energized, focussed joyful finding !

Today is Sunday,  April 14, 2019, 

And on Saturday,  April 20, 2019 we get to wish Happy 9th Birthday to 

Hudson Marshall Low!!!

Zone Conference weeks are our favourite of the six week cycle, but oh man how they fly by!! We are home to Dartmouth now and catching our breath,  but let me give you a quick report on how it all went!!

The three hour drive to Moncton had us arrive just in time for President to begin his three hour slate of interviews beginning at four o’clock Monday afternoon, and while he interviewed I reviewed our Zone conference plans for Tuesday.  Zone Conference plans worked well, and we felt everyone went home motivated, and positive especially about ‘Focused, Energetic, Joyful Finding,’ We will include this topic in every zone conference from now on, because it is vital in our callings as missionaries. 

Elder Boyle inspected vehicles, and the New Brunswick Zone was the best in the Mission. 

Wednesday President’s interview docket included 38 missionaries, and had him at the Office for 9 hours!! While he was on interview/pep talk duty, I was preparing the meal for departing Sisters Green, and Davies. 

And then Halifax Zone Conference on Thursday was a repeat of our day in Moncton. Unfortunately the Halifax Zone received only one award for a clean car, the other two awards were given to the walking/bus elders…!!!

Apartment and vehicle cleaning training at Zone conference was timely, so hopefully next month or even at district meetings our Senior couples will have a chance to do another inspection, and award Tim Horton's gift cards!! We will see. 

Apartment cleanliness training was fun, and it was effective to show the ‘before and after’ photos. The most impressive being the transformation in the sisters tub/shower…Sister Rhodes in St. John’s had spent an hour and a half scrubbing….(with steel wool) the filthy tub floor, and had it gleaming!!! Having cleaned the outside of our old fibreglass Ski Nautique with Lysol toilet bowl cleaner…I suggested using that!! Already we have had reports of great success!! 

Thursday supper with our departing sisters was yummy, and the seven o’clock full Temple session was great…followed by a sweet testimony meeting, and bed…on time!

Friday we had a farewell morning run, muffin, fruit and yogurt breakfast, weighed their 22 kg suitcases,  and headed to the Airport.  Departing Sisters (heading to Calgary) gate was next to our departing gate to St. John’s Newfoundland, so that worked out perfectly, and we were able to prolong our goodbyes for a few minutes….

Senior couple named the Andrus’s from Idaho Falls are Mission Family History missionaries,  and joined us for all three zone conferences, and taught how we can use family history in our finding. Enthusiastic, and wonderful teachers!  50 years ago young Elder Andrus served right here so he is keen and ‘deja vu’ing everywhere he goes!! While Dad did his interviewing, I loved being the Andrus' tour guide - (me with all my St. John’s driving experience!!! - hahaha!!) We did not get lost. Sightseeing stops included Cape Spear, Petty Harbour, Chafe’s Landing, Quidi Vidi Village, Signal Hill, and Nonia, so we felt with the little bit of time we had, we were ‘power tourists.’

We loved the beautiful hour drive from St. John’s to Bay Roberts this morning.  Robbie Morgan the new Elder’s Quorum President was set apart during Priesthood Meeting.  Probably about twenty people attended today, and almost everyone shared their testimony in Testimony Meeting. Oh my…you cannot believe the challenges and heartaches these folks are dealing with…I think I cried in every testimony…If only you could hear these faithful saints…The Jagoda’s from Orville, California, near Paradise have been serving almost 18 months - the last 10 in Bay Roberts, and we are so sad to know they will be leaving in a few weeks…what wonderful friends they have become.  We are praying for more new couples to replace Jagoda’s, Smith’s, Bremner’s and Majeran’s who will all leave in the next few months. Any of you, or any one you know….please suggest Canada Halifax or Canada Montreal as the perfect place to serve a senior mission….wonderful blessings are promised to all who serve!!  

I will conclude this little epistle with an experience I had on the plane home from St. John’s. I sat by a cute gal probably about my very age.  She had been in St. John’s tending her sisters cat, and we struck up such a great conversation - I don’t think she was planning on chatting because she prefaced our chat telling me that she had some virus…but…. we kept talking about everything…raspberries, perennials, gardening, her 200 year old home (which used to be the court house and jail in Sydney!), antiques, the ocean, her growing up in Toronto, her husband who is a child psychologist specializing in Autistic children, dancing, piano, etc, etc… Kathryn and I talked about everything…and after about an hour she started asking about the Church…she peppered me with so many questions, and it was easy to share…I had last months Ensign in my bag as well as some pass along cards which I gave her.  I know she is going to read, and check out the Church website. Being a missionary is easy…we just have to open our mouths!!! DO IT!! Who knows if Kathryn will ever have the desire to be taught…but she will have a good feeling when she reads the Ensign, and when she looks at theChurchofJesusChrist.org….!!!

Again, another wonderful week here in Atlantic Canada.

Sending this off with love and blessings..

Much Love 

Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Richard and Gayle

Keep Smiling!!!and CTR  

This week we are so excited to welcome D’Arcey and Jan…right after we return from our three day  - Thursday, Friday, Saturday Mission Leadership Seminar in Washington DC!! Can’t wait!!!!

General Conference week!

Today is Sunday, April 7, 2019

Wasn’t General Conference a feast?!! It was thrilling to sit in our lovely Mission Home, at the feet of our beloved leaders, and savour the inspired words of our Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, the twelve, and, all the General authorities. And now, it is all over for another six months, and we have our work cut out for us as we go over the instruction and challenges we all received to try a lot harder to make and keep our covenants more fully. I have a pretty long list of my to do’s!!

The first thing I’m going to do is to record some of our highlights of this past week. 

Meetings seem to occupy our time, but it is a big deal to teach, train, and motivate so we meet, and plan!! 

Our Zone Conference Preparation is complete, and we are excited to travel to Moncton tomorrow for Tuesday meetings. Thursday we will have our Nova Scotia ZC, and Saturday will be Newfoundland, of course with travel days in between. Preach My Gospel is our go-to handbook and we love to train right from it. This week our trainings include spotlights on apartment and vehicle cleanliness. I’m excited to show some slides submitted by our missionaries on ‘before and after’ shots of their apartment cleanliness!! 

Dad and I also have a fun activity to promote ‘Energized, Joyful, Focused Finding.’ Easter eggs filled with candy, and a little acting out assignment they will do in small groups we hope will be fun and effective. Often our missionaries have only a minute to share a quick message so we are having them practise how to make that minute powerful…not just saying..would you like a Book of Mormon. So here is an example… You are on a bus…one companion teaches for a minute about the Book of Mormon..and her or his companion teaches for just a minute about the Plan of Salvation…a challenge to make teaching concise and powerful. Good practise for all of us… We are excited, and will report next week!!

Occasionally we have a missionary that comes with a crazy family history, and doesn't have a clue on communication, or kindness with a companion, or anyone for that matter, and so we have to help teach that. So, another Zone Conference training is on Companion Unity. Preach my Gospel has an amazing chapter on Christlike Attributes…look it up..such a great resource for teaching missionaries, and your children!! The worksheet at the end of the chapter will hopefully be effective in helping changes happen with our challenging companionships….

Tuesday night, Sisters Keller, Moyes, and Long had me in tow as we headed over to Woodlawn Library to Knitting Club!! Who knew knitting with a gaggle of grannies and cute sister missionaries could be so much fun?! I giggled so much at these ladies who talked about everything; their dogs, kids, and even their snowblowers!! One sweet lady taught me how to do the rib stitch, so Richard’s grey Christmas ‘sampler’ scarf now has rows of rib stitch too…I think it will be ready for Christmas in Montreal!! We love the creative finding our missionaries are always trying to do…and Knitting Club is one of those clever ideas. Oh and one cute little grandma with multi coloured hair was such a chatty new friend...she kept looking at my name tag and finally said to me "I knew someone from your church...her name was Norma Silverstein." Now we don't know that many people in Nova Scotia BUT we DO know Norma!!!!..she is our rug-hooking friend in Sydney..the one who with her husband 'Shel' raises a herd of exclusive alpaca especially for their wool! It was so fun to be able to say I KNOW NORMA!! Hopefully I will get to go back to Knitting Club, and visit again!!!

I am not bilingual, but am happy to report that French is going pretty well…I do wish there were enough hours in the day to spend an hour everyday practising…oh well, not yet!! Tuesday, Brooke, my French tutor taught me to bear my Testimony, and I was overcome with emotion when she actually had me bear…I could do it!!!!, very simply, but she could understand, and I knew what I was saying!! That was definitely a highlight of my week!! I am being blessed!! Brooke always tells me that my accent is great, so that keeps me going. 

Watercolouring is our favourite relaxation activity..Richard’s skies and ocean vistas are amazing, and his lighthouses are coming along. I love painting my flower gardens…yesterday I painted my first barn with trees, and a climbing rose vine. We are loving this wonderful, creative outlet!! 

With our time zone being three hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time it meant the ten o’clock session of Conference didn’t start until 1 pm Atlantic time, so when we looked outside, and saw a perfect calm, spring day, we decided a Sunday stroll was exactly what we needed to do.  Signs of spring keep popping up…Mother Robin was listening for worms on our back lawn, our next door neighbours Mike and Denise have tulips poking their heads up, and crocuses blooming in their front lawn! Some shrubs around have a slight greenish tinge which makes us think buds are right around the corner, fishermen were even making their way down to the lake to throw in their line, and of course hundreds of folks enjoyed their own walk, run, or bike ride around Lake Banook. If people don’t have children, they all have a dog, and we see every kind..greyhound, golden retriever, black labs, beagle, etc. etc. One woman this morning had her fluffy white dog in these little rubber dog booties!! 

Another wonderful week in the Canada Halifax Mission!!

Hope you enjoy the change of font…I looked at all the options, and thought it’s about time I changed it up a bit… (this is American Typewriter!!)

And now it is 9:30pm and time to make a few phonecalls to our Moms!

Have a wonderful week!!

Keep Smiling!!CTR!!

Much love Grandpa and Grandma, Dad and Mom, Richard and Gayle