs. Sometimes we are called to be exterminators. By the way, these spiders are huge. We visit members of the branch. We traveled to Carrickmacross and had a great visit with a young man, a member for 1 year. He showed us his family Bible, about 150 yrs old, and inside it were handwritten family history records of about 6 generations. We plan to help Daniel get these properly documented into an online tool such as FamilySearch/Family Tree. His home where he lives with his mother looks out on a beautiful  valley. It was an exciting drive back home in the dark on those narrow country r...

Mission Blog #9 Preparation Day in Monaghan With Sister Missionaries It was the first P-day for the new Sister Missionaries here in Dundalk. Their off-day is Monday and ours is Saturday, but we decided to get out and explore together. The Dundalk Branch of the Church covers a large area, and includes areas to the north and west (Monaghan), south to Drogheda (g is silent), and with some members also living across the border in Northern Ireland. We decided to head northwest to the town of Monaghan.  The route to Monaghan was extremely scenic - and not on windy, dark, country lanes - but mostly on good 2 lane highway; about 55 minute's drive. N53 Highway, then N2.... Weather was sunny and about 10C. Leaving from Dundalk, County Louth, then cutting briefly into Northern Ireland, passing by Castleblayney, then on through Castleshane and into Monaghan. We spotted this Church right away and thought it would be a good place to stop and explore a bit. Unfortunately it was not 'open'...

 Mission Blog #8 Four new arriving missionaries at Dublin Airport on Tuesday, November 8th.  All but 1 were fresh from the Missionary Training Center in Provo. Elder Truman had been serving an interim assignment in Oregon for 3 months while awaiting his 'visa' documents.  Elder Truman on the left - we were alerted of his arrival beforehand by our great MTC friends, the Thurstons - as their daughter is best friends of Elder Truman's mother. Some Things Are Different Here in Ireland Coin-op washer/dryer station - outdoors. Should work in Calgary too, right!? How about when you're short of eggs, just stop by the outdoor egg-dispenser. 30 for 5 Euros.  This handy unit was in the food service area of the Dundalk church. Looks like every bachelor's dream. We brought our new young Sister missionaries back to Dundalk and brought them to their new flat, a semi-detached home. Lots of room for them, but we'll work with them to spruce it up so it feels like home. It needs a...