Sunday 26 November 2017

13. CTM: SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES AND OTHER INVOLVEMENTS 2017-2018



As full time missionaries we represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on our mission.  Our blog represents our own personal experiences.  The official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is:        https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng  (click twice)




WE HAVE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE AND INTERACT WITH OTHERS

helping kill, de feather and evircerate chickens for Brad Sauve


visiting some of the elderly in our apartment complex


hosting a district meal and activity


missionaries bowling for district activity--most had never seen or heard of 5 pin bowling


hosting branch activity night at our place


and another one, we do it often on a Tuesday night



attending a 'live' district meeting rather than on skype


making treats for thanksgiving



attending thanksgiving with Cindy McCleod's family, Cassandra and Derek Dinel and their children Lillian and Hayden








helping one of our members fix her house and prepare for a move


and clean her basement full of cobwebs


Barb teaching a cake decorating class in kirkland lake




providing a break and a meal for missionaries on their way to Quebec for transfers--about a nine hour drive for them, about 9 hours from the mission office



finding leaves for primary children and grandkids





seems there is never an end of long drives for us to visit branch members or to provide support for missionaries in the district











preparing a meal to take to the missionaries in Quebec

then joining them in Val-d'Or for district meeting
some of us in person


and some on skype


God made such a beautiful world.  we love the four distinct seasons!!  The fall here is amazingly colorful!

















crocheting to be a part of an apartment craft group--this one was hard 


when we are responsible to get things moved we know where to find strong backs




Missionaries throughout the district, widespread and isolated, gather at our home 

from time to time for a meal

and sometimes they email their families from our place


sometimes they just like to visit with each other while they are at our apartment


or munch

or get haricuts


or rest and relax

or exercise
we love to have the young missionaries in our apartment




we took president Jakob's girls and a friend trick or treating





branch emergency preparedness day



Zone Conference in Brampton with Elder Pearson of the First Quorum of the Seventy presenting
President and Sister Shields at Zone Conference

We were so excited to see Elder Conner Johnson at Zone Conference.  We were in the Willow Park Ward together when he was a little boy


Great to have the opportunity to attend the temple in Brampton



completing an apartment check in North Bay and holding a brief devotional after, then home made treats


time at the family history center, Temiskaming Branch


apartment check in Quebec and saying goodbye to Sister Snickers who finishes her mission and heads home to Belgium with high hopes for her next phase of life


Baptism in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, in the Abitibi branch




Dan lives in our apartment complex and has become a good friend.  He's taken us out on a couple of mining tours.  Below:  celebrating his 80th birthday



CELEBRATING USA THANKSGIVING IN KIRKLAND LAKE--AND GIVING THANKS



AN IMPORTANT CULTURAL EVENT WHERE WE LIVE IN NEW LISKEARD IS VILLAGE NOEL.  THE MAIN STREET IS BLOCKED OFF FOR THREE DAYS AND BOOTHS ARE SET UP TO SELL FOOD, CRAFTS, GIFTS AND REPRESENT HISTORY SUCH AS FUR TRADING, FIRST NATIONS INVOLVEMENTS, THE MAPLE SUGAR RUN ETC.  THEY ALSO HAVE EVENTS SUCH AS AXE THROWING, TUG OF WARS, LOG SAWING CONTESTS ETC.  THE EVENT DRAWS FROM NORTHERN ONTARIO AND QUEBEC




 






SILVER & GOLD

In the district where we are assigned there are a lot of mines and former mines.  Mining is important to the local people and we think it is important to get to know their culture, surroundings, ways of making a living and resources.  So either on our way to and from or on a pday, we learned and experienced a little bit about the mining industry.

We have enjoyed learning about the silver and gold mines and visiting the sites on occassion.  But we always keep in mind that, more valuable than gold and silver, are human beings.
D&C 18:10  Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

Silver and gold remind us of Peter and John being solicited by a lame man for money:                                                                                                                                                 Acts 3: 6  Then Peter said, Silver and gold have none; but such as have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.


In Quebec, just a half hour west of Val-d'Or, we viewed the open pit gold mines in Malarctic.  





three hours east of us in Val-d'Or, Quebec we had the opportunity to tour an underground gold mine.
















These old timers, Dan and Ray live in our apartment complex and are former miners, both started when they were 18 and worked their entire careers--50+ years--in the mines:  gold mines, silver mines, uranium mines cobalt and arsenic mining.  Both surface and underground.  They have taught us a lot about mining--and how to survive difficult situations.


There are a lot of mining museums in the area. 









Below is not a mining artifact but---interesting! found in one mining museum from the early 1900's


Close to where we live is the town of Cobalt, Ontario which in the early 1900's was the silver capital of Canada and one of the highest silver producing areas of the world.  Silver was found right on the surface in many places, but the veins could also run deep.

When the major silver/cobalt mines that are near us were mostly depleted years ago, legislation was not in place regarding clean up, so many companies just burned the buildings and walked away.  Lots of the silver was right on the surface.  People walked on it before they discovered it.  A lot of the mining scars, shacks, head frames and foundations still remain and are right around us.  Cobalt is designated a National Historic Site of Canada.




































a couple of hours north of us are the Kirkland Lake underground gold mines.

two and a half hours west of us are the Timmins gold mines