BC Canada Via Seattle!

Paul's work took us to Whistler, British Columbia for the Canadian Ropeways (steel cable) Committee meeting, June 6-11.  We flew to Seattle and enjoyed a sunny weekend there visiting the sites.

Pike's Market houses long rows of fish vendors.  Seafood is still expensive there, but fresh.

My favorite were the sweet peas, Grandma Lua's favorite flower 2nd only to pansies.  I love the smell!

 Paul doesn't usually like seafood, but we both loved the fresh Fish & Chips.

 This chute carries grain from large silos to load ships from all over the world.

 Spectacular Dogwood tree in full bloom.

 From the airplane and on the ground, beautiful volcanic peaks are visible.

 The Space Needle holds a special place in my childhood memories as Dad and Mom took Sharon, Bob and I to the World's Fair in 1962.  I remember riding to the top and being amazed at the view.  I also remember sporting a felt hat with a feather.

There are no words to describe this amazing show of flowers at a private residence...love to get some tips from this person with a "green thumb".  

This photo of the Seattle Temple is to document my beginner skills at blogging.  I can't figure out how to get it to come out vertical even when properly edited.  I'm still learning!

Dogwood blossoms on the Temple grounds.  Paul and I attended a full session in the evening.  We were asked to be the witness couple and felt honored to do it.  

Stanley Park Penninsula, Vancouver, British Columbia

 View off Stanley Park, looking towards North Vancouver.

Whistler is about a 2 1/2 drive along the coast north of Vancouver.  This is the Resort Village at the base of Whistler and Blackham Mountains.  Notice the Olympic rings in the background, commemorating the 2010 Winter Olympics which were held here.

 On one of the days when Paul was in meetings, I drove about an hour back towards Vancouver with Wendy, the wife of Warren Sparks, a Doppelmayr Manager in western Canada. We visited a new "Sea to Sky" gondola which was built by Doppelmayr a year ago.  I felt fortunate to experience the ride and the incredible scenery.

 Here's a view from the top.  In the distance is a suspension bridge that connects a View Deck and restaurant with various trails.  

 Wendy and I spent quite a bit of time together over the course of the few days that we were there.  I think my willingness to talk about religious and spiritual things helped her to open up about things that she hadn't shared with others.  She's a wonderful person and it was good to get to know her.

 When we had visited Whistler seven years earlier, we were able to see the towers that were under construction for the Peak to Peak Lift, which was to be ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics.  This trip we were able to ride it.  First you take a Gondola to this point.

 Then we boarded one of the 30 passenger cars that took us from Blackham Peak to Whistler Peak.

 The unique thing about this lift is that it holds the world record for the longest cable free span between towers - almost two miles, joining the two mountains and two resorts.

The greenery along the way was different that what are used to.  The varieties of pines and furs grow among each other.  Some look like large ferns.

Our weather was remarkably sunny and dry throughout our trip.  I was snapping photos all the way to the airport.  This one will fit nicely in Sharon's upcoming coffee table book of "Windshield Photography".  What a great trip!

San Francisco!

Paul had meetings in San Francisco, so on April 30th we took a flight west.  Our first evening was spent exploring Fisherman's Wharf and of course eating clam chowder (some of us) and sourdough bread.

 A highlight of the trip was renting bikes for the morning and riding along the bay and over the Golden Gate Bridge.

 We made it back in time to the Wharf to catch a ferry to Alcatraz Island.  The weather soon turned blustery and cold, but this is a tour that was well worth the time and money spent.  Interesting to learn the history of the prison, but the views were breathtaking!

Part of the walkway up to the prison.

View of the San Francisco skyline 

 Alcatraz Island in the distance as we are returning to San Francisco

 Watching the Sea Lions on Pier 39 was so entertaining!  They started congregating there in 1989 after an earthquake hit San Francisco.  They number in the hundreds and up to 1,700 according to the seasons and food supply available to them.

 On Saturday, while Paul was in meetings, Stephanie, Becca and I hit the Open Air Market along the Wharf.  We tried some expensive apricots and empanadas and other ethnic foods from Argentina. Worth every penny!  I loved smelling the sweet peas in the flower stalls.

 We then bravely drove the rental car across town and walked a trail along the beach.  Beautiful!

 I took this picture to show how steep the hills were that we climbed getting to Lombard Street, but it was a lot steeper than it looks in a photo!

 One of the two windmills at Golden Gate Park

 If you look closely you'll see a small squirrel pausing for my shot on a bumpy, lumpy stump.

Two sisters at the Seven Sisters

 We strolled through Saks Fifth Avenue and gawked at the prices.  Mind bloggling that someone would spend thousands of dollars for what you can pick up at a thrift store or at TJ Max!  Help us solve the mystery as to why Becca's feet seemed to grow when she posed as a mannequin.

 My heart wasn't left in San Francisco...it goes wherever my daughters go, and my sons and my husband go and probably it's with each of you who are taking the time to read this blog.  What a great trip!


Dear Family,                                                          April 29, 2015
 New Mission, New Mission President!

This week has been pretty crazy. I'm emailing so late, because out p day was packed with service, and we were in Sioux Falls all day, then went to Luverne for dinner. Then Tuesday we were in Sioux Falls again all day waiting for interviews with our new president and meeting his wife and learning more about the Omaha mission. I'm now officially part of it. Mine was the very last interview of the day, so it wasn't super long, but both President Weston and his wife are awesome, and it's kinda sad I'll only see them one more time before they go home in July. Last week we were able to meet with Jaime, who is in Luverne, she is one of Jakki's helpers. We taught her the Restoration, and we're hoping to teach her again soon. Mike hasn't been able to meet with us the past few weeks, but hopefully we can get in with him this week. I still don't know a lot about the new mission, but I'm sure we'll continue to learn more in the coming weeks. Hope you have a great week!   

Elder Ehlert

Mom and Dad, thanks for sharing a bit more about your missions. I will definitely want to hear more about them when I get home, and I think it would be cool to have a night to go through everyone's mission pictures in our family and talk a bit about some of the experiences, successes, good times, challenges, anything. That would be cool for me to relate my mission experience to everyone else in our family who served, even if I did serve in the States. :) As for The Work cd, I have a copy of it on my usb drive, but I don't have a cd. It's good music, and the songs are pretty inspirational. I'm glad you got to hear some of them. 

New Days of 47 Royalty!

 The Royalty Pageant is a three day competition.  Here are the 2015 contestants just after a dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial building and before the evening program begins at the Conference Center Little Theater.

 Our outgoing 2014 Royalty were so amazing.  They worked as a cohesive team attending 80 plus events during their year.  It's always so hard to say good-bye.

 This year I was a stage hand and enjoyed getting to know many of the contestants back stage.  The most touching moment was to gather in a circle before the curtain went up, arms around each other and heads bowed to say a prayer asking that everyone would do their best and have a good experience.  Pioneer ancestors were proud!  Pictured are Denise Mathews the amazing accompanist and her nice page turner.

 Our first event was to speak at a Daughters of Utah Pioneers Company Seminar in St. George.  Our 1st Attendant, Christina, was in Europe so we took the Pageant's Miss Congeniality, Kassi Faulkner.  Queen Ethel and Princess Pam attended the meeting and the luncheon.  I loved having them there!

One of the first big thing to accomplish with a new group is to shop for three outfits:  formal gowns, western wear and business wear.  Then their formal portraits need to be taken to meet media deadlines.  Their western wear photo shoot took place at the Brigham Young farmhouse at This is The Place.

Pioneer Princesses!

Here is a Queen mother in the canine world.  Ruby, a Golden Doodle had 11 puppies with 9 living.  Can you imagine this crowd of large puppies latching on, or trying to?

 I would have been sorely tempted to take one home, but they sold for $1200 each and they were all spoken for within hours!

Dear family,                                                                       April 13, 2015

This week was a fun one. We continue to do a lot of service, especially since it's warming up...slowly. :) On Saturday we helped a less active cut tile for his bathroom, which was cool. We didn't have a wet saw, so we just made do. There were a lot of sparks and it was really loud, but it got the job done. We continue to work at the food pantry twice a week, and we are really forming a good relationship with the lady who runs it. She has invited us to her home for dinner, and she says she isn't in the gospel, but she loves us and knows what we do as missionaries is important. She always says she wishes more people would talk to us and get to know us. We're hoping to invite her to church sometime. She knows a few ward members, so we think it will be good for her. We also do service at Bethany Meadows, a senior living center here in Brandon. The last couple weeks we have been working on bringing patio furniture up from their basement to the residents. They all have small porches outside their rooms.

Our only investigator Mike has been slowly progressing. He is reading the Book of Mormon, and the last lesson we had with him, he said the closing prayer. We invited him to church, but he said he couldn't make it this week, but he wants to come next Sunday. We're excited to see him there. We also got a new ward mission leader, Brother Frolich. He is single, about 50, and he's pretty cool. We met with him on Saturday to get us all on the same page. 

Yesterday we were at the hospital visiting Adam, who got his legs crushed in a windmill he was welding, and we were talking about the bones he broke, and looked at the x rays, and my companion fainted! It looked like he just fell asleep, he slumped forward, and luckily Elder Nixon caught him and got him to the floor. So that was pretty exciting. It was intense to watch, but he's doing alright now. He says whenever he hears about bones breaking, his body shuts down. Zone Conference is next Monday, so I will email on Tuesday. Then the mission splits the next Tuesday. I'm excited to see the changes in the areas I will serve, and I'm hoping to see a tornado in real life. There are a lot in Nebraska and Kansas. Not much else cool has happened in the weather. It gets super cold in the winter, and it rains once in a while. It's kinda boring seeing flat land everywhere. I miss the mountains. That's it for this week, hope you have a great week!

Elder Ehlert