"There is no need for you or for me, in this enlightened age when the fulness of the gospel has been restored, to sail uncharted seas or to travel unmarked roads in search of truth. A loving Heavenly Father has plotted our course and provided an unfailing guide—even obedience. A knowledge of truth and the answers to our greatest questions come to us as we are obedient to the commandments of God." Thus have we heard from a modern, living Prophet of God, even Pres. Thomas S. Monson.

In Jeremiah 6:17, the prophet tells us that the Lord has placed watchmen upon towers to watch for the coming of enemies, to sound their trumpets to alert His people so they may not be surprised by a sudden attack of the enemy.  In our own day there are watchmen set to give us warnings of impending danger from our greatest enemy, even Satan and his angels.  Last week those watchmen sounded the trumpet once again.  Did we hear?  Were we listening?  Our call to the world is to listen to the watchmen, to be obedient to their calls from our Father in Heaven, so that we're not overrun by evil and temptations.  We pray that all may listen intently and sincerely to their messages of love and sincere desires to help us be obedient to the commandments of God.

The First Presidency and
The Quorum of Twelve Apostles -
Our "Watchmen on the Tower"

 

 

We are in the process of visiting seminary and institute classes around the mission.  During the first week of April we attended class in Truro, Nova Scotia.  This is the chapel in Truro, where we also took part last night (4/14) in a musical fireside. 

Anyway, this is the Truro seminary class, with Sis. Mahoney teaching a great lesson on Paul's writings in the New Testament.  We are not saved by grace alone, but also by our works, and faith in the Redeemer; obedience to His commandments are an absolute must.

Too often, people are misled to believe in one or two scriptures taken out of context, and base their entire salvation on that one thought.  Like a home, it is not complete until ALL things are in place and properly fit together.

Two Elders and two Sister Missionaries came to our apartment to have their planning day meeting.  We have here Elder Henderson (back left), Elder Gibbs, Sister T, Sister Drew (back right), and Sister Hart.  It was interesting watching them put together their plans for the coming week.  An absolute must for success.  If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.

And, of course, since they're here, we might as well feed them.

Elder Gibbs is one of our favorites.  We've known him since his first day in the mission, last summer, and he attended our institute classes in Bridgewater last fall.  He's now in the Halifax North area where we live, and is a great young man.  Here he is with Dan Pringle.  I didn't get a picture of them in their baptismal clothes, but Dan is the newest member of the Church and the YSA Branch.

We had an opportunity to watch the Sunday morning session of General Conference in the Bridgewater chapel.  This couple is one of our favorites - Bro. and Sister Laurie and Althea Wentzell.  Laurie was one of Elder Tiff's counselors when he was Branch President there 40 years ago.

This couple also ranks as one of our favorites.  Maynard and Delma Dorey took care of Elder Tiff when he was a young missionary in Nova Scotia 50 years ago!  At that time, Maynard was in the Branch Presidency, and Delma kept the young missionaries shirts looking nice.

Between sessions of conference we blessed a very special baby.  Here we have the missionaries.  Then Sauesi, Andrea, and Leilani Marie Pahulu, then Papa(?) and Nanny Roger and Anna Davison.  Sauesi was home from Alberta oilfields for about five days, Andrea came straight from the hospital to the church for the blessing.  Don't they look great!

     And doesn't Roger look pleased!?!

Meet Brother and Sister Peter and Linda Ripple.  Sister Ripple is the early morning seminary teacher in Liverpool.  Brother Ripple is a former branch president of the Liverpool Branch.  They are a very lovely couple who serve diligently in the church.  They currently serve at the temple in Dartmouth, and are returned missionaries from a temple mission in South America.  He is a retired shop teacher and built his own beautiful home.

While we were in Liverpool to visit the seminary class, we decided to spend the day with family.  This a luxury that missionaries rarely have.  It is missionary work, however, because none of Sister T's family belong to the church, but have become very supportive of us and the work we're engaged in.  Here we have everyone trying to make a choice for lunch at White Point Lodge.  Nat, our niece-in-law, is taking advantage of the photo shoot. 

 

Sister Tiff, sister-in-law Sylvia, and brother-in-law John are enjoying really great fish and chips, a favorite dish in the Canada Maritimes.

Sister Tiff on the balcony outside the dining room of White Point Lodge.

Elder Tiff obviously enjoying his time at White Point.  This Lodge is one of the most popular tourist sites in Nova Scotia, just a short drive from Liverpool.

Our final stop on this trip was at the home of Bro. and Sis. Wayne and Diane Hunt.  She is an amazing cook and they are very close friends.  Wayne was a member of the first Canada Halifax Temple Presidency and Diane was our Relief Society President when we lived in Mahone Bay, attending the Bridgewater Branch.  They were recently released as Family History Missionaries.

JJ Choo is our daughter from a different mother.  Being a hair stylist, she does really great work with Sister T's hair.  We had a better shot of Sister T while her hair was being done, but she insisted it be deleted.  But the finished product sure looks great!

Elder Tiff is obsessed with the Halifax/Dartmouth Bay and the shipping traffic that passes through it.  This shot is looking out to sea from the McKay Bridge, the MacDonald Bridge in the distance.

Canada Coast Guard keeping our coasts and shores safe.

Taken at 70 kilometers/hr (about 45 mph) - a photo of a freight ship filled with shipping containers being pushed out to sea.

Another freight ship of containers coming in from the sea with more containers.  We're continually on the lookout for the container carrying our possessions from home, hoping we'll never see it here.

 

We were given the assignment to feed a crowd of about 75 institute students and guests at the Institute Closing Social.  Here we have Sisters Drew and Hart, and Amber Jewers (back left) giving us a hand in the kitchen.  Sister Tiffany is a genius in the kitchen and came up with a menu that was loved by everyone.  ET just followed directions and tried to keep up or stay out of the way.  We spent a good part of the week planning, purchasing, and preparing for what was consumed in less than 30 minutes.

Banquet Prep!

Elder Tiff did get to prepare the dessert. And there was still some left for others to enjoy.

Two tables ready to serve.

Just a part of the crowd that enjoyed the evening.

Last night (4/14) we participated in a musical fireside in Truro with some missionaries from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  It was very entertaining and a spiritual feast.   It was identical to the Easter fireside we did at the stake center in Dartmouth, with instrumental and vocal solo numbers by the younger missionaries, combined with testimonies of the divinity of the Savior and his love for us.

 

As you can see, our missionary assignments take us a lot of places, doing a lot of things that not every missionary couple gets to do.  We were given an opportunity to change our assignment, at one point earlier in our mission, but we chose to continue in the calling given us by the prophet, and we don't regret it.  Heavenly Father blesses us continually, and we pray constantly that we may be sharp instruments in His hands to accomplish what He has sent us here to do.  We believe the end of our mission here will be a bittersweet moment - leaving one family to go home to another.  But we knew that would be our lot when we received our call to this mission, and we gladly accepted the challenge.