Today is Sunday, March 31, 2019.
Happy 87th Birthday to Mom on Wednesday, and to Trish tomorrow!!
and
Happy April’s Fool Day!!!
Last week we felt, and saw a few signs of spring but this week spring has truly sprung. The transformation seems to happen overnight!! Literally when we went to bed Friday night, Lake Banook was still frozen. A rainstorm in the night, and when we woke up yesterday morning there was no ice..it was incredible how fast that ice disappeared, and now I look out and see a stunning lake…When the trees start budding and the leaves burst forth we will really know it is spring!! Sounds of spring out our bedroom window make us feel like we are in a mountain glen…we hear our very own Brookdale (on the other side of our TransCanada trail) babbling away, and songbirds galore, like chickadees, nuthatches, and the like, sing their cheery good morning medleys, occasionally interrupted by noisy ravens or magpies! What a dreamy little corner of Nova Scotia to live in..actually idyllic…and we are still trying to soak it all in!! I don’t know if I told you that the greater Halifax metro has a population of around 700,000, and when we move to Montreal we will be living with, around 4 million folks! Hard to believe we will leave this bit of heaven in just three months. I will not be nostalgic..yet!
Transfer week went off without a hitch…everyone arrived at their proper destination, and new companionships are forming well…so we think anyway!!
Our six new recruits are awesome..Sisters Long, Humphreys, and Fraser, along with Elders Barrett, Birch and Sorenson all seem keen and so excited to get to work!! Even with an hour delay in SLC, they made their flight connection in Boston and arrived here on time! Sister Fraser is actually from Bridgewater, NS, and is waiting for her visa to serve in Portugal. We look forward to our weekly ‘new missionary’ zoom calls to see each new missionary and to get a personal report from their companionship. It is a pretty effective way to get a feel on how they are doing…that, and the LTP
(letters to president) that each missionary writes weekly, as well as the reports from the district leaders, STL’s(sister training leaders), and zone leaders do a good job of keeping us in the loop of our brood!! When everyone magnifies their calling with obedience and cheerfulness, it works like a well-oiled machine. I know I sound like a cheerleader…and really that is just what we are…we find every way possible to cheer, counsel, teach, motivate, and love, and we do it over and over and over!! This eighteen months or two years of consecrated service is such an amazing way to begin their adult lives…you know this because many of you have experienced it!!
And look where your lives are now because of your mission experience!!
Here I will insert my recommendation for parents of our future missionaries:
Testimony + Attitude + Hard work + Obedience = a Successful, Happy Missionary….(this is my own little formula, but each of the four keys to a successful missionary do boil down to Testimony, Attitude, Hard work, and Obedience….you have 18 or 19 years to teach those four principles to your children. Do it, and they will be prepared to serve with their whole hearts, mights and minds. That is our challenge for each of you!!
Last night I was thrilled to attend our Dartmouth Ward Relief Society Anniversary Party, and it was just like any RS party at home,…. just with new friends! Delicious meal included chicken salad, broccoli salad, pasta salad, and coleslaw with rolls and caramel cake for dessert. Table centrepieces had fresh white roses with babysbreath, and 5X7 framed pictures of women in the scriptures..Eve, Queen Esther, Sariah, Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary and Martha, and Emma Smith. The program written by Sackville NS sisters was reenacted by eight ward members who were all dressed in costume and each gave a beautiful reading telling their story, and bearing testimonies of the Saviour; truly a lovely evening.
French tutoring is going ok…Brooke (my tutor) is positive, and her ‘cheerleading’ keeps me trying. She does compliment me on my accent so that makes me feel good. When we are in Quebec, my own little French handbook will be filled with common phrases and sentences, and it will always be at my fingertips to prompt me along! Today we visited with a couple from the Congo who only speak French, and I actually understood way more than what I could speak or respond. There is always hope!!
Favourite Pday activities yesterday included spending a couple of hours outside - first having a run around our lake and then doing a bit of yard work…. it felt so good to be raking our lawn and actually doing some physical labour!! This calling really is heavy on the spiritual, emotional and social aspects of our lives…a little weak on the physical so we are glad we can exercise outdoors, or at the gym. Of course we also carved out time with our watercolours…Dad painting his ocean scenes, and me dreaming in a flower garden!! Such a lovely way to really relax!!
This week is preparation week for next weeks Zone Conferences. Being with our missionaries is really the highlight of our time here, so we look forward to this week of meetings! We train on the focusses decided by our Mission Leadership Council… “Spiritual Self Reliance,” “Energized, Joyful Focussed Finding,” and “Unity with God and our Companions;” so we study Preach My Gospel and conference talks, and have fun creating powerpoints, and preparing discussions that will emphasize the focusses. It requires a LOT of brainwork!!
Tomorrow morning midway between our Monday meetings we have to make a trip to the Airport to take a sister who is returning home. We have tried everything to help her, our Area Mental Health Advisor, and our Area Medical Advisor, her Dr. at home, and her parents also have tried everything, but she is determined to go home…her anxiety and depression have taken such a toll. And so she goes…we pray for her.
And that is our report from the east - the Canada Halifax Mission..we continue to be so grateful for this incredible opportunity to serve, and find JOY everyday. We DO miss all of you dear loved ones…family and friends.…know that…your love, support, and prayers sustain us.
Have a wonderful week!! It looks like spring has sprung in Alberta too!! I heard tulips have already been chomped by the coulee deer..Oh bother.
We send this with much love and gratitude….
Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Richard and Gayle
CTR and Keep Smiling
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