Niagara in a Nutshell

We had a wonderful time at our meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario! I took bunches of pictures and had the intent of blogging so many memories, but I decided to just give you our meeting in a nutshell! We loved going by Niagara Falls. On the Canada side parking is very expensive! tIt's $18!! Whew! They don't have a place where you can just pull over for a short bit. So, since it was so rainy and freezing, Patrick dropped off me and JEB and let us have a little time looking at the falls. The falls from the Canada side is so beautiful. The mist was very strong and we got a little wet. We enjoyed seeing the falls again. They're so powerful, you can just see God's hand in it! Then, we parked on Clifton Hill. It is very exciting there! They have several attractions like Ripley's Believe it or Not and Guinness Book of World Records. There were so many exciting things to see on every corner.

We took the kids to an arcade and let them each have a few coins. Silas rode (or at least he thinks he did!) this little car. He's definitely my Dad's grandson...he truly loves cars!

On Tuesday night, the church had Missionary's Christmas. The Pastor and his wife came in their Christmas attire and they made it so special. We had tons of gifts to open and they kept delivering them to us! About a month ago we received an email asking all of our favorite things. They were so thoughtful to get us things that all of us love. Here are some of the highlights of what we received, Josh-books (he's already read them all! He sure does love to read) Beth-lots of horse stuff, horse bag, books, stickers, model to paint...Beth loves horses! Brenna-lots of art stuff, Silas-building blocks, toys and clothes, Patrick-gift card to Walmart, book, socks, Me-maternity dress, sweater, kitchen stuff, and tons of books...We're really stocked up on the books for now!

On Wednesday we told the kids they were allowed to pick one attraction for us to do as a family on Clifton Hill. They picked The Crystal Cave, which is a really cool mirror maze. We loved it! I banged my head on the mirror once because I thought for sure I was following Patrick. Ouch!We got out safely, even though Brenna wanted to panic.

They made all of us wear plastic gloves. Now, I really know why! I wouldn't want to clean all those mirrors! They wanted to tape plastic gloves around Silas' hands, but I told them I thought he would be fine without them!

Wednesday night they asked me to come back and talk to the girls in Awana and help them complete their section on missionaries. It was so neat to see the Awana program again. I was in Awanas from Sparks to JV's. The girls were very sweet and asked many questions about the mission field. They even had to draw a map of St. Barthelemy!

The closing service on Wednesday night was very special. They had a candlelight service and stressed the importance of telling others about Christ. I love it when one candle starts and you watch in spread to others and pretty soon the whole room is lit. That is just like what we are to do with the gospel. Send the Light!

It's so neat how the Lord lets you meet people. This dear man just loved my Silas. He was his buddy for the week. I told Patrick that he reminded me of my Pap-paw. For one, he's retired from Ford, but he had the "presence" that Pap-paw had. He was a lot of fun to be around and truly enjoyed the life God had given him.

This is all the missionaries for the week with the Pastor and his wife. Josh made some good friends with Joey and Torrey Civale. They are missionaries to Simoa. The testimony that the Civale's have is so amazing! Bro. Civale was a year away from being a Catholic Priest and Mrs. Civale was in the convent becoming a Nun. God revealed to them the truth of the gospel and the false teaching of the Catholic Church. I love hearing salvation testimonies! I especially love hearing the testimonies of people that used to be Catholic. God has called us to a land that is predominately Catholic. Brother Civale gave wise advice to the Congregation, "Don't give up on your Catholic loved ones, neighbors, and friends. They need the Lord and the gospel!"

We praise the Lord for such a wonderful meeting and for friends made. Now, it's back to French School!