Mission Blog #43

The Week Before Transfers

This has been a very busy week, especially our Tuesday - District Council in Limerick, followed by one apartment and flat inspection, then drive home to Cork, then teach English class at 7pm....a 13 hour day of peddle to the metal.

We were asked to prepare a 'doctrinal message' for District Council, the night before - we expect those kinds of last-minute 'opportunities', but it made our Tuesday that much more exciting. The theme for our message was, 'The Imperfect Harvest' talk from October's General Conference, by Elder Stanfil of the Quorum of the Seventy.

One of the tasks given to us each 'transfer' (a period of about 6 weeks), is performing apartment (flat) and vehicle inspections. For the most part we enjoy it, as it gives us a chance to connect with the young missionaries - not just to go through the checklist for the inspection, but to have some great one-on-one time. We can get a sense of how the missionary pair are getting along with each other, how things are on the home front, flush out how the mental/emotional psyche is doing, etc. 

Recently we've been given the option as to whether we want to perform the inspections virtually, using WhatsApp video, or whether we feel it best to do an in-person visit. Since we were assigned to inspect some apartments that we had not seen before, we made the decision to do 3 in-person and the other 4 virtually. Our in-person inspections took us to Limerick (which we performed after District Council), then on Wednesday to Waterford, about 130km's east of Cork, near the coast, and then the Sisters in Galway by virtual, and also our Cork Elders' apartment on Thursday. On Friday we did 3 virtual apartment and vehicle inspections for Limerick Zone Leaders, Mullingar, and Dundalk. I'm not saying there is any bias or preferential treatment on the aspect of quality of housing.... but see if you can guess which apartment is occupied by the one Sister missionary pair in our District?

Apartment #1, 7th floor, river view.

Apartment #2 is on the left, 3rd floor - the vacant lot is their view....

Apartment #3 from the street.

Sister McMurray doesn't look happy - and that's because she is not at all impressed with the 'curb appeal' of Apartment #3. 

Well, let's reveal - Apartment #1 is the apartment of our District's two Sister missionaries, in Limerick.  Apartment #2 is the one the Elders live at in Waterford, and Apartment #3 is where our Cork Elders live.

We've performed many inspections over the last 9 months, and the Cork flat gets the prize for most depressing, smallest kitchen, oldest building, sketchiest neighborhood, etc. We'll be making a special report on this one - to inform the Mission office of our opinion, and to suggest that they find something of a better standard.

Here are the interior photos of Apartment #1. 

A spare bedroom becomes a study room. Note the floor to ceiling windows with views out to the Shannon River.

This apartment is the standard we'd like across all mission apartments, but we know it's an exception. Although the Elders in Limerick (Zone Leaders) have one that rivals this one - we only saw it virtually so no photos, but it looked great too. Modern, bright, spacious.

We didn't take any interior photos of the Cork Elders' Apartment #3 because we don't want to really plant those images in anyone's minds (you know, PTSD nightmares, or whatever)....

A flat inspection usually takes about 30-40 minutes during which we evaluate the cleanliness, tidiness, but also the safety aspects - alarm tests, etc. We also assess whether they have everything they need; comfortable beds, desks, bed linens, kitchen ware, etc.

The vehicle inspection takes 15 minutes or so.

Tuesday we left for Limerick at 8:45am, got home at about 4:30pm, had a 45 minute nap, then the phone rang and the Elders needed a rescue. They needed a ride to a teaching appointment at 5:45 at the Church (missed their bus). So, we scrambled, got our lesson together and raced down to the Elders' flat. Made it to the church at about 5:50pm. We then set up our English classroom. The EnglishConnect 1 manuals had arrived so we were able to set them out for our Learners who arrived at 7pm (extra treat for those arriving on time). So far, our students are Russian, Mongolian, Brazilian, Hungarian and we're having alot of fun. Our guidance to everyone in the class is to dedicate about 10 hours per week for an extended period to become proficient in English. 

Waterford

Elder Coffman and Elder Eyre - these two attended the same high school in Utah, but a year apart in age so didn't really know each other. They are complete opposites, but seem to get along great.  Elder Eyre earned his mission funds by doing summer sales in pest control.

Lunch at the Shake Dog which serves up American style burgers, shakes, hot dogs. Garlic cheesy fries were my favorite. Giving the young missionaries a taste of home is just what they needed.

Cork

Elder Durham and I like our flat hats. Keepers for sure. The mission transfer notices went out yesterday (Saturday), and unfortunately, Elder Botos is being transferred to Terenure in Dublin. His replacement is someone we know well, Elder Truman, who is coming to us from our old stomping grounds, Dundalk. His current companion, Elder Schneider will be heading to Paisley, Scotland on Thursday - a train to Belfast, then ferry over to Scotland, another train and then he begins his new assignment in Scotland. 

The Dundalk area won't have missionaries resident for at least 1 transfer, but will be covered by Elders in Dublin.

We went out for a walk in the Cork City centre on Friday night, and were fortunate to get into one of the many great restaurants, (The Cornstore), for a nice relaxing dinner.

'Eskimo Pizza'.... interesting irony. Edmonton Eskimo Football Club was canceled - forced to change its name, partly due to one of the sponsors (a pizza chain), putting such pressure on the club, and threatening to remove its sponsorship, to change the name. When I saw 'Eskimo Pizza' in Cork City, I had to chuckle a bit. 

Cancel culture doesn't really have any foothold here. Celebrate all cultures, enjoy food, don't get too caught up in propriety or judginess, and don't take offense when none is intended - live and let live, seems to be the local vibe. Refreshing I feel.

P-Day (Preparation Day)

There is alot to see on this ancient, beautiful island. We opened up the map on Saturday morning and decided it would be good to do some more exploring in west Cork County. Found a target destination or two, then headed out.

Bandon/Clonakilty

About 30km's to the southwest on the N71 national secondary road, is the town of Bandon, a town of 8,000 or so nestled between two hills. It was settled mostly by English. Originally, only Protestants inhabited the town. A by-law had been passed 'that no Roman Catholic be permitted to reside in the town.' On the gates of the wall surrounding the town was written a warning, "Entrance to Jew, Turk, or Atheist; any man except a Papist". A response was scrawled under the sign noting: "The man who wrote this wrote it well, for the same thing is writ on the gates of hell". By this, you might get an understanding on the lack of tolerance exhibited in the day, and on for a few hundred years....

Further southwest we came to Clonakilty, one of the hubs of tourism in western Cork County. It sits at the head of Clonakilty Bay, with the surrounding area mostly for dairy farming. We walked the main streets and by the shops, had a great lunch.

Waffles, icing sugar, and nutella. And for me, banana bread with caramel sauce and bananas. Until some rain showed up, we were outside enjoying ourselves, and listening to a local musician playing his guitar.

There is usually a church near the center of town.

And tour buses that somehow make it through the narrow streets.

We would have visited one or more of the local beaches but we were disuaded by the damp and windy weather. Long Strand beach is 1.5 miles long, and Inchydoney Island has the closest Blue Flag beach, immediately south of town.

As we left Clonakilty, we came across the Leap Community Gardens, adjacent to the Glandore Harbour. 

The bay is a tidal area, just a few miles from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Skibbereen was our next destination; but ended up deciding to go through Skibbereen and on to the Beacon in Baltimore, about 12km's past Skibbereen - near to the furthest south point in Ireland. The last couple kilometres are 1.5 lanes wide, no line markings, and tall hedges on either side thwacking the side of the vehicle as we pulled tight to the edge to allow other cars to pass. 

During the time of the Great Famine, 8-10,000 people died and are buried in the famine burial pits of Abbeystrewry cemetary.

Actor Jeremy Irons the English actor, maintains a fishing cottage in Skibbereen. A few Olympic gold and silver medallists in rowing also call Skibbereen home - Paul O'Donovan, Gary O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy.

Baltimore

Our first glimpse of the little village of Baltimore.

In Baltimore, tourists typically will board small ferries that will take them out to one of the islands for exploring or hiking; or whale watching or fishing.

Here, we're driving a couple of kilometres up to a point on the cliffs, near where the Beacon is.

One of the boats returning from the islands.

Just beyond is Kilmoon, and Clear Island (cape Clear) which is the southernmost spot in Ireland.

The rugged Irish coastline, with its dramatic cliffs, is an amazing site, and the sound of crashing waves adds to the drama of the scenery. The Beacon stands out as a warning.

A bit of a hike to the Beacon it is - but worth it. We have never been in a windier spot in our lives. There are no barriers on the cliff edges so one must be keenly aware at all times, and hang onto each other.

The Beacon is known locally as 'Lot's Wife', reference to the Biblical story of a woman getting turned into a pillar of salt.

After the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British built a series of lighthouses and beacons along the coast as part of a warning system. The original lighthouse was built but by the 1840's it had been vandalized. The 50 foot high white Baltimore Beacon was completed in its place, with the small sphere at the top added later.

Cliffs and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

So that was our week. Daily we reach out to new friends here in the Cork Branch, or old friends in Dundalk, to check in and support them. We're grateful for technology that allows us to stay in touch with our family, and our dear friends back home.

We pray for you all to have a great week, in remembering to be kind to each other, reach out to help others, enjoy the beauties around you - never give up in doing good, no matter the circumstances you're in. We all need each other.

God bless,

   Elder Eric & Sister Tina McMurray

   Scotland-Ireland Mission