Lead By The Spirit

In  1 Nephi 4:6,  Nephi writes, "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."

     This scripture took on new meaning a few days ago, during our road trip through Newfoundland. One morning, as we were preparing to go out to look through some graveyards, searching for
 Sister L's ancestors, the spirit brought clearly to my mind the new password for Sister L's account on Family Tree. We had called the help line and got her password reset a few weeks previously, so it was a brand new password for her. I did not know at the time why that thought came to my mind, but I just thought, "Oh, that is right, that is her new password," and  carried on.

   Little did I know that later in the day we would stop by the Anglican church, in our search for birth, death or marriage records for the area. The Anglican minister was very friendly and after we explained to her why we there, she warmly invited us into her office, and showed us where she kept all of the records, in a fire and water proof safe.

You can imagine our feelings of delight as we looked at these old books, dating back into the 1700's! What A Gold mine!

The only problem.....we needed to know what Year we were looking for in order for the Minister to find the right book where the information for Sister L's ancestors  might be recorded.

The spirit immediately prompted me to ask if she had an internet connection we could use as I pulled out an ipad. She  offered for me to sit at her desk and use her own computer --- I jumped up, took off my coat and stepped over to her desk, In a few minutes, using the password that the spirit had brought to my mind earlier that day, we were signed onto Sister L's family tree, on lds.org, and we were able to locate the exact years that we needed.

As we talked and scrolled through some names, we were able to then locate and take pictures of several "Rose" relatives which were recorded in the old books. We even found the name of  one wife we had no previous record of, who had married into the "Rose" family, complete with her maiden name and her fathers name!  

Whenever we found these original records, we would all huddle around the book and "drink in" the excitement of it all . We just felt so blessed!  It was definetly a highlight of our trip. 

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Truly, we were "Led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand" the things that we were being prepared for.

Before we left, I  invited this kind Minister to browse through the lds.org site and to sign onto Family Search  as a public member where she could have a look through the church's genealogy records, in return for the help which she had given us. 

Another rich Mission experience that I am grateful for. I know that God knows what our needs are, that He will prepare the way,  and assist us in  life, that He can bless, guide and strengthen us as we all press forward in the important work of Salvation in our personal lives, in our families, and in all else that we do, for I have seen and felt it in my own life, many times.

Hunting For Ancestors

Family History continues to be one of my main interests in life so I have been grateful to be involved in some unique experiences here in the mission field doing  genealogy research. It is part of the work of Salvation, as our President reminds us.

What a pleasure it was to spend four days driving across Newfoundland, from Gander to Twillingate, then about 4-5 hours south to Harbor Breton and Head' Bay D'espoire, where Sister Leavitt's parents were born and raised.

 These small coastal communities, sitting right on the harbors, are wonderful --- isolated, small towns that depend on fishing and sometimes tourism for their income.

We started out in Twillingate, then hit the road and took turns driving or sitting in the back and falling asleep. We talked, joked, ate junk food, and took lots of pictures along the way.

Best of all, we found and walked through several old cemeteries, hunting for Sister Leavitt's ancestors. We loved it!! 

This was the first time that Sister Leavitt had ever been to these small towns where her parents lived, so it was extra special for her and we were excited to be with her.

We tromped through several old, and overgrown graveyards, plus some that were more current and overlooked the beautiful harbours.

It was an incredible experience to walk through the mist and rain, peering at old headstones, trying to locate anyone by the last name of "Rose" and "Roberts", Sister Leavitt's family names.

This was the best one of all, to actually find her Grandfathers grave!  What a moment this was, and look at the view from this cemetery!  Imagine this on resurrection morning!   Wonderful!

We felt very blessed to have these few days together,.. these memories will last a life time. We clearly felt and knew that we were being guided by the Lord in our search and we now look forward to getting these family names entered into the Leavitt Family Tree so that she and her family can take these ancestors names through the sacred Temple.

Missions are full of experiences like these --- unique experiences that you have the opportunity to participate in, that you would not get to do anywhere else. This has been a real blessing in our lives.

We send our blessings  and prayers to you all in the great work that you also do in your homes, communities and church callings. No work is too small, no kind act goes unnoticed. I bear you my testimony that the Great Jehovah leads and guides this church, that He loves you and me more than we comprehend. May you fell this in your heart today ----
Sister and Elder Harding

Icebergs and Whales

We recently traveled to Gander, Newfoundland for Zone Conference, with President and Sister Leavitt. It was a lot of fun! Our flight  arrived at 1:30 am, then we stuffed the four of us, plus the two AP's, into a car to drive to the Hotel ---- the later it got, the more lost we got, and the more we laughed, finally arriving at the Hotel about 2:30 am. Elder Dudley, we will never forget you riding in the middle, in the front of the car, with your head sticking out of the sunroof!  Quite memorable!  Zone conference went really well, a time for final hugs and words of advice as this is the Leavitts last round of Zone's.

    We were able to go on a short road trip afterwards with the Leavitt's, driving up to Twillingate and taking a two hour boat tour to look for icebergs that had floated down from Greenland. We were all hoping to actually see some icebergs  and we were not disappointed!

The icebergs were beautiful and inspiring!

Our tour guide, the "Iceberg Man", had gotten up early that day and gone out on the ocean in the fog and rain to locate icebergs for our 9:30 am tour group.

A piece on one  of the largest iceberg actually  broke off, right while we were looking at it, and fell into the ocean ---- bonus!! The Iceberg man's assistant scooped bits of it out of the water and handed around some "iceberg ice" for us to try----- you will be happy to  know we did not catch any dread disease!

The blue color in the iceberg is a result of "pure" ice, with no air bubbles in it ---- beautiful!

The surrounding coastline was rugged, rocky, and amazing. 

These pictures do not do it justice. Newfoundland has a beauty all its own. 

As we turned  back for the harbor, we also caught sight of a whale ---- we all felt that we were so fortunate to  not only see these icebergs, which float in and out of this area quite quickly, but to have the rain stop, no one got sea-sick, and... we saw a whale.It just does not get much better. This is a remote, isolated and remarkable  corner of the world. We are grateful to have this chance to see it, and to share this time with our missionary friends! Aren't God's creations amazing and humbling.

A Beautiful Experience

A few days ago, we had a beautiful teaching experience. A Jewish woman in her 60's phoned the Halifax Temple and asked if there was anyone about her age who could come and teach her about our religion!  We jumped at the chance  --- her name is Lesly. She met a woman at a health retreat this past spring who she really connected with, and when she found out this woman, named Mary, was LDS, she decided to find out more about our faith.

We spoke with her for  almost two hours the first time we met and she came to church with us the next day. As  you can imagine, this is a HUGE step for someone who is Jewish to ask about and even attend a Christian faith. Lesly was  on the verge of cancelling more than once, but she persisted, and we are really loving getting to know her and to teach her. 

We all cannot help but benefit as we sit down and share and learn from each other --- it is Beautiful! The spirit filled the room and tears ran her cheeks and ours as we spoke together. 

We are looking forward to many more such times over the next days and weeks with her.

These four Missionaries represent another Beautiful part of our Mission. Sisters Fincher and Heirtzler, with Elders Blum and Tauffer came over to our apartment to practice a song for church services, titled "Fear Not". We learned it in three days and you have to know that the Spirit was helping us to learn a difficult piece and perform it that soon.  Love these Missionaries, their willingness to serve and their courage to act.

Here is Elder Blum following Elder Harding's direction to clean the stove during last transfer, even right down to wearing his own Tie Dye shirt! 

Elder Harding is having fun recording and posting "Cleaning" videos for the mission --- "toilet man", became "oven man" and soon will be known as "vacuum man" after he posts today's video! 

Of course, we have to mention one more "Beautiful" thing here in Halifax, and that is the flowers and the bushes that are in full bloom. They look so lovely.

There are many brightly colored houses around Dartmouth and Halifax. They make the streets look bright and cheery.

Tulips are quite popular, and can be seen in many flowerbeds, maybe because they grow so easily 

in this climate.

We continue to be busy and are looking forward to having more time to teach the Gospel in the coming months as we have been re-assigned to do Member and Leader support. We are training our replacements in the Mission Office this month, Elder and Sister Stewart, leaving us free to assist and help to train our new  Mission President and his Wife in July. We anticipate that the Pratts will adjust quickly, pick our brains clean in about 10 mins, thank us and then carry on ---  we will then move into doing more teaching and reactivation work -- should be fun!! 

Spiritual Growth

Outside our Apartment, just in front of where we park our van, there is an area full of undergrowth, some dead branches and bushes. During the winter, most of the growth was flattened by the heavy snow, and we thought it had been ruined. But in May, these unique plants started to grow.

Within a few weeks, they had grown to about 5-6 feet in height! We were quite surprised, and spoke about how these plants are sort of like a parable for the spiritual growth that occurs with Missionaries, young and old.  When we greet the brand new Missionaries, fresh from the MTC, there is a bit of the "Deer in the headlights" thing going on, but within a few weeks and months, the growth starts to occur, and it is really remarkable!

Each one of us has so much potential and capacity for "growth", and as we turn to the Lord, He will bless and magnify our efforts.

Our Granddaughter, Kyla, mailed "Flat Stanley" to us, with her cute little head on top, and asked us to take "Flat Stanley" with us whereever we went that week, write about our "adventures" in Halifax on our Mission, take pictures and send it back to her so she could share it with her classmates.  Here is Flat Stanley at the Mission Office...

....with Grandma and Grandpa Harding...

....and here we are with the Leavitts,

outside the Restaurant, "The Wooden Monkey" with the Halifax harbour behind us. It is a gorgeous view  of the Harbour from inside the restaurant. .

And here is Flat Stanley sitting on Sister Ranglack's shoulder!  We met here with the Leavitts and the Ranglacks, for an evening together before the Ranglacks leave for  home.This couple has served the last few months of their mission  in Corner Brook, NL,  and are now returning home to their family. They are a wonderful, kind couple and were so loved in NL. They will be missed.

But Missions are full of "change"!  Soon our dear friends, the Leavitts, will be completing their time here as the Mission President and Wife. We will miss them! A lot!!  But there is room in our hearts for more friends and we are excited to meet and assist our new Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Pratt.

I told the young Missionaries, at our Farewell Dinner and Testimony evening this past week, it is hard to say goodbye, but we are not done with each other!

One day, we will all sit down in Heaven and visit, laugh and love together again. It will be great! I look forward to it!

We are enjoying this time in the mission field, we love each other and we Love the Lord.