Mission Blog #58

Saints and Spinners

One of the members of the Paisley Ward were kind enough to give us a small book, titled 'Saints and Spinners, A Concise History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the town of Paisley 1839-2000', researched and compiled by David Craig. It does a wonderful job of knitting together (pardon the pun), the history of Paisley and Great Britain, and church history in the area during the same period. I've learned alot about both and still have alot to read. 

Two young men, from Canada, but originally Scottish born, Elder Alexander Wright and Samuel Mulliner, were the first missionaries called to serve in the Scottish Mission, 1839-1842. They both had joined the Church in Canada. The first converts in Scotland were in January 1840 - Alexander Hay and his wife, baptized by Elder Mulliner in the River Clyde near Bishopton which is just a few miles from where we live here in Paisley.

In May, 1840, the apostle Orson Pratt of the Council of the Twelve, arrived in Scotland to co-ordinate the missionary work of Elders Wright and Mulliner and to form a Branch in Paisley, being the first in Scotland. The Church in Paisley consisted by then of 60 members. The number of members in all of Scotland by this time reached 368 and two years later, 768. 

Since these first missionaries and converts, many thousands have followed in their footsteps and become part of the church in Scotland. It's fascinating to hear of what these early missionaries and church members in Scotland endured to build the kingdom here. I am very grateful to them, and just a wee bit proud that these two set off from Canada to begin this great work of 'gathering' here.

Greenock and Largs, on the Firth of Clyde

On a nice sunny Monday morning, we decided to take a short drive to meet up with another senior missionary couple for lunch. The Sylvesters live in Greenock which is on the south side of the Firth of Clyde. They have wonderful views of the water from their flat, including the hills across (still on the peninsula), and out of the photo to the left, they can see the Isle of Bute, and Aaran, and others. Although this area receives more rain than inland, the clear days, like this one, are spectacular. We'll insert a photo of the Sylvesters later as we forgot to get a picture - too busy looking out the restaurant windows to see the beautiful views.

Largs is a popular seaside resort which markets itself on its historic links with the Vikings. An annual festival is held each year in early September at the site of the Battle of Largs in 1263 between the Norwegian and Scottish armies. It was one of those battles with no clear winner, or rather, both sides claiming victory.

Our Tuesday District Council was held virtually, under instruction from our Mission President. With events in Israel and threat levels rising, he felt it prudent to reduce travel and in-person gatherings - so we participated from the comforts of our flat. Technology is used alot in missionary work here.

The Sister missionaries joined us due to their wi-fi not working at all.

Out for a walk to explore Paisley a bit, with our flat in the background along the White Cart Water, a tributary of the Clyde River, and its falls. The beautiful fall colors surround us and we love it.

Halloween in Paisley

A few years ago, the Renfrewshire Council decided to create a festival that would bring the community together in the Halloween season. 

We didn't dress up in costume but we did go over and experience the atmosphere and some of the fun. 

The skeleton band was a favorite - rigged up to move and play instruments to familiar rock music.

It all took place in the town centre, around the Town Hall and Abbey.  They had some fair rides (we did not go on), and some food trucks - (yes, we did try the street food).

We saw many families enjoying time with their children and didn't encounter any rowdies or hooligans, yay.

900 year old Paisley Abbey and eerie lighting brings a Halloween vibe that's hard to beat.

Paisley Ward Party

The Ward put on its own party on the weekend.

Evelyn McGeehan was Fiona's mother, the Queen, from Shrek...

Stewart McManus dressed to match his personality, a clown. He helped decorate, and also led the children's games. He is full of energy, just like the children.

The evening was primarily for the children, but moms, dads, and grand's also joined in and had a nice time.

Geena Lundie was the granny character in Shrek...

Tina was asked to judge the best children's costume (a Little Red Riding Hood won), and I selected the best adult costume (a pirate). The best part was getting to meet a few more people - like Javier Morales who came with his wife, Yvonne and their four children - he not being a church member but coming out to have some fun. Javier is from Spain and I introduced him to Jonathan Hughes who is from Mexico and served a Spanish speaking mission in Vancouver. They talked a little Spanish and compared notes on how neither can convince their parents to come visit at Christmas because it's so cold. I chuckled a bit to myself at that...  

Geena is a feisty, spry, fun-loving member of the Ward. She cares for special-needs children in her day-job, and for 70+, has so much love and energy to offer. We really enjoy spending time with her.

Day-Trip to Isle of Bute

On our Preparation Day we went for something different, a visit to an island. From the Wemyss Bay ferry port it is about 35 minutes by ferry over to the Isle of Bute and the town of Rothesay. The waters were pretty calm and the temperature was about 13C, so it was an ideal day for an outing.

There are seating areas on two deck levels, inside and out, and there is one car deck. On the return trip we noticed a man across the aisle from us, with a woman and a very well-behaved terrier. We began a conversation and learned he is a church member in Edinburgh, last name Churchill. We had some great craic.

You can see that from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay, was not a long journey by ferry.

After docking, we walked 100 yds to the bus stop and took the 10 minute journey to Mount Stuart. Along the way, looking out to the Firth of Clyde were many beautiful estates and mansions.

Mount Stuart

Rothesay Castle (which we did not visit on this trip) was the home of the Bute family of Stuarts until the 17th century, when the first Mount Stuart was built. The main part of that home burnt down in 1877. Plans were completed and construction began on the new Mount Stuart in 1880, a gothic design. 

John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, was one of the great industrialists of the first half of the 19th century, creating the Bute Docks in Cardiff, Wales which opened in 1839. He developed many of the coal resources in Wales with Cardiff being the largest coal port in the world. He was very wealthy.

The 3rd Marquess of Bute, took on the project of building anew his ancestral home with the architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson. From the ashes of the old Mount Stuart rose a Gothic palace that fused powerful architecture with intricate details and lavish design.

The back lawn - views out to the water. Hundreds of acres of forest, and various gardens are preserved and maintained by virtue of the Mount Stuart Trust established in 1989.

Not a bad rock garden I say....

One of the first interior spaces we saw was the Marble Chapel. White Carrara marble lines the walls. The floor is in the Cosmati style popular in medieval church buildings such as Westminster Abbey and the Sistine Chapel - symbolic of earth, fire, wind, and water.

What we liked about this chapel was how light and bright it was. Some churches are dark, cold, and unwelcoming. This space was beautiful. The Carrara marble worked!

Looking up you see the ruby red glass, something you would find in the Byzantine Churches - which Bute had admired during his visit to Russia in 1868.

In 1911 this chapel was described as 'perhaps the most magnificent private sanctuary in the country'. Today it provides an awe-inspiring setting for wedding ceremonies, concerts, and religious services.

This great Marble Hall soars to 80 feet. It is constructed of rare Italian and Sicilian marble and alabastar. No one could accuse the Butes of having a small entry area of their home. Our guide said that on occasion, the children living here would set up a badminton net and play a few games there.

The view to the ceiling. Each of the four sides contains stained glass images of the astrological signs, of the four seasons of the year. The sparkly ceiling gets its sparkle from silver backed crystals, each of which must be unscrewed then cleaned by hand.

This 48-hour grandfather clock sits in one of the four libraries in the house. Three of the libraries are interconnected, each named after a different colour from the original wall paint - Blue, Red, and Purple. A fourth modern collection includes the Archive at Mount Stuart. Together, the four libraries house over 27,000 books. 

The family bedroom was the most impressive room in the house, in my opinion. Our guide demonstrated his knowledge of the Stuart family and Scottish history here more than in any other space. The family tree is depicted here in the friese that runs around the room (restored in 1999-2000). It begins with St Margaret, the celebrated 11th century Scottish Queen and ends at the time of the 3rd Marquess.

The heraldic shields emblazoned on the ceiling represents the marriages of the Bute family from that of the first Sheriff of Bute, John Stewart in the later 14th century to the 3rd Marquess's marriage in 1872. Each shield is symbolically linked by a rope which has been carved in wood.

The amount of detail is incredible. In every corner of the house there is amazing craftsmanship, and detail. We had the 1 hour tour but there is a 90 minute version or 120 minutes - at a price. Next time!? The house is now closed until April 1 so we won't have any additional opportunities unless we return post-mission.

Rooms we didn't get to see on this tour included the billiards room; and the first heated indoor pool in a residence.

We went out and explored some of the forest and gardens before getting the bus back to town. Got our 10,000 steps for sure.

The fall colors on Mount Stuart property are spectacular.

As a few sprinkles of rain fell, it was time to get onto the bus to return to Rothesay and back onto the ferry and to the Wemyss port terminal shown here.

One of the focuses of our assignment in Paisley has been to go through the Ward membership list and make contact, and invite members who have taken a break from church, to come back. We have begun to work on the list and found that several members are now deceased, and a few others have moved. Getting these updated in the records is a start. We've learned today that there are 41 young single adults (18-31yrs) on the list. Our young missionaries and the Young Single Adult Representative in the Ward will be focusing on those 41.

A few highlights of our Sunday was that we had 5 friends come to church, who are not members. I sat with one, Daniel, from Nigeria. Also, Bamidele and his two children Bridget and John Baptiste were there. He even spoke up in Sunday School as we were discussing how to develop attributes of our Saviour. And there was another young man visiting as well. So that was great. And in our first full week of passing around the meal calendar, we six missionaries now have 13 dinner appointments set between today and end of November. It's wonderful to see the Ward members doing their part in this simple way by feeding the missionaries.

Today we watched our home Ward, Sundance, on their zoom feed of Sacrament Meeting. It was the annual Primary Presentation, with all 55 or so children ages 3-11 participating in song and brief spoken parts. It was great to see our grandchildren, Desi, and Xander do their parts so well. We love and miss all of our grandchildren.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve a full-time mission. During times like this, when the world seems confused, divided, and desperate, we turn to our Savior and feel the peace and hope that His life, His teachings, His doctrine, and the saving ordinances of His gospel brings. 

In troubling times, words of the prophet, Nephi, help remind me and encourage me:

2 Nephi 31:20 "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

God bless,

Elder Eric & Sister Tina McMurray

Member & Leader Support Missionaries

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints