S.E.M. Podcast - Scotland, Edinburgh Mission

T.R. Brooks served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from September of 2001 through September of 2003. Arriving in the UK only days before the 9/11 attacks, T.R. found himself in the MTC and was excited to serve Scotland. His time in Scotland includes memories of pint Uno with a twist, tormenting the drunk passersby with items falling from flat windows, and collecting items thrown at him by local...

Aaron Briggs served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from August of 2005 through August of 2007. He came onto the mission in his early 20's and is happy he did come in the time of "Preach My Gospel". Aaron shares many memorable experiences, most prominently how he learned the Glaswegian accent by working at a chip shop back home before the mission. He is grateful for his T-Book and all the wonde...

Ben Bright served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from September of 1999 through September of 2001. Ben made us smile and laugh throughout our conversation. He shared one of the most epic Motherwell experiences that we have heard on the podcast, as well as confirming that he held the record for gaining 9 pounds at a dinner appointment. Ben also shared how much he loved all the people he encount...

Jack Bryce and Zack Hewlett sit down with a brief wrap up of the S.E.M. Podcast. It is 2 years ago this week that we started this podcast and it has been a huge blessing in our life. Many conversations and incredible relationships renewed and established through our common experience in the land of Scotland. The is not us announcing that we are stopping any time soon. We are very excited to contin...

Joelle Wallace served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from March of 2000 through September of 2001. Joelle shares her love of serving the people in Scotland. She loved the history of the country and enjoyed learning the language. Joelle shares fun stories that included stories about mushy peas, snoring, and moldy toast. Joelle currently lives in Medford, Oregon with her husband and their 4 chil...

Jordan Beal served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from May of 2010 through May of 2012. Two months into the mission, Scotland and Ireland merged into one mission. That change allowed Jordan to serve in both countries, but spent the most of his time in Scotland. Jordan shares his favorite memories, including having rocks and fireworks sent his direction, scrubbing baptismal fonts with bleach, a...

Paul Blackburn was called to the Dublin, Ireland Mission in early 2009. Little did he know that midway through the mission would merge with Scotland. He shares his experiences of watching the two very opposite mission cultures work to combine. Paul also loved having a great time while serving in Ireland and Scotland. He served from March of 2009 through April of 2011. Paul currently lives in Chest...

Blake Bockholt served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from August of 2005 through August of 2007. Blake came to Scotland and brought his passion and love of life to the mission. He shares some amazing stories about friendship, education, and epic games of tag and sardines! Blake also shared some of his most memorable moments and how much he loved serving the people in Scotland! Blake currently...

Charles Fife served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from May of 2002 through May of 2004. Charles came into the mission from a small town and that suited him as he served in some of the more rural areas of Scotland. He didn't enjoy the food in the UK, but he shared many of his skills with his companions, including gutting fish! Charles shares some amazing memories from his service in Scotland....

Paul Burnett served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from November of 2007 through November of 2009. His mission was filled with a wild transition from the harshness of Hammer-Time to the love that the mission needed afterwards. Paul served a fourth of his mission with the Chinese-speaking missionaries and was part of the group that was the initial Glasgow Mandarin church group. Paul loved his m...

Matthew Dearnely served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from December of 2000 through January of 2003. From the moment he submitted his mission papers, he felt a draw to Scotland from this grandad's experience as a convert and the first branch president of the Galashiels branch. Matthew was super excited to receive the call to Scotland and he went in with love of the people. Filled with many me...

Andrew Merrick served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from October of 2007 through September of 2009. Andrew shares his own personal conversion story to start and how he joined the church at 18 years old. He quickly prepared to serve a mission by doing his own missionary work at home and seeing miracle happen with his family. Andrew was elated to find out he would serve in Scotland, despite hav...

Tye Shumway served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from November of 2000 through November of 2002. He was asked before his mission where he'd like to go and he said he would love to serve in Scotland. Tye shared his adventures throughout Scotland, most notably his multiple car issues and wrecks, several miracles, and all his other shenanigans. Tye currently lives in Moab, Utah, with his wife an...

On behalf of Evan Slade and his family, we wanted to invite all who would like to participate to join in a fast for Evan and his wife as they are experiencing challenges in their current pregnancy with twin boys. We hope you will join us in this fast to help them through this challenging time. Thanks!

Clark Davis served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from May of 2002 through May of 2004. He comes on the podcast and shares some epic tails, mostly involving NEDs in the Glasgow triangle and how he always made it out to tell the tale! Clark loved serving in Scotland as it means much to his family history. He had past family members that served there and he loved coming in contact with people th...

Jonathan Morgan served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from November of 2004 through October of 2006. Jonathan shares his adventures throughout his time in Scotland, as he overcame some past medical difficulties. He was diagnosed with M.E., which is a chronic fatigue syndrome, prior to his mission. Despite this, he served a full mission and was never truly limited apart from a couple short inst...

Rhett Udy served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from January of 1999 through January of 2001. Rhett was one of the last groups of missionaries from Scotland to attend the MTC in Provo (prior to Preston opening). He came into the mission and fell in love with fish and chips, and was told to have "Jobbie Sauce" on it the next time by a member as a joke. Rhett loved the camaraderie with other mis...

This is a special episode to make all those listeners aware that our friend and fellow S.E.M. Missionary, Quin Kofford, passed away last week. His funeral services are on Saturday, May 4th, at 11:00 AM at the Chase Lane Ward, 1125 North 400 West, Centerville, Utah where a viewing will be held Friday evening from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. and Saturday morning 9:30 -10:30 a.m. prior to services. As a way to...

Joseph Oliver served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from June of 2001 through June of 2003. Joseph tells of his many memorable experiences in Scotland, including being held up at gunpoint until they sang Christmas Hymns for an inebriated man, confirming he ran for his life when a man chased them with a cricket bat, eating for double the amount of missionaries in the MTC, and his experiences wi...

Temple Announcement Reaction

Jared Musser served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission for a few days before the merger with Ireland took place. He was part of the last group of missionaries officially called to the S.E.M. Upon arriving in Scotland, he found himself promptly moved to an area in Ireland. Jared's mission was filled with many wonderful experiences, and he quite literally bounced back and forth between Ireland and S...

Aaron Jones served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from October of 1999 through November of 2001. Aaron shares his experiences from the mission that included a car crash, writing epic rewrites of songs for the S.E.M., insane ferry rides to and from Shetland, and more! He shares of his love of each companion and how much he loved the land of Scotland! This was a fun conversation that you won't w...

Keenan Price served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from January 2006 through January 2008. After waiting much longer to receive his call, he was relieved to know that he was called to the correct mission and had a great trainer (Cameron McDonald). Keenan worked hard and saw much success in his mission. He experienced multiple funeral services of beloved people, overcoming challenging situation...

John Richardson served in the Ireland, Dublin mission from September of 2009 through July of 2010. He was part of the merger that took place when the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission combined with his original mission call, to form the Scotland, Ireland Mission. John shared his experiences of going from large cities in Ireland to smaller villages in Scotland and the challenges that came there. He also...

Mark McCormack served in the Scotland, Edinburgh Mission from November of 2000 through November of 2002. Mark had a unique experience on the mission, which was split in half after breaking his back early in his mission while playing basketball. He returned home to have surgery and serve in Delta, Utah, before returning to Scotland to finish the last year. Mark had the attitude of work hard, play h...