IItIt has been a super busy time in the Mission field with Transfers and then Zone conferences. November has flown past, and soon we will be at the three month point. The Tempo picks up, and a bit of anxiety kicks in as young missionaries wonder where they will be going at Transfer time. We always have a Seniors Conference call on the Friday before Transfer week, as President Leavitt has all of the Senior couples come online at the same time, and we take turns sharing what we are doing in our different areas, and chatting together. Then President tells us what transfers are going to happen the next week and who will be going where. That way, we can be on the look out for new Missionaries coming into our areas, and be ready to welcome and help them along. He always warns us, though, that the young missionaries know about the conference call, and they will be very tricksy in trying to get us to tell them everything we know about transfers! So about 1/2 hour after the Conference call was over, three young missionary sisters wandered into the Mission Office and came right up to the desk where I was working away, and they were so smiley and chatty, wanted to know how I was doing, etc., then one asked how the conference call went! It took all I had not to laugh --- I said it was great, as always, then she asked if there was anything that I wanted to share with her, and I looked confused and said No, I didn't think so, So then they got more "direct" and just out and asked what I knew about transfers, "Come on, they said, the other Senior couples always tell us!" - Good try girls! Ten out of ten for effort, for sure! I just laughed and replied that it was all just so confusing for us Senior Missionaries, and the President went so fast, I just could not remember anything! Good fun! Love these young missionaries to pieces!
Our fellow Maritimers have commented more than once on the weather back west, and commended us on our "good sense" in being out here in the East where the climate is so much more mild! Our friends here have a pretty fun sense of humor and we really enjoy it --- as we were driving into the office last week, I looked around and said to Elder Harding, look at how green the grass still is, and I had to roll my window down and take a picture. Except for the fact that there are no leaves on the trees, you would think it was spring or summer. As I was getting my hair cut at J. J. Choo's, from Dartmouth ward, she said that they wonder each year whether they would have a "Green" Christmas or a "White" one ---- I thought for a second and then replied, "Back home, it is a choice between "Brown" or "White", "Green" is not an option!
So, not to rub it in or anything, but this is what the ground looks like here right now! On the bright side, they are needing more senior couples here, and we have a couple of empty apartments! Ha Ha!
I am not sure if this video will upload onto the site or not --- it will show a picture of my program, at the Family History Fair last weekend, but it is a recording of 3 women singing "Farewell To Nova Scotia". I did not want to video their faces while in the chapel , so I just recorded the music as the audience joined in with the singing -- it was great! So much of the history here is about the comings and goings of the Fishermen, and now also of the younger generations that leave the Maritimes to look for work out west. It was a great conference, and the event was posted in the local community newspaper, to invite non-members and members alike to come out. Very well attended, with the missionaries acting as Guides.
An interesting thing happened that I wanted to share with you. Part way through the Family History Fair, we had to leave and go find an empty classroom because we were scheduled to join in, via Skype, with the Zone conference in Newfoundland, and assist in doing some training for the group for about 1/2 hour. Elder Harding was setting up and I was standing in the hallway, about to go into the classroom, when I saw two of our Sister Missionaries sitting in the entrance way and I had a distinct feeling that I should go over and chat with them.
I hesitated because I did not want to be late for the Skype call, but again the spirit prompted me to go over, so I walked over and said Hi. They asked how I was, etc.. and I told them that we were about to do some training for the NFLD zones, and they said, "But Sister Harding, didn't you know that the Wii Fii is turned off in the Building today for the Family History Fair". I sort of froze and looked concerned, and they said, "Don't worry Sister Harding, do you have an I-Phone? Then all you need to do is Tatter with your phone and create a hot-spot!" I looked at them like they were speaking another language, which they sort of were, and said, "You ladies need to come with me and help us!" So up they jumped and in a few minutes they had us connected to the Skype call in NFLD and we were good to go! We were only a few minutes late and President laughed when I told him about our experience and he said, our motto here is
"We cannot be stopped!!"
So my testimony to you is that God is just SO mindful of us that He knows what we need, even before we know that we need anything! And He will help us and guide us, and bring people into our lives to give us the assistance that we need, even before the situation itself happens. How wonderful it is to Know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us, watches over us, and stands ready to help us, if we will but listen to and act upon the promptings that He sends to us, through the Holy Spirit. I pray that we will know and feel of His great love for us. I love Him and I am so grateful for the direction, guidance, comfort and love that He sends to me.
"In the mission
field, it is like being in a volunteer hospital. Sometimes we are the patient and
sometimes we are the doctor, nurse or administrator. Through our participation
in this exercise we not only assist in healing others but in the process heal
ourselves" .."for he that shall lose his soul for my sake shall find
it" ( President Leavitt.)
I will write more about this quote another time ---this thought is intriguing to me.
Love to all! Elder and Sister Harding, from Green Gables and Green Grass country!
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