Bob: Looks like we forgot to publish last night's blog. It was showing as a 'draft' when I opened the blog tonight. Sorry about that loyal followers. We'll try and do better.
Not a bad day although we didn't leave the office till after 6. Just some last minute bills to pay and Bonnie was entering some baptismal information that she had to finish.
Was helping Bonnie with her printer toner cartridge today and got the toner on my white shirt. Went to the wash room and ran cold water on it and massaged it with liquid soap. Surprise, surprise, every bit of it came out! I would have bet that shirt was a goner. Another tender mercy from the Lord.
As we're getting ready for bed I notice it is raining outside. That will cool it off some, but won't help the humidity. Actually it has been pretty nice when we leave the office in the evening. Walking in the morning is nice too.
Bonnie mentioned putting family pictures up. I think we're going to get some small shelves and then put the pictures on them. We'll see if it's as easy as Martha Stewart says it is.
Well I had better get ready for bed. Tomorrow will be another busy day. Love to everyone.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: Yes, the Lord was watching out for us today for sure. Another potentially bad situation resolved itself as well. (Wonder what that was?-Bob)
Tonight Bob did the wash while I finished some shopping. I'm getting better at using the debit card and finding my way around this part of town. When I got home we moved some pictures over the couch and put another one up. We have an area set aside to put up pictures of our 9 children and their families. That will be great!
Tomorrow is a very busy Saturday. We will be helping to clean the Etobicoke Chapel where we attend church in the morning. Then we hope to attend a temple session. After that we are having our friends who live here at Silver Maple Court over for games and munchies. This means I will have to clean the apartment sometime tomorrow. And then, I need to cook some pasta for YSA on Sunday. It's a holiday Monday and many of the sisters are out of town with their families. The few of us that are left will have to put on the "dinner". We are not elaborate with our food on Sundays which is good. But it still takes work to get everything put together. I hope all of you will enjoy your Saturday tomorrow.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Friday 31 July 2015
July 30, 2015
Bob: Just another normal day until we hit the traffic jam. That made me feel good!! Prior to that I wanted to get a hair cut. I think my barber was part Indian because she pretty well scalped me. Won't need another one for a couple months. Oh well, you know what they say. The difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is 2 weeks.
Didn't get to Orangeville today so that will have to be tomorrow or Monday. Have to decide who gets what from the storage shed tomorrow. Probably be some disappointments, but we'll roll with it.
One of the sister missionaries got a small suitcase delivered to the Mission Office from Amazon. Her stepmother ordered it for her. However, she ordered one that is much too small. So the Sister Missionary wanted to send it back. I told her I would get her an estimate. Going by UPS the rate is 75.00!! So the Sister told me to call her mother and see if she would pay for it. Well we thought we were calling her stepmother. I can only say that mom doesn't like being referred to as stepmother. Anyway the actual purchaser, the real stepmother, said to give it to whoever needs it unless she can return it to Amazon, prepaid.
Not much else happening. Hope everyone has had a great day.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It was a fairly normal day today. Bob was ready to leave about 5:20, which is really early for him, but I was in the middle of working on the orders for MLC and couldn't leave. We finally left after 6. We went to get Bob a haircut, and then I decided to do some quick shopping at Wal -Mart. On our way home, we got into a huge traffic jam because of some street paving they were doing. We finally made it home about 8:00! So, it was hot dogs for dinner. Oh, well, At least they were easy and quick.
Tomorrow I will order ESL supplies and begin to make flyers for the 6 areas that teach ESL classes. And I think that President and Sister Clayton will be coming to meet with us. It was too busy to meet at the beginning of the week with new missionaries coming and other missionaries leaving the mission and 75% of the companionships changing.
I can't believe that tomorrow it's the 31st of July. We have been here for almost three months! Like Sister Gillen used to say, the days are long but the weeks fly by!
May all of you be blessed with the love of our Savior tomorrow.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Didn't get to Orangeville today so that will have to be tomorrow or Monday. Have to decide who gets what from the storage shed tomorrow. Probably be some disappointments, but we'll roll with it.
One of the sister missionaries got a small suitcase delivered to the Mission Office from Amazon. Her stepmother ordered it for her. However, she ordered one that is much too small. So the Sister Missionary wanted to send it back. I told her I would get her an estimate. Going by UPS the rate is 75.00!! So the Sister told me to call her mother and see if she would pay for it. Well we thought we were calling her stepmother. I can only say that mom doesn't like being referred to as stepmother. Anyway the actual purchaser, the real stepmother, said to give it to whoever needs it unless she can return it to Amazon, prepaid.
Not much else happening. Hope everyone has had a great day.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It was a fairly normal day today. Bob was ready to leave about 5:20, which is really early for him, but I was in the middle of working on the orders for MLC and couldn't leave. We finally left after 6. We went to get Bob a haircut, and then I decided to do some quick shopping at Wal -Mart. On our way home, we got into a huge traffic jam because of some street paving they were doing. We finally made it home about 8:00! So, it was hot dogs for dinner. Oh, well, At least they were easy and quick.
Tomorrow I will order ESL supplies and begin to make flyers for the 6 areas that teach ESL classes. And I think that President and Sister Clayton will be coming to meet with us. It was too busy to meet at the beginning of the week with new missionaries coming and other missionaries leaving the mission and 75% of the companionships changing.
I can't believe that tomorrow it's the 31st of July. We have been here for almost three months! Like Sister Gillen used to say, the days are long but the weeks fly by!
May all of you be blessed with the love of our Savior tomorrow.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Wednesday 29 July 2015
July 29, 2015
Bob: Fairly busy day. I believe we stayed till about 6. Brought the bills home and paid them from home. Had a great dinner of chili and home made biscuits. Not much going on tonight, but that's a good thing as the rest is quite welcome.
May have to make a short trip to Orangeville tomorrow. Never been there. It looks like about 35 minutes from the office. That's okay though as the price of gas is coming down again, at most stations that is. Yesterday morning the Petro-Canada station just up the street had 1.179 a liter. Another Petro-Canada station on the way to work had 1.057 a liter. How's that for a price variation in about 7 miles? According to my calculations with a monetary conversion rate of 1.3 the price equates to 3.08 a gallon in the US. Anyone want to check that for me?
Put a picture of Elder Ganowsky's cake below. Think I'll get another one it looks so good.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: We are going to get another cake when the next AP leaves, but we'll serve it on Monday instead of Tuesday so we can all enjoy it together. Below is a picture of Bob in his office. His desk actually looks good. At least you can see the top of the desk in places!
We've had probably 5 or 6 calls tonight between us. It seems like there is always someone wanting to know about something. One caller is interested in the furniture Bob has in the storage shed. Another set of sisters just moved into an apartment that had been rented to Elders. They said it was very dirty. When Bob talked to the missionaries that had moved out of it they said they only had an hour to clean it. Yet they had been there 18 weeks! Another call was about a family moving to Canada and did we know of any good places to move that was not expensive (ha ha), good for children, and close to a university here. Another call was from Elders that had looked into renting another apartment, and another Elder called about putting money on his card so he could go to the doctor, etc etc. At least we can answer these calls in our casual clothes relaxing on the couch!
We hope to have some of the missionary couples over Saturday night to play games. I hope it works out. Before that there is much to do, however, like hang/move pictures and clean the apartment. And we've been assigned to clean the Etobicoke Chapel with the YSAs Saturday morning and want to do a temple session as well. But I'm still grateful to be here and to be doing what the Lord wants us to be doing. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope that somehow I can be an instrument in His hands while on our mission.
Love to all,
Mom/Bonnie
May have to make a short trip to Orangeville tomorrow. Never been there. It looks like about 35 minutes from the office. That's okay though as the price of gas is coming down again, at most stations that is. Yesterday morning the Petro-Canada station just up the street had 1.179 a liter. Another Petro-Canada station on the way to work had 1.057 a liter. How's that for a price variation in about 7 miles? According to my calculations with a monetary conversion rate of 1.3 the price equates to 3.08 a gallon in the US. Anyone want to check that for me?
Put a picture of Elder Ganowsky's cake below. Think I'll get another one it looks so good.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: We are going to get another cake when the next AP leaves, but we'll serve it on Monday instead of Tuesday so we can all enjoy it together. Below is a picture of Bob in his office. His desk actually looks good. At least you can see the top of the desk in places!
We've had probably 5 or 6 calls tonight between us. It seems like there is always someone wanting to know about something. One caller is interested in the furniture Bob has in the storage shed. Another set of sisters just moved into an apartment that had been rented to Elders. They said it was very dirty. When Bob talked to the missionaries that had moved out of it they said they only had an hour to clean it. Yet they had been there 18 weeks! Another call was about a family moving to Canada and did we know of any good places to move that was not expensive (ha ha), good for children, and close to a university here. Another call was from Elders that had looked into renting another apartment, and another Elder called about putting money on his card so he could go to the doctor, etc etc. At least we can answer these calls in our casual clothes relaxing on the couch!
We hope to have some of the missionary couples over Saturday night to play games. I hope it works out. Before that there is much to do, however, like hang/move pictures and clean the apartment. And we've been assigned to clean the Etobicoke Chapel with the YSAs Saturday morning and want to do a temple session as well. But I'm still grateful to be here and to be doing what the Lord wants us to be doing. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope that somehow I can be an instrument in His hands while on our mission.
Love to all,
Mom/Bonnie
Looking over the Pitney Bowes material
Tuesday 28 July 2015
July 28, 2015
Bob: Swamped today with 70% of the zone companionships moving to new areas. It baffles my mind to think how that all gets coordinated. Not much else to report. Have a good night.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: I actually thought it was more like 75%. We each gave our little speel this morning at 7:30 am to the newly-arrived missionaries. Then, Bob and I went back to the office. The Ericksons had more to present because Elder E. is in charge of vehicles. He had to show a video, etc. etc. The missionaries came in and out all day long, first the transferred ones with their "new" companions, then the trainers with their new missionaries in tow. And they have pretty much wiped out a lot of the supplies that I had ready for MLC next Wednesday. Oh, well. They will just have to wait for their supplies a little longer. I must have refilled the candy jar 6 or 7 times. If you remember, for each piece of candy the missionary must write a tender mercy or blessing from the Lord on a sticky note and put it on the candy jar. I love some of the things that are written. I save them in a binder. The cake we ordered for Elder Ganowsky was delivered to the mission home where the departing missionaries gathered for one final meal with the President and his wife. Sister Clayton seemed happy to have it. I'm glad Bob ordered it.
We stopped on the way home for some fast food so I wouldn't have to cook after such a long day.We are both tired tonight. Tomorrow we will work out some of the kinks as the missionaries get adjusted to their new apartments and new companions. It will be a wonderful day as the Lord wills it.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: I actually thought it was more like 75%. We each gave our little speel this morning at 7:30 am to the newly-arrived missionaries. Then, Bob and I went back to the office. The Ericksons had more to present because Elder E. is in charge of vehicles. He had to show a video, etc. etc. The missionaries came in and out all day long, first the transferred ones with their "new" companions, then the trainers with their new missionaries in tow. And they have pretty much wiped out a lot of the supplies that I had ready for MLC next Wednesday. Oh, well. They will just have to wait for their supplies a little longer. I must have refilled the candy jar 6 or 7 times. If you remember, for each piece of candy the missionary must write a tender mercy or blessing from the Lord on a sticky note and put it on the candy jar. I love some of the things that are written. I save them in a binder. The cake we ordered for Elder Ganowsky was delivered to the mission home where the departing missionaries gathered for one final meal with the President and his wife. Sister Clayton seemed happy to have it. I'm glad Bob ordered it.
We stopped on the way home for some fast food so I wouldn't have to cook after such a long day.We are both tired tonight. Tomorrow we will work out some of the kinks as the missionaries get adjusted to their new apartments and new companions. It will be a wonderful day as the Lord wills it.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Monday 27 July 2015
July 27, 2015
Bonnie: We have an early day tomorrow because we are welcoming in the new missionaries in the morning. We both will have about 5 minutes to tell the "greenies" about what we do. Mind you, these are young adults who have been up for most of the night traveling here and they are apprehensive to say the least. That's why mine will be very short--that we're here to help them with things that will help their mission go smoother. Elder Erickson has to have most of the time because he talks about the vehicles.
We just got home from a YSA activity doing yardwork outside of the Temple. We got there just in time. Bob spread mulch and I weeded. It was great to get my hands in the dirt again. I miss that!
So, I'm off to bed, wishing all of you a lovely night.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: I don't mind helping out, but I still don't like yard work!!!! It is what it is, WORK. With that said, they had a group of about 24 or so show up and there were about a dozen adults there too. We didn't work that long so it wasn't too bad. The treats afterwards make it worthwhile.
Before we started Bonnie and I walked around the temple. She had never seen the fountain in front, ever though we drive by it to get to the temple.
Had this great idea this morning to stop and order a cake for Elder Ganowsky for tomorrow. Thought everyone in the office could share it with him on his last day there. Found out later that he won't be here as they have activities planned for all the departing missionaries tomorrow.
Time to go to bed. Hope all is well with everyone.
Love,
Dad/Bob
We just got home from a YSA activity doing yardwork outside of the Temple. We got there just in time. Bob spread mulch and I weeded. It was great to get my hands in the dirt again. I miss that!
So, I'm off to bed, wishing all of you a lovely night.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: I don't mind helping out, but I still don't like yard work!!!! It is what it is, WORK. With that said, they had a group of about 24 or so show up and there were about a dozen adults there too. We didn't work that long so it wasn't too bad. The treats afterwards make it worthwhile.
Before we started Bonnie and I walked around the temple. She had never seen the fountain in front, ever though we drive by it to get to the temple.
Had this great idea this morning to stop and order a cake for Elder Ganowsky for tomorrow. Thought everyone in the office could share it with him on his last day there. Found out later that he won't be here as they have activities planned for all the departing missionaries tomorrow.
Time to go to bed. Hope all is well with everyone.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Two of the Sisters we helped get a new apartment
Part of our group tonight
Some of the grounds around the temple
The fountain
Sunday 26 July 2015
July 26, 2015
Bob: It's only 8:30 pm and we're getting the blog done. We have had a restful and peaceful day. Was able to take a 50 minute walk this morning when I got up. Didn't take anyone to church or home from church, but we still didn't get out of church till after 4 as Munch n Mingle lasted over an hour. Sacrament Meeting was good today. The speakers, Sister Amanda Hardman and Jorgen Davidson, are both BYU students and both were well prepared. Sister Hardman told a great story about how she was having a troubling time in her life and she couldn't understand why. Then one day while walking in the mountains above Sundance Ski Resort she realized she had to forgive someone who had hurt her. She hadn't realized how much it was affecting her. But once she sought that person out and talked things over her life immediately began to be happier.
After church I took an hour's nap and then Bonnie and I went for a walk for over an hour. Walked up around 2 lakes and a residential area that is across Queen Street from us, then around the lake out behind our apartment building.
Bonnie: It has been a wonderful day. Sacrament meeting was very inspiring. I really like what one of the speakers said about being perfect. He said, "We can't always be perfect, but we can be perfectly committed" (to the gospel, of course). I really like that. After that, Bob and I went to a Sunday School class where we learned about missionary work from "Preach My Gospel". It reminded me in some respects of the MTC. We have a very enthusiastic teacher which makes it extra good. Relief Society was wonderful. I am so impressed with the young single adults. We ended the day with a delicious salad and cake for dessert. Next Sunday I will help in preparing the food. It will be the day before what they call a "Civic" holiday and many people will be out of town.
I hope all of you are enjoying your Sabbath today.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
After church I took an hour's nap and then Bonnie and I went for a walk for over an hour. Walked up around 2 lakes and a residential area that is across Queen Street from us, then around the lake out behind our apartment building.
Bonnie: It has been a wonderful day. Sacrament meeting was very inspiring. I really like what one of the speakers said about being perfect. He said, "We can't always be perfect, but we can be perfectly committed" (to the gospel, of course). I really like that. After that, Bob and I went to a Sunday School class where we learned about missionary work from "Preach My Gospel". It reminded me in some respects of the MTC. We have a very enthusiastic teacher which makes it extra good. Relief Society was wonderful. I am so impressed with the young single adults. We ended the day with a delicious salad and cake for dessert. Next Sunday I will help in preparing the food. It will be the day before what they call a "Civic" holiday and many people will be out of town.
I hope all of you are enjoying your Sabbath today.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
First lake we came to.
Second lake (our apartment buildings are sticking above the trees)
Our apartment building in the foreground
Rest stop on our walk
My favorite house decoration
My 2nd favorite house docoration
Saturday 25 July 2015
July 25, 2015
Bob: Ok guys, I let you down today. I didn't hold up the manly idea of women shop and men just go buy what they need and get it over with. I must confess I tagged along all day behind Bonnie. Looking for comforters, pictures, etc. isn't the most fun thing to do, but at least I got a happy wife out of it. We made several stops: Niagara's Choice Federal Credit Union, JC Penneys, Olive Garden, Kohls, Target, Chili's (yum), Dressbarn, Nautica, Chicos, Brooks Brothers, Nautica, Dressbarn, Kirkland's, Marshalls, Walmart, and Marshalls for a return. Plus a lot of walking around the mall. We did forget to stop and get gas however. It was between 270 and 2.80 a gallon in the States.
We crossed Rainbow Bridge on the way down. You can see both the American and Canadian Falls as you cross the bridge. Took about 15 minutes to get through the interview line to enter the states then. On the way back we crossed the Lewiston Bridge which is north of the Falls. It only took about 10 minutes to go through there. Want to stop at the Falls and take some pictures for the blog. Will try to do that the next time we go down. I'll have to cut the shopper's time off early though. We can't stop on the way down as we have to get to the credit union before noon. Won't have to worry about depositing checks and the bank putting a hold on it now. We should be good for about 4 months. So we may not go back down till November. Falls may be frozen over then!!
I had better get off here and get ready for bed. Hope your tomorrow is ever better than today was.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It was quite enjoyable to be in the US all day today. especially because sales tax is only about 4.5 percent. We spent alot of money getting things we needed and wanted. And, of course, sisters, who doesn't like to shop? There are lots and lots of outlet stores in a very big mall there. I got a comforter for the second bedroom and something for the wall in the living room and some clothes. And candy and cookies for MLC. I'm in charge of the treat "platter" this month. At Walmart there were some boy scouts outside collecting money and they were LDS. That was fun. I gave them all of my US money, which was only a couple of dollars. Then at another store I had to return something and the checker was also LDS. She is a YSA who hasn't been coming to church very often, because her ride moved and she works many Sundays. I encouraged her to make some calls and see if she could get a ride and start coming back. We were gone about 12 hours from 9 to 9 but it was good to have a break. Niagara, USA is only about an hour and a half away. I'm sure we will be going fairly often.
I hope your day was enjoyable in every way!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
We crossed Rainbow Bridge on the way down. You can see both the American and Canadian Falls as you cross the bridge. Took about 15 minutes to get through the interview line to enter the states then. On the way back we crossed the Lewiston Bridge which is north of the Falls. It only took about 10 minutes to go through there. Want to stop at the Falls and take some pictures for the blog. Will try to do that the next time we go down. I'll have to cut the shopper's time off early though. We can't stop on the way down as we have to get to the credit union before noon. Won't have to worry about depositing checks and the bank putting a hold on it now. We should be good for about 4 months. So we may not go back down till November. Falls may be frozen over then!!
I had better get off here and get ready for bed. Hope your tomorrow is ever better than today was.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It was quite enjoyable to be in the US all day today. especially because sales tax is only about 4.5 percent. We spent alot of money getting things we needed and wanted. And, of course, sisters, who doesn't like to shop? There are lots and lots of outlet stores in a very big mall there. I got a comforter for the second bedroom and something for the wall in the living room and some clothes. And candy and cookies for MLC. I'm in charge of the treat "platter" this month. At Walmart there were some boy scouts outside collecting money and they were LDS. That was fun. I gave them all of my US money, which was only a couple of dollars. Then at another store I had to return something and the checker was also LDS. She is a YSA who hasn't been coming to church very often, because her ride moved and she works many Sundays. I encouraged her to make some calls and see if she could get a ride and start coming back. We were gone about 12 hours from 9 to 9 but it was good to have a break. Niagara, USA is only about an hour and a half away. I'm sure we will be going fairly often.
I hope your day was enjoyable in every way!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
July 24, 2015
Bob: It's past midnight so I will be brief. Work went well today. A missionary that was released about a month ago showed up with his family from Logan, Utah. Had a real good visit. The APs were here and Elder Ganowsky was really surprised to see Elder Anderson. They had a great time.
Spent almost all evening balancing our checking account, and finally got it done. Quite a battle this time as I had carried over an incorrect balance from the bottom of the page to the beginning balance on the next page. Took some time but I found it.
Headed for Niagara in the morning. Looking forward to it.
I did get the President's wife's credit card straightened out today. Still don't understand the process too well, but she should be okay for another month at least.
Love to all,
Bob/Dad
Spent almost all evening balancing our checking account, and finally got it done. Quite a battle this time as I had carried over an incorrect balance from the bottom of the page to the beginning balance on the next page. Took some time but I found it.
Headed for Niagara in the morning. Looking forward to it.
I did get the President's wife's credit card straightened out today. Still don't understand the process too well, but she should be okay for another month at least.
Love to all,
Bob/Dad
Thursday 23 July 2015
July 23, 2015
Bob: I think those that check the blog last night didn't see the pictures we added after we initially posted. We added pictures of the Assistant to the President that is going home, and his replacement. Check it out.
Today was a calm day other than Global Card services told me that President Clayton's wife's credit card was frozen. They said she could still charge things with it for a few days, but that she couldn't withdraw cash any longer until we adjusted her cash balance. I am supposed to make an adjusting entry every month or they freeze her card. Oops!! Have to correct that in the morning. Hope she didn't go to Costco today and try to withdraw some cash.
Picked up another piece of carpet at Walmart tonight. That makes 6 pieces I have carried out of that place. This one went in the solarium, and it is not being returned! Told Bonnie I need a sign on the sliding door to the solarium that says, 'Invitation only'. She's not too much in favor of that. A guy has to have some privacy!
Got clearance to go to Niagara Falls Saturday and to go to Timiskaming the weekend of August 8th. They are having their Branch picnic on Saturday. Hoping it gets over in time to do a little worm washing!!
Well I'm getting off here to give Bonnie some time. Hope everyone is still doing well
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: The day began very well because several missionaries came into the office. I love talking to them and finding out about where they are from, etc. I am so impressed with them. As far as I can tell they are great missionaries who love the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are kind and obedient. And funny. Brother Erickson is in charge of vehicles and "tiwis" which are devices put on each vehicle that tracks how the missionaries drive. He brought one in the other day with a mustache and side-burns on it!
I left the office early today so I could get a haircut--about 4:15. It was a nice break. I called Bob just before leaving to pick him up and he said he could get a ride home with Erickson's. That made it especially nice. We had already eaten our "big" meal for the day for lunch so we had leftovers and scrambled eggs for dinner. And then, as Bob said, we headed for Walmart and the grocery store. I wanted to get both the shopping and the wash done before we head for Niagara Saturday. It looks like I will be able to do that.
May the Spirit guide you tomorrow!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Today was a calm day other than Global Card services told me that President Clayton's wife's credit card was frozen. They said she could still charge things with it for a few days, but that she couldn't withdraw cash any longer until we adjusted her cash balance. I am supposed to make an adjusting entry every month or they freeze her card. Oops!! Have to correct that in the morning. Hope she didn't go to Costco today and try to withdraw some cash.
Picked up another piece of carpet at Walmart tonight. That makes 6 pieces I have carried out of that place. This one went in the solarium, and it is not being returned! Told Bonnie I need a sign on the sliding door to the solarium that says, 'Invitation only'. She's not too much in favor of that. A guy has to have some privacy!
Got clearance to go to Niagara Falls Saturday and to go to Timiskaming the weekend of August 8th. They are having their Branch picnic on Saturday. Hoping it gets over in time to do a little worm washing!!
Well I'm getting off here to give Bonnie some time. Hope everyone is still doing well
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: The day began very well because several missionaries came into the office. I love talking to them and finding out about where they are from, etc. I am so impressed with them. As far as I can tell they are great missionaries who love the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are kind and obedient. And funny. Brother Erickson is in charge of vehicles and "tiwis" which are devices put on each vehicle that tracks how the missionaries drive. He brought one in the other day with a mustache and side-burns on it!
I left the office early today so I could get a haircut--about 4:15. It was a nice break. I called Bob just before leaving to pick him up and he said he could get a ride home with Erickson's. That made it especially nice. We had already eaten our "big" meal for the day for lunch so we had leftovers and scrambled eggs for dinner. And then, as Bob said, we headed for Walmart and the grocery store. I wanted to get both the shopping and the wash done before we head for Niagara Saturday. It looks like I will be able to do that.
May the Spirit guide you tomorrow!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
The Office Greeter (You have to smile)
Entrance to the Office
Wednesday 22 July 2015
June 22, 2015
Bonnie: Another long day. Just to give you an idea of some of the things I dealt with today, here goes: the delivery man from UPS came with a package for one of the sister missionaries that requires
about $40.00 worth for COD, (we are not allowed to accept these packages), a man from church travel wanted the phone number for a couple that has gone home, 15 boxes of Books of Mormon are waiting to be delivered, but first need an authorized letter from the church saying they are legitimate, plus $69, (I found out later that church distribution wanted them sent to the Mission Home and not the Mission Office, which is crazy--they goofed up!) a call from some missionaries who wanted to give us some Tongan Triple Combinations and other books in Tongan which were going to be thrown away (!!) ( I had just enough room for them) a call to the Name-Tag store about shipping costs that need to be reimbursed to us, our meeting over lunch with the Clayton's, which also involved some extra assignments, and last but not least, trying to rearrange the storage shelves. Most of these challenges were taken care of, thankfully. The storage shelves will take time, but at least I will know where everything is. MLC is next week so I really need to get everything in order. We are getting 12 new Elders and Sisters this month, and that means transfers will be huge. It's an exciting time for the mission. I am glad to be part of it!
I hope you all are having an exciting time, too.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Nothing much different today for me either. Did call Bell telephone to get our mailing address correct. The service person asked who I was. When I told her she said I don't see your name on the account. (Now this is the 2nd time I have called to change the address. The last time I had it changed from our old address on Country Court Blvd to Wanless Drive. However, they entered about 2 or 3 different spellings of Wanless, and none were correct.) So I said do you have the name Gillen on the account? He went home in May. She said no. Alright, do you have the name Caldwell on the account? He went home in December 2013. Again, no. Okay, how do we get my name on the account? She said I need you to give me the account number, the correct mailing address, the correct service address and the current account balance. I said okay, but just so you know there are 13 accounts and I'll have to look each one up. So I gave her about 4 or 5 and she finally said, 'Okay, You have verified the accounts. Now just give me the account numbers!' So we finally got all the corrections finished in about 45 minutes. Can't wait to see if she got the spelling correct on the address changes.
Weather was very pleasant today. When I started my walk at about 6:05 the temperature was 59 and the wind was blowing. Needed a long sleeve shirt. I have to get my walk done by 6:45 so I can wake Bonnie up.
We stopped at Home Depot again on the way home. Had to buy a cover to put on the floor to hide and protect the ethernet cable. This move to the solarium is costing me more than I planned on, but it's making the 1st mate happy. That makes it worth the cost!!
Wish everyone well and hope the heat wave has broken in Utah. How is the heat in Florida? Anyone out there know?
Love,
Dad/Bob
about $40.00 worth for COD, (we are not allowed to accept these packages), a man from church travel wanted the phone number for a couple that has gone home, 15 boxes of Books of Mormon are waiting to be delivered, but first need an authorized letter from the church saying they are legitimate, plus $69, (I found out later that church distribution wanted them sent to the Mission Home and not the Mission Office, which is crazy--they goofed up!) a call from some missionaries who wanted to give us some Tongan Triple Combinations and other books in Tongan which were going to be thrown away (!!) ( I had just enough room for them) a call to the Name-Tag store about shipping costs that need to be reimbursed to us, our meeting over lunch with the Clayton's, which also involved some extra assignments, and last but not least, trying to rearrange the storage shelves. Most of these challenges were taken care of, thankfully. The storage shelves will take time, but at least I will know where everything is. MLC is next week so I really need to get everything in order. We are getting 12 new Elders and Sisters this month, and that means transfers will be huge. It's an exciting time for the mission. I am glad to be part of it!
I hope you all are having an exciting time, too.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Nothing much different today for me either. Did call Bell telephone to get our mailing address correct. The service person asked who I was. When I told her she said I don't see your name on the account. (Now this is the 2nd time I have called to change the address. The last time I had it changed from our old address on Country Court Blvd to Wanless Drive. However, they entered about 2 or 3 different spellings of Wanless, and none were correct.) So I said do you have the name Gillen on the account? He went home in May. She said no. Alright, do you have the name Caldwell on the account? He went home in December 2013. Again, no. Okay, how do we get my name on the account? She said I need you to give me the account number, the correct mailing address, the correct service address and the current account balance. I said okay, but just so you know there are 13 accounts and I'll have to look each one up. So I gave her about 4 or 5 and she finally said, 'Okay, You have verified the accounts. Now just give me the account numbers!' So we finally got all the corrections finished in about 45 minutes. Can't wait to see if she got the spelling correct on the address changes.
Weather was very pleasant today. When I started my walk at about 6:05 the temperature was 59 and the wind was blowing. Needed a long sleeve shirt. I have to get my walk done by 6:45 so I can wake Bonnie up.
We stopped at Home Depot again on the way home. Had to buy a cover to put on the floor to hide and protect the ethernet cable. This move to the solarium is costing me more than I planned on, but it's making the 1st mate happy. That makes it worth the cost!!
Wish everyone well and hope the heat wave has broken in Utah. How is the heat in Florida? Anyone out there know?
Love,
Dad/Bob
Elder Ganowsky (Asst. on left, going home), Elder Marchant (on the right his replacement;
the guy that wore the bag over his head yesterday!)
Tuesday 21 July 2015
July 21, 2015
Bob: Just a short note to say the computer is moved and we are up and running and Bonnie is a happy camper tonight. Without the desk in the living room the room up opened up. It seems a lot bigger and brighter. Now we need to more some things out of the apartment. Took 3 lamps to the car already. Have a desk and chair to move too. I think having the computer in the solarium will work just fine. We just need to come up with some way to get the ethernet cable out from under foot.Will take a trip to Home Depot and see what I can come up with.
Went to the Toronto Stake Center today looking for the missing postage meter. Didn't have any luck though. If you get a chance go to Google Maps and search for '25 Ferrand Drive, North York, ON'. That is the Stake Center. Doesn't look like your regular LDS church. It has 3 floors with a parking garage underneath. Its full of rooms and has a nice sized chapel. The maintenance man told me there is talk of adding an additional chapel on top of the one that is there. Never heard of anything like that. Don't know how old the building is, or who we bought it from. but it has undergone some extensive renovation to be converted from an office building to a church. It is about an hour away from where our office is right now.
Didn't work too late tonight, but Bonnie was able to find some invoices for some orders received from the Distribution Center that I have been trying to locate. Still missing about 3 invoices that I just can't find. Don't know what I did with them. Don't feel too bad though as the Mission President and his wife are missing a few themselves!! The auditor may slap our fingers!!
Got our Magic Jack phone working tonight. Called Joey in South Jordan and the call went right through. The volume wasn't too good so I'll see if I can get it turned up. If not it's probably time for a new phone. You can try calling 801-796-9616 and it should ring through.
Going to call it a night. Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: I really like our living room, now. I'm so glad the computer is moved. It's like Bob has his own office. We just have to move two pictures and put up another one (if we can find one we both agree on) and then it will be perfect!
I have to share something funny that happened today at the office. The two APs are really good about livening things up. Each Monday they write a note along with the new baptisms for the week. This week it said, "Dear Office Omelettes..." and then something silly. Then, today they came into the office with the new Elder who is replacing Elder Ganosky next week, and he had a bag over his head--literally a garbage bag over his head! This was so he could remain unknown to the rest of the missionaries. What's funny is that the office couples already know who it is. They were just trying to make us laugh. And we did! I'm going to miss Elder Ganowsky for sure.
The name tag orders are really crazy and that's what is giving Bob fits. The missionaries who speak Chinese can order their own because they have to email the characters to be put on the name tag. Sometimes, these Elders neglect to tell me they are doing it. So, today, we found a $24 mistake in the charges Bob made because of one of these orders. Oh well. It will always work out, I think. I am praying for the Pitney Bowes thing to resolve itself in a fair manner. I hope they will let us get out of the contract without paying too much money and that they will find the missing postage meter.
We hope the weather is nice wherever you are. It's been beautiful here, with only one hot unbearable day, so far. May your day be glorious tomorrow!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Went to the Toronto Stake Center today looking for the missing postage meter. Didn't have any luck though. If you get a chance go to Google Maps and search for '25 Ferrand Drive, North York, ON'. That is the Stake Center. Doesn't look like your regular LDS church. It has 3 floors with a parking garage underneath. Its full of rooms and has a nice sized chapel. The maintenance man told me there is talk of adding an additional chapel on top of the one that is there. Never heard of anything like that. Don't know how old the building is, or who we bought it from. but it has undergone some extensive renovation to be converted from an office building to a church. It is about an hour away from where our office is right now.
Didn't work too late tonight, but Bonnie was able to find some invoices for some orders received from the Distribution Center that I have been trying to locate. Still missing about 3 invoices that I just can't find. Don't know what I did with them. Don't feel too bad though as the Mission President and his wife are missing a few themselves!! The auditor may slap our fingers!!
Got our Magic Jack phone working tonight. Called Joey in South Jordan and the call went right through. The volume wasn't too good so I'll see if I can get it turned up. If not it's probably time for a new phone. You can try calling 801-796-9616 and it should ring through.
Going to call it a night. Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: I really like our living room, now. I'm so glad the computer is moved. It's like Bob has his own office. We just have to move two pictures and put up another one (if we can find one we both agree on) and then it will be perfect!
I have to share something funny that happened today at the office. The two APs are really good about livening things up. Each Monday they write a note along with the new baptisms for the week. This week it said, "Dear Office Omelettes..." and then something silly. Then, today they came into the office with the new Elder who is replacing Elder Ganosky next week, and he had a bag over his head--literally a garbage bag over his head! This was so he could remain unknown to the rest of the missionaries. What's funny is that the office couples already know who it is. They were just trying to make us laugh. And we did! I'm going to miss Elder Ganowsky for sure.
The name tag orders are really crazy and that's what is giving Bob fits. The missionaries who speak Chinese can order their own because they have to email the characters to be put on the name tag. Sometimes, these Elders neglect to tell me they are doing it. So, today, we found a $24 mistake in the charges Bob made because of one of these orders. Oh well. It will always work out, I think. I am praying for the Pitney Bowes thing to resolve itself in a fair manner. I hope they will let us get out of the contract without paying too much money and that they will find the missing postage meter.
We hope the weather is nice wherever you are. It's been beautiful here, with only one hot unbearable day, so far. May your day be glorious tomorrow!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Monday 20 July 2015
July 20, 2015
Bob: Didn't leave the office until almost 8. Then we stopped at Home Depot and Staples to get an extension cord and a 25' Ethernet cable. Going to move the computer out of the living room into the solarium tomorrow night if we get home early enough. So we may be down tomorrow night if things don't go well.
Big day planned tomorrow. Going hunting for a postage meter that has lost its way!! I'm headed for the Toronto Stake Center, a huge building with underground parking and three very large floors. If we can't find it there then someone is going to have to make the big decision whether to pay for the one that is lost and cancel our contract with Pitney Bowes or to continue to pay for a meter we don't have. It is "pay me now or pay me later".
We're trying to unload a lot of the used items we have in our storage shed. The Stake Relief Society President sent the inventory to all the Ward Relief Society Presidents who in turn passed it out to the members. The only problem was they told everyone to call me with their needs. So I spent about a total of an hour on the phone today deflecting everything back to the Ward Relief Society. I asked them to collect all the needs in their respective Wards and then I would get their lists next week. After that I would tell them when they could send a truck around to pick up the items they want. Had to explain to them we weren't operating a retail outlet and we weren't delivering the items. All of them seemed to be alright with everything.
Its been a beautiful day today. Lots of sunshine, no rain and the temperature was in the 80s. It's 77 right now.
We got Instant Messenger to work on Facebook tonight. Talked to Christian, Michelle and the boys. The call dropped a few times, but it wasn't bad. We may use this more often!
Going to turn in for the night. Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: The high-light of my day was skyping with four of my children and grand-children. They are all in North Carolina on the beach at a rented house. It looks like so much fun! It was really wonderful to see everyone.
So, it's been another long day and I am really tired, so I am signing off. These 11 and 12-hour days are hard for me. I think I may start going home with the Erickson's, who generally can leave earlier each day, or maybe take a nap while Bob is finishing up!
I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Big day planned tomorrow. Going hunting for a postage meter that has lost its way!! I'm headed for the Toronto Stake Center, a huge building with underground parking and three very large floors. If we can't find it there then someone is going to have to make the big decision whether to pay for the one that is lost and cancel our contract with Pitney Bowes or to continue to pay for a meter we don't have. It is "pay me now or pay me later".
We're trying to unload a lot of the used items we have in our storage shed. The Stake Relief Society President sent the inventory to all the Ward Relief Society Presidents who in turn passed it out to the members. The only problem was they told everyone to call me with their needs. So I spent about a total of an hour on the phone today deflecting everything back to the Ward Relief Society. I asked them to collect all the needs in their respective Wards and then I would get their lists next week. After that I would tell them when they could send a truck around to pick up the items they want. Had to explain to them we weren't operating a retail outlet and we weren't delivering the items. All of them seemed to be alright with everything.
Its been a beautiful day today. Lots of sunshine, no rain and the temperature was in the 80s. It's 77 right now.
We got Instant Messenger to work on Facebook tonight. Talked to Christian, Michelle and the boys. The call dropped a few times, but it wasn't bad. We may use this more often!
Going to turn in for the night. Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: The high-light of my day was skyping with four of my children and grand-children. They are all in North Carolina on the beach at a rented house. It looks like so much fun! It was really wonderful to see everyone.
So, it's been another long day and I am really tired, so I am signing off. These 11 and 12-hour days are hard for me. I think I may start going home with the Erickson's, who generally can leave earlier each day, or maybe take a nap while Bob is finishing up!
I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Sunday 19 July 2015
July 19, 2015
Bob: Taught the priesthood lesson today. It was lesson 13 in the 'Ezra Taft Benson' lesson book. Subject was the temple. Went pretty well. Munch and mingle afterwards had a big crowd today. Ended up setting up a couple of extra tables. We took Steven to church this morning. We pick him up just across the street behind the big shopping center. During sacrament Brother Su came over and sat down behind me. He said there was a young man trying to get to church but he was stranded at the subway station. So he and I set off to find him. I think the subway was about 6 miles away. After church we took him to his apartment which was down near Lake Ontario. I think that was 7 miles another way. Then we took Brother Su and Steven home. Seemed like we were traveling a long time but I think it was less than 30 miles. Time goes quickly listening to their stories. It is a lot of fun.
Managed to go for another walk this morning. Not as long as yesterday, but longer than normal. Back to the normal half hour starting tomorrow. Bonnie and I walked around the lake tonight. But it was a slower pace!!
Hope everyone is well and happy. Talked to Joey and Steve Rynders tonight. Left my phone at work this weekend so I didn't have any other numbers to call.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It was a beautiful Sabbath Day today. It was a bit surprising to have Bob leave in the middle of sacrament meeting, but as he has written, it all worked out very well. The young man he picked up is from China and does not speak any English, which is why Brother Su went with Bob. Brother Su is also from China. He is the only member of the church in his family. It's a miracle to me that anyone in mainland China joins the church. There can be no open proselyting so the church meetings are held in homes, very quietly. Brother Su was baptized in northern Cypress, which is under Chinese control. So, going home from church, we had three young men in the back seat of the Avalon, two from China and one from the Dominican Republic. The Chinese man Bob picked up is interested in the church and wants to visit with the missionaries. Steven, as Brother Su, is also the only member of the church in his family. With Bob, that made three who are the "pioneers" in their families. Steven said he believes that his ancestors have accepted the gospel and are just waiting for him to do their ordinance work--baptisms, confirmations, endowments and sealings in the holy Temple. He said he doesn't want to get across the veil and have them ask him why he didn't do their work for them. What a great young man! It made for a very enjoyable Sabbath to have these young people share their experiences today.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Managed to go for another walk this morning. Not as long as yesterday, but longer than normal. Back to the normal half hour starting tomorrow. Bonnie and I walked around the lake tonight. But it was a slower pace!!
Hope everyone is well and happy. Talked to Joey and Steve Rynders tonight. Left my phone at work this weekend so I didn't have any other numbers to call.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It was a beautiful Sabbath Day today. It was a bit surprising to have Bob leave in the middle of sacrament meeting, but as he has written, it all worked out very well. The young man he picked up is from China and does not speak any English, which is why Brother Su went with Bob. Brother Su is also from China. He is the only member of the church in his family. It's a miracle to me that anyone in mainland China joins the church. There can be no open proselyting so the church meetings are held in homes, very quietly. Brother Su was baptized in northern Cypress, which is under Chinese control. So, going home from church, we had three young men in the back seat of the Avalon, two from China and one from the Dominican Republic. The Chinese man Bob picked up is interested in the church and wants to visit with the missionaries. Steven, as Brother Su, is also the only member of the church in his family. With Bob, that made three who are the "pioneers" in their families. Steven said he believes that his ancestors have accepted the gospel and are just waiting for him to do their ordinance work--baptisms, confirmations, endowments and sealings in the holy Temple. He said he doesn't want to get across the veil and have them ask him why he didn't do their work for them. What a great young man! It made for a very enjoyable Sabbath to have these young people share their experiences today.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Saturday 18 July 2015
July 18, 2015
Bonnie: Today has been a good one because I got the apartment cleaned and cooked for the Elder's tonight and also got to go to the temple to help our YSA ward with baptisms. Bob and I had a lot of dishes to do after the Elder's left, so we decided we needed to do something to get out of the apartment. We found a park bench close by that did the trick! There are several pools, tennis courts, play areas for kids, basketball courts and park benches here which makes it nice. Bob definitely is a "small-town" kind of guy, though. And I have to admit, I get tired of all the traffic and stores full of people and long lines. There are an incredibly large number of people that live here. Anyway, we had five Elders over for dinner, because one is being trained to replace Elder Ganowsky, who will be going home in about 10 days. It's always a pleasure to have the missionaries over. They are eager to help and bring such a wonderful spirit with them. Tomorrow we are picking up a young man who wants to come to church but doesn't have transportation. We will enjoy getting to know him. And Bob was asked to teach the priesthood lesson tomorrow. Lucky him!
Happy Sabbath tomorrow everyone!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Yeah, lucky me. I was helping two of the YSA elders confirm those who had been baptized and we had a short break. The Elders Quorum President said to the other young man that he would probably have to teach the Priesthood class again tomorrow as he had forgotten to get an instructor. I told him the lesson this week wouldn't be too hard to teach as it was on temples. So he asked me if I wanted to do it. And what is the standard missionary answer? "Why I would love to!!" So here I am.
Next project up for the apartment is to move the computer. Not looking forward to it, but I think once it is done I will like it. We're going to move it out into the solarium. I think the only thing I will need to buy is a longer Ethernet cable. We'll look into that this week.
Took a different route for my walk this morning and ended up going much farther than I had planned. My usual walking time is about 31 minutes. Today it took 48 minutes. It's difficult walking different routes because I don't want to cross the busy streets. May have to do that though to get some variety in my walking.
Bonnie is right about the dishes. I think we filled up the dish drainer 3 times before we finished.
Also, we got another piece of carpet. I've carried 5 carpets out of Walmart and we only have 2 in our apartment. I think the people at the service desk at Walmart are getting to know us too well.
And the government issued a heat wave warning today advising everyone to stay hydrated, etc. because the temperature with the humidity would feel like 40 degrees (that's 104 Fahrenheit). It was warm today, but I don't think it ever felt that hot.
Better go get ready for bed. Everyone have a pleasant Sabbath day tomorrow.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Happy Sabbath tomorrow everyone!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Yeah, lucky me. I was helping two of the YSA elders confirm those who had been baptized and we had a short break. The Elders Quorum President said to the other young man that he would probably have to teach the Priesthood class again tomorrow as he had forgotten to get an instructor. I told him the lesson this week wouldn't be too hard to teach as it was on temples. So he asked me if I wanted to do it. And what is the standard missionary answer? "Why I would love to!!" So here I am.
Next project up for the apartment is to move the computer. Not looking forward to it, but I think once it is done I will like it. We're going to move it out into the solarium. I think the only thing I will need to buy is a longer Ethernet cable. We'll look into that this week.
Took a different route for my walk this morning and ended up going much farther than I had planned. My usual walking time is about 31 minutes. Today it took 48 minutes. It's difficult walking different routes because I don't want to cross the busy streets. May have to do that though to get some variety in my walking.
Bonnie is right about the dishes. I think we filled up the dish drainer 3 times before we finished.
Also, we got another piece of carpet. I've carried 5 carpets out of Walmart and we only have 2 in our apartment. I think the people at the service desk at Walmart are getting to know us too well.
And the government issued a heat wave warning today advising everyone to stay hydrated, etc. because the temperature with the humidity would feel like 40 degrees (that's 104 Fahrenheit). It was warm today, but I don't think it ever felt that hot.
Better go get ready for bed. Everyone have a pleasant Sabbath day tomorrow.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Friday 17 July 2015
July 17, 2015
Bob: Signed my first apartment lease today. Hope it was done correctly. It's for an apartment in a member's basement so I don't think it could be too wrong. Bonnie and I met with Brother Loiselle at 4:00 today and then went home. Might be the first time ever that we got home before 5. We were eating Poor Man's Spaghetti by 5:45. After dinner Bonnie went shopping and left me with dishes, laundry and an unmade bed. Almost got it done before she got back. Don't know if I was fast or if she planned it that way.
Bonnie: Tonight was the first night that we arrived home as early as 5:00. It was wonderful! I didn't plan on being so late shopping, it's just that going shopping on a Friday night is absolutely crazy. The stores are crowded. In one store I went to there were only two clerks working, one for those with less that 16 items and one regular clerk, oh, and self-checkout. Also, in one store it cost 25 cents to get a cart, refundable when the cart was put back in place. I didn't have any Canadian quarters, so I had to get change. When I put the cart back I couldn't figure out how to attach it so that I could get my quarter back. There is still a lot to learn about how to do things in Canada!
Bob only got about three hours sleep last night. He's already sleeping on the couch, so I think I will also get ready for bed. Tomorrow I need to cook for our special good-bye dinner for one of the APs and another set of Elders. And, I need to clean the apartment. We have a temple session with the YSAs tomorrow at 2, so there is lots to do. But they are good things. I'm thankful that I have the health to do it. And, that Bob did such a good job of arranging our finances so we can serve this mission. It's been a blessing for us, that's for sure.
Our love to all,
Love, Mom and Dad/ Bonnie and Bob
Bonnie: Tonight was the first night that we arrived home as early as 5:00. It was wonderful! I didn't plan on being so late shopping, it's just that going shopping on a Friday night is absolutely crazy. The stores are crowded. In one store I went to there were only two clerks working, one for those with less that 16 items and one regular clerk, oh, and self-checkout. Also, in one store it cost 25 cents to get a cart, refundable when the cart was put back in place. I didn't have any Canadian quarters, so I had to get change. When I put the cart back I couldn't figure out how to attach it so that I could get my quarter back. There is still a lot to learn about how to do things in Canada!
Bob only got about three hours sleep last night. He's already sleeping on the couch, so I think I will also get ready for bed. Tomorrow I need to cook for our special good-bye dinner for one of the APs and another set of Elders. And, I need to clean the apartment. We have a temple session with the YSAs tomorrow at 2, so there is lots to do. But they are good things. I'm thankful that I have the health to do it. And, that Bob did such a good job of arranging our finances so we can serve this mission. It's been a blessing for us, that's for sure.
Our love to all,
Love, Mom and Dad/ Bonnie and Bob
Thursday 16 July 2015
July 16, 2015
Bob: Made it home about 8 tonight, but we ate on the way. Didn't get a whole lot done today as the phone and internet were down over half the day. Will have to catch up quickly tomorrow as I have an appointment at 4:00 to sign the lease for the new apartment. At least we'll get home early tomorrow evening.
Been looking at a trip to Niagara Falls to do some shopping and banking. It's only about an hour and 25 minutes to a credit union where I can withdraw money from my Bayer Credit Union account. Then we can go by the falls, do some shopping, visit the local Olive Garden and get back home at a reasonable hour. Maybe the 25th or 1st of August. The worst thing is they don't have a Costco any closer than Rochester which is about 3 hours away. .I need to buy some Niacin. I might be able to get it at Target, though. I'll have to call and order it, but I get it from Target in Utah so it should work.
Talked with Pitney Bowes again today about the missing postage meter. Told them we wanted out of the contract. They are working on an exit offer and should be back in touch in about 3 days. She told me it would be expensive and that the meter would be costly too. I know we have $9100 left to pay on the contract and we don't have the machine so this offer could be near 5 figures. We'll see what my superiors want to do. No one in Salt Lake seems to want to help. Maybe when I point out the almost $10,000 we're paying for nothing someone will pay attention.
Took someone to the storage shed today, but only got rid of one dresser and a box of towels, etc. He said I would have to spend a good deal of time showing people what's available. Told him I'm not going to do that anymore. I said each Ward can ask around about needy families and tell me what they want. Then we'll bring it by. If they need 4 chairs, we'll bring 4 chairs and they can have them. We're not going to operate a retail outlet and bring shoppers in. They just need to understand that most of it is old and been well used. But I guess if a person doesn't have anything now the items we have would still be an improvement.
Better get off here and let Bonnie review my thoughts. Love to all.
Dad/Bob
Been looking at a trip to Niagara Falls to do some shopping and banking. It's only about an hour and 25 minutes to a credit union where I can withdraw money from my Bayer Credit Union account. Then we can go by the falls, do some shopping, visit the local Olive Garden and get back home at a reasonable hour. Maybe the 25th or 1st of August. The worst thing is they don't have a Costco any closer than Rochester which is about 3 hours away. .I need to buy some Niacin. I might be able to get it at Target, though. I'll have to call and order it, but I get it from Target in Utah so it should work.
Talked with Pitney Bowes again today about the missing postage meter. Told them we wanted out of the contract. They are working on an exit offer and should be back in touch in about 3 days. She told me it would be expensive and that the meter would be costly too. I know we have $9100 left to pay on the contract and we don't have the machine so this offer could be near 5 figures. We'll see what my superiors want to do. No one in Salt Lake seems to want to help. Maybe when I point out the almost $10,000 we're paying for nothing someone will pay attention.
Took someone to the storage shed today, but only got rid of one dresser and a box of towels, etc. He said I would have to spend a good deal of time showing people what's available. Told him I'm not going to do that anymore. I said each Ward can ask around about needy families and tell me what they want. Then we'll bring it by. If they need 4 chairs, we'll bring 4 chairs and they can have them. We're not going to operate a retail outlet and bring shoppers in. They just need to understand that most of it is old and been well used. But I guess if a person doesn't have anything now the items we have would still be an improvement.
Better get off here and let Bonnie review my thoughts. Love to all.
Dad/Bob
The storage shed inventory
(Maybe we could auction it off like they do on TV)
Some of the construction around us
The street just west of the entrance to our parking lot
Bonnie: We went to Walmart after the office and bought another piece of carpet. It looks ok so we'll probably keep this one. It's hard to figure out how to do things in our living room. We're having two sets of missionaries over for dinner on Saturday so I need to work out some things before they get here.
I am proud of what I accomplished today at the office. I worked all afternoon fixing up Room 120 where all of the extra boxes of supplies go when they don't fit on our small storage shelves. I have all of the Books of Mormon on one side of the room, from English to two kinds of Chinese, Arabic, Italian, etc. ending up with the Spanish ones. On the other side are all of the pamphlets, some of which are 5 and 6 boxes high. Then, back in one corner are the car supplies and big jugs of water for use in the office. In the other corner are empty boxes which we have to keep for the MLC meetings. Anyway, it looks neat and tidy so I like it.
Tomorrow I am looking forward to getting home early, hopefully around 5, so we can eat and then go grocery shopping and do the wash. Fun Friday night, isn't it! Yet, I'm happy doing it.
May all of you find some happiness tomorrow as well!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Wednesday 15 July 2015
July 15, 2015
Bob: Today was a pretty good day once I got the rent payments figured out. Went through the process to pay the rents and was out of balance about 7400. Called SL and explained what I did and had them look into it. They called me back after about 3 hours and wanted the exceptions I had found. They told me the report I was using was malfunctioning and they were looking into it. I told them that I had figured out a way around not using the report and really didn't have a use for the report. The tech told me that others use the report and they would try to fix it. Looked through our records here and saw that the report worked properly in January and May. Don't know about the other months, but I don't think I'll use it anymore now that I have found a work around.
Took Bonnie with me today to look at an apartment to move the 2 sister missionaries into. Everything looks okay so I think we'll go ahead with it. It's in a member's house and he wants the sisters to use the beds and furniture he has in there. But it means moving a queen-sized bed upstairs and two single beds to the basement. The 2 Elders in the Ward are going to contact him and help him move all of the stuff where the landlord wants it.
My walk this morning was almost too cold with just a t-shirt. May be wearing a jacket sooner than I want. The temperature kept me moving though, as I knocked almost 2 minutes off yesterday's time.
Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It's been a good day today without any major goof-ups! And we were home by 7:00 tonight! Things are getting better and better. I hope all of our readers will have a wonderful day tomorrow. I will, as I try to check in a huge order from Salt Lake Distribution that came today. There are about 20 boxes of books and other things. Oh, and the first thing I must do tomorrow is to assign a referral to some missionaries. President Clayton said that when he and his wife were out walking they had a discussion with someone who wants to know more about us Mormons. That's one of the best things I get to do--assigning missionaries to those who want to know know more about what we believe. I think everyone needs the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, don't you?
My love to all and good night!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Took Bonnie with me today to look at an apartment to move the 2 sister missionaries into. Everything looks okay so I think we'll go ahead with it. It's in a member's house and he wants the sisters to use the beds and furniture he has in there. But it means moving a queen-sized bed upstairs and two single beds to the basement. The 2 Elders in the Ward are going to contact him and help him move all of the stuff where the landlord wants it.
My walk this morning was almost too cold with just a t-shirt. May be wearing a jacket sooner than I want. The temperature kept me moving though, as I knocked almost 2 minutes off yesterday's time.
Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It's been a good day today without any major goof-ups! And we were home by 7:00 tonight! Things are getting better and better. I hope all of our readers will have a wonderful day tomorrow. I will, as I try to check in a huge order from Salt Lake Distribution that came today. There are about 20 boxes of books and other things. Oh, and the first thing I must do tomorrow is to assign a referral to some missionaries. President Clayton said that when he and his wife were out walking they had a discussion with someone who wants to know more about us Mormons. That's one of the best things I get to do--assigning missionaries to those who want to know know more about what we believe. I think everyone needs the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, don't you?
My love to all and good night!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Tuesday 14 July 2015
July 14, 2015
Bonnie: Today was surprising in one big way--I left work early and went to the temple with Laura. Bob had to stay late to finish up and Laura was just leaving to go to the temple. She offered me a ride there and then a ride home. I was glad to take her up on it. When I got there I found that because I was a missionary I did not have to pay for temple clothes! Another blessing came because I knew several of the temple workers on their shift today. And after our session, Laura got me a semi-permanent locker so I can leave my temple clothes there the next time I go! I can do this because I will be helping with new convert baptisms for the dead every other month. I'm "kind of" a temple worker, I guess.
It was rainy and cool most of the day, which is surprising for the middle of July. This is a beautiful place. Laura told me she heard that Toronto has the most trees per square mile that any other city in North America. I believe it. I can't wait for the Fall.
Love to all,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Worked till a little after 8. Trying to come up with a legal document to use as a lease agreement. Going to meet with a couple tomorrow and discuss leasing their basement for a set of missionaries. Called SL and asked them for some guidance, but didn't get much. Pulled out some files for some of our apartments and looked at them. I'll try and duplicate what has been done and we'll probably be good.
As Bonnie said the weather hasn't been real warm. I've been walking every morning and haven't needed anything but a t-shirt, but it isn't real warm either. I guess that's what keeps me moving.
Well I have to get to bed. Hope everyone had a blessed day and that tomorrow will be even better.
Love,
Dad/Bob
It was rainy and cool most of the day, which is surprising for the middle of July. This is a beautiful place. Laura told me she heard that Toronto has the most trees per square mile that any other city in North America. I believe it. I can't wait for the Fall.
Love to all,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Worked till a little after 8. Trying to come up with a legal document to use as a lease agreement. Going to meet with a couple tomorrow and discuss leasing their basement for a set of missionaries. Called SL and asked them for some guidance, but didn't get much. Pulled out some files for some of our apartments and looked at them. I'll try and duplicate what has been done and we'll probably be good.
As Bonnie said the weather hasn't been real warm. I've been walking every morning and haven't needed anything but a t-shirt, but it isn't real warm either. I guess that's what keeps me moving.
Well I have to get to bed. Hope everyone had a blessed day and that tomorrow will be even better.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Monday 13 July 2015
July 13, 2015
Bonnie: On Monday nights we go straight from the mission office to the YSA Family Home
Evening. The young man in charge is always entertaining! Tonight after a quick 10 minute lesson they adjourned to a park close by to play beach volley-ball. We talked for a good while with the institute teachers and their visiting parents, the Bishop's wife and the second-counselor and his wife. It's so much fun to get to know these special people. For some reason the church sent way too many Liahona magazines for June so we brought them to give to the YSAs. The magazines went fast.
We had our meeting with the President and his wife today. And, one of the inspectors for the missionary apartments stopped by as well. Then, there were the usual missionaries in and out. That's pretty much a normal day at the mission office! Things are getting better for me, at least as far as understanding what exactly my responsibilities are. However, there seem to be new things all the time. For example, because of all the furniture and other stuff in the storage unit, my assignment is to contact the Stake Relief Society president and offer her the furniture for those in need. I'm glad to do it because I'm sure there are those who need some of this stuff. I also ordered scriptures for the Bancroft Jail north of here, care of the chaplain. There is an inmate who is LDS and wants them. I hope he is allowed by the authorities in charge to have them! The chaplain is supportive so it should be ok.
Have a great evening, one and all!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Our 10 minute lesson tonight was "Endure It Well". A returned missionary taught it and did a great job. He had everyone play hangman to get the lesson started. Only problem was he had an extra space in the word endure. So when someone guessed it and he started to fill in the letters he erased one of the spaces and did it so naturally that it was funny. Then he talked about Joseph Smith and his imprisonment in Liberty Jail and asked us what we had to 'endure well'. My thoughts were about Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk, 'Come What May, and Love It'. We all have things we have to endure. To endure it well is the goal.
Got to work today and thought I could get something done before we had our meeting with the President, but one of the apartment inspectors showed up and took about 20 minutes trying to convince me that some Sisters should be moved from the apartment they are in. It put me behind and I never really did catch up. Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow.
Got to go to bed. Hope everyone is doing well. I bet my son is feeling good right now. His Pirates just beat the Cardinals 3 out of 4 with the last 2 being walk offs.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Evening. The young man in charge is always entertaining! Tonight after a quick 10 minute lesson they adjourned to a park close by to play beach volley-ball. We talked for a good while with the institute teachers and their visiting parents, the Bishop's wife and the second-counselor and his wife. It's so much fun to get to know these special people. For some reason the church sent way too many Liahona magazines for June so we brought them to give to the YSAs. The magazines went fast.
We had our meeting with the President and his wife today. And, one of the inspectors for the missionary apartments stopped by as well. Then, there were the usual missionaries in and out. That's pretty much a normal day at the mission office! Things are getting better for me, at least as far as understanding what exactly my responsibilities are. However, there seem to be new things all the time. For example, because of all the furniture and other stuff in the storage unit, my assignment is to contact the Stake Relief Society president and offer her the furniture for those in need. I'm glad to do it because I'm sure there are those who need some of this stuff. I also ordered scriptures for the Bancroft Jail north of here, care of the chaplain. There is an inmate who is LDS and wants them. I hope he is allowed by the authorities in charge to have them! The chaplain is supportive so it should be ok.
Have a great evening, one and all!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Our 10 minute lesson tonight was "Endure It Well". A returned missionary taught it and did a great job. He had everyone play hangman to get the lesson started. Only problem was he had an extra space in the word endure. So when someone guessed it and he started to fill in the letters he erased one of the spaces and did it so naturally that it was funny. Then he talked about Joseph Smith and his imprisonment in Liberty Jail and asked us what we had to 'endure well'. My thoughts were about Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk, 'Come What May, and Love It'. We all have things we have to endure. To endure it well is the goal.
Got to work today and thought I could get something done before we had our meeting with the President, but one of the apartment inspectors showed up and took about 20 minutes trying to convince me that some Sisters should be moved from the apartment they are in. It put me behind and I never really did catch up. Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow.
Got to go to bed. Hope everyone is doing well. I bet my son is feeling good right now. His Pirates just beat the Cardinals 3 out of 4 with the last 2 being walk offs.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Sunday 12 July 2015
July 12, 2015
Bonnie: It was a beautiful Sabbath Day today, The temperature was not too hot. Bob and I enjoyed a walk this evening. I brought a jacket that I did not need. I love days like today. We understand that it is very hot in Utah right now, (above 100!) which makes me extra happy we are here and not there.
Today we picked up a new convert to go to church with us. He is from the Dominican Republic and is very soft-spoken. He talked about his life a little bit and we enjoyed it. He is a great young man. I also enjoyed talking to the YSAs as they waited for their visits with the Bishop. I spoke with a young man today from India, a very smart young man, who for a time was atheist. He had built his life around the "scientific method" but then began to feel that there was something missing. That's when some missionaries showed up and encouraged him in his study of the gospel. These young people are definitely part of what Elder Ballard called "greatest generation of young adults". I agree with Elder Ballard
My love to everyone, and may tomorrow bring you much joy!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Happy Sabbath to everyone. It has been a peaceful and relaxing day. I did finish up the phone/text information the President wants. Just have to print it tomorrow and let him take a look at it. The week shouldn't be too bad although I may make a run to Kitchener to deliver a desk. We'll see how the week goes.
As Bonnie said the weather has been very pleasant. And there aren't any bugs here in Southern Canada. That is a blessing.
Our renter said the people mowing our grass were letting the weeds get out of hand. She and her mother sent me some pictures which I forwarded onto the landscaper. Heard from her again yesterday that there were about 8 people over weeding, etc. She said it looks a lot nicer now. Hope it stays that way.
There is another couple from our Utah Ward on a mission in Spain right now. He is very particular about his yard and left his son, who lives next door, in charge of taking care of it. Well, it seems Mike went to fertilize the yard and somehow got the fertilizer mixed up with weed killer. He killed every bit of grass. Don't know what they'll do next. Bonnie said at least we have grass.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Today we picked up a new convert to go to church with us. He is from the Dominican Republic and is very soft-spoken. He talked about his life a little bit and we enjoyed it. He is a great young man. I also enjoyed talking to the YSAs as they waited for their visits with the Bishop. I spoke with a young man today from India, a very smart young man, who for a time was atheist. He had built his life around the "scientific method" but then began to feel that there was something missing. That's when some missionaries showed up and encouraged him in his study of the gospel. These young people are definitely part of what Elder Ballard called "greatest generation of young adults". I agree with Elder Ballard
My love to everyone, and may tomorrow bring you much joy!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Happy Sabbath to everyone. It has been a peaceful and relaxing day. I did finish up the phone/text information the President wants. Just have to print it tomorrow and let him take a look at it. The week shouldn't be too bad although I may make a run to Kitchener to deliver a desk. We'll see how the week goes.
As Bonnie said the weather has been very pleasant. And there aren't any bugs here in Southern Canada. That is a blessing.
Our renter said the people mowing our grass were letting the weeds get out of hand. She and her mother sent me some pictures which I forwarded onto the landscaper. Heard from her again yesterday that there were about 8 people over weeding, etc. She said it looks a lot nicer now. Hope it stays that way.
There is another couple from our Utah Ward on a mission in Spain right now. He is very particular about his yard and left his son, who lives next door, in charge of taking care of it. Well, it seems Mike went to fertilize the yard and somehow got the fertilizer mixed up with weed killer. He killed every bit of grass. Don't know what they'll do next. Bonnie said at least we have grass.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Saturday 11 July 2015
July 11, 2015
Bonnie: It's been a great day today. While Bob was out with the missionaries itemizing the Church's storage shed, I did the shopping and some cleaning. Then two of the missionaries came to move two big chairs that we had stored temporarily in our dining room and I invited them to lunch. We had two offerings: peanut butter sandwiches or plain cheese sandwiches--not much! But, the two were happy to have that with some leftover watermelon.
Tonight we went to The Red Lobster with some of the /senior missionaries in the Silver Maple apartment complex. Two couples were in Palmyra taking in the Hill Cumorah Pagent. Erickson's also invited the Clayton's. It is so fun to go to eat with this great group of temple and mission office couples and Laura. Has Bob told you about Laura? What an intelligent woman!
Afterwards, we went for a short walk because we felt so full! When we got on the elevator to go up to our apartment a man asked us about our church, if we were Catholic or orthodox or protestant or Jehovah's Witness.We tried to explain that our church is none of these, but Christ's original church restored. We rode up with him to his floor talking. Before he and his son got off he said he was Muslim and that there is one God over all and we need to do what He wants to get back to Him. We agreed and wished him a good night. I wish we had taken a pass-along card with us to give to him. It was the beginning of a great conversation. I hope we planted some seeds for the future!
A good night to all--
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Up early and walked around the block. Then met 4 missionaries at the storage shed to inventory what's there. Took us a little over 3 hours to move some of it outside so we could start packing it away in some logical fashion. Had so much that after a while the logical fashion idea was discarded for 'wherever it will fit' logic. Now we need to find a charitable organization that wants some of the items. Will work on that next week.
As Bonnie said the dinner was great. The menu had a 4-course dinner for 19.95 that I was skeptical of at first. Compared to other items it was cheaper than most. So I thought the portions would make up for it. However, I was pleasantly surprised as everything was good and portions were normal. I will admit they didn't charge me for a drink or the baked potato, but the waitress said to not worry. We waddled out of the restaurant. The walk later felt good.
Taking our first YSA member to church tomorrow. We have met him and rode to his house with the Barretts one night when they dropped him off. I think there will be more of these opportunities coming forth.
The girl closest is a guest of the Claytons. Going to her left are the Mission leaders, Sister and President Clayton, Temple Missionaries Sister & Elder Conrad, Sister and Elder Bugnet, Bonnie and I, Sister Erickson, and Laura. Elder Erickson took the picture.
Tonight we went to The Red Lobster with some of the /senior missionaries in the Silver Maple apartment complex. Two couples were in Palmyra taking in the Hill Cumorah Pagent. Erickson's also invited the Clayton's. It is so fun to go to eat with this great group of temple and mission office couples and Laura. Has Bob told you about Laura? What an intelligent woman!
Afterwards, we went for a short walk because we felt so full! When we got on the elevator to go up to our apartment a man asked us about our church, if we were Catholic or orthodox or protestant or Jehovah's Witness.We tried to explain that our church is none of these, but Christ's original church restored. We rode up with him to his floor talking. Before he and his son got off he said he was Muslim and that there is one God over all and we need to do what He wants to get back to Him. We agreed and wished him a good night. I wish we had taken a pass-along card with us to give to him. It was the beginning of a great conversation. I hope we planted some seeds for the future!
A good night to all--
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Up early and walked around the block. Then met 4 missionaries at the storage shed to inventory what's there. Took us a little over 3 hours to move some of it outside so we could start packing it away in some logical fashion. Had so much that after a while the logical fashion idea was discarded for 'wherever it will fit' logic. Now we need to find a charitable organization that wants some of the items. Will work on that next week.
As Bonnie said the dinner was great. The menu had a 4-course dinner for 19.95 that I was skeptical of at first. Compared to other items it was cheaper than most. So I thought the portions would make up for it. However, I was pleasantly surprised as everything was good and portions were normal. I will admit they didn't charge me for a drink or the baked potato, but the waitress said to not worry. We waddled out of the restaurant. The walk later felt good.
Taking our first YSA member to church tomorrow. We have met him and rode to his house with the Barretts one night when they dropped him off. I think there will be more of these opportunities coming forth.
Red Lobster Dinner
The girl closest is a guest of the Claytons. Going to her left are the Mission leaders, Sister and President Clayton, Temple Missionaries Sister & Elder Conrad, Sister and Elder Bugnet, Bonnie and I, Sister Erickson, and Laura. Elder Erickson took the picture.
Friday 10 July 2015
July 10, 2015
Bob: Almost worked a normal day today. We were on schedule to leave at 5:00, but a few missionaries showed up and a senior couple with her parents came by. This took up some time, but we still were almost ready to call it a day when Bonnie got a phone call that a sister missionary was going home in the morning for medical reasons. So we had to get her packet ready and then wait for the flight itinerary to come in so I could determine how much money she would need for baggage. Got that all done and we still were leaving at a decent time when I remembered I had to bring the mission pickup and trailer with me so I would have them in the morning. The truck was almost completely empty so I had to stop and fill it up. Put $100 in it and it didn't fill it up! Gas was 1.149 a liter. Gas might be high in the states but not like here. Saw one station at 1.119, but it was jammed full of cars trying to fill up.
Yesterday was the strange day. It was weird that Bonnie got that call from the Bishop in Idaho saying Elder Smith's younger brother had just died and we were sitting in the car watching Elder Smith get a bike ready to ride back to his apartment. Just a real weird feeling. I wouldn't want to have to tell that news to anyone.
Found out today that I have to go to Brockville to close an apartment a missionary couple just left. Brockville is at least 4 hours away so it looks like this might be an overnight thing. Will take the first mate to help on this one. Apartment shouldn't be too bad as a senior couple was in it, but there is probably a lot of furniture to move.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Yesterday was the strange day. It was weird that Bonnie got that call from the Bishop in Idaho saying Elder Smith's younger brother had just died and we were sitting in the car watching Elder Smith get a bike ready to ride back to his apartment. Just a real weird feeling. I wouldn't want to have to tell that news to anyone.
Found out today that I have to go to Brockville to close an apartment a missionary couple just left. Brockville is at least 4 hours away so it looks like this might be an overnight thing. Will take the first mate to help on this one. Apartment shouldn't be too bad as a senior couple was in it, but there is probably a lot of furniture to move.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Thursday 9 July 2015
July 9, 2015
Bonnie: Today we left early to try to find some of our "lost YSA souls" in Mississauga. First, we had to meet two Elders and take them to someone's house to pick up two bicycles. It was quite a distance for them to take the bus, and we were glad to help. Just after we dropped them off I returned a call to a Bishop in Utah. He told me that he was the Bishop of one of the young men in our mission and that his younger brother had just died in a tragic four-wheeler accident. It turned out to be one of the Elders we had just dropped off!. We called the mission president directly and he said not to say anything because he would call the young man himself. My heart goes out to him. You can tell he loves his family. I can't imagine the grief and pain he is going through.
After going to two places and not finding anyone home we met with two other Elders, the District Leaders, who have worked very hard at helping us in this assignment. We took them out to eat and talked about what to do next. Then, we made two more stops and found two young men and invited them out to the YSA activities. They both said they had been thinking about coming back. One is from a very active family. His mother is an author and she gave me one of her books! It's the story of a Turkish girl that eventually joined the church. It sounds like an amazing story. I can't wait to read it.
So, the last part of our journey today was to pick up two Elders and have them help us move two big chairs from the 5th floor in our building to our apartment. The chairs will stay here temporarily, probably until Saturday when they will be moved to another building. These Elders had had an amazing day talking to some young people on the street. The missionary work here is really going forward, and it is exciting to be part of it! It's been a wonderful day (except for the tragic death, of course.)
My love to all.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Bonnie covered about everything we did today. Laura, a service missionary who comes into our office 3 days a week to do special assignments, has been helping me with the text/phone report from Rogers (one of Canada's telephone providers.) She is a whiz on EXCEL so it wasn't much of a problem for her. We have the phone report done and I will tackle the text report by myself tomorrow. We will see how it goes.
I think we should have an 8 hour day tomorrow, but Saturday will be busy. Going to get 4 of the missionaries to help me inventory the storage shed starting at 8:30. After I get a good count I'm going to look for some outlets to get rid of it. Then we can try and keep it under control. Without many apartments closing in the future I think we'll be good.
I'm signing off early tonight. Hitting the sack for some much needed rest. Trying to get up early and walk around the block in the mornings. It's about a 31 to 32 minute walk.
Love,
Dad/Bob
After going to two places and not finding anyone home we met with two other Elders, the District Leaders, who have worked very hard at helping us in this assignment. We took them out to eat and talked about what to do next. Then, we made two more stops and found two young men and invited them out to the YSA activities. They both said they had been thinking about coming back. One is from a very active family. His mother is an author and she gave me one of her books! It's the story of a Turkish girl that eventually joined the church. It sounds like an amazing story. I can't wait to read it.
So, the last part of our journey today was to pick up two Elders and have them help us move two big chairs from the 5th floor in our building to our apartment. The chairs will stay here temporarily, probably until Saturday when they will be moved to another building. These Elders had had an amazing day talking to some young people on the street. The missionary work here is really going forward, and it is exciting to be part of it! It's been a wonderful day (except for the tragic death, of course.)
My love to all.
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Bonnie covered about everything we did today. Laura, a service missionary who comes into our office 3 days a week to do special assignments, has been helping me with the text/phone report from Rogers (one of Canada's telephone providers.) She is a whiz on EXCEL so it wasn't much of a problem for her. We have the phone report done and I will tackle the text report by myself tomorrow. We will see how it goes.
I think we should have an 8 hour day tomorrow, but Saturday will be busy. Going to get 4 of the missionaries to help me inventory the storage shed starting at 8:30. After I get a good count I'm going to look for some outlets to get rid of it. Then we can try and keep it under control. Without many apartments closing in the future I think we'll be good.
I'm signing off early tonight. Hitting the sack for some much needed rest. Trying to get up early and walk around the block in the mornings. It's about a 31 to 32 minute walk.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Wednesday 8 July 2015
July 8, 2015
Bob: First mate has gone to bed so I thought I'd better say something before retiring. Another great experience with service personnel today.
As you know I lost my set of apartment keys. So I finally called the front office yesterday to see about getting them replaced. She told me I would have to sign a form and pay for the keys before they would give them to me. She said to stop in sign the form and then come back the next day to get everything. Told her it was almost impossible to get in to see her as she is open only 9 to 5 and my work schedule starts before that and I work till after 5. So she said to come in on Wednesday and she would be here till 7PM. Okay, how much. I think she said 25 for the fob, 25 for the mailbox key and 10 for the apartment key.
So I call her back this morning and ask her if I get there at 6:30 will you still be there? She said she will be here till 7. Ok. How much did you say everything is. 60.00. Ok. I'll be there about 6:30. So we get there and she has a form I have to sign. Says I can pick up the keys tomorrow! I can't pick them up because you are closed when I get here. I will have to wait till next Wednesday!! But she'll take the money now. So I start to pay her and she says, we only take certified checks or money orders. No cash. No credit card. I believe if looks would kill she died yesterday. She said okay. I'll give you the fob now. Stick the check/money order in my door and I'll put the keys inside your apartment door. I'm telling you things just aren't done easily here.
Hope your day was great.
Love,
Dad/Bob
As you know I lost my set of apartment keys. So I finally called the front office yesterday to see about getting them replaced. She told me I would have to sign a form and pay for the keys before they would give them to me. She said to stop in sign the form and then come back the next day to get everything. Told her it was almost impossible to get in to see her as she is open only 9 to 5 and my work schedule starts before that and I work till after 5. So she said to come in on Wednesday and she would be here till 7PM. Okay, how much. I think she said 25 for the fob, 25 for the mailbox key and 10 for the apartment key.
So I call her back this morning and ask her if I get there at 6:30 will you still be there? She said she will be here till 7. Ok. How much did you say everything is. 60.00. Ok. I'll be there about 6:30. So we get there and she has a form I have to sign. Says I can pick up the keys tomorrow! I can't pick them up because you are closed when I get here. I will have to wait till next Wednesday!! But she'll take the money now. So I start to pay her and she says, we only take certified checks or money orders. No cash. No credit card. I believe if looks would kill she died yesterday. She said okay. I'll give you the fob now. Stick the check/money order in my door and I'll put the keys inside your apartment door. I'm telling you things just aren't done easily here.
Hope your day was great.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Tuesday 7 July 2015
July 7, 2015
Bonnie: We got home early tonight, about 6:30 or so. It's been great to just relax. One of the big jobs I am doing at the office is rearranging the supplies. A few months before we arrived they moved the mission office from a bigger place. As a consequence, there is not as much room for supplies. There is one ward using the building and the Bishop has given us a room for the extra supplies. The problem is that a "leprechaun" of some kind, a strong one who can lift heavy boxes, has entered the room and played hide and go seek! Twice now the boxes have been moved around and blankets spread out to make little hide-outs among the boxes. So, Bob went to see if he had any keys to that room and found one. So now we will be locking it. Eventually, however, I think we will be losing it all together. I don't know quite what to do. But I'm sure there will be an answer. My last order was for 15 boxes of Books of Mormon. They have to go somewhere!
My love to all of those reading our blog. May you have a wonderful evening!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Things get interesting as time goes on. Got a call from Pitney Bowes the other day. They supply our postage meter and they wanted a reading from our meter. Supposedly it hasn't been connected to their system in over a year. So I go look at our meter and give them the information. She said, 'Oh, that meter is okay. We need the reading off the other meter.' I told her we don't have a second meter. She said, 'Oh yes you do. We never got it back when we gave you a new one.' So I called Elder Gillen and he said they took the old meter in March when they installed the new one. So I called them back and gave them Elder Gillen's explanation. She said, 'We never got another meter so you will have to pay for it.' I replied, 'We have one meter and I'm not sending anymore money for a second meter.'
Got to looking at our financial records and I see where we have been paying for a 2nd meter since at least July 2013. So I talked to them again and the lady told me the 2nd meter is in Nova Scotia. She said she would send that information to meter security and they would get back to me. Waiting for that call. Then, I called Salt Lake. They advised me to ask them to cancel the 2nd contract. If they are reluctant to cancel it then I am to call Salt Lake again and they will handle it. I'm interested to see what happens. The 2nd contract has a postage meter and a shredder on it. We're paying about 93 a month for them. Someone is getting ripped I think.
Been a good day except just as we were getting ready to leave the Mission President called and said a missionary is going home tomorrow. That meant I had to arrange a few things plus burn a CD of the letters the missionary has written to the Mission President. That put us about 45 minutes behind.
Then we stopped at Walmart. I wanted to make one final attempt to get my lost keys by talking to the security department at Walmart. I called the police earlier today and they advised me to go to Walmart and talk to their security people. What a waste of time. On the way into the store I asked the young greeter about security. She knew nothing!! I wasn't sure she could really speak, but she finally uttered she didn't know. Then I went to the service counter. They scurried around a little, than began talking to each other and finally walked over to the registers and called someone. They made about 3 more calls in the next 10 minutes and just talking to themselves. Never said a word to me or acknowledged they were trying to find out about my keys. I just gave up and left.
Hope you have had a great day and are expecting an ever better tomorrow.
Love,
Dad/Bob
My love to all of those reading our blog. May you have a wonderful evening!
Love,
Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Things get interesting as time goes on. Got a call from Pitney Bowes the other day. They supply our postage meter and they wanted a reading from our meter. Supposedly it hasn't been connected to their system in over a year. So I go look at our meter and give them the information. She said, 'Oh, that meter is okay. We need the reading off the other meter.' I told her we don't have a second meter. She said, 'Oh yes you do. We never got it back when we gave you a new one.' So I called Elder Gillen and he said they took the old meter in March when they installed the new one. So I called them back and gave them Elder Gillen's explanation. She said, 'We never got another meter so you will have to pay for it.' I replied, 'We have one meter and I'm not sending anymore money for a second meter.'
Got to looking at our financial records and I see where we have been paying for a 2nd meter since at least July 2013. So I talked to them again and the lady told me the 2nd meter is in Nova Scotia. She said she would send that information to meter security and they would get back to me. Waiting for that call. Then, I called Salt Lake. They advised me to ask them to cancel the 2nd contract. If they are reluctant to cancel it then I am to call Salt Lake again and they will handle it. I'm interested to see what happens. The 2nd contract has a postage meter and a shredder on it. We're paying about 93 a month for them. Someone is getting ripped I think.
Been a good day except just as we were getting ready to leave the Mission President called and said a missionary is going home tomorrow. That meant I had to arrange a few things plus burn a CD of the letters the missionary has written to the Mission President. That put us about 45 minutes behind.
Then we stopped at Walmart. I wanted to make one final attempt to get my lost keys by talking to the security department at Walmart. I called the police earlier today and they advised me to go to Walmart and talk to their security people. What a waste of time. On the way into the store I asked the young greeter about security. She knew nothing!! I wasn't sure she could really speak, but she finally uttered she didn't know. Then I went to the service counter. They scurried around a little, than began talking to each other and finally walked over to the registers and called someone. They made about 3 more calls in the next 10 minutes and just talking to themselves. Never said a word to me or acknowledged they were trying to find out about my keys. I just gave up and left.
Hope you have had a great day and are expecting an ever better tomorrow.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Monday 6 July 2015
July 6, 2015
Bob: Forgot to tell everyone about Elder Ganowsky's testimony yesterday during Testimony Meeting. He said a General Authority was in our Area talking to the missionaries. As you all know, the missionaries spend a lot of time studying the scriptures. The General Authority told them that they would 'own' a scripture when they lived it. Well Sunday morning Elder Ganowsky said as he was reading in Alma 26 he came across some scriptures he owns. Beginning in verse 28: "28 And
now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient
in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled
from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies
of the world alone but upon the mercies of God. 29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have
taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills;
and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and
taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote
upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound
with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and
wisdom of God we have been delivered again. 30 And we have
suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the
means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full
if perhaps we could be the means of saving some."
He said that although he had not been
stoned, bound or in prison, he had experienced much of the other things so that
he felt he now owned these scriptures.
It was a powerful testimony and very
moving. He has been a great missionary and has been serving as one of the
assistants to the President. He goes home on July 29 and he is struggling with
that. He'll be successful in whatever he chooses to do I am sure.
I was told today that we need to get a new apartment in Toronto near Chinatown. Will be starting the search tomorrow. There are a couple people I can call about this if I can just find their phone numbers!
Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: It's close to 11:00 and I am tired, so I will not write much. We went from the Mission Office directly to the YSA Family Home Evening tonight. It was fun, as usual. We saw two of the Elders out tracting near the church so we invited them in for some fresh fruit and an ice cream sandwich with the other YSAs and then ended up giving them a ride home. They are the only set of missionaries who have to ride buses in Brampton. The others have cars. I'm glad we could help them.
I hope your day has been meaningful in some way. May the Lord bless you all.
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Sunday 5 July 2015
July 5, 2015
Bonnie: Yesterday was very special because we went to the Temple to be trained to help in the baptistry by President and Sister Clayton. On the first Saturday of every month brand new converts are invited to do baptisms for their dead ancestors. What made it extra special for me was that 3 out of the 4 persons that came were people for whom I had entered their baptismal information. It was fun to meet them. Now I can associate their faces with their names. They were all very humble. One sister said she felt that her mother and grandmother were there.
Today it was heart-warming to hear the different testimonies from the YSAs. Some of them struggle so hard to attend church and all of the activities, especially those with families who deeply dislike the church. It makes me so grateful that I did not have to go through that.
Tomorrow it's back to the office! We will stay at the office until it's time to attend the YSA Family Home Evening tomorrow night. We've packed lunch and dinner. Then, one day this week we will try to find some less-active YSAs in Mississauga. We have five names that we need to find out about. We are thankful that we have some missionaries helping us. We'll probably take some of them out to lunch when we go.
May the Lord be with all of you, as you begin your new week. Remember that He loves us all!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Made some headway this weekend. Elder Gillen left me a spreadsheet where he tracks all the apartments so he can keep up with which apartments have Elders, which apartments have Sister, which apartments are vacant and which apartments are scheduled to be closed. He has it all color- coded so it is pretty easy to see, but when changes are made at transfers, etc. I have to manually update it. Finally got it done last night about midnight. Today I talked to all the Elders and Sisters helping us with the YSA blitz and got that spreadsheet up to date. Looks like we are about half way there with 5 weeks to go. As Bonnie said we are going to Mississauga Thursday afternoon to try and track down some of the less active ones. After talking with the District Leaders they are going to have the 4 sets of missionaries go to 1 less active's home each day. So I think we can make contact with everyone within the next 3 weeks. Then we'll have 2 weeks to retry those we couldn't get the first time around.
Munch and Mingle went better today I think. We had a combined meeting during Priesthood and Relief Society and when that was over we set up ten tables with 10 chairs. Then the adults served the food to each table. That way everyone got some and they did a much better job of sharing. Of course there was some food that wasn't served initially so that some could come back for seconds. Just think it was better organized today.
Went for another 30 minute walk today after stretching first. Didn't have any back pain today so I think I'll try it again in the morning.
Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Today it was heart-warming to hear the different testimonies from the YSAs. Some of them struggle so hard to attend church and all of the activities, especially those with families who deeply dislike the church. It makes me so grateful that I did not have to go through that.
Tomorrow it's back to the office! We will stay at the office until it's time to attend the YSA Family Home Evening tomorrow night. We've packed lunch and dinner. Then, one day this week we will try to find some less-active YSAs in Mississauga. We have five names that we need to find out about. We are thankful that we have some missionaries helping us. We'll probably take some of them out to lunch when we go.
May the Lord be with all of you, as you begin your new week. Remember that He loves us all!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Bob: Made some headway this weekend. Elder Gillen left me a spreadsheet where he tracks all the apartments so he can keep up with which apartments have Elders, which apartments have Sister, which apartments are vacant and which apartments are scheduled to be closed. He has it all color- coded so it is pretty easy to see, but when changes are made at transfers, etc. I have to manually update it. Finally got it done last night about midnight. Today I talked to all the Elders and Sisters helping us with the YSA blitz and got that spreadsheet up to date. Looks like we are about half way there with 5 weeks to go. As Bonnie said we are going to Mississauga Thursday afternoon to try and track down some of the less active ones. After talking with the District Leaders they are going to have the 4 sets of missionaries go to 1 less active's home each day. So I think we can make contact with everyone within the next 3 weeks. Then we'll have 2 weeks to retry those we couldn't get the first time around.
Munch and Mingle went better today I think. We had a combined meeting during Priesthood and Relief Society and when that was over we set up ten tables with 10 chairs. Then the adults served the food to each table. That way everyone got some and they did a much better job of sharing. Of course there was some food that wasn't served initially so that some could come back for seconds. Just think it was better organized today.
Went for another 30 minute walk today after stretching first. Didn't have any back pain today so I think I'll try it again in the morning.
Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Dad/Bob
July 4, 2015
Bob: Hope everyone had a great 4th. We helped a group of new converts do proxy baptisms today. It was the first time any of them had been to the temple. There were 2 men and 5 women. It was very spiritual and I think each one loved their experience. Bonnie and I also got to see the Jakobs and Cambridges as they were at the temple too. Karl and Patsy's granddaughter got her endowments today. They were leaving just as we were getting started so we only got to say hi. Karl said he wants to tell me about a fish he hooked the other day, but it broke his 40 lb. test line and got away. He said he knew he should have kept the 50 lb. test on his reel.
This evening we had 2 sets of Sisters over for an American 4th of July dinner. One of the four is from England though. We had polish sausages, macaroni salad, watermelon and chips. Couldn't grill as there is only one grill and it was being used. We had a good time with them and had a red, white and blue dessert as Bonnie had raspberries, blueberries and white topping on short bread.
After they left we went for a walk. I had envisions of walking for about an hour, but we were back in about 30 minutes as both of us were saying our back hurt! We're not getting enough exercise that's for certain.
Well, Bonnie has gone to bed already so I'll say good night for both of us. Hope everyone had a pleasant holdiay.
Love,
Dad/Bob
This evening we had 2 sets of Sisters over for an American 4th of July dinner. One of the four is from England though. We had polish sausages, macaroni salad, watermelon and chips. Couldn't grill as there is only one grill and it was being used. We had a good time with them and had a red, white and blue dessert as Bonnie had raspberries, blueberries and white topping on short bread.
After they left we went for a walk. I had envisions of walking for about an hour, but we were back in about 30 minutes as both of us were saying our back hurt! We're not getting enough exercise that's for certain.
Well, Bonnie has gone to bed already so I'll say good night for both of us. Hope everyone had a pleasant holdiay.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Saturday 4 July 2015
July 3, 2015
Bob: Going to stop in and talk to my bank tomorrow. Made a deposit on June 17th. They told me it takes 3 weeks for the money to be available as it is a US check. Checked with my WV credit union today and they told me the check cleared on June 19th. Wonder what's going on for the next 19 days?
Quiet day at work today as the phones and the internet went down about 11:15. Was able to take care of a few things without them, but most stuff came to a standstill. We had a visitor from Spanish Fork today. It was Elder Anderson, who was released in February. He and his family stopped in for a couple of hours. He had never seen our office as the mission office switched locations in March. The Zone Leaders from Brampton showed up while they were here. One of them knew Elder Anderson pretty well.
Time for bed.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: Elder Anderson said something I found interesting today. He served in 2013 and knew the first missionary ever to learn Farsi, which is the Persian language. He was gratified to see all of the materials we now have in Farsi. The Gospel is truly going forth to every nation, kindred, tongue and people! The following are some of the languages people speak in the Toronto area: Cambodian, Czechoslovakian, Creole or Haitian, Arabic, Swahili, Serbian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Hungarian, Korean, Romanian, Finnish, Thai, Vietnamese, German, Tagalog, Turkish, Tamil, Urdu, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, and Russian. Then, of course, we have lots of materials in Spanish, Portuguese and French. I'm sure there are others I have missed.
As Bob said, it was a quiet day. Then, tonight we went shopping, which is always an ordeal, it seems. We got home about ten, and are still up, doing fun things like facebook and catching up on our emails. Tomorrow we will be having two sets of sister missionaries over for dinner and to celebrate the 4th of July. Prior to that we will be in the temple learning how to help new converts with their first temple visits to do baptisms for their ancestors who have passed on. We have the privilege of being trained by the Mission President and his wife. It will be very special, I am sure!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Quiet day at work today as the phones and the internet went down about 11:15. Was able to take care of a few things without them, but most stuff came to a standstill. We had a visitor from Spanish Fork today. It was Elder Anderson, who was released in February. He and his family stopped in for a couple of hours. He had never seen our office as the mission office switched locations in March. The Zone Leaders from Brampton showed up while they were here. One of them knew Elder Anderson pretty well.
Time for bed.
Love to all,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: Elder Anderson said something I found interesting today. He served in 2013 and knew the first missionary ever to learn Farsi, which is the Persian language. He was gratified to see all of the materials we now have in Farsi. The Gospel is truly going forth to every nation, kindred, tongue and people! The following are some of the languages people speak in the Toronto area: Cambodian, Czechoslovakian, Creole or Haitian, Arabic, Swahili, Serbian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Hungarian, Korean, Romanian, Finnish, Thai, Vietnamese, German, Tagalog, Turkish, Tamil, Urdu, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, and Russian. Then, of course, we have lots of materials in Spanish, Portuguese and French. I'm sure there are others I have missed.
As Bob said, it was a quiet day. Then, tonight we went shopping, which is always an ordeal, it seems. We got home about ten, and are still up, doing fun things like facebook and catching up on our emails. Tomorrow we will be having two sets of sister missionaries over for dinner and to celebrate the 4th of July. Prior to that we will be in the temple learning how to help new converts with their first temple visits to do baptisms for their ancestors who have passed on. We have the privilege of being trained by the Mission President and his wife. It will be very special, I am sure!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Thursday 2 July 2015
July 2, 2015
Bob: Not much to report today. Hope everyone is having a good summer.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: Today was a nice relaxing day, in my opinion. However, it had its ups and downs. I went home early with Erickson's, to do the wash. Bob stayed late, again, to finish some things up. I hadn't heard from Bob and was just about to call him, when one of our neighbors who works in the temple,
was at the door with 3 jars of peanut butter. After thanking him he said there was someone waiting in the parking lot to get into the garage and maybe I could help him out. It was Bob, of course. He had tried to call me several times but I didn't know it because my phone was on vibrate. In order to get into the garage, or into the building or into the laundry area or workout room you need to use a special fob and Bob has lost his. Needless to say, Bob was glad to see me. We are just lucky that the other couple had come home from the temple and answered their phone!
We've included a picture of our bedroom. The bedspread was left here by the sister missionaries that lived here before us. What you can't see is the rope that is holding the bedposts together on the headboard.
I was given two bulletin boards, which are almost empty (hint, hint to my family....) I was also given the shelves. And everything on the shelves is from Salvation Army! Not bad for under $20.00!.
The dresser scarf, tin of flowers and wooden cutouts were also gifts. It really brightened my day to see these things the day we moved in.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: Today was a nice relaxing day, in my opinion. However, it had its ups and downs. I went home early with Erickson's, to do the wash. Bob stayed late, again, to finish some things up. I hadn't heard from Bob and was just about to call him, when one of our neighbors who works in the temple,
was at the door with 3 jars of peanut butter. After thanking him he said there was someone waiting in the parking lot to get into the garage and maybe I could help him out. It was Bob, of course. He had tried to call me several times but I didn't know it because my phone was on vibrate. In order to get into the garage, or into the building or into the laundry area or workout room you need to use a special fob and Bob has lost his. Needless to say, Bob was glad to see me. We are just lucky that the other couple had come home from the temple and answered their phone!
We've included a picture of our bedroom. The bedspread was left here by the sister missionaries that lived here before us. What you can't see is the rope that is holding the bedposts together on the headboard.
I was given two bulletin boards, which are almost empty (hint, hint to my family....) I was also given the shelves. And everything on the shelves is from Salvation Army! Not bad for under $20.00!.
The dresser scarf, tin of flowers and wooden cutouts were also gifts. It really brightened my day to see these things the day we moved in.
May you all have a wonderful evening!
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Wednesday 1 July 2015
July 1, 2015
Bob: Forgot to mention last night that we got a new missionary in Tuesday. He is 18 and has already graduated from college. He has a 17 year old brother that is studying physics at BYU. His dad is getting a doctorate in history because he likes history. It will add to the 8 college degrees he already has.
Today was Canada day and the country almost shut down completely. But the gas stations were open. I saw some fast food places open, but no grocery stores or department stores were open. It must be against the law. Even Walmart was closed.
I cooked the waffles for the missionaries today. Bonnie made up the batter. We used two big pitchers of batter and fed about 30 hungry missionaries. Got out of the building about 7:30 and then Bonnie got a phone call (see below). We were invited to Sister Ludlow's tonight for a barbeque, but we were too tired to go. The call gave us an even better reason not to go.
Things are moving along okay at work. Don't know if I'm falling behind or letting something go, but things seem pretty calm. Did not get the big phone and text report done last month, but there is a local sister that works in our office that knows a great deal more about EXCEL than I do. She and I are going to tackle the report for June next week.
Sounds like the fireworks are over. Think I'll shut everything down and go to bed.
Read a conference talk out of the Ensign tonight. It is entitled, "Stay by the Tree" and was given by Elder Kevin W. Pearson, of the Seventy. In it he said, "Once we enter into covenants with God, there is no going back. Giving in, giving up, and giving out are not options." Reminds me of the time I was in Priesthood class with Bob Briggs when he said, "Quit? I didn't think you could do that!" He said it on the 20th of October, 1998.
If you wonder how I remembered that date, I write down with the date the things people say that are to me a profound sermon in a few words. Another example is by a friend in Lindon: "It isn't the conflict that caused the problems; it is the lack of a resolution."
Everyone have a good night.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: I had a real treat today. Just as we were getting into the car to go home from the office, I got a phone call from my children--Shannan, Jeff, Lori and Scott and their spouses and children. Of course, I didn't get to talk to everyone, but it was great to visit with those I did. To my children--just because I am busy don't let that stop you from calling me! Or you can text a time, and I will try to call you back. It's mostly free for me to talk to you! I am seriously going to get skype on my phone and ipad. That way I can see you and talk to you.
MLC went ok except that I was going to buy lots of strawberries and some bananas on the way to work this morning, but it was Canada Day, so all the stores were closed. So, we ran out of fruit to go with the waffles we made for the missionaries. Next time I will be more prepared. It's so much fun to visit with the missionaries. I hope to have some of them over for dinner on a Saturday, because it's the only day we have, with time to prepare a meal. In fact, we are having some sisters over this Saturday and it will be July 4th. One of them asked me, "Are you from the states?" When I said yes she was quite happy! I need to come up with an easy Fourth of July dessert because I shop in the morning and straighten the house as well that day.
Tomorrow I will be coming up with a new supply order, after I see how depleted the supplies are from MLC. It's really hard to have enough of everything the Sisters and Elders seem to need, but I am trying.
Well, the fireworks are going off and I want to get to bed early tonight. I hope everyone has had a good day.
Love, Mom/Bonnie
Today was Canada day and the country almost shut down completely. But the gas stations were open. I saw some fast food places open, but no grocery stores or department stores were open. It must be against the law. Even Walmart was closed.
I cooked the waffles for the missionaries today. Bonnie made up the batter. We used two big pitchers of batter and fed about 30 hungry missionaries. Got out of the building about 7:30 and then Bonnie got a phone call (see below). We were invited to Sister Ludlow's tonight for a barbeque, but we were too tired to go. The call gave us an even better reason not to go.
Things are moving along okay at work. Don't know if I'm falling behind or letting something go, but things seem pretty calm. Did not get the big phone and text report done last month, but there is a local sister that works in our office that knows a great deal more about EXCEL than I do. She and I are going to tackle the report for June next week.
Sounds like the fireworks are over. Think I'll shut everything down and go to bed.
Read a conference talk out of the Ensign tonight. It is entitled, "Stay by the Tree" and was given by Elder Kevin W. Pearson, of the Seventy. In it he said, "Once we enter into covenants with God, there is no going back. Giving in, giving up, and giving out are not options." Reminds me of the time I was in Priesthood class with Bob Briggs when he said, "Quit? I didn't think you could do that!" He said it on the 20th of October, 1998.
If you wonder how I remembered that date, I write down with the date the things people say that are to me a profound sermon in a few words. Another example is by a friend in Lindon: "It isn't the conflict that caused the problems; it is the lack of a resolution."
Everyone have a good night.
Love,
Dad/Bob
Bonnie: I had a real treat today. Just as we were getting into the car to go home from the office, I got a phone call from my children--Shannan, Jeff, Lori and Scott and their spouses and children. Of course, I didn't get to talk to everyone, but it was great to visit with those I did. To my children--just because I am busy don't let that stop you from calling me! Or you can text a time, and I will try to call you back. It's mostly free for me to talk to you! I am seriously going to get skype on my phone and ipad. That way I can see you and talk to you.
MLC went ok except that I was going to buy lots of strawberries and some bananas on the way to work this morning, but it was Canada Day, so all the stores were closed. So, we ran out of fruit to go with the waffles we made for the missionaries. Next time I will be more prepared. It's so much fun to visit with the missionaries. I hope to have some of them over for dinner on a Saturday, because it's the only day we have, with time to prepare a meal. In fact, we are having some sisters over this Saturday and it will be July 4th. One of them asked me, "Are you from the states?" When I said yes she was quite happy! I need to come up with an easy Fourth of July dessert because I shop in the morning and straighten the house as well that day.
Tomorrow I will be coming up with a new supply order, after I see how depleted the supplies are from MLC. It's really hard to have enough of everything the Sisters and Elders seem to need, but I am trying.
Well, the fireworks are going off and I want to get to bed early tonight. I hope everyone has had a good day.
Love, Mom/Bonnie
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