A Season of Change

We know the one constant in life is change.  It seems that we are truly in a season of change.  The weather is changing and finally we are experiencing a lovely Atlantic Canada spring.  Last year there was only grey skies and rain but this year we have had some perfect days.  Everything is so green and the blooming flowers and trees are amazing.  We are enjoying walks in the park and around the lakes and it definitely lifts our spirits and makes us so aware of God's wonderful creations.

Changes too are occurring in the mission.  Between May and November about 2/3 of our missionaries turn over.  It is very exciting but a great deal of work for the office couple (us).  It is also hard to say goodbye to missionaries that we have come to love.  These missionaries are such an inspiration to us.  The young missionaries amaze us when we see what they are capable of.  They work so hard and make the type of decisions you would expect from someone much older.  The senior couples are such an inspiration to us set a high standard for us to follow.

 Oh how these missionaries love to be together, even in saying goodbye for now.

 Future leaders of the church

 Elder & Sister Baures

 Elder & Sister Lindquist

 Ya think they are happy to leave?

 Transfer lunch, the old and the new!

Elder & Sister Hunter

And of course the biggest change will occur this week.  Our beloved President and Sister Simpson will leave to return to Idaho and a well deserved rest.  They will certainly be missed by all, especially the Foleys.  We wish them well in all that lies ahead and know they will bless the lives of many in their future.

President & Sister Simpson

 We are excited, however, to welcome President and Sister Leavitt.  We know the Lord has called them for an important purpose, to move the work along in this part of the world.  We are looking forward to meeting them and getting to know them and know the other missionaries are as well. 

President & Sister Leavitt

The Holidays

Although winter time in Atlantic Canada is cold for the most part, we have a few warm memories left over from our holiday activities.

Thanksgiving:

Our Thanksgiving this year was filled with interesting people and delicious food. We were invited with the other senior couples except for the two couples in Newfoundland to the Mission Home for a Seniors' Conference that started on Wednesday evening and went through Thursday. Wednesday evening we had a delicious dinner and an enjoyable discussion around the dinner table. We don't get a chance to see the other missionaries often because most are some distance away from the mission headquarters. Therefore, it was really good to be able to share experiences and ideas. Our group consisted of temple missionaries, CES missionaries and us office missionaries. The leader and member support missionaries work in small branches trying to help strengthen them and they are having great success. President and Sister Robinson of the Halifax Temple also joined us on Thanksgiving.

Front row: Baures, Duncans, Simpsons, Sister Baines
Back row: Piersons, Lindquists, Foleys, Hunters, Nelsons, Robinsons, Elder Baines

There was lots of good visiting and lots of good food!


Elders Baines, Foley and President Robinson


Elder and Sister Lindquist


Awaiting the feast


Awaiting the food

Christmas:

For Christmas Eve we were invited back to the mission home to spend the evening with the young missionaries assigned to the Halifax metro area. The Simpsons' son and daughter-in-law and their three daughters were visiting from Cincinnati. It was refreshing to be around children at Christmas time.

Simpson Granddaughters


President and Sister Simpson


Let the games begin!!


Who wants that gift?


A captive audience

For Christmas Day we attended an inspirational church service and then had a few of the missionaries over for food and visiting. It was very relaxing and very enjoyable. President Simpson had given us a reading schedule of scriptures about Christ that we were to read each night during the Christmas season. It was an appropriate way to draw close to Christmas and to reflect upon the true meaning of the season with the young missionaries.

A lovely gift we received at Christmas

Our cute little tree


All that's left is dessert

Boxing Day:

This day is celebrated the day after Christmas. We were invited to a Family Home Evening group held by some members in our Ward. We joined them for a tasty prime rib dinner and some stimulating conversation. It is always interesting to have some of the long time members tell us their conversion stories. Many of the members in this area joined the church in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They have gone on to raise their children in the Church and now are seeing grandchildren also raised in the gospel.

A wonderful prime rib dinner with lovely people

New Year's Eve:

And last but not least New Year's Eve. We were invited to President and Sister Robinson's home for a night full of food, games and a movie. We had such a good time and a lot of laughs. We even made it to midnight. That was quite an accomplishment for us old timers. It was a great way to start a new year.

The Lindquists and a tempting meal

Lindquists, Baures and Foleys

Our love and prayers for a Happy New Year to All!!

Movers and Shakers

We have mentioned before that part of Larry's assignment includes managing mission apartments and cars. Last Fall we found ourselves on the road quite often looking for apartments for senior couples, replacing old furniture in the young missionaries apartments and helping to deliver 10 new trucks that were assigned to the mission.

In August and September we found and furnished apartments for two new couples assigned to the mission, the Duncans in Amherst, Nova Scotia and the Hunters in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Later at very short notice we also found and furnished an apartment for the Piersons in Halifax. It is so exciting to see these new couples come. They are needed very badly and make such a difference in the areas where they serve.

In early November we drove one of the new truck to the elders in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. On the way we dropped off a new dresser to the the Duncans' apartment in Amherst and shuttled their other dresser across town to the Amherst elders.

Lovely farm on the way to Amherst

Our Amherst Elders Meynders and Steward along with Elder Foley

The moving crew

We next drove to Summerside, PEI where we left the truck and picked up their car to be delivered later to St. John, New Brunswick, something like musical cars.

From Summerside we drove to Charlottetown, PEI where we were able to participate in an historic district conference. On Saturday night we stayed at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel which also was the venue for a big district dance. It was fun to see the room packed with people, all the way from babies to grandparents (like us). A fun Mexican buffet was the fare of the night followed by lots of visiting and dancing.

Everyone having a great time

We enjoyed watching the Duncans. They were great dancers!

Years of Arthur Murray??


The District President and Sister Aitken (front right)

On Sunday morning we were greeted at the chapel by some of our great elders. They helped park the cars for a well attended conference.

Aren't they cute?

During the meeting the New Glasgow District was disolved and its units were divided between the two stakes in our mission, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and St. John, New Brunswick. President Aitken was released along with his counselors. The hope is that these two stakes will continue to grow and get stronger and that a third stake can be added in the near future. Church headquarters felt that this was a necessary step in that direction. Some people were quite surprised about the change but the attitude seemed very positive.

It was a cold but very sunny day and after the meeting we had a beautiful drive around the island, across the Confederation Bridge, and then home through some scenic countryside.

Scene on PEI


More of PEI

Access to the island is either by bridge or ferry. The Confederation Bridge is quite a marvel. This 8 mile long bridge connects PEI with the mainland and makes travel to the island much easier. The toll for using the bridge is about $43 which may sound like a lot but the ferry toll at the other end of the island is about $70 and takes a lot longer.

Confederation Bridge


Yet one more lovely sunset on our way home

Also in November Elder and Sister Steffen arrived in Halifax from the MTC. The Steffens are from Fruit Heights, Utah and many years ago lived next door to Janice's cousin T.J. Jones and his family. The President was out of town, so we had the honor of showing them around the area for a couple of days before they left for their assignment in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Of course, we had to show them Peggy's Cove even though it was a very windy and cold day.

By the lighthouse


Beautiful Atlantic Ocean


Church at Peggy's Cove


By the temple at Church the next day

After sending off the Steffens, we sent home one of our lovely sister missionaries, Sister Tolliver. Her parents and younger brother came to pick her up which was fun because they live in the same ward in California as our niece Lori Sherman. We enjoyed meeting them and hearing how wonderful Lori and Dave Sherman and their family are (we already knew this of course).

Sister's Simpson and Tolliver

Our next November adventure was to drive the mission van and trailer to Annapolis Royal to vacate a missionary apartment. This area had been closed down and the apartment was left full of furniture and missionary "stuff." Elders Langford and Cordner from nearby Kingston met us at the apartment and helped us de-junk it and load the furniture into the van. We cleaned and scrubbed and finally headed with the full trailer in tow further down the coast to Yarmouth where we unloaded the desks and beds and reloaded it with the old beds and desks from the apartment there. By this time it was late and we were exhausted. Rather than drive five hours back to Dartmouth in the cold and dark, we took the elders for pizza and then we hunkered down in a hotel.

Elders Cordner and Langford at their finest


All packed up and ready to roll

One thing for sure on this mission we have met many wonderful people and seen many beautiful places and we NEVER get bored. We are continually impressed by all the great missionaries we are blessed to serve with, both young and old. We love President and Sister Simpson and feel honored to be able to try and make their load a little lighter.