"It is my testimony that many of the regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today.  If we have sinned or made mistakes - if we have made choices that we now regret - there is the precious gift of Christ's Atonement, through which we can be forgiven.  We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent.  The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and remove the burden of our sins.  His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart, and a determination to do better and especially to become better."  (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Couns., First Presidency, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

 

Randi and Raju are the sixth couple from our YSA Branch to get married this year, and as far as we know, they are the last couple from the branch to be wed this year.  Randi is a local gal and Raju is from Bangladesh.  He migrated to  Canada to study and live.  He was converted to the church, met Randi, and says he thinks he'll stay here now.

 

Sisters Echols, Drew, Laxton, Broadhead, and Leavy.  We love them and their enthusiasm.  These ladies are among the best.

Two Saturdays ago the young single adults had an annual get-together at the lake.  Gordon Edgar, at the front of the canoe, lives with his parents on a beautiful lake that is great for swimming and canoeing.  Bro. Williams, at the back, is our high councilman.  He built this canoe in his basement and this is the trial run.  It didn't sink, and met all his expectations.  He is an amazing craftsman.

Sister Tiffany and Sister Moses caught a few rays while watching the youth playing in the water.

Here we have Chef-boy-ar-Moses, our branch president, barbecuing our lunch while the youth head for the water - Bryce Dorey, Connie Hicks, and Gordon Edgar.

Bro. Williams is quite an athlete, besides a craftsman, and loves to move these canoes any way he can.

Connie and Gordon are trying to see who can stay dry the longest.  Connie got very wet - first!

Nathan, Caverly, Cameron (not pictured), and Rose Smith invited us to dinner.  Nate was a student of ours at Dalhousie last year.  This year he will be in dental school.  He's one of the few dental students in the Halifax Ward that's from Nova Scotia and not from Utah.  Caverly is the Primary President in their ward.  They are a very lovely couple whom we love a lot.

Elder Loussier-Houle served a mission here and went home to Montreal a few months ago.  While on a short visit back in his old areas, he stopped to visit us.  We dearly love this young RM, whom we first were introduced to by a member who called him "Elder Sweet Cheeks."  We think that's because of his great smile and cheerful attitude.

Elder and Sister Thatcher serve in the mission office and Ashley and Hari were members of the YSA Branch, until they married this past spring.  Sister Thatcher was one of Ashley's elementary teachers in Orderville, Utah.  We invited them all to dinner for a reunion.  Hari is from India, and Elder Thatcher was a counselor at Centerville Junior High School, at one time.

We had the great opportunity to attend a ceremony at the temple where the Peters family of Prince Edward Island were sealed together as a family for time and all eternity by the authority and priesthood of God.  It was very touching to see this whole family, dressed in white, becoming an eternal family.

Elder and Sister Tiffany and Elder and Sister Tibbitts spent a couple of days together meeting people in the parks and on the beaches, having friendly chats.  We had a chance to tell many about what we are doing here and how our testimony of the Savior motivates us to share it with others.  Here we are at the Dingle Tower Park and waterfront.

Elder and Sister Tibbitts are having "Breakfast at Tiffanys."  She and Sister Tiffany have personalities so much alike that Pres. Leavitt often mixes them up and calls them by the other's name.  We finally told him we could be called the Tibbanys.  They're serving in P.E.I., and stayed with us for a few days while here for the temple ceremony of the Peters family. 

One of the places we visited was Rainbow Haven Beach, which our daughter Kirsten is familiar with.  As you can see, we're dressed for a little sun and surf(!?)  Besides teaching institute, monitoring seminary, and trying to be a stabilizing influence for the YSA, our main assignment is to be of service, to fellowship, and to share testimonies and smiles with as many people as we can.  We don't give missionary discussions, we just engage as many people as we can in friendly discussions.  

Last Saturday we went with a group of YSA to Cape Split.  This is a site on the Bay of Fundy and requires a ten mile hike (round trip) to get to.  Our main assignment here was to transport youth.  Because Elder Tiff's back has been in pain lately, he didn't make the hike, and Sister Tiff stayed at the trail head with him to keep him company.

On the way to the Cape, we stopped at a lookout point elevated above the Annapolis Valley.  Isn't this beautiful?  The landscape scenery was great, also.

Here is Elder Tiffany on the rocky shore of the Bay.  This bay has one of the fastest and deepest high and low tide movements of any place in the world.

This is a part of the group returning from the lookout at the top of Cape Split - Jonathan Colwell, Annie Ferris, David Barrett, Mark Carson, Pres. Richard Moses, and Bro. Paul Aalders.  Because we didn't make the hike, we don't have pictures, but we will add some next time (hopefully) from Bro. Aalders' camera.

 

In a couple of weeks we will be starting our class at Dalhousie University.  This year we will be studying "Doctrines of the Gospel."  We think it will be a great course and we're looking forward to getting back into the classroom and discussing the gospel.  The first paragraph of the student manual states: "Discovering what truth is and applying it in our lives are the most important things we can do while on earth.  Only by gaining a knowledge of the truth are we able to build the kingdom of God and prepare for eternal life."  It is our hope that we will help strengthen conversion to the truth as revealed to God's children by Him, so that they may not only know, but will also live in obedience to His commandments, and then share it with others.