Press Forward Saints

As we sit and listen to the Farewell Testimonies of those missionaries who have faithfully completed their service here in the Mission Field, I am always struck by the greatness of these young missionaries, what they have overcome to come on a mission, and what they overcome as they serve.

Last Thursday evening was no exception.  Each "group" seems to have a slightly different "vibe" or feeling about it. Some are serious, some are fun-loving and others are full of laughter and comraderie, but all are  filled with the Spirit as they stand and share their personal witness and experiences.

As you can guess from looking at this picture, this was a happy, fun loving and tight knit group!  Elder Tusa, middle on the right, had a lot to do with that! Elder Jason, bottom right, was right in there as well, and the group was loving it!  They all spoke about how they had learned so much from serving with each other as companions over the last two years --- then they would look at Sister Wilkinson and say.... except for Sister Wilkinson! She was the sole Sister going home this transfer. She just laughed and shook her head a lot!  It was a great evening.

Two stories really touched my heart!

Elder Waldie spoke about how the majority of his life in the church had been spent in the mission field, for he had only been a member for three years. He told us how his non-member parents could not understand why he would leave home for two years, and how they had wept at the airport when he was leaving. His mom, in her grief, said to him, "It is not too late, you don't have to go."  And he was torn --- he could see they were hurting, he struggled, he had only been a member for one year! 

Then the words to the hymn, "Press Forward Saints", began to go through his mind. He decided to just take a few steps and see how he felt, so he began to walk away from his parents. The words to the hymn grew louder in his mind --- he took more steps, and he knew he was not going to turn back!

Now, he was returning home --- he was not just a good missionary, he was a Fabulous missionary, ending his mission as one the Presidents assistants. But now he was worried about what his life would be, away from the mission field.

Then there is Elder Jason, a fun loving, french speaking Elder from Guadalope -- his brother just finished serving in the Montreal Mission and through the efforts of the two mission presidents, the two brothers were flying home together this week. Elder J spoke of his great love for the President and his wife, (he had also been an assistant to the President). He said that the Leavitt's were his "Church Parents" and he would never forget them, they had impacted his life so much!  He said that  if President were ever sick and in a "hospice", he would come back to Canada and feed President Leavitt  Guadolopean banana's! We all laughed, and then sort of cried because we could all see how much he loved PL. President would often tease Elder J, who refused to eat Canadian banana's, and who spoke with a heavy French accent.They had fun together.

After all of the missionaries had finished speaking, President Leavitt stood and spoke to them --- he repeated Winston Churchill's famous words, which Churchill spoke when he was asked what he attributed Britains miraculous victory to during the war --- Churchill said "Never give up, Never, ever give Up - never give up !". He told them their Future was in their hands, it was theirs to shape, and to never give up!

We ended by singing, "God Be With You, 'Till We Meet Again". A lot of tears, especially from Elder W. who was overcome with emotion. Life is so full of change, challenge, joy, sorrow, and so on. What would we do without the knowledge that we have, that we can all be together again, and rejoice in each others company again, knowing that we are none of us alone.

I add my personal witness that God is so mindful of us, that He stands ready to help and aid us.We are none of us alone, our prayers ascend to Heaven. We are here to gain experience, and to help each other make it back home. We love and pray for these wonderful missionaries, and for our friends and families back home, who also have joys and sorrows in their lives --- we think of and pray for all!

"Press Forward Saints, with steadfast Faith in Christ!"

Snapshot of January

 

Thank you for all of the Birthday cards and wishes -Elder Harding  and I  both had great Birthdays!We got flowers, cake, songs, the  homemade center piece in                                                 picture, gifts, and lots of love. Wonderful!

 We passed around the Ipad after our office Birthday party and told the young Elders and Sisters to have fun and take  few selfies.

They jumped right on that --- Above are Sisters Shannon, Brown, and Donnelly, and here is Sister Howell in  this one.

This is Sister Tegge, Brown and Jungheim.

And here is Elder Corbett (zone leader) and Elder Henderson, (District Leader) .  We LOVE our young Misisonaries!! They are so fun! 

    Transfer Week is at our doorstep once again --- we love it when the young missionaries try to get us to cough up what we know about who is going where! As Elder Harding was on the phone with one young Elder, trying to get some furniture moved around in the mission yesterday, the Elder said, "Ill help you if you'll help me!" and Elder Harding said..... "What?"  Then the Elder replied that if we would tell him whether or not he was getting transferred, he would help out with moving furniture --- ha ha. All in good fun, of course! These young uns do get imaginative, though, bless them!

We always order in pizza the last District Mtg before Transfers..... it is good to work and play together!

District Meeting is a spiritual highlight of our week, each Wednesday, at the Office, 10:30-12:30. This is Elders Wilson, Hendrickons, Corbett and McGuire, plus Sisters Sharp, Howell, Brown and Fincher. Recently, Sister Sharp, who was assigned to do the Doctrinal Discussion, spoke about how, as she kneeling to say her prayers one night, she remembered that although she had read from other scriptures that day, she had not read from the Book of Mormon--- she felt so bad!  She said to us, "How can I go out and teach and testify of the Book of Mormon if I do not read it every day! I knew I needed to repent."  

I was so touched by this -- I also need to read the Book of Mormon, every day. There is a power in this book, the doctrine is clear and simple, it teaches and testifies of the Savior, it brings the spirit into my life and directs me. I am grateful for the example of this group of young people. Sometimes I am not sure who is leading who!  But that is all right --- "I lift thee, and thee lift me and together, we both ascend."

We had the opportunity to speak, via Skype, to the Branch in Grand Falls, Newfoundland this past month. There are usually about 8-12 women who attend, no Primary or YW or YM's, just a group of faithful women, with the Elders conducting and assisting in running the Branch -- as I looked at these women, I marvelled at their faithfulness to continue to come out each week on their own, no family support. They are pioneers in the church, faithful converts who carry on. I learned from them about perseverance, and commitment from them. 

I know that as we turn to our Heavenly Father, He will give us the strength to do whatever it is  that we need to do in our lives. May we all feel this and feel His Divine interest in and love for  us, and His ability to help us along our individual paths. I am grateful for those whose paths are crossing mine.

Heaven in Halifax

This is Halifax/Dartmouth NS in November.   Grass is still green and the yellow flowers out on our balcony are still blooming.   We have scraped the ice off our windshield that last two days but overall quite mild. 

Zone conferences for all the missionaries.   They learn how to fulfill their purpose as missionaires.   "Our purpose is to invite people to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end."   It's a privilege to serve with these dedicated young missionaries.

We have a little fun at the conferences as well showing off how we are staying fit.   The whole mission is on a fitness regiment called 5BX.  They also have challenges with the AB Wheel.   Elder Harding shows off every once in while so they know what a 55 year old can do.

The members of the local congregation are so talented.   This is Bill and Alice Green who sing for a number of Seniors on a regular basis.   Elder Green is from Newfoundland and they have a tradition of playing with an ugly stick.  Elder and Sister Harding are looking forward to getting one for Christmas and practicing for some "kitchen parties" when they get home.

Birthdays, Old Christmas, Ugly Sticks and Old Christmas

 We had a little surprise birthday party for Sister Harding.   I invited the local missionaries to stop by for cake and icecream and to sing Happy Birthday to Sandra.   Sister Harding was having lunch when most of them showed up so when we went back to the board room she was met by a bunch of missionaries.   Nice surprise.   We are so blessed to work with these special young people.

Sister Harding asked me wanted I wanted for my birthday and I said a kitchen party.   Elder and Sister Green that work in the office brought in the accordion and some extra clothing and we had some fun, playing our ugly sticks.

The tradition in Newfoundland is on Old Christmas, (January 6th)  they dress up in disguise and visit their neighbors, drink some "screech" homemade brew and sing and play.     Someone told me that the orthodox Christian churches celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6th, so this may be some traditions brought over the water from Europe.   The Newfoundlanders just call it the last day of Christmas, they put their Christmas tree down and have some fun. 

Sister Harding and I like dressing up so maybe we will keep the tradition when we get home.   Except for the Screech of course.  haha.

Hunkering Down

We have a meeting with our Mission President and his wife,  (President and Sister Leavitt).   We have a Gospel Discussion which is always fun, and then go over vehicles, apartments, schedule for the next month etc.  It keeps us all on the same page and allows us to get some feedback on what we are doing.

We thought we would play a little trick on President Leavitt and get his reaction.  He told us once that he has never said no to a Missionary Couple so we thought we would help him with that.   After we reviewed the schedule I said "We were looking at the Calendar and thought things were slower in January and we were considering taking off a few days to travel."   We anticipated his response which was,  "where were you thinking of going."   I said,  "We were looking on the internet and noticed a really good sale on a trip to Mexico."   I could see the wheels turning and Sandra and I held his gaze until we couldn't help but start laughing.

I felt bad after, because he has lots of things on his mind and didn't need a prank pulled on him but he handled it really well.   I think we jinxed the weather from our prank.   This is the 1st snow storm of the season.  (Snowed a little Dec. 31st, not enough to stick and then Jan 1st it dumped)

Much of the Maritimes get a lot of snow.  In fact Newfoundland has had record snow falls for Canada. But here in Dartmouth it is much milder.  We left Calgary in September right after a snow storm.  Hasn't snowed here since then but now we are hunkering down.

 This is the view out our patio door.  

I have a beautiful Canadian wife.  So great to be here with her.    She slipt and fell coming out of the apartment the other day.   We were grateful that it wasn't serious and Sandra is rebounding quickly.

President and Sister Leavitt when they heard Sister Harding had fallen brought us over a Swiss Chalet supper and we had a lovely time together.  They are the epitome of hard work and kindness. They certainly strive to follow the Saviours example in all they do.

We all have spring and winters in our lives.   We have found the key is to learn from both experiences and to recognize the Lords hand in all that we do.