Mission Blog #16

Castle Roche lies in the hilly countryside northwest of the city of Dundalk, County Louth. It was built in 1236 by Lady Rohesia de Verdun.

Lady de Verdun reputedly threw the builder of the castle out of a window after its completion to preserve the castle's secrets. The blocked up window is still known as the 'Murder Window'. 
The castle has a triangular layout, determined by the rock it stands on. It stood on the border of the province of Ulster and the Anglo-Norman territory know as The Pale. It controlled a pass into Armagh.

In 1561 all English forces in Ireland were hosted here. In 1641 the Castle Roche was laid to ruin during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

When we arrived at the castle location, a heavy fog lingered which created quite a setting for a place that had seen its share of death and conquest.

Each Sunday in Dundalk Branch, one of the kind and faithful members provides our young Sister Missionaries with a heaping bag of groceries. The Sisters regularly bring some of that to District Council and share it with some of the other missionaries who need it more.

Sister Gardiner and Judd, with the happy trio of Elder Coffman, Kutil, and Trueman; and District Leader Mills. We love each of them and really look forward to District Council Meeting. Each of us get a turn taking an assignment to teach or train. Sister McMurray and I gave training on 'goal setting' last week.

When we first arrived a couple months ago, we discovered the pretty seaside town of Blackrock. It is adjacent to Dundalk Bay that leads to the Irish Sea. In October the waves were crashing into the sea wall - but on this day in January, the water was probably 1 kilometre away from the wall. 

Sister Judd and Gardiner collected a few seashells as souvenirs. Hopefully not breaking any laws by doing so in this Special Protection Area.

Nathan Reed is a videographer and has been involved in recording various projects in Ireland. Last summer, Elder Gerritt Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, visited Ireland on vacation with his Irish born wife. They were asked if their visit and family history trek could be recorded for the church web-page here. Approval was given and Nathan was the one selected to document that. 

The Gardiner family is extremely musical (as our son Stephen can attest, he having spent time with them in Thousand Oaks when he was a missionary), and were among the first to utilize Nathan's interests and to nurture him into that field.

Nathan came to our home one night this week so that he could complete some sound editing on a song that our Sister Abby Gardiner was doing for posting on the Friends of the Scotland-Ireland Mission Facebook page. It will be released on January 11th or 12th.

Nathan knows that Sister Gardiner has some Canadian blood, so before making the drive down to us from Lisburn, he stopped by (actually went out of his way by 40 minutes back to Belfast), just to bring a little Canadian comfort food with him. We tried to tell Sister Judd (from Arizona) that only Canadians like Timbits, but she knew it was a diversion strategy, and proved Americans love them too.

Thank you Nathan and good luck in your career. You are welcome here anytime you bring Timbits with you!!!

BIRTHDAYS GALORE in January!

You can see that we spend alot of time with the Sister Missionaries. It was a special week as both of them had birthdays, January 5th and January 7th so we invited them for dinner and cake. 

A special recognition for our grandson, Xander Stringham, who had a birthday on January 7th; as did my oldest sister, Jayna Campbell in Texas. Xander turned 6, and Jayna's true age is still being determined by a lab using carbon dating techniques, LOL.

Technology allowed us to connect with Xander to see him open our gift and show us how grown up he has become. He was just a wee lad when we left!!! He was able to blow out his candles with one breath... Jayna???     

Happy Birthday Xander, and Jayna. We love and miss you both.

Nollaig na mBan

Christmas came down on January 6th in our flat, which we've heard is the approximate time when most Irish take down their decorations. 

Irish Tradition - Nollaig na mBan - Women's Little Christmas 6th January: Once upon a time in Ireland Celts celebrated the feminine energy with a feast for the Ladies of the Land and their hearts. It was an obligatory feast that allowed women to have a massive party without the presence of their men. They would leave the house chores for their husbands and head to the fairy rings. There they would dance, drink mead and bless Mother Earth so that the spring would bring forth a good crop. The date was not stable but ranged from 3rd to 6th of January. It coincided with the end of Christmas Celebrations, and the beginning of the end of winter. Nowadays the tradition is more about ladies relaxing after the Christmas Holidays and meeting up with their women friends for lunch or dinner and celebrating the feminine energy. Wishing women all over the world a very Happy Nollaig na mBan - Women's Little Christmas!

This is Brian Matthews, who has lived in Calgary (about 80th St & 17 Ave SE) for many years but is a native of Dundalk, Ireland. He has been a positive addition to the Branch for the 3 weeks he's been here visiting his family. ...A good participant in the Sunday School class last week and Priesthood class that I've taught the last 2 weeks. 

Sister McMurray pitched in and did the music for the kids in Primary today. We're willing to do whatever is needed to help the Branch, or the Sister Missionaries, or neighbours and new friends here.

Come Follow Me......2023

We are enjoying studying the New Testament in the Come Follow Me study program. Reading in Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and seeing the accounts by two different writers is very interesting and informative. We learn how the faithful willingly submit to God's will - I think we all know that life doesn't always go according to our own plan and timetable. We learn alot from Elizabeth and Zacharias, and Mary and Joseph and how nothing is impossible with the Lord.

We wish all of you happiness and an eternal perspective, and the faith to pull you through everything that may come in 2023.

Sincerely,

   Elder & Sister McMurray