Mission Blog #44

One Day At A Time....

Brother William Quirke, between Elder Durham and Elder Botos - this is a great man, an Irishman who has been a member of the Church in Cork since 1969. He is a modern pioneer. He is a counselor in the Elders Quorum, and acts in the role of Branch Mission Leader. Without fail in our weekly Mission Correlation Meeting he will bear his testimony to us of his faith in Jesus Christ. He'll often turn to others and ask them to likewise bear their testimonies - and with that sweet spirit there, he then leads us through discussions on how we can reach out to others in loving and natural ways. Whether a person is 25 yrs old, or 75 yrs old, Brother Quirke will phone and talk to them, and will visit them, and encourage them and counsel with them. Bill's conversion to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ changed his life those many years ago, but it continues to be a blessing to all of us here in Cork.

A utility account, usage and credits remaining device. When credits are low, you need to get on the utility company's App and put in another payment credit - otherwise your power and/or gas could just shut off. Ireland has so many types of energy systems.

Elder Botos filled a promise prior to his leaving us in Cork - to make us some Hungarian goulash. It was worth the wait - I loved it. Spicy, definitely will keep you warm on a cool, rainy Irish summer day.

Renat and Lena Kashapov (5 months or so after moving from Russia), saying their goodbyes to Elder Botos after English Class. What a sweet family.

Some of our English Class learners and helpers. It is always a great time at class. Some of our regulars were absent but whoever is there will get our best effort to help them become more proficient in English.

We took the Elders to lunch at Shake Dog, the American style burger, shake, hot dog restaurant - our last meal with Elder Botos. Off he goes to Dublin now - paired with Elder Roy who spends his last transfer in a regular missionary role, after 7 months of being in the very demanding Assistant to the President role. We'll see Elder Botos again at the all-Ireland Zone Conference on August 1st.
 

Saint Finn Barre's Cathedral in Cork is a 3-spired cathedral, not too common. The only other one we can recall is the Cathedral in Lichfield, UK where our daughter Michelle resides.

I see some resemblance in these spires, to the six spires of the Salt Lake Temple. Do you see it?

Cork was originally a monastic settlement, reputedly founded by Saint Finbarr in the 6th century A.D.  The cathedral dates from 1870 but Christian worship has taken place on the site since the seventh century.

Lough Park, Cork 

We found a nice spot to go for walks - a bird sanctuary park, surrounded by walking paths, benches, kiddies' playpark, adult outdoor exercise equipment, and field. There are 18 or so bird varieties here; swans, geese, ducks, coots, gulls, rook, moorhen, and others.

A large island creates a perfect nesting area. Birdseed is available for purchase.

To walk around the lake, is about 1km. 

He's Back

We left Elder Truman and Schneider in Dundalk on June 15th, then at the following transfer, Elder Truman was sent down to us in Cork, as our new District Leader. He and Durham are amazing young missionaries who are consecrated in the service of our Savior.

Welcome to Cork Elder Truman!

Killarney National Park, and Mucross House

The weather looked iffy for our normal pday Saturday, so we took the executive decision to move it to Friday. Our missionary friends in Tralee, the Evenson's, agreed. Near our destination it was a bit damp but as soon as I shelled out some cash for a proper rain jacket in the gift shop, the rain ceased, and we even saw some rays of sunshine at times.

Killarney is Ireland's premier National Park, comprising 10,000 hectares of mountains, woods, and lakeland, and including nature trails.

We were a little skeptical that this national park would have any wow factor - after all, we spend alot of time in Banff, one of the most spectacularly scenic places on earth.

Killarney did not disappoint. The woods are lush, the lake idealic, and the Muckross House could not possibly be in a more beautiful setting.

Muckross House was completed in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his Scottish wife Mary Balfour. It included 47,000 acres - all about 6 kilometres south of the town of Killarney. 

In the entrance hall, many important pasttimes of hunting, shooting, and fishing are celebrated. Antlers of the Great Irish Elk, which became extinct over 10,000 years ago, hold pride of place above the fireplace. 

The Ding Room was stunning.

The nursery/children's bedroom.

Known as the 'Queen's Bedroom' - after a stay there of Queen Victoria in 1861; it is a suite of rooms, the boudoir, dressing room, and bedroom.

The servant's dining hall lies next to the scullery, where the washup took place.

The Bell Corridor houses all the bells, each with a different tone - which when activated by a pull in the respective room of the house, would alert the servants to know without glancing, which room they were being summoned to 'above stairs'.

The boot room is where footwear was stored and polished, until needed by one of the household.

Ovens and stove in the kitchen.

The original family occupying the house included only four - but many visitors also spent time there. Games were a part of their entertainment, including one I had not heard of; Garden Golf. Sounds like alot of fun.

Crocket too...

The kitchen, as with most homes, is the real 'engine' of the house, where the Cook reigned supreme. It is situated outside the main block of the House to help ensure that cooking smells did not permeate throughout the building.

Let's go see the lake, and Torc Waterfalls. We began our walk with Evenson's promising that it was about 1 kilometer each way. It was 2.6 each way, but it was brilliant.

We had some buggy envy...next time, we'll go in the jaunty.

Muckross Lake connects to a much larger lake, Loch Lein that supports alot of tourists. On this day, it seemed like we had it all to ourselves. 20C, overcast, about 80% humidity, and only an occasional breeze, made it perfect for us.

We would love to know the type of tree this is....it's pretty cool.

This was one of the most beatiful walks you could be on. Occasional views of the lake, giant oak, hemlock, firs.... and the bonus of all, no mosquitos. I'm serious, in this moist, humid climate you'd think they'd be everywhere - nope. Nada. Wonderful.

And here we are with the Evenson's, at Torc Falls, descending down the side of Torc Mountain.

This is Jason Peters, 38 yr old young man in the Branch. He lives with a couple of brothers and mother - she is visiting in Colorado for a few months; so we met Jason for a very nice Thai meal. 

And, he has subsequently invited us for dinner on Monday (beef Wellington). He made us a loaf of bread the other day - he's a great guy.

We had a great day at Church today. The talks were great - Donovan Reeder's brother and sister-law are in Cork while she attends college, and his brother (forgot his name), gave a wonderful talk. He did his 2 year mission service in Northern Ireland.

Rachel (beside Tina), has her mother visiting (just behind my left shoulder in this photo) from South Africa. Donovan is in the back. Donovan is on the District Council. Rachel is our Branch Primary President (over all children 3-11). It was such a great meal - best enchiladas I've ever had. The girls played shy up until we were about to leave, then asked me if I would like to jump on the trampoline with them. I said that I would love to but the Mission President wouldn't be happy about that...  These are faithful, wonderful church members. We feel so connected to them and we've just been here in Cork since June 15th.

We've had a great week. There are so many wonderful people in the world, so many that we meet each week but far more than we can talk about in our blog. Just one example, we were in Killarney having a bite to eat after our epic day with the Evensons at Muckross House. Our waitress, Lisa, saw our name badges and showed curiosity. She carefully read the name of our Church on the tag, 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' - we could tell that she had no familiarity with it. She then asked about where we live in Ireland, how we support ourselves, what kinds of mission service do we do. We gave her a few bullet points. She just looked at us like she couldn't believe we'd do that. When paying the bill, she continued with querying me. She then said that this is something she would like to do one day. So, we encouraged her and said that there is nothing like it. It is worth it. 

We feel blessed to be here, in a beautiful island of the sea, with wonderful, kind people doing their best to find happiness and have a good life with their families. We know that true joy and happiness comes through the teachings and the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we have the hope of returning to the presence of He and our Father in Heaven, as families. 

Have a great week.

   Elder Eric & Sister Tina McMurray