Virtual Mission Tour with Elder and Sister John McCune

Today is Sunday, August 30, 2020,

We are excited to wish Happy 18th Anniversary to Aaron and Jennie!

AND 

Happy Blessing Day to Baby ‘Bella Anne Kearl’ who was blessed by her father Brendan!! 

        Happy, Proud Parents - Brendan and Megan, and adoring big sister Macie Megan

August just flew by, and without hardly blinking we welcome September 2020!

At Office meetings on Monday, Sister Breckenridge suggested we be tested for the coronavirus, and, since our nagging coughs, and our overall feelings of yuckiness had been lingering for almost three weeks; following our day of meetings we headed over to a COVID 19 testing site, and had the long swab stick swipe mucous way up our noses. Richard was sure they twisted his cue-tip all the way to his brain! It was uncomfortable for about two minutes;  but Tuesday when we received the email with the negative results, we were grateful to chalk up our feeling crummy to nasty sinus infections! Isolating ourselves at home reassured us that we were not sharing whatever we had. We are so grateful to now feel almost 100%!!  

Another wonderful, eventful week here in the Canada Montreal Mission as we welcomed virtual visitors: Elder and Sister McCune. Tuesday night during our zoom call with Elder and Sister McCune we totally revamped our scheduled mission tour, and rather than have double Zone Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday and one on Friday, we had a Mission wide Conference each day from 8:30-10am with other meetings for District leaders, Sister training leaders, Social media leaders, a special meeting for new missionaries, as well as two Mission Leadership Councils. We also each interviewed four missionaries each day. Such an incredible motivating week where we all were edified and strengthened by Elder and Sister McCune as well as by each other. 

Let me share some of my notes, which have application not just to missionary service:

Two invitations Elder McCune gave Wednesday, and had missionary responses Thursday morning (homework assignments!)

1. Why are you serving a mission?
2. Counsel and Practise - extend an invitation to use the Doctrine of Christ  - identify and practise.

Notes and personal inspiration 

*Once an individual is converted to the Lord, they will never fall away - this is motivation for us to help our friends feel the Spirit, and know the Doctrine of Christ. 

*Teach the FULL Doctrine of Christ : Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End, Temple. Teach and Testify.

*Get them to the Temple. 

*This is the Saviour’s Vineyard - He will win.

*This dispensation will culminate/conclude with the coming of the Saviour.

*Technology helps facilitate the work - we have ‘power tools.’

*In all our Facebook posts ‘We promote Jesus Christ,’ not ourselves. 

*Don’t make the post about YOU…

*This is the ‘Saviour’s Mission for YOU.’

*We need to be guides on the sidelines pointing to Jesus Christ. 

*Everything we do leads people to the Saviour.

*Are we becoming complacent?

*Constantly review our Missionary Purpose. 

*The Lord is leading us down this path.

*Be creative in our finding…all we do should lead us to our Missionary Purpose.

*Goal setting helps us feel success. Helps us set the standard. 

*Power of Prayer in PLANNING.

*Focus on what we can do because that is what the Lord wants us to. 

*Be careful with casualness.

*Be united. 

*As leaders use the PIE principle - Praise Instruction Encourage in your stewardship.

*Technology Tips:

*Key is LOVING PEOPLE.

*We gather scattered Israel through LOVE.

*Be real and genuine..that is what opens doors.

*We are leading others to Christ - completely focus on HIM. 

*Be guided by the Spirit.

*Simplicity…share simple truths.

*Testify with power.

*Fancy cameras are not what matters - we want people to feel the Spirit.

*The Lighthouse effect.

*A window is better than a wall.

*Use the P approach - Prayer!

*Elder Holland’s cute definition of service in the Lord’s kingdom - is 

delightful exhaustion!

*5 and 10 minutes lessons can be very effective.

*Always REMEMBER HIM. He is a real person. Testify…

*Always have a member present for every lesson, which requires planning…and we must have good relationships with ward/branch members.

*Stake President has the keys for Missionary Work, and the keys must be aligned.

*Think ahead.

*Put them on your shoulders - Luke 15: 4-6

*Use Area Books - such an amazing resource!

*Always ask: “Is there anyone else you know that could benefit from what we are teaching?” Members can be the catalyst we need.

*Best referral source - those you are teaching, and less actives. 

*Remember you are DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST YOUR WHOLE LIVES.

*This is HIS Mission for YOU.

*Key to remember the Saviour is to know where our HEART is.

*Are you reading the BOOK of MORMON EVERYDAY?

*Be accountable - report back..an eternal principle.

*The Saviour is the true vine - discussion John 15

*Move forward…progress 

*Be Happy. 

*We are all on this course of DISCIPLESHIP.

*Greater Faith in Jesus Christ: -(from Elder and Sister McCune’s MTC Devotional)

*An increase in the Gift of Charity

*Repentance

*Personal Worthiness

*Studying the Word of God

*Focusing on the blessings of Temple Covenants and Ordinances

*Following Prophets, Seers and Revelators

*Church Attendance, and the blessings of the Sacrament

*Prayer

We were thrilled to interact, and learn so much from the McCune’s. Zoom meetings are incredible, and although missionaries are in far off Newfoundland, or Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, Ontario or Quebec, we can feel the Spirit, and are so grateful for so much participation from our bright, converted missionaries! Oh how we pray for their success, and for their commitment to live a life of discipleship on their covenant paths. 

Although we didn’t have an in person Mission tour, we were inspired by everything we learned.

This epistle is growing by the minute….and here come the..

August 30th Canada Montreal Mission Miracles:

Riverside Ottawa Sisters:

One thing I learned this week is the importance of building a relationship with the friends we are teaching! Sister Low mentioned this to us and we have been trying extra hard to implement it! We have been able to grow super close with two of our friends and now they are progressing really well! We have totally seen how once they have been able to build that trust with us they are more open in sharing their thoughts and listening to what we have to say! Our goal now is to build a similar relationship with all of our friends! We hope this will help our friends progress even more! I'm excited to see how it goes!  

Laval Elders:

Things are going well here in Laval. The members are awesome. We are teaching people and trying to move them towards baptism. We have set that expectation with almost everybody we teach. We have really been emphasizing keeping commitments. Because when people do not they are not progressing. We had an awesome experience this yesterday. We were going through our potential list on exchanges and we saw someone that was referred but the missionaries never got ahold of her. So we contacted the person who referred her and she was like "I'm so glad you contacted me, I need you to meet with my sister (non-member who was not the original referral) because she is going through a really hard time right now." so we were able to go over there and give her a blessing, and the spirit was super strong. Then the women said that she had some cousins who were members and that she was going to reach out to them. It was amazing.  

Victoria Spanish Sisters:

Super interesting thing, we had a lesson set up with a man that let's just say that he super loves the bible and he has been trying to teach us more than we teach him haha. We were open to listen to his beliefs but when we would start sharing some of ours he would try to shut them down. We had to be pretty bold with him because let's just say he was being pretty bold with us. But let me just say that whole saying of "you can never be too bold if it comes out of love" is trueeee. I kept reminding myself that this man is trying to find truth and that he is a child of God, and if he decides to not agree with us and even bash a bit on our beliefs, well, that's his choice. We ended by giving our testimonies of the restoration and I just felt so much power as we testified about how the proper church was restored back on the Earth after the great apostacy. I have so much love for this gospel, for goodness sake I left EVERYTHING for this gospel. I have so much love for my Saviour Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. It was cool because I noticed that at the end of this lesson, this man became a lot more quieter and respectful, he was even smiling. What a miracle that the spirit brings. :)) 

Hochelaga Montreal Elders:

We've had several instances where we pray for something in specific, and he have seen the answers left and right! For example, I felt impressed last week in one of my prayers to pray that we will be able to have a lesson with a friend and a member present. Then literally the next day we had a first lesson with Diaston, who just moved here, he was getting taught by missionaries in Arizona or Haiti. And at first he was pretty confused about the Book of Mormon and trying to prove it with the bible, but just like that we got another lesson set up with with for Sunday. And literally 2 hours before that a member told us he can teach with us whenever, so he was able to come. I just really felt the spirit telling me that it was an answer to prayers. 

LaSalle Sisters:

Our friend Daniel is getting baptized this upcoming Saturday. Last weekend we had a scheduled lesson with him to finish our last lessons. We called him for our lesson and we noticed him when he was at the store shopping with his family. We told him that we could call later when he was available. He immediately told us that he would go to the car and call us back. We called a few minutes after and had a wonderful lesson. Sister Scott said something that was very true. She said, "Someone who is truly interested in the Gospel, will do anything to listen". 

Ending that lesson, we asked him if he could pray to know if Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ once again. When we invited him to do that, he told us that he had already prayed to know. He knew that this church was the true church of God. He knew that whenever we would speak, he knew that it was a message from God! He already had a testimony of the church! I love being able to witness and see the glow on the faces of those we teach that get confirmation that this is the true church of God. That is something so wonderful about being a missionary.  

Laurier YSA Sisters:

Thursday morning we got a text from a member telling us that a former had reached out to him and she has been thinking a lot and she.... wants to get baptized (yes spit out that juice you are drinking while you read this!!) yess ..... it was crazy!! He followed with " so idk maybe you could email her? here's her email." We were like Arnold who emails nowadays except nerdy missionaries(not even ashamed) so we just slid into her DMs. Set up a lesson and taught HTBT with The gospel of Jesus Christ, inviting her to be baptized. We had to pinch ourselves-- were we suddenly serving in South America?! Sherlin is one of the most prepared people I have met and she has chosen to be baptized Sept 13th! Please keep her in your prayers! When we asked her what changed in her life for her to decide to be baptized she said "I saw a video on FaceBook, telling me I am a loved daughter of God, I felt this feeling, something that I felt only when I came to church and saw the missionaries. I realized I want that in my life, and yea so I decided I need to get baptized!" Wow. Another cool thing was as we were driving to the lesson we felt prompted that we needed to hit home on Endure to the end, explaining that we did not have to be perfect to be baptized!! That we simply had to covenant to TRY our best!! In the lesson we invited Arnold to bear his testimony on that and she turns to us and says "Sisters- I did not know that. that is the reason I would not get baptized 2 years ago" It's interesting how 90% of the time it's the simple truths that we get hung up on. Perfection is not the goal, only continued improvement. 

We are so inspired by the faithfulness of our army of CMM missionaries. We daily express gratitude for this incredible opportunity to serve and to learn from these valiant souls. What inexpressible JOY!! 

Posting this with much love: Grandpa and Grandma, Dad and Mom and  Richard and Gayle

        Keep Smiling and Look at the View!!

Have a wonderful week!!!

Church Bells Toll

Today is Sunday, August 23, 2020

Happy 18th Anniversary to Aaron and Jennie next Sunday, August 20th!!

Happy Blessing Day to Baby Bella Anne Kearl next Sunday, August 20th

August is on the wind down, and before we all know it,  school will be in full swing after a five month recess!! Hopefully, our new ‘normal and natural’ missionary efforts will resume… We are still in Phase one of resuming which means most of our teaching happens over ‘zoom’ or ‘messenger.’ Teaching can happen in backyards or meeting houses, but of course with social distancing. Last week our ‘key indicators for success,’ continue to impress us…we had two baptisms, 27 friends on date for Baptism, 57 friends at Sacrament Meeting (virtual), and 35 new friends found! Despite the challenges we have in finding people to teach, our missionaries are cheerfully, creatively, positively, working diligently; everyday, as they sit in their apartments and do everything they can to find!! We are excitedly anticipating resuming activities as Phases two and three begin soon!!! August 31st our Montreal Temple opens, and, by the end of September our Halifax Temple will be open.  We are hopeful that by then, all our new unendowed missionaries will have had the opportunity to attend the Temple…. It’s been forever since we all have been. It will be a thrill to accompany all our new CMM missionaries!! 

Another wonderful week on the CMM Homefront…

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we spent zoom interviewing, and so when I say our missionaries are serving cheerfully, creatively, positively, and diligently, I know this because they told me so!! The Zoom waiting room is just great, and keeps us to our 15 minutes per interview. One thing I have started is to call the Mom’s of our missionaries to report on what fine sons and daughters they have raised, and how grateful we have them serving here!! It is so fun, and I just love raving about their missionary!!  My list of ‘to call’ is a mile long, but I am determined to DO IT!! I was thrilled years ago when I received such a call from a Mission President’s wife, and have thought over and over how I should do this!! 

Despite self isolating ourselves, and being pretty diligent wearing our custom made masks (thanks Nancy!!), we have been dealing with suspicious symptoms like full heads, flu like aches etc., and dry persistent coughs. We were grateful to have our assistants, Elders Gordon, and Brown all masked, and gloved come to the front door, and give us each blessings of healing. That being said, you will understand why we are totally keeping our distance from our Office, and, all our missionaries. Just to be sure, we are staying away for another week…Even Teresa our cleaning lady has not been coming, so I have relearned how to vacuum, wash floors, and clean bathrooms! 

When we do go out, we are so grateful for hand sanitizing liquid, and our masks. 

Last evening we had a delightful date walking up and down Cote de Neiges, a bustling street right below St. Joseph's Basilica, on Mount Royal; and found a quaint little cafe with an outside patio. Our Parisienne baguette, cheese pie, and lemon meringue pie that we shared were delectable, BUT the best part of that darling little spot was the busking accordion-playing elderly gentleman!! It was just like being on a street right in Paris....you can imagine we were in heaven!! I closed my eyes, turned back the clock, and remembered brothers Bob and Jeff their fingers flying as they practised their accordions!! Such a sweet memory!! 

I know I have repeatedly raved about the beauty of Montreal, the lush shrub and flower beds, the magnificent towering hardwood trees, the gorgeous well-used green spaces, and the darling groomed walk-up front gardens.  Parks abound even in the dense downtown.  The best thing is that Montrealers come out in droves, relaxing and playing together in these parks.  We have never been by an empty park!! Park goers bring barbeques, picnics, tablecloths, chairs, blankets and have birthday parties, play soccer, volleyball, basketball, spike ball, tag, and even practise tai chi, and other marshall arts. Last night the fun birthday party that had been going on all afternoon, wound down around eleven! As we lay in bed at night, and all we can see are the tall heritage trees across the street in the ‘Darling Park,’ sometimes we feel like we live in a forest, not in a city of 4.2 million!! Another thing I just love, and will miss, are the church bells chiming. Every hour on the hour, all over the city, from the beautiful old bell towers, bells ring. Yesterday afternoon, as I was scooting along the lawn pulling out crab grass, it was so relaxing, especially while the bells tolled! 

________________________________________________________________________

We continue to be blessed with lovely miracles…read on!!

August 23rd, 2020 CMM ‘Missionary Miracles’

Riverside Ottawa Sisters:

The second thing that I learned this week is the power of a testimony! We were in a lesson with a man who didn't give us much room to add our thoughts. Everytime we tried to share something with him he would go on to tell us another story about how his church is true! We felt like the lesson hadn't really gone anywhere when finally at the end of the lesson Sister Goodwin and I felt prompted to just bare our testimonies on the importance of the Book of Mormon and the power it had in our life! As we did that he stopped and listened to us for once and was interested to read it! Not only that, but he had a friend in the back that was listening to our testimonies and asked if we could teach him a lesson too! We learned from this experience that bearing our testimonies is so powerful! It helps strengthen others testimonies and ours too!

 

Montreal East Sisters:

We were teaching Fariba about the ten commandments this week, which she  has never learned about before. Upon describing that we need to keep the Sabbath day holy. She shared that as she was planning out her week, she decided not to plan anything for Sunday. That was going to be her day for God, for studying the scriptures and taking a break from the week. God had prompted her to keep the Sabbath day holy before she even knew it was a commandment! It was a really cool moment! She also talked about how these principles were something she could base her life on. The ten commandments not only create a peaceful society, but they allow for happiness within ourselves. All of God's commandments are for that! His instruction is meant to keep us safe, happy, and healthy. It was really powerful seeing someone hear about it for the first time and accept it so fully. 

Trois Rivieres sisters:

So we started with our theme #NOWYOUKNOW that Sister Thomas and I created, so basically we make a short video of us talking about certain principles of the gospel but in a natural way. So we do it in Spanish and French. So I decided to post it on some facebook groups. The Spanish ones in "Latinos en Trois Rivières" and then everyday I went to look at those who liked our post and I reached our to them. I was talking with this person about my job here as missionary, then this person asked some interesting question about God and his children, I felt the impression to answer some of his questions but also to tell him that I would love to talk more and answer all his questions. So I asked  if my companion and I could videocall him sometime this week. He said yes and that Thursday afternoon works for him. We are so excited to teach him this week. 

Dartmouth Sisters:

Sister Olsen and I also have been teaching a woman named Kemi. She is super busy and looks after her two children on her own. About two weeks ago we asked her to read the Book of Mormon and she is now close to finishing Alma. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ last night and invited her to be baptised. She said yes and asked if she could be baptised this weekend ahah. She is so enthusiastic about coming closer to Christ and doing his will. She has progressed so quickly and is willling to meet with us 3 times a week and work around our schedule. Crazy!! 

Moncton Elders:

From our bible Ad that I posted this week, this man was really struggling with his life and felt like something was missing. Obviously knowing it's the Gospel I invited him to church that same day. He messaged me Sunday morning and I invited him to church and he came and felt ministered to by the members here! Well we offered him that morning to also have a bible study that night at 8pm. Well that turned out really well! He vented out to us and told us all about his struggles and he said that the speaker in church really spoke to him and said things he needed to hear so he was excited to learn more about our church! He has 2 daughters so this will be great! When we were in his bible study, I told him to close his eyes and imagine he is in a dark place. I said to imagine a bright tree in the distance with beautiful white fruit on it. The only problem is you can’t get there because you can't find your way. But then God puts this Iron Rod in front of you and it goes right up to the tree and all you have to do is grab on and follow this rod. I said there are distractions that might drag you away but as you stay on this path called the straight and narrow path, God will always be by your side. I told him that it was a story from the Book of Mormon and gave him the book that night. What a neat moment honestly! He said he was very excited to learn more about our church so the Restoration is the next step in this neat adventure!  

Laurier YSA Branch Sisters:

He is our instagram DREAM. We told you about him a bit yesterday, how he saw E. Johnson's skateboarding video and reached out. Well last night we were talking to him and after looking at the church site said that he llooveeedd the story of young "John Smith" (we have no idea where the John comes from but everyone here calls him that) and really relates to him! He loves that Joseph Smith wanted to find the truth before joining a religion. The biggest miracle is that HE STARTED READING THE BOOK OF MORMON. ON HIS OWN. We haven't even told him about it yet!! Crazy right!?  

St. Johns Newfoundland Elders:

I am not looking forward to the rest of this 14 day isolation, it's gonna be rough. We're not supposed to even leave our property. Luckily we have a wonderful member that is happy to do our shopping for us. Super nice family! The people are very friendly here.

I have been trying to make sure that I'm seeking revelation in our missionary work. I've been Praying before doing a digital finding activity and just trying to be generally more receptive to the spirit.

And it paid off! I decided to start messaging local people and I started talking to a lady named Jaime. She said that she was praying to God to help her get through a stressful situation and asked for suggestions! I continued to talk to her and we set up an appointment for a video call later that night! She is a really nice lady! She loves reading and says she received a Book or Mormon from a friend that lives in the Toronto area and read it all. We offered her a Book of Mormon with tabs (especially since she doesn't know where other copy went) and she gladly accepted. She says she'll do anything to get closer to God right now and wants to attend church! Super exciting! 

What a great week on the front lines eh?!! _______________________________________________________________________

Most missionaries have developed the gift of seeing little miracles everyday. Truly it is a gift, and their ability to distill their everyday experiences and glean tender mercies or miracles is amazing. I think it behooves each of us to do the same..to daily look for the tiny or huge miracles we are each blessed with. Sometimes it does require a ‘magnifying glass’ to see them, but we can train ourselves to notice them; it is a shift to feel gratitude for every blessing, and as we do,  we become more grateful, and more optimistic.  His tender mercies abound in each of our lives..I know that. As we train ourselves to look, remember, and record, our hearts are turned to Him, and every so slowly we develop a Heart like His, and that my dear ones is one of the greatest miracles!

We are so grateful for the tender mercies, we experience every day, and are also so very grateful for the many tender mercies you have been blessed with. Our experiences here have solidified our testimonies, and our resolve to everyday strive to be better; and to share this knowledge of the beautiful plan with everyone.   

Life is wonderful.

With much love,

Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Richard and Gayle

Keep Smiling!!

New Missionaries and Family Visits!!

Today is Sunday, August 16, 2020

Yoyeux 5th Anniversaire jeudi,  Brendan and Megan!!!

Already the middle of August..wow!! 

Two weeks worth of news..where do I begin?!! 

Biggest news this week is that we received 11 brand new missionaries!! Maybe you will recognize some of the following names…our newest CMM young Elders and Sisters:

Sister Beone - Sparwood, British Columbia

Sister Jensen - Medicine Hat

Sister Pedersen - Cardston

Elder Harding - Stirling/Calgary/Stirling

Elder Heggie - Raymond

Elder Heninger - Calgary

Elder Laigo - Calgary

Elder McStravick - Regina, Saskatchewan

Elder Trevino - Calgary 

Elder Tymensen - Calgary

Elder Yanez - London, Ontario

Also, two weeks ago, Elder Garside from Edmonton, and Elder Siemens from Okotoks arrived, so…our numbers are gradually increasing…in spite of COVID!! We are so grateful for righteous young Sisters and Elders who are desirous of serving no matter what their missionary service looks like; and welcomed with ‘virtual open arms’ this newest group of team members!! Zoom training like I have raved about, continues to be our ‘go to’ method of ‘almost’ face to face visiting, and teaching. Usually before new missionaries arrive, we teach, and counsel with their ‘trainers,’ and give instruction to new sister training leaders, and to district and zone leaders; but this transfer cycle we gave the training after the new missionaries had arrived, and of course it was all done over Zoom! My usual assignment is to teach about ‘Adjusting to Missionary Life,’ and I always reference the  amazing booklet entitled ‘Adjusting to Missionary Life,’ which is a companion to our favourite ‘Preach my Gospel’ manual. When teaching new leaders I love teaching about the Christlike attribute of love, which is one of the most important qualities to develop as a missionary, and for that matter…the most important qualities to develop in our lives period…

Which reminds me of one of my life mantras, inspired from the old movie ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’…’Did I fill the World with Love?’ I just love those words, and as we have taught about the first and second great commandments, those words ring in my heart.

As missionaries, and as Saints…that is what we are all about…developing the pure LOVE of Christ in everything we think, say and do….it is a lifetime quest. It starts with praying for charity, and then going to work!!

Mark, Brittney, Briar, Dottie, Vimy, and Boomer left for home on Wednesday, July 29th, after a whirlwind of fun family time;  and the entire following week we anticipated the arrival of our next string of family visitors…Jonathan, Jordan and Liesl, Brendan, Megan, Macie and new baby Bella arrived Wednesday, August 5th. What a thrill for us to have our loved ones come experience our Mission, and the excitement surrounding everything we do!! Our Mission home easily accommodates a big family, and we love to have anyone, and everyone come!! (That is an invitation to any of you reading this!!) 

Our activities included playing at our ‘Darling Park’…(Macie calls it the blue park!), Chocolat Favoris - our ice cream shoppe, visiting our favourite Jean Talon open market which always is swarming with happy shoppers…Quebec ’s fertile soil grows everything big and delicious, so visiting any market is a real treat. We came home laden with tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, and cucumbers, cheese and chocolate milk. and feasted for the week!! Other highlights of the week included a day at the Granby Zoo where we delighted watching Macie love lions, elephants, giraffes, and especially monkeys!! We never tire of visiting charming Old Montreal with the century old stone buildings, and cobblestone streets.  Plague(beach) Jean Dore sur (on) Isle Notre Dame, about half an hour from home, was the perfect spot to play for several hours!!  Around the island is the Gilles Villeneuve Formula One Race track on which Richard, Jonathan and Brendan were thrilled to race around on bikes!! Lac de Castor - lake of the beavers atop our Mount Royal was another fun spot to sit, relax and people watch!!

Friday was a watershed day having to say goodbye to five of our finest, missionaries: Sister Hannah Bromley (Tooele, Utah), Sister Calina Thomas (Phoenix, Arizona), Elder Benjamin Crowder (Herriman, Utah), Elder Issac Johnson (Sandy, Utah), and Elder Jake Thacker (Lehi, Utah). We were happy to say a quick goodbye here at the Mission home,  and sent them each off with a lunch sac filled with cinnamon buns, chicken sandwich buns, fruit and snacks, (although it was a far cry from the feasts we used to serve!!) AND a whole lot of love!!

We love our Sunday evening devotionals, and have been thrilled to showcase our dear family….so far Aaron and Jennie, David and Danielle, Mark and Brittney, and last week Jonathan and Jordan, and Brendan and Megan have shared their testimonies, and beautiful analogies about the gospel. We anticipate several more family Sunday evening highlights.

Tonight our LDS Family Services counsellors, Sister Eve St. Onge, and Brother Adam Penney inspired us as they talked about emotional and mental health.

We were thrilled today to participate in the Lethbridge East Stake Conference, and sustain Aaron as the new Stake President. Both he and Jennie were well-prepared, and inspiring as they testified of the Saviour and the Restoration. We were so grateful to know that our entire family were participating in that sacred meeting. Again technology made that possible. 

And now it is time to share a few lovely stories with you:

Last weeks August 9 CMM Mission Miracles

Laurier YSA Sisters:

Also I have to share 2 miracles with you!! So this Sunday we all fasted to be able to find new people to teach right? Well THAT SUNDAY we met with the St. Laurent branch in person for the first time and we saw a new person walking down the stairs. Keep in mind we're still in quarantine and we don't know everyone yet, but we just knew he wasn't a member. We asked him his name and how he found the church, and he said that he was just walking by and saw the church sign and decided he wanted to go to church. We have the limit of 25 people that have to reserve a spot ahead of time, so naturally our branch presidency was uneasy about having him there, especially because we were almost at 25 and were still waiting for more people to arrive. They asked him to sit to the side while they figured everything out and President, the amount of love I felt for that man in that moment was incredible. We had this special opportunity to sit and talk to him while they were figuring everything out and got to hear a bit of his story! He's from Ukraine, speaks 4 languages, and moved here 15 years ago with his family. He has a severe handicap (I'm not sure what), so he's unable to walk without support and has limited use of his limbs. He's also a Christian and loves God, and he just needed to be at church that day. The elders upstairs said that when they were about to turn him away he started to cry. After talking to him for a bit our branch presidency said that he could stay, and that day we had exactly 25 people in the session. Sister Murray said that he wasn't on our list of 25 people but he was on God's and I couldn't agree more. He later asked to meet with us and we fixed a time right then! He's a miracle president!! God not only answers our fasts and prayers, but also the prayers of those reaching out to Him. He brought Him to US and I couldn't be more grateful to get to be apart of tender mercies like these. 

Another miracle is that some random guy just messaged Sr. Murray on Insta asking if we teach about religion! She hasn't posted in a while and we have no idea how he found her, but we're going to hopefully meet with him this week! We KNOW that this is because of the fast on Sunday. GOD IS SO GOOD. 

August 16 CMM Mission Miracles

Fredericton Sisters:

Amidst the craziness with everything going on with my health, we have seen some sweet miracles. One worth sharing was that we met a new human and we are now teaching him!! His name is Josh! As a little background, about 2 weeks ago, we put up an ad for pictures of Jesus. The day before I went to the ER the first time, he messaged and said he wanted one! We planned on taking it to him on that Thursday, but well then...we were in the ER for 12 hours. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. After all the ER visits, we finally had the opportunity to take it to him on Wednesday evening. After we dropped it by, he immediately messaged us and told us he has so many questions about the church! We ended up setting up a lesson with him for the following day and he wants to come to church on Sunday as well!! He is so awesome and we have another lesson with him on Monday! It was super neat!! 

St. Laurent YSA missionaries:

Manny. Our friend Manny is finally ready for baptism. He had his baptismal interview this week, and passed with flying colors. You will probably hear from us before you have a chance to read this email, but I can put a couple details in this letter. Manny was hesitant due to cultural differences, and his sentiment that he didn't feel like he wanted to be married anytime soon. Interestingly enough he prayed to God about it, and opened the scriptures to D&C. I believe it was Section 49, but inside he read 5 verses that 1. Told him to be baptized as it is a commandment, and 2. that he who forbiddeth to be married is not ordained of God. So! He took that as a direct answer to his prayer, and he is beyond ready to go. We have to organize it quick, so we are on a roll there.

Riverside Sisters:

We had a lesson with one of our friends and everything that happened during the lesson was definitely the spirit and not us at all! So to start off with one of the members called us an hour before the lesson and I felt prompted to ask her to join into the call with our friend later that night! We merged the two calls and had a really powerful lesson with her! We had no idea the member we brought in spoke French and she was able to bear her testimony in French to help our friend out! Then at the end of the lesson out of the blue, Sister Goodwin and I both felt prompted to invite her to work towards baptism and she agreed! The spirit was so strong and I was so happy to be apart of that lesson! Even if things don't work out for our friend I am so thankful that the Lord blessed me with that experience when I needed it the most, because ever since then I have been so uplifted and happy! I do think this friend will continue to work towards baptism though because she has so much faith and loves God more than anything! I'm really excited to help her along her journey! 

Hawkesbury sisters:

Miracle of the week: We invited many people to church this week and were delighted to see that four nonmembers came! Two were our formers Ray and Marilyn, one was Rocko, and the fourth was Joel. We didn't invite Joel because we're still not in contact with him, but he still came on his own! Melanie wasn't even there. As for Rocko, he was so happy to be at church. He told us that he's been reading from the Book of Mormon, he's been having many spiritual experiences that show him that he needs to be here, and he's now conquered "8 out of 10" of his vices. He didn't tell us what they were, but he did tell us that he feels like baptism could be in the near future for him, and before we could say anything, he was off again. We'll keep patiently working with him and see where things go! 

We are so grateful for the dedication, diligence, and faithfulness of our missionaries. Every week at our Sunday evening devotional we get to see everyone on our computer screen, and it thrills us to just be together. We still pray for borders to open, and opportunities to be together, but virtually is ok. We wonder what the new normal will be? These missionaries are top shelf, and have learned to creatively contact using their phones, and Facebook finding etc. -quite remarkable…we are so proud of each of them. Our service here continues to strengthen our testimonies of the Restored Gospel, and of the Saviour. We love Him, and are devoted to serving Him. Being missionaries has brought us such JOY and Fulfillment, and we LOVE serving together!!

On that happy note I’ll close this lengthy epistle, sending much love to all!

Richard and Gayle, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma

Keep Smiling!!

Family Summer Fun!!!

Today is August 2, 2020

Thursday, August 7th we wish Happy 59th to Jeffrey Reed Hamilton!!  

Missing a week of blogging gives me so much to report today!!

We anticipate family visits as soon as they are announced, so for months in advance we plan every zone conference, MLC, Office Meeting, and interview, so that when our dear ones come, we can really focus on them!! Our intensely busy weeks preceding family visits are always wonderfully exhausting, and we are grateful we have the flexibility to fill our days and weeks with the needful Mission activities, so when loved ones come, they can be our priority!!  

Last week, on July 22, following a wonderful MLC, with butterflies in our stomachs, we headed to our Airport to be reunited with Mark, Brittney, Briar, Dottie, Vimy and Boomer.  We will always remember that delightful reunion, where Briar, and Dottie came charging full speed into our arms!!! Vimy and Boomer took about a minute to warm up to we unfamiliar grandparents, but for the rest of the week, it was like they had always known us!! (it was cute for us to hear from Mark that when they arrived in the Calgary Airport on their way home, the first thing Vimy said was where are Grandma and Grandpa?!!) Such a thrill to have this darling family come experience Montreal with us!! Two brand new mission Toyota Sienna vans arrived just before Mark and Britt, and we were thrilled when Sister Little, our vehicle coordinator asked if we would like to use one; it was wonderful to travel everywhere together! Highlights of the week included iconic Schwartz’s smoked meat, an evening walk up Mont Royal, looking at the spectacular view of the city, and seeing about fifteen raccoons, a day at the Granby Zoo, playing at sandy Oka Beach, visiting the roadside farmers market on the way home, experiencing the subway train and exploring Old Montreal, shopping at our favourite Jean Talon fresh fruits and vegetable market, driving around Montreal, loving Italian gelato at a quaint little cafe right here in Mont Royal, smelling the roses at ‘our’ Rose Garden which we have affectionately renamed ‘Briar Rose Garden!’, filling ourselves with poutine from another iconic Montreal restaurant - the ‘Banquiste,’ driving out to Mont Tremblant, and luging down the mountain in cute ‘go-carty type sleds, visiting Chocolat Favoris; an amazing ice cream cafe, celebrating Mark’s 35th Birthday two days early with a barbecue feast, and candles on a banana cream pie!! (Rereading this I realize we spent a lot of time eating….oh dear!!) 

New missionaries Sister Marin Williams, Sister Madison Barfuss, Elder Jake Siemens, and Elder Run Wang arrived on Tuesday, and it was so fun for Mark and Britt to see what we really do!!  

Such a thrill for us to PRAY, PLAY, EAT,  and READ SCRIPTURES together with this darling family, and, oh too soon we were back to the airport bidding them farewell…such a tug at our heartstrings…another tooo fast week just disappeared! 

Mission wide Sunday evening devotionals have been such a highlight for us…especially since we have started involving YOU!!  Several weeks ago, Aaron, Jennie, Isabelle, Luke, Maxwell, Charlotte, Jane and Peter inspired every missionary with their creative, well applied messages, and testimonies.  And last week Mark, Brittney, and Dottie were our special guest presenters sharing insights and their testimonies. Tonight we are excited to hear from David, Danielle, Claire and Lucy! Thank you for your willingness to perform…all of you!! Our missionaries are so motivated, and love the variety, and powerful messages you give!!  Next week Jonathan, Jordan, Liesl, Brendan, Megan, Macie, and Bella will be our guests!!

Yesterday we enjoyed our PDay adventure with our Senior Sisters - Sister Breckenridge, Sister Little, and Sister Mecham, out to the Granby Zoo - (our second time in a week!!) We so love being with these awesome friends, and love our road trips together!! Mike and Sandy Wong who we met last year live in Granby and joined us for zoo-exploring, and then hosted a delicious salmon/chicken barbecue for us!!

Again I will rave about how grateful we are for technology…today we got to participate in our Lethbridge North Stake special meeting!! How amazing to get to sustain Bruce Lamb as our new patriarch, with Margo as his scribe. We also thanked Dennis Bullock for serving almost 20 years as our Patriarch with Carol as his scribe.  We loved the four Oler boys singing  ‘If the Saviour Stood Beside Me,’ and Janette’s father in law Patrick Meynders singing ‘Hosanna’ was beautiful as well. It was so special to get to be there virtually. Bruce will be such an awesome Patriarch! 

Read on for the weekly CMM Mission Miracles: 

Fredericton Sisters:

We have seen a whole lot of miracles and I thought I'd share this one with you! On Sunday, one of our lessons cancelled. And as we found that out, we got a message from a lady named Charlene, she is a nonmember and is married to a very inactive member who hasn't attended church since he was 17. (I've talked about them before. They want us to help them stop smoking) Anyways, they just moved here from Nova Scotia. She asked if she could attend church with us this coming Sunday! We ended up going over to her house and she told us she wants to take the lessons! She is such a sweetheart! Her husband Stefan is a truck driver and he happened to be in Montreal and felt like he needed a blessing for comfort. The AP's weren't able to give him one, but as he got that news, he found out we went to see Charlene and he said he didn’t need that comforting blessing anymore. Because that was enough to comfort him! The next day, I had an impression that we needed to call him and I got a text from Charlene that said to call Stefan. We called him when we got the chance, and he asked us if we could teach him how to pay tithing online! It warmed my heart so much. And it was so amazing to see him come this far!! He hasn't paid tithing since he was a teenager which is so amazing. He said he needs to start somewhere and tithing is the place to start. He started paying tithing on Thursday and he went cold Turkey on Friday with his cigs!  Continuation of this miracle: we are now reading with Charlene every other day or so in the book of Mormon! And Stefan is joining us as he drives the truck! It is such a beautiful experience knowing and feeling their love and just loving them in general! I never want to leave freddy!!  

Villa Maria Montreal sisters:

We also saw some super cool miracles teaching our friends this week. Our friend Bin, who we started teaching because she wanted to practice her French with someone, has been reading the Book of Mormon. She's very intellectual, so we had a lesson about where the Book of Mormon came from and why it's important to read with our hearts rather than our heads. She absolutely loved it, and she came up with the idea for her own commitment: pray every time before she reads! It is so cool to see the Spirit working in her even as we read the book sometimes just to study the grammar and vocabulary. The Book of Mormon is so powerful! That same day, approximately 6 minutes after finishing that call, we were able to teach our friend Antoinette about the restoration and prophets for the first time. She kept calling us and the members "prophets," so we explained to her that there's only one prophet called to lead the church. Then, she asked us "but if there's only one prophet for the church, why are there so many churches?" It was a great lead-in to the restoration, and she absolutely loved the doctrines we taught. Who knew technology would help us to have such powerful lessons so quickly! We could never do so many lessons in a day before now, especially being in a metro area. »

LaSalle elders:

We also had a bible referral from Elder McCrea and this was super fun, because two days before, we got a call from Sister Gibbs asking if we were available to pick up some food, and we were, haha, but as we came to her home, we actually knocked on the wrong door and a lady told us that it was the wrong one, so we checked the address again and it turned out that it was the door next to it,  so we got out food and didn't think much of it, until we got this referral. I noticed it was on the same street as the Gibbs family and I asked the person if he knew one of their sons, our ward mission leader Kalil, and he said he did! They went to high school together and played on the same basketball team! and they live right next to each other! He lives in the same house we knocked on accidentally! So that was super neat experience and we are starting a bible study with him, and we invited him to tune into the next church service! 

St. John’s Newfoundland Sisters:

This week has been one of the best weeks of my mission. With finding out we could meet with people in person again; to Chrissy's baptism and everything in between. It was just a week full of miracles and tender mercies. Chrissy's baptism was so special and the spirit was so strong. She really is going to change her whole family/friends lives. With the new phase one things we were able to go over to her house after the baptism and meet her friends and build a connection with them. Sherry is the mother of Lily and Amber Spurell, they are baptized but Sherry isn't. So we were standing in the kitchen talking and she introduces us to her other daughter Kayla and when Kayla left, Sherry asked for our number and said that Kayla wants to visit with us! Also the elders said that at the baptism Sherry made the comment that maybe she will be next! We are going to go over and have lessons more often.  

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Despite the crazy world around us, it is so exciting when we have these little miracles! I’m always reminding our missionaries how important it is for them to record their faith-building experiences. I tell them that the choice experiences they have while they are missionaries will continue to be choice experiences as they return home and serve as primary teachers, YW/YM leaders, SS teachers, RS presidents, Bishops or, when they are parents. Those sacred experiences will bless so many lives as they share and reshare them. So, it is something I emphasize over and over, to record in their journals..I suggest that they are writing their own ‘large plates;’ and someday they can abridge them, and create their own small plates, but if these tender testimony-building experiences are not written, those dear memories will fade. 

And my final admonition to all is to daily Read the Book of Mormon….whether you are two, twelve, twenty two, thirty two, thirty five, forty, sixty, seventy, eighty, or ninety….it should be the keystone of our lives…and we make it that by reading from it EVERYDAY!! Don’t miss a day…even if you only have time to read a page..read it! The adversary is working overtime to wreck homes and families, and we have the antidote to repel his attacks - it is the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon in my life. It gives me power. 

I know the words we read will bless our lives, and the lives of our families. 

Let us read, and let us share this transforming book with our friends. It is true.

Have a wonderful week!

CTR and Keep Smiling,

With much love,

Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, and Richard and Gayle