Missionary Report

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you are all well -- we are just coming near the completion of the holiday and marching period in dear old Ireland. It has been an eventful time in Belfast and the mission.

1. BIG NEWS -- at the top of the news hour . A baby boy born to Stephen and Tonya and we will not see him until NOV 2011. They are both healthy mom and boy, his name is Benjamin Stephen -- that is # 13 for us and we are so very happy for Stephen and Tonya. Missions are fabulous --- but you do miss out on a few special things at home.

2. The Glorious 12th July -- The missionaries - Elders and Sisters - were in lock up of almost 2 days. There were a few riots but confined to certain areas in Belfast. We were allowed to travel, especially as we are considered locals and we chose to go along the coast with Elder McBrides family and had a great day. We were caught up in one of the parades in a small town and had a spendid view of the lambeg drummers. These are huge drums used in warfare years ago ( Irish warfare of course ) -- they beat them in 2,s or 3,s and they make a lot of noise especially when in a battle coming over the hill made the enemy think there were considerably more protestant troops than Catholic ones. We could tell you more, but we have missionary work to do also !!!

3. On the 11th night before the 12th -- that is where the troubles begin - that is why the missionaries are confined. There are huge bonfires built all over Northern Ireland -- some are 40ft tall and they place tricolors on top before lighting the bonfire. The tricolor is the republican flag representing fianianism -- look the word up, its all part of Irish history. I seen one fire with hugh boards surrounding the bonfire, all painted in green, white and gold, the' finian " flag. Yes, passions come to the fore at this time of year throughout the north and somtimes when driving you can see the results of unrest the night before. Sister Copithorne, no need to worry about your son, he is in a safe area and we see him regularly. Now why the bonfires ? They have been built for centuries -- they were started in about 1690 and they were on fire all over the north to herald the arrival of Prince William of Orange - a protestant loyalist who was brought in to fight King James - he had retreated from the throne of England and came to Ireland for refuge -- he was a Catholic and believe it or not it was the pope of Rome who with his Swiss Guard outed hime from the throne ( the prods ignore that part of history !! ) William defeated James at The Battle of The Boyne in 1690 and took the throne of England -- thereafter the Orange Order was formed and that is where the 12th July is a big celebration --- That is it in a nutshell and maybe they are all nuts !!!!

4. Missionary teaching experience -- a number to tell you but will share one only. We were teaching in a home and the lady's brother in law came in ---- he was Church of God ( a fundamental Pentecostal group very strong here ) They do not like our church and we thought -- well lets have some fun with it. You see we can get off with a little being locals you know !!!! In part of the discussion he told us his son was a pastor and in another one of their churches in Ballymoney ( well that just happened to be Elder McBrides hometown ) they had ordained a woman pastor. I asked him how he felt about that and he really disagreed. Now here is the fun part what he did not know is my father when I was a boy was church of God and not only did I know the original founders but I remembered much of their dogma. Now we do not have time to tell you the whole story but it was very interesting and it was a pleasant meeting , with an invitation to visit with him again. We do get a few opportunities like this when we are not working with the YSA. and the past 2 weeks many of them have been gone.

5. We are presently working in the centre with a number of ideas --- a talent showcase of all the very talented YSA we have. -- university work, street boarding with an invite to the centre, special fast meetings once per month in the centre, we are trying to get SP approval, etc, etc.

6. We are corganizing a temple trip in Oct to Preston England and we get to go also -- that will be great.

7. A Pday past we went to Ladt Dixon Rose Festival -- it is a very large park in Belfast with thousands of the most beautiful roses you have ever seen -- many simply grow wild here. The day we visited there was a harpist playing Irish music in the gazebo beside one of the huge rose beds --- we sat down and absorbed !!!!! We thought literally we had died and gone to heaven.

8. We speak in wards for the next 4 weeks or so and also some firesides. No one has thrown rotten eggs or rocks so far ----- tis the luck o the Orish !!!!

9. Part of our work on a regular basis involves mentoring the young Elders and Sisters as the mission Pres. is now in bonnie Scotland. It is fun being mom and dad to these wonderful young men and woman. We feel so privileged to serve with them. We took one whose birthday it was, and his companion on the open top buses -- that was even an experience for us seeing all the sectarian murals in the loyalist and nationalist ares of Belfast -- very fascinating stuff and they loved it. The birthday boy goes home soon and we got him a nice pictorial Irish book to take home. What treasured relationships are formed in the mission field.

10. Ask me next time to share with you --- where in Ireland, yes Ireland !!! -- where there is an original copy of The Book of Mormon -- interesting stuff !!!!

We love you all --- This is the work of the Lord, The gospel has indeed been restored. We do have a living Prophet who still receives revelation. What a privilege it is to be a missionary and wear the name tag, it gets lots of stares. We love studying the scripures together, it is one of the great parts of each day. Stay true to the faith always.

Elder and Sister McBride

219 Saintfield Road -- flat 6

Belfast

BT8 7HQ

Northern Ireland.

Mom's Girlhood Community

Missionary Report 2

Dear Family members,

We hope you are all well and happy. Today was PDAY and Mom and I did something different. In all these years we have never taken a tour of Belfast city hall -- we have been in there, but never took a tour and it is very interesting as you get into rooms that are closed off to the public. Mom used to walk on the walls outside and play on the grass as a little girl -- ask her about that ?

We got into the great hall, the political chambers and it is very interesting how all the parties based on their religous leanings sit in all the different sections --- eg -- the Nationlists sit off to the left side, those Catholics who support an all Ireland --- everything is based on Religion -- only in Ireland you might say. Mom got to sit on the Mayors chair --- he would be called the " YOUR WORSHIP, THE RIGHT HONORABLE, LORD MAYOR ( so and so )

Now think about that !!!!!!!

1. WORSHIP a politician --- me, never -----

2. HONORABLE ---- by definition --- the highest form of the science of double crossing !!

3. LORD -- there can only be one Lord and that certainly is not a politician.

In any case mom enjoyed her time in the chair.

We also seen all the Belfast missionaries in downtown Belfast --- as my letter said -- many are in the big move on Wednesday.

We hope you enjoy our missionary report and Mitzi if you would be kind enough to keep a folder or binder of these, that would be very much appreciated as we only have a laptop. We did not hear back from some of you if you received our last one just over a week ago ---- now who have we not heard from ( could be a boy named GL ------- ? )

The weather is still fantastic here -- a great start to our mission.

Hope you are all enjoying a great July 4th weekend -- the missionaries celebrated at the conference but I had to complain that no mention was made of Canada Day !!!!!!!

We look forward to hearing the news this week of a new grandchild and are praying for Stephen and Tonya.

We love you all very much,

Mom and Dad.

Missionary Report

Our dear family and friends,

We trust and pray that each of you are well and happy. We miss you all, but do not have much time to even think here. These young single adults keep us hopping. We are quickly gaining their hearts and they certainly have ours. It seems each have remarkable stories to tell and they are teachable, moldable and lovable. The young woman easily get attached to Sister McBride and let's face it --- who would'nt. Our days finish very late while at the centre, rarely do we get home before midnight -- it's ok for YSA as they seem to sleep in later in the morning, same as all over the world -- but the difference is we start early also. Nevertheless we are loving it and Heavenly Father blesses abundantly. Here are some of the things we have been involved in : -

( no particular order - just random happenings both for you and our journal.

It is presently the MARCHING season and signs of it are very evident especially in protestant areas. The big celebration is on the 12th July and already there have been a few ugly incidents with rioters and law enforcement. We were returning a few nights ago from an appointment and just happened to turn the corner into an bad area between the 2 parties - for a few minutes we ended up in the middle of rock and bottle throwing - so it was the matter of putting the foot to the floor and hoping for the best -- we had 2 elders in the car and they were enjoying themselves !!! We have not forgotten those years.

We have been given the task of flat ( apartment ) inspections as we travel Northern Ireland and try to make it fun, but get the task done also. For Bishop and Sis. Copithorne -- you will be happy to know that you good son passed. They did a very good job and we enjoyed talking with them. We usually give them a little treat when they have done particularly well. Elder Covey is in our area -- that is Seans son and Dr. Stephen Covey's grandson. When we joined the church here many years ago Stephen was the Irish Mission President -- it has been fun getting to know Elder Covey -- is'nt it a very small world in the church. I told Elder Covey I would give him a pass if he would get his dad and grandad to come over and speak with our YSA !!!!

We are beginning to realize the tremendous benefit and potential of our name tags --- they sure get attention and can open many a conversation. Also when we have some spare hours we are trying to visit some of the old stalwarts in the church here and it has been wonderful getting to know them again. One such dear sister had lost her husband not long ago. He had been the Bishop of the Cavehill Ward, the one we were members of when we lived here over 40 years ago. Someone said of her husband " a smile from Ronnie is like a hug from God " -- is'nt that beautiful and it was also lovely hearing their conversion story and leaving a message of hope. We visit different wards and branches each Sunday, speaking in church and holding firesides for YSA. -- we try to visit several less actives as we visit those units and involve the active YSA when doing so. That is the most effective way. A few days ago we visited one of our beautiful young woman who had recently lost her husband of just a few months, in Afganistan. Her grandfather who we knew very well thought our visit could only do her good. It was a difficult challenge but we trust the Holy Ghost carried our message deep into her heart. We are indeed having unique experiences every day and could share much more. but ----- missionary work is beckoning,

We had our historic mission conference on Saturday. The mission is now officially the Scotland/ Ireland Mission. Our new President and his wife are wonderful spiritual people and we had a tremendous day together. He tells us the Scotland mission has been a teaching mission supported very well by the members and the Irish mission has been a tracting mission getting most of the new members by street meetings in larger cities and at the door. It will be an interesting combination and many of our Elders and Sisters are going to Bonnie Scotland and theres are on their way here.

For any of you golf fans ---- just wanted to remind you that Graham McDowell from Portrush, Northern Ireland, won the US OPEN. Yes, he plays on the same course that Elder McBride used to sneak on early on a Saturday morning and get about 3 or 4 holes, before being chased off the course. Such were my wonderful boyhood days by the sea !!!!! When on the subject of sports -- THE WORLD CUP and ENGLAND LOSING -- yes it made the Irish fans happy !!! One of our young YSA football fans said it best --- " I support Northern Ireland and anyone who is playing England " Elder McBride cannot comment any further as he is a missionary !!

Our good friend in our Mission Presidency, Pres. Lowry has now been released with the change over in Presidencies. Raymond and us go a long way back with his conversion to the church being about the same time as ours. He is a wonderful individual and a great stalwart in Ireland. He and Irene were called by President Uctdorf to be the London Temple President and Matron and will leave Ireland in November for 3 years. Any of you going to London, please say hello to him.

Elder and Sister McBride are to have their pictures in the ENSIGN in the next few months. Brother Walton and his wife visited Ireland and held a special fireside. He is the great great grandson of the very first Irish convert and missionary to return here with Pres.Taylor. Someone in public affairs thought it would be a good idea to have our pictures taken with the Waltons for the ENSIGN as it would appear that we are the first senior missionary couple to return as missionaries to Ireland, after having been born here. It might be noted that we may also be the last as the 2 missions have now been consolidated. So my face did not break the camera and it would appear they got their pic !!!

We love our work. It is certainly very different than we imagined but indeed very rewarding as we recognize that we are working with tomorrow and that these young single adults are the future of the church here. What a responsibilty we have as we invite those to come unto Christ. During the mission conference held Saturday last we needed to attend a special fast with the YSA in the centre. We dashed from the conf. to the centre, had lunch with them as we started the fast and then back quickly to Holywood Road. We all fasted for a specific part of missionary work -- that of illuminating the souls of those who had drifted, with the light of the everlasting word. As Elder McBride shared some thoughts with them and read the great words of ALMA 5. it filled our souls with gratitude that we have the light of the everlasting Gospel, that we are on the pathway and that our Redeemer, Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price in giving his precious life that we might be saved. This mighty change can be in all of our hearts as we listen, love and apply. We are so very blessed that it happened in ours and this wonderful message of the restoration was given to us by wonderful dedicated missionaries. To a llwho read this please know that we love our Saviour, this church bears his name, he is risen and sits with the father directing the affairs of his kingdom though a prophet, Pres. Thomas S. Monson. We love it with all our hearts and feel so very priviliged.

May God bless each of you and hold you in the palm of his hand.

Elder and Sister McBride.

Scotland / Ireland Mission.