Halifax Happenings: Adventures on The Rock

Hey!

My new address is PO Box #1046 Bay Roberts, NL A0A 1G0.

This week was a whirlwind: visits with the Cornerbrook sisters, Zone Conference in St. John's, blueberry picking, a trip to Marystown. All in all, it was a great week.

The Cornerbrook sisters, Sister Aslett (a previous companion in Halifax) and Sister Sharp (Maren's MTC companion), live on the other side of the island and they drove in with a senior missionary couple on Thursday for zone conference the next day. We spent Thursday and Friday evening working with them in our area. It was so fun to work with both of them again. It's fun to see how far we have come since we were in the MTC together. This was the first time serving with Sister Sharp since we were companions in the MTC. It was a blast! I definitely feel like I have made some friends for life. I keep telling Sister Aslett that I will have to visit her in England some day after our missions. :)

Zone Conference was great. The Assistants to the President brought my violin up from the mission home so I could do a musical number, and now I have my violin for the time that I will be on the Rock. It was great to be reunited with my old friend. I hadn't played it since May.

Saturday we took a trip with the Scheels to Marystown, a town about 3 hours from Bay Roberts. There used to be a branch in Marystown, but it closed in 2010. There are a handful of members still there, but most of them are inactive. It makes me sad to see so many lost sheep. A family from Texas, the Wiers, recently moved there for his work, and they have permission to meet together on Sundays with some of the members there for Sacrament meeting. Sometimes they Skype in with us for our Sacrament meeting. We found a couple people on the branch list while we were there and invited them to meet with the Wiers for sacrament. One day there will be a branch there again. I have hopes.

One of the members we visited in Marystown is a lady in her 80s named Sister Taylor. She meets with the Wiers each Sunday. Her testimony is incredible! President Scheel told us that after the branch closed in Marystown that she continued to set aside her tithing until she could pay it to someone again. For three years she did that. When the Wiers moved into town, she gave her inch-thick envelope of tithing to him so he could pay it to the Bay Roberts branch for her. Amazing, right? Even though the Church was no longer there or accessible to her, she stayed strong. She has been a widow for over 15 years now and holds fast to her covenants, knowing that she and her husband will be together again.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve among spiritual giants in the Bay Roberts Branch. The members here are strong. They are few, but they are mighty and they support each other like a family. It's a really neat feeling. Today we picked blueberries with the Scheels and the Youngs, a couple in the branch. Blueberries grow wild here and they are everywhere! Who knew?

Hope you have a great week! Thanks for the letters, prayers, and love. Love you!

Sister Maren Renda