June- Happy Father's Day

Well it has been quite some time since I have had any time to make an entry.     It has been very busy. We spent most of May, it seems, cleaning apartments and changing apartments.  Al has an enormous responsibility in keeping track of over 145 apartments.  Keeping the rents paid, dealing with that many landlords, missionaries moving, closing some apartments one month and opening new the next month.  Moving furniture in and out.  Sometimes there are three missionaries in an apartment, sometimes there is a threesome and they need another bed and desk.  The next transfer, back to just  two.   He works so hard to make sure everyone is comfortable, with what they need.  That is not an easy job with 285 of them.  He also makes sure each and every missionary has money loaded on to their mission debit card.  He counsels them on how to spend their money, and not be out by the 20th of the month.   He works with zone leaders for apartment cleaning inspections.  He pays the bills for the entire mission and keeps track of President and his needs and expenditures.  I don't know how he gets it all done.  He goes to his desk each morning and is there for 9-10 hours a day, talking to landlords, missionaries, banks, mad landlords, people who didn't get their checks on time (Canadian mail NOT too fast), and in the in-between times he has enormous data information to update on his computer.  An  average day of questions for him is:   Which missionary is transferred, what apartment did they move to, what is their address, is a shower curtain reimbursable, how much money do I have left in my account, I don't have enough money to buy my prescription, what should I do, are light bulbs reimbursable, I bought all the groceries in the apartment and I now have to be transferred, can you reimburse me for the next apartment?   Ha HA  they go on and on.  He is so patient, and loves the missionaries so much.  He takes care of us all.  We all have to submit reimbursements as Senior Missionaries as well for expenditures we have and he makes sure that all of the Seniors are taken care of.  They come in all forms to decipher.  Just figuring out how to reimburse when you pay with a US credit card and are getting reimbursed in Canadian would throw me over the top.    I just want to dedicate a moment on our blog to how much love I have for my wonderful husband who just pushes on day after day.   He is a great father to all the missionaries here and to all his children and grandchildren.  Happy Father's day to AL. 

Al at his desk.  Luke and Byron's visit shows what a tight space he has to work in.

Apartment's take up most Saturday P-days.

Unloading the car after moving an apartment that is too far for our moving Elders to travel to.  The mission covers the entire Province of British Columbia.  It is a huge amount of land, with apartments hundreds of miles apart. 

Is this in my mission paper job description? 

Now we see who does the work?

Apartments, Apartments. 

 

 

Elder Atwood is such a wonderful "moving" Elder.  He helps Elder Nickels so much. 

Elder Boehmer and Elder Nickels.

Al always finds time to help me with Transfers.  He puts up my signs, sets tables, and takes me to many dollar stores looking for decorations.   He loads the car with a huge load from Costco each month and he packs it all into the church. 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there is all the paperwork, picking up packages at the post office.

Best yet---- to Baptise.  Kaba loves Elder Nickels.

I love him for his service, his talents, his obedience, his dedication, and his support of me and our family. 

Thank you Al Nickels for all you do.  A man serving his God. 

April Visits and Transfer day

So I thought I would just post some of the pictures of April.  We had a huge surprise.  It was Al's birthday and it really wasn't being a very good day for him.  We were working on a project and so I was at the copy machine trying to figure out our problem.  I heard someone say, "Delivery for Nickels," so I looked up and there was Luke and Byron.  What a shock and oh how fun.  They had dinner reservations at the local Steakhouse (which we didn't even know existed). We had a wonderful steak, a wonderful visit and then they had to leave.  Of course I cried like a baby and was very sad that they had to go, but it was fantastic to see them.  Thank you so much for coming to see us. 

Standing by my desk.

 Standing in Al's office.  A most tight place. 

We had to show them Steveston, where they film the TV show, 'Once Upon a Time".  Luke is in front of Grannies Café.

Relaxing on our couch before our yummy steak.

 

Then the next week, Dax and Temsha came for a short visit on their way to a conference in Bellingham.  We went also to Steveston and went to the Crab Restaurant.  It was yummy as well.  The next day we took the day off the office and went to Stanley Park in Vancouver.  We walked around and saw all the scenery and was blessed with a nice day.  We also took some time to visit the aquarium in the park.  Saw some very interesting fish, whales, sharks, etc. 

 

We ate crab, not that any of us are Crabs. 

It was a great sunny day.  No rain in sight.  That was awesome. 

 At the aquarium we got to tour the behind the scenes for the jellyfish. 

 

Dax interested in all the different fish.

 

 

 

Lots of different sights to see, from the creepy to the beautiful. 

The shore of the Park.  The mountains and the sea.  A beautiful combination.

 

 

We stop for a snapshot in Stanley Park.  We usually don't have anyone to take our picture together. 




Got my flowers in their pots and on the tables.  I am ready for May day transfers.  I enjoyed making all the flowers.  Amazing what you can learn to do on You Tube.  I thought the missionaries could use a huge burst of color after such a long, gray winter.
 

We feed over 200 missionaries every transfer.  They can eat.

 

We are serving the delicious Lemon Cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Authorities visit our mission

Three General Authorities visited our mission.  An article about it is on lds.org and then click on the Canada link off to the left.  It tells about their visit and the great message they gave to us.  President brought all the missionaries in to hear them.  Travel in this mission is a big deal.  It took weeks to arrange all the flights, buses, ferries, and cars.   Al and I were also caught on camera about to shake Elder Christofferson's hand.  We were helping Sister Lamb, as she was sick, but wanted to shake the Apostle's hand.  He took time and shook every missionaries hand.  It was a great conference.  www.lds.org/canada

Just wanted to add this additional information below. 

 

This is the transfer team.  We fed all the missionaries for the conference mentioned above.  We made over 600 brown bag lunches, had pizza for over 300 , and then feed them for every transfer.  The March transfer luncheon tables are ready in the background.   (I had to make sure that all the kitchen crew had a shamrock scarf on that day).  I even covered the maple leaf on the sign with a shamrock.  (married to an Irishman).

Spring is trying to come

Well it is April 6 and how we enjoyed listening to conference.  It was wonderful, as always.  I especially loved the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions.  Those talks seem to answer so questions that I had.  Be sure and read them in the May Ensign or listen to them on your I-pad.  After conference Al and I went out and thought we would find a few evidences of spring.  The pink tress have been beautiful, and we may have waited almost too long.  I am just going to show some of the pictures that I took around Richmond and down by the ocean at Gary Point in Steveston.   And I am going to try my new found secret to posting larger pictures so you don't have to have a magnifying glass to see them. 

These 'blossoms' on trees are like flowers.  They are beautiful.  Can't wait until they are in full bloom.

 

 

 

The bloom on this tree needs to be made into a quilt. 

 Can you get on that Jolene?

The white and pink trees are all over Richmond.   No wind to come and blow them all away. 

I love the red hedges.  The hedges here are 8 to 10 feet tall.  There are already electric pruners being started.  The nursery crews are out in force. 

Williams Street is where the church is and it is lined with pink trees.  It goes for blocks and blocks.

This is at Gary Point on the ocean.  People were out in force enjoying a nice warm Sunday afternoon.  No rain.  It was most pleasant.  The geese were coming in, and just a nice breeze for the kids to fly their kites.  It was fun to walk around and get some air.

Al is enjoying the pink trees. (and having his picture taken) 

All the colors are coming out.  The purples, reds, pinks, whites, and yellows. 

The little boat coming into Steveston.  The sea and the sky are almost the same color. 

The white snow geese are grazing like a herd of buffalo.  They didn't even take notice of Al.

We enjoyed the afternoon out and some fresh air.  We kind of get cooped up in the office day in and out so when it is not raining we try and find a new spot to visit.  We really enjoyed Gary Point and it is not too far from our modest apartment.

There is usually a Chinese garden everywhere, and there was a small one here.  Good Afternoon.


Thought you all might enjoy seeing the flowers that I am making. (Not as beautiful as the ones God makes). They are for the May 1 Transfer luncheon.  I watched a You Tube tutorial to learn how and away I went.  I thought the missionaries would love to see a burst of color. 

 

 

 Not quite a bed of roses. 

 

Now I have the pictures figures out how to make bigger, but can't get the column to go wider.  Next time I will spend some time on that.  Anyone know?