Elder Renlund and Elder Gong

     We just had stake conference three weeks ago, but Sunday we had another one. This was a bi-stake conference held in Sackville. When it was first announced a couple of months ago, there was a lot of

excitement in our ward, the Sackville Ward. People couldn't believe an apostle was coming to our little ward. Turns out he wasn't--it was held in Sackville, New Brunswick, which is part of our mission but the next province over. It was interesting that they would hold it there because there aren't any wards or branches in the city. The meeting was held in Convocation Hall at Mount Allison University, which easily accommodated all those who attended.

     The Canada Halifax Mission is comprised of two stakes--Saint John New Brunswick (includes PEI) and Dartmouth Nova Scotia, and one district--Newfoundland. Unfortunately for them, most of the members in Newfoundland weren't able to attend. There were a few who had attended the temple the night before, so they joined us, but Newfoundland is either a flight or overnight ferry trip away and it's just not affordable for most people to jump back and forth between Newfoundland and the mainland.

     We got up earlier than usual on Sunday morning because we needed to leave about 7:00 AM to make it on time. We had volunteered to take some missionaries with us and were given three sister missionaries (no, we didn't split up a companionship--they're serving in a trio). We had some nice conversations on the way up, sharing favorite mission stories, and getting a good laugh from some of the humorous ones.

     In Sackville it was fun to see the reunions taking place. The missionaries were hugging former companions and even more delighted to see people they'd worked with previously. It was a grand reunion for them and fun for us to see the love they all had for each other.

The soloist

     In Sackville everyone gathered in the Hall. Elder Renlund started to wave to the audience as he walked in, but when he realized we were all starting to stand up, the wave quickly became a be seated signal. He is such a humble man. We heard brief comments from both of the stake presidents. Sister Renlund and Sister Gong spoke as well as their husbands. Great talks, all of them. Elder Gong spoke in a way that helped grab the attention of the children (he knows how to walk and talk like a penguin). Elder Renlund was, well, himself. We love that man. After a musical number where one sister had sung a beautiful solo, he stopped her as she was walking off the stage and talked to her. It didn't bother him in the least that the entire congregation was waiting for conference to continue, he wanted to tell her something and it was more than a simple acknowledgement of her singing. It was touching to watch the silent conversation take place.

     At the end of Conference, the stake president stood up and announced that Elder Renlund and Elder Gong would like to shake hands with anyone who was interested. The people were so excited to be able to shake hands with an apostle! They didn't rush through it either, although most people were considerate and moved on fairly quickly.

     After the session was over, we enjoyed a picnic lunch. Elder Holbrook had made sandwiches for the five of us, packed apples, drinks, carrots, chips, and cookies. We didn't see any other missionaries come with food. Apparently they have become dependent on having the members feed them so often that they didn't think to plan food for the day, which from Halifax was about 8 hours round trip. Many of them didn't have quite so far to travel because the ones from farther away drove up the night before and stayed with missionaries who live closer to Sackville. By the time we finished eating and got on the road, most of the traffic was gone.

     We made a quick stop when we reentered Nova Scotia and took a picture. The sisters fooled around posing their badges in different spots on the rocks (on the left) for a picture. They were surprised to realize there was a lady working inside of the lighthouse building.

Sister Koyle (Utah), Sister Bailey (Utah), Sister Law (Michigan)

     On the way home we started talking a little more about some of their experiences and then the sisters started singing church songs. They probably sang hymns and Primary songs for close to an hour. Just before we got home, one of the sisters asked what our favorite mission memory was. Elder Holbrook immediately said, "having you sing to us on the way home." Yeah, that's one great mission memory.