Kansas City, Missouri

We had our first day of meetings, today.  We broke off

in the afternoon, the President's in one room and the wives in

another.  This is a group of amazing women, some just

starting out, second years like me and those in their final year.

We met together and shared stories, ideas and testimonies.

To be real honest, I still don't know what I'm doing here.

There are still a great many days that I just feel like I'm having

an out of body experience.  Outside my body looking in.

Mission President's Fall Seminar

Sooooo, we are getting out of the country, a chance to get

away, change of scene, not subject, but scene.

But guess what day they are flying us. . . 

That's right, 9/11, couldn't be the day before, or the day after,

nooooo, had to be on the 10 year anniversary of one of the

worst flying days in history.

Needless to say, I was scared to death.

Couldn't pass up the signs, the date was everywhere.

This was a fun little store in the airport in Minneapolis,

cute moose!

The flights were actually very nice, uneventful,

just the way I like them.

Our pilot on the last leg of the flight came on the intercom 

and paid tribute to the fallen and thanked us for not

showing fear by continuing to fly.

Remember. . . .

I remember. . . . .

I'm too young to remember where I was and what I

was doing when President Kennedy was killed, but I

will never forget where I was and what I was doing

when the twin towers came down.

Every day of the week, I get the kids off to school

and then go to the gym downtown, to exercise.  

This Tuesday morning was no different.  I grabbed my yoga

mat and was off to yoga class.

I heard the news of the attacks on the radio, while driving to the gym.

I was stunned,  shocked.  It was very surreal.

I got to class, and yoga went on as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Well, half way through class, I just couldn't take it any more.  I couldn't

stop thinking of what was taking place on the other side of the country and I couldn't

stop the tears, so I packed up my mat, left the gym and headed home.

The entire country was a buzz, the entire world for that matter.

Every television channel was covering it, and all eyes were watching.

I personally couldn't pull myself away, I just sat there, crying and watching

in horror.  It was the worst thing I had ever experienced,

and it was very devastating to our young children.  None of us

knew exactly what to do or how to feel.

Songbird, extraordinaire!

We received a call today around noon and Courtney had

some good news to share with us.

She tried out for Chamber Choir, with Mr. Woods recommendation,

and she made it.

We are so proud of her and so excited.  I said it before,

and I'll say it again, "when the Lord closes a door,

somewhere he opens a window"  

Thank you, for the tender mercies.

This will be such a wonderful opportunity for Courtney,

she will have so much fun and have such great experiences.

Can't wait!

September Zone Conference

We just completed zone conferences, it took us all month, but

we did it.  Yeah!

This zone conference during my interview with the missionaires,

I gave them a trivia quiz about Canadian facts.  I figure, their living

in the country, they should know somethings about it.

So they took the quiz, I graded it and then gave them a taste of Canada.

Above left, ketchup chips, above right, Nanaimo Bars.

l to r-maple leaf cookies, banana marshmallows, neapolitan marshmallows 

Mind over matter, during fish bowl, 

planking!

Edmonton North Zone, they put all the appointments 

on the board and inspirational messages.

Some of the questions:

What is Alberta's provincial flower?

When did Alberta become a province?

When was the loonie and toonie introduced?

Approximately how many lakes are there in Canada?

Orangina, a wonderful drink we've discovered, only in Canada!

And of course my homemade peanut blossoms.

Cleaning out the pantry, I bring it, they take it, randomness. 

"look ma, no hands"

companion ties

the brightest green tie I've ever seen

These were worn as companion ties in a 

zone where everyone else wore purple,

you might say they were being contrary.

Lloydminster

Welcome to the border town of Lloydminster,

the red towers indicate the border between the two provinces

Not real showy but better than nothing.  You always

expect to see a dotted line running down the road,

just like on the maps.

See, I told you.

 more beautiful flowers

they are everywhere

These flags were cool, the yellow and green

one is Saskatchewan's provincial flag, the

middle one is Canada's becoming the official flag

in 1965, just ask any of our missionaries.

And the blue one is Alberta's provincial flag.

Vermilion/Lloydminster

This weekend we traveled out to Vermilion to speak in church.

Vermilion is about 2 hours east of Sherwood Park.

They have a beautiful little building where the branch meets.

We enjoyed speaking in their sacrament meeting.

There were 8 brethren in Priesthood and 6 sisters in 

Relief Society.  They have a basketball hoop in the 

primary room, cool!

We took some pictures on our way out of town

We found this sign accidentally, while we were trying

to find something else.

Welcome to Mayberry,

beautiful little town, look at the stunning hanging flowers.

Then we drove another half hour to Lloydminster,

it's the farthest eastern city in our mission

and it's right on the border of Saskatchewan.

It's the border city or Alberta and Saskatchewan.