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Fatima and the goats. |
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Oh boy.....last week a lady in our branch died in a horrific car accident. Tonight our neighbor passed away. We are still trying to help the daughter of the lady. There are five children in the family . The other four children came to the funeral. They wanted to know where the money was and how much there was. When the daughter told them there was no will, no money, not even enough to pay for the funeral ;they went home. She is left to clean the house, sell, get rid of everything, deal with grief and take care of her little family. Because her mom wasn't active in the branch, no one in the branch wants to help her. So we have tried to help as much as we can with whatever we can for as long as she needs. Our neighbor just died tonight so we don't know what we can do there. We will see.
We have been spending hours on the food drive this week. I will post a picture of our living room. It will be a blessing after September 17th when that is done. Pray for us. It is really a difficult undertaking and we hope for success.The scope of it is so big. Stan and I will have to do the "Happy Dance" when we're done.
Transfers were this week and we lost a couple of our favorite missionaries. They were outstanding in every way. Too bad we don't have any single daughters to line them up with. Maybe our granddaughters ? Megan ? Lexie ?
SO it unbelievably true. About the rats. I asked our friend Jack if he would call me when he caught a rat at his house. So he caught one on a day we were out of town for meetings. He put it in the freezer for me. I told him I wanted to take a picture and he wanted it to look nice. I will attach the picture here. Keep in mind this is a baby. The mommas are bigger and the daddies much much bigger. I couldn't even take the picture, but Stan did. Good old Jack, he is such a good friend.
Marlene went to church again on Sunday. She sat by a lady visiting from the Stake. The Stake President was the speaker in Sacrament meeting. Near the end of his talk Marlene said out loud to the Stake visitor:" Why in the world do they let people like that talk in church ?" "He yaps like a hurt puppy and doesn't say anything. Blah Blah Blah ." " They put a suit and tie on anybody and let them go on and on".
We had quite a discouraging week. Missions can be an upward climb. We taught a great lesson to Roy about the Book of Moron. He denounced everything, said we could be his friends if we don't talk religion anymore. He doesn't believe there is a devil, or punishment, or hell. ahhhh. We did go rock hunting with him for a couple of hours out on an island of the river with umbrellas . He gave us these cardboard looking and tasting rye wafers for a snack. We did go for a very beautiful hike, saw blue herons. eagles and a goose. Sad that he doesn't have a drop of faith but a very hard heart.
We also taught a lesson to Wally who confronted us with some anti~Mormon literature about blood sacrifice and polygamy. When we asked him to read the Book Of Mormon and pray about it he said: "I will not read it and I will not pray about it."sigh.
We also went to see Fatima and Hussain. They got six new baby goats for their farm. Fatima feeds them with a baby bottle. I'll attach a picture. They are so ready and willing to be taught the gospel.(Fatima & Hussain, not the goats). The zone leaders have been going with us to teach but yesterday when we went there they told us not bring the young kids. Hmmm. How do we tell the Zone leaders that ? Fatima and Hussain are the only real investigators we have.
The study of the Book of Mormon everyday has been a great help to us in our work and discouragement and hopes. We know the book is true. We know the gospel is true. We know we have a loving Heavenly Father and a Redeeming Savior Jesus Christ. Because of that knowledge we carry on, press forward with hope in our hearts that we can make a difference in someone's life. That we can bring people the truth and the great Plan of Happiness. Leaving the comforts of home, missing our children and grandchildren has to be worth it in the end. Sometimes we feel like Johnny Appleseed, we are just planting seeds.
Be strong, be faithful always always. We love you all.
Elder and Sister Fisher
We have been spending hours on the food drive this week. I will post a picture of our living room. It will be a blessing after September 17th when that is done. Pray for us. It is really a difficult undertaking and we hope for success.The scope of it is so big. Stan and I will have to do the "Happy Dance" when we're done.
Transfers were this week and we lost a couple of our favorite missionaries. They were outstanding in every way. Too bad we don't have any single daughters to line them up with. Maybe our granddaughters ? Megan ? Lexie ?
SO it unbelievably true. About the rats. I asked our friend Jack if he would call me when he caught a rat at his house. So he caught one on a day we were out of town for meetings. He put it in the freezer for me. I told him I wanted to take a picture and he wanted it to look nice. I will attach the picture here. Keep in mind this is a baby. The mommas are bigger and the daddies much much bigger. I couldn't even take the picture, but Stan did. Good old Jack, he is such a good friend.
Marlene went to church again on Sunday. She sat by a lady visiting from the Stake. The Stake President was the speaker in Sacrament meeting. Near the end of his talk Marlene said out loud to the Stake visitor:" Why in the world do they let people like that talk in church ?" "He yaps like a hurt puppy and doesn't say anything. Blah Blah Blah ." " They put a suit and tie on anybody and let them go on and on".
We had quite a discouraging week. Missions can be an upward climb. We taught a great lesson to Roy about the Book of Moron. He denounced everything, said we could be his friends if we don't talk religion anymore. He doesn't believe there is a devil, or punishment, or hell. ahhhh. We did go rock hunting with him for a couple of hours out on an island of the river with umbrellas . He gave us these cardboard looking and tasting rye wafers for a snack. We did go for a very beautiful hike, saw blue herons. eagles and a goose. Sad that he doesn't have a drop of faith but a very hard heart.
We also taught a lesson to Wally who confronted us with some anti~Mormon literature about blood sacrifice and polygamy. When we asked him to read the Book Of Mormon and pray about it he said: "I will not read it and I will not pray about it."sigh.
We also went to see Fatima and Hussain. They got six new baby goats for their farm. Fatima feeds them with a baby bottle. I'll attach a picture. They are so ready and willing to be taught the gospel.(Fatima & Hussain, not the goats). The zone leaders have been going with us to teach but yesterday when we went there they told us not bring the young kids. Hmmm. How do we tell the Zone leaders that ? Fatima and Hussain are the only real investigators we have.
The study of the Book of Mormon everyday has been a great help to us in our work and discouragement and hopes. We know the book is true. We know the gospel is true. We know we have a loving Heavenly Father and a Redeeming Savior Jesus Christ. Because of that knowledge we carry on, press forward with hope in our hearts that we can make a difference in someone's life. That we can bring people the truth and the great Plan of Happiness. Leaving the comforts of home, missing our children and grandchildren has to be worth it in the end. Sometimes we feel like Johnny Appleseed, we are just planting seeds.
Be strong, be faithful always always. We love you all.
Elder and Sister Fisher
Saturday, August 20, 2016
The devil came back. Remember several weeks ago we were out knocking on doors when we happened to knock on the devil's door. It was such a frightening experience. (I wrote about it in an earlier letter ). On Tuesday Stan and I we're returning from our morning hike through the forest. As we walked up to our apartment building, he (the devil man) was standing there. Can't tell you anymore. Maybe someday.
Today has been a day of service. This morning we rode our bikes over to Martin & Amelia's at 7 am. Martin has arthritis in his legs and so needed help digging his potatoes. I parked my bike ; happy that I didn't wreck on my way. I saw a few beautiful ripe plums hanging on a tree so I picked a couple for Stan & I to share. I was so happy I found them and walked directly into a tree branch with my face. It will look sad tomorrow for church. Anyway, Stan dug six rows of potatoes and I picked them up into buckets. After breakfast we went to a less active family to mow, weed and clean their yard by the lake. We will take them dinner for 20 people tonight. The mother of the family is less active. She was killed in a horrible traffic accident on Monday. We are helping with all we can. Stan will be accompany the special musical number at her funeral. It's so different here, instead of serving a meal for the family after the cemetery; everyone at the funeral goes in the gym and has finger food. I really don't understand some things.
It's very hot here. The summer temperatures are in the 90's with about 88% humidity. We have two fans, one upstairs and one downstairs. We sleep with one blowing high speed on our faces at night. The other night I dreamed I was in a snowstorm. Ha!
The zone leaders went with us to teach Hussain and Fatima again this week. It was an awesome experience with a discussion about the Plan of Salvation.. Pretty interesting as we had three languages going with everyone trying to understand. It so wonderful to feel the spirit teach. Fatima questioned why we would want to leave a loving Heavenly Father and come here. Hussain is struggling with evolution and man. He is a scientist and has many questions. They both are learning definitions of our Mormon culture.
We are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission. We started August 14th and will end on Christmas. There is such great power in the Book of Mormon. I love it !!!
Marlene came over on Thursday. She sat on our couch crying & telling us how much we have changed her life. She said before we came she was thinking of sucide. Now she said she is happy every morning when she wakes up. She has come a long way. We are hopeful for her. She is still coming to church.
We had the zone leaders for dinner on Tuesday and also a member. Durning dinner the member's chair collapsed and she couldn't get up. It took both zone elders & Stan to retrieve her from the floor. I was really embarrassed for her but she wasn't and after we gave her a new chair she had second helpings.
This Sunday Stan is teaching Elders Quorum, playing the piano for all our meetings and I am teaching both classes in Primary. We just got done cleaning the church.
So an update on the food drive. Wednesday after District meeting we hurried back to Hope to meet with the youth church group from the Calvary Baptist in Surrey. We walked into a long concrete room with tables and chairs. A large projector was at the front of the room along with some African drums. There was a huge sound system playing rhythmic loud rock music. There were 40 or more teenagers and a couple of leaders. We were the only white people in the room. The young people helped us scotch tape 3,000 flyers to 3,000 grocery bags for others to hang on houses in Hope for the food drive. The kids we fun to meet and we worked among them. The only drawback was they had to have music to work. So they would do a few bags & then all stand and stomp their feet and clap their hands to the rhythm. It took three hours but we got that part if the operation done and acquired some new friends. They offered to help again next year. We would have to extend for a month if we were to do it next year. The Branch President really wants us to.
It was my 80 year old friends' birthday this week. On Friday a member from our branch ( the broken chair member ) and Lucy, the birthday girl and I went on a little trip. We traveled to Chillwack, went to lunch and went shopping to celebrate. It was fun. Oh and we did get an ice cream treat too.Of course mine was chocolate.
We love being missionaries. We love our opportunity to serve and to represent our Savior, Jesus Christ. We know this is the best thing we can be doing at this time of our lives. It's not easy to be away from the comforts of our home , our family and friends.....but it is so worth it. What blessings and miracles we are seeing. We know we have a loving Heavenly Father and a wonder Savior, Jesus Christ. The church is true, the Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson are true prophets of God. Keep the faith, always hang tight to the Iron Rod. We love you all.
Lots and lots of love,
Elder & Sister Fisher
Today has been a day of service. This morning we rode our bikes over to Martin & Amelia's at 7 am. Martin has arthritis in his legs and so needed help digging his potatoes. I parked my bike ; happy that I didn't wreck on my way. I saw a few beautiful ripe plums hanging on a tree so I picked a couple for Stan & I to share. I was so happy I found them and walked directly into a tree branch with my face. It will look sad tomorrow for church. Anyway, Stan dug six rows of potatoes and I picked them up into buckets. After breakfast we went to a less active family to mow, weed and clean their yard by the lake. We will take them dinner for 20 people tonight. The mother of the family is less active. She was killed in a horrible traffic accident on Monday. We are helping with all we can. Stan will be accompany the special musical number at her funeral. It's so different here, instead of serving a meal for the family after the cemetery; everyone at the funeral goes in the gym and has finger food. I really don't understand some things.
It's very hot here. The summer temperatures are in the 90's with about 88% humidity. We have two fans, one upstairs and one downstairs. We sleep with one blowing high speed on our faces at night. The other night I dreamed I was in a snowstorm. Ha!
The zone leaders went with us to teach Hussain and Fatima again this week. It was an awesome experience with a discussion about the Plan of Salvation.. Pretty interesting as we had three languages going with everyone trying to understand. It so wonderful to feel the spirit teach. Fatima questioned why we would want to leave a loving Heavenly Father and come here. Hussain is struggling with evolution and man. He is a scientist and has many questions. They both are learning definitions of our Mormon culture.
We are reading the Book of Mormon as a mission. We started August 14th and will end on Christmas. There is such great power in the Book of Mormon. I love it !!!
Marlene came over on Thursday. She sat on our couch crying & telling us how much we have changed her life. She said before we came she was thinking of sucide. Now she said she is happy every morning when she wakes up. She has come a long way. We are hopeful for her. She is still coming to church.
We had the zone leaders for dinner on Tuesday and also a member. Durning dinner the member's chair collapsed and she couldn't get up. It took both zone elders & Stan to retrieve her from the floor. I was really embarrassed for her but she wasn't and after we gave her a new chair she had second helpings.
This Sunday Stan is teaching Elders Quorum, playing the piano for all our meetings and I am teaching both classes in Primary. We just got done cleaning the church.
So an update on the food drive. Wednesday after District meeting we hurried back to Hope to meet with the youth church group from the Calvary Baptist in Surrey. We walked into a long concrete room with tables and chairs. A large projector was at the front of the room along with some African drums. There was a huge sound system playing rhythmic loud rock music. There were 40 or more teenagers and a couple of leaders. We were the only white people in the room. The young people helped us scotch tape 3,000 flyers to 3,000 grocery bags for others to hang on houses in Hope for the food drive. The kids we fun to meet and we worked among them. The only drawback was they had to have music to work. So they would do a few bags & then all stand and stomp their feet and clap their hands to the rhythm. It took three hours but we got that part if the operation done and acquired some new friends. They offered to help again next year. We would have to extend for a month if we were to do it next year. The Branch President really wants us to.
It was my 80 year old friends' birthday this week. On Friday a member from our branch ( the broken chair member ) and Lucy, the birthday girl and I went on a little trip. We traveled to Chillwack, went to lunch and went shopping to celebrate. It was fun. Oh and we did get an ice cream treat too.Of course mine was chocolate.
We love being missionaries. We love our opportunity to serve and to represent our Savior, Jesus Christ. We know this is the best thing we can be doing at this time of our lives. It's not easy to be away from the comforts of our home , our family and friends.....but it is so worth it. What blessings and miracles we are seeing. We know we have a loving Heavenly Father and a wonder Savior, Jesus Christ. The church is true, the Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson are true prophets of God. Keep the faith, always hang tight to the Iron Rod. We love you all.
Lots and lots of love,
Elder & Sister Fisher
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Wow!!!! What an awesome mission week. We are so happy to be serving a mission together. We have the best of everything. This week was a spiritual high. It started out with Zone meeting and the huge spirit generated there. We have such stalwart young missionaries in our zone.
Monday when we went to visit our Iraian friends in Agassiz . Their married daughter & her 12 year old son were visiting from Vancouver. The daughter was in a great deal of pain. She couldn't sit, or stand or walk. She had to leave her job to come and stay with her mother so she could take care of her. We taught the family about Priesthood blessings & asked if she wanted one. We got another senior elder to come to help Stan give her a blessing. She cried, her mother cried, I cried. They are not members of the church but the spirit was so strong in the room and they all recognized it. Hussain told us : "whenever you come I have such a warm feeling in my soul." "please come everyday." On Friday we went back to Agassiz to see how the daughter was doing. She was up walking & said she felt much better. We had a lesson with them on the plan of salvation. It was so good because they asked many questions. They are officially our new investigators...all four of them. God sends miracles every day.
One day we were out meeting & talking to people. I said : "let's go in this little store." We were on Main Street in downtown Hope. As Stan & I were walking through the store I over heard someone tell an elderly lady "Happy Birthday." So as we were leaving the store I saw the birthday lady again. Stan said : "let's sing". So we broke out singing "you have a birthday shout hurray" right there in the store in front of everyone. As you know we are not accomplished singers but the thought was there. Everyone stared, the woman smiled. We talked & invited her to church on Sunday. She said she would come. Another miracle. As the scripture says, "by small & simple things great things come to pass."
It's summer here. In the 90's with 80% humidity. With kind friends help we have a fan on a pole to cool us; a table fan and a small window air conditioner. Of course our car is air conditioned as well. Needless to say the sweat pours off of us. Nylons are out of the question. With the heat I still made 10 loaves of fresh homemade bread which we delivered to non- members as part of our on going missionary efforts. We also had a big dinner party at our house for missionary zone leaders, some members and non-members. I made baked Swiss chicken & stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, fresh green beans from our little garden, homemade rolls and a lemon blueberry cake with whipped cream. It was fun !
Our mission president has received a revelation that we are to read the Book Of Mormon as a mission. He's calling it Moroni's Promise. I remember when we did this program with our youth years ago in our Shelley Idaho ward. It was awesome as I'm sure it will be again. We are starting August 14th and finishing on December 25th. I am really looking forward to it.
Part of our service this week was to go help Rocky Wigglesworth unpack boxes at his business. We took the young zone leaders with us. They asked him about his beliefs . He thinks there is a God but isn't sure & doesn't have a need to find out. He doesn't go to church because "it's not my thing . " He doesn't pray unless someone in his family is in trouble. He is such a great guy too bad he doesn't know how much he needs God in his life. I bought an authentic East Indian outfit from him.
We spent time with Betty this week listening to & supporting her. Her son flipped off the deep end and was admitted to the mental ward at the hospital. It's been quite a trial for her. So today we went shopping together to give her some stress relief, fun and therapy.
The food drive is progressing nicely. We took the flyer template to the town printer so he could make the 3,000 flyers we need. This coming Wednesday we are meeting with a youth group from another church to get the flyers stapled to the 3,000 bags. Everything is rolling right along. Because it is such a huge undertaking, we are going to celebrate when it is complete. We'll probably go down to the lake and wade in the water. Ha !
It's been a wonderful week in the mission field. Every day is a new adventure. We have made forever friends and know we could not have had these experiences without coming on a mission. We are happy and trying to serve the Lord with everything we have . We don't want to look back on our mission and wished we had done more. It's an opportunity of a lifetime. We are so grateful for the many miracles we were given with my cancer to get us here. We are blessed every single day. We are learning and growing so much. We love our Heavenly Father and our dear savior Jesus Christ. We are so blessed to be members of the true church. We are blessed to have commandments and covenants to keep us on the path. We are extremely blessed to have beautiful children and grandchildren. We love them with all our hearts. This separation just confirms how much we desire an Eternal Family. That's really what it's all about.
Much love to you all,
Elder & Sister Fisher
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Miracles and missions go together I have found. Our zone leaders are always saying : " Go find a miracle today." And so they happen. I bet if you look for miracles in your life, you 'll find them. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much. Our mission president says God favors his missionaries. Yeehaw ! So the other day we felt the need to drive by our Italian friends. Amelia was outside standing by her bike ranting & raving in Italian. Her bicycle had a flat tire-with the tube hanging out flopping on the driveway. Every ready flat tire fixing Stan went right to work to make the repair. Amelia was so happy she gave us a purple cauliflower and fresh garlic.
Why were we prompted to go there ?
Monday I played "little red hen ". We took fresh homemade wheat bread to five of our non-member friends. Roy wanted to give me $10. for the loaf. He said he'd pay me $10 for every bread I made him. I told him if he paid me I could'nt make it for him anymore. That's the kind of thing senior missionaries can do. To love others, give service and show them the light of Christ so hopefully someday they will choose to be taught and come unto Christ. We went to visit with Hussain and Fetima this week. They were looking for two cats for their farm which is over run with mice. Cats in Canada sell for between $75. And $125. Another miracle, our next door neighbor has a cat who had kittens. Where were they hiding them ? We were able to get two of their kittens for Hussain & Fetima for free !
It's been really hot here. Not so much the temperature, it's about 80. But the humidity is about 80 or higher so blasted... I'm melting. The day I was making bread the kitchen was an oven. So we have this waist high fan on a pole. I put it in the kitchen to help produce some cool air while I was cooking. It was next to a cubboard I need to get the flour out of . Without thinking I bent my head down to open the cubboard. Whoa.... My hair got caught in the side of the fan. As soon as I collected my senses I unplugged it and was able to save three-fourths of my hair.
The food drive is ever going forward. We were able to accomplish a ton this week, finding community volunteers, visiting businesses, meetings with our branch president and sending emails. Interesting item, we are able to use Facebook for help in recruiting volunteers. Also we can do missionary work by what we post on Facebook. Do you know you can do missionary work on Facebook as well ? Yup. We were able to get nine groups from the community to help with the drive this year. Last year they only had three groups so we feel really good about our progress.
We received our new visa's this week. These are good for one year so we should be good for the rest of the journey. All our mail is opened as it crosses the border, there is no privacy here.
We moved the hymn plaque from the back of the chapel to the front today. And we have all new matching number cards for the hymns. Yea. Sunday Stan is playing the piano for all meetings except Relief Society where we sing along with a phone. He is also speaking in Primary and I am teaching Relief Society. I also have the new assignment of decorating the bulletin boards . That's more fun than cleaning the church every week. But we are happy to do whatever we are asked . It's fast and testimony meeting so we always bear our testimonies as well. We love our little branch. They are so small and need so much support. The spirit is strong in the meetings and we love the people. I want to start providing the sacrament bread though, we eat from the same loaf for a month because there are so few members.
Lucy invited us to a celebration party for one of our branch members next month when he is released from prison. She said she'll serve Mormon tea if I will make the cake. I don't think I'll do any lettering on the cake. What do you say : Prison Break ? With luck we might be able to buy fresh salmon from the Indians. Interesting fact.... Here the train blows it's horn when it approaches a bridge instead of at intersections. The reason is that Indians walk along the railroad tracks and the train needs to warn them. We love being missionaries. We love the gospel. We are so blessed to know the truth. Our Heavenly Father lives and loves us so much. Jesus Christ is his only begotten son. His atonement for us is greater than we can possibly understand. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration. The Book of Mormon is true. We have blessed to have a living prophet today, president Monson. Share your testimony every day.
We love you all,
Elder & Sister Fisher
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Unimaginably frightening ugliness.........I managed to only hear about the huge Norwegian rats that live in the hedges here in Hope. That is until last Sunday morning. Stan always takes out the garbage for us. It's in a huge rusty metal dumpster with heavy metal lids sitting behind our apartment building. I thought I could take the small box of garbage out Sunday before church. As I rounded the corner of the building I saw that someone had propped the metal lid open with a stick. That should have tipped me off. While singing to myself "welcome welcome Sabbeth morning ", I walked to the dumpster to throw in my box. He was more ugly than you can imagine, beady starring eyes, brown hairy creature, long beaver-like teeth and he stunk, really bad. I didn't wait to see his tail. I couldn't take time to pull the stick to slam the lids either. I held my breath run into the apartment screaming and jumping, shaking my arms at Stan who was sitting on the couch. After He was able to discern what all chaos was about; he went to the dumpster to see the rat for himself. I stood there trying to shake off the ugliness I saw. A terrible experience I was able to avoid for six months anyway.
To finish the extortion spy story from last week about Marlene and her sweet dog ; the Royal Candian mounted police were able to recover the dog. We told her it was because God answers prayers, because we know it to be true & to hopefully help build her faith in God. It was wonderful to see the joy on her face to have her little puppy back. I'll post her picture.
There have been several sightings of bears in town picking the berries which grow wild everywhere. They aren't that good but I guess the bears really like them. So Stan and I have been practicing how to drop to the ground and act like a dead rock. Our favorite excerise trail is one of the popular sightings. We walk it every morning before I'm really awake. Stan says,: "just keep talking & you'll scare the bear away ". I wonder if that's for the benefit of the bear or Stan. Ha !
We had a wonderful missionary experience with our non-member friends Hussain & Fetima. They had a broken dishwasher but no-one would repair it. Anyway..long story short, the repair man came, we went, I stood there and asked a hundred questions about everything he was doing and why. It wasn't an easy call for him but he did leave with the dishwasher working wonderfully. Bam ! Durning our visit we gave Hussain & Fetima a Persian Book of Mormon to read and had a great religious discussion. Hussain asked the famous questions every missionary longs to hear. "Where did I come from ?" "Why am I here " " Where am I going? " Stan taught a great lesson, we answered many questions and left them with a commitment. Wonderful. I was going to get two llamas for Hussain for his farm but Stan studied and found out they don't do anything but stand around and spit. So I didn't arrange to get them.
We had a big week of service. Stan and the zone leaders dismantled an old building for Jack. I provided the picnic.
Stan mowed the lawns for our non-member friend Martin who has arthritis and can't do it. I sat in the lawn chair and listened to Martin tell me how he used to grow olives in Italy. He taught me how they had a special stick that shook the branches so all the olives would fall into a net. The nets were gathered and taken to a warehouse where they were put into a vat. The donkey would grind the olives to mush. After that they were pressed into oil. The oil is put into a cauldron of boiling water. The worker scoops the oil off the top and it is bottled. Whew. He gave us a fig to try. They taste like a mushy plum.
I made breakfast for the missionaries at district meeting this week. They loved the hashbrowns, ham & cheese omelet, poppyseed muffins and orange juice. It was a hit. So this week I think I will do sausage, milk and waffles with strawberry, blueberries and whip cream.
A non-member put on Facebook he needed some help for a day & was paying minimum wage. So we went out to his place and volunteered to do the work he needed. Stan painted a trailer and I cleaned boxes. He was very grateful for our help and wanted to pay us. But then, it would'nt have been service.
We love being missionaries. We love our Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for all He has done for us. I am so thankful for the many miracles he has given me to allow me to be here. We love our Savior. That's why we're here . We are here just trying to give people a little hope in their lives, a little faith that God does exist. For some people that a start they need.
We love you all always,
Elder & Sister Fisher
To finish the extortion spy story from last week about Marlene and her sweet dog ; the Royal Candian mounted police were able to recover the dog. We told her it was because God answers prayers, because we know it to be true & to hopefully help build her faith in God. It was wonderful to see the joy on her face to have her little puppy back. I'll post her picture.
There have been several sightings of bears in town picking the berries which grow wild everywhere. They aren't that good but I guess the bears really like them. So Stan and I have been practicing how to drop to the ground and act like a dead rock. Our favorite excerise trail is one of the popular sightings. We walk it every morning before I'm really awake. Stan says,: "just keep talking & you'll scare the bear away ". I wonder if that's for the benefit of the bear or Stan. Ha !
We had a wonderful missionary experience with our non-member friends Hussain & Fetima. They had a broken dishwasher but no-one would repair it. Anyway..long story short, the repair man came, we went, I stood there and asked a hundred questions about everything he was doing and why. It wasn't an easy call for him but he did leave with the dishwasher working wonderfully. Bam ! Durning our visit we gave Hussain & Fetima a Persian Book of Mormon to read and had a great religious discussion. Hussain asked the famous questions every missionary longs to hear. "Where did I come from ?" "Why am I here " " Where am I going? " Stan taught a great lesson, we answered many questions and left them with a commitment. Wonderful. I was going to get two llamas for Hussain for his farm but Stan studied and found out they don't do anything but stand around and spit. So I didn't arrange to get them.
We had a big week of service. Stan and the zone leaders dismantled an old building for Jack. I provided the picnic.
Stan mowed the lawns for our non-member friend Martin who has arthritis and can't do it. I sat in the lawn chair and listened to Martin tell me how he used to grow olives in Italy. He taught me how they had a special stick that shook the branches so all the olives would fall into a net. The nets were gathered and taken to a warehouse where they were put into a vat. The donkey would grind the olives to mush. After that they were pressed into oil. The oil is put into a cauldron of boiling water. The worker scoops the oil off the top and it is bottled. Whew. He gave us a fig to try. They taste like a mushy plum.
I made breakfast for the missionaries at district meeting this week. They loved the hashbrowns, ham & cheese omelet, poppyseed muffins and orange juice. It was a hit. So this week I think I will do sausage, milk and waffles with strawberry, blueberries and whip cream.
A non-member put on Facebook he needed some help for a day & was paying minimum wage. So we went out to his place and volunteered to do the work he needed. Stan painted a trailer and I cleaned boxes. He was very grateful for our help and wanted to pay us. But then, it would'nt have been service.
We love being missionaries. We love our Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for all He has done for us. I am so thankful for the many miracles he has given me to allow me to be here. We love our Savior. That's why we're here . We are here just trying to give people a little hope in their lives, a little faith that God does exist. For some people that a start they need.
We love you all always,
Elder & Sister Fisher
We are still working on the food drive. We went to the city to get a full size map so we can plan the routes for the collections. The city wants between $40 to $80 to print us a map. They sent me a PDF file so I can print them out in 30 pieces and then tape them together. Really ? I don't care for either option.
Our branch was given all the leftover number cards from other wards for our hymn board which is at the back of the chapel. It has bugged me for awhile So I asked the branch president if I could make new numbers. He asked why ? After I explained I thought our branch needed nice good looking numbers, he said :" Sister Fisher do you want them in rainbow colors with glitter "? No, just nice black numbers on white card stock like everyone else in the church has. I did ask permission to move the hymn holder board off the back wall to where the congregation can see what hymn we're singing.
When we went to see Roy this week he said he would pay me $10 a loaf for my homemade bread. It wouldn't be fun to make homemade bread if I got paid.
Great week. Great mission. Great life !!!
I think I'm done now.
Our branch was given all the leftover number cards from other wards for our hymn board which is at the back of the chapel. It has bugged me for awhile So I asked the branch president if I could make new numbers. He asked why ? After I explained I thought our branch needed nice good looking numbers, he said :" Sister Fisher do you want them in rainbow colors with glitter "? No, just nice black numbers on white card stock like everyone else in the church has. I did ask permission to move the hymn holder board off the back wall to where the congregation can see what hymn we're singing.
When we went to see Roy this week he said he would pay me $10 a loaf for my homemade bread. It wouldn't be fun to make homemade bread if I got paid.
Great week. Great mission. Great life !!!
I think I'm done now.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe we are actually full time missionaries. It's a dream we have had for many years. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to give back a little of what we have been so blessed with. How does the hymn go ? " Because we have been given much, we too must give." It is hard to be away from our family and the comforts of home. Who would have guessed that at our age we can still learn and grow & grow & grow, (both spiritually and physically). The work is wonderful; to be here to help and serve others and to forget about ourselves. That has been a bit of a transition but we're getting much better at it.
Whew!! what a week. I have so much to write I don't know where to begin. As I wrote last week, we have been called to bring the community together, to get the name of the church to be known among the citizens of Hope and to provide for the food bank. Our emphasis is on the food drive for the next two months. We met with the Grace Baptist minister this week. He has the biggest following of members out of the thirteen churches in our town. Our job was to get a meeting with him, become friends, and get him to have his congregation work along side our church members to benefit the community. So far so good. We also have three other churches on board as well. We met with the town printer and asked him to donate the printing the 3,000 flyers we need to hang on the people's doors. He agreed . Bam ! We have been to the city offices to acquire a map so we can plan out the individual routes for 7,000 people. Next up we need to attend the Hope city council meeting and present our plan. Onward, ever onward.
It was a fun day on Thursday as we ground wheat and made five loaves of homemade bread. We delivered it hot to five non-members we are aquatinted with. Fun!!!
For our District meeting this week we cooked a mexican themed meal and made a birthday cake for an Elder who is far from his home in Tonga. We all sang and he blew out the candles , it was a five minute party.
Our non-member friends from Iran have a very nice dishwasher that doesn't work. They called the company who gave them the run-around & said they lived too far away to send a repair man. So we drove to Aggissiz where I called the company and told them to send a repair man immediately. The warranty is out in two weeks. Fetima & Hussein have been unable to get help for several months. I think it's probably because they only speak broken English. The company is sending out someone next week. You can be sure we will be there to communicate with the repairman & make sure he fixes the problem.
We engaged in another epic episode of which involved a dog, an 80 year old non-member, a bully, spies, a friend and the RCMP . That's the Royal Canadian mounted police. So the bully with threat, intimidation and brute force extorted and abused the elderly woman. He took her dog who is her sweet companion since her husband passed away. He wrote up a fabricated paper saying she gave the dog to him & threatened to turn her in for anminal cruelty if she didn't sign the paper. He took the dog, his toys, bed , food and all the vet paperwork and drove away. When we went to visit Marlene, our friend, she told us the story between sobs and uncontrollable tears. He told her: " you'll never see this dog again." So knowing our friend Betty is a detective incognito and understands the law here, we enlisted her help in retrieving the dog. She called the RCMP and reported the incident. They sent a policeman out to get the story from Marlene who could barley tell her side of the story because of the dept if her loss. Three spies who work in conjunction with the bully live in the adjoining apartments in our fishbowl. They were peeking through curtains, typing out texts and whispering as the police came & went. Of course I was at Marlene's side during the interrogation interview and could see the spy activity as it was going down. The little cute dog named Ben was taken on Wednesday. The police, spy connection was Friday night late. By Saturday at 5:00 Ben is still missing and Marlene is talking incoherent and white as a ghost. The RCMP was going to find the bully, arrest him for elderly abuse and return Ben to Marlene. I'm afraid the spies tipped the bully off last night and he escaped with the dog leaving Marlene inconsolable in his wake. We are praying for Ben's return, Marlene is praying for death of the bully.
Sunday Stan is the sacrament meeting speaker along with the first counselor if the stake presidency. He is also playing the piano and I am doing sharing time and teaching a primary class. We love our little struggling branch. We can feel a wonderful spirit in our meetings each week. Last week the temple president and matron spoke. Durning the end of the temple president 's talk Marlene ,who was a church with us, said out loud " does he think he is a travel guide ? Talk, talk, talk, ". Then she said :" if I was married to him, I'd get a divorce." Non-members can be embarrassing. But we love her.
We love our Heavenly Father, We love our dear Savior. The church is true. Always hold to the iron rod. Keep the faith and follow our beloved prophet to keep safe. We love you all.
Much love,
Elder & Sister Fisher
Whew!! what a week. I have so much to write I don't know where to begin. As I wrote last week, we have been called to bring the community together, to get the name of the church to be known among the citizens of Hope and to provide for the food bank. Our emphasis is on the food drive for the next two months. We met with the Grace Baptist minister this week. He has the biggest following of members out of the thirteen churches in our town. Our job was to get a meeting with him, become friends, and get him to have his congregation work along side our church members to benefit the community. So far so good. We also have three other churches on board as well. We met with the town printer and asked him to donate the printing the 3,000 flyers we need to hang on the people's doors. He agreed . Bam ! We have been to the city offices to acquire a map so we can plan out the individual routes for 7,000 people. Next up we need to attend the Hope city council meeting and present our plan. Onward, ever onward.
It was a fun day on Thursday as we ground wheat and made five loaves of homemade bread. We delivered it hot to five non-members we are aquatinted with. Fun!!!
For our District meeting this week we cooked a mexican themed meal and made a birthday cake for an Elder who is far from his home in Tonga. We all sang and he blew out the candles , it was a five minute party.
Our non-member friends from Iran have a very nice dishwasher that doesn't work. They called the company who gave them the run-around & said they lived too far away to send a repair man. So we drove to Aggissiz where I called the company and told them to send a repair man immediately. The warranty is out in two weeks. Fetima & Hussein have been unable to get help for several months. I think it's probably because they only speak broken English. The company is sending out someone next week. You can be sure we will be there to communicate with the repairman & make sure he fixes the problem.
We engaged in another epic episode of which involved a dog, an 80 year old non-member, a bully, spies, a friend and the RCMP . That's the Royal Canadian mounted police. So the bully with threat, intimidation and brute force extorted and abused the elderly woman. He took her dog who is her sweet companion since her husband passed away. He wrote up a fabricated paper saying she gave the dog to him & threatened to turn her in for anminal cruelty if she didn't sign the paper. He took the dog, his toys, bed , food and all the vet paperwork and drove away. When we went to visit Marlene, our friend, she told us the story between sobs and uncontrollable tears. He told her: " you'll never see this dog again." So knowing our friend Betty is a detective incognito and understands the law here, we enlisted her help in retrieving the dog. She called the RCMP and reported the incident. They sent a policeman out to get the story from Marlene who could barley tell her side of the story because of the dept if her loss. Three spies who work in conjunction with the bully live in the adjoining apartments in our fishbowl. They were peeking through curtains, typing out texts and whispering as the police came & went. Of course I was at Marlene's side during the interrogation interview and could see the spy activity as it was going down. The little cute dog named Ben was taken on Wednesday. The police, spy connection was Friday night late. By Saturday at 5:00 Ben is still missing and Marlene is talking incoherent and white as a ghost. The RCMP was going to find the bully, arrest him for elderly abuse and return Ben to Marlene. I'm afraid the spies tipped the bully off last night and he escaped with the dog leaving Marlene inconsolable in his wake. We are praying for Ben's return, Marlene is praying for death of the bully.
Sunday Stan is the sacrament meeting speaker along with the first counselor if the stake presidency. He is also playing the piano and I am doing sharing time and teaching a primary class. We love our little struggling branch. We can feel a wonderful spirit in our meetings each week. Last week the temple president and matron spoke. Durning the end of the temple president 's talk Marlene ,who was a church with us, said out loud " does he think he is a travel guide ? Talk, talk, talk, ". Then she said :" if I was married to him, I'd get a divorce." Non-members can be embarrassing. But we love her.
We love our Heavenly Father, We love our dear Savior. The church is true. Always hold to the iron rod. Keep the faith and follow our beloved prophet to keep safe. We love you all.
Much love,
Elder & Sister Fisher
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