"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.