Two Trips of Twenty-Six Days in Summer of 2009

Arlo: From the beginning of March, 2009 and continuing through to the early days of June, I spent 57 of the 97 days away from Prince George! During that time, Glenna and I received an invitation to participate in a Family Reunion on her side of the family in Monticello, Minnesota on June 20-21. So we began to formulate our plans to attend that Christianson Family Reunion.

Even though there had been other such events in the Christianson family, we had never attended. However, this segment of Glenna's family connection did have particular significance to both Glenna and myself. It was in the early summer of 1958 that, while living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Glenna and I took a camping trip into Minnesota in our 1955 Plymouth car. During that short trip we stopped at the Karl Christianson farm in Big Lake, Minnesota to see Glenna's Great Grandma Christianson who had just turned 100 years of age earlier in 1958. Interestingly enough, 1958 was also the 100th anniversary of the State of Minnesota. So Glenna's Great Grandma Christianson was chosen to be the Cenntenial Queen of Minnesota. Several months later she passed from this life, however on the day of our visit, Grandma Christianson sat at the family table and had lunch with us along with her son, Karl and his wife, Olga Christianson. What a memory this has been for Glenna and I over these many years!

OUR FIRST TRIP of 26 days in 2009, began with our departure from Prince George on June 17th and concluded on July 12 with our arrival back home in Prince George.

We began our travel that would take us for starters to this very significant Family Reunion. As we planned this period of time, we committed the details of the trip into the hands of our Lord based on Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Glenna and I discussed many things that we would like to do on this trip, but as usual, I always think of too many things to fit into our time and money alotment. So finally, we had to cut out a lot of things that just could not be included in this trip! Among those things were two very high priority matters, one was a visit in Winnipeg at the Weston Gospel Church, and the second was a visit to Knob Creek, Kentucky to participate in the 200th Anniversary Celebrations of the Birth of Abraham Lincoln! You might remember that Abraham Lincoln is my third cousin, four times removed!

Finally, at 6 am on June 17th Glenna and I are on the first day of this very special 26 day trip! Seventeen hours, and 1020 miles later we arrive in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, after cancelling a pre-booked motel in Saskatoon because we are running ahead of schedule! And after discovering that there was absolutely no motel vacancies to be located at 11 pm in Regina because of an International Farm event in the city! And after a failure to gain contact with my sister Reatha on her farm just twenty minutes south of Regina, we traveled on to Weyburn. After passing "no vacancy" signs on several motels in Weyburn, we chose, or should I say, we were forced to stay at Weyburn's 385 Motel. Now I assure you that we knew that the 385 Motel was no Royal Alexander Hotel, but it was late and we needed a room in which to sleep! Upon getting into the room, we became aware of the room's desparate need for updating, but according to my "Clean Queen Inspector," the bed was alright, it was clean! So after putting down some of the towels on the floor to make a clean pathway from our bed to the bathroom, we climbed into bed about mid-night!

Several years earlier, Glenna's brother Roy had sold this motel to an African lady. The next morning, Glenna introduced herself to the lady, who was not only the owner, and the receptionist, but was probably one of its' primary cleaning women! When the lady discovered that Glenna was Roy's sister, she said, "Oh, as Mr. Roy's sister, you should have stayed here free last night!" But incidentally, she didn't offer us a refund! Quite frankly, I am sure that she needed the money that we, and other patron's had paid for the previous night of lodging! The compliments that she spoke concerning the kindnesses that Roy had shown to her as she assumed ownership and management of the 385 Motel, were more significant to us than any refund that she might have given to us! You see, it was in July, 2007 that Roy passed from this life, and to be reminded again of his kind and fun loving personality was a very special memory. After a quick breakfast at the local Tim Horton's, we were on our way to Fargo, North Dakota for our next motel booking, and to be sure, we would not be cancelling that pre-booked motel!

We arrived at our motel in Fargo in time for our evening meal at a nearby Italian Restaurant. After walking through a conglomerate of motels and shopping stores, we ended up at the Red Target, or was it just the Target? Well, which ever it was, it was there to put someone in the "red!" After a good sleep, and a nice, in-the-motel-breakfast the next morning, we were on our way to Monticello.

After getting settled in Monticello's Days Inn, guest what? We were on our way to Albertsville, Minnesota! Do you know what is there? You guessed it right! It has an unbelieveable number of Outlet Stores! To be truthful, while it is not America's Largest Shopping Mall, it certainly has the largest number of Outlet Stores that I have ever seen in one location! And we were supposed to find Marlo and Tricia among this massive number of stores? Marlo had told me where they usually park, but being overwhelmed with this massive number of stores, do you think I am going to search out where they may have parked! Why, I didn't even remember his description of Grant Neimi's car!?

So we parked our car! Just anywhere would do! And following Glenna's rapid pace, I headed, with her for the nearest dress shop! Now, the first thing that I generally look for in a dress shop is a chair! But my quick search didn't turn up one single chair! So I headed back toward the rack of dresses where Glenna was concentrating her search! And you will never guess what came into focus as I approached that rack? There in clear view of my spinning head is Glenna on one side of the rack, and, yes you guessed right, Tricia is on the other side of the rack! And what was still more amazing was the fact that neither of them had yet encountered the other! I just had to take a picture of these two at this clothing rack, since this happening probably ranks high among my "believe it or not" stories!

At 12 noon on Saturday, June 20 we made our way to Bud and Nola Mitchell's rural farm home. About 100 people gathered on this location for a noon dinner. The original farm had been sub-divided into residencial lots, and Bud and Nola retained 20 acres of a well cared for property. A very large room, that easily housed the group meeting was a part of a still larger shop-type building that also housed many Bud's restored tractors. About one hundred yards away was their residence. At the side of the residence, there was a rock pond and waterfalls. At the back of the house there was a sizeable man made pond, over which a bridge of considerable length had been built. The bridge led to a miniture Chapel that would seat 10-15 people. Surrounding all that I have described above, was a beautiful yard well groomed greenery! What a peaceful place to relax and fellowship with family and friends!

On Sunday, June 21 many of us who were present at the Family Reunion, participated in the service of the Orrock Lutheran Church. Following the service we walked across the road and viewed particular graves of the departed members of the Christianson family. After doing so, we returned to Bud and Nola's place for a light lunch, and shortly thereafter, Glenna and I began our journey to Omaha, Nebraska, by way of Des Moines, Iowa. After lodging overnight in Des Moines, en route to Omaha, we stopped at Elk Horn, Iowa, and viewed a Danish Mill and Museum. This museum contained the story, and piano of Victor Borge (Rosenbaum), the famous musician, while the Wind Mill stood as a tribute to the perseverence of a man by the name of Harvey Sornson. He located this 1848 Wind Mill in Norre Snede, Jutland in Denmark. By the late 1970's he had re-located this Wind Mill to Elk Horn, Iowa. Glenna and I spent an interesting visit in Elk Horn, Iowa.

On Monday, June 22 we arrived at our Travelodge in Omaha. We went to John and Virginia Tynan's for lunch, and shortly thereafter their youngest, and only daughter, Annie (Davis) came to visit with us. What a wonderful time of reminiscing was shared. It was hard to realize that when we moved to Omaha in 1965, Annie was only three years old. Now her and her husband, Scott have two grown sons, Levi and Noah, as well as Scott's son, Eric from a previous marriage. Since we were only in Omaha a little over 30 hours, we didn't have an opportunity to meet Annie's family. But I am sure that time will come! We had only returned to Omaha on two other occasions, once when we took our son, Randy to Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri, and the other time was in 1982 when Glenna and I, along with Dale and Alberta Cummins were returning from Texas where we received our Accelorated Christian Educational leadership training. Hopefully, we will connect again in the near future!

On Tuesday morning we spent an hour with Doris Allendorfer at her home on Jones Street, near 114th and Pacific. Bob Allendorfer had just recently passed into the eternal presence of our Lord Jesus, and this time with Doris was mutually beneficial to Doris, as well as to Glenna and I. We do remember many fun times at the Allendorfer home with their children Mike, Karen and Philip.

Now let me share some of my thoughts about Annie! I must say that she is not related to her mother for nothing! Glenna and I have both a lot of respect for her mother, and our friend, Virginia! There is a large deposit of God's wisdom in Virginia. In addition to that, she is a woman of considerable determination! Had that not been so, her marriage to John would not have survived as she waited for his conversion to Christ. He was a Navy man, and I would suppose that music had always been a large part of his life. This being so, John played music in bars and honky-tonks! Though John lived a very worldly life, he really did have a good heart and a very pleasing personality.

In July, 1965 I became a pastor in Bethel Assembly of God, where Virginia and her children, Tom, Bernie and Annie attended. One day Virginia, speaking of her husband said this to me: "John will sweat you!" I knew the word, "sweat," but I had never heard it used in that way. From those very early days in Omaha, I developed a good relationship with John even though he certainly didn't attend church very often. At some point in those early days, John opened a music store on Maple Street in the Benson area. It was not uncommon for me to drop into his music store. It was a warm social gathering place for many, as I recall that period of time so many years ago. It was later in our time in Omaha that John faced some physical challenges. I received a phone call one day from Virginia about that matter. As a result of that call, I went to see John at his store. It was as if God had arranged the store to be without customers at that particular time. I entered into conversation with John about the physical needs that he was facing. While I do not remember the details of the conversation, I do remember asking John if he would close the store, and then we could slip into one of the music cubicals and pray together. That late afternoon, John prayed to invite Christ into his life, and I prayed that John might experience God's help as he began a new life in Christ. Well, the rest of the story is about forty years long! In fact, as I see it, John has been in love with Christ and His Word ever since that encounter that day in that teaching cubical! For that, we give thanks to our Lord Jesus!

Oh yes, I was going to tell you about Annie! Annie, like so many children, is a combination of her mother and father. That should be no surprise to any of us. Annie, like her father, is a naturally gifted lady! And like her mother, she is a very determined individual! I would suppose that the combination of these contributions received from her parents has equipped her to become a Proverbs 31 lady! Presently, Annie, assisted by her husband Scott, operates a home based business in the tayloring of draperies, and not just for little people, but for major companies! Here are some details from Annie about her God connection with Scott: "Before we met Scott was a painting contractor. After we got married he got back into the painting business, and I painted with him until I was about 7 months pregnant with our first child, Levi. In 1993 we quit the painting business and Scott went back to school in pursuit of a degree in Architecture. He did not obtain a degree in architecture, but while in school, he was recommended to a couple that were interior designers in need of a draftsman. So, Scott went to work for them designing built-ins to go in model homes. This firm's clientele were all in the Chicago area. One time while on an installation in Chicago, they asked about my hobbies and when they found out that I liked to quilt, they were stunned. The lady who made their window treatments was preparing to retire and move to Alaska. In view of that they were looking for someone to fill that position. They worked exclusively with model homes, so I was able to learn the business at my own pace while the other lady was preparing to retire. Several years later, the company wanted Scott to move into areas that didn't fit into our plans. So Scott started working with me, so here we are as we operate our own HOME BUSINESS!"

But Annie has some older sibblings, and you need to meet them~first there is Tom, and his wife Mary Jane. Tommy operates, what I would call a "high-end mechanics shop" in the garage at the back of his parents home! It is not a large shop, but as Virginia showed us through the shop, and the high-tech equipment it contains, one just has to be impressed that this "young man" knows what he is doing! And most certainly, this proud mom leaves you with the same impression! Then the second oldest of Annie's sibblings is Bernie. He spent many years as an Army Career Man! Bernie lives in Appleton, Wisconsin. After retiring from the Army, he went to work for a "Half-way House, "funded by United Way. He was "jack-of-all-trades" for them! The men that lived there "half-way" between the hospital, or jail, and regular life. Most of them had medical issues. Bernie occuppied himself with administrating medications to scooping the snow off the walk-ways in the winter. But when there was need to down size in the half-way house, Bernie took retirement. He spends time running, playing the guitar, as well as doing a major remodeling job on his home.

So that's my information from my sources in Omaha, about some of our former connections in that very beautiful city in the heart of America!

Tuesday afternoon, after another short visit at the Tynan's, Glenna and I began our return journey northward. Early that evening we arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and located suitable overnight lodging. On Wednesday morning of June 24 we continued north through South Dakota. Glenna's father, Theodore Hillstead was born in South Dakota. He was the second of eight children born to Kristen and Sina Hillestad. When Glenna's father was only 18 years of age, his mother Sina died. We knew that she was buried somewhere in the Sisseton area of South Dakota. It was our intention, on this particular day to locate her grave. So early that afternoon we drove on to a Grocery Store parking lot anticipating our next move in locating Grandma Hillestad's grave. As we sat in our vehicle, an elderly lady walking from the store to her vehicle came into our view. As she approached her vehicle, I noted that an elderly gentleman was sitting at the wheel of their vehicle. So I went over to inquire of him, the directions to the local cemetery. After some extended conversation with him, and additional printed information that we had, he directed us to the villages of Veblen and Clare City about twenty miles in a northerly direction from Sisseton. So we continued on to Veblen, where we were given further directions to a rural cemetery called Bethel. Obviously, at some point in the past there had been a Bethel Lutheran Church located there with an accompanying cemetery, but now it was just a cemetery.

We endeavoured to follow the directions given to us, but all to no avail. The people at the store in Veblen told me that there were trees around the cemetery, so I looked for the biggest clump of trees, and started to drive toward them, in hope of locating the cemetery. When we arrived at the location of the trees, we discovered that it was a farm residence. As I knocked on the door of this residence, I introduced myself to the gentleman that answered my knock. I told him that I was looking for the Bethel Cemetery. With a look of shock on his face, he asked, "Who sent you here?" His response was something of a surprise to me. As I enter the residence, he informed me that he was the caretaker of that cemetery. I stepped momentarily out of the door, and motioned for Glenna to come into the house. Together, we met Sanford and Darlene Vig. They were certainly seniors, and evidently, they had at some point in the distant past, immigrated from Norway. Sanford showed us the map of the Bethel Cemetery, and there was Sina Hillestad's grave location. In the process of our conversation, I said to Sanford, "Concerning your question, 'as to who sent me here?' "This morning we prayed that the Lord would help us find Grandma Hillestad's grave today." Sanford immediately responded that we had come to the right place because they needed help for an extended family member who was ill. We stopped at that moment and prayed for that person, and for our new friends, Sanford and Darlene Vig. After exchanging e-mail addresses, we were on our way to the Bethel Cemetery.

In complete harmony with the map of the Bethel Cemetery shown to us by Sanford, we were able to walk right to the grave marker for Grandma Sina Hillestad. We took some pictures of the sizeable marker, and then we paused for a few moments of prayer. We thanked God for her life, both natural and spiritual. Without her natural life, Theodore Hillstead, and his daughter, and my wife Glenna Hillstead would never have been born. Without her spiritual life, (which incidentally is reported to have been communicated to her from her mother Mrs. Aadland) the seed of the Word of God may not have been deposited in the life of her second born son, Theodore. And had the miracle of the new birth not occurred in Glenna's father's life, it may not have occurred in her life either! So it was with very grateful hearts that we prayed that evening in Bethel Cemetery between the villages of Veblen and Clare City.

Mr. Hansen, the gentleman who gave me the initial directions that ultimately led us to locate Grandma Sina Hillestad's grave, told me that there were Hillestad's living the area of Clare City. So there was one final thing that we wanted to do before leaving the area, so we drove on to Clare City. A lady in the grocery store in Clare City directed us to the farm of Curtis Hillestad. His farm was located under a mile north of Clare City, and his father, Hardy Hillestad lived a little farther north on that same road. We exchanged e-mail addresses with Curtis, and in that his father, Hardy was not home, we continued on to Fargo, ND. At this point in time, there is no clear evidence that these Hillestad's are related to Glenna's family of Hillsteads.

After a second night in the same motel that we stayed in when we were en route to the Christianson Family Reunion, we traveled back to Canada. As we passed through Weyburn, we stopped to visit with Glenna's Aunt Mabel. Then we traveled on to arrive at Reatha's farm in the early evening of June 25, 2009. Jair and Andre Poppelwell and their three children were visiting at Reatha's. On Friday, June 26 Jair and I worked together preparing Reatha's house for a paint job. Sheldon arrived just after 8 am on Saturday, and we were joined by Jason, and his friend, Luke, as well as by Taylor and Donavon, and the painting project was well underway! At just before 8 pm the entire exterior of Reatha's farm home was fully painted. During the early part of the next week, Glenna and I were involved in cleaning of all of the house windows and eaves troughs, as well as spray painting the eaves trough down spouts, and re-installing them on the house. We also ordered new exterior doors for the front and side house entries, as well as new vinyl window shutters, all to be installed at a later time by Jason.

Our son, Grady and his friend Bob arrived Thursday morning, July 2nd, from Mount Pleasant, Ontario. On Sunday, July 5 at 11 am they began their return journey to Ontario. During the days of Thursday-Saturday, together we removed two trucks, and a water windmill tour from the property of my Uncle Arnold Johnson. All of this took place with the assistance of Eric Pritchard and his farm equipment. We hauled Uncle Arnold's 1953 one ton truck to be stored on Reatha's farm. We loaded my Grandpa (Chris) Johnson's 1942 Chevrolet half ton truck on to a trailer in preparation for its' transporation to Mount Pleasant, Ontario. We did take down the water wind mill tower, but we left it on location to be removed at a later time. It was a fun/productive time with Grady and Bob! Finally, they arrived home, still in one piece, even though, en route they disposed of the life of one black bear! No, they didn't hit the bear, the bear walked into the lights of their truck, and the front and back wheels on the drivers side did that poor bear in, but good! I am sure that Bob will never be the same after his encounter with further members of Grady's clan!

Intermingled with all of the above activity, we did some visiting with Glenna's clan, especially with Marion and George Windrum in the light of Marion's physical condition. After a nice spiritual time with Marion and George on Monday evening of July 6th, we prepared to leave for further ventures north. So on Tuesday we drove on to Sheldon and Shawn Johnson in Pierceland, Saskatchewan. We arrived in the early evening, and after a family time including Rob, Kinsley and Joel, we made our way off to bed. Since Rob and Kinsley were going to the Calgary Stampeede, we re-located to sleeping at their house for the rest of our time in Pierceland. We spent most of Wednesday-Saturday, putting two coats of paint on all the trim on most of the second level of the house. We also cleaned all of the windows of this newly constructed house! On Sunday, July 12th at 7:30 am we began our journey back to Prince George, and arrived home about 9 pm that evening! It was good to be home, however, we did enjoy the events and the connections of our multiple-purpose journey of the past 26 days!

OUR SECOND TRIP of 26 DAYS during the summer of 2009, began with our second departure from Prince George en route to Regina on August 20, and concluded with our return to Prince George on September 14. We began our trip to Regina because Glenna's sister, Marion Windrum had passed into the eternal presence of her Savior two days previous on August 18, and the Service of Celebration would be held on Saturday, August 22. So upon our arrival in Regina, we went to stay at Glenna's sister's (Eunice) home from August 21-23. Then on Sunday evening, August 23 we went to stay at my sister's (Reatha) home twenty miles south of Regina. We were scheduled to begin some renovation work on a second house located on her farm. We estimated that the scheduled work would take about three days, and then we would begin our return to Prince George. However, the amount of work that we would eventually do was greatly increased to include major renovations to the interior of Reatha's primary residence. This would include the removal of the carpet in the livingroom and diningroom, the painting of those rooms, and the laying of laminate flooring. New doors were installed in the front and back doors of this primary residence. It was also during this time that our son, Sheldon and his sons, Kyle, Kendal and Kelby all became involved in the major renovations that were made to the second house and the garage located on Reatha's farm. Our time eventually came to a conclusion, and on Thursday, September 10, we left Reatha's place to begin our trip to Deer Lodge, Montana where we would attend a funeral service for Glenna's cousin, Vermae.

We stayed in Great Falls, Montana, then travelled on through Helena, Montana, arriving in Deer Lodge, late on Friday afternoon. Glenna's cousins from Canada (Ed & Gail Jorde, Doreen Sheppard, and Jeanette Jacobson) arrived about the same time. All of us went to their cousin, June's (Donnie) home for a wonderful evening of friendship. As the evening concluded we shared a brief time of prayer for the events of the following day. After checking out of our motel, we gathered again at June's home, and together we went to the Baptist Church for the funeral. Following the burial, we went out to a country residence owned by friends of Vermae's and a lovely meal was served. Lots of time was spent in meeting, and getting acquainted with various family members.

Early that evening, Glenna and I began our trip homeward by traveling as far as Great Falls. We stayed in the same motel, and early the next morning we left for Calgary for an overnight stay with Randy and Cheryl. Early Monday (September 14) morning we began our return to Prince George.

Our Three Trips to Pierceland, Saskatchewan during 2009: Glenna and I left Prince George on Sunday afternoon (May 24, 2009), and travelled to Hinton, Alberta, and parked on the WalMart parking lot overnight. We travelled on to Pierceland, and stayed there from the evening of May 25 to the morning of May 28. We were only out of Pierceland about five miles, and a tire on our Motor Home suffered a blow-out. Fortunately, Kyle was working on the construction of a house in Pierceland, and he was able to assist us in getting to a Tire Shop in Cold Lake where we had two new tires installed on the vehicle. We travelled on to Kincella, Alberta where we were scheduled to be the Thursday evening speaker at a Regional IAOG Pastor's Conference. Though our trip was not very pleasant following our late start, in spite of a strong prairie wind, we did finally arrive in Kincella just in time for the service. Then on Friday, I shared four day time sessions on the War between fear and faith. Now concerning the Motor Home problems, for one, there was a partially plugged fuel filter, and secondly, the awning was loosened by the severe prairie wind that we encountered en route to Kincella. But God knew all of those problems would occur, so our grandson Kyle was available to assist with the tire change. Then, God had Dick Edelman attend that conference, and he was such a blessing to us in the repair of the vehicle. You see, we were scheduled to start a Marriage Seminar in Dawson Creek, BC at 9 am on Saturday. Well, after a grueling night of travel, we arrived in Dawson Creek at 3 am. Well it was a short, or long night, depending on how one looks at it! It was a long night of travel, and a short night of sleep!
Nevertheless, we had a very powerful time of ministry as we presented the Sacred Marriage video series! Following the Sunday morning service at Grandview Chapel, we travelled home to Prince George.

On Tuesday, July 7, we made our second trip to Pierceland, after our trip to Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota (June 17-24), after our first stay at Reatha's to do her house painting project, and after assisting Grady in the preparation and loading of Grandpa Chris Johnson's 1942 truck (June 25-July 6). We went to Pierceland to assist with some painting on the interior of Sheldon and Shawn's new house. After completing our interior painting project, we left Pierceland for Prince George on Sunday, July 12.

On Wednesday, October 6 Glenna and I left at 6:15 am to travel to Pierceland, Saskatchewan to participate in the celebration of Sheldon's 50th birthday! On Thursday, October 8th (the actual date of his birth) Shawn prepared a wonderful birthday meal. At the end of the meal gifts were presented to Sheldon. On Saturday, Glenna and I went to Cold Lake, Alberta to visit with Nish and Kristin, as well as visiting with Amy, and three of her children, Ansel, Novalee, and Zoe. Amy and Dustin have recently been transferred to Cold Lake in conjunction with Dustin's work in the Oil Patch. We had a nice time at both of these times of visitation. On Sunday, we attended the Cold Lake Community Church, where Kristin is the Church Secretary. Everyone was together for a Sunday Thanksgiving Meal, following which I shared stories about the Lincoln Connection with all who were present. It was a very special time. Then at 5:20 am (PG time), Glenna and I began our journey home to Prince George. We arrived home at 7:20 pm. We were at Sheldon and Shawn's for a total of 14 days in 2009.

Our Trip to Grady and Joann's in 2009: We arrived in London, Ontario by West Jet on Monday, May 4th. In view of the fact that our flight arrived mid-evening, we did not attend the first service of the IAOG-Canada Convention. However, we were present for the sessions that were held Tuesday through Thursday evening. On Friday after coming from work, Grady and Joann came to pick us up in London to go to their home in Mount Pleasant. We were with them for the next eleven days. We took our West Jet flight out of Toronto on Tuesday, May 19th.

Our Trips to Randy and Cheryl's in 2009: On Thursday, June 4th we drove to Calgary, and were present for Tanner's Graduation Exercises on Friday morning, in which he was one of the two Valedictorian Speakers. The Graduation Banquet was held on Friday evening, and then Randy and Cheryl held an Honor Tanner gathering on Saturday. We attended church with them on Sunday morning, and left following the service to return home to Prince George.

After attending a Memorial Service in Deer Lodge for Glenna's cousin Vermae, we travelled to Great Falls, Montana to overnight. On Sunday, September 13 we began our journey to Calgary, Alberta to be with Randy and Cheryl overnight. Arrived there Sunday noon, and early Monday morning we left for Prince George on Monday, September 14, 2009.

In all, it has been a wonderful summer that we have spent with many different family members during the spring and summer of 2009!

OUR TWO MONTHS BACK IN PRINCE GEORGE began with Tuesday, September 15, 2009. On Wednesday, September 16 there was an all-day prayer and consultation meeting at Camp Living Water for First Nations Ministry in the northwest of British Columbia. Gerrit Apperloo led the meeting, attended by Elizabeth Apperloo, and Larry Keestra.

While Marlo and Trisha were in Thunder Bay, I was involved in ministry at Westside Family Fellowship, preaching on Sundays, September 20, 27, and October 4. From October 6-12 we were at Sheldon and Shawn's for the celebration of Sheldon's 50th birthday.

On each Tuesday, from October 13 to November 17, I shared six teaching sessions at Camp Living Water Bible School. In the two hours of teaching in the afternoon, I taught on "Discover Your Gift and Develop Your Ministry." In the evening session, I taught on "Fear and Faith." This session was opened up to individuals from their church as well. In that I am close to Vanderhoof at these times, I have gone weekly to visit Pat B., a lady that used to be in residence at Parkside Nursing Home, but now resides in a similar residence in Vanderhoof to be closer to family. The following students participated: David, Barry, Faith, Merilis, Rob, Stan and Pastor Larry.

John and Elsie Giesbrecht from Abbotsford visited in Prince George, October 20-23. Glenna and I had breakfast with them on Wednesday, and after Elsie and John were at Emmaus House sharing with the clients there. The Emmaus House residents did so enjoy Elsie's musical presentation. It was very excellent! On the average I spend between three and four sharing times with the residents there. It is an excellent time of relationship building! On Thursdays from 9-10 am, I walk with Clif Raphael, a professor at College of New Caledonia. It is such a special time. Clif and I have walked together for certain periods of time during the past several years.

Paulita Cannelle became a believer in Christ many years ago through the Home Group that Glenna and I conducted in our home, first at 4288 Punshaw Crescent, and later at 238 Corless Crescent. Paulita has struggled with poor health for some time. Upon returning from our summer travels, I started visiting Paulita regularly while she was hospitalized. Then in mid-October, 2009 she moved to Parkside Nursing Home, and I continued to visit her there. Her daughter, Delia came to visit her in late October. Delia removed the furnishings from Paulita's condominium in preparation for the sale of it.

Our fall and winter activities continue December 4-7, and 12-13, 2009. On Friday, December 4th, I traveled to Vavenby, BC where I will minister to the Church and Church Leaders there. I returned home on December 7th. On Saturday, December 12th I traveled to Likely, BC where I participated in the Induction Service for Gerrit and Elizabeth Apperloo as the new pastors of Likely Chapel. I stayed at Ed and Lynn's home in Likely. On Sunday afternoon, December 13th I drove home to Prince George.

During the last two weeks of 2009, we remained home in Prince George. About eighteen were at our home for the 4 pm Christmas Dinner. It was a nice family time, and by 8 pm that evening everyone had gone home.

On Sundays, January 3, 10, 2010 I taught on the subject of hope.
Glenna and I left for Dawson Creek on Saturday, January 30 and returned home on Monday, February 1. It was a good time with Rob and Liz Nock at Grandview Chapel in Dawson Creek. On Saturday, February 20, I spoke at the Men's Retreat at Gavin Lake. Then on Sunday, February 21, I spoke at Westside Family Fellowship in Prince George.

I am leaving Sunday afternoon (March 7) for Terrace, BC to participate in a First Nations Seminar (March 8-12). Then I will be at Port Simpson, Sunday through Tuesday at the First Nations Church there.