Sunday, March 3rd finds us back on the road. the part of Arkansas we see is lovely.  We stop in Little Rock to attend their Sacrament Meeting. It is a lovely ward. We happened to be there for their Ward Conference. The talks were wonderful and we were spiritual feed.  Of course when folks realized that we were from Utah and going to Nova Scotia--- the next question was, "Well, what are you doing in Arkansas? Then its back on the road to get to Bowling Green, Kentucky to spend the night at Dian (Lopez) Tune. It was just wonderful to see her and her girls and grandchildren. Thanks Dian you are the best.

Tree-lined free-way in Arkansas- Mar 4th

The wonderful ward where we attended Sacrament Meeting

We found some snow in Tennessee, but the roads were clear, we are heading to Columbus, Ohio-Mar 5, 2012

Further on down the road its miles and miles of farm land waiting on spring for crops to be planted.

The Illinois River- Oklahoma- Mar 3, 2012

Amanda and her hubby Mar 2, 2012

Roberta doing one of her favorite things- cooking- Mar 2, 2012

The back woods of Oklahoma- they had to lead us in! Mar 2, 2012

Ray and daughter Amanda- Mar 2, 2012

Ray and Roberta's home- Illinois River Ranch, Oklahoma- Mar 2, 2012

After several days of 10-12 hours of driving, it was nice to take a few days off and visit with our dear friends Ray and Roberta Crabtree and their daughter Amanda. They have a lovely place, even if it is in the middle of nowhere. Supposedly there is bear, cougar and foxes  and racoons as there neighbors!

Interesting day in the temple today, I was in the office alone when I tripped over one of the plastic mats on the floor. Alright girls, before you panic read on- especially you Jaralynn and Meredith. I bumped my head, getting a bruise on my forehead, and bruising on my left thigh, but I AM OKAY! One of our sealer's walked into the office seconds after the fall and got me some help. They sent us home so I could rest. I took a 4 hour nap and am feeling much better now.

Trials come our way, that is a part of life. Thank goodness that Heavenly Father helps us through our trials, and strengthens our faith.

 It has been a long driving day,- Charlotte in Oklahoma- Mar 1, 2012

Entering Texas- Mar 1, 2012

Craig outside the Albuquerque Temple- Mar 1, 2012

The Albuquerque, New Mexico Temple- beautiful early morning sky- Mar 1, 2012

Moe cliffs, these are brown and white- Also Feb 29, 2010

Okay, I will finally start posting some of the pictures of our trip across country on our way to Halifax:

The beautiful Vermillion Cliffs of Arizona- Feb 29, 2012

Is it Easter or Christmas?

Happy Easter to friends and family!  This is outside my window when I woke up this morning in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia! Well, looks like I get to wear snow boots to church today!  

Elder and Sister Baures beging the feast- with them Sister Vince Vincent and SisterHeather Devlin

Going home cake

Sister Baures and Heather Devlin

This has been Elder and Sister Baures last week in the missionfield as our trainers. They leave tomorrow morning for their trip back to Wisconsin. So there have been activities all week for them. They have been terrific trainers, we have learned from the masters. We will miss them so very much. Monday night was our FHE group's get-together.  These pictures are of them and the cake we shared that evening. We were priviledged to attend a short meeting Friday evening at the temple. It was The Presidency and the Matrons, the Baures and us. The Temple presidency and Matrons thanked the Baures for the great job they had done and presented them with a lovely framed picture of the temple so that they would never forget their time here. Testimonies were born, it was a beautiful experience.

Very long day! We arose at 4:30, yes children, your dad actually got up at 4:30 am without a groan or complaint! We were at the temple at 6:00 am, and we got home like 20 minutes ago about 9:00 pm! Tomorrow is the last day with our trainers. They leave on Monday morning for home (Wisconsin). We start at 7:00 am tomorrow and will get home around 3:30 pm. It's such a wonderful experience, and we are learning and growing- we give thanks to all of you that remember us in your prayers and thanks to a loving Heavenly Father. We had extra sessions for Good Friday. We did over a thousand ordinances today! That may be a hole in the bucket in Utah temples, but for here it was a great day. It was amazing to see all the workers and patrons that were there all day also for a chance to do work for their family. It was like the "Day of Sacrifice" that we have had in Utah several times. 

 

 

This is for April 4th

 

Just wanted all to know that we have been in Nova Scotia for a few weeks now. The weather is very cool, but it is a lovely place. Our training in the temple continues this week, then we will be on our own. Craig is being trained as an assistant recorder, and I am being trained as the office assistant. We will be the only people in the office. In addition, we have to do the scheduling of the workers for each session. Boy, all those who have served as co-ordinators at Oquirrh Mountain, I have a new found respect for you. We do a new schedule for each day's schedule because the workers vary so much. I haven't decided if planning for a group of 40 workers is any easier than trying to plan for 10-12! We only get to do ordinance work occasionally as one of us has to be in the office at all times.

 Our trip out here went so very well. We were able to see lots of family and friends. We stopped in Erie, PA to Craig's last remaining uncle. He was sick with lung cancer. It really touched him that we would plan our trip so that we could stop and see him. We had only planned a short visit, but we spent over 6 hours with him, and stayed that night in a hotel. The highlight was when he was very upset about his family trying to get him into a hospice program. He agreed to Craig giving him a priesthood blessing (He was raised Catholic). There was no blessing of health, but one of peace. After we left he went downhill fast and passed away one week later. We are so grateful for the time we spent with him. We also got to do a session at Palmyra and Boston temples on our trip out. We stopped one Sunday for church in Little Rock, Arkansas. You should have seen the Stake President's face when we stated that we were on the way to a mission in Halifax, Nova Scotia.I think he thought we were lost.

We keep you all in our prayers. We miss your smiles and your hugs. We are so glad that we are where we are and our family is definitely receiving blessings.

We sure enjoyed conference and learned so very much. I think my next poem will be about the "Song of Faith."

love,

Elder and Sister Edwards