IT IS A BEAUTIFUL WORLD - SAY THANK YOU.

One of the things I love about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is it reminds me who to say' thank you' to. We have mentioned before the value of gratitude in our lives.  My dad saying a 'thank you only' (not asking for one thing)  prayer every day on his 11 minute drive from one office to another and then back.  My grandmother Barrus helping me to literally count my 'blessings' when I was just a little boy. My grandfather Johnson writing 'thank you notes' to his children and his wife.  

These are all examples set  for me.  You could all name your own.  Now it is time to pass the characteristic of 'GRATITUDE' on to those we love.  The prophets call them the 'rising generation'.  We all know that their lives will be blessed in so many ways if they will just be grateful.  They need to see it, hear it, and feel it from us.  We challenge you to find 5 people this very day to say thank you.  They will be happy, you will be happy, the world will be a better place, and your loved ones will have seen how its done.

Sunrise on Cowichan Bay - Vancouver Island

NEWS FROM CANADA - A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM THE JOHNSONS

We know it doesn't feel like it yet in Utah or much of the USA (including California with all of it's SNOW!. (what was that all about?!)    But we can tell that spring is on its way.  Those are the very first blossoms we have seen in Victoria, BC and it was March 16. It begins with the first signs and now, 6 days later, you would think that Victoria had exploded with color! We are told that April 5-6 is the time when the blossoms and colors are the most prominent. For you who are Christian, there may be some super symbolism in that.

We visit lots of people in hospitals and long term care facilities. All of them still require masks and nearly always we are required to be tested for Covid and then wait for results.  Then we go and spend quality time with these people who all have a story to tell.  Amazing to hear some of their life experiences.

We had opportunity to visit the temple in vancouver 3 weeks ago.  Always a privledge and a blessing but it makes it even more special to  walk out and meet with missionaries and members who were once on the Island with us and who now are serving somewhere else.

   

In this picture, they were showing us some unique picture taking skills. Try this one (slow motion video, throw the spinning phone in the air and then catch it). The temple is right across the street from the stake center.  

At the stake center the missionaries are teaching english classes to people who speak every language in the book.  Pretty impressive system with a high success rate. We have district council every week.  Missionaries training one another, conducting meetings, training, practicing teaching, public speaking, etc. 

In this one, they had some fun showing a way to make paper airplanes in an exact way so that they were ALWAYS successful and could fly. Using parables of Jesus to teach principles of success in the same way.  

So many beautiful places to visit on this island. We went to Brentwood bay and took the ferry (we have mentioned that there are ferries to and from all of these islands and the mainland) across to Mill Bay.   

From there to Zone conference in Nanaimo. Then the following week we did apartment inspections and took each set of missionaries for a snack. We drove nearly 500 miles on that trip. That is something we try and do each month.  Particularly when some of these Elders and Sisters are fairly isolated.

We also try and get out to see those in the area who may be sick or unable to attend church.  This particular fellow is a member of our bishopric and he had open heart surgery.  When we went over to visit and wish him well, we didn't want to leave without a picture from their front window.  So many of these people wake up to a gorgeous ocean view like this one.  

We sometimes will work with some of our YSA kids and take them out to lunch. This young man joined the church about 6 years ago but when the missionaries left, he was done.  We sought him out a year ago and he has been coming to Institute and trying to pull his life together.  Missionaries trying to support him here.  He is one of many who are working on the process of repenting. which simply means to 'change your mind'. We have mentioned the diversity of cultures and therefore of foods.  Every thing you can imagine and probably a few you cannot imagine.  But this one was delicious. He is a member of our Elders Quorum Presidency and he is from India. We met for a 'quick snack'. You can see the size of both of those 'snacks' is massive.  Anyway, the food is wonderful and so are the people. 

And speaking of food, just one more thought: Every Sunday night, our ward receives the days unsold bread from a high end bakery.  And they receive a LOT of it.  Normally it is between 3 and 4 hundred loaves.  Every kind of bread.  (for you Utah people, think Kneaders).  So we package it and distribute it to individuals and groups in need.  We began bringing a bunch to our apartment building and have been doing that now for nearly a year.  On Sunday night, we put out 20 to 30 and on monday

morning they are gone.  They seem to appreciate it. 

Another unique thing here is the number of people who ride bikes and the variety of bikes.  Yesterday we saw a guy on a beautiful bicycle and it had a large 'basket' on the front.  3 little kids in it on their way to school with dad taking his place with all of the cars. This particular one looks like a motorcycle but no, that is a bike.  Also interesting that there are no restrictions to bikes on the freeway.

Transfers took place this past week and so we have a bunch of new and returning missionaries on the Island.  For some of the 180 missionaries in British Columbia, they never do get the privilege of serving on Vancouver Island.  For others, they may spend half of their missions here.  

The picture with the sister and her family is a young lady from the Toronto area.  After 18 months as a missionary and 6 of those months in the same ward here, she was released and returned to her family 6 weeks ago.  She then convinced her family that spring break was a great time to go back to British Columbia.  She wanted her family to experience the people, culture, the land and her friends who were still serving.  So they came to visit .  It was great to meet them and as always the connections were tender mercies.  They knew all kinds of people that we knew and loved when we were living in the Toronto area and where our youngest son Jordan was born. 

We have told you about our friend here who  is quadriplegic. For 27 years he has only been able to 'live' in his head.  He uses the computer with his mouth.  He actually plays computer games competitively. We have taken a 'non hospital' meal to him weekly for nearly 6 months and he has become a good friend.  Anyway, he has been laying in this particular bed for 4 years now and the care he has gotten has been less than he would like. (covid and lack of nurses in British Columbia). After years of waiting, he was moved to a private facility just last week. It is in Vancouver and will now have a personal nurse and be able to be in a chair and actually be able to attend church (with a special chair and a helper to make sure his breathing tube is always clear)  We will miss him but it has been a great lesson for us.  'Growth' takes on new meaning in a situation like this one.  His name is Ken. We hope you will continue to remember him in your prayers.

Last saturday we were helping move missionaries from and to apartments.  Some office staff came over to help us and we had some time to see a few sights on the lower island.  Hadley Castle (which is now part of a university here on the island, and Sooke where we were trying to find a missionary apartment.) Sooke, by the way happens to have what is reported as the 'largest oldest tree in Canada"

One last item:  Over the last month we have driven about 2000 miles.  Most of that to meet with missionaries around the island, do apartment inspections, check missionary vehicles, pick up missionaries at the ferry, etc.  However, today we met with a couple who served a mission in the USA  seven years ago.  They drove over 10,000 miles each month, and did it for their entire mission.  Just saying that we will not complain about the mileage on our car.

We wish you all the best and hope that as spring arrives you will appreciate what an incredible world we live in.  Please hug those in your family and lets all pray for and commit to hold each others hands on this journey we call life.

Love

Scott and Valerie Johnson

(Elder and Sister Johnson)

(Could not resist -All of our children with us back in August)