Zone conferences done! Our Anniversary..

Friday we completed all of our zone conferences.  As I said in the previous post--we have so grown to love this time with our missionaries.  They are spiritual, uplifting, and fun!  And to think we only get to have 4 a year!  So we have now done two, and we can see how you look forward to Zone Conferences each time.  Friday was our 34th wedding anniversary, and we celebrated it with the British Columbia zone in their conference.  This is our smallest zone, and theirs is held on its own rather than combining it with another zone like we do the others.  They are too far away from the other zones--so it gets its own conference.  And it was great.  After the conference we stayed to witness the baptism of Jen Jensen..and it was so sweet to see this gal be so excited to be baptized.  Unfortunately the water in the font was cold--so she had to endure that!  But she came out smiling and so joyful.  Following her baptism she shared some thoughts and she spoke about how she felt she had 'come home'.  It was so special.  We had 6 missionaries involved in the baptism--the two that taught her, Elders Rodriguez and Cervantes, two sisters that provided a beautiful musical number,  Sisters Brown and Halliday,  and then two that provided some remarks and a video while she was changing her clothes, Elders Smith and Thomas.  I was so proud of all of them as they each took part.  And I love how they all support each other, and are excited for each other.  They are all thrilled to see anyone enter the waters of baptism and change their lives.  Our missionaries are the best.
Following the baptism, we left Cranbrook, BC, at about 8:15 to drive home to Calgary, which is a 4 hour drive.  We hit a bit of icy roads and wind along the way, but made it back safely about 12:15 a.m.!  Late night!
Then on Saturday we were able to attend another incredible baptism of Hilary and Rob MacLachlin.
Hilary was introduced to the church in SLC by a man named Lynn Moore and his wife.  Hilary had gone down for a DoTerra convention and as she got off the plane Lynn asked her what she was doing the rest of the day and she told him she was just going to her hotel to relax until the convention began.  So he invited her to tour temple square with he and his wife.  While there, she felt the spirit strongly, and as she told us today, she wondered to herself, 'what are these feelings I'm feeling?  I feel warm, and tingly.'  She was given a Book of Mormon by the missionaries at temple square and Lynn Moore also put his testimony in it as well.  And then they parted ways.  Hilary came back to Calgary after the convention and just happened to be picking up her girls from school when they saw that another little girl needed a ride home.  This little girl's name was Cora Larsen, who is a member of the church.  While Hilary was driving her home, she asked Cora what she was doing over the weekend and Cora proceeded to tell her she was watching General Conference with her family.  To which Hilary responded, 'you're a Mormon?'  Cora of course said yes, and told her how she had been baptized and how much she loved the church.  Well, Hilary, at that point contacted Cora's mom and asked her to tell her all about her church.  Long story short, the MacLachlin family met the Larsen family, and then our missionaries, Elders Warenski and Roberts, began teaching them, and today both Hilary and Rob were baptized.  They have 5 beautiful children, and as soon as Rob receives the priesthood, he will baptize the 3 girls that are old enough.  It was an amazing baptism.  Right after Hilary was baptized, she stood in the font and just wept tears of joy.  It was so beautiful.  And then Rob was baptized--and it was all just so tender and emotional.  Dad was able to participate in their confirmations, and he said that Hilary just cried through the whole confirmation prayer.  It was really one of the sweetest things I have ever witnessed.  To see a whole family coming into the church.  To see them know that they are clean through baptism and have been forgiven because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, and then to know that they can be sealed together for eternity.  I wish you all could see the joy in their faces.  They are a beautiful family.
So, our anniversary wasn't how we would usually celebrate.  But to spend the weekend witnessing people change their lives, and seeing how this wonderful gospel has given them hope, and peace and joy they have never experienced was incredible.    It was a great anniversary!
Last week as we were in the south and BC, our average high temperature was 15!  But then we got back to Calgary and it had warmed up into the 30's.  When it is in the 30's we don't even feel like we need a coat!
Today, Sunday, we were able to attend the rededication services for the Montreal Quebec Temple at our Stake Center.  President Eyring presided and gave the dedicatory prayer for it.  Bishop Gerald Causse also spoke--he gave his remarks in French which was kind of neat.  I'm sure for many of our missionaries this was their first time to attend a temple dedication.

This is Elder and Sister Peppinger-our office couple from Utah.
We love them and appreciate all they do for our mission!

Zone conference lunch in Raymond- homage lasagne!

Sisters Lowe, Shields, Freeman and Tilley from our Cardston zone.

Sister Halliday and Elder Smith from our BC Zone.
We decided their floral skirt and tie matched!

Elders Rodriguez, Smith, Cervantes and Fox--from BC zone.

Sister Merkley, us and Sister Wagner--BC zone conference

The baptism we attended on our anniversary.