SNOW, Icicles, Robins, and Cardinals!!!

Today is Sunday, February 21, 2021

Tomorrow February 22 is Jan’s 64th Birthday; and

Wednesday, February 24, Aaron celebrates his 43rd, 

and on Saturday, February 27, 2021, Mom Low turns 94!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our dear loved ones.

With piles and piles and huge mountains of snow covering every surface in Montreal, we were amazed yesterday as we were touring about, down one of our favourite roads…Chemin Rockland, to see father and mother robin flitting around looking for bits of anything to build their nest. Probably with the crazy weather way down south, our beautiful songbirds longed for their Canadian summer homes, and figured they might as well be here as down there!! And,…this morning while ‘daydreaming’ at my desk…was thrilled for about three seconds to watch simultaneously a Baltimore oriole, and a pair of cardinals stop briefly on branches of our backyard horse chestnut!! So, although our world is white as white, we know spring is on its way!! We do wonder how long it will take for all our snow to disappear!! I can’t wait to see if the hundreds of white tulip bulbs we planted will actually find their way up - (at least the ones the squirrels didn’t devour!!) 

A brief summary of our week goes as follows:

Monday Office Meetings were great as always….perhaps you might be interested in our ‘key indicators for conversion’ report:

3 friends Baptized

31 friends on date for Baptism

88 friends attended Church

56 new friends were found

It is always so fun to have our Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders report on the success in their zones, and we love that one of our favourite responsibilities is to build them up, and rave about their hard work and success…and we find that so easy to do!!

After serving 21 months, our lovely Sister Leziah DePeralta, from Australia left to return home Wednesday morning. Knowing she is going to return to BYU Idaho ensures we will see her again!! 

And Elder Kaden Birch from Cardston who was originally scheduled to return home next month received word that his Dad had gone into Palliative Care. We agreed that is was important for him to get home, and as quick as Thursday morning he was on a plane headed west. Without exception, every departure tugs at our heartstrings, and it does not get easier saying goodbye.

Tuesday and Wednesday we loved our interviews and visits with our bare bones Atlantic Zone. The morale, and enthusiasm is great there, although we have no missionaries in Newfoundland, New Brunswick or PEI. Our original Canada Halifax Mission when we arrived in June 2018 had 120 missionaries, and now, we have 21. (only in Nova Scotia)  Covid has wrecked havoc with our complement and now our entire Canada Montreal Mission has 120 missionaries. We continue to pray for borders to open so we can repopulate all the areas we have had to close. Fortunately we have kept enough apartments to house about 50 more missionaries so we are ready for the tsunami, and hope it comes soon! Many missionaries that were originally assigned to the CMM were reassigned, and we have no idea if they will eventually come, or if they will stay in their reassigned mission. In any case we are ready and excited to receive every missionary who comes!

Thursday our Atlantic Zone Conference was inspiring. We were grateful to have President Glanfield attend the ‘in person’ Conference in the Dartmouth Stake Centre, and it was so fun to see the Atlantic Zone together, especially since they haven’t been together for a whole year. It was particularly lovely to see a photo of them together in front of the Temple. With the Halifax Temple in Phase 3, we are encouraging those missionaries to go every Pday!! (at least the ones pretty close.)

Thursday night we were the presenters at the Trois Rivieres Fireside where we got to teach and testify of the Book of Mormon, all in French!! Richard is a whiz with his French, and as long as I have a script I muddle through. Duolingo is helping me with my pronunciation.  More than ten investigators, along with many members were in attendance, and the Branch Mission Leader was thrilled, as were we! Again we were grateful for zoom technology, where we could be together!

Friday we met with our new missionaries for our ‘New Missionary Orientation’ meeting, and were thrilled with their eagerness, and wonderful reports of their first two weeks. Every one shared sweet miracles they had experienced. 

Sister Opper, a Senior missionary who was called to server here with her husband, suffered with MS was hospitalized for an infection, had a heart attack, was in an induce coma when they discovered she had had a stroke, and passed away in Brantford, Ontario. What a remarkable life, she and her husband had lived together, and we were so inspired as we participated in her beautiful funeral Friday afternoon.

Mission Leadership Council from 3-5 Friday afternoon was our last meeting of the week. I loved getting teaching, and testifying about the power of Prayer. 

Saturday, Pday activities included treadmill running for me, cross country skiing for Richard, grocery shopping, watching the Primary Face to Face Presentation, and relaxing as we water-coloured! A great relaxing day!!

Speaking of watercoloring reminds me that several times a week, I’ve been spending about 45 minutes over zoom (of course) with teams of sisters from 9-9:45pm or so, watercoloring together! It is so fun to paint, but mostly it is just so great to visit, and unwind together!! 

And today we spoke in Victoriaville Sacrament Meeting all in French; and were happy to attend our Westminster Ward Conference! (It’s pretty fun when Bella makes a peep, we know it is her, since there aren’t any other babies in the ward!)  

Missionary Service is so fulfilling, and we continue to feel so very blessed to have this opportunity to share the glorious message of the Restoration! We love being so involved helping teach and motivate our missionaries as we all participate in the great gathering of Israel. We thrill to watch our missionaries grow and commit to a life of discipleship on their own covenant paths. Days always to be remembered!!

We are so grateful for your love, friendship, and support,

Have a wonderful week, Keep Smiling!!

Dad and Mom, Richard and Gayle, Grandpa and Grandma  

Elder Baird made this exquisite ceramic jar with a lid for us. He carved a beautiful tree of life, with an iron rod!!

Check out the massive icicles!!

Here are a few of our weekly miracles:

February 21st, 2021 Missionary Miracles

Hochelaga Elders:

« Also, a small miracle that you can feel free to share- we met a nice guy named Bruce at Moisson Montreal and he told us he's a genealogist. We talked a bit and I eventually asked him for help reading a marriage document. He and us have been emailing back and forth. We told him about RootsTech and he says he's going to look into it. Today he emailed us and says that he'd be interested in hearing more about what we believe and sharing a little bit of his beliefs so we are excited for that! »

Our Assistants:

« On the topic of member work we had the heart of a nonmember son change in the last week!  When we first called Dmitri's father to have a lesson, his son with slight frustration related that we need to keep our commitments regarding having lessons as his father has been stood up before.  Elder Dial with great patience and love bore the words and assured him that we would do so.  The lesson went well and Dmitri committed to reconnect with friends so that he can invite them to come to church with him.  Come a week later for our follow-up lesson, Dmitri picked up the phone when the lesson started and chastened us for forgetting to forward the church link to his father, which was indeed our fault.  Following this correction we immediately found a permanent solution by signing up the emails of Dmitri and his father to the ward email list which merited an increase of love from Dmitri.  What followed was absolutely unexpected.  Dmitri's father was unavailable for a few minutes, and he asked us if he could ask us a few questions.  "I've began reading the Book of Mormon" he said, and proceeded to list off what he saw in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, namely peace and happiness as key attributes in its members.

We answered a couple questions regarding the origins of the Book, and he promptly returned the phone to his father and informed us that he was on page 40 and would still continue and would be part of our lessons with his father. »

Victoriaville Elders:

« This is a miracle Sister Low asked for,

it was pday, and we were getting haircuts because it had been a while since the last time we were able to get them. The hairdressers in Quebec City only like taking cash for some reason, and one of us did not have bills, so we left and told the guy we would be back to pay him. We got the money, and were on the way back when someone from across the street waved at us. We crossed the street and we got talking. He told us he just lost his brother 2 days before. We got his number and went on with our day. That night we called him and we set up a time to meet. He then came to church the following Sunday and we are continually teaching him. Our area is small, and we pray everyday for miracles even during covid. We don't contact on the street, but we were able to because Heavenly Father putting him in our path!! « 

Montreal Sisters:

« We also saw a huge miracle this week! Do you remember our friend Heidi that I was talking to you about in our interview? She is the one that kept saying over and over again that baptism wasn't for her but she FINALLY AGREED TO BE BAPTIZED!!! My heart is so full. I took your advice and invited Heidi to kneel down with us and pray about the Book of Mormon! You are right, they are really powerful lessons. She felt the spirit so strong and said that she needed to be baptized so she could continue to feel the feeling she was feeling right then. « 

Laurier Sisters:

« Sister Gottenbos and I are getting ready for our friend Lisa's baptism on Saturday, and we are so excited for that! We had a lesson with her yesterday at the church, because we had to get her to try on the jumpsuit for her baptism. We looked at them and picked one, and she went to try it on, and it was perfect, but when she opened the door, she looked at us and cried, and we were wondering why. With tears in her eyes, she told us that she couldn't explain how happy she was, and how excited she was that she could finally join the Church of Christ. At that moment, we all felt the Spirit so strongly, and we also cried a little bit. We knew that this was the desire of her heart, and that she wasn't doing all of this because her boyfriend was a member. She has her own testimony, and we are so proud of her! We can't wait for her to receive the Holy Ghost! (you can share this experience with Sister Low, I think she would love this) »

Halifax Elders:

« So this week we were given a referral from Sister Mecham. This man named Luca has been studying with one of his friends in Utah for a long time now, and she invited him to learn with the missionaries. He tried to contact the missionaries by reaching out to the mission office. Anyways, we just recently had a lesson with him, and he told us right away that he wants to be baptized. The power of his testimony and desire is so evident!! The spirit is very strong when he talks about how the scriptures have changed his life. He knows all of the Doctrine, so we have decided to put him on date for two weeks from now. He wants to take lessons everyday, and for us to pray for him everyday in that he may have strength to overcome temptation. We are so very excited for him. You can share this miracle with Sister Low of you would like! »

Today is Sunday, February 14, 2021.

    Happy Valentine’s Day dear family and friends!!

And this week we celebrate exciting birthdays!!

Happy 39th Birthday Jennie tomorrow, the 15th

Happy 8th Birthday to Charlotte Anne on Tuesday the 16th

Happy 32nd Birthday Jonathan on Wednesday, the 17th, and

Happy 82nd Birthday to Nancy on Thursday, the 18th!!

continued….Monday, February 15, 2021.

Our whirlwind weeks continue to blow by.…read on for a little report!!  

Mondays are very predictable, as we spend every Monday at the Mission Office; in meetings with Senior missionaries, Office missionaries, social media teams of missionaries, zone leaders and sister training leaders, and our assistants, Elder Calabuig, and Elder Dial.  We always come away so inspired after meeting with these dear friends in person, and over zoom. Many days we feel like we are living in a sort of celestial bubble with so many cheerful covenant keepers who show us the pure JOY of living on, and continuing to create their own covenant path.  We can’t even imagine a more wonderful Church calling!! 

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent the day zoom-interviewing and zoom- visiting Mount Royal Zone missionaries, and although it IS a lot of talking, we are delighted creating these wonderful friendships! Thursday we zoomed the Mount Royal Zone Conference. Prayer was the focus of my teaching, including emphasis on proper prayer language. President Dallin H. Oaks gave an incredible conference address in April 1993 entitled ‘The Special Language of Prayer’ which teaches perfectly this very subject. 

Friday we headed out the hour and a half to Drummondville, Quebec for another interviewing and visiting day with half our Longueuil Zone, but this time we were in person!! Anytime we can meet in person, (even with masks!!) it is such a treat to be together! By the time we finished we were excited, in honour of Chinese New Year, to find a Chinese buffet, where we ordered, and waited about 45 minutes for our food, by 7:15 we were having a blessing ready to dig in…as soon as I finished the prayer Richard exclaimed….’we forgot about the Montreal curfew!’ (which is 8pm) sooo we stashed the warm yummy smelling bag, and hit the road…not speeding too much, and half way home I prayed again for safety, and the power to get home in time…we had heard stories of people breaking curfew receiving $1500 fines. Richard decided to stay on Highway 40 till Acadie and Rockland, and his tricky turns through our subdivision had us pull into the garage at 8:09pm. Another miracle…and no ticket!!

Saturday seniors adventure included Richard and I, Elder and Sister Roberts, Sister Little, Sister Mecham and Sister Breckenridge.  With outdoor temperatures hovering around -15, our extra quilts, and blankets, kept us cozily snuggled!! Sister Roberts even quipped that it was just like riding in a one horse open sleigh!! Driving out to Oka to the 111 year old Fromagerie which was first started by monks, was so fun. Snowcovered forests, and hillsides, vineyards, and apple orchards kept us gawking at every new vista…I could hear my Mom saying “Look at the view!!” The fromagerie was great fun, and we were all happy with our little sacks of cheese. A darling 10” terracotta nativity called to me too!!  Baguettes, and french pastries at any boulangerie  always call to us so we were happy to load up on more carbs!! Oh brother!!! We even made a little side trip over to a village called St. Scholastique, which is where Sister Roberts mom was born!!  Such a delightful day for all of us!!

Sunday was a spiritual marathon, and first up we listened to Teresa’s husband, Brother Andrade in the Zarahemla Ward.  Next we visited the Vista Ward in Burley, Idaho and listened to our wonderful Sister Marshalyn Moosman report her mission. She shared how she had arrived in the mission as a super timid, scared young woman, and as she applied the doctrine of Christ into her own life is confident and excited to continue a life of ministering!! Westminster Ward was next, and we loved listening to Ryan and Sean Williams…Sean is heading to Edmonton while he awaits border opening before going to the Oregon Portland Mission to serve. Another one of our missionaries - Elder Zach D’Eon reported his Mission to the Coulee Ridge Ward in Lethbridge (which is Mark and Britt’s!), and we were thrilled as he shared his testimony, in French and English! And last night we participated in our Mission wide Sunday evening Devotional. It was another remarkable, memorable day, and again we were so grateful for zoom!! 

We are so grateful for your prayers for missionaries all over the world. Those prayers are being answered…today in our ‘call in’s’ we were thrilled to learn that we have 31 people on date to be baptized!!!

Have a wonderful week! 

with much love, 

Grandpa and Grandma, Dad and Mom, Richard and Gayle

Here are a few February 14th, 2021 Canada Montreal Mission Miracles:

Saint Hyacinthe Sisters:

« For Sister Low too:

We taught a self referral named Mathilde who studied religion in school and the first lesson she said she knew Joseph Smith was a true Prophet and she is in Mosiah 14 for reading and has a baptism date for March 20th! I have never seen someone so ready and excited and finding us as missionaries. We look forward to teaching and getting to know how she found such a profound testimony before ever even meeting a member of the Church! »

Kentville Elders:

« It's been an awesome week president! Please share with Sister Low! We have seen a lot of miracles from things and it's so wonderful to see! We've started teaching 4 new people recently in our different areas.

The first one was Muriel, a 69 year old lady in Moncton! She was found through the page. She said she saw an ad that said "need a helping hand?" and she decided to reach out! She is such a nice lady and it's been amazing to testify to her that she will see her husband again! We are so impressed with her reading comprehension of the Book of Mormon. She read it on her own and took notes on it! We were able to have a member join our call with her and she's really excited to be able to meet the member at church.

Another two people were also from the page: Mat and Shan in Amherst. They wanted to have a Bible study with us and they are super nice! Mat actually has a lot of questions about the church and we were able to ask them to read from the Book of Mormon!

We also received a referral from some sisters in Billings, Montana for a girl named Brittany in Kentville area. We have had a couple lessons with them and her and we felt prompted to ask her to be baptized. She accepted! We put her on date for March 13. It's awesome! »

Ottawa Elders:

« And one last thing we had such a cool miracle, on our second night of the transfer we tried contacting so many people and no one would pick up and it was getting close to 9 time and we felt pretty bummed out, but just when we thought it was over someone called us back!! And he hasn't talked to missionaries in a year and he said that he needed someone to talk to because of the problems that he has been having so we got to reschedule with him and we plan to talk to him soon!!! We are so excited!! »

Transfer Week..5 new Missionaries!!!

Today is February 7, 2021

Thursday, February 11, our eldest grandchild ‘Isabelle Jennie’ celebrates her 15th Birthday!!! 

                                Happy Birthday Isabelle!!

Our Missionary time clock revolves around Transfer week, and that comes every six weeks (although with covid it has morphed into every seven weeks!) Nevertheless transfer week is exactly what it implies…. TRANSFERS, which includes receiving new missionaries, shifting others to new areas, as well as sending missionaries home who have completed their service. It is a big deal, requiring lots of prayer, and organizing. Variables like: which languages the Elder or Sister speak; which areas need French, Spanish, English or Mandarin; is it a driving area; does the Elder or Sister drive; in the case of a trio - can the apartment accommodate three missionaries; will the new companionship work…will personalities mesh; all play into the decision making, but in the end the miracle is, that it is the Spirit doing the directing!  As soon as one transfer is complete, we start on the next one!!

Brand new missionaries arrived Tuesday evening, and although I mentioned them last week I’ll remind you who arrived: Sister Ellissa Gibb, Sister Katia Van Duyse, Elder Zach Bagley, Elder Blake Gibb, and Elder Justin Schortinghuis. Because of our 8pm Quebec curfew, only Elder Bagley had an early enough flight to make a quick getting to know you drop by at the Mission Home on Tuesday..and everyone else we met Wednesday at the Office!! We are so impressed by the enthusiasm, and quiet confidence of our new group!! 

It has been almost a year since we had missionaries stay with us at the Mission Home, and oh how we miss that close interaction!! I also do miss preparing the welcome, and the departing meals.  But our local companionships welcome the opportunity to have a new missionary overnight, and love showing off iconic Montreal spots like ‘Schwartz’s Montreal Smoked Meat,’  ‘St. Viatuer' bagels, or ‘Chocolat Favoris' ice-cream!! I keep dreaming of our traditional feasts…but wonder if this will be the new way?? 

Orientation of our five new missionaries on Wednesday was great!! Our Office team work so well together and each give brief presentations, and although they are quick, we know for our new team members, it is information overload at its finest!! General instruction and Welcome, Housing and Apartment info, Car/TIWI info, Community Service, Phones, Baptismal Records, Financial (Mission Support fund), Medical Info, Materials ordering, and Referrals are all discussed in just over two hours!!

Fortunately they each have amazing trainers who will keep teaching. 

Transfer week is definitely our favourite of the cycle…except when it comes to saying good bye to our departing group, which this week included the following:  Sister Marshalyn Moosman, Elder Justin Brown, Elder Tyler Clifford, Elder Jeremy Croft, and Elder Zach D’Eon. And, Sister Sarah Driesen flew back to her original mission in Ascension, Paraguay. 

Hearing their final testimonies on Thursday night is such a tender time, and we always are so inspired by their faith, and commitment to continue on their covenant paths. I think most missionaries seem to come pretty perfect, but there is an amazing transformation that happens in each of their lives as they learn how to apply the Doctrine of Christ.  It works in our lives too!! The incredible power of the Atonement changes our hearts.

Because of covid restrictions all over Atlantic Canada, we have had to temporarily take missionaries out of Newfoundland, PEI, and now New Brunswick. We are retaining the apartments in hopes that the crazy restrictions will be lifted soon, and we will be able to travel freely over there. On Thursday when missionaries arrived in Montreal, several of them said: “Sister Low…I haven’t seen you for a year,” or “Sister Low, this is the first time I’ve met you in person..” Zoom meetings do keep us connected, but we realize more and more how important it is, for us to gather in person. Provincial Government regulations would have us isolating for two weeks before meeting together, and that is not even a possibility….so we will continue moving missionaries over here. Such a challenge… We continue to pay tribute to those stalwart missionaries who work cheerfully,

diligently and independently. We know we have been blessed with the best of the best, and we are so grateful.

Our little Pday diversion yesterday was simply fun!! Richard scoped out a pretty flat cross country ski trail, around the Olympic stadium, which he loved, and was proud to report that although flat, he did get his heart rate up! I also enjoy cross country skiing..but am most comfortable on flat terrain, so after Richard checks out our potential trail and gives it the nod, I am in!! 

We loved our winter drive out to Oka, where we enjoyed the spectacular winter vistas of the frozen Ottawa River, snow covered apple orchards, and grape vineyards. We even saw a man checking his blue maple syrup hoses which zigzag all through his maple grove. It will probably be another month before the sap starts running!! Hopeful the Cabana Sucres will be open this year!!  Again, we were in awe of these adventurous Quebecois…this time..they were zipping along over the snowy, ice-covered river on short snowboards while holding a special windsail!! We had never seen such a thing…it’s called ‘snowkiting or kite skiing.’ Incredible!! 

Our final stop was at the cute little Oka bakery which was almost sold out of everything, except for some yummy chocolat pain pastries, and a fresh baguette! Another fun day!!

We completed our relaxing day sketching and watercoloring! Oh and we got to visit with returned missionaries..Hunter Olsen, brand newlyweds…Hayden Holman and his bride Charlotte de Barcellos who were sealed in the Rexburg, Idaho Temple yesterday!!, Sister Wall, Sister Bromley, and Sister Edwards! Getting to reconnect with dear friends is such a highlight!! Reunions are going to be so much fun!! 

This week promises to be another wonderful week, and we look forward to meetings, interviews, visits, and a zone conference. Being a missionary is the greatest calling, and we feel so blessed to get to serve together!! 

Thank you for your prayers of support for missionaries everywhere!

Have a wonderful week! KEEP SMILING!! 

with much love, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Richard and Gayle

Miracles always buoy our spirits…here are a few for you!!

February 7th, 2021     Canada Montreal Mission Miracles:

Montreal Sisters:

« I am amazed at how amazing the members are here in the Montreal ward! Last Sunday the leaders presented the ward mission plan to the members. The spirit was really strong through out the whole meeting. This next week we were able to have 4 member referrals who just called us out of the blue and said they had friends who wanted to meet with us. We had lessons with two of them so far which went extremely good. Preach my Gospel is not wrong when it says missionary work goes 100 times better with members. Not only that but I was studying in Alma 17 this week and it really strengthened my testimony on how Ammon could not gather the flocks and keep them safe on his own. He needed help from his fellow servants to keep them encircled. I have been praying on what I should do this transfer and this week, God made it very clear to me that I need to focus a lot of our efforts on supporting the members and working with them. »

Assistants :

« To share an experience, someone named DELL like the brand, mysteriously showed up to church and asked for missionaries to meet with them through the chat at the end, however Bishop Stewart closed the meeting before the Sisters could establish a connection.  All teams looked for him, we looked in our records to see if we could find him but found someone named Adele, realized it wasn't the person we were looking for, but felt impressed to reach out. We called, he responded, and we've had a couple lessons with him. According to him he currently is more open than before and was even contemplating reaching out to us  around the time we called. He has begun reading the Book of Mormon, is dependable when it comes to staying in contact, and we're excited to see him change as he follows his more recent spiritual yearnings! « 

Hochelaga Elders:

« We have a really cool friend named Marc-Aurel. He was one of the referrals from that time a member brought seven friends to church about a month ago. He really was paying attention to what we were saying the other day and he kept asking us how he could know which church was the "best" church. At the end of our lesson he prayed and asked God to help us know that The Book of Mormon is true. I definitely felt something during that prayer and I hope he recognized it as well. When he was referred to us, we were told that he worked out of town during the week but lived in Montreal on the weekends but now we learned that he only comes to Montreal some weekends and he doesn't actually live here so we are passing him off to the Trois-Rivieres Elders on Saturday. »

Champlain Spanish Sisters:

« I wanted to share a little miracle that happened to my family back in Edmonton. My younger brother, Ellis is 13. Of course, he enjoys skiing and has now been getting into tricks and videos. He was at the ski park with his friends and had a really bad accident. While he was on the ramp his ski slipped and he fell right on his back on the rail. This could have lead to him being paralyzed, hurt a kidney or other major injuries said the doctor.  He was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. My dad rushed to the hospital and was with him all night. I believe my family was blessed because of the service I am doing right now. He went home sore with no major injuries. I know that the work I am doing is truly blessing my family. «