September 18, 2016

Bob: We made it to Sudbury and back without incident. The weekend was 'spiritually fulfilling'. The instruction and talks were all very good. The highlight of the weekend, however, was the video presentation of Elder Ballard's address to the Missionaries. We were not able to attend the original meeting because of the travel time. The entire meeting was recorded and President and Sister Shields showed it to us Saturday afternoon. We missed the other training sessions for Relief Society and Elders Quorum, but it was worth it. Below is a picture of most of the members from Temiskaming Branch that were at the Conference. The sister in the front with the blue blouse got her temple recommend this weekend after over 20 years of inactivity. This past spring an Elder challenged her to read the Book of Mormon. She is doing very well now.
Elder Ballard told of a Senior Missionary couple that came to the Toronto Mission in 1975. She told Elder Ballard she was scared to death and didn't know what to say to people. He assured her that if she would just say 'she and her husband had come over 2000 miles to share a message about Jesus Christ with you' that everything would be okay. So off they went in the dead of winter to Kirkland Lake. Upon arriving they had to get groceries. While the husband put things in the car she introduced herself to the store clerk and repeated what then President Ballard had told her. She walked out with their first of many appointments. They were responsible for 18 baptisms by the time they went home. I believe Elder Ballard was trying to tell us how easy it is. Bonnie and I will move forward with new enthusiasm and purpose!!
We hope your weekend was very rewarding as ours was. We send our love to all. Good night brothers.
Dad/Bob

Bonnie: It was a wonderful two days. And, when we were with the missionaries, the Shields brought sandwich fixings, chips, fruit and donuts for lunch. Then, just before the 6:00 meeting, the stake served dinner to everyone there! I really enjoyed it--fresh corn, salad, pulled pork sandwiches and ice cream for dessert. Then, Bob wanted to go out for dessert after the evening meeting was over. Crazy man! We went to Perkins with three other people. (Bob got a piece of pie; all others got much more)
Sunday was also great, especially after we were done with our testimonies/talks! The Shields gave talks as well as the McMichael's who are are the president and matron of the temple. The Stake President's talk was wonderful. One thing he said may give our readers an idea about how big the boundaries of our Stake are. It's geographically bigger than Utah, Idaho and Nevada put together! President Shield's talk was about the issue of being small in number. He applied several war chapters in Alma to our stake, teaching us how to become strong, even though we are small units of the church.
I hope your Sabbath was also a wonderful experience for all of you.
Love, Mom/Bonnie

Branch Members at Stake Conference - Sept.18th

A Famous Native of Haileybury