The end of a very busy June

This past week has been busy for us in the Mission Office.  Elder Swendsen has been getting new cars ready to be switched out with ones with high mileage.  It has to be done a bit at a time.  He has to take the TIWIs out of the old cars and put them in the new ones.  The TIWIs are what govern the missionaries driving.  All the new cars are now out in the field and the old ones are ready to be sent to the auction.  Hopefully that will happen this week.  I have been busy updating the procedures manual for my responsibilities.  By Friday, I had the first draft done.  This week, I will spend my time tweaking it.

Tuesday was Elder Swendsen's birthday.  We went to The Keg with the Andersons and the Donnellys to celebrate.  We had a great time.

Wednesday was our last MLC (Mission Leadership Council) before we go home.  It is so inspiring to see these young leaders in the mission and feel of their love of the gospel.  We will so miss this monthly experience of a breakfast of waffles, fruit, yogurt and juice.

Elder Aspery from Australia

Elder Herculano from Brazil

Elder Hapuku from New Zealand

Friday, we took a day off from the office and went up to Simcoe County.  This is the area where a lot of my Dunsmore ancestors lived and died.  We went to two cemeteries near Oro, Simcoe, Ontario - Little Brick Church and Fairvalley.
We also saw the land where my second great grandfather farmed in the mid to late 1800s.  It is such a pretty area.

Little Brick United Church

John Dunsmore - 2nd great grandfather

Fairvalley Church

Michael & Margaret Strong
3rd great grandparents
parents of John Dunsmore's wife, Eliza

The drive through Simcoe county was amazing.  We could understand why my ancestors and many others would settle there.

Below are two pictures of the land that John Dunsmore farmed near Oro, Ontario.  The third photo is reminiscence of the barns that they had in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Here are some views of the scenery as were driving in Simcoe County.  We ended up at Johnson's Beach in Barrie which is on the small arm of Lake Simcoe.  They even have a Yacht Club there.  All in all it was a wonderful day.

Our excursion for the day was led by a friend from my childhood, Len Bull and his wife Susan.  I hadn't seen Len in about 50 years.  Wow - such a long time.  We had such fun with them.  We all had lunch in a small restaurant in Coldwater, Simcoe, Ontario.  It was so hot that day, that all the mosquitoes were inside.  We had to swat as we ate.  Good memories from the good old days and new ones made.  In the 1950s, neither Len or I were members of the Church;  now we both are.

Saturday was the hottest day since we have been in Brampton.  High of 35 Celsius and feeling like 46 Celsius.  First thing in the morning, we took Elder and Sister Donnelly downtown to show them where the Farmer's Market is every Saturday (June - October).  It was fun and we bought some delicious pecan butter tarts.  They were amazing.  

After that we took them to Chinguacousy Park and walked around  for a while.  We had some hot dogs for lunch and were feeding the seagulls parts of our buns.  Sister Donnelly cooled off a bit at the Splash Pad area.  We all went wading in the wading pool.  Anything to cool off.

In the evening Elder Swendsen and I had to drop off the mission wash card (for cars) to the Mission Home for the Shields.  I suggested that we stop at the Dairy Queen on the way home for a Dilly Bar.  We decided to eat some ice cream that we had at home.  Good thing - DQ was crowded - a zoo.  It probably was all day.  It was a pretty sunset last night as well.

It is hard to believe that we will be on our way home in two weeks.  We are excited and yet sad, as we finish this chapter of our lives.  We will miss the people here and all of the missionaries that we have had the privilege to work with.  Serving a mission for the Lord is one of the greatest experiences to have.  We are looking forward to serving again.