From Sea to Shining Sea...PEI to Newfoundland

Sunday, September 23, 2018

What a wonderful week in the Canada Halifax Mission!!!

Mondays we always have our Office meetings, and we love Zoom meetings with our Senior Missionaries; Elder Schow conducts these meetings, and always has everyone share highlights of their week, and we love that!!  It is a great way to get to really know our Seniors!! The next office meeting is with our Office missionaries who serve us so very well. Then Monday afternoon we get to meet with our Assistants, and our STLT’s. A busy, fun day!!

Tuesday morning we headed to New Glasgow for District Council Meeting, and loved being with our group there - led by Elders Fullmer and Surette. Elders Groneman and Scott, and Sisters Boelke and Silvennoinen, and Sisters Prudent and Anderson are all in the New Glasgow District. I was thrilled to get to go out with Sisters Prudent and Anderson to visit and teach Colleen. She isn’t on date for Baptism yet….but we know she loves the gospel!!

Following our meeting, we hopped - actually drove into the belly of the old battleship-like ferry from Caribou, Nova Scotia for the 75 minute ride over to Wood Islands PEI.  Need I rave again about the beauties of PEI. Fall is trying to decide if it will come here…we know next time it will be in autumn splendour.  Exploring the backwoods of the island is one of our favourite pastimes…although we don’t really explore…just drive through!! We love how they farm right to the edge of the ocean. The old farmhouses have darling screen doors…just like the one we used to have…I wonder if there are architectural controls in the country or it is just an unwritten rule to have old-fashioned screen doors!!  I know I have raved about screen doors before, but I just love them!!!  I might suggest to Charles that we need a new screen door or two at the Mission Home!! We travelled through Belfast, PEI on our way to Charlottetown for our next District Council, and found a fun sheep farm called “Fleece and Harmony!!” Every St. Patrick’s Day they sheer their 200 sheep, and have a very good operation washing, dying and spinning  the wool into beautiful skeins.  We were also excited to find a farmers vegetable stand where we bought freshly picked corn, and potatoes for our dinner with Elder Ellis.

Enroute with an extra hour before our meeting we detoured to see the oldest round brick lighthouse  built in 1845!  I should research and find out how many lighthouses we have in our Mission?!

Charlottetown was where we held the Montague District Council, and we were happy to have our Seniors the Dallings and the Bremners there, along with Elders Olmstead and Oler, and Sisters King, Bond, Moyes, Barlow and Youngberg who are outstanding and obedient!!

Elder Ellis arrived Thursday afternoon to have his final sendoff activities including a farewell interview with the good President, a special meal with our Office missionaries, and a 7:00pm Temple Session. I love when Joanne is here because she just knows what I need done without me even asking….like she husked the corn, peeled and cut the carrots, had water pitchers filled and in the fridge, washed the floor, vacuumed, dusted, and set the dining room table. She is so cheerful, and willing to do anything…I know I have raved about her already, but she does need another shout-out because I am able to do other needful things…and not have to worry about the cleaning and scrubbing! 

We love being so close to the Temple…just a quick 7-10 minute drive depending on the traffic. What a thrill to arrive at the Temple and as we were showing our recommends, turn and see Shane and Cheryl Bowden!!! They made a house swap with a couple and are here exploring the beautiful Maritimes for two months!! After the session we had great visiting and will have them come for dinner and more visiting September 30th. Shane’s siblings Margo and Tom will be here too so that will be fun to get reconnected with our Picture Butte friends from so long ago!

Friday morning Elder Ellis joined us for our run around Lake Banook, and continued on with Richard part way across the Mackay Bridge…he is a cross country runner and could have run much further.  Our storage inventory had Elder Ellis’ name listing several boxes of items so we made a quick Office stop on our way to the Halifax Stanfield Airport. It doesn’t seem to get any easier to say farewell to our missionaries; we just wonder when we will see them next?..

Our marathon day had begun!! I was excited to give my new white MasterCard a try at Costco and was so disappointed to get rejected AGAIN!! Lucky we have Elder Boyle on our team who will get it working!!

Every Friday afternoon from 4-5pm we have a Zoom New Missionaries Meeting, which when we are in town we love to be involved..We get to see our new missionaries, and their companions, and give trainings to help them adjust to missionary life. My training, (which was for me as well as for them), was all about STRESS, and strategies to deal it!! Don’t be thinking we can’t deal with the stress associated with our current lifestyle…we can, and we are…but we are always aware of our sweet new missionaries, and our seasoned missionaries that are dealing with many challenges, and lots of rejection. 

At 5:45pm Steven - a 60’ish year old native Nova Scotian, Afghanistan war veteran arrived for supper and a discussion and we were joined by Sisters Gillett and Cartwright, who are master teachers, and have great gospel knowledge. Steven actually attended the three hour block in the Dartmouth Ward last week, and described his experience as having his heart squeeze. He loved the feelings he had at Church and is so interested in learning more. He offered a beautiful, sincere prayer of gratitude at the end of our discussion. He has suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and is so thrilled to be learning about the Atonement, and has hope. It is a thrill to have these interactions with investigators, and with new members. 

80+ Baptisms this year in the Canada Halifax Mission!! We are not all about baptisms, but we are keeping count!!

I had just put the clean sheets back on Elder Ellis’ bed when Kat and her three daughters Zoe, Jaimie, and Emily arrived, followed by Elder and Sister Bremner. Kat, Zoe, and Jaimie were just baptized three weeks ago in Summerside, and Kat accompanied the Bremner’s to the Temple to do Baptisms. What a thrill for her! Her darling charismatic daughters sure made us miss our darling charismatic grandchildren even more…

Saturday morning we were on our way to the airport by 6:15am, but should have left home by 5:45 because when we arrived we were met by throngs of weekend travellers, many who had their destination as Ottawa (where the tornado had just wrecked havoc) and there were lineups everywhere. The sweet WestJet attendant called to the gate, who realized we were late, alerted them, and they were not optimistic about us making our flight…the attendant told us to tell them at security that our flight was boarding which we did, and they directed us into the empty lane so we were pretty much at the front of the security line, which gave us a bit of hope…but then Richard’s satchel looked suspicious as it went through the x-ray machine so it had to be searched…it was his iPad and keyboard that looked iffy, and after that five minute delay we were so worried!! Our early morning running certainly was a blessing as we pretty much sprinted down the very long corridor, checked in with another friendly, hopeful WestJet attendant, took the escalator down, and had another very long corridor to race down, and then exited out to the tarmac in the rain, and sprinted out to the waiting plane!!! Another miracle for us!! Elders Hatch and Tait were kindly waiting at the DeerLake Airport, and were our chauffeurs for the 45 minute drive to Cornerbrook. 

Cornerbrook, Newfoundland is a charming city of about 19,000 nestled in a mountainous area with a long fiord setting between mountain ranges - very close to Gros Morne National Park.  

President Sansome, the new Branch President has such a kind, good heart and is doing a great job serving this tiny Branch.  He is a born and bred true blue Newfoundlander, and keeps asking me if I need a dictionary to interpret what he is saying, and I tell him YES I need one… I am still waiting!! This good man and his wife Maizie live in Irishtown across the fiord and…they have NO electicity, and NO running water….like NO indoor plumbing…it will be an adventure visiting them in their home in November when we return!!! Good, faithful people. 

Cornerbrook is where the Shenfield’s are serving (Bruce & Margo Lamb’s sister and brother in law), and they have already warmed themselves into the Branch, and not just with her fabulous cooking!! They have lived all their married lives in small branches of the Church so are perfectly suited to serve here.  

Since there is no Stake or District in Newfoundland yet, Richard as Mission President serves as their Priesthood leader and this weekend was our Newfoundland Conference, and with our wonderful Zoom (like skype) we had ALL our dear Newfoundland friends zoomed in…let me explain…8 folks in Bay Roberts, 5 in Grand Falls, 7 in Gander, 24 in Cornerbrook and 64 in St. John’s with Presidents Smith and Gallant, Elder and Sister Boyle at the Office, and 2 saints listening in from Labrador, and 1 listening from Happy Adventure NFLD.  It was thrilling to have all organ stops pulled out by our own Jonathan..we actually didn’t even see he or Jordan on the zoom, but we did hear them - Jordan even played pedals!!! It really was just like a very small Stake Conference with Priesthood Leadership at 4pm, and in Cornerbrook -supper at 6pm and then the Saturday night session at 7pm. The Healing Power of Covenants was our theme last night, and we both spoke, along with Sister Shenfield, and Brother Thamas. Today was another wonderful meeting with President Gallant talking about the Temple, President Smith speaking about the Sacrament, Richard talking about supporting our Church leaders. I only spoke about five minutes today..just  a brief testimony. Following the Branch photo, a beautiful potluck buffet was served, and what fabulous cooks!!

Our ninety minute flight home was much calmer than the roller-coaster ride yesterday morning, and we were glad to arrive safely. Tomorrow after our meetings we head to Moncton, NB for interviews and District Council Meeting on Tuesday. Visiting our missionaries in their districts is so fun. Sometimes we get to go on splits, and that is a real highlight for us. We love watching them teach and testify…they are amazing!!

The Gospel is True, and we feel blessed to be on the front lines watching the transformation in the lives of our missionaries, and in the lives of those they teach…

Read the Book of Mormon!!

We send this report off with love to anyone who reads it!! Sorry it is so long!! 

Have a wonderful week!!

Our first General Authority visitor!!

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Another amazing week in the Canada Halifax Mission!!  I wish we could transplant you all here to experience the joy of our service!! Let me share with you some of our week!

Wednesday afternoon we held our MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) at the Dartmouth Chapel with our visiting General Authority Seventy and his wife - Elder and Sister Haynie. The Haynie’s just finished a three year Area Presidency Mission in the Philippines, and now he is serving as second counsellor to Elder Rand Bennett in the North America North East Area. We along with our missionaries were SO excited to have a General Authority visit us!! MLC includes all our Zone Leaders, and our Sister Training Leaders (STL’s)from the entire Mission. To have our entire MLC here requires flights from NFLD, and long drives from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI.   Thanks to our Office Secretary Sister Boyle who makes all travel plans; everyone arrives, and everyone gets back to their areas. The MLC is amazing and such incredible training ground for our missionaries, and for us!! Richard and I got to give some training. I taught about Christlike leadership attributes., and shared some of the lovely stories about President Henry B. Eyring from this months Ensign. Richard conducted a general miscellaneous discussion, and then we were off to the airport to pick the Haynie’s up who were delayed in Boston.  Elder Haynie is a master teacher and began teaching as soon as we arrived back at the Stake Centre.   Around 7pm our trainings were complete and we collected our bag lunches made by the office staff, bid our MLC farewell and the four of us made the  quick 2  1/2 hour drive to Moncton, New Brunswick. We loved travelling and visiting!! Thursday we held our Moncton Zone Conference again with Elder Haynie presiding, and were grateful for his inspired training which he called ‘Finding, Finding, and More Finding.’ Traditionally, knocking and tracting have been hallmarks of the CHM. Many, many missionaries would spend upwards of forty hours a week obediently tracting day in, day out, week in and week out, with limited success. Elder Haynie’s inspired teachings on ‘finding’  using a variety of finding methods was exactly what we needed. 

He repeated his great presentation for the Nova Scotia North and Nova Scotia South Zones, and gave similar training in Newfoundland.

Sister Dalling found ‘Little Louis,’ a delightful French gourmet restaurant in Moncton, and we loved eating and visiting with the Haynie’s, and senior couples Dalling’s, and Bremners, both of whom are serving their FIFTH mission!!! They have both celebrated their 50 plus anniversaries, and I think all four of them are 75+. Japan, Florida, Iceland, Romania, and Nauvoo are some of the places they have served. INSPIRING!!! 

Elder Bremner told the inspiring story of his conversion as a young 21 year old. Missionaries came to his apartment looking for someone who used to live in his apartment and he told them that the person had moved;  the missionaries thanked him, and walked away.  As they were walking away young Brother Bremner called after them asking them who they represented, and what they were doing!! That began his conversion!! He joined the Church shortly after. The Bremner’s lived in Minnesota almost their entire married life - other than the four other missions they served, and after retiring from Hormel (he was pretty high up in the processed meat SPAM company!)and the six months of the year they spent in Arizona. They are doing lots of Family History work since his roots are from PEI, and we are waiting for approval from SLC to set up an official Family History Centre.  The Dallings are from Rexburg where Brother Dalling was a High School physical education teacher, and Coach. They have made contact with several less actives in Montague PEI, and have befriended a family that their deceased son-in-law knew on his mission! Small world. 

Friday night we hosted a Senior Missionary meal for sixteen at our home, and were so grateful for Sister Livingstone who prepared the entire delicious Cafe Rio meal! My only contribution were dinner buns, and Grandma Low’s Raspberry dessert. We just love being together, and it was especially fun to have the Haynie’s join us and get acquainted with our dear friends. Assistants Elder Boardman and Elder Sawa Sawa popped in to deliver sound equipment and they arrived just in time for supper so we added two more chairs,  and they joined us too! 

Our hour and a half flight to Newfoundland Friday night had us in St. John’s by 10:30pm,  and we were raring to go early Saturday morning, with Richard starting interviews at 7:30am.  Schow’s, Jagoda’s, and the Smith’s served delicious taco salad, and squares. 

Newfoundland Zone is our smallest, with only twelve young missionaries, and eight seniors, all who were in attendance except our newest couple - the Shenfields from Rocky Mountain House(Sister Sheffield is Margo Lamb’s sister!!) who are enroute to Cornerbrook 

We have had such wonderful Musical numbers at each Zone Conference; first with Elder Ball on the piano and he along with Elders, Juaroc, and Giebel sang; Sisters Crowley and Degraffenried sang a wonderful arrangement of ‘Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd’; and Sisters Schow, Jagoda, Smith, Nelson, Hawkins, and Powell with Sister Davenport on the piano sang ‘Peace in Christ.’ Our missionaries can sing, and they do…Called to Serve, and Hark all Ye Nations are some of their favourites - ours too!! 

NFLD Zone Conference ended around four, and after a quick tour of downtown St. John’s  and up to Signal Hill, and a little stop at Nonia’s to buy some NFLD mittens,  we zipped out to the Schow’s where they hosted a delightful homemade meal for Elder and Sister Haynie,  the Jagoda’s, the Smith’s, Jonathan and Jordan and Dad and I. Sister Schow totally transformed her Living Room into a Dining Room using two long Church tables stuck together which formed a big square, and then covered them with two white tablecloths, clever! Meal looked beautiful and tasted even better: green salad with strawberries, wild blueberries(they had picked!!), nuts and yummy pink dressing, fresh rolls, Newfoundland baked potatoes with the best topping…sour cream, grated butter, and cheese all mixed together, carrots and  lemon chicken with extra lemon sauce, and dessert to die for…homemade grasshopper pie ..Thank you Sister Schow!!!..you can be sure I will be running on Monday!!

I’m afraid to say FOOD is big part of this calling…everywhere we go there is MORE delicious food!!! 

One more great story..Sister Arnold (our nurse), from London, Ontario,  shared her conversion story.  As a young woman her goal was to take her Nursing training…she recounts that she promised the Lord if He helped her get her RN she would serve a mission.  When she completed her nursing she was good on her word, and checked with her Pastor about opportunities to serve a Mission, but there were no openings anywhere so…she got married. She says that she prayed the missionaries to her home…as a young mom with one son, when the missionaries came a knocking on her door..she was skeptical, but interested….was invited to attend Sunday Meetings, and in her very words said; “as she entered the Relief Society room…she felt like she was home.” She joined the Church 41 years ago. Her husband who never did join the Church passed away 11 few years ago, and this Mission is her payback to the Lord for getting her RN. Her son David and his wife have her six wonderful grandchildren and all are active in the Church, with her oldest grandchild preparing for his Mission.   Sister Arnold also added that she reunited about 15 years ago with one of the Sisters that had taught her.  She is sure that they were friends in the pre-existence, and when Sister Arnold knew she was coming to a nonmember home…this sister missionary promised her that she would find and teach her the Gospel, which she did!!! One of Elder Haynie’s little statistics he shared with us that in the Canada Halifax Mission for every three people we get to attend Sacrament Meeting…one of them will join the Church!!! Sister Arnold’s story confirms the power of attending our meetings!!

We continue to love this incredible experience…our missionaries are the BEST!!! We are so blessed to be here.

Thanks for your prayers…we feel the power that comes from you praying for the missionaries.

Love to you.

More Joy in His Service

Sunday,  September 9, 2018

We had no idea how wonderful this experience would be!! Anyone of you considering serving a mission, we would highly encourage you to DO IT!! There is so much purpose to our every waking moment…people to find, and eighty-three young missionaries as well as twenty-one inspiring seniors to love and encourage.  Any of you that are looking for opportunities to find greater fulfillment in your lives….plan on serving a MISSION!!! We are finding so much JOY as we SERVE, and are grateful for all the experiences we have had with many of you that have prepared us for this adventure. 

Our days are pretty structured; we begin most days with a physical 4Km+ run around part of Lake Banook before we have our personal study time. And then we begin the daily mission marathon….and we have been so blessed with good health, and energy to keep up with our demanding schedule. Thank you for your prayers.

District Council meetings are held in each district once a week, and our goal is to attend a district council meeting  in each district once a transfer cycle (every 6 weeks), which means that we are attending a different council meeting weekly, and sometimes more often, like this week when we attended four…. so this week our journey included visits to Annapolis Royal, Fredericton, Saint John, and St. Stephen, as well as our local Dartmouth district.  Monthly interactions with our missionaries has been lovely and we feel like we are really getting to know them.  We know the Lord has blessed us with obedient, converted Elders and Sisters that love the Saviour and the Canada Halifax Mission!!  Tuesday we attended the Dartmouth District Council right at the Mission Office and then Wednesday we headed through the Annapolis Valley to the Annapolis Royal District Council. It is amazing to be taught by these young leaders who are super prepared and directed by the spirit. I can’t believe we are getting to serve with these stalwart, focused, eighteen to twenty one year olds!! They have well-prepared power point presentations, and are master teachers. It really is sooo fun!! Thursday was travel day to Fredericton, and Friday was District Meeting in Fredericton, and yesterday we loved being taught, and teaching our Elders in Saint John. Today we attended Sacrament Meeting in Saint Stephen’s which is barely across the border from Calais, Maine, so ward members come from Maine as well as St. Stephen’s.  Along with President Straight from the Stake Presidency, Dad and I spoke. President Straight and his wife lived in West Lethbridge, and was in Stake Conference when Dad was released as counsellor and sustained as Stake President - small world!!

Last week we attended the Cole Harbour Testimony meeting, and a Sister Evans shared her testimony and recent experience of serving in the Temple when a woman  entered the Temple door, and asked to come in saying that she walked by the Temple every day, and wondered what it was like inside. Sister Evans let her come just to the Recommend desk, found out her first name was Tiffany,  and then gave her a Book of Mormon, and the Temple magazine. Well, Tiffany explained that she and a group of her friends have left their congregation, have formed their own group, and are looking for something….You can be sure our ears perked up at that…but…with only a first name how could we find Tiffany? Sister Evans had found out that Tiffany lived around Main Street so….. our Monday evening ‘finding plan’ was to have a District finding activity…. #findingtiffany!! Elder Foy the district leader split us into three groups, distributed maps with our assigned streets, and we were off. It was so fun knocking with Sister Swenson and Sister Clark!!! They are pro’s at door approaches, and I learned how to be more effective, and bold!! My usual approach is to chat about the perennial bed, and the lavender or hydrangea in their front yards, and then introduce ourselves.  I just love to be with the sisters because they jump right in without the chitchat and are are so enthusiastic and keen to share!! Actually we love to be with all our missionaries…both the sisters and the elders!! We did not find Tiffany..this time but we haven’t given up!!

Mondays find us at the Mission Office before 9am, first enjoying a  Zoom. meeting with our Senior Missionaries conducted by Elder Schow (from Cardston)who is the Senior District leader. Zoom is amazing because we have visual and voice contact with all our missionaries from far off Cornerbrook to Gander to St. John’s Newfoundland, to Summerside or Montague PEI to Sydney Nova Scotia - we can see and hear all of them!!! We are excited to host a Senior conference next month, and all will be here, including two of our new couples who will arrive in the next few weeks. Senior missionaries are Sister Arnold, the Boyles’, the Majeran’s, all serving in the Office, the Schow’s serving in St. John’s NFLD.,  Jagoda’s serving in Bay Roberts, Smith’s in Gander, the Bremner’s in Summerside PEI., the Dalling’s in Montague,  the Wilkinson’s in Sydney, NS., and the Livingstone’s who are CES service Missionaries live in Halifax. Elder Wentsell is the service missionary in charge of vehicles.  The Butler’s, Rouston’s, Shenfield’s and Lewis’s are due to arrive in the next month or two.  We are so grateful to have so many hard-working, devoted consecrated missionaries to serve with. Our tiny branches need the experience, commitment and testimony that our seniors offer.  Any takers?!

Our second Monday meeting is with our stellar office missionaries, and, they keep everything running smoothly…they send missionary birthday cards, make our flight reservations, pay all the bills, organize food for zone conferences, take care of our fleet of vehicles - ‘Rav 4’s or Rogue’s,’ organize mail, and delivery of all tracts and teaching materials, tend to the renting of apartments all over the mission, create memory booklets for every returning missionary, and…every other possible task we need done, and many more than we don’t even ask….and always with a smile!!!!

We have such a great time with these new, awesome friends!!

Ukulele club on Wednesday night is such a fun diversion. I cannot even hope to keep up with the other sisters that have been together practising for over two years, but Sister Boyle and I had so much fun doing our best to pluck away on our new ukes, and sing along!! If I could keep my Hawaiian ukulele in tune it would be good. Thank you Jan for tutoring me in the first four main chords!! Vincie Vincent, one of the charter club members brought an entire 120 page collection of  music over so I must carve out time to practise!..next week!!

Thursday night Richard had a fun diversion with President Gilbert Smith (his 1st Counsellor) who is a beekeeper. He spent several hours helping empty the honeycomb trays, and as a reward brought home a pint full of freshly harvested honey!! He does have his beekeepers license and plans on having beehives when we are in Alberta again, so this is fun practise for him…and a wonderful way to relax!!

Last night we spent the evening in St. Andrews by the sea - a lovely resort actually voted by USA Today as the best destination in Canada! Oh brother….here goes the travelogue…St. Andrew’s is a charming little town with beautiful two hundred year old clapboard sided homes, some unpainted and many with fresh coats of paint. Walking up and down the streets over-looking our very own Pete’s Dragon, Passamaquody Bay was like going back two hundred years..Shops are filled with local artisans wonderful wares, and after careful selection, my souvenir bag had a walnut spurdle, a red glass star ornament, and a walnut shaker box complete with tiny dowels and copper tacks. We are in awe of the creative folks in these parts!! Rural bumpy, backwood roads are the way to see, and get a feel for this neck of the woods!!! Fall is in the air, and some leaves already have a hint of gold with the occasional red tree in a sea of green! We know the next time we pass this way the colours will be stunning!!

Elder Allan Haynie of the Seventy and his wife arrive Wednesday and we are excited to give them a five day whirlwind tour of the Canada Halifax Mission!  Mostly we are excited to ‘show off’ our Mission and our missionaries! All three Zone Conferences as well as our Mission Leadership Council will be presided over by Elder Haynie, and we look forward to his training. Lots of preparation to do to be ready for our teachings at  MLC, and Zone Conferences, and also hosting the Haynie’s.  Amazing experiences everyday…and every week!!! Happy to report that our homesickness is waning…probably because we are excitedly anticipating three twelve year olds visiting us….Isabelle, Berkley and Claire….we can’t wait!!!!

Until next week we send much love to all

Richard and Gayle

Tears, laughter, and joy

Sunday, SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

Who can believe that our summer is quickly winding to an end?  White shoes, and skirts are officially away for the next two seasons. We are shaking our heads wondering where the past two months have gone…actually we know exactly where they have gone, and we know exactly what we have been doing!! 

A big shout out to Danielle for being a wonderful guest blogger…thank you!!! Just at the height of our homesickness Danielle, Claire and Lucy arrived bringing with them exactly what we needed….FAMILY, and then one week into their visit David arrived to spend the next week with us!! Thank you to them for giving us that much needed boost!! Really we could not fulfill this calling and assignment without all your love and support….so thank you all!! Thank you for all your prayers…

As Danielle so beautifully described we had wonderful adventures with them, and were grateful to include them in so many of our missionary meetings, and activities. One of my favourite memories is Claire, Lucy and Danielle joining Sisters Crowley and DeGraffenreid in singing ‘Beautiful Saviour’ at Emma Robarts Baptism. They  also performed again on Sunday after Emma was confirmed. The five voices blended beautifully, and Emma was thrilled.  

Seven o’clock Wednesday night is Ukulele Club at the Church, and two weeks ago Danielle, Claire and Lucy joined me for such a fun evening of plucking and singing the tunes of days gone by. You can be sure when we are in town I will join my new Dartmouth friends who are awesome teachers, and great singers!! Vincie Vincent is in charge, and she has a wonderful compilation of great old melodies…Jan and Mandy…we will photocopy it for you…It was so fun watching Claire and Lucy really play the ukulele, and they are good!! Danielle was quite the comedian keeping us in time with the two pieces of Vincie’s cane - a great metranome!!

We did NOT sign up for all this crying…let me explain…last night we had to call one of our dear sisters and tell her that her Grandma had passed away yesterday morning. That was hard. We suggested that she call her family, because they needed to talk to her as much as she needed to talk to them. CRY…

Week 6 is the busiest of all our weeks. We welcome our excited new missionaries, as well as bid farewell to our excited exiting group. Both experiences are equally emotional, but we do shed more tears with our departing group…Traditionally our new group is supposed to arrive Tuesday evening around 8:30pm, but both new groups we have met have not made the connecting flight in Toronto (they only have 1 hour and 15 minutes to get through customs and security- and the line up through customs is always long and with a group of nine it is impossible!!) So…. the taco soup simmers for longer, and we serve it when we get home from the airport around 2:30AM!!! In bed by 3AM!!

We let our Elders -Atkins, Fields, Hardy, Martinez, Scott, and Tait, and Sister Edwards sleep in until eight am, went for a morning walk around Lake Banook, enjoyed a yogurt, fruit, and muffin breakfast, and then the good President, along with Assistants - Elders Miller and Sawa Sawa transported the group to the Office where they were oriented, and taken to get their Nova Scotia drivers licenses, to purchase phones, and then for a couple of hours they got to go tracking!! 

Meanwhile ‘back at the ranch’ I am preparing the feast! This week was a variation from the usual chicken dish….we had ham two nights in a row!! Missionaries are always appreciative, and eat pretty much anything!!! I do spend a lot of time in the Kitchen…which I love!! Joanne Chattam is a lifesaver because she scrubs, and cleans, vacuums, re-sorts our recycling, takes out all the garbage,  and peels carrots, and potatoes, and always says..  “Sister Low…I’m here to serve you…”I feel very spoiled (and a little high maintenance.)

Wednesday morning at 6:30am we delivered our precious new missionaries to the Mission Office parking lot to meet their trainers and head out to their first area!! Such excitement and enthusiasm for both the new arrivals, as well as the trainers…most of whom have never trained!! 

Taking David, Danielle, Claire, and Lucy to the airport also tugged at our heart strings. We were so grateful to be together, and hug and hold them…

And then we are back home anticipating our next batch of missionaries….these are the departing group…

We love the tradition of attending a Temple session with this amazing group and love to be in the beautiful Celestial Room together….WOW!! I just imagine the growth in each of their testimonies, and wish we could be observers as they reunite with their families the next day!!  

Our Farewell ham dinner and Testimony Meeting Thursday night with Elders Hamblin, Kearsley, Williams, Carlson, Browning, Ablett, Nelson and Sisters Ceron and Lefler was lovely. I try to mix the menu up, serving one of our favourite chicken breast dishes, but like I mentioned this week we tried ham, baked potatoes, carrots and peas, Jayne’s yummy blueberry pie filling jello, and always we have spinach salad with a variety of fresh fruit, and dwazzled with pink dressing, freshly made rolls, and then one of my old standby desserts…layered lemon delight, or lime philly freeze. Next transfer I plan on making Carole’s turtles cheesecake! Twice,  one of the office missionaries volunteered to bring dessert, and that was yummy. 

Sister Pratt (the previous mission president’s companion) had Brother and Sister Edis design and make darling  12” high lighthouse centrepieces that look pretty authentic with little tea lights on the top shelf. With red napkins poofed in the goblets, and a red table runner it looks inviting! Did I mention that our new dining room air conditioner was installed last week just in time for our huge crowd….and we were so comfortable!!  Our table easily fits 15, but usually we add another table at the end, especially when we have 16 or more!! 

Back to the crying explanation….

Each returning missionary bore powerful testimonies on the Saviour and how their lives have been blessed by their service.  We admonished all of them to Stay on the Covenant Path. 

More tears…of gratitude. We sang the beautiful Mission Song as well as “I’ll go Where You Want me To Go” 

Elder and Sister Priest are finished serving as our housing coordinators, and they have gone above and beyond…we will surely miss our interaction with them.. Elder and Sister Majeran from Rocky Mountain House arrived last week and have been well trained by the Priest’s, and we look forward to serving with them. 

 We know the twenty minute drive to the Stanfield Airport pretty well, and know how our hearts are ripped out as we hug and bid farewell to some of our own. We watch till they disappear through Security, and we wonder when we will see them again….Of course we pray for them…

It is amazing how instant our love has been….after only two months…and so again we weep.

Elder Henstra also went home this week…he has struggled with concentration problems and has suffered since arriving in March with constant pain -  all results from five concussions in high school.  We hope and pray he will get well and return….

Another new couple - the Wilkinson’s from Pleasant Grove Utah arrived Friday, and we loved having them for supper. They are so excited to serve in far off Sydney, Nova Scotia. We were inspired with their plan to serve missions until they turn 80!! (she is 70 and he is 72!!) Sister Wilkinson was raised in Winnipeg, and Elder Wilkinson served his Mission there!! 

Lest you think all we do is cry…let me assure you we are finding so much JOY….

Joy together, Joy with our missionaries - new and old, Joy interacting with new friends, 

Joy studying and learning, Joy in Temple Attendance, Joy in Testifying, and Joy knowing you are staying on the covenant path….We are so blessed and so very grateful for this incredible experience serving as missionaries. Today we visited the Cole Harbour Ward, and loved participating in their Testimony Meeting. I shared the inspiring Emma story.

Sorry this report is so jumbled….I keep thinking of things I need to share…

Last Friday we drove to Saint John, New Brunswick because we were speaking at the YSA Conference on Saturday,  and it was fun to have David, Danielle, Claire and Lucy join us. Brother CES - Rick Watson was in charge. We loved taking the ferry ride with our vehicle back to Digby…(and it was a treat for Richard to not have to drive those two hours!)

St. Pierre - Miquelon are the two French islands in our mission are off the coast of southern Newfoundland, and the Dyvarande family - Brother, Sister and son named Mettie joined us for supper last week, and they jabbered in French with Richard, Danielle, Claire, Lucy, and Elder Sawa-Sawa. We are excited to go visit them before the snow flies. 

I know this report is going on and on..maybe read a page at a time so you don’t get totally bored!!

Elder and Sister Boyle and Sister Arnold are amazing Office missionaries, and we are so grateful they are tireless in their efforts to help the work progress. They help us so much…

Upcoming Activities:

This week: travel for District Councils, and Interviews to :Kentville- Annapolis Royal, Fredericton, Saint John, and Saint Stephen

Elder Allan Haynie,  of the Seventy, and Sister Haynie will be here from the 12 to the 16 , and we will accompany him on a Mission tour which will be wonderful!!

October 23-27 we head to Cleveland for Area Training.

We are loving mission life, and love the blessing of serving!!

Love to all