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.