Scotland/Ireland Mission Home

Scotland/Ireland Mission Home built 1866

 The beautiful intricate detail is hard to describe.

President David O. McKay 1873-1970
President McKay was born in 1873. His mother was Welsh and his father was Scottish. They were both immigrants.
David was called on a mission to Scotland and was feeling homesick after being in the mission for just a short time and spent a few hours sightseeing at nearby Stirling Castle. When he and his companion returned from visiting the castle, they passed a building where the stone above the door had a carved inscription of a quotation usually attributed to Shakespeare, which read: What E're Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part.

Add caption

This marker stands in the garden at the mission home.

Recalling this experience in a talk given in 1957, President McKay explained: “I said to myself, or the Spirit within me, ‘You are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More than that, you are here as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. You accepted the responsibility as a representative of the Church.’ Then I thought [about] what we had done that forenoon. We had been sightseeing, we had gained historical instruction and information, it is true, and I was thrilled with it. … However, that was not missionary work. … I accepted the message given to me on that stone, and from that moment we tried to do our part as missionaries in Scotland.” ¹

This message—What E’er Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part—was so important and had such an impact on Elder McKay that he used it for inspiration for the rest of his life. He determined that whatever responsibility he had, he would do his very best.