Elder D. Todd Christofferson, an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, spoke in our last General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, about our Father in Heaven's great plan of redemption.
He gave an example of redemption by reviewing with us the great need of laborers in North America during colonial times.  Many who were willing to go to the new world couldn't afford the cost of travel.  Therefore, many of them traveled under an indenture or contract, promising to work after arriving for a period of time without wages as payment for their passage.  The term used to describe these indentured immigrants was "redemptioners."  They had to redeem the cost of their passage - in a sense, purchase their freedom, by their labor.
In our institute class we discussed the redemption.  Among the most significant of Jesus Christ's descriptive titles is Redeemer.  We are indentured to the Lord, and relying on Him to pay our fare to freedom.  What do we as Latter-Day Saints believe about having to work to gain spiritual freedom?  We believe that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:18-19).  Our works don't actually pay a debt, they show our appreciation for His payment, and our greatest service to others in this life is to bring them to Christ through faith and repentance.  How great is our calling as members and missionaries to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we all may feel His redeeming love.

Our daughter Kirsten thoroughly enjoyed her vacation here.  And we thoroughly enjoyed having her, Matt, and Lily here with us.  The last evening they were here we went out to Dingle Tower Park to cool down.  The weather was lovely while they were here, then started to rained for many days after they left.

Matt and Lily enjoyed throwing rocks in the water on that last evening.

We're all smiles for this picture at the airport, but right after this we shed tears watching their departure.

With life back to "normal", we had the missionaries in for dinner.  Sisters Echols and Drew love Sister T's cooking!

Elders Campbell and Hadley think the food is pretty good, also!

We were asked to talk to the girls at Stake Young Women's Camp, held at Camp Mush-A-Mush, near Bridgewater.  Sister Tiff says she remembers coming here for Girl Guide camps when she was quite young.

 

We talked to the girls about living "Happily Ever After."  We hope they will listen to the Spirit during the good times and the bad, while they are going through their current "Once Upon a Time."

Sis. Irene Hirtle, a camp counselor, shows it's not all work and no play while clowning with some cucumber slices in the camp crafts area.

The camp has a nice craft and dining hall for the girls.  They even had flush toilets, but they did sleep in tents and it rained almost all the time they were there.

This scene is much prettier in reality than in pictures, but this gives you an idea of what the harbor looks like with low-lying fog.

On Saturday evening we invited some OMA (Old Married Adults) and Sis. O'Connor to dinner.  Elder and Sister Edwards are serving a temple mission and will be going home in about one month.  They are from Magna, Utah.

Clayton Christensen, a well-known Latter-Day Saint author and Harvard professor, came to our area to speak at a fireside about member-missionary work, with ideas taken from his book The Power of Everyday Missionaries.  While here, he spoke to community and education leaders at a luncheon at Dalhousie University.  At the fireside, he said he and his wife called themselves as missionaries, then set out to show how everyday members can share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others and share the spirit with friends and family.  "Every time you take someone by the hand and introduce him or her to Jesus Christ," writes Clayton, "you will feel how deeply our Savior loves you and loves the person whose hand is in yours."  He said we must set a date, not an individual, trust God to help us, and ask.  All we must do is invite, and let the Lord and the missionaries take over from there.