After each event, we invite our guests to rate our hospitality, meeting rooms, grounds and meals. 
The following comments were taken from the evaluations.
 

June 2008

• Leslie as amazing.  She prepared feasts for 8 days.  Trails were excellent, I escaped tick free!  Once again, this was a wonderful 8 days for me. Both directors are very gifted.  Everything one needs is here. 
• I had a spectacularly lovely time.  I appreciated not only the contemplative quiet but also the orderly, clean comfort of the building and all the great nooks, crannies, chairs, rockers, and other places for quiet spirituality to choose from.  I was certainly not disappointed by the direction sessions, the food, or the polarity session with Yolande.  All fit together become food for body and soul.   
• The quiet and unscheduled pace helped me to pray to be with God. I loved the trails but wasn’t prepared with “tick proof” clothing.  Now I know!  The food was wonderful.  My director led me into a new space.  Thank you.
• What else can I say, I have been coming here for 10 years and hope to be back.  Everything is very conducive to prayer.   
• Keep up the good work.
• Thank you, especially for your wonderful attention to hospitality and a well run program. 
   

May 2008 

• We enjoyed our retreat and were welcomed and treated like royalty.  Looking forward to coming back.
• Had a great time!
• Love it here!
• Thank you for the wonderful weekend. You are all great.  Blessings!
• Thank you so much for a wonderful, restful, renewing weekend.  I Plan to return many times for your spiritual retreats.
• Very comfortable place to create and reconnect. Looking forward to coming back in the fall. 
• Thank you for a wonderfully gracious weekend!

April 2008 

• Wonderful, peaceful, safe environment for exploration of self and spirit – and the relationship between the two – thank you!
• Thank you so much. The snacks and food were excellent. The pace of the workshop was relaxing but stimulating, the environment was peaceful.
• Thank you!
• Well presented! Good job!
• More people need to know about this place and more information about retreats.
• I greatly appreciate your environmental consciousness – using mugs, fair-trade coffee and teas, providing recycling containers. I had never thought to recycle toilet paper cores until I visited here but I do now!
• Wish there was an elevator.
• Very gracious in every way.
• Everything was beautifully done! The food was wonderful and well prepared. Keep up your excellent work!
• Nice and clean accommodations. Friendly staff.
• Everything was great and I really enjoyed meeting Sr. Angela. The staff is wonderful.
• None! Thank you, Thank you!
• Wonderful hospitality. Delicious food! Bread Pudding – wow! We love coming here.
• As always, very home like atmosphere with smiles and an awesome welcoming spirit. Thank you.
• For the last 7 years – it is/has been just as wonderful – as always. THANK YOU for your loving care and WONDERFUL food.
• Wonderful facility.
• As always, a welcome respite. Thank you.
• I have been here before and once again have enjoyed my stay.
• As always, your hospitality is outstanding. Thank you for this ministry.
• Wonderful! You offer gracious, holy, delicious hospitality. Thank you!
• I wish we could be here longer!
• Grounds beautiful.
• I always feel renewed spiritually and physically whenever I am here. Thank you!!
• For your ministry to those of us who need rest and a spiritual rebirth. You are all a blessing to all of us.
• A great spot. I will return.
• This is such a wonderful retreat place. Thank you!
• The snack room is a delight!
• I appreciate the many little items throughout the house that convey hominess as hospitality – I love coming here! 

March 2008 

• Very comfortable, inviting, homey meals very nutritious, abundant environment gives feeling of safety and openness.
• Leslie – you’re the best! And thanks to your helpers, too.
• Everything was great!
• My first visit and I would come back!
• Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful retreat center and your even more beautiful hospitality.  I look forward to return ASAP. 
• This was a beautiful experience. Thank you so very much!
• I felt very welcomed here.
• This was a wonderful experience in every way.
• This is the best place I’ve been on a retreat.
• Your hospitality and warmth were awesome.  A perfect environment to do my work!
• This was an amazing, awesome weekend. I will come back to visit and stay again. Thank you all so much!
• This is a very special place. Thank you.
• Repeatedly I have heard comments of how delighted the ladies are with this facility.  With gratitude.
• Thank you and especially thank you to Leslie.
• As always a warm welcome a clean and holy space – delicious food lovingly prepared. Thank you.
• Everything was wonderful.
• This is a wonderful place to come, rest, relax, share community with one another, so welcoming, hospitality is outstanding. Thanks be to God.
• You were wonderfully welcoming. Your meals were superb, and I really appreciated the fact that you labeled what things were so we could avoid things we were allergic to and you provided alternatives.  Wow!
• WONDERFUL weekend enhanced by comfortable room, bed, towels, restful place.  SUPER meals with attention & creativity for diet limitations.  And great gathering space.  All of us warmly welcomed and prayed for by your sisters.
• As always I appreciated your caring presence – including your prayers. Thank you!
• Thank you once again for your warm hospitality.  The meals were nutritious, balanced and delicious – great variety.  God bless this house and you all.
• Thank you! Thank you!
• I always feel so blessed being here.  Thank you for your prayers, your TLC, & this place.  God bless you.
• Always the nicest of accommodations. Many thanks.  Perfect Environment.
• Loved my room.  This was the first time I came for an individual retreat.  It was such a relief to be here. To know that you were praying for me was a gift. Quiet was a gift.  I’ll be back. 
• Thank you so much for the spaciousness and ease in the physical sense and the spiritual sense.
• Many thanks for your beautiful, caring, space. I have loved being here.
• Food fabulous!
• Fabulous sacred space for growth/renewal/transformation.
• You answered my needs beautifully!
• This was my first private retreat.  It worked very well for me.  Thank you and blessings.

February 2008 

• This was a great place – quiet, great food – comfortable chairs.
• A wonderful place to meet. Thank you for your hospitality.
• Bright, airy & homey meeting spaces.
• Thank you for a great facility and experience!
• Sunday brunch is a great idea.
• The presentations were wonderful, the food was great.
• Lunch would have been wonderful but I was still full from breakfast.
• Had some nice quiet time.
• Well structured, moved right along, nice mix of groups and meetings, as always, well enjoyed.
• Incredible.
• Rewarding.
• Thank you.
• Milestone retreat.

January 2008 

•  A wonderful day.  Keep up the good work.

• Thanks for your hospitality, and thanks for running Day on the Psalms. 

• I find the commentary on the Psalms helpful in my efforts to pray them

•  I plan on returning next year!!

• The Center is very relaxing, it’s great to come for a weekend and get so much done but be relaxed at the same time.  Looking forward to returning next year.

• Wonderful

• The food was wonderful.  I will definitely be back next year for another relaxing weekend.

December 2007

• I love this kind of program and appreciate the additional time of coming in the evening before. I would actually like to extend the time for another day allowing for more quiet, reflective time to process conversations, ideas, etc. Thank you, Jack for you good work!
• I so appreciate the warm, welcoming space that you’ve created.  The rockers are bliss!  The food is exquisite! I enjoyed every aspect of my stay here – (even the spider was a blessing! J ) My room was so comfy.  Thank you for the wonderful hospitality – I am excited about returning in March! Y
• Thanks for hospitality, welcoming excellent, good and accessibility to cooks.  The comfort factors were very soothing.
• I appreciated so much the energy and tone of the entire Center.
• Beautiful sacred healing space meeting my needs for regeneration, renewal, growth, transformation, community.  Food: The best food I’ve had this entire year.  Flavorful, great variety, creative unusual recipes PLUS fabulous for a vegan (I was one of that group). Met all my needs for nourishment, comfort, enjoyment, celebration. Thank you. Namaste.
• The work we are doing can be very hard. It is also made much easier when care is offered and provided with such grace. Thank you!
• The hospitality is excellent, the meals are outstanding.
• It is a very welcoming, supportive, nourishing, environment. Food & service in dining room was wonderful. Thank you.
• I felt so welcome and comforted here. Thank you for your caring and compassion.
• Thank you for nurturing me in this quiet haven you have created.  Your clarity of purpose and commitment to support is evident in the rooms, the food, and the welcoming spirit with which you greet your guests.  Thank you.
• Very nurturing – met my needs for comfort, nourishment.
• Such a lovely welcome – calm serene environment. The food was delicious and beautifully done. Thanks.
• Thank you for providing such a loving “clean” place.  It’s a pleasure to be here and I appreciate all that was done to give us safety and warmth, peace and abundance.
• I have never been here before and found the retreat center to be very lovingly attentive. Food – fabulous.  Hostessing – fabulous. 
• I enjoyed my stay here very much. You met my needs for comfort, being welcomed, peace, beauty and more. Thank you very much.
• The Living Water Spiritual Center has met my needs in ways I could not have imagined.  (Beauty, comfort, light, personal warmth, ease, simplicity).  Deep thanks to all the staff – I look forward to my /our return in March. Y
• It is such a joy to be here – and your Mission Statement meets my needs for shared reality and community.  Thank you for opening your sacred space to us.
• What a wonderful, welcoming place to have our workshop – The meals were spectacular – you’ve thought of every possible need.  We’ll be back again.  Especially, thank you, for your prayers. 
• The food was really exceptional – beyond expectations – vegetarian friendly.  Beautiful presentation, great touches (orange ginger butter for example).  Cooks present to receive compliments.  Your prayers for our work, for all beings, touched me deeply and fill the Center everywhere with light.  Thank you. 
• I appreciate your hospitality very much. I didn’t know what to expect and you definitely went far beyond them.  The meals were wonderful and I felt so nurtured.  The privacy of the bathrooms and bedrooms was something I didn’t expect and really appreciate.  My room was absolutely fine with so much attention given to the fine details of comfort.  You’ve provided magic.  Thank you.
• I loved the feeling of home here and the quiet tangible support and care around me.  Blessings given, blessings returned.  Thank you.

November 2007

• Warm, loving environment!

• Always a pleasure to meet and hear Brother Rex.

• Meals were excellent, as was the hospitality. The Sisters truly are angels.

• Thank you so very much for your kindness and generosity.

• Keep up the good works.

• It was very uplifting. Thank you.

• The care, food & service was outstanding. Thank you and God bless!

• Very nice. Would recommend. 

• Another wonderful experience. Blessings on this wonderful center, its staff – all of you – and Susan MacKenzie!  What a gift this beautiful place is!

• I look forward to my times here – everything meets my expectations including a teddy bear in my room!! 
  I can’t think of anything I would wish otherwise. God Bless Living Water Spiritual Center.

•  Loved the quiet!  The books! The labyrinth, the lamps.

• A spiritual place.  Susan was inspirational.  I appreciated her interactive approach, readings, global spirituality, stretches.  Taize was new, simple and calming. I also enjoyed Susan’s direction, candles, ritual. All of the above – excellent. Thursday-Saturday was a good schedule for me.  Labyrinth experience +. Massage with Rebecca – she is gifted! 

• Thank you Susan, for a beautiful spiritual experience.  A wonderful renewal in all ways, body, mind and spirit. 

• I had a wonderful time. The silent brings so much to me of which I appreciate. I love it. Living Water provides a wonderful space to listen, reflect and grow.  I would like to spend a longer time in silent retreat. Thank you Susan for your good work. It means a lot.

October 2007

• Thank you! I always feel so welcome here – and at peace with freedom to slow down – pray, walk, meditate, visit, learn from others and just do one thing at a time. The food is excellent – beautiful, nutritious and delicious! Thank you for the wonderful atmosphere. Wonderful Retreat.
• This is a haven of hope, hospitality – truly a place where God lives in all who greet us.
• This feels now (after my second stay) like a home away from home. It is an environment (inside & out) that encourages slowing down, quiet, reflection, and community. Deep thanks to Sr. Angela and all the staff.
• Great Service! Really nice staff and wonderful food. I think I gained 10 lbs.
• Always a pleasure to come here! Sr. Angela is the patron saint of welcomers!
• Love this place.
• Enjoyed this retreat spot very much. Love your rocking chairs! Food especially good.
• Excellent food. It’s so nice to have a full salad bar when we want to have just salad.
• I really like coming here... I can’t find anything to complain about! Guess I’m just a fan.
• I do hope we return next year. Everything about this beautiful Center is ideal.
• Love this place! The nuns, the food, the outside and so very clean inside. Thank you.
• Always glad to come here.
• This is such a wonderful retreat center, very warm and welcoming. I commend you for the “green” aspects of this haven. You are ahead of so many places. Keep up the wonderful work. Hope we can come back next year.
• Perfect!!

• Very spiritual & comfortable & safe.

•  I loved it all! I had a wonderful time.  I’m coming back!

• Wonderful environment to just be & leave the busy-ness of life behind for a short time!  Staff is welcoming & very hospitable.

• I thought this session was a really quite good session and I’m really glad I attended. Presenter had lots of good resources for us to take back, and also lots of good discussion.

• Done very well all around. Will come again.

• Very informative & helpful for follow-up presentations in our church. Well worth coming for. The blend of participants worked very well with the material. Leader was very approachable, knowledgeable and generous with materials lent out.

• Elaine is a beautiful quiet presence, unassuming and competent. It is a joy to be with her.

• Superlative hospitality – Program a welcome respite from my usual world.

• A wonderful weekend... very refreshing and relaxing. What I needed!

• Relaxing weekend.

• Coming here allows me to take a break from my hectic lifestyle & re-evaluate my course.  I feel taken care of and supported by the comforting and thoughtful environment and staff.  It's a gift I give myself.  You folks are wonderful. In the six years I've come here - I've always left refreshed and at peace. Thank you.

September 2007

• Once again, it has been a blessing to be here.  Blessings on all of you who work to help us feel welcome, safe, and nurtured. 

• God provided much direction.  I followed and was touched by God’s hand and heart.

• Food:  Is there a higher rating?  

• Everyone was incredibly helpful.  The meals were outstanding! 

• I’d like to come to a group program sometime.  Sr. Jeannine is a very wise counselor and gave me some important advice and encouragement. 

• Excellent.

• The quietness is very healing!

• I’m so glad to know about Living Water and look forward to a next retreat.

• Such wonderful topics and participants!

• The food was exceptional – what a treat!  This is a beautiful place! Very conducive to reflection and peace.

•  Spiritual Center – preservation of natural habitat – a wonderful work.

• The lunch was really outstanding, thank you!

• We are so grateful for you space! Thank you!

• Thanks for lights on sign!

• Very welcoming and comfortable.

• Love it, great space, great food, great attitude.

• A wonderful place to reflect and a safe place to do the work I came to do. Thank you.

• Thank you for the headboard lights in the bedrooms.

• Leslie and her crew are a Godsend!  

August 2007

• Very good location.  Free to use grounds and explore the trails.  No pressure to talk if you don't want to.  Very good library.

• Everything was wonderful!

• My second retreat here.  It is a grand and lovely place!

• Thank you everyone. It was great.

• Well worth the long early ride. 

• A beautiful place!

• I want to come again for certain.  God Bless all who made this wonderful day possible.

• Food was fabulous.  We were welcomed warmly and helped with all our needs.
• A wonderful day - to conduct difficult discussions.
• Wonderful meeting facility.  Feels calming.
• I was very impressed with your meal – light, healthy, variety.  Perfect – and love the fresh fruit choice for desert.   Good food keeps you awake for sleepy afternoon meetings – even in comfortable rocking chairs.  All people caring and friendly.  True hospitality.  Thank you!

July 2007

• Very relaxing, welcoming and enriching.

• This is a truly special place. I feel God’s grace & presence here all around.

• I look forward to returning again soon.

• Very prayerful atmosphere, a very peaceful setting, plenty of time to rest and pray.   Good pace and fresh insights.  Very non threatening and affirming.  Very solid. 

• I could not have been anywhere else at this time where I would have benefited from and enjoyed a retreat more than I have these 8 days.  Blessings upon all!

• I am going to buy several cookbooks for Christmas presents for some of my loved ones.   Wonderful retreat!  Holy, peaceful, loving.

• BIG THANK YOU.

• This has been for me – a retreat that I shall never forget!  Like no other!  Thank you!  We were surrounded with so much love!  Thank you, Sr. Catherine for all your input!  Thank you, too, to Jeannine for so many services; and to our excellent, carling Leslie & Jackie!

• Thank you!   A special thank you to Sr. Jeannine and Sr. Laurette. Both of you have been very kind to me and I appreciate it.  God bless you and your ministry here.  I feel more healed in many ways. 

• Sr. Catherine is the best retreat director I have ever had!! Please be sure to tell her so!  She truly was Jesus among us!

• Hospitality and welcoming: joyful, smiling, uplifting, warm & sincere.  Dining room: good there is always someone behind serving table.  I, and others too, often have a practical question about the food.  Snack room: Food, refrigerated and hot drinks always available without disturbing anyone is optimal.  Retreat itself: Director’s presentation way beyond any expectations.  Content was the Spirit calling  - for knowing what I needed more than I knew – a blessed eight days. 

• The Director was very well presented and much time with God.  Chapel: Conducive to Pray.   Was great to be here and have some quiet time.  Please keep me on your mailing list.  

• I truly appreciated the staff esp. the cook and all their efforts every day and every meal.   I did enjoy the trails. It nurtured a deep hunger I have to walk the trails even briefly.   The Center displays a wonderful concern for the environment.  I appreciate that.

June 2007

• Loved the Oatmeal especially!  and the tofu and dried fruit and bread pudding.

• It is always a pleasure to spend time with you all here.  Thank you.

• Excellent and wonderful as always!!

• Everything was amazing. This was my first of what I hope to be many visits.

• A pleasure to be here! Thank you!

• The gazebo was a WONDERFUL meeting space! Everything was gracious & perfect! Thank you!

• It is always a pleasure to come here. Thank you for your hospitality.

• Outstanding hospitality.

• I love the quiet and the great food.

• It is always a joy to visit Living Water Spiritual Center. Thank you all for your gracious hospitality!

• Great as usual! You do a fine job with grace.

• The rocking chairs are a marvelous idea. The food is outstanding.

• Saturday night while looking for fresh sheets to put on the bed Sunday morning, I discovered 2 foam pillows on the closet shelf. Thank you.

• Your continued hospitality and the spirit and peace of this place draw me back. 

• You all try so hard, even down to the smallest details, to make our stay here so wonderful.  Thank you so much. God bless you.

• Leslie has an outstanding gift of preparing & presenting food. Trails were excellent this year. The staff at Living Water makes this a 5-star spiritual center. What a gift to have two excellent musicians and homilists for the liturgies. A wonderful eight days spent in the Kingdom.

• I loved the quiet, prayerful atmosphere of this retreat house. I loved the beauty that surrounds it and the beautiful, prayerful liturgies.

May 2007

• I love coming here!
• Surely the presence of God is in this place!
• A very hospitable space!!  I love the low-key simplicity of being here.  I was fed in body and soul.
• I ate too much. The food was very good!  Bless you!
• Like the plentitude of vegetable at meals.
• This has been a wonderful place for me to come.  I have been longing to come here. I hope to return soon!
• Thank you, again, for such an inviting and sacred space for retreat.  May God continue to bless your ministry of hospitality.
• Divine hospitality!  A precious place!  Thank you!
• I am grateful for the opportunity to share with & learn from a diverse collection of loving beings.  Learning about an aspect of our humanness that is not taught from childhood, nor in most educational settings is what I welcome.  Yolande has a gift. 
• Very insightful presentation, was helpful in my spiritual journey!  Also enjoyed those who attended!
• Is there a part 2?  Loved it!
• Thank you so very much.  Lots to reflect on, think about, grow into & pray through! 
• I enjoyed the workshop very much.  Enjoyed the other participants and their sharing.
•  Excellent, powerful presentation.  Thank you so much for sharing your gifts.  I am happy to know a bit more about myself.  So much more to discover.  I need another long session.
• Wow!  Superb wisdom & teaching skills of Yolande.  Beautifully exhibited mission statement!  “With care and love, we offer sacred space for all, to seek the Divine and to embrace the interconnectedness of all creation!!
• Love it here – we’ll be back!!
•  The whole house is clean!  I enjoy the simplicity of the décor.
• Food, welcome, & facilities beyond excellent!! 
• Thank you so much for having us here.  We enjoy your hospitality, the food, the grounds, and the quiet.
• We enjoy your hospitality so very much.  A beautiful facility with all comforts. Thank you!
• Leslie does a wonderful, creative job with fresh herbs, spices, and food choices. 
• Meals are delectable beyond the imagination.  Challenging any intentions of self-restraint. 
• As always, a fully wonderful experience.  You provide an environment where we are totally well cared for from clean, comfortable rooms to gourmet eating to walking the labyrinth and river trails. Thank you!
• I couldn’t have had a better weekend. This is such a spiritual place. What a blessing to have been here and have you care for me. I’ll be back!
• Looking forward to next one.
• Everything was wonderful!!!
• I felt like I was at a special house/home made just for me. Thank you.
• It was more than expected. Thank you.

April 2007

• The hospitality here is wonderful.  It is such a treat to be here.  A wonderful place for retreat, refresh & quiet time.  We are blessed to have a place like this to come.
• Such a welcoming retreat.  It was a joy to spend time here and appreciate your ministry of hospitality.
• You are a very welcoming “home”. Thank you so much for sharing.
• The quality of the building and rooms is A-1 – immaculate; the linens chosen for real quality and taste. The rooms very comfortable and tasteful. The staff friendly and helpful. Food is terrific and very well presented.
• This was a wonderful experience. The facility is superior.
• The food, as always, is marvelous, the Canadian rockers perfect, great spot and facility.
• Wonderful!
• Hope to come back soon!!!

March 2007

•  I felt welcomed and also inspired.  Thank you for a wonderful presentation.
• More, more, more!  Wonderful, thought provoking workshop.  Inspired to learn more. 
• You have so much to offer. Thank you for your ministry.
• We love coming here! 
• Thank you for your hospitality. What a gift!  Food is excellent!
• Absolutely excellent. The best experience ever!  Thank you.
•  What a great place! I don’t want to leave & I’ll be back for sure. 
• I was welcomed with open arms.  Everything was wonderful.  The accommodations, the food.  I felt very special and safe here.  I definitely felt God’s presence here.  My room & bed were very comfortable.  I loved my experience. 
• I have no suggestions only praise.  The many, many touches – extra soap, special delicious foods, magazines in the bathroom!  I felt so cared for and supported.  There is a place for pride – pride in work – and I loved the pride in hospitality that I felt here.  Wonderful.  Five star kindness, grace, and generosity.
• Absolutely wonderful food!!  Loved the rocking chairs!
• 5 Star meals.
• I just loved the program – the prompts opened up so many thoughts and opportunities to reflect on life, faith, and my spiritual journey. Thank you so much! We will be back again.
• Food is so good!!
• Absolutely thrilled to be back – THANK YOU for your hospitality!
• It is always a pleasure to come here.  Thank you so very much for your hospitality.  God bless you!
• Keep up the good work!
• I love coming here.  The rocking chairs are great!
• Wonderful weekend.
• I always look forward to the food – so tasty and imaginative.

February 2007

• Thank you!  Wonderful space, bedrooms, lovely hospitality.  Thank you.
• Just loved it – the rocking chairs are the best.
• We are very grateful for your hospitality.  Our accommodations and your welcoming spirit meant much to us.
• Please convey my heartfelt appreciation for the splendid chance you gave us to discover our spiritual roots in your center. 
• This was my first time here and it was a pleasurable experience. The welcoming I got when I first walked in the door, was wonderful.  Most of all though, I loved the food! As a vegetarian, I always find myself not getting enough but it was fantastic. Thank you for everything.
•  I would look forward to events that are being held here.  I did not walk the trails, but the grounds are beautiful.  Thank you for the great environment and hospitality.
• Nice facility, and the food was excellent.
• Amazing choices for meals with healthy choices included. The serenity & calm of this retreat is wonderful. 
• The staff is unbelievably kind, friendly and warm.
• Keep up the wonderful work you do.  In the crazy world we live in, we need places like this to get off the merry-go-round from time to time!

January 2007

• Thank you so much for offering your beautiful home to us...it allows us to relax and feel God’s presence.
• The facility is very conducive to introspection and retreat.  Seclusion/private areas and group interaction areas are very homey and comfortable.  Meals, snacks and beverage service are awesome and nourishing.
• What a pleasure it is to stay here for the weekend.  The food is amazing and everyone here is so kind.  I hope to return for many years. 
• Everything was great. Will be back, I hope.
• Really appreciate the fridge and ability to use the microwave to heat my own food.  Thank you.   
• The best.
• How can you improve on something that is already outstanding?
• The food was delicious!  The best of any retreat I have attended!  The staff was very friendly and helpful.
• This is a wonderful, spirit filled retreat house.  I love coming here every year.  The food is very good and the accommodations are very comfortable.