Today is Sunday, April 18, 2012
Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of the passing of my dear Mom,
‘Patricia Maude McCormack Hamilton.’
Tuesday, ‘Hudson Marshall Low’ celebrates his eleventh Birthday,
and
Saturday, ‘Vimy Mark Low’ will blow out four candles.
Spring is officially here in Montreal. Daffodils, our pretty blue brunerra forget me nots have burst forth, brilliant white magnolia are popping in many gardens, our tulips have grown about five inches in a week with buds forming, the maple tree pink blossoms have fallen and tiny leaves are showing, and there are hundreds of buds forming on all our hydrangea shrubs!! Lawns are lush ‘verdant green,’ and the dreamy spring ‘chartreuse green’ of new tree and shrub growth is everywhere!! Warm sunshine, and fresh air makes spring intoxicatingly wonderful!!! Tomorrow we will remove the plastic tarp from our outdoor furniture and get the cushions out so we can enjoy the splendour of one more spring here in our Montreal backyard!
Tulips enshrouded in chicken wire - (squirrels were again nibbling on the bulbs)
I must admit this week has been somewhat of a blur for me. The lurking kidney stone kept me uncomfortable for most of the week; but thanks to the prayers of many of you, as well as the fasting and prayers of our dear missionaries, I had very little pain…until Friday night around 7:30pm. After we had returned home from Longueuil Zone Conference in Drummondville, the intense pain I had experienced last week began again, and I wondered if I had the inner fortitude to do this very hard thing without going back to the Hospital a third time. (and I also wondered how I could endure the pain until the 26th of April when my surgery was scheduled.) Fortunately, around 2:45am yesterday morning I passed an 8mm kidney stone, and immediately I felt relief. We both are so grateful to have that ordeal over with!! Sweet deliveries of beautiful purple and yellow potted mums, chicken soup, and pecan pie, as well as notes and get well cards all helped us cheerfully press forward!!
Richard was amazing, and did everything Monday through Thursday without me…Office Meetings on Monday; Tuesday and Wednesday held in person interviews at the Office; and Thursday held MLC in the Laurier Chapel at the Office as well. Hoping that taking me to a Hospital that specializes in kidney stones would help; Tuesday Richard dropped me off at the McGill University Health Centre - also known as the Royal Victoria Hospital, where I waited in waiting rooms full of other folks for 10 hours to be told that I still had to wait to see a urologist…..oh brother…Dr. Fahnery did call me the next day and after looking at the CT scan predicted that I would pass it before my surgery date…I had hope!!!
Enough about health issues!! My only advice for ALL of you is to DRINK WATER!!! Both ‘juice of the earth,’ as well as ‘LIVING WATER.’
Both will be good for your soul.
We are thrilled to report five Baptisms this week!!
Madeline in Trois Rivieres
Jeremiah in Lemoyne Ward
Austin in Sackville, NS. (first Baptism in three years!)
Minde in YSA Laurier Branch
Antonio in Montreal East
Our entire Mission celebrates when we have Baptisms!!
And there you have a quick little report of the past week. Our upcoming week promises to be amazing with Montreal Zone interviews, Montreal Zone Conference, a Mission Wide Learning Conference, as well as our four day Virtual Area Mission Leaders Seminar. Twill be another great week!!
Richard's lastest watercolour - Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park
Sending much love to you,
Grandpa and Grandma, Dad and Mom, Richard and Gayle
Keep Smiling!!
We also thrill to read the many Miracles that continue to happen all over the Mission…Read on….
Mission Miracles April 18, 2021
Montreal Est Sisters:
“Last Saturday we met Alicia at the church, missionary sisters of Seattle Washington sent her back! She's wonderful, she has good questions. She read Mormon's Book, much more than she was asked to read. She likes him very much, she even asked us for another for her cousin. We're going to pray for her because her family doesn't agree that she meets us, she's 20 years old so she can choose, but it's still pretty difficult for her on that side.”
Gatineau Elders:
“Really cool experience we had this week, we received the same referral from 3 different sources, Sister Mecham, the Chapel Hill Elders, and a member in Montreal est! This man is named Evens and had been previously taught by Elder Johnson, and Sister Thomas. He explained to us that he didn't feel ready for baptism a year ago when he was being taught, but now he lives in Ottawa, and wants to meet with missionaries again! Excited to see where it goes, i have a feeling we can have a baptismal goal for him very soon.”
St. Laurent YSA Elders:
“Not too much happened with our friends, except we gained a new one this week! It was really a miracle! When Sister Dreisen was flying to Paraguay she contacted a worker that was interested in God, that was 3 months ago..... Saturday was the first lesson we were able to have. And he was awesome! Right from the get go he started firing off questions, and it was an hour discussion on our beliefs, long story short we read a few passages of faith from the Book of Mormon and he really enjoyed them! I have high expectations from him!”
Chapel Hill Sisters:
“I had an insight from my personal study that I wanted to share with Sister Low about charity!
I was studying in Moroni 7:45 and I realized that the whole scripture lists things that come from other Christlike attributes!
"Charity sufferety long (patience,diligence) is kind, (charity),and envieth not, (humility) and is not puffed up(humility) seeketh not her own (humility, obedience) is not easily provoked (patience) thinketh no evil (virtue) rejoiceth not in iniquity, (virtue) but rejoiceth in truth (knowledge) beareth all things, (patience, diligence) believeth all things, (faith) hopeth all things,(hope) and endureth all things (patience,diligence) "
Truly charity encompasses all other Christlike attributes! In order to have charity, we have to work on everything else too. If charity is the pure love of Christ, and charity is also being Christlike, them to return to Christ we must learn to be governed by love. “
Assistants:
“For this week, I wish to share my experience of meeting Hebe Jarvis. After weeks of prayer and deliberation, the Jarvis’s have decided to proceed with introducing us to their daughter to prepare her for baptism this summer! We planned to listen with all our heart and mind in that visit. We wanted to make sure that she was not intimidated by us and could feel that we genuinely wanted to be friends! At first, she hesitated to respond to any of our attempts to get to know her. Sister Jarvis then invited the two of us to share 2 things each about ourselves. “Only 2 things eh?”, I remember thinking to myself. I first shared that I was born in China and moved to Toronto when I was nine. Hebe didn’t seem to listen. My mind was blank... “Remember how you want to design cloth with vintage textile after your mission?” Was the next thought I had. “What... that’s so random and silly...” But that’s what I felt a strong urgent to share, so I did! THIS got her attention! Turns our that Hebe was PASSIONATE about designing cloth and sowing!!!! She then proceed to lead a conversation about her interest in this until it was time for us to tune in to church! She even brought up at their very end that she is going to make a white dress for her baptism!!! “
Victoria Spanish speaking Sisters:
“Thank you for the advice on studying 2 Nephi 2 to gain more knowledge on the Atonement. I was studying it this morning and it was very special. Honestly this week I was feeling pretty inadequate. But while I was reading I was praying and pondering about my weaknesses and my inadequacies and how the Atonement could help with those. When I was praying and pondering a simple yet powerful phrase came to my mind. "If you only knew"
If we only knew the way God sees us and the plans He has for us. If we only knew our potential. If we only knew who we were before this life. Our weaknesses are to learn from but not to beat our selves up over.
I was picturing a proud Father looking at me with kind eyes and saying "If you only knew"
Doing this has helped my immensely!
I know that when God calls us He doesn't call us by our weaknesses or inadequacies. But often times I catch myself calling me by them. Before the mission I used the Atonement to cleanse but I never used it to heal me or help me. I am grateful that the Atonement is so much more than just a way to cleanse our selves but it is also a way to become whole, happy, and to experience Joy. “
Terrebonne Elders:
“A miracle! When I first came here, the elders were teaching someone named Marie-Josée. She had some problems with the law and she told us and had to go to court. We tried calling her a couple of days after and her phone was disconnected. We tried emailing her and she never answered, so we dropped her. Last Saturday, a member who lives near Marie-Joseé told us she was acquitted of all her charges! We went to her house to just see how she was and she wants to get baptized and keep meeting with us! We will keep you posted on her! “
Villa Marie Sisters:
“We had quite a good and interesting week ! Lots of trials but it was so worth it because we were able to put our beautiful friend Gloria on date! It was so fun because prior to the lesson we really prepared to do that. We even specifically prepared to tell her that we wanted to help her PREPARE for baptism by setting a date with her. It was the first lesson I had with her (Sister Gibb had one before the transfer), but we felt like she was the one who needed to be on date this week. It was so powerful because she expressed how she was looking to find a way to PREPARE to be baptized because she knows how important it is in the gospel of Jesus Christ. “
LaSalle Sisters:
“Let me just tell you how fantastic this week has been!! The majority of the week was Sister Hawkes and I were preparing for our friends Ashley and Jordan's baptism on Saturday!! It was beautiful! There was a lot that went on behind the scenes but it went better than we could have ever asked for. The girls were so beyond excited and being able to see them with their family happy together made my heart melt. Their baptism consisted of so many miracles from having the right size of jumpsuits, to not having the curfew change to 8 until Sunday, and to having technology pull through for us so everyone could watch them on their special day. These girls have my heart I love them so much. They are so incredibly smart and have such a great desire to be like the Saviour.”
Monte Rey Spanish Sisters:
“Here we are overly excited. Mark your calendars because May 8th the Gonzàlez family are getting baptized! I've never seen anyone so excited and so overjoyed by the gospel. They are beautiful. With a 10 year old son who was participating in his primary class on Sunday, and the 12 year old daughter in Young Women's. The two parents who have looked up to member friends for a long time and just know that this is where the truth is. It lifts me up to think about them. We have many lessons planned with members accompanying us and those will be the best this week. “
No comments:
Post a Comment