Halifax Mission Month 5, November 2017

November has been a month of changes here in Halifax. One thing that has changed has been the weather. The leaves have fallen off the trees and it has become cooler. There is often a cold wind that blows and chills us to the bone. But we have also had some beautiful fall days where we have only needed our light coats. We have had very little snow here in Dartmouth – we have only seen a light skiff here two different mornings and it was gone by the afternoon. We did see quite a bit of snow one day when we were out of town in Truro but there wasn’t any here when we got back to our apartment. We weren’t sure if it had snowed and then melted or if it hadn’t snowed in Dartmouth that day.

 The cold weather has not deterred us from our walks for the most part, although we certainly dress warmer than we did before! Since there is no snow on the ground, we have continued to walk through the woods behind our apartment and enjoy the new season.

Fred and Kathy by Bissett Lake

Another thing that has changed has been our responsibilities in the temple. Fred and I spent quite a bit of time at the beginning of the month training Elder and Sister Loveland (a new senior missionary couple) how to work in the office since they will be the new office couple when we leave. The Lovelands are learning a lot. We remember when we first started and it was quite overwhelming! And we know that they are sometimes overwhelmed as well. It has been nice that we are still here to help them as they need it.

As they became more knowledgeable on their duties, The Temple President, President Veinot, asked us if we would be shift coordinators for any of the currently serving shift coordinators, so that they could have a break in the month of December. (They still work as ordinance workers on those shifts.) So now, we work either as shift coordinators, which we do on most days, or as ordinance workers.

We have had some wonderful experiences in the temple. The Temple was open for the usual shifts on Remembrance Day. We were busy as the New Brunswick Stake had arranged a temple trip for their youth and adults. Approximately 45 youth came and the baptistery was very busy. At one point, Kathy walked by the baptistery and it was an awesome sight to see all those beautiful youth sitting there in their white clothing waiting to be baptized for their ancestors. What a wonderful place the temple is!

We also had a special missionary session on Thursday, November 9. The missionary sessions are held approximately every six weeks. It is an additional session to the usual ones that we have and begins at 3 o’clock. This time, there were two sister missionaries that came, four elders, five couples, one senior sister, and one young man from the Sydney Branch who always comes when the missionaries come. Some extra workers came to facilitate them as well as the presidency and the temple missionaries. They had a really nice session.

We have continued to serve in the ward as well. We started out the month home teaching 4 single sisters, 2 of whom share an apartment. Then, partway through the month, Fred was given a new companion so that these sisters have some continuity when we leave and so these people are not getting all new home teachers every time a missionary couple goes home. Fred and his new companion, Brother Kidd, started teaching the temple preparation class to one of the sisters, Dolores Wilmshurst. She was baptized January 20, 2017 (on her birthday) and so will be eligible to receive her endowment on January 20, 2018. She is so excited to be able to go to the temple! She had an experience when she was 12 years old where she almost died and she felt that she had gone to the other side. She saw light and felt peace that was over whelming to her. When she went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead, she felt that same peaceful feeling again and that was overcoming for her. She was so happy that she was able to go to the temple to do those baptisms. She’s really looking forward to being able to go through the rest of the temple and have more experiences there.

  

We also traveled out to Port Dufferin again this month to visit Gloria Walsh. (It is about an hour and a half drive from our home in Dartmouth.) Gloria runs a bed and breakfast there and she uses a wood stove for some of her heating. Many people here use electrical heating but it is very expensive so they supplement it with wood stoves. We often see large piles of wood to the side or back of homes here in Dartmouth. When we got out to Gloria’s, Fred helped her put together a second wood rack with a little help from me. Then we brought in a whole bunch of wood from her wood pile and filled up the wood rack that Fred had put together and another wood rack that was already there. Some of the logs were really big so Fred helped Gloria split them with her log splitter. By lunch time, we had both of the wood racks full of wood and it looked great!

Gloria's Black Duck Bed and Breakfast

Gloria and Kathy with a Piece of Ice in the Shape of Nova Scotia

Fred has also had opportunities to help 2 sisters from the ward with their finances. His talent of handling money and knowing how to invest it has been very useful. One of the sisters that he helped was Sister Cliff, one of the ladies that we home teach. The other was Karen Belford, a member that lives just down the hall from us in our apartment building. Karen needed some help getting some money that she had in the US transferred to Canada so that she could pay her rent. Unfortunately, Karen also had some other health problems, including some dementia, and is now in the hospital.

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We also had a wonderful Stake Conference in the middle of November. On Saturday evening we had an adult session and it was excellent. Dolores Wilmshurst, a recent convert in our ward, spoke about some of the ways that she has been blessed since she joined the church. The rest of the speakers spoke about their experiences with the Book of Mormon and how important it has been in their lives, especially as they have increased their study of it after President Monson encouraged us to study the Book of Mormon in the April conference. Sister Pratt told a cute story. There were five people in an airplane — the pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, a priest, and young boy. During the flight, they ran into some trouble and the pilot saw that the plane was going to crash. There were only four parachutes so the pilot took one, wished the other passengers luck, and jumped out of the plane. The doctor grabbed one of the remaining parachutes and said, “I save peoples’ lives so I deserve to live,” and he jumped out of the plane. The lawyer grabbed the second parachute and said, “I’m a lawyer and I’m the smartest man in the world so I deserve to live,” and he jumped out of the plane. The priest said to the young boy, “I’m old and I’ve lived my life. Why don’t you take the last parachute and be safe, young man”. The young boy replied, “Not to worry, Father. The smartest man in the world just grabbed my backpack so there’s a parachute for each of us”. Sister Pratt said that we also have a parachute to save us in our journey through life and into the next life.  That is the Book of Mormon.

It was a very powerful meeting. We were challenged to read and study the Book of Mormon everyday and, at the end of the meeting, President Glanfield invited each of us to give away a Book of Mormon to someone before Christmas. We were able to do that at the beginning of December and it was wonderful. (We’ll tell you about it next month!)

Stake conference on Sunday was also very good. There was a stake choir that started to sing prelude hymns at about 9:40 AM and it really set the tone for the Stake Conference. As soon as they started singing, there was a reverence that came over the congregation and, even when they finished their singing at about 9:50, the congregation remained hushed and reverent.

President and Sister Veinot (the temple President and Matron) spoke about the temple and it was very nice to hear some of their experiences and their encouragement to the youth and others to attend the temple. President Glanfield also spoke about personal experiences and of the importance of the family. He said that the true calamity of our time is the breakdown of the family. He also encouraged us by saying that no matter what we see, we can have a happy marriage and family. Spending time in the temple will help to make that happen.

When we were at Stake Conference, Fred looked around at all the people that were in attendance and had the thought, “We are at home“. It was amazing to see the number of people throughout the congregation that we knew because of our service in the temple. It was the feeling that we could live and serve anywhere that the Lord needs us to. We have definitely been blessed as we have served here on our mission.

We have also had some opportunities to do some more exploring in the Maritimes and have been able to visit some of the places that were still on our list. On Saturday, November 4, we left our temple shift a little early and drove up to the ferry terminal at Caribou, Nova Scotia. We had planned to spend the weekend on PEI at the home of Lynn and Wayne MacLeod, our friends from Calgary. (They had moved from Nova Scotia to Calgary, then moved back a couple of years ago when they found that they missed the grandkids too much!)

We arrived at the ferry terminal with lots of time to spare and found that there weren’t very many cars waiting for the ferry but that it was running. We had heard that the ferry had been cancelled in the morning because of the wind and the large waves in the ocean. But the 2:45 ferry had been able to cross and the 6 o’clock ferry, which was the ferry that we were on, was also able to cross.

We had a good trip on the way over and saw a beautiful sunset as well as a beautiful full moon. When we arrived in PEI, it was a short drive to the MacLeod’s home and we were happy to see them. We had a nice visit with them while my stomach settled down from the ride over and then we all shared a wonderful lobster dinner. Fred had mentioned to them that I had wanted to have lobster while we were out here and they had found a place that was making lobster dinners to take out for a fundraising project. They got one for each of us to eat at their home. They are always so thoughtful and we really appreciated them arranging for this nice dinner for us. They were SO delicious!

Lynn & Wayne MacLeod

Sunday was Fast Sunday and Wayne and Lynn had meetings before church, so Fred and I went over to the chapel by ourselves a little bit after they left. Wayne and Lynn live in Murray River and the chapel is in Montague so we had about a 15 minute drive to get there. The chapel is a very small chapel with a multi-purpose room for the chapel. There is a podium and they had to set up chairs for Sacrament Meeting. We had a really great Fast and Testimony meeting. Wonderful testimonies were born by the members including Fred. The spirit was very strong and we really enjoyed being able to be there.

On Monday, Wayne and Lynn took us around to some of their favourite places on the island. We went to one of the red sand beaches and walked on the beach because Kathy really wanted to see some of the red sand. We also saw a lighthouse there and drove over to it as well. 

Lynn on a Red Sand Beach

Then we went back into town and we went past the place where they bought honey and we decided to stop in there because we wanted to pick up some honey for us to take back to Halifax. Wayne and Fred went and talked to the honeybee guy and he was happy to serve them. He gave them a couple of options for types of honey to buy and Fred chose the kind that he recommended. Then they had a really neat discussion with him. He was a father and husband and they have a few young children. His wife has had some illnesses that were misdiagnosed and they started going back to church. He had been raised in the Catholic Church and gone through all of the different training until he was a late teenager and then he left the church. Currently, they are attending the Pentecostal church because he wanted something for his children to be able to give them a foundation in religion.

Fred and Wayne talked with him quite a bit about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and about the Bible and about the Book of Mormon and how they go hand-in-hand to testify that Jesus is the Christ. They had a really good dialogue with him and invited him to possibly receive the missionary discussions or at least to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon. He wasn’t ready to receive the missionary discussions at the time but he said he would be happy to receive a copy of the Book of Mormon so that he could read it and gain more understanding.

After that, we went for a drive to a white sand beach and did a lot of exploring in the King’s County portion of PEI, including some of the places were Wayne was raised on the island. It was great to see some of the island that meant so much to them.

On the Red Sand Beach with Wayne and Lynn

On Tuesday, we got up a little bit early and said good-bye to Wayne and Lynn and thanked them for their hospitality and all the time that we spent with them. We left their home about 8:15 to drive to the Drennan‘s (one of the couples in the Temple Presidency) and have brunch with them in their home. They live on the opposite side of the island as the Macleod‘s – on the North Shore.

They had invited us to come and see their place and spend some time with them. They made a nice waffle breakfast for us and them and we enjoyed that with them and then enjoyed visiting with them and hearing about their conversions to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful morning with them. We appreciate the good friends we have made here in Nova Scotia!

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On Monday, November 27, Fred and I also had an opportunity to visit Truro, Nova Scotia, a city which is about an hour’s drive from our home in Dartmouth. It was kind of cold out with a brisk wind but we decided to go anyway.

As we were driving to Truro, it started to snow – big, fluffy flakes started to come down. It was really quite beautiful! When we arrived in Truro, we went to the tidal bore viewing station. (A tidal bore is a phenomenon in which the incoming tide forms a wave of water that travels up a river against the direction of the river’s current.) A lot of people had told us about it and it was just off the highway. We had a little bit of trouble finding it but once we got there, we got out of our car and found that everything was closed for the season! We could see the river there but the tidal bore had come in earlier in the morning and then wasn’t scheduled to come in again until later in the evening so we knew that we wouldn’t be staying for it. I think it’s a pretty big tourist attraction in the summertime and perhaps they have something in that building that tells about it, but there wasn’t anything to see there at this time of year.

Fred and Kathy at the Tidal Bore Viewing Station

The next place that we wanted to go was to see some pieces of the Berlin Wall which had been brought over from Germany to Nova Scotia. We had the address of where they were but we couldn’t really get the address to go into our Navi so we put in a similar address and started driving there. It was not correct. However, we did get to see some beautiful homes that were decorated for Christmas and drive through a really nice part of Truro which we wouldn’t have been able to see if we hadn’t gotten lost. Once we were thoroughly lost, we decided to follow the directions on our phones and we did end up getting there. They were near the college and we parked in a parking lot, then had to climb a fence and walk down the path before we got there. They were interesting. There were six pieces of the wall and they were made of cement with lots of rebar in them. I’m sure when they were part of the Berlin wall, there were also guards and dogs and other things that would deter people from going from East Germany to West Germany. It had been a little bit of trouble to find them but I told Fred that it was worth it because it saved him at a trip to Germany for the two of us. Very economical!

The Berlin Wall Pieces

By then, we were getting close to lunchtime and we had heard about a place called the Masstown Market. It was just outside of Truro and it was a huge market with local produce, crafts, bakery items, and deli items. Fred and I got a seafood salad, a Caesar salad, and some delicious fresh buns baked in their own bakery. We ate them at some little tables in the market. It was a delicious lunch!

After lunch, there was one more place that we wanted to go and that was Victoria Park. I had heard that it was very beautiful with hiking trails and waterfalls. We drove there and it was still snowing when we got out of the car but we put on our warm coats and started hiking down one of the trails that said that it led to the waterfalls. It went close to a little creek and as we walked down the path, we came to a place called “Witches Cauldron” which was some small waterfalls going over some rocks. We then got to some bigger waterfalls and finally to the last set of waterfalls. It was absolutely beautiful and the setting reminded us a little bit of Banff. When we got to the last set of waterfalls, we turned around and hiked back to our car. It was so quiet and still and it smelled so good, like pine needles. It was a wonderful place to be.

Waterfalls in Victoria Park

We have also started celebrating the Christmas season. We started by celebrating American Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 23. The Lovelands, the new missionary couple who are from the US, had invited us and the Ercanbracks, the other missionary couple, over for dinner at 1 o’clock. 

We had a beautiful US Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I’m sure they worked very hard all morning to get everything ready and it tasted really good. After dinner, we played a game of rummy cube and then had dessert. It was really nice.

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On Saturday November 25, we went home after our temple shift and got ready for a Christmas get-together at President and Sister Veinot’s home. All of the temple workers were invited and it was a potluck dinner. There was lots of food there (we took a cheeseball and crackers) and many of the temple workers had come. We have really gotten to know just about everybody who works at the temple because of the time that we’ve spent in the office. We have made some good friends since we’ve been here – we have been very blessed! 

After everyone ate and visited, we had a Christmas sing-along. Sister Ercanbrack played the piano – she is very musically talented – and we sang all of the old favourite Christmas songs. It was a fun evening and a nice way to start preparing for Christmas!

Singing Christmas Carols at the Veinot's Home

The time is getting short here in Halifax and we have mixed feelings as we contemplate leaving in just under 5 weeks. We have made many new friends here and we love our work in the temple. And we have also missed our family and friends in the West and are anxious to see them again.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season and hope that the joy and peace of the Babe of Bethlehem will be with you and your families throughout the month of December and always.

The following video explains what happens inside Mormon Temples. We thought that you might enjoy and appreciate it. It will give you some insight as to why we love serving our mission so much.

If you are not able to view this video by clicking on it, then copy the following URL address into your browser address bar and it will take you to it on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlwRyYTEUic