Today is Sunday, July 5, 2020
What another wonderful week in the Canada Montreal Mission!! I probably sound like a broken record raving about our great weeks here, but they really are amazing!! Jam-packed with many meetings, and lots of interaction with missionaries!! Weekly key indicators do indicate how hard our team of missionaries are working; read on, and be impressed!!; 1 Baptism this week, 29 folks on date for Baptism, 69 friends at Church, and 25 new friends to teach!!! Such examples of hardworking, cheerful, obedient, consecrated missionaries! We couldn’t ask for any better!!
Our biggest goal as Mission leaders will be challenging to measure, and evaluate; but as we have discussed over and over again what we really want to achieve with our missionaries, we realize it has absolutely nothing to do with those key indicators, and everything to do with what happens in the hearts of these young adults, and that my friends, is what our goal is: to have every one of our missionaries committed to continuing on their own covenant path. That is our 'Mission' Statement. President Boyd K. Packer once said you could judge your effectiveness as a Mission President when you look at the grandchildren of your missionaries. What a long time to wait!!
So…every interaction with this stalwart team of ours, we preach, and teach about the power of the Book of Mormon, and how to create that covenant path by being disciples of Jesus Christ.
Daily, little righteous decisions, like reading the Book of Mormon, and praying are the keys.
Tuesday around noon we welcomed our three new missionaries - Sister Cook from Magrath, Elder Lee from Calgary, and Sister Maller also from Calgary. You can be sure that each group of new arrivals are welcomed with open arms….with our Canada/USA border still closed we are getting fewer and fewer missionaries so when any arrive, we celebrate!!! And we continue to pray that the border will open soon. Many, many apartments are still vacant, waiting for young or senior missionaries to arrive.
Interviews and meetings occupied much of our week. With eight departing missionaries; Sister Lazo, Sister Losik, Sister Mavy, Sister Rhodes, and Sister Wall; and Elder Bates, Elder Kennedy, and Elder Tung; we spent lots of time visiting with this outstanding group of CMM Alumni. Bag lunches were my simple solution to preparing a departing feast. I made big hamburger size buns, and loaded them with ham, turkey and mayo, and filled the lunch bag with potato chip bags, apples, celery and carrot sticks, granola bars, trail mix, and cookies. Because airports have closed their doors for spectators, we had the departers come to the Mission Home on Thursday afternoon for farewell hugs, and a goodbye visit. (and also to distribute their lunches!) Highlight Thursday night was our Zoom Testimony Meeting, which we never get through without using a pile of kleenex! What an elect group of missionaries, and oh how we will miss them….As impersonal as Zoom seems, the miracle of our testimony meeting was that the Spirit was just as strong as if we had all been together in the Living Room. The Spirit is oblivious to technology, and comforts, testifies, and prompts anywhere, anyhow. Certainly a lovely day and evening!
Sister Little planned a fun Canada Day/Independence Day celebration for Friday afternoon, and what a fun party!! Our board room was all decked out with cute red and white polka dot tablecloths and fun festive Costco summer plates; and food enough for fifty, although we only had twenty. Sister Mecham had made yummy potato salad with shrimp, and the cutest raspberry tarts with this little puffed pastry maple leaf set on top, and then garnished with cream and raspberry sauce to go on top of that!! (she had ordered the little maple leaf cookie cutter online!) Our American missionaries thought the American flag fruit pizza with blueberry stars, and raspberry stripes looked really festive!! Poutines the Elders brought were a big hit…AND, Richard’s two batches of homemade raspberry and lemon ice cream were the exclamation mark to the buffet, and stole the show!! We all loved standing and singing both National anthems!
Eight am sharp yesterday morning I met my Moroccan hairdresser, and her receptionist daughter named Moona, at the salon; a slick three minute drive from home. When she reported taking her training at ‘Laurier’ in Paris I knew she would be a big improvement over mine and Richard’s efforts!! (I do hope we get to return to Nova Scotia soon so I can get back to JJ Choo!!) It feels so great to have a real haircut!! Richard’s very short Barbershop doo that he got on Friday looks great and will last at least a month!!
PDay theme yesterday was PLANTS!! That included spending three and a half hours exploring the 190 acres of an impressive collection of lush flowers, shrubs, and trees at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I loved it all, but my favourite garden was the area groomed by arborists which was filled with manicured boxwood, and so many other neatly trimmed shrubs, and huge hardwood trees and thousands of colourful perennials. The 32 degree warm sun helped us get a little colour on our necks and face. And then to continue with our plant day, we ventured about 45 minutes to Laval, where we explored two more greenhouses, and found the three sky blue delphinium which I had been looking for, and dreaming about!! And now…we can truthfully say our 2020 'summer'-green-housing is complete!!
Last night we got to help Zoom teach our dear Nova Scotia friends Jim and Vicki Cameron…how grateful we are to have them as friends, and what a special opportunity to discuss ‘Come Follow Me’ with them!! Another reason to get back to Nova Scotia to spend time with them! Sisters Olsen and Pohjoisrinne, both amazing sisters, are doing such a great job helping teach the Cameron’s!
Today we spoke in Montreal Mount Royal Stake Conference via Zoom - our first time doing Zoom Stake Conference, but it was great!! President Glowa from Champion is an amazing missionary minded Stake President, and we are so grateful for his support. His Mom just passed away a few weeks ago, and he sweetly paid tribute to her, by sharing many of the things she taught him, like “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
“Be swift to hear and slow to speak.”
“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“The Lord helps those who help themselves.”
“Remember who you are.”
“Find Joy in the Journey.”
Having my Mom just pass away almost three months ago, April 19th, I got a bit melancholy as I thought about her one liners….”Keep Smiling,”and “Look at the View,” and “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
CMM Miracles for this week July 5th 2020
Miracles are all around…we just need to open our eyes, and hearts, and we will see and feel them….
Sister Rhodes who left for home on Friday shared this lovely little miracle with us just before leaving. Her travel itinerary was crazy…depart from Montreal fly to Vancouver- layover then fly to Denver, layover and then fly home to Boise. She was ready to call Church Travel to see if they could make it a little more direct, but when she and her companion Sister Nabrotsky were teaching a new friend, they started telling her about the crazy travel plans…AND if you can believe this…their new friend was on the very same flight to Vancouver!!!! SO.. Sister Rhodes knew it was a tender mercy and that the Lord had orchestrated it… she didn’t call Church Travel and prayed that she would have an opportunity to continue teaching and testifying to this new friend!!! We loved hearing that sweet story!!
Ottawa Champlain Spanish Sisters:
« We are also teaching a lady named Jennifer, she is so cool. We had given her a Book of Mormon a couple weeks ago and we were having a lesson with her and then she starts crying and she said she felt amazing, and we told her that that was the spirit! She said she loves reading the Book of Mormon because it is so different than any other book that she has read before. I see so much potential in her. I love being a missionary! «
LaSalle Elders:
... »but we had quite the awesome week this week even with how spirit-filled it was! Before zone conference started, a family in the ward told us they had a friend and her husband wanted to be taught and baptised and we had a lesson with them on Friday. which was super awesome because the wife had read half of the Book of Mormon twice, and the husband has read though the whole thing! She was a referral 4 years ago and work kept her busy, but over those years, the spirit has done some work! and she is anxious to be baptised and she wants her husband to be baptised too. both of them have a lot of work that they do, the husband is a local truck driver and the wife is a nurse. but the members set up the lesson and helped us and it was great!
plus, Etienne turns 8 this month so we (if the spirit is right) will invite him and Michael to baptism.
Then Jay called us again! He told us about the wonderful member influences he has seen in his life and so if the spirit is right there, we may invite him to baptism too.
so i think that if we work hard enough and the spirit is right, Elder Noad and I set a goal for 5 baptisms this transfer! »
Fallowfield-Kanata Elders:
« Last night I think Elder Nelson's greenie fire came back. We had a lesson with a very cool lady named Lynley. It was our first lesson with her so we did How to begin teaching, taught her the restoration, and set expectations. The Spirit was VERY strong. I could tell Elder Nelson was nervous because of how much he was shaking, but it quickly turned into confidence and power. When he recited the first vision, All three of us were in tears. I pointed out to Lynley and said "What you felt right there was the Spirit of God!" And she humbly acknowledged it and said "Yeah. I can feel it." We finished teaching her, gave her a commitment, set up the next lesson, and ended with a prayer. After we ended the call, me and Elder Nelson just hugged each other and let out all of our emotions. This woman had been looking for the Gospel, and has finally found it. I assure you President, that it won't be long before she decides to be baptized as well! We are very excited for her!
Halifax sisters:
« Our first miracle of the week is that Christina put herself on date for baptism! She said that she also wants to get in contact with members who are like her (converts!) Which is so perfect we already have two members lined up and Julia as well! She has loved hearing Julia's testimony of her baptism and says that she is looking for the missing part to her life, and she believes it is here! We told her that it is here! We are excited to start teaching her! She came to church this Sunday, but she missed our lesson the other day, so we need to set up another appointment with her! »
Longueuil Sisters:
« Cool miracle! We were saying our goodbyes and dropping off cookies for a few friends and members, and when Soeur LePage (a way less active member) opened the door, she told us that our timing was insane because just the night before, she was reflecting on what her next steps should be with her spirituality and future. The spirit was so strong, and she wants to attend virtual church now!! »
What faith-building experiences we are having!!!!….Preparing ourselves daily, by consistently reading The Book of Mormon, by studying and praying are really, the only pre-requisites for having our own little miracles. It is as simple as that! How grateful we are for our sure knowledge of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which teaches about the Plan of Happiness!
The Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it all possible. Of this we know.
Have a wonderful week.
Sending much love to all
Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Richard and Gayle
"Keep Smiling!!!" and "Look at the View!!"
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