Parties and new cars

So Pokemon GO is a cool thing. And it's really awesome! I'll be honest, I haven't been playing it a lot lately since I can't overuse my data when I'm out and about, but it's still really good. Alyssa and Haig have been my best partners for it.

On July 30, we had a 30th wedding anniversary party for my amazing parents. Their anniversary is actually August 2, but we had to pick the right date so family and friends would be able to come. We had a really good bunch of people come. And we had good treats and music and pretty decorations. I'm really happy we did this for my parents. They've done a lot for us, so this party was a really good way to return the favour. We love you Mom and Dad! :)

I haven't been to church in a while since I work most Sunday's. That sucks and kind of upsets me, but I know as long as I keep praying and reading scriptures, I'll be given the strength I need. I had an episode last week where I was very stressed and crying puddles. I ended up on my knees beside my bed praying that I would feel comforted and to just breathe and try to make it through. Next thing I know, Winnie was laying in my bed and came right up to give me a hug but resting her head on my shoulder. I did receive the comfort I desired and got an awesome hug from my awesome dog. (This picture is not from that experience, but it was still cute when Winnie decided to rest with me while I was reading one morning.)

I also made these crafts at a relief society meeting one night. I'm super proud of them since I'm normally not a crafty person. Both of them are hanging up in my room now :)

On Sunday August 7, I had some visitors on P.E.I. 

Keaton's sister Courtney and her husband Tom were making a east coast trip before they move back to Alberta (They were living in Kingston ON, where Tom was going to school.) This was my first time meeting them so we invited them over for dinner. It was awesome to talk to them and get to know them a little bit more. 

I made a really good adulting choice this week as well. I got my own car! She's a 2005 Toyota Corolla and her name is Carla. which is not a pun on the word "car". Keaton and I decided to pick a name together and we were going to go with Carl but I thought the Corolla looked a little more feminine, so we both decided with Carla. 

Lastly, I'm very excited for next Sunday for when I'll be driving to Amherst NS to get Keaton because he's coming to visit me! We are going to have so many things to do, so hopefully I'll have plenty to write about! :) 

Bye for now folks!

The first time in long time

The last time I went to the temple was on Thanksgiving Day weekend in October 2015. On Saturday (July 23) I got to go for the first time in a long time. And what a great time it was. 

I was so busy over the past months of this year, I wasn't able to go. Luckily, this relief society trip fell right into place when I found out I had that day off. I went to see my Bishop for a new temple recommend a couple days after I came back from Edmonton. 

Mom and I got up Saturday morning and went to pick up a sister in our ward named Nicole Cleaveland. I'm really happy she decided to come with us. 

When we arrived, we were waiting for some other sisters to get there as well. I walked on the temple grounds a bit. I sat on a bench and called Keaton. He was kind of sleepy, but he was fairly awake to say a quick prayer with me over the phone. It was really great that we did that. 

Once I went in, a worker took myself and Nicole and Sister Shellagh Reynolds in to get changed to do some baptismal work. In the temple, we can act as a proxy, to stand in and perform baptisms for people who are already deceased and who never experienced the gospel of Jesus Christ in their time on earth. 

If that is confusing to you, here is a helpful pamphlet explaining a few different things we do in the temple - https://www.lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/manual/missionary/PD10054235_000-Families-and-Temples.pdf?lang=eng

Shellagh went first because she was doing the baptism and confirmation for her mother, who has passed away. It was a raw and emotional experience. I felt the love and devotion of everyone in the room who was thereto support her. I cannot tell you how hard I was crying. It was absolutely amazing. 

Nicole then did some baptisms and so did I. A sister from our ward was happy to share some of her family names with us, so that was really great! Another cool thing was that our temple President was in the font doing the baptisms for us, so that was really nice of him. After I got changed, I did the confirmations for the people I was baptised for. When that was done, I went back into the waiting room while mom did some work inside. I read some articles in the Ensign magazine. 

After mom was done, we decided to head out. And we stopped for lunch at Masstown Market, which is right outside of Truro. It's such a cute little spot! I always love going there.

This temple trip was very inspirational. I cried so much and thought about a lot of things for right now and the future. I know that during that time I had, God was right by my side, letting me know I came to the right place at the right time. I'm so grateful to know that and feel all the things I felt while I was there. 

"Maritime Couple Accepts Mission Call to Alberta"

Back in June, I was asked to write a story for Mormon Newsroom Canada. It was definitely a cool and wonderful opportunity to complete such a unique task and I was happy to do it!

I hope I'll get to write more stories with the Mormon newsroom. Everyone is so patient and cooperative and there's always good things to write about!

Here is the story link!

http://www.mormonnewsroom.ca/article/maritime-couple-accepts-mission-call-to-alberta

This story is about George and Lisa Pattison, who are currently serving as the Mission President and wife in the Canada Edmonton Mission. They were featured in my last post about my trip out there to visit Keaton! :)

They are an amazing couple and the missionaries in Edmonton are lucky to have them around!

Whirlwind

First of all, let's start with July of last year. When I went to Newfoundland for my first journalism job, I was able to meet two of the missionaries from church who were serving in Grand Falls-Windsor. One of them was Elder Gibb.

Fast forward to April of this year when Keaton was home after his mission. I learned that he really liked the new Star Wars, which I really like as well. We started chatting on Facebook a little bit. That led to texting and ultimately Skype.

Our first skype call was pretty easy going,but our second Skype call was the best. We decided to share the screen to watch Star Wars but the sound wouldn't work for me. We ended up turning the volume off and improvised the lines for a while. Keaton stopped the movie to ask me something. It was along the lines of liking each other. It was pretty big and happened fast but we decided to try "online dating"

It didn't take long to decide I would come visit him. It took a lot of sacrifice, but here is the story of my time in Edmonton, Alberta. 

I flew out of Charlottetown on June 30 at 4:35, first to Montreal then a stop in Ottawa. We left there for Edmonton, all the while I felt so much excitement. 

We landed in Edmonton around 10:30, but there was lightning so we couldn't get off right away. After about 20 minutes, I was walking off the plane, legs shaking and so many thoughts going through my head. While everyone else took the escalator, I bolted down the stairs instead. I saw Keaton, standing behind some people. All I said was hi and ran right in for the first hug. 

[We have remember here that Keaton and I hadn't seen each other in person in a year, and he was on a mission the last time I saw him, so there would have been no hugs anyway, so this was a pretty big deal]

Anyways, after our first hug, I was out of breath and pretty flustered. He took my bag for me and we walked to the car. We made a stop at the Edmonton Alberta Temple to see it, which was great. We drove to Sherwood Park and we went to McDonald's which had been our plan to get dollar drinks. However, the car started acting up so we had to call his parents. While waiting for them, a nice drunk fellow came to look at the car and tried to give some advice. Once Keaton's parents came, we had to leave the car there and take the van to Keaton's grandparents to get their car, since neither of them were home.

We went to Keaton's house and I was able to get settled in. We watched an episode of The Office, then Keaton's twin brother Austen and cousin Jeremy came home. 

I was sent to bed from travelling all day. 

Day One

We got up Friday morning and got ready for Canada Day festivities. We started at the pancake breakfast, then Keaton and I walked around to see different things going on in a nearby park.

His mom picked us up and we went with her to the hospital to visit her mother, who had knee surgery. After visiting her, she took us to a popular bakery called Duchess Bake Shop. 

She got us some delicious treats and dropped us off at the legislature grounds. Keaton and I ate and walked around to see a lot of what was going on for Canada day.

Keaton's mom came back for us and took us home for a bit. The three of us went to a BBQ for a bit to see some of their family friends. 

Around 10, we went back the park we went to in the morning to watch the fireworks and they were so good!

Day Two

Saturday was great. Before heading to the mall, Keaton drove me to see the Edmonton Alberta Temple again. And it was so nice to walk on the grounds and see it!

We then headed for the West Edmonton Mall. We started with the amusement park called Galaxyland. We did a lot of the good rides, like the Mind Bender roller coaster. So much fun! 

We got one free game with our day pass bracelets so we played one and Keaton ended up winning a stuffed Pikachu. We felt bad and were going to give it to a kid who played but they all were gone. Now it's in Keaton's room since I couldn't bring it back!

Our post roller coaster faces

With our Pikachu Carl

We went to a few stores like Hot Topic where I got a Star Wars phone case and we went to Rockport and I got my employee discount on new shoes and for socks for Keaton! 

We didn't go to the water park, but we did go look at it (it's huge by the way), and we also saw the giant pirate ship. 

We left the mall and went back to Keaton's house. His brother Theo and sister in law Kenzie decided to come up from Calgary to meet me which was great! We had family dinner, then played Apples to Apples and Charades.

We also went to a place called Escape City, and for anyone who doesn't know, it's basically being put in a room and you're given puzzles or clues to find something.

Keaton and I went into a room with his parents and Theo and Kenzie. We didn't finish in time and a worker came in at the end and told us all the steps it would have taken us.

Day Three

Sunday morning meant church time. Keaton and Austen and I all got ready to go pick some people up to attend the singles ward. It was fast and testimony meeting and it was really amazing. We heard so many good testimonies. 

We then had Sunday school, then Keaton and Austen stayed for priesthood and I met with Rebekah Mahoney for relief society. Rebekah is from Nova Scotia and I know her from youth when we were teenagers. She served her mission on Temple Square in Salt Lake City and moved to Edmonton when we was off her mission. It was so great to see her!! After church, we stayed for choir practice and then took someone home. 

Rebekah and I 

We had to run to Keaton's family ward to see his parents quickly, then we went to visit his nana again because he and Austen were going to give her a priesthood blessing. It was incredible to be there for that. We went home after visiting her and Keaton and I called my mom to chat with her and tell her what we had been up to. 

When all of the family was home from church, we started preparing dinner because we were having the new mission president and his wife and daughter over for dinner. Their names are the Pattison's and the reason we invited them is because they are from New Brunswick in my stake. Keaton also met President Pattison while on his mission. It was really awesome to see them! 

Sister Pattison, President Pattison, Keaton, Kayla, Chaya Pattison

After cleaning up, Keaton and Austen and I went to their friends apartment to visit him and his girlfriend. We stayed for a little bit to play a couple games. 

Keaton and I Skyped with his sister Courtney and her husband Tom when we got back to the house. That was pretty funny and good to meet them, even over Skype.

Then, the moment had finally come - we finally watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens in real life with sound on a big screen. We were so excited! After it was over, we stayed up talking, which was pretty great.

Monday morning

Keaton woke me up at 8 and asked when we should go to the airport. I told him we could go once I was ready.

The flight was at 11:40, but we left after 9 to drive there together and chill before hand. Eventually, I had to get in line for security and he had to leave and get back to go to work. I won't go into too much detail, but it was pretty emotional and one of the hardest things we've had to do in the relationship. Although it was sad to leave, the trip was such a blessing on our lives and we're very grateful for the opportunity. People thought I was crazy to go to Alberta for three days to visit a guy I met once, but it was so worth it.

Summer fun is beginning!

This past week has been starting to bring summer into my life! Thank goodness though, I thought it would never show up!

One start of summer was my coworker Kassandra going to prom! She came into visit us last Friday before going to get pictures with her boyfriend and family. She looked fantastic! Our Rockport fam is so happy for her!

Me, Kassandra in her prom dress, Marie, and Joe

On Tuesday night, mom and I went to our relief society group to work on a service project to refurbish old furniture to put it to good use for other families. I got pretty into it! Also on Tuesday, I went to see 'Finding Dory' with my best friend Emily! It was so cute and we both really liked it!

On Wednesday night, myself and some of the YSA from church went to Tracadie beach for a bonfire. The sister missionaries also came with us. It took us a little bit to start the fire since it was rather windy, but we got it going so it was fine! Tim and Megan and Kelvin all jumped in the water and Sister Buchanan burned one of her old skirts. (It's a missionary rite of passage, hard to explain, but it was funny!) After the sisters left, we stayed a little longer, but it started to rain a bit so we decided to leave. And while walking up the boardwalk, Tim caught his foot on some wood or a nail and cut it open! Luckily we have Megan, a nursing student, to help him out! And with a cut foot and all, we decided to go to Dairy Queen anyway! 

Sorry not sorry for putting up a picture of Winnie. She turned 10 months old on the 22nd, so she's almost a year old! Growing up so fast and so good! Love her!

Last night after I got off work, I went home and did some chores, then asked Emily what she wanted to do. I picked her up and we went to the mall really quick because she was looking for a some new summer outfits. We wanted supper, so we decided to go to Captain Jack's Pub and Grille which is located on the waterfront at the Charlottetown Yacht Club. Emily and her parents sail and have a boat in the harbour, so she spends quite a bit of time down there. 

Anyways, we sat on the patio of the restaurant for our supper. It took a while because it was busy, but the food was definitely so good! I had a chicken burger and fries and Emily had fish and Caesar salad.

It was a little cold with the wind, but still a lovely evening view. 

That's all for now folks. Have a lovely weekend!

P.S. Its my birthday on Monday!! So I'm excited for that!

Differences

Lately, I've been feeling a little discouraged with certain aspects of my life. I know I'm not perfect and no one else is. But I wish sometimes people would take the time to consider what they do around me. I thought being a Latter-Day Saint was hard in high school and college. But it's surprisingly tougher as a young working adult. When Elder Dale G. Renlund came to speak to us all in Sackville, one major thing he touched on was about how as saints of Jesus Christ, we're going to be offended in different ways. But it's our job to rise above it and use our faith to overcome those trials. 

I was on Tumblr other day and I follow the Mormon Channel. They blogged this quote.

"You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make." - Gordon B. Hinckley

I know I've made many sacrifices, and I know I'm going to make many more in my life. It's through faith and prayer that I can get make those sacrifices that will hopefully benefit me. I know I have so much support from family and close friends who understand the same things I do. And I'm grateful for that.

It's good to be different, as long as I'm happy doing it.

As I usually say in my prayers, I need all the help I can get. 

24 hours at Mount Allison University

This weekend was actually pretty awesome!

A few months ago at church, it was announced that two general authorities would be visiting our area. Those two were Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apsotles and Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy. AND IT WAS SO GOOD.

(Quote from Elder Gong's talk from the last general conference. Link is farther down on this post. This was actually my favourite quote from that talk.)

But let me rewind:

When we found out these general authorities were coming, we decided to make a young single adult activity out of it too. It took some planning about what we should do. Big shout out to Charmaine and her family for making most of what we did possible! Love yous!

Back to the present:

On Saturday, I worked until 5:30 p.m. and from there, I drove my car to Sackville. I was accompanied by Megan and Tim and Michael. They are a funny bunch and I love them all.

When we arrived at the Mount A campus, we received our dorm room keys, but couldn't go to our rooms yet. We had a fireside with Rick Cartier and Rick Watson. We called it Rick Squared. Their messages were really great. There was about 18 Young Singles Adults attending, which is small but we all get along very well so that was maybe the best thing about it! After the fireside, we walked to my car to get our luggage and take it to the rooms. We changed out of our Sunday clothes and put on our sport gear to play ultimate frisbee! However, it took a few minutes to find a decent field to play it in, but after we did, we all played for until 11 p.m.! So much fun! I actually don't even know who won, but that's okay!

After playing, we went back to the dorms and chilled out for a bit. I decided to shower really quick then hung out with Megan and Charmaine. They decided to go bed, and I did shortly after.

I woke up early Sunday morning to get ready. Once I was ready and had some time, I remembered we were encouraged to read Elder Gong's talk from the April 2016 general conference. 

Here it is: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/always-remember-him?lang=eng

I cried after reading it. I knew it was going to be a good day. 

We ate some breakfast and Megan and I decided to go to the convocation hall early. I met my family when we got there, as they had driven over that morning from home.

(Megan and I taking an outfit photo because we look so good!)

It was really cool to see a lot of my friends from different places, including many missionaries I've met!

(Myself with Sister Barfuss and Sister Dutson, two sisters who have served in Charlottetown and I love them so much!)

Of course, we had to take a squad selfie. Haig is not impressed though

The meeting started at 10 a.m. and I actually started crying during the opening hymn. 

I won't go into too much detail about the talks, but I will say that they were all awesome and inspiring. Elder Renlund bestowed an apostolic blessing to us, encouraging us to press forward through hard times. After it was done, we were told Elder and Sister Renlund would stand at the stage and shake hands with the saints. I was busy talking to people for a story I'm working on (stay tuned), so I let other people go ahead first. As the line died down, I joined Charmaine and John in the line to see them. I told Sister Renlund I was from P.E.I. and she told me she loves Anne of Green Gables! It was incredible!

After doing that, I found some more people to talk to! I found some members from Newfoundland who I met while I was there last summer and it was amazing to catch up with them!

I met with my family again and ate some lunch with them. There was a YSA gathering so I joined them as well, and got to chat with some more people. 

We then had to hit the road to go back home. And driving back home, we stopped after getting off the bridge to take a group selfie.

All in all, it was an amazing Sunday with friends and the opportunity to receive inspiration from Heavenly Father's modern day apostles. :)