Summerside

     Last week there were 6 baptisms in the mission! That's almost as many as we had in January, February, and March combined. President Pratt asked us if we would represent him at the one on Prince Edward Island. Oh, the hardships we face!

     We headed over to Summerside Friday after we closed the office. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive, so we got to the Confederation Bridge at sunset, expecting to get some gorgeous pictures, but the angles were all wrong. The bridge is very utilitarian and plain. They purposely put in curves, rather than have it go straight across the water, in order to keep drivers more alert in the 12.9 kilometer stretch. There was a lot of debate for many years about whether or not to build the bridge. Some people though a bridge would spoil the feel of the island, some people wanted a tunnel. Most people now are very pleased to have the bridge. It's one lane in each direction, and there are signs all along saying no cell phones. We're guessing that's to keep drivers more focused on getting across the bridge in order to reduce the chance of accidents. It's about 20 years old. Like many bridges over a bay, there's a big hump in the middle to allow cruise ships and ocean vessels to pass underneath. There used to be a toll to cross the bridge both ways, but now they doubled the toll to get off the island and took out the toll booths to get on. That reduced the costs of collecting tolls since the only other way to get your car off the island is a ferry, which is around $75. The toll is a paltry $45.

     We asked someone what we'd be able to see or do off season on a Saturday morning and were told to walk along the bay. That sounded pleasant since we left Halifax when it was a toasty 70ish degrees. However the weather cooled as we traveled and we were both chilled by the time we got to our hotel.

     Saturday morning we explored a little, checking out lighthouses along the way. We love seeing lighthouses of all sizes everywhere. This one was about a kilometer from the ocean with many houses between the lighthouse and the water.

Out in the bay

Along the path

We discovered that "walking along the beach" was very pleasant. There is a nice, well-maintained boardwalk and adjacent jogging path that skirt the rocky shore for about kilometers (you can see it in the background behind Elder Holbrook).There were lots of birdhouses along the path, and friendly chipmunks expecting to be fed, and they scamper us to your feet in anticipation if you stand still. Many people had food for the birds and squirrels, often leaving them on the railing across the bridge. We saw LOTS of people out enjoying a Saturday-morning stroll.

     Although it was overcast on Saturday morning, it was in the low 50s, which made our stroll along the boardwalk comfortable. We stopped to watch a boy who knelt down to feed a chipmunk and someone walking by noticed Elder Holbrook's badge. He said he was a member of the Church and we struck up a conversation with him and continued on down the path. He was walking with his friend, the mayor of Summerside, so we learned lots about the town and area in general. A VERY enjoyable morning.

     Across the street from our hotel was a sign: College of Piping. We wondered if the construction trade on PEI was booming. Then we read the smaller print underneath that said "and Celtic Performing Arts." We stopped in and found out there was a bagpipe competition going on. We stayed through two rather long musical pieces (~10 minutes each) and watched the performer walking in big, slow circles. Almost everyone in the concert hall was wearing a kilt (except us).

     We spent some time looking around the gift shop. Everything you'd ever expect to see bagpipers wear and then some. Then it was time to head over to the church.








     The Summerside Branch recently had the boiler replaced, but for some reason it wasn't hooked up to the tank for filling the baptismal font, which they didn't find out until now. The missionaries were heating water on the stove and carrying it through the building to the font. Someone finally dropped off a huge campstove-type burner and a square vat to match, so then the missionaries just had to carry the water in buckets a few feet. By the time the baptism started, the water was at least bearable.

Before the baptism: (l-r) Elder and Sister Brewster, Sister Brogan, Terry Brogan (who was baptized), Elder Ashton and Elder Wilson

     Sister Brogan was inactive and her husband was a non member; however, they listened to the missionaries and he decided to join. Nice people, neat baptism. We were so glad President Pratt gave us the "dirty work" of going to such a pretty town.

     It is such a blessing in so many ways to be part of spreading the gospel in this little corner of Canada!



   

Bits and Pieces

On our way to and from the office all winter we drove by a very nice playing field. Starting 2 weeks ago on our way home we noticed there are usually rugby games being played. As we looked closer, we realized the players are all female. If there is snow, there are no games, but a clear 32 degrees doesn't stop them. There have been at least 8 different rugby shirt so there are many teams. Not a sport we expected to see high school girls play, especially in such large numbers.

A month ago Elder Holbrook was walking past a park and saw a notice about a production of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None." He organized an evening out and last Thursday we went to a small community theatre with another missionary couple and President and Sister Pratt. We went to dinner and saw a wonderful show with very good acting. A fun evening.

Inside the theater

Now that all the snow and ice are melted, Elder Holbrook has started to walk around the neighborhood. There is so much to see. He can walk around a lake, through the streets and homes and in the middle of all the houses is a private golf course. 

There is a fence all the way around the course but there is one opening in the fence that looks well used, and he's seen other people walking on fairways. Here are some pictures taken after he slipped through the hole.

They have these large poles at various places. All have cables and pulleys on them.

Yesterday they pulled the net up on this one. It's most likely they are to protect the homes around the course from drives with a slice. The course looks very tight. He thinks it's 18 holes but can't be sure.

This sign was interesting. It is behind the picture above and you can see it is a blind over-the-hill drive.

The course has a lot of winter issues that need to be addressed soon as the weather appears to be calling all golfers to the course.

Beautiful place - Beautiful scenery - Glad it is getting warmer.

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Last week we forgot to mention that when we checked in at the Bed & Breakfast in Digby, our hosts told us about a Good Friday service that night at the Baptist Church across the street and warmly invited us to attend. We took off our tags so we didn't offend anyone (invading their territory) and joined them. They were so welcoming--we could learn a thing or two from them! The program was very interesting. They involved a lot of people in the choir and doing readings, both from their scriptures (not the version we're used to) and some people spoke as if they were Judas or Mary or Peter and others. After each person spoke, they snuffed out a candle and some lights in the room were turned off until at the scripture reading saying Christ was dead, the last candle went out and the room was dark. The symbolism was neat. Several times throughout the service the congregation joined in singing. Their hymnal has over 600 hymns! We enjoyed the services.

D

Digby and the Bay of Fundy

We continued on our way in spite of the storm. Sometimes it really poured (usually only when there was something that looked interesting :) and we wanted to take a picture, like the beautiful gingerbread trim on some of the houses), and sometimes it was just a sprinkle. We still saw some awesome sights as we drove in and out of coves and bays. Did we mention there's a lot of water here, both on the ground and getting to the ground (as rain).

Before we left Elder Holbrook had gone online and found a nice bed and breakfast with rooms that overlooked the Bay of Fundy in Digby. We wanted to see the Bay of Fundy because it has the most dramatic tides in the world. In some places there is a difference of over 40 feet between low and high tides. We got to Digby just before dinner and the tide was out. We checked several times during the night but it was so overcast because of the storm that we couldn't see much. When we got up in the morning, the tide had come in and gone back out. We'll have to visit again sometime to see it at high tide.

The view from our balcony when we arrived

The view the next morning (slightly different angle)

Pretty much the same.  The tide cycle is approximately 12 hours from low tide to high tide and back to low tide.

While we weren't around to snap pictures at high tide, these give an indication of how low the tide gets.
I wouldn't want to try climbing on or off the boats now, but at high tide they can easily be boarded from the pier (or so we were told). We watched cars as they drove along the pier. It's pretty sturdy!

This will give you an idea of what the tides are like. That's up the road a bit from Digby, but the same general area.

Some of the best whale watching in the world in the summer is in the Bay of Fundy, because the tides stir up food the whales like to eat. Hope we can make it back there to see that.






After breakfast we drove down what's called Digby Neck, a spit of land with a beauty of its own, especially if you like ocean views, which we do.

A pretty little bay along the way

There are three parts to it--the long stretch at the top and then two islands with ferries. We went to the end of the first part. The next island looked close enough that we could almost swim to it, but the water is really rough.

The land behind the sign is Tiverton--a very short ferry ride away

We decided to leave that trip to another day--but the best whale watching is supposedly at the end of Digby Neck.

Two of the three churches on a street called Churchill Road. The small white clapboard building with black trim is so typical of many of the churches dotting the landscape.

We thought we were almost home until we noticed the spelling. Nope, still in Canada. Thought of you, Mom!

We decided a very, tall, skinny man must live in this house. It is much more narrow than the picture shows.

Someone had told us to stop by and see Blomidon Lookoff that overlooks the Bay of Fundy. Awesome! Pictures don't do it justice, so you'll just have to visit us and see it for yourself.

We are blessed to have such a wonderful world around us. Each placed we've visited or lived has had its own kind of beauty.

Lunenburg

A few weeks ago President Pratt said we could close the office on Good Friday and have a break over the holiday. We jumped at the chance. Although we had responsibilities and had to be back on Sunday, we decided a two-day getaway was just what we needed.

This quick weekend trip was similar to our last one (Cape Breton) in that we had some rather intense weather. Fortunately, this time it was all liquid, not frozen. The best way to describe their rain storms is torrents of rain with some wind thrown in. We enjoyed much of our sightseeing from the warmth of our dry car. And like our off-season trip in February, most things are still closed up for the winter. 

Lunenburg is one of the most talked about stops, so that was our first goal. On the way we came across this view of Mahone Bay. Five church spires! As we've mentioned in other posts, there are hundreds of small churches in Nova Scotia. Most are fairly small, although occasionally we’ll see a bigger church or cathedral here and there.

Lunenburg's visitor information booth:

We think the only purpose of this information stop was for pictures

Along the way we saw a few yards decorated for Easter. 

An Easter Tree on Shipyard Hill

Lunenburg is a picturesque fishing town. Apparently in the summer there are a lot of places selling local arts and crafts. We'll have to go back for that in a few months.  

Brightly colored buildings abound

Theodore Tug

Narrow streets, most of them one way

Thought this was an interesting plaque on a home (in case it's too small for you to read, it says "Built by Edward Conrad, Shipbuilder, Circa 1874)

Due to the rain, we kind of felt like our pictures of Lunenburg were like Pinterest pictures vs. reality. 

Pinterest (travel brochures): 

 Fail (our picture of the same area)

We've gotten used to the idea that almost every town has a motto, but we were a little surprised that Lunenburg County also has a motto: Christmas Tree Capital of the World!

More in our next blog on this weekend jaunt.

On a side note, we were looking forward to enjoying General Conference this weekend, Mission Field Style. We're so used to the way we watch it at home and thought it would be interesting to experience it another way. However, when it came down to it, we were so exhausted from Transfer Week that we fell into our old habits, relaxing and watching it in our apartment. But we weren't too tired to realize what a wealth of wisdom was shared. The biggest difference for us was that since we're three hours ahead of Salt Lake, we started watching at 1:00 in the afternoon. Priesthood Conference got over at 10:30.  Wonderful talks! Great uplift! And in six months we get to do it all over again.

Follow the Prophet