Baptisms and Birthdays!!

Today is Sunday, May 30, 2021

  Happy Birthday on June 3rd to Uncle Brent - 58 years and, 

Happy Birthday on June 4th to Uncle Bob - 66 years!!

Speaking of birthdays…thank you all for your sweet, kind wishes to me this past week..can’t believe at 67 how close 70 is!! Our amazing Office missionaries created such a fun surprise party, with the board room all decked out in red and white polka dot tablecloths with balloons taped on all the walls. Sister Mecham brought a big gorgeous bouquet of flowers, as well as a darling poppy bouquet she had ordered on line. Sister Roberts had made about 8 deliciously divine quiche that were such a scrumptious tastey touch of Quebec. Sister Walker’s fresh green salad with pink raspberry dressing was yummy, as was the lemon birthday cake.  We loved dining, and visiting together!! Highlights of this birthday week also included having personal visits with each of you….thank you for taking time for that..it really is all I needed!! 

The week was pretty predictable with Office Meetings on Monday, and Tuesday; and Wednesday our interviews/visits with Montreal Zone were delightful!  Thursday in person Zone Conference at the Mission Office gym was awesome with Elder Sutherland and Elder Harris Zone Leading, and Sister Vaiho and Sister Hechmati serving as amazing Sister training leaders. It is so thrilling to see enthusiasm for the work growing, as covid restrictions are being loosened! Still, all the Baptisms we witness are over zoom, and yesterday we watched two - Oliver from Levis and Andrea from Victoria!! 

And actually we got to watch a third…our Sadey Dawn Low was baptized last night by her Dad, and what a beautiful family Baptism with Porter giving the Opening Prayer, Walker speaking on Baptism, Berkley speaking on the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Hudson offering the Closing Prayer. Caylee led the music with Grandma Jubber on the piano. What a thrill to hear those sweet brothers teach and pray for their dear sister..again…we loved zoom!!!

Maybe you guessed our PDay activity would involve bicycles?  Loading up our bikes in the loaner Toyota van was much slicker than in the Highlander (which is out being serviced), and the drive out to Granby was lovely.  The beautiful bed and breakfast nestled in the forest was just a stones throw from the beautifully paved path which took us over hill and dale, through dense hardwood, and softwood forests. Lining the paved path were millions of stunning knee high queen anne lace! I wanted to stop and scoop up armfuls and create gorgeous bouquets!! Clusters of dainty tiny pink daisies often grew along side and it looked just like something out of a fairy tale!!! Oh such a ride!! We have loved having our bikes here; and have had so much fun exploring where we would never have been able to drive! 

Sunday Morning we were at the Granby building by 8:30 to zoom into Cornerbrook, Newfoundland Sacrament Meeting…oh how we love our Newfoundland Saints, and were so grateful to speak to our dear friends one last time..

Granby Sacrament Meeting began at 10am, and with a few tweaks, I gave a similar talk to the Cornerbrook one. Most of the saints speak both English and French, so I spoke in English, but bore my temoignage in French. 

Sandy and Mike Wong our dear friends in Granby invited us for an outdoor picnic along with our friends the Bergeron’s (who serve in the Temple.)  What a feast - barbecued salmon and chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob, coleslaw, broccoli, and cauliflower! Dessert was a raspberry pecan loaf, and a cinnamon cake! We were stuffed to the very brim, and so enjoyed the camaraderie with friends. Almost all our friends here are young adults so it was delightful to have a wonderful afternoon with these good folks. 

      

        Following are the exciting Mission Miracles!! 

Have a wonderful week…. Much love,  Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma and, Richard and Gayle,

May 30th, 2021 Missionary Miracles

St.Laurent YSA Elders:

“It has been a fun experience in the YSA ward and the work we have done recently with Brandon and Neo has helped me realize how my experiences and testimony can help others. It was very humbling for me in our last lesson with Brandon to have him ask of my conversion and why I decided to serve a mission, and have him tell me about his conversion and why he decided to be baptized. I learned a lot from his experiences and he strengthened my testimony of the Lords timing and path for each of us. I'm excited for the week ahead and we will see you in the office! “

Ottawa Dows Lake Elders:

“Here is a small piece of news I thought I would let you and Sister Low know. There was a lady I knocked in my first transfer that cursed us out at the door because she thought we were Jehovah Witness. She was taught a few lessons but she ultimately moved away and sent a text message saying she wasn't interested anymore. This lady then turned out to be someone we picked up the lease from when the Kennetts were switching apartments. We at that time had talked about this lady in our office meeting. I am giving a talk this week in Ottawa because it is my last week and I thought I would message her and invite her to watch. She agreed to watch it!”

Montreal Assistants:

“Fellowship- During my exchange with Elder SiIlito, we visited with Aldo Quelopana.  After a very edifying visit, he asked us “Do you Elders by chance know a Sylvester Akpore?” Why of course we do!! Elder Dial and I have actually been visiting him over WhatsApp and strengthening him. Through our love to him AND as we’ve developed a friendship with his 16 yr old son in Nigeria, Brother Akpore has invited us to teach his best best friend. Turns our Aldo was asking about Brother Akpore because he is his ministering brother but has struggled to say in contact. He asked us if we can give him some tips. Well, the incredible detail that we have not mentioned yet is that Brother Akpore’s best friend that we are to teach is Hispanic JUST LIKE ALDO! When we shared this detail with Aldo his eyes widened and began looking through his schedule for the week and told us that he’s busy this week and would love to join us in teaching any lesson next week with Brother Akpore and his best friend. There is a great joy found in supporting the brothers around us in their desire to minister and gather scattered Israel. Experiences like this where I get to see once again how every little detailed aligned perfectly for a life to be touched still astonishes me time after time.”

Monte Rey Elders:

“Of course I needed another Barber, so we selected an unknown one near us and went.  As soon as I entered the barbershop I heard the barbers speak Spanish!  One sat me down and was eager to speak in Spanish with me after it was mentioned, and we conversed away.  The topic quickly focused on who missionaries are (it was his first time seeing us) and I was blessed with the opportunity to share in sincerity of the blessing the Book of Mormon is to my life.  No sooner had I shared this, he asked for a copy without so much as an invitation from my part!(but from the Spirit's part of course)

We went to the car to get it, and with a prayer in my heart for a pen and pass along cards we opened the door to behold one pen and three pass along cards. Now Kique has a copy of the Book of Mormon and easy contact with us.  I know the Lord hears and heeds each and every prayer of the heart and fills our mouths as they are open.  I also know that His understanding of each of us is infinite and the blessings He tailors for us incomprehensible. He loves all of you Sisters and Elders."”

Victoriaville Elders:

“This week was amazing- I can't even right all of the miracles that we saw. But one of them I do want to explain- My whole time here I've felt like we need to find people in Thetford Mines. We put up some bible ads, genealogy help, and posted in groups on Facebook, and we got enough responses to do a trip over there. One of the people we gave a Bible to was actively looking for a church, and he was willing to drive an hour every week to come to it! He accepted a Book of Mormon and a video call lesson as well. I really hope that soon one day there will be a branch over there. I feel like God wants one.”

Levi Sisters:

“This week we were able to meet a couple new people, and hopefully we'll get to talk to them more. A woman named Nicole living in Lévis liked the Spanish page, and we sent her a message. She brought a question / concern that she had about Joseph Smith (Why is he so important in the church, shouldn't Jesus Christ be at the centre of your beliefs?) and we were able to answer some of those questions, (He's very important, because he was a prophet, and yes, Jesus Christ is at the centre of what we believe.) Yesterday morning I woke up with just a good feeling about her (we are talking with her from Sister Widdup's facebook account, and so I hadn't seen yet the message she sent.) We had sent her the scripture for 2 Nephi 25:26, and she asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon so that she could study it out for herself. We'll hopefully be dropping off a copy for her sometime this week.”

Dows Lake Sisters:

“This week we found another friend named Sammie this week. She is going through a hard time right now. When we asked her what her favourite thing to do was she said it was to smoke. She has thought about quitting, but really needs help because she has been smoking since she was 14. We had our first lesson with her and we taught her about prayer because we knew that if she needed help and was seeking peace, prayer was the place to start. She felt uncomfortable praying so we taught her how to pray and it was so powerful to see her change of heart. Right now I don't think she wants to admit it, but we know she feels the spirit when we teach her about Jesus Christ and His gospel. I'm so grateful that the gospel teaches us we can turn to Jesus Christ who is the true and everlasting source of peace. “