It is hard to believe that we are now entering the "BER" months (maybe that should be the "burrrrr" months :). This first year of our mission has simple flown by. On August 6th we hit the one year mark and now have passed the one year mark since we arrived here in Ottawa.
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| Evidence that the BERRRR months are here |
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| A Wood Badger can't miss taking a picture of an Owl! |
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| This is a groomed Hedge in the Gatineau Area quite interesting |
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| Ducks are starting to get a little nervous about the trek ahead |
Oh the miracles we have seen in the past months are wonderful. We have been so blessed to work with the wonderful YSA in our Dows Lake Ward. They never cease to amaze us with how strong they are in the gospel. We have been blessed with a new Institute Student Council (ISC) We traveled to Montreal the first part of the month with our new group for a day long training. They had a wonderful time, learned lots and came away with some great ideas. Since then we have been in the process of setting up the calendar for the rest of the year. It is going to be a wonderful year at the Ottawa Institute.
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| ISC President |
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| This is a famous ice cream shop Chocolat Favarie |
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The dipped cones are soooo good the dip never gets hard. It's like a
fudge covering but- only buy the smallest one. It is very rich! |
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| ISC leaders at the Montreal Conference |
The next miracle that has transpired was instituting the Pathway Program here in our stake. Heres a little background. When we arrived last year we were excited to get the program up and running. The first time we met the stake president we asked him if we could start the program. His response was that we could try but it was more expensive than having the kids go to the local university and they were focusing at that time on the Self Reliance program. So, at that point we put the idea on the back burner. Fast forward to July. Our counter parts, the Randalls, in the Montreal area, got a request from one of the three stakes in the area to host a group. So they called us and asked us about it. We got in touch with the Pathway people and had a Virtual meeting with them and our Area Self reliance director out of Toronto. They gave us the green light and we started advertising and promoting Pathway in the stake.
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| Our counter parts in the Montreal area, Elder and Sister Randall |
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| We Love the Randalls |
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| Senate chambers in theWest Block of Parliament |
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| Pink Lake in Gatineau Park |
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| Flower beds at the Experimental garden. The flower beds are unbelievable. |
At the same time the Tuition cost was lowered from $73 to $55 for people in Canada. It now became possible for people in Canada to get a Bachelors degree for under $9000. That is well below the cost of local universities. We began our training and soon we had a virtual group of over 20 people. Our goal, however, was to have a live Face to Face group. After struggling with getting people signed up we finally got the required number of people signed up and we now have a live group here in Ottawa. About a week ago we visited with the Stake President and told him we had a group he was very pleased. While visiting students prior to beginning, we were talking to one student and found out that she was a past stake Relief Society President. About a year ago, she was introduced to pathway, saw its potential, and introduced it to the stake. She also found that the time was not right. She took Self Reliance classes and put together her educational plan that included Pathway. Her presentations influenced other students who needed the program. When we got together, we discovered all of this and realized that our 23 month mission call, her efforts in Self Reliance and discovering the Pathway solution, and our desire to get Pathway started all came together at the right time. Pathway actually is the next step for many Self Reliance students. So Pathway was put on hold until those other steps could be accomplished. If any of you are wondering, Heavenly Father is in charge, and he has his timeline and knows the beginning from the end and every once in a while we get to look back and realize that our lives are being directed by His plan. Our timeline has very little to do with the eternal timeline. So if your frustrated and wondering why things aren't happening like you think they should, just wait awhile, and in the end, it will become very clear.
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First Zone Conference with our new Mission President and wife
President and Sister Low they are just to Janet's left. |
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| Two Sisters at the GlenGarry Games in Maxwell Ontario |
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| One of the largest Scottish Festivals in North America |
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The Strong man games. He is tossing a Caper- a 19' long,
175 LB pole. The idea is to get it to land on its top
and then flip over so it is pointing away from you |
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| You have to enjoy the Tug-Of-War... |
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| In kilts! |
The last miracle is the launch of the English Connect program. Prior to our mission Sister Mikkelsen and I did a program in the Mesquite Stake called Daily Dose. It was an English language learning program. We were released after a year because the church was closing the program and instituting a new language learning program. Well English Connects is now up and running and the Mission President is wanting us to run the program in our area. There are other areas in the mission that are involved in similar projects. They have been very helpful in sending us needed materials. Our stake has many emigrants in the area that are in desperate need of this training. We recently combined the Halifax mission with our mission and many of the missionaries that have been involved in this program in the Halifax area are now in our Zone so we have built in, trained, teachers. Another evidence of Heavenly Father running the program.
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We ended up being in-charge of the Bishops Storehouse
this week. It is a wonderful experience |
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| YSA pool party at the Bishops house |
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They told the bishop and several of us older folks that this
is what we looked like 40 years ago. |
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| One of our YSA at their Pre-Reception |
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| Last district meeting before transfers |
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Next to our apartment they held a Greek Festival for 10 Days
The food was wonderful and the music was very lively |
Well this has gone on way too long but if you got this far, we want to witness that our Father in Heaven has a plan. We just need to make sure we put ourselves in line with His will and we will be blessed and so will those we get to serve.
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| Our youngest grandson starting to walk look out world |
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| Local artists painting area. It is located under an overpass |
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| The work is very well done |
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Yes our Aggie is still alive and doing well
if you stop by our house in Bunkerville she
will give you free kiss. |
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Parable of a tree.
This is a large beautiful Oak tree
as you look at it looks health and happy.
We see people the same they are beautiful
health and happy... |
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This is the tree from the other side. Half the tree is
missing and there is a large scar.
We all have challenges and trials that scared us.
But just like the tree we must continue to do our best
with the challenges that we have and continue to grow and flourish
just like this might Oak! |
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| This little one is now 4 and growing so fast |
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Daniel Earned his Masters degree. His brothers surprised him
when they all showed up to his graduation. |
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| This little lady is walking like a champ! |
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They went to Nauvoo and met NED the horse.
They couldn't resist this picture |
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| On a Torrey adventure |
