Missionary Report

Dear Family and friends,

We love you all and trust you are all well, happy and enjoying summer wherever you are. It has indeed been beautiful and warm here in tropical Ireland. Another 9 or 10 days has flown past and here are a few things that we have been involved in as we fulfill this wonderful missionary service.

1. As we continue this search and rescue mission of some 500 young single adults spread throughout Northern Ireland, we are reminded of a quote we read many years ago --- " Our object is not in counting the sheep but rather in feeding them " We are enjoying identfying and finding these lost sheep, one by one, and inviting them to come unto Christ. While our work for the most part will not be in baptizing but rather in teaching the wonderful lessons found in PMG. We are finding more and more that we are teaching the fundamentals of the Gospel of Jesus Christ just as we would a new contact. The only difference might be that they had previously been baptized. We will share some stories later.

2. We have mentioned previously regarding CS LEWIS being born in good old Belfast City. We had a few hours on a Pday to take some of the missionaries on a fact finding tour around his home, school, church, etc and they also have a large file in the library that we accidently found out about, that is very interesting.

3. YSA activity last Friday --- FOOTBALL the real football, that is -- Man U style ( they play here this week !! -- can't go unfortunately ) Well, the guys thought that this old man was going to be a push over --- that is until Elder McBride scored 2 quick goals - so then they put 2 markers on him but old age and treachery won out again. Is,nt this great missionary work !!!!!!

4. Trinity College Dublin -- the old library -- did you know they have an original printing of the Book of Mormon - you need to request it in advance. When this library was build it was thought that it could contain every classic that was EVER published -- so much for advance thinking, maybe the leprechauns did not have their thinking caps on that day !! Remember the future is always ahead of us !!

5. We speak in different wards almost every Sunday -- there are 11 units in Northern Ireland. Our messages are directed at YSA but are prepared for every ear. Sis McBride gave a powerful message this past Sunday and we always pray that we might penetrate at least one heart. We noticed an individual leaving the meeting at the end of her talk and he approached her afterwards in tears -- it appears that her message to come unto Christ touched him deeply and the particular story she related was tailor made for his life at that time. Miracles happen in the Mission field.

6. Monday last was Elder McBrides nephews wedding and it just happened on Pday -- however we would have gone to it in any case -- it is indeed a rare occasion that one could attend a nephews wedding while serving a mission. Also we were asked to give some prayers and there were a lot of non members there, so our dear badges gave us lots of opportunity to tell others why we wore them and what we do. The wedding was a lovely affair and was held in Ballygally Castle -- yes it is an old castle and complete with a haunted room. The castle sits right beside the ocean and it was a very warm day. In fact as we got into the evening it even felt like we were in Hawaii as we strolled along the beach front. The castle grounds were magnificent with a quaint river running through and green green foliage with palm trees. The perfect end to a perfect day .

7. As part of our daily exercise, we get to walk about 4 miles a day. It can be very rushed some days, but we try to get it done. Even when we wear casual clothes, which is uncommon, we wear our badges. We try to share a smile or start a conversation with many. An older gentleman resting, noticed my BYU shirt. He said whats " Cougars " ( a great lead in ) We sat down and taught The Restoration and got a committment to visit him in his home. It's not difficult to use our dominant thought pattern and that happens to be Share the Gospel. We just love these experiences.

8. We visited this week with several less active YSA. One particular visit was out of town. She was a beautiful young lady, again extremely talented, as we find many of our young adults in Ireland. She had won many awards in horse jumping, her younger brother was the all Ireland table tennis champion. They lived in a 300 year old farmhouse up overlooking the ocean - a magnificent view over to bonnie Scotland and the Isle of Man. We enjoyed a wonderful visit and taught " The Nature of God ' from PMG - even her less active father joined us and invited us to return for dinner with the family. Returning back to Belfast we could clearly see evidence of how the Holy Ghost works through each of us. We love this work, we love the Saviour of the world, we marvel each day at another day to live on this beautiful earth that Heavenly Father in his perfect knowledge created for us. The good news of the gospel and the doctrines and principles enrich our lives. We are so happy to be alive and have membership in Christ's true church. His kingdom rolls forth and to be even just a small part of it all is a miracle and we love it.

May God bless each of you -- we think and pray for you always and would love to hear from you from time to time,

Elder and Sister McBride

Ireland / Scotland Mission.