JOY in His Service

Today is Sunday, October 27, 2019

Right now we are travelling in an Air Canada Bombardier CRJ 900, en route from St. John’s Newfoundland, back to Montreal.  Occasionally we hit air pockets, and it feels like we are riding a buckin bronco! The flight is almost three hours, and I have 20% battery left...so maybe I’ll get this blog complete before we arrive in Montreal. Hopefully the bronco ride will cease! 

Much to report! 

Montreal Stake Conference was last weekend, and oh what a vibrant French stake! Attendance at both Saturday evening session, as well as Sunday was impressive! I understood some of what was said, but mostly I felt the spirit of the messages and testimonies. Our assignment was for Richard to speak, and for me to bear my teimoignage Sunday morning. Imagine our surprise Saturday night, when Stake President Senechal leaned over and asked us to bear our testimonies after the intermediate hymn! I might have been able to stumble my way through, but was so relieved that I had brought my paper copy along.  And, at the end of the meeting, didn’t the President ask me to bear my testimony again on Sunday! And Richard was to give his prepared message.

President Senechal gave an amazing talk which reminded us of President Ballard’s ´Stay in The Boat’ landmark message from several years ago.  He shared the rules of white water rafting just like President Ballard did, and then stated ´If you fall out of the boat...we will come get you, we will rescue you.´ I didn’t understand a lot of what he said, but remarkably I did get that...(I think Richard translated some of it for me.) And that is what we are all about...helping folks find their way into the boat, and if they have fallen out, we are there to help find them, and help them get back in. The power of those words…“if you have fallen out of the boat…we will come get you…”struck such a cord with us, and we realized again the urgency of our callings - and of the power of ministering wherever we live.

Having family visits have been wonderful; Brad and Caylee and family for a week, Megan and Macie for a week, and Aaron and Luke for three days has made for a perfect October!! Somehow we are able to dovetail our mission responsibilities with snippets of family time.. and it so wonderful to spend those little snippets together playing at the park, picking apples, strolling through our Jean Talon market,  or eating Chocolat Favoris ice cream…being together is always the highlight of our week!! And…of course we just love to introduce our visiting family celebrities with any and all of our missionaries!!! 

Megan and Macie fit right in, and were so helpful as we prepared for arrival of our new group, and as we prepped for our departing gang.  We are taking some credit for all Macie’s walking….I think she just loves the soft carpet, and oh my goodness she loves our stairs, and makes record time climbing up and down, up and down!! We lost track of consecutive steps, but she will be running in no time!

Week 6 - Transfer week again!!! Our 16 new missionaries arrived on time - around 7pm Tuesday night, and what a thrill to greet and meet such an enthusiastic, keen group…maybe..a few homesick, but they will soon adjust. Taco soup, and fresh buns are the perfect menue for starving missionaries! Orientation day at the Office was Wednesday, and welcome ham feast Wednesday night. Thursday morning was official transfer day, so we said goodbye to our new group, and then welcomed our 7 ‘going home group’ for their farewell feast, and Temple session.  With departing missionaries, and office seniors, our tables were set for 19!!  Luke was such a help frying the chicken, and being my right hand boy running everywhere I needed him to.  So grateful to have him here! 

Teary departure as we said goodbye to Megan and Macie.

Lovely Temple session, and farewell testimony meeting…doesn’t get any easier to say goodbye..mostly because we don’t know when we will see our missionaries again….hopefully they will be able to attend mission reunions! 

Watercolouring with Luke was so fun..what a budding artist he is!! Richard helped him paint a beautiful mountain scene, complete with a log cabin. 

Our late flight to St. John’s Newfoundland had us arrive at our hotel about 12:30am Saturday morning. Leadership for the Newfoundland Conference began at 1:30pm. Sister Roxanne Laycock Bingham who is serving in Cornerbrook with her husband organized our Relief Society Leadership, and had me do a presentation on ministering. I have had so many lovely experiences being a minister, and being ministered to, I was ready to share stories, but the sisters really just wanted to talk, and mostly share their frustrations so that is what we did…BUT it made me miss our ministering families back home… Because our membership records are still in Westminster Ward (we think?!)we don’t have assigned ministers, nor do we get to minister. I guess we are sort of in limbo land…Our testimonies of the power of ministering has really grown though.

I have to share a sweet story one of our senior couples - the Welton’s shared yesterday in our senior Zoom meeting. (FYI - Sister Welton served in the Canada Montreal Mission with Dad…in fact when she arrived in the Mission…he picked her up at the airport!!)Anyway, last Monday was their 42nd wedding anniversary, and after our Zoom call she went for a walk, and he for a run. While on her walk she noticed this very old couple trying to set up their portable carport…now, we are finding everywhere in Montreal where people only have a tiny driveway they assemble these snazzy carports with aluminum tent-like poles, and cover them with a massive custom made white plastic tarp. After seeing so many of these makeshift garages, we are bracing ourselves for a doozer of a winter!! Apparently it not only protects their vehicles, but it decreases the snowshovelling, and it prevents ice on their driveway…..Anyway Sister Welton walked by this older Italian couple, said hello, and continued walking.  She felt prompted to return and ask if she could help them. She phoned her husband who changed his running route, and came to assist. 4 hours later they had the job done!!! The 87 and 84 year old husband and wife kept asking if they were angels, and who they were? Of course they told them who they were, and why they are in Montreal. They testified to us that they knew seeds had been planted!! What great examples of consecrated senior missionaries. We are in awe of all our seniors and the sacrifices they make to serve, and the joy they find as they serve!! 

Lavender, my new French tutor is awesome, and is making me stretch!! Understanding is way easier that speaking, but I’m hoping, and praying my French-speaking wires will get connected soon!!

It is now Tuesday, October 29 and this epistle has grown exponentially so I will close! Have a wonderful week and a Happy Halloween!!

Thursday we have MLC, and Longueuil Stake Conference (French) this weekend, AND the speeding bullet train keeps speeding!!!

Hope all is well with all of you…

Much love,

Richard and Gayle, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma

CTR and Keep Smiling xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox…

Mission Miracles

Today is Wednesday, October 9, 2019

And tomorrow is David’s 40th BIRTHDAY!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!

We are enroute back to Montreal after a great Newfoundland Zone Conference. With only 8 young Elders, and three senior couples serving in Newfoundland, we occupy only the first four rows of the chapel, and everyone has many opportunities to participate. Time flies by, and we have completed another round of eight wonderful zone conferences!  We continue to be so impressed, inspired, and grateful for the obedient consecrated missionaries in the Canada Montreal Mission! It has nothing to do with us....mostly they all came this way; when the bar was raised, the parents of our missionaries did a stellar job preparing their sons and daughters! Thank you to them!! Serving in Newfoundland is not without big challenges; isolation is one of the challenges, and motivating members to invite their friends is another, and right now the biggest challenge is trying to get members to minister. Last night a couple in the St. John’s branch told me that only 5% of Branch members are ministered to...pretty dismal. How do we inspire and motivate members to fulfill their callings as ministers? Both the Schow’s and the Myrer’s - great Senior missionary couples have taught...but it just has not happened

consistently...Well, we get another chance to help teach on October 26th and 27th when we return to participate in the Newfoundland District Conference; both our assignments are to train and motivate the Priesthood and Relief Society to reach out and fulfill their ministering visits. Any of you that have ministering stories or suggestions, please share!! My plan is to create a PowerPoint presentation, complete with photos of anyone who shares...so if you want to be on the big screen in Newfoundland...send your experiences to me!! I will only share names with your permission.

Now a bit of a report on last week! Sister Mau, one of our Tahitian sisters was scheduled to return home on Tuesday.  Monday night we hosted the special goodbye supper where our senior office missionaries join us for the farewell meal and we pay tribute to our departing sister. Tuesday afternoon, while Richard was conducting Montreal Zone interviews I ventured to the airport with Sister Mau. This was the first time I had driven to the airport. Not all four million Montreal’ers were on the road so it was pretty easy sailing getting there...but then the adventure began. As we were checking in, the agent said to Sister Mau, ´where is your Esta form?´ Neither Sister Mau or I had any idea what she was looking for..Apparently even for a layover in any American city you must have an Esta form filled out. This can take up to 72 hours to process, but it also can take as little as five minutes, but you have to do it on line. There was one computer available to do this, and right then it was occupied by another  traveller.....so we tried using my phone, but kept getting rejected because Sister May’s address was not adequate (she lives on a small Tahitian island..gravel roads..her stilted home is on the beach and has no house number!) I was getting a bit anxious because the agent said I will give you until five o’clock, and then I will pull her from the flight, and time was ticking...Meanwhile it started absolutely pouring rain...and they delayed the flight for two hours, to let the storm pass..which gave us breathing room to hopefully complete the form, and get email approval. After several on-line coaching calls, we finally were able to skip through the address portion of the process and submit the application. Approval was almost immediate, and then, after all that...the flight was cancelled!!Sister Mau was a champ, and excited to get to spend three more days serving and her companions Sisters Brennan and Chonger were thrilled to get her back! With her Esta form approved it was clear sailing on Saturday morning when she was back at the airport!  The saga was way more complicated, but the important thing is that a Sister Mau is safely home! Sometimes it is so complicated getting missionaries here and also getting them home!

Montréal Zone Conference on Wednesday was great! Missionaries just love to be together...they are so inspiring as they participate in our trainings and discussions. They love their interviews with Richard, and I love when I get to have my pre interview, interview with each of them!

Thursday morning we drove to Quebec City for more interviews, and for their Friday Zone Conference. Awesome missionaries, and another inspiring meeting. 
In August, when we were last in Quebec City with Aaron, Jennie and their family we had an inspiring experience. Isabelle and Charlotte stayed in our room because their room was pretty full! In the morning they headed upstairs to the sixth floor where their family was. Because they didn't have a room key, the elevator wouldn't work (and our key would only go to the 5th floor), so they decided to take the stairs. The stairwell doors locked so they were stuck in the stairwell. Isabelle had her phone, and felt prompted to call me(instead of her Mom) to come open the stairwell door, which I did. We noticed a cleaning cart in the hall right across from our room and thought the cleaning lady would have an elevator key that would work, so I poked my head in the room, and out popped this petite little Philippina who said to me..."Sister, Sister,  I am a member of the Church, but I haven't been active. My family in the Philippines are all praying for me. I never work on the fifth floor, I work on the third floor. I know the Lord sent you to me. I have been praying." We chatted and I got her contact information which I gave to our Senior Couple, The Bills, and they have lovingly ministered Rosalee Savard, and her husband Brother Savard. The happy news is that they are now active again!! Friday morning we were headed to the third floor to find Rosalee, when the elevator door opened, and who was there, but Rosalee. She presented me with a little thank you gift.
It is as thrilling to have a less active member return, as it is to find a new convert. Another miracle!

A quick paragraph to rave about the fall scenery here in the east...from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia to Quebec, and everywhere in between...red, auburn, burgundy, and golden leaves have burst forth in their autumn splendour. It is impossible for me to go outside walking or running, and not collect at least one leaf to add to my collection!! I have no idea what I will do with all these leaves...maybe create a collage?!  Our neighbourhood is very treed, (actually every neighbourhood is treed!!)and at least twice a week, street sweepers zoom by cleaning up fallen leaves, and, the bobcat vacuum zips all over sucking up leaves twigs and anything that doesn’t belong...keeping our ‘Darling Park’ in pristine shape. I can’t even imagine what property taxes are in Mount Royal! Flower bed boulevards line almost every street, and the town square has a rose garden that could be featured in ´Better Homes and Gardens’ or ´Birds and Blooms!´ We must take photos so you can see! Homeowners follow suit and most yards match the subdivision standards. These folks know how to garden, and it just makes me itch to join them!! I have added my autograph to our tiny yard, planting some of my favorite perennials, and a few hydrangeas. Come spring I have plans to dig up part of our front side yard and create another shrub/perennial bed. Everything seems to flourish here so it will be a challenge to not dig up the whole lawn and plant everything we see at the local garden centres! 

Mark and Brittney happily announced the safe arrival of their newest family member: ‘Boomer Dee Low’ born, October 10th. Briar, Dottie, and Vimy adore their darling new brother! Congratulations to all of them! Oh how we long to hold and snuggle him!!

And now it is October17th, and another wonderful week has flown by! Most noteworthy was our week with Brad, Caylee, Berkley, Walker, Hudson, Sadey and Porter. It is a thrill every time we have some of our dear ones visit! Our area trainings last month in Rochester and Palmyra are normally held in October so we had blocked this week off which meant we had a few days to play! Fun activities included an evening stroll up to the top of Mount Royal, ice cream at Chocolate Favoris, iconic Schwartz’s smoked meat, Subway ride to Old Montreal, Touring Old Montreal, Visit to the Mission Office, Zipline, St. Lawrence River Cruise, Jean Talon Market, apple picking on Mt. Ste. Hilaire, Church at our Montreal Ward, Sunday dinner with missionaries, Thanksgiving Dinner with 37 guests...family and Senior missionaries here at the Mission Home, AND fishing for rock bass on a Mount Tremblant lake (18 were caught!) We were in major withdrawal when that busy family left us yesterday!

Tonight, just after midnight we head to the airport to collect Megan and Macie who will spend a week visiting!! Family visits are so stimulating and exciting for us, and the furtherest thing from distracting! Not only do the visits help us reboot, our family members get to meet our dear missionaries, and see the high paced exciting life we are living!!

Other exciting missionary news!! Nathalie, one of our ´investigating’ friends who Sister Brennan and Sister Chonger have been trying to teach came to Church on Sunday! You can imagine what a thrill that was, especially because we didn’t know she was coming! I sat beside her in RS, and loved watching her being so intent and engaged in the discussion. I have learned to love texting these friends, and know it really does make a difference in their progression!

Tai, who was just baptized in August has not been coming to Church since her confirmation the day after her Baptism. Two weeks ago, I decided to try texting her...just to see if she would respond, which she didn’t...until Sunday night! I had invited she and her son to Thanksgiving Dinner, and her text message confirmed that they would love to come! Almost all of our other guests made a point of introducing themselves to Tai and her son Ali, which made them feel very welcomed!  Tai is expecting a baby in two weeks which gives us, and all ward members a chance to practise ministering!

Transfer Week - week 6 is upon us ...Tuesday, 16 new missionaries arrive, and Friday, 7 depart - for a net gain of 9! Our complement is hovering right around 200. Senior Office missionaries coordinate everything just perfectly...from travel plans...air, bus, car, or boat, to apartment leases, and furnishings, to travel for Richard and I to organizing our cute little free used clothing shop, to filling supply orders including copies of the Book of Mormon, pass along cards, etc, etc, to maintaining our vehicle fleet (79 strong), to diagnosing every ailment, to budgeting and writing every rent and utility cheque, AND to answering every phone call!! Those are just a few of our Office Missionary tasks...We feel so blessed to have our consecrated, cheerful, hard-working team!! 

And we feel blessed to learn so much from them...mostly about devoted, charitable covenant keeping. They each quietly go about joyfully fulfilling their stewardship’s, and it is so motivating. 

It is almost midnight which means we get to head to the airport to get Megan and Macie, AND it is time to submit this to the Blogspot!

Sending it off with love and best wishes for a wonderful week!

Richard and Gayle, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma

xoxo xoxo ox...CTR and Keep Smiling!