Mission Blog #41

 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 few light bulbs, bath mats, shower rod and curtain, garbage bins, iron & ironing board, and a few other things.

The front door, then hallway to the kitchen. A professional cleaner came in for a day and made alot of progress on the kitchen. She'll be back for another day soon. 

After seeing their flat, we took the sisters for a tour of the chapel. The leased chapel space - (some of the chairs were temporarily moved into another room). For Sunday services the attendance has been from 32 to 46 (today). With the young Sister missionaries here, and extending more personal invitations to join us for Sunday services, we can envision a time soon when this will not be a large enough space.

This room is the Primary room for the children aged 3-11, or for Branch Council Meeting. All the spaces are clean and new, but getting to be too small.

We finally met the President of the Scotland-Ireland Mission on Friday. He was going to personally drive from Belfast down to Dundalk to bring a couple of things for the new Sister missionaries - we offered to meet him half-way. Ended up visiting for an hour or so. President McCrudden is a retired Belfast police officer, and Sister McCrudden was a nurse. President looks like he is about to cuff me....  As Mission Leaders they have a difficult task, in particular when the mission includes Scotland, Northern Ireland (UK), and Republic of Ireland (which is an EU country). The mission office is located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Different visas are required so it means U.S. missionaries called to Ireland will not serve in Scotland. Part of our role is to act in support of the missionaries in Ireland who may feel distant and a bit isolated from the Mission Office. 

You'll notice a poppy on President McCrudden's jacket. In the UK, (as at home in Canada), poppies are sold everywhere in honor of soldiers who fought in the wars, but to remember November 11 as the day of the signing of the Armistice that ended the 1st World War. In the Republic of Ireland, it has not taken hold in the same way. Just something one needs to be aware of.

A missionary Preparation Day (P-Day), is the day that all the necessary routine apartment and vehicle cleaning is done. Our vacuum cleaner needed to be scrubbed before it could be used. It was pretty disgusting - in Sister McMurray's words.

Our i30 Hyundai needed a thorough cleaning too - took it to an outdoor car-wash station where we got the Premier wash, then found this vacuum and fragrance station down around the corner from our flat. 

As we get familiar with where to do these basic things, we feel more settled; and after a good cleaning, our home and car feel more like ours.

Mrs Claus was very happy to find her happy place, when we found the Home Store + More, almost like any Bed, Bath, & Beyond back home. She was literally vibrating with excitement when she found this little spot. I have a hunch that we'll be back. The question is - can we convince her that just 1 tree will suffice??

About 10 days ago we made a harried one hour drive to Northern Ireland on some wild country roads to pay a visit to this great man, Eamon Donnelly. He is waiting for double knee replacement surgery and was in horrible pain. When we arrived at the church At 9:45am, Eamon was parked out in front of the church before anyone else had arrived. It really gave us a surge of joy. Answered prayers, and tender mercies. We sat together for the Primary presentation with all the children (7) taking part and we may have had a few tears in our eyes. When you hear a 10 yr old girl with the utmost confidence tell the congregation - 'I know who I am; and I know why I'm here', it chokes you up.

These are most of the sisters, and young women of the Branch. Some will be coming to visit with Sister McMurray here at our home on Tuesday night. I may need to find something else to do to stay out of their way so they can enjoy their time together to the full. We are really enjoying getting to know all the members in the Branch.

We had a nice visit and dinner with one sister who has not been coming to church for several months. She absolutely loves the young Sister missionaries and had them for dinner one night as well. We gave her encouragement - to leave some things in the past - and just come and be our friends and enjoy the opportunity to worship together. Another great surprise today was seeing she and her friend at church. 

Time really does fly. 40 years seems like a long time in some respects, but looking back, it's just a blink. It's not an easy thing - there aren't any straight lines in the journey; up, down, left, right, slow, fast, laughter, tears, but mostly filled with love, respect, and joy. The most joy being in having 3 amazing children and 4 spectacular grandchildren.

I can't imagine experiencing any of those moments of the last 40 years with anyone else..... cue Lionel Ritchie with 'Endless Love'. Play the song! Hold your sweetheart, and try not to tear up. This was our song at our wedding celebration. Some of you were there. 

We took a recommendation from the Branch President for a nice local restaurant to celebrate at. He gave us 'The Square', a Michelin recommended restaurant. Small and quaint, but with an award winning chef. 9 tables, and just 5 staff; but what a memorable meal we had.

Amazing food, to help us remember our 40th. And well-wishes from Branch members here, our family, and friends. Thank you everyone.

We're feeling blessed to be serving our mission here in Dundalk, and know that we're where we're supposed to be. We've seen and felt many miracles - things that confirm to us that we are children of a loving God. We know that it is only through faith in His son, Jesus Christ, that we can be saved. Love each other, and reach out to someone this week who needs a lift - like He would.

Thank you for your prayers on our behalf.

  Love, Elder & Sister McMurray