Mission Blog #41

This week has been very humbling - while we were going about our different missionary activities here in Ireland, two young people from two families that are dear friends back home in Alberta, passed away. One passing occurred unexpectedly, the other came at the end of a battle with leukaemia. 

We know that at times like these, we need to show love and support, to be there for each other, as we say. We have found it difficult to effectively do that when we are so distant. To the families, loved ones - all who feel the loss of Rochelle Simpson, and Stuart Hawthorne, we offer our love, and our sincere prayers that somehow you will be strengthened and comforted in this difficult time. And that you will forgive us for not being there beside you. We also feel for our friend Wendie in Calgary who lost her brother recently.

The image shown was posted on FB by Cindy, mother to one of these amazing young people, Rochelle. It attempts to convey to us, that while we here who remain are mourning and feeling a separation to those who pass on - that on the 'other side' of the veil, those who pass on will be met, welcomed, and embraced by loved ones who are waiting. This imagery is in harmony with the principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, that we declare is true.

It's hard to move on, but they want us to carry on, not because we have no choice, but because we still have much to live for. We can look forward to a day when we can be reunited. This hope is not vain. Physical death (separation of body and spirit) is overcome through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We all will be resurrected - our physical body reunited with our spirit - a body no longer subject to pain, suffering, disease, and sorrow. This is a joyful message, part of the 'good news' we share with the world. 

One of those who I testify was a living apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, gave a thorough review of the mortal factors that we are born into, that at some time, will result in our death. At times like this, I 

go to it again to help me to retain the right perspective; 'Death: Tragedy or Destiny - Spencer W. Kimball'.

There is much to look forward to in spite of the shock or loss we may be feeling. 

Home Evening

Home Evening is one night a week set aside for our families. In LDS homes, it usually begins with a song, prayer, then a spiritual message or scripture, followed by a game and a treat or dessert.

Branch President Loren Smemoe and his wife Kara invited ourselves, plus a few others to his home on Monday night. After a wonderful dinner, others arrived and the Home Evening began. The Smemoe family use a chart so that everyone in the family takes on an assignment for some part of the evening. Oliver, on the left, played the piano for our song, and gave the spiritual message. 

Someone else said the prayer, and someone else chose the game Hedbanz, the one where you have a card on your head, and through asking yes/no questions, you figure out what you are. Lots of laughs.

Alice, in the middle here, is acting a bit embarrassed because her big brother had just announced that she was an award winning harpist, and there was a harp in the corner of the room. We succeeded in encouraging her to play a bit for the group but when she began to set up, two key strings were found to be missing - so her mini-concert will have to wait.

In the left of this photo are Eddie sitting next to Belle - both from Mongolia, and currently meeting with the young missionaries. On Tuesday night they will be two of our students in the first English Class offered in the Cork Branch. 

Ireland - to Limerick for District Council

Our new District includes the two Elders here in Cork, ourselves, three pairs of Elders and Sisters in Limerick, and a pair of Elders in Waterford. We meet every week, Tuesday, but in person in Limerick every second week. It was about an hour, forty five minutes drive through gorgeous countryside, small towns and villages. The Limerick chapel is a very nice building, on a main road near a large shopping center. Our District Leader, Elder Botos, organized the meeting and led us through a very good District Council. These are some wonderful young people and we love serving with them.

Sister Goncalves at the back right of this photo, has a brother who is serving in the Vancouver Canada Mission, and served his first few months on Vancouver Island - and very well known to my sister Valerie and husband Scott who have served their entire 18 months on the island and are about to go home. Congratulations to them on having a real impact with missionaries, and with members of the Church.

Ireland - History and Beauty

Patrick Street, Cork. More shopping per square foot than I've seen in awhile. And 3 Michelin Star restaurants somewhere here. It's a foodie heaven.

Street art includes sand... great effort by the artist.

A unique shaped building is simply converted into a fast-food restaurant. At home, we tend to tear things down too much.

Kinsale - A Little Bit of Paradise By the Ocean

It was a calm, mild day. Being by calm water creates a sense of peace.

The tourist crowds are a bit lower on a Monday, but that makes it easier to get a lunch table.

More ancient buildings, still in use. Desmond Castle.

The whole island is full of flowers. 

Wall art is pretty amazing here.

To Tralee and the Dingle Peninsula

Sister Louise and Elder Ray Evenson invited us for a day of exploring in their part of Ireland, so we drove about 1 hr 45 minutes to their very nice home overlooking the ocean. The owner is a dairy farmer next door, and 4 of the owner's siblings have neighboring homes on the same street, in Spa, near Tralee.

We left our home at Cork, then drove west and north into County Kerry.

Tralee was founded by Anglo-Normans in the 13th century, which became a stronghold of the Earls of Desmond.

Where the Evenson's live in Spa, a 3 bdrm farmhouse. 

About 5 minutes down the road from Evenson's is the Tralee Golf Club, an Arnold Palmer designed course. It looked so gorgeous, I felt myself trembling. It has been awhile, and I may be suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, when Palmer saw the land where the golf course would be built he said that he had 'never come across a piece of land so ideally suited for the building of a golf course'. With the beautiful ocean views, after hitting a poor shot, one could always blame it on being distracted by the beautiful vistas.

If we lived in Tralee....

It was a 2 to 3 club wind on this day...my buddies who golf at the Track in Langdon know about that kind of wind.

Below the golf course is one of the most beautiful beaches I've been to, Banna Strand. The wind was fierce but we roamed back and forth, dipped our hand in the ocean, and thought about what the sunsets here would be like. Wow!

10 cents to anyone who knows what this little treasure found on the beach is (another beach a few miles away from Banna Strand).

Would you believe, this little sack contains a shark egg???  True story. Elder Evenson studied up on it. The egg case or egg capsule, colloquially called a 'mermaid's purse', is the casing that surrounds the eggs of oviparous sharks, skates and chimaeras.

This beach had an abnormal amount of seaweed on the beach, but we still had fun scouring for shells. Tina found a large scallop shell as big as her hand.

Do you see the red???  Canada Day! Happy Birthday to my home and native land, the true north...

It's not the first time we've come across lost sheep in Ireland. But, that's why we're here, to find the lost sheep.

The Dingle Peninsula has mountains and a drive to remember was going through the Connor Pass. Down to just 1+ lanes in some places...where you pray no one is coming in the opposite direction. 

In the distance you'd normally be able to see the ocean. Beautiful vistas at every turn.

Dingle is a small port town on the southwest of Ireland's Dingle Peninsula, known for its rugged scenery, trails, and sandy beaches.

Look carefully of what this building is made of, including the roof. Stones. Hey Calgarians, you'd never have to make an insurance claim for hail damage!!

This is the typical shoreline on the peninsula. Tucked into some of the bays you'll find amazing sandy beaches.

These 'beehive huts' can be seen on the hills rising up from the cliff edges. They were built using rocks readily available on the hillsides, and without mortar. 

They might look familiar as the beehive huts were featured as Luke Skywalker's hideaway in Star Wars, the Last Jedi.

The circle of stratum lying a little closer to the centre than the one beneath and so on upwards until only a small aperture is left at the top which could be closed with a single capstone or flagstone.

Wide enough for one car, but used in both directions. 

Amazing views of islands and cliffs on the fierce coastline Ireland coast - of which Ireland has 7,524 km's.

I think this little guy is very at home here.

Another beach.

16km's west of Dingle on the beautiful Slea Head drive route is Dunquin. Near here is the furthest west point in Europe, making us on this Canada Day, closer to Canada than at any other time in our mission in Ireland. Nothing but ocean between us.

The bar was featured in the 1970 movie, Ryan's Daughter, starring Robert Mitchum.

It's beautiful. Can't deny that.

Back to Tralee. The Tralee Rose Garden is on the Tralee Town Park site, a site previously occupied by a castle built by the Denny family. 

The Rose Garden has been a feature of the park since 1987 and has 35 varieties of roses over a 3 acre site. Each year there is a Rose of Tralee Festival.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, mother of the famous Kennedy clan, is remembered here. A remembrance stone was unveiled by her daughter, Jean Kennedy Smith, US Ambassador to Ireland in 1995. Rose left behind a message of fortitude, recorded on the plinth: "I find it interesting to reflect on what has made my life, even with its moments of pain, an essentially happy one. I have come to the conclusion that the most important element in human life is faith."

A part of the park is dedicated to Neil Armstrong, astronaut, following his visit to Tralee in 1997 where he spoke to the community on what it was like to be the first to walk on the moon.

Another week has passed for us on the emerald isle. What a beautiful world we live in. We continue to meet amazing people, like Bridget, our grocery checkout lady. She stared at my badge, so I introduced myself as a missionary, then she squinted and read my name on the tag...'Sister McMurray'... bahaha, I had put on the wrong tag, but it gave us a moment to talk and explain that we held Sunday services just up the road and we invited her. She is from Nigeria. A lovely person.

This Tuesday we will be teaching an English class for anyone, over at the Cork chapel. It will be the first English class offered by the Church in Cork. We're excited to see how we can help the many immigrants improve their language skills. There are so many who come to Cork to learn English, to try to improve their lives. The young missionaries will be there to assist, we'll have some treats, and we'll offer a 10 minute spiritual thought afterwards for anyone who chooses to stay.

In your trials, and in your triumphs, may you always feel in your hearts, as I do, that we are children of loving heavenly parents. We are here for a glorious purpose. Our destiny, if we choose it intentionally, is to live in eternal family units in the presence of our Heavenly Father and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

God bless.

  Elder Eric & Sister Tina McMurray

  Scotland-Ireland Mission