There are Signs of Spring

It seems like it has been a long time coming, but we do see some miniscule buds on the trees around our place. The crows have returned and we have even seen a robin. Although it was below freezing when we got up yesterday it did warm up to 45 before the day was over.

I spoke at the baptism of these two girls. One was a child of record baptism the other a convert baptism. It was a priviledge to get to do that. I gave the talk on baptism. It was a great experience and fun to see the kingdom grow by two more.

Right now we have over 20 people scheduled for baptism. We are praying that they will all make it. We do seem to have a lot of people cancel their baptisms. I guess it is no different from other places, but it seems like here they have such a difficult time choosing to live the commandments. I know seeds are being planted and these young people are being trained to be leaders of the Church. We see changes in the lives of the missionaries and the investigators daily.
There is a lot of adversity here as I am sure there is everywhere. But we have had some very choice people join the Church and they are becoming the stalwarts of this area.

We had a big get together at the mission home for lunch on the last transfers day. It was a big transfer, the biggest we have had so far. Many missionaries changing positions and areas, four missionaries going home. Some came off of Newfoundland and new ones went on to Newfoundland. We are having to sell eight mission cars so that makes some areas walking areas or car share areas.

We took a drive out to Eastern Passage again, it was quite cold, but fun to see the ocean again. This time we just walked along the boardwalk, most of the shops were closed. I look forward to spring when they will all open again.

ON THE BOARDWALK

I can hardly wait until it gets warm enough to get out and see some of this beautiful place. We do keep venturing out a little once in a while. This was a great outing. Nova Scotia is so diverse and there is so much to see. From the metropolitan area of Halifax to the quaint fishing villages. Many parts of the area look and feel like San Francisco. Of course we have the sea air all the time. There are so many trees (if they are leafed out) that sometimes you can't even see the houses or the city from the freeway.

This is one of the many (I mean many) frozen lakes. It just looks like a lake, but that is a frozen lake. All the swirls and what looks likes ripples are solid ice. It is one that we pass everyday going to and from the office. There are lots of peddle boats, canoes, jet skis and other boats including power boats on these lakes in the summer. We saw several boats of race teams practicing the other day. You know the kind that you see in the Olympics. This picture was taken a couple months ago and it has warmed up some since then so the ice has melted now. This mission is turning out not only to be an adventure in service, but in learning so much and experiencing so many different things. We have seen things that we had not seen before. Just walking through the stores is an experience in itself. The gospel is true.

Tulip Time

After spending three years on a mission on Temple Square, tulips became part of our lives. Just as soon as they started coming up in the spring we would walk through the plaza at the Church Office Building just to watch their progress every morning and then take strolls through the tulips on our lunch break. I always liked tulips, never grew them, didn't know much about them. Now I grow them, love them and can hardly wait for them to make their appearance in early spring. I didn't know before how many kinds there are, now I am noticing that it is a LOT. I am not studying them, just enjoying them. They have become one of life's simple pleasures to me. They make me smile. They make me happy. One fun thing that we have done is to go to Thanksgiving Point after the season is over and buy the bulbs that they have taken out of the ground. You have no idea what kind of tulip they are and it is so fun to watch when they come up which ones you ended up with. We have ended up with some really pretty ones, heck they are all pretty ones.

Lois on a beautiful mission

Tulips in the snow

Michael with the tulips on Temple Square

The rest of these are our very own tulips, growing in our front yard. I am so excited that so many came up this year and are doing so good. I stand at the window first thing in the morning and watch the sun come up over the mountains and shine on my tulips. I just love my tulips and hope to add more this fall when bulb planting time comes around.

Yes, this is a tulip too,------------------- Purple tulips by the front porch

I had no idea we had these

I love these pink ones

This lone yellow one is so pretty


Brilliant orange too

The inside of a tulip

I knew spring would come

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Although our official release date doesn't come until the 17th of October, the Temple Department gave us a wonderful farewell luncheon yesterday. It was so nice, a special event to top off our three years of serving in the Temple Department, a dream come true. Donny and Christi surprised us by showing up to take part in the celebration. It was so neat to have them there. We were so thankful for their support. It was difficult saying good bye to all the great people we have met and served with. We have learned so much and are so thankful for the safety we have had. Rarely does a day go by that there aren't several accidents on the freeway and we have had some really close calls. It is not easy getting up at 5:00am and commuting in the snow and rain. Then walking from the Conference Center to the Church Office Building. It is a breeze and beautiful in the spring, but winter is another story, but we would not trade it for the world.

These two pictures of us are with our companion couple. Joyce and Chris Layton, what a wonderful couple to serve with and spend three years with, in close quarters.

Some dear friends we have met and served with

And with an angel to lend her support and a big thank you to all of you for your support.

Since our official release date is the 17th we have decided to have an Open House that evening. We have never really retired, we went from running the business and working in the Fresno Temple to serving a three year mission, so now we are going to celebrate with our neighbors in Stone Hollow and some from the ward.

I could never begin to tell you how much this mission has meant to us, so I guess I won't even try. I know we were prepared for this for a long time. I know that the Fresno Temple was a big part of that. My gratitude is just so overwhelming sometimes. It will be exciting to see what happens from here. We still have a two year mission in our future, I am just sure. It will be a little while before we do that, but we are excited and eager for the opportunity. We love you all, thank you for your encouragement. Time to take a little time for ourselves.
Well, if you can call going to the temple more often, doing our genealogy and digitizing our journals, working on our pictures, home and visiting teaching, serving in our ward, working out at the fitness center, serving at the Humanitarian Center, etc. as taking some time. You know what I mean, you all have full lives. We send our love to one and all.

Missionaries

This picture was taken by L. Tom Perry