Senior's barbeque

July is moving along. We had a few cool days this week. Some of the leaves on the trees appear to be changing colors. Does this mean we will have an early fall or is it just a dry summer? We help supply drinking water for the church. On Monday we stopped by the Bulk Plus (the store owned by the Rowens in the branch) and filled up two big bottles of water for the church. We are still working on organizing the library at the church.

For some must push - as we go up the hill

This picture is from a couple of weeks ago at the Lavender festival. Someone else took it and we just received a copy of it this week.

We had district meeting in Belleville again on Tuesday. Everyone was asked to prepare a talk on Faith and Expectations. Fortunately, we didn't have to give our talks. At times we feel like we must not have much faith, since not much is happening here. We discovered a quote by President Uchtdorf, however that helps, "Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship." If our faith is measured by the love we have for the people rather than the results we see, maybe we do have a little faith.

Our district

On the way back from Belleville we passed by an old Case steam tractor, like the one at the American West Heritage Center (well, maybe not quite, this one is out of hay bales).  The creator, Mr. Haig, makes sculptures like this every year for the Campbellford fair which is coming up in August. We happened to catch him there and discussed how old steam tractors work.

Mr. Haig with his Case steam tractor

 We have been trying to help Meheffin with her goal to go to the temple this year. We heard on Tuesday evening that she had moved suddenly, so we passed by her house and sure enough, the house was empty, furniture and all. She has a new fiance so we hope she will pursue her goal of going to the temple where ever she moved to.

On our walk Wednesday morning we passed by the farmer's market to see if they had any sweet corn yet (not yet). The market is small, but there are a few items and even a busker playing the violin. There is an antique shop we had not been in, so we went in to look around.

Violinist at the farmer's market

Antique shop by the farmer's market

Thursday was our Pearl of Great Price class. It takes a long time to prepare the lessons, but we enjoy teaching the class.

We took another long walk around the canal on Friday morning. We saw several Cedar Waxwings flying from tree to tree. We recognized them even though we had never seen them before. 

Cedar Waxwing

We decided it was time to see Lang Pioneer Village, by Peterborough. We had passed by there during the winter, but everything was closed and there were sheets of ice at the mill. We really enjoyed our visit, stepping back in time to the 19th century. 

What kind of car is this?

Did you forget, smoking is not allowed

Need to pick up a head of steam

No water, we must be in a drought

Lang Mill

 Saturday was our senior missionary barbeque at the mission home in Brampton. It's a long drive, but we enjoyed meeting with the other missionaries. We now are the old guys on the block. Several of the couples we had not met. It is always nice to meet with other senior couples and learn that they do some of the same things we do and to also get ideas of what we could do differently. After the barbeque we had a testimony meeting. It was a very nice activity.

The chef, Elder Martindale

A time to relax

Good food

Sister Wheeler with President and Sister Scott

 Just as we were leaving for church on Sunday morning we got a call from the primary president informing us that she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be there. Naturally, Sister Wheeler pitched in (along with Sister Holt - Campbellford) and ran the primary. It would help to have a little time to prepare. Brother and Sister Lalonde were visiting from Kingston. We didn't want them to travel back to Kingston on empty stomaches so we invited them to the apartment for lunch. We didn't know what we were going to eat, but Sister Wheeler came up with a nice, quick meal.

Lalonde's from Kingston

 Another week (and month) has gone by. We are not certain what next week will bring, but we saw an interesting plaque in the mission home.