Hey hi everyone, :-)
It has been a really good week or so here. Last week we had the CO. Really good talks, and encouragement for the congregation. Brother Golthrop is very down-to-Earth in the way he relates to people. We've also had some really good response in the service. Mom and I were on a call that eagerly wants to study twice a week. So now we are just getting it organized around his very busy work schedule. He is from India. I was thinking it must be so hard for him, or any new worker, to come here during the winter months. His part of India is very tropical and pretty, but unfortunately affected by the conflicts in neighboring countries. So he came here, but it is cold - very cold, and his family is back home. :-( I was talking to another East Indian man who arrived here last winter, and his arrival point was CALGARY. Can you imagine the shock of that...January getting off a plane there. He said he was wide-eyed because he was told it was cool in Canada during the winters but he had no idea what that meant. He didn't even have cold weather clothes. Brrrr.... Anyways, it will be really nice to see how the study progresses after he gets organized and into a pattern. And then mom started a study with a woman in her thirties. So there is good response coming from the territory. As Brother Schufeldt brought out in his talk last month, the increases in Canada and the US aren't just coming from the immigrant population. There is a real surge coming from the generation-Canadians/Americans too.
Well, my first nephew is getting married. So that is exciting! Brahm proposed to Whitney yesterday. They dated for a couple years, which sets a good example on taking time to get to know someone, and now are ready make a good team. Both are spiritual minded, so I am confident they will do good together. Don't know the exact wedding date yet, but I think it should be the first week in January or thereabouts.
Harvey and Pearl are doing wonderful. They are both wearing their winter outfits now as it is pretty cold here. I will have to get a pic on here pretty soon to show everyone. Snowline was down to 1500 feet yesterday so I am guessing maybe next week we will get some down at the house. ...But I am smiling because thanks to Dad and Keith snow tires are on my truck. :-)
Work has been just great lately. In the mornings I am teaching grammar in the mornings as usual and in the afternoons this semester I will teach one class of GLOBAL STUDIES which is speaking on world topics. I basically use the same format as the Theocratic ministry school, and the same counsel slip, so I will really enjoy this class. And then my second class is DEBATE this semester, which I really like too because it gets students talking and thinking about what is going on in the world.
So all in all, life in the Okanagan is working out very nice. Advice I can give to everyone is to realize that when you move anywhere - to another country or another region - set up time takes TIME. And sacrifices come along with that, whether it means a pay cut, or a change of work entirely, getting organized in your home. So don't less the stress overcome you, but just plod along one foot in front of the other until everything falls into place. For me, one never knows what other doors Jehovah God will open in the future, but what he is directing for me at the moment is really good. That recent Watchtower on contentment has good advice for all of us in it.
Okay, gotta run and shine up my teeth, and polish my skin before the meeting this morning. :-)
Love to all,
d :-)
