HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Today is Monday, January 13, 2020

Happy New Year to all our of you…our dear Family and Friends,

How exciting to begin a brand new year, as well as a brand new decade!! Our New Years goal list is still a work in progress!! 

Celebrating New Years at the Mission Home with many of our Senior couples was so much fun!!Googling “10 best Chinese food spots in Montreal”, we found a great restaurant a quick five minute drive from home…soooo our main course was slick!!! Seniors brought snacks and treats, and we indulged till we were too tired, or too full to eat another bite!! It was wonderful to be together eating, relaxing, visiting, and playing games!!

A great time was had by all!! We are SO grateful for our Senior missionaries who serve cheerfully, creatively, willingly, and are down to earth, delightful folks from all over the USA, and Canada!!      

One of our Holiday Highlights was our zoom call with our dear children where we talked about how we can ‘Come Follow Me.’  Visiting with each other and seeing all 14 of you laughing and being together certainly strengthened us!!! Thank you.

A few Pday activities to report on…last week we drove about forty-five minutes out in the country, near St. Jean to one of my favourite gardening centres.  Their smallish selection of indoor plants including some cute succulents called to me, and since we had an empty terracotta planter back home, we bought three cute plants to fill the pot!  Spring is definitely not in the air, but the next time we visit ‘Ferme Guyon' it will be!!

Down the road about fifteen minutes from the gardening centre is Chambly, one of the oldest settlements in Quebec. In 1665, Captain Jacques de Chambly who was a French army officer and leader, built, right beside the Richelieu River, a wooden stockade, which was destroyed by the Iroquois Indians in 1702. Later it was rebuilt in stone, and in 1760 it was surrendered to the British. The fort, which is a National Historic site played an important part during the American invasion of 1775, and during the War of 1812.  A brisk north wind blew as we hiked around the sturdy, stone walls, and in our mind’s eye it was easy to imagine the French, British, and Americans battling on land and in the turbulent Richelieu rapids trying to gain control of this strategically important fort.  Visiting these old historical sites sure makes me wish I could recall Social Studies curriculum - especially Canadian history from so long ago!! 

And this past P-Friday  we each logged about 16,000 steps tripping up and down subway stairs, running to bus stops, and exploring floors, and floors of art galleries.  With the EXO train line running through Mount Royal (yes through the mountain)and knowing that line is closing in March, (for several years,) we have been anxious to hop aboard and explore more of our Montreal.  The EXO train ride, a metro-train ride, and a brisk walk had us arrive at our first destination; the Vincent Van Gogh art exhibit, and it was unlike anything we have experienced - (and by the way we have not experienced very many art galleries!!)  Let me try and explain…imagine the UofL big gym with walls where the bleachers are, and then projected on those massive walls, and on the cement floor, the incredible paintings of the master Vincent Van Gogh. And, add to that, hauntingly beautiful classical music of impressionist composers like Offenbach,  playing in the background. It was beautiful!!  One couple we watched were really letting the music and art inspire them and took to doing their very own impressionistic dancing!! Throngs of artists, including school bus loads of field trip students each paid their $30.00 to be inspired by the exhibit.  So…it really was not going to a gallery and seeing first hand original pieces of art, but,  it was inspiring to see some amazing Van Gogh creativity. Most of his work was done in oil on canvas,  and as the art was projected so massively we could see every brush stroke! My favourite pieces were his flowers and gardens!! (of course!!) Dad loved the Starry Night Sky. We came home, and researched a bit about the sizes of the pieces we had seen, and none of them seemed to be bigger than 20X30, so exploding them and projecting them on huge walls was brilliant, and inspiring!

From there we hopped on a bus, and headed to Musee des Beaux Arts where the Egyptian Mummy exhibit is on display until March. We did want to see those mummies,, but included in our entrance fee were all five galleries, so we walked, and walked and walked.  We saw so much beautiful art, much of it very, very old…but we were most excited to see two original Monet’s!!  

As inspired as we were with the incredible oil painters, we both came away very happy playing with our watercolours!!

Yesterday our Church was cancelled because of an ice storm. Back in Nova Scotia we experienced unusual weather including a few ice storms, but Quebec ice storms take their ice storms to a new level!! Richard described it like walking on styrofoam with ice below, and on top!! Snowstorms are magical!! Snowflakes are the kind you see in movies, and the snow piles and piles!! Since most Montrealers do not own cars they get everywhere walking, cycling, busing or using the metro, and today going to the Mission Office we saw runners and cyclists risking their lives on the sleet, ice and snow! Hardy folk!! Families skate, and actually go to the neighbourhood parks even when there is tons of snow everywhere!! It is so fun!! When it is bitterly freezing outside they do stay home!! 

And now lest you think we have taken a holiday from what we really are about, let me share a few inspiring letters from the field!

Greenfield Park Elders:

“Next is that we found a couple of guys that have just recently immigrated from Angola. Their families are still there, but long story short one of them was a preacher of a congregation and was threatened by their version of the mafia to have his congregation to vote for a specific person. After that he fled to here, and was looking for a church. They were invited to church, and they absolutely loved it. One of my favorite comments was from one of the men and he said "my church was similar, but we had to pay 10% of our income every Sunday... I don't see that here". So then of course we were able to talk to him about the Law of Tithing of all things! They also happened to sit next to a Portuguese speaking member in Sunday School, and he was able to teach them part of the beginnings of the Book of Mormon with them in their native language..perfect.

Anyways, I'll update you more on that next week as we will be meeting with them on Saturday.” 

Fredericton sisters story:

“On New Years Day we had a good amount of fresh snow and decided to go out and ask people if we could help them shovel. We first decided to help an elderly member whose husband was in the hospital. While driving there we saw a man with a big long driveway shovelling by hand. We went and helped the member and on the way back stopped and asked if we could help him. He was glad to let us help and talked to us the whole time! Him and his wife then invited us in for a little bit to warm up and told us that it would be okay if we stopped by again sometime to share a message with them. We haven't yet but are excited to meet with them again!

Alberts baptism is this coming Saturday and a lot of the ward members have said they want to come and even one of the people we are teaching, Ernest said that he would love to come! “

Montreal East sisters:

“I wanted to share one of my humbling experiences with you!! You see Sr Lacroix the relief society President she asked us to take some goodies to a family in the branch and me being the selfish bum I am was worried about our klick limit.... But we made it work. Anyway we finally get there and we walk in and it did not smell good, it wasn't the cleanest place in the world, but then I sat down next to this woman and really got to know her and wow. Wow is all I have to say. She's been living here in Canada for 4 years, with her 3 kids, her other 2 are still in Haiti, and her husband. They don't know when they will see each other, they don't know when their paperwork will come through, they just know that one day God will answer their prayers. Wow. I was floored. The people here have such incredible faith. I grew to have so much love for this woman. We soon had the kids open the present that to me was just some chocolates, but as they opened it their eyes got big, and they started jumping up and down. This was their only Christmas gift. We stayed a few more mins laughing and playing at one point I teasingly reached to grab a piece. This beautiful brown eyed Haitian 6 year old looks at me, smiles and breaks off half of his candy bar, my heart was full as well as my eyes this little boy had just this and he was going to share it all. As i walked out of that humble home I thought of other little boys I knew back home, I thought of myself, would I give all I have when what I have is nothing in comparison? This is what Christ meant when he said we need to be like children. 

I am just continually inspired by the faith of the members here! “

Week Six means Transfer Week!!!  Exciting because  tomorrow we receive 10 new missionaries - 5 sisters, and 5 Elders!! Taco soup, and buns!! Wednesday welcome ham feast, and orientation, and Thursday our four departing missionaries arrive from all over the Mission, and we will have our traditional farewell dinner, Temple Session, and testimony meeting, and then Friday morning we begin our goodbyes. Richard reminded me that this is our 13th Transfer Week…oh my goodness!! 

One of my spiritual highlights of the week…

I am so grateful for what we believe, and what we teach…our Heavenly Father loves us and has provided a beautiful plan that gives us PEACE, JOY and HOPE. 

Tonight we just heard that one of our senior couples…Elder Paul and Sister Susan Welton from Lehi, Utah just got word that their thirty eight year old daughter ‘Megan Elizabeth Welton’ unexpectedly passed away. She had been sick, had been checked out, and sent home. Here is what Sister Welton’s Facebook post reads: “Megan is a bright light that cannot be dimmed, but will just become brighter. We are so very sad. this hurts so much but we don’t feel alone. The Comforter is real and our faith is strong. We trust Heavenly Father’s perfect plan. Thank you for mourning with us. We feel the power of your faith and prayers. I didn’t know we could cry this many tears. We love you all.”

We are grateful for our knowledge, and testimonies of that perfect plan, and that “Families Can Be Together Forever through Heavenly Father’s Plan.” We know that. 

I’ll post this sending much love,

Dad and Mom, Richard and Gayle and Grandpa and Grandma XOXOXOXOXOXO

Keep Smiling!!!!