Don't worry about other people's ducks

We have a strange feeling as our mission is winding down. We had two sets of keys for the apartment. Sister Wheeler decided to give her set to Elder Caldwell in the mission office so he will be able to get into the apartment to move the furniture after we leave . While we were in Brampton for the temple on Tuesday (transfer day) the APs (assistants to the president) said they would give the keys to Elder Caldwell. Sister Wheeler worried whether they would lose the keys or actually get them to Elder Caldwell. She said "I just like having all my ducks in a row". I replied, "That's OK, but you don't need to worry about other people's ducks". It is sometimes difficult to let others follow through with what they agreed to do without worrying about it.

We learned on Monday that Hurricane Sandy was headed our way. We kept in tune with the weather to see if we would be able to go to the temple on Tuesday.

Men checking overflow of the dam

As mentioned, we went to Brampton on Tuesday. The weather was good all the way to Toronto then we felt the side effects of Hurricane Sandy. We stopped by the mission office before going to the temple. After the temple session the senior couples met at a fish-and-chips restaurant. Elder Wheeler was able to have some grilled trout. From there we went to the mission home for a testimony meeting with the outgoing elders and sisters ( 2 elders - Elder Green and Elder Lau, 2 sisters - Sister Worthlin and Sister Woo, and 2 couples - the Martindales and us). We then had a long ride back to Campbellford in the dark with rain off and on.

 Halloween is here. We even found some cute ghosts on a balcony of our apartment building.

Ghosts ready for Halloween

We ended the month Wednesday with a district meeting in Kingston. There is only one district in the zone again so we meet in Kingston. It was a long drive after going to Brampton on Tuesday. We have new missionaries due to the transfer. Elder Lyon came to be a zone leader with Elder Nash. Elder Itthipornvanich is working with Elder Decker in Belleville (who is now our district leader). Elder Platt joined Elder Gummow in Trenton and Sister Woo will be working with Sister Sutton in Brockville.

Elder Nash (not feeling well) and Elder Lyon

Elder Itthipornvanich and Elder Decker

Elder Gommow and Elder Platt

Sister Sutton and Sister Woo

 We really enjoyed our district meeting led by Elder Decker. We have been very impressed with him since we first met him while he was working in Brockville. We had a delightful roleplay with Sister Sutton and Sister Woo. We took the slow road (Hwy 2) back home to avoid the 401 (freeway or expressway as they call it here).

Last year in toronto we had no one come to our apartment for trick-or-treating. They do things differently here in Campbellford - they pool their candy and meet the children at the front door of the apartment building. We joined them for awhile.

Joan and Caroline with Halloween candy

Our trick-or-treaters

Socializing in the hall with Dolly, Joy, and ?

 On Thursday we were back in Belleville for the rug hooking session. On the way back we visited Heather Parker in Stirling and learned about her trip to Europe. We also passed by Kings Mill which is close by.

King's Mill

We decided to take the Heart of Hastings (Hastings County) art tour on Friday. We went to several villages where they had Christmas displays in homes and stores. Now that Thanksgiving and Halloween are over it's time for the Christmas spirit.

One of the Christmas houses

Which is the Old-world Santa? (The one in red?)

This bear is ready for sledding
Sorry Ginny, it would look nice in the cabin, but cost too much

 As we were going along one of the country roads we saw a different kind of cattle - sure enough, they were water buffalo.

Water buffalo in the field

We have passed by a Western-looking store many times on Hwy 7, but it was always closed. Finally we found it open. It wasn't much inside, but stands out along side a Canadian highway.

Somebody found a new companion!

We finally solved the mystery. We often see signs along the side of the road for Smitty's appliances, but the signs don't say where it is located.

Sign for Smitty's

After being in Trent Hills for almost a year we finally found Smitty's - and it wasn't easy, even if you are looking for it. As we were traveling through Foxboro we saw a sign "Smitty's 4 km". We followed the sign and missed it. We almost missed it again on the way back. When we finally found it, it turned out to be a residence with some garages out back. They are right - no showroom.

Finally - Smitty's

Saturday was spent cleaning out closets and preliminary packing of items we won't be using for the next two weeks. In the late afternoon we finally needed a break so we went for a long walk in Ferris park. We heard the pounding of water and decided to see what the river looked like. With so much rain the river was full and there was actually water flowing over Ranney Falls. It was a nice, but tiring walk in the park.

Ranney Falls with water

A friend of Ferris Park

We decided to attend the Christie Ward in Toronto this Sunday so we can bid farewell to our friends we got to know there. It was a long drive (2 1/2 hours each way), but it was worth seeing them again. We now know why the first part of our mission seemed to go by so slowly. We wondered if sacrament meeting would ever end. It was mainly because of our concentration trying to understand the many dialects of Spanish. We were able to bare our testimonies (in Portuguese, of course). We recognized we had developed lasting friendships with the members there (both Spanish as well as Portuguese).

Daniel, the financial wizard

Kelly and Maria

Portuguese priesthood class
Juaqim, Paulo Amerigo, Elder Crane, Elder  Fagundes, Andre

 On our way to Toronto we got a call from Brother Murphy (Executive secretary from our Logan ward) letting us know we will be speaking in sacrament meeting on November 18th (9:00 AM). We plan to arrive in Logan on Friday (Nov 16th), speak on Sunday (Nov 18th), then leave Monday (Nov 19th) for Washington state to have Thanksgiving with Diane's parents. We will be back by the following Saturday. No time for moss to grow under our feet, but it's probably to cold for moss anyway.