The Final Report of 2019 December 29, 2019
Two days ago, December 27, we gasped as we realized we only have half of our mission left….oh my goodness….so much still to do!! Daily we are in awe as we realize the incredible blessings of serving this mission together!! Our marriage has never been stronger, and our testimonies of how living the Doctrine of Christ keeps us on our own consecrated covenant path has been emblazened on our very hearts and souls. Interactions with our missionaries - both young and our senior, and with devoted Church members all over the mission - from Cornerbrook to Bay Roberts to St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Moncton, St. John, Fredericton, and Bathurst New Brunswick, to Summerside, Montague, and Charlottetown, PEI, to Halifax, Dartmouth, Annapolis, to Greenwood, Bridgewater, New Glasgow, Truro, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, from Houlton, and Presque Isle Maine, and from Ottawa to Petawawa Ontario, from Chicoutimi, to Rimouski, Quebec City, Trois Rivieres, Shawinigan and Drummondville, and to our home at 85 Henley Avenue, Ville Mont Royal, Quebec, and everywhere in between inspire and motivate us. We feel so blessed to be engaged in the Gathering of Israel - it really is the greatest work on the earth today.
Our resolve for the last half of this incredible adventure is to continue to do all we can to share the glorious truths of the restoration, to help Gather and Minister to Scattered Israel, and… to motivate our army of 200 strong to do the same!!
Our 2019 Christmas advent was the best ever, and many of you were involved in this…thank you, thank you!!! December 1st through the 25th - Christmas Day, every day we opened a festively decorated envelope and read YOUR testimonies; children, grandchildren, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunt, several nieces, and friends! No better gift than to read your testimonies, to be strengthened by your conversion stories, and to be strengthened by how you are applying the gospel in your lives. Pretty much every day we teared up as we read your beautiful expressions…thank you so much! Each letter is treasured in our special 2019 Testimony binder.
Christmas Eve, our friend Tai Adekanmbi and her two sons Amir Ali, and Baby Malik, as well as newly baptized Sam ?and his friend Simon, Elders Musaalo, and Nally, and Elder and Sister Boyle joined us for an evening of celebration and the Christmas story. Tortiere has been our Christmas Eve traditional menu for 43 years, and this year we enjoyed it right here in Quebec where the tradition began!! With actual French ingredients…it probably was the best tortiere Richard has ever made…and everyone loved it!!
Our second Christmas as missionaries was wonderful. Face timing, as well as visiting on the phone with our dear loved ones at home was just lovely…Thank you all for your cheery visiting!! I won’t comment on homesickness!!!
Boxing Day we roasted two turkeys, cooked about 20 pounds of potatoes, 9 pounds of carrots, used 50 cups of bread for dressing, and baked 9 dozen rolls. Christmas aromas poured out of our Mission Home, and we were thrilled when 30 of our Senior missionaries serving on this side of the Mission came to enjoy the feast, and festivities!!! With them, they each brought delicious side dishes to embellish the meal. Oh my, what food!!! Following dinner we laughed, and laughed as we played the 7, 11, or doubles gift exchange game!! What great people, we get to associate with…what a wonderful way to retire..
Here are some more beautiful stories…fresh from the LTP file - (shared with permission)
Experience # 1 from Ottawa:
“It was such a good week! Lilly and Rosie got baptized and it was beautiful. Lots of the ward showed up and the primary president was there and it was really good! The ward is getting more involved with them and we are so grateful! We were so glad that we went to the church really early to prepare for the baptism because we went to turn on the font and the water wouldn't turn on! Not one drop! So the building management guy came about half an hour later and went to look at the pipes and he told us that he was not able to get any water to the font, so we had better start filling garbage cans.!! So that's what we did. Sister Long balanced cookie sheets on the counter so that the water would automatically run from the sink tap into the cans, and then we would dump the cans into the font. And it was a miracle because after we dumped the first few cans, the water turned on into the font! It turns out that the pipes were frozen and the hot water we poured in thawed them out! We totally saw it as an act of faith. Because if we didn't start acting and believing that God would bless our efforts, the pipes would have never unfroze. It was such a testimony builder!!” Sister Wall
Experience #2 from Hawkesbury (half way between Montreal and Ottawa);
“Sunday was such a good Sacrament Meeting. I especially loved Sister Andrus's talk. It was very well done and had the whole congregation in tears. Then I had an experience almost as if God was talking to me personally and answering my questions. Brother Proulx spoke next and before he did his talk he thanked me and Sister Moosman, with tears coming down his face, for passing by his sons house who has been inactive for a while. This are his words:
"my son was at my house yesterday and told me the sisters, who in the pouring rain, knocked on his house (he has been inactive for a long time. ) He wanted to let them in but knew he couldn't because he was alone. I am so touched that he said he wanted to let them in. God is softening his heart. And my heart has been touched, thank you sisters."
At that moment I silently broke down, tears welling in my eyes. God was speaking to me. He was telling me why I was in Hawkesbury. I'm here to help this wonderful man and his family. He is the only active member of his family. I am here to help reunite his family and help them become active again.
I can count on one hand how many times God has spoken to me so crystal clear. I think this is a huge reason on why my attitude towards this area has changed. I've been shown my purpose. And I'm so grateful for that.” Sister Scott
Experience #3 from Montreal:
“A personal experience for me was when Sister Vargas and I were coming home from sports night, (on the subway). I was a bit tired and ready for the night. I smiled at the lady in front of me, and Sister Vargas complimented her. I just kept feeling the Spirit prompt me to open my mouth, but I hesitated. We exchanged eye contact for a few minutes, when she asked me who we were, and why we had Jesus on our tags. I responded with exceeding joy and began to tell her who we were. She told us she would see us at church the very next day, and so she did! I cannot wait to see what will come of this. Although, my takeaway would be I was lucky this time, but next time I might not be… Do not delay on a Spirit's prompting. I learned that day, for myself, I NEED to open my mouth all the time. There is no picking and choosing; the work is critical. We are talking about souls, sons and daughters of God.” Sister Wdaa - a brand new missionary!
And there you go..you have read another epistle from the Canada Montreal Mission!!
Happy New Year to all of you!!!
With much love,
Dad and Mom, Richard and Gayle, Grandpa and Grandma
CTR and Keep Smiling!!!
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