The Time is Far Spent

The time is far spent; there is little remaining
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.
Then hasten, ye heralds; go forward proclaiming:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.

We now realize each day how little time is remaining to do all we have been called to do and want to do. Elder & Sister Wiebe flew home September 6 after 23 months of faithful service in the office.

Sister Wiebe has spearheaded ordering supplies and making memory books for each returning missionary. Elder Wiebe has done all the finances for all the missionaries and the mission. They will be missed!

Elder & Sister Ranglack left Sackville to serve in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Their loving service will still bless many.

In the little time remaining, we managed to see some of Laurie Rice's relatives at the Labour Day picnic with Dartmouth and Cole Harbour wards.

Gail Dietz-Sola and Linda Tremblay - two of the first members we met who became my visiting teachers.

A short conversation started an ongoing connection with Brandy Eele and her family as she has returned to church activity.

Many other ward members who enjoyed the sea and the land.  

JJ Choo,  my new friend and hair stylist.

Elder Hendrickson enjoying the land by the sea.

Tammy Macmichael and The Ehlers are families we home teach.

The amazing Bishop Quist who takes his duty of watching over the ward seriously.

Sister Brown demonstrating the game I'm going to copy that Brother Lawless made. 

We celebrated our anniversary by sea and by land at the Wooden Monkey by Aldernay Landing and later making it to Lunenberg to see Blue Nose II and enjoy a seafood dinner.

Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,

but follow the Savior, your pattern and friend.

Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,

Ere long with the righteous, in glory will end.

We find the members and missionaries in Dartmouth do NOT shrink from their duty, but follow the Savior in loving and serving everyone in our ward family and those who visit or investigate.

Thelma and Aubrey Fielden use their time remaining to follow the Savior by feeding the missionaries (every week for 61 years and counting), attending every temple session, doing family history research, and sharing the gospel and the Savior's love with everyone they meet. We loved our recent dinner appointment and visit with them.

It was only a little affliction to be here when our little angel, Sophie Veone Brown, was born on August 18, the day before Grandma Veone's birthday (and our anniversary). 

Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

Because those who served before us were fixed in their purpose, they didn't take time to upgrade this desk. 

The weight of our calling was made lighter by the addition of a new desk & chair. 

The missionaries are certainly fixed in their purpose as demonstrated in their tug of war contest. 

We hope to be fixed in our purpose and not allow Satan to slow down our efforts to serve and share the Gospel as we sprint to the finish. We know Jesus is nigh and His arm is sufficient to bless us in the time remaining. 

May you know that His arm is sufficient to carry you through all the journeys of life.

Love,

Elder & Sister Hendrickson

I Love to See the Temple

I love to see the temple.
I'm going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit.
To listen and to pray.

The last ten days have been overflowing with events of eternal significance. We lost a dear friend, rejoiced at the temple sealing of Jared and Julie, reconnected with many Fredericton friends at their wedding reception, and welcomed and said farewell to the largest group of missionaries ever. This primary song seems to tie everything together.

I love the temple and have for as long as I can remember. We grew up in the shadow of the Manti temple and were sealed there 42 years ago this month. We were blessed to serve as temple workers before we came on our mission.

We received word that the funeral for our dear friend and fellow temple worker, Sister Helen Dahl, was held just the day before the temple sealing we have waited to attend for nearly a year. Our beautiful "Dahl" was such an example of feeling the Spirit, listening and praying. She is surely hard at work on the other side.

For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I'll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.

The Halifax Temple was certainly a place of love and beauty for these young missionaries. Many had just arrived and nearly as many were headed home. All received great counsel here about the sacred duties that lie ahead for them. There are no words to describe the sacred experience of attending a session overflowing with these beloved young friends. 

This was our senior conference in July. We also had a wonderful temple session together for those of us who are the young-at-heart missionaries. We also had training and shared ideas and lots of good food and fun. 

I love to see the temple,
I'll go inside someday.
I'll cov'nant with my Father;
I'll promise to obey.

For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I've learned this truth:
A fam'ly is forever.

Jared & Julie Hunt chose to wait nearly a year after their engagement to be sealed for time and eternity. How blessed we were to sit beside them during the temple session and then witness their sealing. We learned earlier that our son Lucas served in the Belgium Brussels Mission with Sister Bush, daughter of a couple from Fredericton. Brother Bush serves in the temple presidency here and was their sealer.

The newlyweds and the oldlyweds.

The happy couple with her saintly parents, Anne-Marie and Jean-Marie Goguen. They have been so supportive and worked tirelessly to make this a day to remember always.

Bonus temple blessing: The best man and the maid of honor, Ben and Marni Ray,  joined them at the temple to do some sacred work for themselves and their family.

Here are the missionaries the night before they headed for home. This Canada Halifax Mission family is forever too.

We send our love to you, our family and friends, who are also forever in our hearts.

Elder & Sister Hendrickson

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.

It was a blessing from above to have Luke, Liz, Caden, Halle, Noah and Abby come for a visit.

One of the few photos with all the kids and us in it. What a feast for hug-starved grandparents.

Our first in-person visit with Abby angel. Love at first sight!

They all enjoyed Lake Banook, right across the street from our apartment.

PEI is just as beautiful as advertised. We accused Liz of coming to see Anne instead of us. We saw Anne's house, her musical, her lake of shining waters, and the beautiful fields.

Anne's beach was one of the best of the trip. 

Grandpa and Halle at the lighthouse by the PEI ferry.

We bumped into Bishop Sexton and his boys at Hopewell Rocks during their YM Camp. This bishop shows Christ-like love for everyone and always focuses on what people are doing right. 

The hours in the car were more bearable due to naps and a portable DVD player. The kids were real troopers.

Halle with an e at the Anne room at the Mission Home. Noah was grandma's buddy and  also came and saw the room, but we will save that photo for future blackmail.

The MPW (Mission President's Wife) got a baby fix via Abby.

Caden and Noah loved all the guns at the Citadel.

A huge shout out to Luke and Liz for bringing 4 kids to see us and enduring cancelled flights and disrupted schedules. What a great gift.

What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christ-like friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.

Emmeline Barnett, who was baptized last month, is one of our Christ-like friends with gentle ways. Her faith strengthened ours. This was one of the highlights of our mission.

Attending her baptism was a great opportunity to see some of our other friends who have strengthened us and enriched our days.

Camelle and Manida Currie, who enriched our days as they accepted and lived the Gospel.

Louise (and Barry) Hatt--our eternal friends--with Camelle, the photo bomber.

David (and Carol) Ray, the gentlest of friends and parents, have enriched our days.

Sister Kadisch (and the PB). How we miss her love, example, hospitality, and missionary spirit. Yes, we admit, we also miss her wonderful cooking and farm-fresh brown eggs.

Guess who with Elders Gibbs and Skinner and Pat Hatt? Elder Skinner kept the work going strong in Fredericton. We love him like a son. Great Elder Gibbs was there doing exchanges and Pat is a stalwart ward member and friend.

More amazing missionaries. Sister Drew shared her beautiful voice in the concerts, but her real talent is loving service. Sister Weaver started her mission at the MTC with us and has also grown to become a powerful missionary.

Many more friends and missionaries escaped our camera or were the victims of our lack of photography skills. We love them all, even without a picture. Besides, this is a pretty long post as it is.


When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.

Some of CHM's finest Elders departed for home on July 4. They will forever hold a place in our hearts.

 The day of the baptism, our across-the-hall neighbor, Bob Anderson passed away. He and his wife, Theresa, are our adopted family we will remember always.

One sweet memory with Bob & Theresa was our last night out before we were transferred.

Bob seems to be pointing heavenward. His passing has given us a sweet memory and brought us nearer to the Lord. There are no permanent goodbyes in the Gospel.

Each of you has touched our lives for good.
With much love,
Elder & Sister Hendrickson

Now Thank We All Our God

Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices,

We love the missionaries with all our hearts.

Joyous reunion with Sisters Gochnour and Turner--and Skinny Pop

Surprise visit from Sisters Lewis and Vera. One of the perks of working at the office.

Many hands serve in many ways. We enjoyed a group of Saints from St. John's NFLD who came to serve in the temple. Our tech missionaries, Elders Bodine and Fortier, worked hard to help film and design our new senior missionary brochure. (If anyone is looking for the best place on earth to serve as a senior couple,this is it.)

Our tech "Smarties," Elders Bodine & Fortier

President and Sister Leavitt hosted a farewell dinner for the Shields and the Calls. Both couples have served well and blessed the wards in their areas. We also did the filming for the senior brochure videos that night.

We will sure miss "fiddling" around with Elder and Sister Call. We have shared many adventures and beautiful spots as we have toured the mission doing concerts. Bravo for their great work.

We used our voices in the missionary choir and ward choir at stake conference. Sister H. leads the ward choir and Elder H. speaks to the saints in NFLD about once a month via Skype.

Enjoyed the voices of some of our ward members at a Celtic concert. Plaid ruled the day and the the choir and audience loved sharing favorite music.

Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom his earth rejoices;

It was a wondrous thing to use technology to witness Caden's baptism. Another wondrous thing was the Canada-wide stake conference broadcast the next day. 

It was also wondrous to have Elder & Sister Snow visit our mission. We were inspired by their training and messages and warmed by their genuine goodness. It was a blessing to have an interview with Elder Snow and to enjoy dinner with them at the Mission Home.

Who, from our mothers' arms,
Hath blessed us on our way

Our mission mom, Sister Leavitt, loves and blesses all the missionaries, including us.

Sister Leavitt does lots of hosting and always sets a beautiful table. She is also an excellent piano student.

With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

The beauty right outside our window is a gift of love.

Many Titanic victims gave their lives as a gift of love to save others.

Friends, such as Elder & Sister Thatcher are a gift of love.

Our friends, Elder & Sister Wiebe, share their gifts with love. 

The office couples enjoy a gift of love serving together and socializing. These photos show our supper date for wonderful fish at Masstown Market. President and Sister Leavitt were out of town, but they stopped later in the week and enjoyed it.

Oh, may our bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us,
And keep us in his love,
And guide us day and night,
And free us from all ills,
Protect us by his might. 

We are grateful for the most wondrous gift, the Atonement of our Savior. We know he keeps all of us in His love and guides us and protects us.