Today is Sunday, February 16, 2020, and
We are celebrating Charlotte’s 7th Birthday!!!
and…tomorrow we celebrate Jonathan’s 31st!!!
Wearing name tags with the Saviour’s name right next to our names has been one of our favourite perks of being missionaries, but, with the wearing of our name tags, we are targets for Bishops or Branch Presidents who might be looking for last minute speakers!! Today, we were about ten minutes early for Church, and you guessed it…Richard was approached by the Bishop who asked if we could speak!! When we first arrived in Atlantic Canada and were asked to speak impromptu, I must say I was pretty nervous, but with almost twenty months under our belts I don’t think I shake nearly like I used to! It is actually fun!! We have so many incredible experiences it is hard to choose what to share!!
Shade and her son Joel were grateful to have us pick them up for Church and we were so happy to interact with them again!! A watershed day in the LaSalle Ward (in Lachine)….Joel received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a deacon, along with his buddy Victor. And Shade is ‘on date,’ to be baptized Saturday, February 29th!! Because it is transfer week, we will be in Montreal and will get to attend!! We are excited, but you can imagine how excited Sister Vargas and Sister Wdaa are!!! Last week when we attended the same ward, there was a buzz in the ward with talk about ‘The Game.’ Elders Peterman and Croft created this ‘motivational’ ward game where every member of the ward is either on the Nephite or the Lamanite team, and every week they work diligently trying to earn points for their team. Everyone has a game card where activities are listed with number of points possible to earn. For example performing a musical number in Sacrament Meeting would give you 25 points…Bringing a friend to Church or taking the Family History Class could net you 10 points each. I would probably fine-tune the point system, but there is excitement in the ward, in fact the Bishop wants the activity to go on for three months, at which time, whoever has the least points is in charge of preparing and serving a meal for the winners! Every missionary activity earns points for your team! So in addition to helping create ward unity, focused missionary work is being emphasized!! We are excited to see how it goes for the next two and a half months!!
I realize I forgot to share this experience…Since receiving hockey game tickets for Christmas, we had been excitedly anticipating our February 1st P Day where we had ‘legit’ tickets to watch a live matinee Montreal Canadiens hockey game!! We parked our vehicle at the Villa Maria Church Building, hopped the metro across the street, and travelled down to the Bell Centre to watch the famed Canadiens play (and beat) the Florida Panthers (4-0)!! Richard was anxious to get to the arena early so he could buy a matching Canadiene jersey for me!! It was so fun to join with the 21,271 other fans almost all decked out in red, white and blue, and cheer for our local heroes!! Every hockey game we watch from now on we will proudly wear our Canadiene jerseys, because we probably won’t ever get to another game!! Also with matching jerseys, we are ready for every Halloween costume party for the rest of our days. Our seats were second row from the top of the huge arena, and amazingly we could see everything!!! We were entertained by the great hockey, but we also loved listening to the two little four or five year old French boys all dressed in their Canadiene garb who were sitting behind us! It was a treat to hear them jabber away in their cute French!! They kept saying ‘Oui… Oui…’like our kids say ‘Yes…Yes!!’ Such a perfectly relaxing P Day activity!!
Monday Office Meetings were inspirational like always. We marvel at the lovely miracles that our Senior couples report on, and are thrilled when our young missionaries also give an accounting of their tender experiences.
Along with the sweet… we had plenty of bitter this week; a senior sister missionary was diagnosed with cancer Monday, an Elder returned home because of belated confession….(he will be able to return to serve), another Elder returned home Friday with severe depression, and yesterday an Elder returned home with severe PTSS, depression and other challenges, and was immediately admitted to the Hospital. It was a particularly emotionally challenging week. Because we were so focused on our Zone Conferences in Ottawa, and in Moncton, Richard had to take care of all the dozens of phonecalls away from home or the Office; in between interviews, or zone conference breaks, and, we were not here to deliver departing missionaries to the airport, which was hard for us. Fortunately we have zone leaders or assistants who will fill in for us. Sometimes our missionaries get totally overwhelmed, and just ‘crash.’ We are always trying to intercept this happening, but mostly it happens suddenly and so quickly. Area Medical and Area Mental Health full-time senior missionaries work with missionaries with any distress, or challenges, and mostly their counselling is just what is needed, but when missionaries get in the red zone, and can’t get out, we must send them home immediately.
Part of our hearts go home with these missionaries whom we love.
After our Monday office meetings we hopped in our vehicle and made the two hour drive to Ottawa to spend both Monday and Tuesday nights. Richard had scoped out Rideau Canal ice skating and so, Tuesday morning, we headed to Lansdowne Park where we laced up our skates, and joined the hundreds of other skaters gliding on the worlds largest skating rink, the 7.8km UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rideau Canal. Next time.. I will bring a chair or will rent a sled to push, and will replace ‘too short laces’ on my $5.00 Beacon House thrift store skates with long enough ones!! It was just a perfect day to enjoy the fresh winter air, and to relax!! Although my skating skills are very, very rusty, and I was concerned that I’d fall on my shoulder, we loved that little diversion!!
Ottawa Zone Conference was great! We keep saying we hit the jackpot with our missionaries (and not just the Ottawa Zone!!) They are smart, well-read, obedient, good-listeners, effective teachers, humble, cheerful, and converted. We thrill as we watch their conversion transformation. English, French and Mandarin speakers are in this Ottawa Zone, and they love reporting on their finding, and yesterday they happily reported that Jeff ? was baptized.
Sister Booth’s ham Valentine feast was delicious!!
Home Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning we ‘Zoomed’ in with our ‘newish’ missionaries for an Adjusting to Missionary Life discussion. Adjusting to Missionary Life is a wonderful companion booklet to ‘Preach My Gospel,” and we are so grateful for the inspired counsel that every missionary is to read from this daily. When we have our zoom meetings we highlight suggestions right from the book along with our own suggestions. I have been promoting watercoloring after 9pm, and Sister Lee (who has been serving as our Area Mental Health Counsellor and living in Philadelphia for almost two years and is going home next week) concurs that watercoloring is one of the best ways for missionaries to unwind at night! So we continue to suggest this wonderful creative unwinding activity!!
As soon as our zoom call was over we hopped in a Uber van with our Assistants Musallo and Nally, and headed to the airport bound for Moncton. Everytime we fly to New Brunswick we are delayed for a variety of reasons, and it happened again, which makes Richard’s interview schedule get skewed, but missionaries were all in great spirits…they love to see each other. That New Brunswick Zone, which also includes PEI, is so huge…our missionaires from Rimouski drive over 6 hours to get to Moncton for Zone Conference…so you can imagine how much they love getting together! Zone Conference Friday was wonderful, with great teachings that inspired everyone. Oh how we love to be with this(and every other zone) army of committed saints!
Sister Taylor and her crew of eight helpers provided a delicious Valentine feast for our entire hungry crew. Maybe I mentioned that she is the second generation meal coordinator for Zone Conference meals. When we approached her and told her of the directive that we are not supposed to rely on ward or branch members to provide meals, she emphatically replied that she doesn’t want to stop. They love the missionaries!! Meatloaf with all the bells and whistles, including fresh homemade cinnamon rolls to take home filled us to the brim!!
Upcoming this week…Mount Royal and Longueuil Zone Conference tomorrow, Interviews Tuesday, Montreal Zone Conference Wednesday, MLC Thursday, and the final interviews for this six week cycle on Friday. It will be another great, jam packed week, where we will get to interact with many of our dear missionaries.
Hope all is well with all of you!!!We are so grateful for your prayers on our behalf, and on behalf of all our dear missionaries. Thank you!!!
And now I will close this epistle, sending love to all,
Keep Smiling, and CTR!!
Happy Family Week, Teacher’s Convention, or Winter Break..whatever you have!!!
Much love,
Richard and Gayle, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma
XOXOXOXOXOX..
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