Corner Brook, Newfoundland

     We  had a great  District Conference in Corner Brook, Newfoundland this past weekend, April 11th-12th, 2015.  Elder Harding and I flew over to NFL with Sister Leavitt, while the rest of the Senior Couples planned to drive and then take the ferry over, with President Leavitt, a 12 hour process.  We were all sort of holding our breath that the weather would hold, and we thought that we were "home free" until about 10:30 am Friday morning, when President saw online that the ferry was cancelled due to a strong wind forecast for that evening!  Disappointing for the 10-12 missionaries scheduled to come on the ferry, But we saw the hand of the Lord helping us as we were able to get to NFL with Sister Leavitt, plus President was able to book the last seat available on the afternoon flight and get there as well. This was a small miracle! The Leavitts' were the ones most needed that weekend to run the Conference, and the Lord got them there.

This ferry ride might....

......have become this ride!  Hi ho Silver!

We loved meeting the wonderful Saints in Corner Brook. They are quite isolated there, not only from the rest of the church but from many things. A boat brings in the fresh produce and food each week, so if the boat can't get in, they have to be able to manage. I think that this is why the Saints here are known  are known for being so kind and Helpful and good to others. They know that they have to take care of each other, there is no one else. They were so good to us and we felt that we had known them for a long time, so easy to talk to, lots of hugs and smiles, and sincere conversations.
   When a friend back home in Calgary heard we were going to be in Corner Brook, she asked me to look up some people she knew --- she had grown up here, which I did not know before!

Here is Brother Hicks, and Sister Watson.

They sent their love to Elaine.

   Both Elder Harding and I were asked to speak in  Leadership Training, which was a good expereince. There were about 20 members attending, plus Grand Falls, Bay Roberts and St. John's joined us via Skype.

During the Weekend, I kept feeling prompted to follow Presidents example and spend one on one time with individuals. Since most of our Missionary group could not make it, the training for the Young Womens and Primary organizations did not happen as planned. I did not feel like an expert in these areas, but I felt that I could share with the women what had benefitted our children, so I took the Primary President aside and we had a good chat ---- she showed me their Primary room, told me all about what they were doing in the Branch and how she was not only the Primary President, but also the chorister and one of the two teachers! I don't know who was teaching who! I think what was most needed for her, was to "share" what she was doing and have someone listen to her.
Then I found the YW's president and she told me that she had been a member for only a few months, and the YW's president for 2 months --- she was looking forward to getting some help that weekend, so I told her some of the things that were done in YW back ho me with our 3 girls as they were growing up.  Then the spirit told me to tell her that the most important thing was to just keep showing up each week -- her young women would notice that and follow her example, and maybe one day, they would go on a mission as they remembered their YW president who was a faithful convert to the church --- this was what she most needed to hear and she smiled at that.
So it did not take any preparation to do that,  and even though those who were prepared to teach were not able to be there, the Lord still provided a way to strengthen and help these Saints.


 We  had lots of fun doing things like

eating Moose meat.

A family in the Branch hunted and cooked it ... down the hatch she goes, matey!

We sang "Happy Birthday" to the Leavitts,

and placed our bets on who would win the arm wrestling challenge.....

And best of all, five of us were "screeched in".

You have to declare that you  really, really want to be an honorary Newfoundlander, drink cod liver oil,

Kiss the cod fish, dance a scottish jig,

and say, "May your jib always draw", as you down the cod liver oil. Elder Alger, Sister Pearce and Sister Leavitt joined us in this time honored ritual. What a bunch of crazies!  I am not sure, but I think that perhaps the Corner Brook branch enjoy watching the CFA's (come from away) do this --- I know I would!

To finish, you eat bologna on a cracker and drink some home made syrup!

We got our official certificates. Could not be happier!

We even had a little time to shop for souveniers,

being careful not to step on this big Newfoundland dog, "guarding" the store.

The scenery was rocky and beautiful, the amount of snow still here, in mid- April is mind boggling.

We saw and did many things ---- most importantly, we helped to lift the Saints, share our testimonies, and hopefully gave some encouragement along the way. We left tired but satisfied. We would go back again, in a heart beat--- thank you Corner Brook, for a memorable weekend!

Easter and the Promise of Spring!

     What a great combination, Easter and General Conference, both on the same weekend!  As we were getting ready to go to the Mission Office on Good Friday, Elder Harding and I were talking about how the Halifax Temple was  open from 8 am - 8 pm that day, and we both just felt that we wanted to attend.

We changed our plans for the afternoon, called and booked a time to do our family names for sealings, and had a wonderful experience in the Temple. It just feels like "coming home" to be in this building, regardless of how much snow there is laying on the ground.I am just saying, it IS April ... snow, you can go now!  As we visited with some of our friends over supper  the next day, they told us that the Temple had done a record number of 1,000 ordinances on Friday and everyone was just so pleased. We are truly the beneficiaries as we were able to participate with the Saints here in Atlantic Canada.

Of course, Mother Nature had a late April Fool's joke up her sleeve, and we got yet another blizzard on the weekend --- I guess it really does not matter who delivers the chocolate, so long as there is chocolate, right?!?  

One just has to keep their sense of humor, and their shovel handy --- spring will be here soon, Maritimes!!

Food for thought ---- do those who wait longer for spring, in many different ways, appreciate it all the more? I would give a resounding "Yes" to that!

On Easter Sunday, we gathered at the Mission Home with about 16  other missionaries to eat and laugh together, and to watch the closing  Conference session. It was a really nice afternoon!!

I cannot say often enough how much we love these missionaries!  Their combined light and testimony is like a lighthouse on the shore. Their faith shines from their countenances and it lifts and strengthens my own.

We also had the opportunity to teach our friends from Nepal on Easter weekend, Archan and Pusza. We had ordered in some Church literature written in Nepali for them, and they were pleased and surprised to recieve it. They said it was the first time that they had seen their native language in book form since coming to Canada.  We hope this leads to more in-depth discussions with them. Elder Harding felt that we should teach them about the meaning of Easter this weekend, and as we got settled in and ready to teach, we first asked if they had any questions. Archan said that a family member from Nepal had asked him just the other day what Easter was all about over here--- he said he had no idea, so he asked us and, because Elder Harding had listened to the spirit, we were prepared to teach them. The thought went through my mind how this doctrine that we were sharing was being shared with others, across the world in Nepal, and it left me  sort of breathless.  I thought again how much God loves all of His children, around the world and wants them to know  Him. Humbling to be a part of the Lords work.

On Easter Monday, we got permission to take four  of our lovely District Sisters out to Peggy's Cove -- -three of them will leave for home in 2 1/2 weeks.

We had Such a lovely afternoon together!

These are the moments where time freezes...

and you remember the people and the place...

....for the rest of  your life!!

We ended by treating everyone to a warm bowl of clam chowder soup. This was the first time Sister Heritzler had ever tasted clam chowder soup --- she polished off the bowl, so I would say it was a success!

We love the Lord, we see His Hand in the work  and even though there are days when we wonder ...... will spring ever come, am I making a difference, there are also days when we feel that we are drinking from our saucer, 'cause our cup is overflowing.

"Land Ho!"

I am so excited!  I saw the first bit of grass today, emerging from the snow ---- yes!!!

"Land Ho, me maties!" Spring is coming.

We have actually been quite fortunate and have  never really had any trouble driving around in all of the nasty weather until last weekend. Several Sister Missionaries gathered at the mission home to watch the General Women's Broadcast, and while we were inside being spiritually fed, a good old blizzard blew in. When we walked out afterwards to go home, all of our vehicles were buried under 4-6 inches of snow--- surprise!
 Did not see that coming! Out came the snow blower to clear a path, and a broom to clear our vehicles, then I hopped into  my van to make the 5 minute drive home and got stuck in the snow twice. Each time I had to reverse, with little to no visibility and try another route, the worst being the downhill bit, and into oncoming traffic. I was finally able to get back to the mission home and President gave me a ride home in their 4 wheel drive vehicle -- no problem at all, and we even got around the city bus that was stuck on the hill, blocking our lane.  Fantastic!  The Lord watches over His missionaries, doesn't He.  We now want our own 4 wheel drive vehicle!
 
   Another  exciting thing happened, just as good as getting safely home in a blizzard. I had the  wonderful experience of doing Family History with one of our District Missionaries, Sister Sharp, from Cole Harbour area. She and I have met together about 3 times now, trying to reserve a family name for her to take to the Temple. Today, for our District Meeting, we were given permission to spend half of the time, one hour, on FH, throughout the whole mission.

Sister Sharp and I dug into her family file again. We both felt that she needed to contact her aunt, who had reserved some family names in Family Search several years ago, which we did, but with no results.The spirit told us to keep trying, so we looked up the 1-800 number, called it and got help from Salt Lake. They agreed to work on releasing the reserved names to Sister Sharp, only because she has already contacted her aunt! Awesome! 

But this process will  take a while and Sister Sharp really wanted a name for the Tuesday Temple session  next week, so we got back on the computer, even though I was feeling a bit tired after  2 hours of FH. As we again put our shoulder to the wheel, we found that her great-great-grandmothers name was not entered into the system, but the husband and children were. After some research on ancestry, we found that name, supported by census records, and we were able to enter and reserve it, so Sister Sharp now has a name for Tuesday!  Incredible!  AND she discovered that this side of the family is from..............Nova Scotia!!! What!  She and I just looked at each other with wide open eyes and mouths, then started laughing, and hugging!  Her ancestor was born here, then moved to California  --- smart move, given the weather we have just had!  SO amazing --- now we are going to look for headstones in a grave yard and see if we can get pictures. Wonderful! Love it!

We continue to have fun with "our" Missionaries, and love to work with them. We have lots of good times together, and many learning experiences. It keeps us young, being with this age group.

We Love the Lord, this is His work. There is lots of work to do, but also many experiences that we will look back on and treasure.

"Sheila's Brush"

Dear Mother Nature,

We do not want to be selfish and collect ALL of the snow in the whole world!  Please feel free to "share" with others! 

Well, the thing that everyone talks about is...... you guessed it, the SNOW!

There are many Newfoundland terms that we are hearing  here--- one that we learned last week was "Sheila's Brush" --- I am told that it means the last big snow storm of the winter, just before spring, and it is supposed to "gather" all of the snow out of the air and just dump it, all at once. That is what we got last week --- two feet of new snow on Sunday,  then 2 days later, 2-3 feet of more snow on top. Below is the back walk way leading to our parking lot, at our apartment. We were all snowed in for 2 days, as the snow plow got stuck trying to get in to plow us out, so we all just stayed home and waited. I said to Elder Harding, "I have no more banana's to eat" --- he just laughed! 

Our neighbour, Claudio, was out shoveling on Tuesday -- the plow got in on Thursday and finally set us free. Cabin fever is a weird thing!

 That is all I have to say about that!

Sidewalks everywhere were impassable until the city got around to them. Many people just started to walk down the side of the road, so driving got a bit tricky, but we just took our time and managed.

For entertainment, we watched people try to shovel their cars out while we were snowed in.  I have to say, it was great to see the way people helped each other out -- 

Now that I am finished "venting" about the weather, I will share with you  our mission Presidents message for the week. He is  always upbeat,  and lifting the mission.

" We all know the weather has been terrible. It does affect our work. It will get better. We just need to press forward and declare our independence from the weather. Be your own person. Don’t let a bit of snow or wind or cold stop you from our work. Where there is a will there is a way. Necessity is the mother of invention. Press forward saints with steadfast faith in Christ.President Leavitt"     There you go!  

In the middle of this memorable winter,  is evidence that the Lord is taking care of us. New Missionaries fly in every 6 weeks, and missionaries gather at the Halifax Temple for a Missionary session, before flying home at the completion of their mission --- we have never missed one of these great events,  in spite of all of the storms. Isn't that something! Above is the Transfer group in March, 2015

There are several beloved missionaries serving here who are from Alberta, and we hope that we get to see them again and again in the years ahead.

This picture below says it all!  I get a lump in my throat every time I look at this picture! 

I love it, and I love all that it represents!

Last week, before the second storm hit, we drove to Truro for a full day of Leadership Training. It was, hands down, the best "Leadership Training" that I have ever been to.

The day started with President calling on four Elders to come up and sing "Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy", with no prior notice or time to practice. (This hymn is becoming one of my favorite, as it  represents the Maritimes so well) The first thing that we were taught is that  we always need to be prepared,as leaders,  to be called upon, like the Elders who were asked to sing. Then we were told to think back  on the words to the Song we had just heard-- Christ guides us into the Harbour, but "to us, is left the keeping, of the lights upon the shore." We all need to hold up our lights, to guide those who are in need, to show where the dangers are, to help guide some struggling soul to Christ.

Below  is a picture of Elder Harding speaking to a Branch in Newfoundland, via skype camera.Today, he and Sister Aslett spoke, from our living room, to the Bay Roberts Branch, NFL. They  both did a great job. It is a unique experience, speaking to a congregation through a computer, but it works because the spirit is there--- I thought that I would share a little story that Sister Aslett told.

Once there was a group of chickens that wanted to learn how to fly.So, they decided to hold a meeting in the barn with all of the other barn yard animals and tell them about their desire to fly. There was much excitement and discussion on how they were going to accomplish this. A group of ducks were at the meeting and they offered to teach the chickens, so the next day, they gathered together and the ducks demonstrated flying.

After about 3 hours of practise, almost all of the chickens were able to fly from one side of the barn to the other! It was wonderful~

The ducks were pleased with their efforts, but no one was happier than the group of chickens. They were so pleased with what they had learned, in just 3 hours!

Then, after they were done practicing, the chickens all left the barn and walked home!

I sure hope that we are not like those chickens!  We are learning a lot here in the mission field. I know that  we all learn as we go through different experiences in our life, whereever we may be.

I pray that we will be able to remember what we learn, know that we can "fly", or do things that seem difficult or even impossible, when we have the Lords help. May we  continue to rely upon the Lord, who, because of the Atonement, knows us better than we realize. May we be ready to help those in our sphere of  influence who need guiding, that we may all return back to our Father's house, one day.

"Citius, Altius, Fortius"

Dear Family and Friends, 

If February went by quickly, then March is slipping past even faster! It is already the middle of March and in our weekly staff meetings, we are looking ahead to May, thinking and planning. That has us all a little "weirded out" as there are only two more transfers to plan and work on before our dear friends, President and Sister Leavitt, will be done their term here  and returning home --- wow!  We are all being encouraged to adopt "Citius, Altius, Fortius" as our motto right now. When I first

read these words in the weekly letter, I thought it said "Citrus.." and I started thinking about Orange juice!

But No, it is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger!"  President has asked each of us to ponder our purpose and let it inspire us to be stronger, move more swiftly, and reach higher. If we thought that he was going to "Coast" out of here, in the last few months, we were all wrong -- -there is no coasting!

I was reading the blog of some friends who are currently serving in the Congo --- I have to admit that a small twinge of jealousy went through me as I saw their pictures with so much sunshine!  Then I thought to myself, yeah but they also have lots of snakes there... and so I was comforted!! Ha Ha!  There are definetly no snakes here! Barely anything alive outdoors, in fact, this winter.

February was a very busy month in the CHM. President travelled the whole mission over a period of 3 weeks, visiting personally with every single missionary in their apartments. Elder Harding accompanied him on the Nova Scotia run. Mother Nature decided to bless us with lots and lots of snow, and everywhere they went, they drove through storms  ---- here is  Elder Wilson out shoveling in front of the mission home, helping out Sister Leavitt while President was away----such good young men !!

This is the view from our balcony as another storm blew in --- every 3-4 days, all month long, storm after storm hit the Maritimes. Many people have told us it is the worst winter they can remember. We got to be here to see it!  One day, we will really appreciate that!

This person will not be going anywhere soon!

Below is our van in the parking lot outside our apartment --- we start the van from inside our apartment, about 15 minutes before we have to leave, and some days we are hooped, because we have not realized that it rained and then froze during the night! It is all very exciting and we now miss our garage back home almost as much as we miss our grandchildren!! Ha ha, just kidding of course!

Inside, however, it is a different story completely. There is so much love and support going around between these companionships , they are just full to the brim with love. Sister Sharp, who is sitting on the arm of the chair here,  has taught me a lot about how to love ! She just "pours" her whole self into people.

We  hold District meetings in the board room every Wednesday.It is a spiritual highlight of the week. Elder Blum (From High River) at the back is our D L, and Elder Henderson, near right, is zone leader.

The missionaries organized a "Farewell Party" for Sister Brown, complete with cake. She had some health concerns, and needed to return home, so....

.....the District quickly put a small party on for her

This picture is after District meeting the next  week. 

We had a visitor drop by the Mission Office with a tray of yummy squares for us, and we felt bad that the Zone leaders were not there to eat it with us, so we took a picture and sent it to them. Okay, so we did not really feel bad .. the sign that Elder Blum is holding up says "Don't tell the zone leaders!"

The most exciting thing though, since the roof fell down in the Mission Office was watching them try to get the transfer van out of the ice the day that the new Missionaries flew in, this past week, March 10th, 2015.

The van had not been moved since last transfer, 6 weeks earlier, and so all of the tires were frozen solid in about 4 inches of ice. Elder Harding, and 4 other missionaries heated up water and then poured it around the tires to free them......

Then they unhooked the trailer, and tried to push

 the "Beast" free. It took about an hour of hot water, pushing and finally hooking a truck to the front and pulling to get the transfer van out, but once again, the Mission motto held true..."We cannot be stopped!"

Good work, Men!!

It is always a tender time, to say "Goodbye"to a Faithful group of Missionaries. The longer we know them, the more we love them, the harder it is keep the tears back. We have come to know and Love them all ---we know their families are waiting anxiously for them and they are excited to see them, and the Missionaries are somewhat nervous at another "Change" in their lives.

We all go forward with Faith . I am reminded of those who pass from this life to the next --- those who remain, are sorrowing to part with them, but others are waiting who are excited  to greet them.

I know that as we stay close to the Spirit and Let God guide our lives, He will temper our Sorrows, wipe our tears, and heighten our joys. May this be so, may you all Feel and know of His infinite Love and power to Bless and help us all. I am so grateful for all the He does for me, each and every Day.

Love, Sister Harding

The Sky is Falling

 We got a call from the Assistants last Sunday night in a panic that the roof had fallen in at the office,  that there was water everywhere.  Of course this got us quite concerned.  As they were describing what it looked like they were going into different rooms of the office.  Oh, there is a leak in the quad rooms as well,  it's leaking it the presidents office,  there's one leak in the board room.  Oh no, the roof has come down in the kitchen as well.   When we got there they said that the lights didn't work in the front entrance where it was worst, so we cleared everything out of the way,  water was coming down and we were catching most of it and the floor was soaking wet.   Once we moved everything, tried the light switch which actually worked and removed the debris, it didn't look so bad although we did find water dripping in the storage room as well that they hadn't checked.  Things always look better in the light.

 I tried to think, who in the Ward could provide some help with plastic and buckets and Br. Lawless came to mind.  He was a God send.   He knew exactly how to plastic things up to contain the water, had great big garbage buckets to contain the water and I had to encourage him to leave so he could get some sleep for his 5 am. work day.     Typical of the Maritimes.  So willing to help.  The Landlord was much less helpful.  Basically, your on your own until morning.

The one large bucket in front I figured would fill-up half full in two hours so luckily we keep an extra bed in the storage room for transfers.   Set the alarm every two hours and had a fun night.  At one point I heard this crash and a flush of water and I thought the roof had fallen in at a different spot.  I woke up in a start and turned the lights on but found nothing.  I found out the next day that this was just the ice breaking up on the roof and the water being released, hopefully out of danger.   I told someone that it was just like having an new born for the night and Sister Harding commented.  "Yes, but you were the one doing the crying"    Good one.                        

The definition of stupid is doing the same thing and expecting different results.    The FM group from the church was very helpful.  They came in the very next day and cleaned the remaining stuff up, vacummed the rugs and the following day cut new insulation and ceiling tiles and installed them all.  I asked,  is the roof fixed.   Response,  we hope so.   Well two days later when it was warmer and it started raining again voila,  The Office Sisters came running into my office yelling that waters is coming down in the reception area.   I gave one of them my camera and told them to take pictures and with my previous training from Br. Lawless created a funnell for the water, removed the ceiling tiles that were previously installed and minimized any damage.  The FM group came by again. I instructed them to take down the tiles in every place where there was a previous leak and put buckets out again.   Once we had everthing in place he looked at me and said.  I will be back in the morning to put the tiles back up.   I said.  "No you won't"   We are leaving the plastic and buckets out for a week or so.  One more thaw to make sure we don't have a repeat.  President Leavitt suggested that I start Harding's restoration services when we get home.