Spring has Sprung

 It is amazing to think that three weeks ago snow was everywhere.   Water, water everywhere you look.   This is a view looking onto Halifax Harbour from Downtown Halifax.   A popular restaurant called the Bicycle Thief is on the corner.  We haven't been yet but will before we leave.

 Had a Fabulous Preparation Day.    Sealings at the temple and then out to another quaint restaurant on the Eastern Passage called Warf Wraps.   The Haddock with Creme Cheeze in the middle is more that you can eat.   The Pitts on the far left are from Boise Idaho, (They work in the Temple)  The Greens are a local couple who work in the office part time.  Elder Green is our resident Newfoundlander.  President and Sister Leavitt.

 No we don't want our picture taken.  Sister Leavitt and Sister Harding

 Now these two are very cute together.   We cherish our time with the Leavitt's.  They are so gracious and kind and humble servants of the Lord.

President Leavitt is Fabulous.  It's always fun to be with them.    He challenged the Missionaries to read the Book of Mormon during this transfer.  It's been very rewarding.   I am writing down all of the different titles given to Jesus Christ.   I am up to 118.  It has helped me appreciate and grow closer to the Saviour.   A title that is used very extensively is "The Lord of Hosts"

President Leavitt also has a physical challenge for the Missionaries.   5 min planking.   It was all that I could do to make one minute for two weeks, then all of a sudden I started to make some improvements.   I made 3 minutes last Saturday. (About 8 weeks into the challenge)   That which you persist in doing becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing has changed but our ability has increased.   The once impossible task of 5 minutes seemed totally out of reach.   There is absolutely no way, I would think.   But now with some persistant effort, it seems like it might be possible.  I now have hope that I could be able to do it.   There's a parable in this experience for me.

Tenacity -- the Parable of the Toque!

I love this picture of a toque that someone dropped on the edge of the road leading to the back of our apartment. It was lost back in about January, when the snow started to fall. A passerby picked it up and hung it from a dead twig. The yarn  must have gotten tangled in the branch, because this toque stayed there the entire winter, through multiple storms.

It even became completely buried in the snow at one point,

only to reappear in April as the snow finally  melted.

Each day as we drove up and down the lane, I saw the toque --- it just kept "hangin' in there", through the worst winter that the Maritimes has seen in a long time. That is one tenacious toque --- I just had to take a picture and write about it --- I told President about the toque in one of my weekly letters,  and also about some of the people that we had been able to work with on our mission. Some were at a place in their lives where they were receptive and ready to make changes, while others were not. 

We have not given up on those who struggle, but continue to reach out and invite and encourage.President said, "Before you leave, go and get the toque, and take it home with you. It will remind you of your service here and how it is important to become "tangled" in peoples lives and not give up on them."  That is a great insight ....

This young couple is also showing a lot of tenacity!

They have been through some challenging times, but they did not quit. This weekend, Elder Harding and some other members of the Dartmouth Ward are helping them as they move into a new apartment together, with their 2 year old daughter, Lily.

Lily has gotten quite comfortable with Elder Harding and will now come and sit on his lap.

When Matt and Andrea started coming back to church, Elder Harding would take Lily into the nursery so her parents could attend Sunday School class together. 

We were assigned to home and visit teach Matt and Andrea a few months ago and we are so proud of them and the choices and changes that they are making!

It is humbling to see what the Lord can do in our Lives as we open the Door and invite Him in. So grateful that we got to be involved in the process, and to play a small part. Meeting Matt and Andrea has been one of the highlights of our Mission.

Another highlight has been to see how the Lord has opened our minds and our eyes to see how the Saints in three different branches, throughout Newfoundland, could receive some much needed Training  . A few weeks ago, when we attended District Conference in NFL, and most of our group could not attend because the Ferry was cancelled. This meant that those scheduled to talk and teach could not make it --- as I later thought about how all of NFL joined into the conference via skype, the spirit impressed upon my mind to ask if the Stake Leaders

in Nova Scotia would allow the Branches in NFL to join in on  their stake training, twice a year, via Skype. 

This way, NFL would not miss out on valuable training due to uncertain weather conditions And the hearts of the Stake in NS would be turned towards their Brothers and Sister in NFL, to assist and help them out.

President readily agreed, and assigned me to follow through on it, so I called the Stake RS and Primary Presidents and they not only were willing, they volunteered to contact the NFL branches a few weeks ahead of their next training and get everyone on schedule. The missionaries will set up the Skype call, which takes the technical burden off the Stake -- this is the first time that this has happened and we are all  so excited! The Lord saw what needed to be done, He planted the thoughts, and showed us the way.

This month in the Mission, all of the Missionaries are reading the entire Book of Mormon, cover to cover, in one transfer.  I am Loving it!! I have never read the Book of  Mormon in that short of a time before and my testimony and love for this sacred Book of Scripture is growing each day as I read. All of the parents of our missionaries were invited to read it with us. It is a great experience. 

Elder Harding and I are both enjoying this, and are having some good discussions about what we are learning.

Our friends  from Nepal were very worried about their friends and family back home during last months terrible earthquake -- they were relieved to hear that all of their family is safe, just tired out from spending a couple of nights outdoors, waiting for the after shocks to stop ---- what a horrible tragedy, over 4,ooo dead. 

  Our hearts and prayers go out to our brothers and sisters of Nepal.

A Season of Change

Elder Harding and I cannot believe how fast the time is going. It seems to go quicker each transfer.
 We had our first ever "Sisters Only Transfer" last week, as a group of  "Sister Missionaries" completed their 18 months, and flew home. It is reflective of the "Bubble" of Sister Missionaries that came into the mission with the new age change, about 2 years ago, and now this bubble of Missionaries have completed their service and are returning home.

Left to right are Sister's Renda, Aslett, Burton, Ward, Sharp and Maxwell, with the Assistants, Elder Erickson and Dudley on the front right.

My favorite pictures are always when we do "Fun" picture after the "serious" picture! It just always brings out a different side!

As we listened to the "Farewell Testimonies" of this wonderful group of Sisters, there seemed to be a theme that got started and was repeated, the theme of  "Change". One Sister said that  she had really had a change of heart on her mission, another said she had seen great changes in other people, but mostly in herself, and someone mentioned that going home was going to be such a big change, they were so accustomed to missionary life. Sister Ward talked about the scripture Ether 12:27 and how it  had come to mean a lot to her. It reads, "And if men come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weaknesses that they may be humble: and my grace is sufficient for all men that if they humble themselves before me and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." She said that  being on a  mission had brought out her weaknesses, and for a while, that bothered her. Then she realized that the Lord was blessing her to be able to "Change" and turn her weaknesses into strengths!  One of the Assistants, in his testimony,  told us that he came on a mission thinking that he was going to "Change the world" --- and he ended up being changed the most.

How I LOVE these Missionaries --- their honesty, their strengths and all that they have taught me.

This picture reflects another "Change" that has happened.All of the snow that was outside our apartment

has now melted and become a small pond, complete with a "Duck!"

We had to stop and take this picture one morning on our way to the Office.We could not believe we were looking at a duck right where the snow drifts had been a few weeks ago. We are grateful for the change in weather and are enjoying it. 

We said a temporary "Goodbye" to Sister Drew.

She is just so much fun....she and her companion, Sister Maxwell, loved to call Elder Harding and ask him for help or advice. They admitted that they sort of came to rely on him, but he really enjoyed them calling. It as sort of like having daughters here to care for.

One week, when we had not heard from them for 3-4 days, we called them up and teased them a bit. We had to take this photo with the Sister Drew and Elder Harding on the phone, before Sister Drew got transferred. We will see her again in a few weeks time, before she too, goes home.

President reminded us, at the close of our Testimony evening, that it takes great courage to change ourselves. At 60 years of age, he said, you will have chosen your Face --- be it sad or happy, content or discontent. We will no longer be able to say it was this person or that, that made me what I am, but I am what I ultimately chose to be. This is just the beginning, at the end of our missions, he said. We are meant to go home, take off the name tag, and  use what we have learned, what we have become.

I really like these thoughts, and I have pondered on them. Being on a mission is a life-changing experience. It does bring out our weaknesses, it brings us to our knees and it gives us wonderful experiences that we would not have anywhere else.

I love the Lord, I am grateful for His tender Mercies. One of the  things that changes missionaries it to repeat, every morning, their Mission Commission ...... it reminds us that We are all called of God, we stand in His place and minister to the very people that He would minister to, if He were personally here. Our voice is His voice, Our acts are His acts, Our doctrine is His doctrine. Our commission is to do what He wants done, and to say what He wants said. 

As we strive to do this, it cannot help but Change us!

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.