McMurray Scotland-Ireland Mission Blog

 Who Is Robert Burns? When we arrived in Scotland on September 27, 2023, we drove on one of about a million 'round-abouts'  and near one by Prestwick Airport we saw a brown sign (indicating a point of interest) that said 'Robert Burns Birthplace and Museum' . I knew he was an important figure in Scottish history, that he was a poet. But I didn't really understand the scope of the high regard that the country and elsewhere holds for him. This week has been the week in which we've come to more fully understand who Robert Burns is. He was born on January 25, 1759 in Alloway, Scotland, one of seven children of tenant farmers William Burns and Agnes Broun. The cottage shown was built by his father. Robert was given irregular schooling and he grew up in poverty. Alot of his education came via his father who taught the children reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history and also wrote 'A Manual For Christian Belief' for them. When we realized we were les...

 January in Paisley Looking west past Paisley Town Hall, beyond Dumbarton, over the Firth of Clyde and to the hills near Dunoon - a bit frosty there as you can see. Our senior missionaries, the Parrishes (from Brisbane, Australia) reported 7 inches of new snow the other day in Perth, which is about 120 kilometres north and east of Paisley. We do tend to chuckle a bit when friends here begin to apologize for the cold.... bahahaha. That then gives us an opening to talk about what ' cold ' really is, like back home the last 10 days or so. Our young High Councilman who spoke in Church today tried to make a case for a preference of snow over rain. I quickly reminded him that 'you don't have to shovel rain...' And rain it has. And getting very windy this afternoon and evening; 130km/h winds now. All trains and air travel is canceled. Ireland and Scotland are the only places we've lived where the storms are severe enough to give names to them - this one is storm Isha. ...

 Callendar House, Falkirk A mansion redesigned and extended in French Renaissance chateau style with some Scottish baronial architecture.  This week began with having our first District Council with our new District Leader, Elder Dillon Gneiting, from Rigby, Idaho. We also welomed a brand new Sister missionary, Sister Annie Brimley. Our meeting wasn't very long since we also had the Scotland South Zone Conference on Thursday.  Traveling to Zone Conference in Edinburgh at 7:30am is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. First, we travel at rush hour through Glasgow, then into the Edinburgh rush hour traffic. About a 50 mile (80 kilometre) trip that takes about 2 hours. But in that time we got to know Elder Gneiting a bit better. He seemed to know a friend of ours, Keith Carey, who was a missionary in Sherwood Park some years ago and one of our favorite missionaries of all time (along with his companion Elder King). Keith now is a teacher who Elder Gneiting knows...

 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 We rang in the New Year by ourselves, at home in our Paisley apartment. We have been avoiding visiting with anyone due to having cold/flu symptoms. We first watched the celebrations in Sydney, Australia - unbelievable fireworks display; and we watched the London celebrations as well. Like most of you, we took down our Christmas decorations and tree, finding it hard to believe that another year has passed. It has been pretty amazing. We've lived in three different cities, two different countries in 2023. The moves have brought their own unique challenges, but Tina and I have learned to 'just get after it' , work hard, apply faith, and always look for people to reach out to; to not let our own challenges keep us from helping others. And, to always be grateful - like Bing Crosby sang in 'White Christmas' - 'fall asleep counting your blessings' .  This week began with a District Council Meeting, this time in the beautiful waterside communit...