Spring Break in Kelowna

We had a really fun week last week. We went to Kelowna - all three of us! Allen wanted to stay in a hotel instead of at Neil's so we decided to stay at the motel my parents bought when I was 12. It was so fun to be there! It isn't a super fancy place, but still nice. Allen could have plenty of resting time. There were good places to walk Frankie and Chico and there is lots to do there. I really loved just being around and seeing the maid carts and people cleaning the pool and everything else that is such a strong memory for me. I even snuck into the laundry room to snap a picture. LOL I bet not too many guests do that! There's a lot to do there: a sand volleyball court, indoor and outdoor pool, bar-b-ques you can use, shuffle board, ping pong tables, exercise room and lots and lots of grass space. There's lots to do. It would be a great place for a family reunion.

On the way home we ended up staying a night in Revelstoke. 44 km out of Revelstoke there was a truck that was on it's side perfectly covering both lanes. Allen got out and took Frankie for a little walk and saw that it was a big deal to fix so he figured we should turn around and go have dinner in Revelstoke. We asked the guy in the pizza restaurant (who was a hilarious French guy) what he thought about the situation and he said, "Friends, you are what we say, 'Revelstuck'!" LOL There's a twitter account you can get info about BC roads on and they had updates. The time it was estimated to be fixed up got pushed back and pushed back. We ended up deciding to get a hotel and get a good night's sleep, which was great. In the end, it turned out the road opened up at 11:00 pm, so we were glad we didn't try to wait it out. It's a good 4-5 hours from Revelstoke to Calgary, so that would have been a really late night.

Funny thing was when we were in Kelowna, I thought a few times that I should do a load of laundry in the laundry facilities they have for guests. I didn't though. When we were stuck in Revelstoke I wondered if that was a prompting because I sure would have been more comfortable with some clean laundry! Things that make you go hmmm....

The motel my parents bought when I was 12:

 We used to have SO much fine driving around in those golf carts. Oh boy! 

You can do some mean donuts in a golf cart.

 The sauna was locked up.

I used to do my homework in there.

 The indoor pool. They still clean it with a long stick.

 This was our house! They rent it out now.

They all reorganized the room numbers.

I had hoped we could stay in 314 (which was the room by my bedroom)

and we got put in 315!

Our house used to be 313. Now it is 301.

 The outdoor pool. Closed for a while yet.

 Resting time!

 Our house in Black Mountain. It's a weird pink color now.

 I had to sneak in and take a picture in the laundry room. 

That was my favorite place to work.

 I filled up and pushed those suckers around a lot!

 There goes the golf cart!

A map of the grounds of the motel.

 Peirce and I went to the Kangaroo Farm:

 They have a bunch of exotic birds.

 I love capybaras!

 Laid back friends

 An Abe emu

Selfies with a kangaroo 

 The second motel my parents bought in Kelowna. 

It used to be called The InnTowner. Now it's a funky place called Hotel Zed.

 The pool at Hotel Zed. I used to hang out at the pool with my friends a lot.

 The second motel my parents bought. Now it's called Hotel Zed. Funky place!

 French Cultural Center in Kelowna...aka as a stamp for Peirce's school passport!

Frankie doesn't love car travel. He is actually holding on for dear life most of the time. 

Pizza place in Revelstoke waiting for the road to clear. 

Um, apparently, I didn't notice Allen's sunglasses on the seat and sat on them. Oops! 

The beautiful morning sun in Revelstoke. Ahhhh!!! Good for the soul. 

There's the truck that was across the road. 

They must have just dumped it in the ditch to clean it up quickly.

💕🤹🏼‍♀️🧘‍♀️🐪🐁

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a great week and that you're doing okay after daylight savings😊 ours is coming up pretty soon so your prayers are appreciated! 

Monday was our preparation day... We took it pretty easy and cleaned the apartment!!! Wooo! It was so nice because we've been going to Paris every week for p day and doing something touristy so it's been nice to relax a bit! 

Tuesday

This was our all day temple day, but it was pretty quiet so we left a bit early and tried to stop by some people past missionaries had told us about. We were kind of hungry but we thought that maybe if we didn't eat until after, we'd save some time and then at the perfect moment we'd get to these people's houses and they'd be so happy to receive us and hear the restored gospel! So we waited to eat our dinner, and that didn't happen. BUT the person who we were initially trying to visit has an across the street neighbour who wanted to talk with us and wanted to help her cute little son to learn about Jesus! It's nice when we listen to where Heavenly Father wants us to be and when. It was also nice that we had pretty good croque monsieurs after for dinner.😊

Wednesday

We had district council and a quiche competition after (soeur Jones and I won, in case you're wondering). The district council was about how becoming more like Christ and incorporating His characteristics into who we are can help us be more positive. He gives us something to hope for, something to have faith in, a way to love more fully. When we intentionally remember all these things how can we not have a positive attitude with Christ? 

Thursday 

We had a first lesson with a girl that we met at our free book of Mormon stand. It was such a powerful lesson. We asked her to pay attention to how she felt as she watched one of our favourite videos about Christ called Because of Him.

Friday

We had exchanges and I got too be with Soeur Ethington for the day! We had a great day remembering old times, watching the new missionary safety videos and eating from our favourite store- Picard. (Definitely worth looking up:))

Saturday

This was a historic day! Couple firsts for soeur Jones! Her first mangez vous and we were so generously served raclette... for those who have never been blessed with such an opportunity to try it, it's melted cheese on potatoes and meat and vegetables. It's so good. If anyone is looking for a housewarming gift for me when I grow up, A RACLETTE MACHINE IS IT. 

The other crazy thing was our lesson in the evening. It went really poorly and it reminded us that missionary work isn't anyways peaches and cream! The person we were teaching was not excited about the idea of the church of Jesus Christ being restored, and even less thrilled about the book of Mormon. It was kind of a sad experience but it definitely reminded me of how grateful I am to have the holy spirit of God with me to help me to find comfort in moments like that. 

Sunday 

There was a super fun fireside at the visitors centre, and I got to see a friend that we met a few months back from the Paris ward! He told me about how his life has changed since his baptism and it was so beautiful to hear! It's amazing, reassuring and inspiring to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ can change people's lives over time. I know that the work we're doing has a real impact of people's lives, presently and in eternity. I'm so grateful to have a front row seat to watch God show His love to His children. It's really a great opportunity to be a missionary.

That's the run down of my week! Nothing too exciting but before I sign off I just want to share with you my testimony of the plan of salvation. I know that Jesus Christ is with us every step of the way and that through Him it is possible to overcome the horrible parts of this life and find true joy. I'm grateful for the temple and for the fact that my family can be together forever. I invite you all to share your testimony and knowledge of God's plan with someone, or to seek to know more about it. I know that God loves all his children and wants us to know Him and understand Him. 

Love you lots, hope to hear from you!

Soeur Ackroyd 

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you're having a great week! I just wanted to share a few miracles and experiences from the past few weeks that have taught me a lot and helped me to grow my testimony of Jesus Christ. I feel kind of bad for not writing an email every week.. There's a lot to be doing in Paris these days! 

This week we set up a special Book of Mormon table with the elders and a member of our ward to share the Book of Mormon with people in our area for free. We gave away so many in just a couple hours! It was a pretty simple thing but I loved being able to talk about the Book of Mormon with so many curious people and testify to them that by reading it they would get closer to Jesus Christ and that He'd change them and their hearts. I know that that book is true and I love it!

We had another really awesome experience last week that helped me see how music can be a powerful influence in God's work. We had a first lesson with this lady that the missionaries here had met in the past. We met with her in a park and decided to start with a song! As we were singing - this man noticed us and walked over. He asked us if we were talking about Jesus and if he could join us! We were so happy to say yes to both of those questions! He loved what he heard and we set  up another appointment with him the next week! I'm so glad that we sang that song. I know that music invites the spirit of God and that that's what made our new friend want to learn more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had a cool geneology/family history miracle a couple weeks ago too! This one sister that we've been working with for a while, she happened to walk past the new family history centre in Paris and so she asked us about it later. We took her there and showed her how she could get her own account on Family Search and how she could look at her tree. When she looked at it, it already had a lot in it because her family members had filled some things out already. She found a picture of her ancestors and just looked at it for so long. You could just see her heart becoming connected to those people. It was especially meaningful for us to be able to share this with her because she doesn't have very good relationships with her family. She kept saying how she loved those people even if she'd never met them in this life. We testified to her how these people are in the spirit world and they are watching out for her. They love her. They wil all get to see each other again one day! I know that God's loves families. I'm so grateful for geneology and family history that allows us to understand God's love and His plan for us.

I think that that's all for now! Hope to hear from you all! Have a great week/month/undetermined amount of time until I write next. 

Soeur Ackroyd