Hawaii for the Evening!

~The Dartmouth Ward Celebrates the Birthday of Relief Society~

On Tuesday April 5th

Come fly with us on a trip to Hawaii via

Extraordinary Airlines. 

We will be celebrating

The Anniversary of Relief Society

and the opportunities for service in this wonderful organization. 

Boarding begins at 6:20 pm at the chapel and take off is at 6:30.pm 
We'll begin with snacks and a program. Dinner will be at 7:00 pm.
Don't miss your flight!

A fun evening was had by all!!

Left to Right: Trudy, Sister Pitt, Sister Linford, Sister Lamoreaux, Sister Pratt

Trudy is our friend here in the building, Sister Linford, Sister Lamoreaux and I serve in the temple together, 

Sister Pratt and her husband serve in Sydney, NS and lucky for us, they happened to be in town. 

Notice that Sister Lamoreaux is wearing the dress she got while serving a mission with her hubby in Samoa. 

The ladies went to a lot of work to decorate and make everything festive. 

The flight was super. We had several in flight movies. 

I didn't show it, but dinner was Hawaiian Haystacks. 

One of my favorites!

We were entertained by our very own ukulele group.  

Part of their Relief Society Enrichment meetings had been ukulele lessons for those interested. 

They culminated with a great performance. 

A good ukulele group just begs for hula dancers. 

We were fortunate to have these sisters spontaneously join in. 

We had such a fun time that evening. 

Dartmouth is not the ward we live in, 

but one of the perks of being a missionary is that you get invited to all kinds of fun things!!

Thanks to the Dartmouth Relief Society for a really fun evening!!

What is Relief Society??

The Relief Society is the oldest and largest women's organization in the world. 

Relief Society was established in 1842 for women 18 years of age and older. 

It's purpose is to build faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and help those in need. 

Sister Cliff is Celebrating!!

It's Her Birthday!!

January 23rd Susan Cliff's daughter held a surprise birthday party for Susan's 70th Birthday. 

Susan is the beautiful woman on the right. 

Laurence and I Home Teach Susan and Faith (Faith is the lady above on the left). 

Home Teaching is when 2 individuals (usually 2 priesthood holders) visit members of our church on a monthly basis

 to make sure they are doing okay, help in any way possible and share a spiritual message. 

Here she is with Bruce Hampson, a member of our ward and Family Home Evening group. 

Ron Mepham and his wife Christine (not pictured) attended as well. 

Where are you Christine???

Charles Grant and Rose Bruce.

They also belong to our Family Home Evening group. 

Myself, Sue Hampson and Faith

What wonderful people we have a chance to rub shoulders with here!!

Charles and Susan

Charles is such a tease!! 

Love them both. 

Happy, happy birthday Susan!!! 

Everyone Makes Us Feel So Loved Here!

Hartling's in Halifax!

What a fun evening!

Sharon and Bert Hartling invited the 3 temple missionary couples 

along with the Greens and O'Hearons. 

 We had a very fun evening!! 

Pictured above: Bert, Sharon, Elder & Sister Lamoreaux. 

Pictured on the left: from left to right: Bill O'Hearon, Elder & Sister Linford, Bert & Sharon Hartling, Elder & Sister Lamoreaux

Pictured on the right: left to right Jackie & Bill O'Hearon, Elder & Sister Linford, Bert & Sharon, Elder & Sister Linford

I didn't take a picture of all the delicious food that Sharon provided. Yummmm 

I should have taken a picture! She had such a wonderful assortment of delicious food!

 We had a great game of Jenga. 

 Laurence took joy in making it very difficult to follow him. 

Jackie is such a fun person!!

Bill Green was the lucky one to drop the tower. 

Then he played his guitar and sang for us, with Alice joining in. 

We sang along on occasion. Some Beautiful songs. 

Sharon and Bert Cutting a rug..... hmmmm what is it called when there is no rug??? 

We really enjoyed Bill entertaining all of us. 
He and his wife, Alice, are both very talented!

Our thanks to everyone for a wonderful evening! 

Thank you Sharon and Bert for planning this. 

We feel so loved here! 

Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. 

We love Him and are so grateful for the opportunity we have to return and live with Him someday. 

The Sights and Sounds of Christmas 2015

 We had a wonderful Christmas Season here in Nova Scotia!

We are so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing, loving, kind people. 

Brother Grant is a wonderful man that we have come to really love and appreciate! Right before he left for Christmas we went out to visit him. 

What a fun time we had!! 

He put up his tree with all of the decor etc. What fun images and memories!

He had a fun Christmas gift for his squirrels! 

Our Fun Decorations!

Our sweet neighbor Trudy made this for our door for Christmas. 

She truly does spoil us!!

We got these adorable ornaments from Annella. She made them for us!

 It's true, I do have an amazingly talented sister!! 

One evening after the temple closed there was a German Christkindlmarket 

at Alderney Landing on the Harbour in Dartmouth. 

This fun tree is actually not a tree. 

It is pine boughs placed to look like a tree and decorated with lights. 

Our friend Trudy went with us. We always enjoy Trudy's company. 

She is such a good friend!

This is Trudy with the Christmas tree she purchased for me and the man who cut it. 

There wasn't a lot there, but we surely had a fun dinner and fun times. 

The Stake here (a stake is a group of wards of our church), traditionally does a live nativity.

 We went on Monday evening with our Family Home Evening group. 
Our friend Trudy went with us as well. 

They do such a nice job and the community really supports it! 

 They have the nativity, with angels singing etc. 

 Afterward they have cookies and punch in the cultural hall of the church. 
It is free and is hugely attended! 

No Christmas is complete without a Christmas tree. 

We were fortunate to find a Christmas tree and some ornaments in our storage locker. 

Trudy gave us the icicle ornaments, Annella gave us the two quilted ornaments,
 and a family in our church made several wooden ornaments with the Nova Scotia tartan on them. 

For Christmas we gave our neighbors bags of Christmas Popcorn. 

This recipe I got from an old college neighbor in 1989. 

We have made countless batches of it since then. 

I think we made more this year than we ever have in a given year. 

Christmas Day Arrived

We made a haul!! 

I got pearl and yogo sapphire earrings from Laurence and Aisling. 
Love them!! 

Lots of gifts from people we work with in the temple and neighbors.  
We feel so, so loved here! 

 This is a picture frame I made for Aisling. 
It has a picture of Black Brook Beach in it. 
We took the picture when we were in Cape Breton in August. 

One of the ladies from the temple brought me these pieces of sea glass and pottery from her trip to Lunenburg. 
When she told the people at the store about me, 
they gave her these pieces of sea glass from their display. 
How sweet!! 

We are so grateful to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 
here in Nova Scotia. 
We are blessed beyond words. 
We are so blessed to have the birth, atonement and resurrection of the Son of God in our lives.