Thursday, August 1, 2019
Across the street from our Canada Montreal Mission Home located at 85 Henley Avenue in Mount Royal is the ‘Darling Park.’ Wonderful old-fashioned lamp posts make you almost think you are in London with Peter Pan and Wendy flitting about!! Perfect tree-climbing sugar maples, oak, and beech are a few of the hardwoods scattered through the park, with perennial beds and sweeping shrub beds covering the block sized green space. These Montrealers are gardeners ‘par excellence;’ with pristine annual beds manicured in all parks, and boulevards. Anywhere earth is exposed, trees, shrubs and flowers are blooming. We are in awe of the water truck that dutifully goes up and down the streets and into parks with his massive hose, and spray nozzle watering the precious plants. On our early morning runs we also often see the landscape bobcat vacuum zipping around sucking up garbage, leaves, plastic bottles and any unsightly trash. ‘Our’ park was Macie’s favourite place to visit..sand, swings, the slide, and other playground equipment kept her occupied as long as her Dad and Mom would let her stay…we loved hearing her coax…pay, pay, pay….or pawk, pawk, pawk!!! (play, play, play or park, park, park) Some of you soccer players will be happy to know the soccer nets are a permanent fixture!!
Jonathan, Jordan, Brendan, Megan and Macie’s visit was so fun!! We found little snippets of time where together we explored Montreal, but these independent, adventurous tourists decided where they wanted to go, and hopped buses and subway trains to see the sights!! Highlights of our time included visiting and playing at our ward picnic, attending Sunday meetings together, spending an afternoon with the throngs of sunseekers at the sandy Oka Beach park about an hour and a half drive from home, playing board, card and dice games almost every evening, attending MLC together and having each of them participate and share stories of people that had exhibited Christlike attributes, exploring St. Joseph Basillica, wandering around finding a Portuguese restaurant, exploring the massive Jean Talon market where during the summer months over 300 vendors display and sell their freshly picked garden produce, fresh meats and cheeses, and breathtaking perennials, annuals, and cut flowers. I bought a darling dried German statice posey!
Four million live in the greater Montreal, and attending the Mount Royal Ward the past three weeks we feel like we are in the United Nations!! It is incredible how inclusive and welcoming the ward members are. A tiny example…every Sunday Sister Hutchinson (who is a legit opera singer) holds sort of a choir practise, but it is to teach folks how to lead the music, and also to teach anyone who attends, the tunes to our hymns. Every week visitors are introduced…many of them ‘friends’ missionaries have found. Last week we met sisters from Egypt and Nigeria!! In 2018 - 23 people were baptized in that ward alone…and 16 already this year..it is incredible!!! Missionaries are so busy, and so happy, which of course makes us so happy too!!
Montreal is such a busy city..traffic is a fact of life pretty much anytime of the day or night so we try to plan our trips around the peak times. Early morning airport runs usually are pretty quick..10 minutes from the mission home, but during rush hour it can take 40 minutes plus!
Transfer week we received 17 new missionaries, and sent 24 home…this is new for us…I think our record in Halifax was 10 new, and 14 departing!! Our mission home is much larger and can accommodate the huge groups nicely.
Meal preparation is multiplied of course…its like feeding a family reunion. Arriving group menus is taco soup which can simmer on the stove for late arrivals which happens more often than naught! Departing supper has usually been cream chicken, but I’m thinking I’m going to rethink that and do a roast beef dinner. Theresa is very willing to help…I just need to find a window of time to teach her my ways! She is a pro at laundry, ironing, and making up fresh beds.
Our Mission Home is beautiful…new carpet is complete, and Facilities Management team continue to find fix it projects; building shelves, hanging bikes, washing inside, and outside windows, power-washing our driveway and patio, planting shrubs, and helping plan another shrub bed!! Felix is the big boss with Michel Morin as the handyman fix everything guy, and Andre and Johnnie are sidekicks!
Everyday we experience miracles and this week it seemed like we had so many!! Our Monday morning zoom meetings with our Senior missionaries is a highlight and all of them share highlights of their week which always includes tender miracles….(oh how we love and need our MLC missionaries - this could be a plea for any of you to come serve.)
We have been so blessed with outstanding Seniors who serve with their whole hearts… .dear friends…the Majeran’s left for home this week, and in two short weeks our dear friends …the Chan’s leave for home - (Elder and Sister Chan made deep-fried wontons for the entire zone as a farewell treat.) Both couples were indeed miracle workers…Majeran’s in the Office and Chan’s in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Devoted, cheerful, consecrated, covenant keepers describe these folks.
More miracles…this week we held our first two zone conferences..the first on Wednesday in the Longueuil Sud Zone, (south shore of the St. Lawrence River) and Friday in the Moncton, New Brunswick Zone. Richard interviews each missionary in the zone the day before zone conference, and a miracle is that he completed all his interviews!! Another miracle was how successful we felt the zone conference was. Theme for our next two years is ‘Become One in Christ….Go Forth in Faith,’ and we are so excited to develop zone conference trainings and MLC trainings all around this theme, which we think is simple, concise, and motivating.
Chapter Six of Preach My Gospel covers Christlike attributes, and this set of zone conferences my training is focused on ‘Patience.’ Richard trained on our new theme as well as our Elder Hamilton’s finding wheel. We have brilliant missionaries who are engaged, and excited to learn and go forth!!
I can’t remember if I explained how we have organized our six week transfer cycle here in Montreal? With eight zones, each week we will have two zone conferences - one in Atlantic Canada, and one here in Quebec or Ontario. So last week we had Longueuil Zone as well as our New Brunswick Zone, and this week we travel to Dartmouth to hold our Nova Scotia Zone Conference, and will be back to hold Conference for the Mount Royal Zone on Friday. Next week will be Ottawa, and Newfoundlands turn, and the fourth week we will meet with Quebec City Zone, and Montreal Zone. Hope that makes it clear!! We felt it would be fun each week to have just one ‘air travel’ zone conference, and then a ‘driving’ zone conference. Our fifth week of the cycle we hold Mission Leadership Council (MLC), and then of course the sixth week is transfer week!! And so it goes…we never have to wonder what we do next…we have it all programmed!! Most days we feel like our clocks are set on perma fast forward… Life as we knew it in Dartmouth is just a dream!!! We love every minute…and I am not being a Pollyanna stating that…we are so anxious for our missionaries to feel success, we are stimulated by our interactions with every one, and we have drive, and feel such purpose to our every day!! And it is so wonderful to serve with consecrated, hard working, cheerful senior missionaries, as well as our young elders and sisters.
Yesterday we had a super fun p-day travelling about an hour and a half with Elder and Sister Boyle, Sister Petersen and Sister Howe (achivists) to Maxville, Ontario for the Glengarry Highland games! It was like an old time county fair atmosphere with throngs and thongs (1000’s) of folks milling around, many of them in kilts, and bagpipes playing everywhere!! I think they said there were at least 40 pipe and drum bands, and what a thrill to hear the mass band play!! We just loved it!! One big room had fiddlers just fiddling away, and that was fun, but my favourite of course, took me back a few years to Megan’s competing days, as I happily tapped my toes watching highland dancers compete in the Seann Truibhaus. Fabulous dancers from all across Canada and the USA compete, and they were amazing!!
And now I see I have been rambling for almost five pages but before I sign off I must share our highlight of the week!!
Forty five years ago when Richard was serving his first mission here, his first area of service was St. Hyancinthe where he laboured with Elder Chuck Shugart who was his trainer. They taught a Sister Gabrielle Leclerc Hayward, who was baptized along with her three oldest children(and the younger two were baptized when they were eight.) Last night Elder Shugart and his wife Ronna flew in from Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan, and today the four of us went to the Greenfield Park Ward, and had a wonderful reunion with Sister Hayward, and her husband Daniel. And now in a few minutes they will all be here for dinner with us. Full circle!! What a thrill to have testimony meeting today, and hear the Hayward’s bear their witness, as well as the two missionaries that taught them. A story for the Church News!! Another mission miracle!!
Forty five years ago when Richard was serving his first mission here, his first area of service was St. Hyancinthe where he laboured with Elder Chuck Shugart who was his trainer. They taught a Sister Gabrielle Leclerc Hayward, who was baptized along with her three oldest children(and the younger two were baptized when they were eight.) Last night Elder Shugart and his wife Ronna flew in from Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan, and today the four of us went to the Greenfield Park Ward, and had a wonderful reunion with Sister Hayward, and her husband Daniel. And now in a few minutes they will all be here for dinner with us. Full circle!! What a thrill to have testimony meeting today, and hear the Hayward’s bear their witness, as well as the two missionaries that taught them. A story for the Church News!! Another mission miracle!!
And so goes our lives in the Canada Montreal Mission. It is an honour and privilege to serve and share the joy of the gospel with members and non-members alike.
I know our Mothers will be happy to read this epistle, and someday I will be happy to read and remember this amazing chapter of our lives...sorry it is soooo long!!
I’ll post this, and send our love to you…thanks for reading!!
Keep Smiling!!! and CTR!!
Richard and Gayle, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma
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