The Blessings Of Service

 We recently contacted our home ward back in Calgary to see if it would be possible to have our homecoming talk on the same weekend that our granddaughter, Kyla, will be getting baptized, so as to save our family from having to travel two weekends in a row.  Our  new Bishopric is organized, off and running, at full speed no doubt, and they were happy to put us in the schedule for September 20th,  and have already assigned us a topic to speak on ---- the topic is  "The Blessings of Service".
As I have been pondering about this topic, so many thoughts have flooded into my mind about the  blessings that come into our lives from serving. They are too numerous to list, but here are a few.

Below is a picture of a family that stopped by the Mission Office recently for a visit, as the mom had been a missionary here in the Maritimes about 20 years ago!
You can be sure that these parents interest in and connection with Missionary work is having an effect on their 5 children and they continue to be blessed for their service, years later. We also feel blessed to come from families who have been involved in Missionary work, with both sets of our parents having served missions, plus our children and their spouses having either served missions or are preparing their children to serve when they are old  enough ---

This picture below reminds me of the Sacrifice and Blessings of service ---- our new Mission President and his wife  packed up and said goodbye to their family for three years --- one of their daughters had her first baby the week after they arrived!  It is no small sacrifice for the Pratt's to be here!  

In the centre of this picture are the "Watson's", one of our senior couples who are finishing their mission as the CES couple here, reporting their mission in Saskatchewan, and then returning  to live in PEI. Sister Watson's mother is in a nursing home there and the great Blessing of their service is that they were able to be placed in an area and serve their mission close to her.

I have been reflecting on the personal stories that many of our young missionaries   have shared with us, particularly Elder Waldie, who had only been a member for one year before he decided to go on a mission. His non member parents struggled to understand why he was leaving them, and for two whole years. At the airport as they wept and said good bye to him, his mom kept saying "You don't have to go!!". It was SO hard for him to leave, but with each step he took, the spirit confirmed that he was doing the right thing. So it is with each of us. This week, "Elder" Waldie, who has been home from his mission for about 6 mnths, was sealed in the Temple to his sweetheart!

We continue to meet with and love our good friend, Lesly,(below), who is feeding a duck on her front step in this picture. It has been a real  Blessing in both of our lives to be able to meet people from different backgrounds and religions. We are all better for our association, for coming together and understanding  and talking with each other.

In Between appointments one Saturday, we stopped and watched the boat races on Banook Lake, and had a hot dog --- yummy!

It was a lovely summer afternoon, and we were able to take it in and enjoy the sunshine. 

Meeting these friends has been a real blessing to us here. The Buott's and the Pitt's have opened their homes and their hearts to us and we value their friendship.

Going out for dinner with the Stewart's and the Pratt's once in a while keeps us all young.

Sometimes the girls shop too long, but hey, that is all right. Another blessing of service  as Seniors is  that you find some sweet little shops around to browse through.

  Sleep on Brethren!

Most of all, we feel that our family has been such a blessing in our lives!  They have never held us back from serving a mission, only encouraged us to go, and supported us the whole time. We love them so much and are grateful to them.

                                                                                   

Relationships

As I was thinking about our Mission experiences, and what we have learned, what we have done, and all of that, it came to my mind that one of the  most important things  is the relationships that we form in life, with family, friends, our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. I have seen that as we build upon the sure foundation of the Savior and strive to become more like Him each day, all of our relationships will be better

We are just so proud of this little family who continue to work on their  important relationships and have allowed us to be a part of their journey, We love this little girl, Lilly, who gives us hugs and butterfly kisses, and lets Elder Harding take  her into Nursery.

I had to include this picture below because the Ipad regularly cuts off Elder Harding's head in the pictures that I take..... oops!!

I have to remember to to centre it better. Anyways!

Relationships take time and effort, and our relationship with our Companion is so important. One of the advantage of being Senior Missionaries is that we get to go do "stuff", like taking time to eat at this fun restaraunt on the Halifax side of the Harbour. We need these times to connect with each other and just "smell the flowers" once in a while.

Our friend Lesly, has also become dear to our hearts. She likes to have us over for supper, so we can visit and connect.We sure like it as well and stir up some fantastic salads together. I was thrilled to learn that Lelsy  is an art teacher, and she has agreed to give me some  art lessons!  Love it!

The relationships we have made with the young missionaries here is an absolute treasure to us!  One day, Sister Mangelson was teasing Elder Harding and told him he needed to  "get it right", the thing that he was working on in the office... he immediately said, 'Those are fightin' words....we need a planking competition, next transfer, see you then!"

She loved it!  So we had them over for lunch and a friendly little planking competition....  ask Elder Harding next time you see him who won!

As we gathered in the front of the Mission Office for a final picture of our District, the door opened and the mail man came in. We all laughed and encouraged him to join in with us, so he jumped in on the picture. It was pretty funny.

After our last Transfers, we set up the ping pong table and played games....It was great!. Sister Pratt has a fun competitive side! We love her and President Pratt, who was unfortunately sick this week and unable to join in, but he will be back!

We love these departing Missionaries so much and wish them all well.... Sister Shannon, who would drop by the office for a chat and a laugh and to check for mail.

Sister Drew, who loved to call up Elder Harding every day and ask for advice on everything,

 Sister Gochnour, who was always full of smiles and love ...

and Elder Erickson, one of the AP's, a stellar young man who stepped up and stepped in, with a smile and a laugh that was contagious.

Most important is our Relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  All of these wonderful individuals that we have met here on our Mission have added light and love to our days, and have taught us more about how to Love as Jesus Christ and God do. We may have done some teaching, but we have also done a whole lot of learning!

Changing of the Guard

This past month has seen a lot of changes in the Mission.  President and Sister Leavitt came to the end of their three year term here in the Maritimes.  They were able to travel the Mission and say "Goodbye" to all of the Missionaries personally.

It was very touching to watch all of these farewells from the Heart! Leavitts have done a wonderful job here and are well loved!

We are now about finished training our replacements in the Mission Office, and we are spending our time doing a bit of  travelling with President and Sister Pratt, and assisting them in getting accustomed to the Mission, 

The "Changing of the Guard" is something that happens regularly in the Church. The Mantel passes smoothly from one set of shoulders to another. Our hearts were pretty full as we said Goodbye to the Leavitts,  but  we were set and ready to welcome in President and Sister Pratt.It is a priviledge to know and work with these two remarkable couples.

Now we are experiencing some more changes as we step away from the Mission Office, which has occupied the majority of our time and energy for the past year, and turn our efforts towards reactivation and Fellowshipping in the Dartmouth Ward. Any kind of Change takes a period of Adjustment. 

Isn`t it comforting to know that this is the Lords works, not ours, but His. and That as we turn our will and our hearts over to Him, He will direct, comfort, reassure and help us all. 

We have had many remarkable experiences serving here in the Maritimes.

We may forget the "technical tasks" we did while in the Office, but we will never forget the People we have come to know and love here.

It has been a blessing, indeed, to us!

Connections

When President and Sister Pratt arrived in Newfoundland last week, they saw that the Hotel where they were staying  had posted this sign. There are Board Rooms in this Hotel, so we have held the last two Zone Conferences here as well. We were all so pleased, not only about the kind welcome, but also how this raises the profile of the church in the area.   Thank you, Hotel Gander!

Once a month, Elder Harding speaks via skype to one of the Branches in Newfoundland, along with the other members of the Mission Presidency. In June, he invited Jacob MacMichael to speak with him. Brother MacMichael had recently returned from serving in the Calgary, AB Mission. There are so many connections between the Maritimes and Western Canada.


Another "Connection" that stood out this past month was when a group of community members from various religious backgrounds booked a time to come and visit with our Missionaries and ask questions about the Mormon Faith. They wanted to see inside the Temple, but settled for a picture outside instead. Quite remarkable that we have this opportunity for positive interactions with other faiths.

President Leavitt and a few of our local Missionaries prepared a presentation for this group, explaining that we beleive in a "Restoration" rather than a "Reformation". It was a good discussion.

Here is an example of some other "Connections". IPads that are left laying around are "Fair Game" for the young Missionaries to take "Selfies"! In the photo are Elders Dudley (main culprit), Funa, Taufer, Allsop, Blum Hansen, and Quinton. We love these Elders to pieces!

The relationships that we form in life are so important.

We are so grateful for these Young Missionaries that we get to know and love. This is Sister Sharp, who came back to the  Mission Field recently and stopped to say "Hello". Elder Torrie swung through last week also, with his parents,  to tour the Mission. It was wonderful to see them again and we plan on staying connected for many years to come.

I am grateful for these memories, for the positive things that are happening in the mission and throughout the world. As each of us love those in our circle of influence, reach out to those not of our faith in respectful conversations, and pray each day for the Lord to show us what he would have us do that day,  we can all do much good, in our own way!