Donna's 2nd cousin Bill and his wife Carolyn, meeting for the first time!

You've got mail!

Mail headed for Saskatoon

Elder Paulson and Elder Basting checking the tire pressure : )

Hello!

Everything is going well here.  We are much more busy now.  We are working in the office, learning that calling.  The rest of the time we spend in our area looking for people.  We found a good sister the other day.  She had not been contacted for a very long time. She seemed geniunely excited we came.   While we were visiting, her dear friend Pollie came to visit.  This lady was a hoot.  She can speak English, French, Russian and Ukrainian.  So she recited the Lord's Prayer in Ukrainian for us and at the end she added:  A men, A men, and for wo men too. 

Hey Kase we found out that a stocking cap is called a toque here.  That is pronounce touk.  That can be your word for the week?  We love the names of streets around here, too.  One of my favorites is Sterling Lyon Street named after a former Premier: Bishop Grandin:  Lagimodiere (Lauge-e- mode-e-a), etc.  Then the names of the ward and branches are:  Brandon, Dalhousie, Dauphin, Gateway, Kenora, London, Portage la Prairie, St. James, Selkirk, Thompson, Warroad, Waverley and Wellington.  Cool huh?

Yesterday after District meeting, we were invited to meet and have lunch with my second cousin that I met through genealogy.  What a wonderful experience!  He was a Phys. Ed/History major and his master's is in school counseling.  He is retired now but still consults with a group that helps to get scholarships for the aboriginal people here.  Australia flew him to Syndey to present a paper on the subject.  His wife Carolyn is also retired but she is the student teacher advisor/counselor/evaluator for the University of Winnipeg.  She takes a limited number of students each year.
They winter in Palm Springs and have a cottage on a big lake here for summer heat relief.  Can't wait for that.  They are delightful people and he is writing a history on part of our family here in Manitoba.  I never knew my grandfather lived here for a time.  They plan to take us to see the family home sometime this summer.  They are well educated people and know a lot about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ.  I hope we have the opportunity to share more together. 

We have been helping prepare for transfers and the arrival of new missionaries.  I had no idea of the time, prayer, planning and money that goes into running a mission.  It is mind boggling!  It was very fun to watch 40 elders greet each other, and sing "Oh Canada!"  They about blew the roof off.  They love each other and have hearty greetings.  Then they share ways they have taught the Plan of Salvation or the Word of Wisdom or some other principle of the Gospel.  Their enthusiasm and faith knows no limits.  They have had 16 baptisms since november and this is a very difficult place to get investigators.  Most come through member or media referrals.  The Church's website is very fruitful.  There are so many divorces, abandonments and dysfunctional families that the Church's views on marriage and family is very attractive to people.  They are looking for peace and commitment.  I guess what people aren't? 

About the pictures:  boxes stacked on our car contain the mail going to just Saskatoon.  Elders looking for mail.  Elder Paulson and Elder Basting checking tire pressure (couldn't resist) and my second cousin Bill Gadsby and his wife Carolyn. 


 Bye for now, love to all.  mom, grandma and Sister Basting

Happy New Year 2012!

Hello and Happy New Year from Canada,

    We had a very pleasant but quiet Christmas.  We ate an afternoon breakfast at the Mission President's home; he being chef.  We have never had ham gravy on Belgium waffles.  It is a rival to sausage gravy on biscuits.  That was Christmas dinner.  Of course we went to Church; that was nice, and Elder Basting was one of the speakers.  After, we talked to our family and saw two families on skype.  Modern technology, isn't it great!
     I have to hand it to Canada for advertising it is a Christian nation.  Everything shuts down for Christmas, and not just 1/2 day but for 24 hours.  They have billboards and school reader boards with Christmas messages.  The Muslim people here don't seem offended by it, everyone is accepting of different races and cultures.  They are very tolerant.  We have been told that there are some places in Canada where it is the law to close all business establishments on the Sabbath.  Wouldn't that be neat in America?   People could worship according to the "dictates of their own conscience" and it would save $$$$ in electricity, gasoline, etc.  What a novel idea! 
     Commenting on Canada's socialized medicine: we met an elderly less active sister.  She is in an assisted living facility.  She was vacuuming and tripped, falling against the couch.  Some how her glasses penetrated her left eye.  The ambulance took her to the hospital.  I guess there was nothing they could do, so they removed the eye, replaced it with a glass eye and sent her home on the bus.  The bus!  I was mortified.  They hustle everyone through hospitals and clinics like so many cattle.  She had an amazing attitude, I have to hand to her for that.
     We have traveled much of this big city.  We have been to 43 addresses.  We have been invited into maybe 10-15 homes, I have lost count.  We have had one mother and son come back to church and one other elderly sister (not the one previously mentioned).  We don't live in our area so it complicates how long in a day you stay out if you want to eat.  Petrol has gone up, it is somewhere over $4.40 a gallon but no matter.  Even if the people visited are not interested, they have been very nice and polite.  Sister Paulson and I went on a service project Friday.  Her Bishop asked her to help a Native Sister who lives in a very poor area.  She is a hoarder which is only one of her mental challenges.  She suffers from some form of anxiety and becomes volatile without warning.  We tried to help clean.  I offended her by putting on gloves.  I calmed her by telling her that I have eczema and break out from certain chemicals, etc., (which is the truth).  But that wasn't why I gloved up in her one room apartment.  I got to clean up the mouse droppings I could reach.  We emptied 4 or 5 loads of garbage and helped do one load of 15 waiting piles of laundry before she couldn't take it anymore.  I felt sorry for her plight and the fact that her 3 children and all grandchildren, she never said how many, were all in the grave.  But I didn't deal to well with her outbursts towards Sister Paulson, so we departed.   Sister Paulson was much relieved to find her Acura still in tact with no missing parts or damage.  We were just thankful for God's protection.  Although, I have never felt in danger or the least bit threatened, she was warned of this particular area.  By the by Elder Basting & Paulson were working in the office that day, preparing for transfers coming this week.  That is why our protectors weren't with us.  4 people would never have fit in there any way.  Oh, this is funny, well kind of.  Elder Basting and I climb stairs and walk the hallways in our building for exercise.  One morning we were crossing the ground floor.  There was a group of older people sitting in the foyer waiting to depart.  One older gentleman said (when he could finally see us well enough)  "I thought we were being invaded by big bikers."  I said no, "big is right, but Americans not bikers."  We walked on giggling and thinking, we have got to lose weight!  We are scaring old people. 
     I think we told you before that this mission is the largest in the world, bigger than the state of Texas.  Our ward is also very large, but I can't tell you how many square miles.  We visited a member farm that was a 96 mile round trip.  What fabulous people!  Out there the roads are made on the square mile.  They can get snowed in but he has a snow blower of his own to clean their driveway.  They are our Gospel Doctrine teachers and ward missionaries.  Lots of people wear more than one hat up here.  There are just not enough committed people to share the work.  We visited another Filipino family.  They are endowed with great musical talent and marvelous senses of humor.  By the time we left, we had been serenaded with piano and song, ukulele and song and guitar and "I am a Child of God."  They said they felt blessed to have a visit from the missionaries; but I can testify that we are the ones that came away uplifted. 
     In Closing for now, I want to share a quote from the Prophet David O. McKay, about the lost sheep, which seems to be the main reason for the first month of our mission, searching these wonderful people out and inviting them to come back...."Sheep go where grass is.  It seems apparent that the sheep in the parable was not lost through willful disobedience or careless neglect; it simply strayed away in search of greener pastures and soon was lost.  I ask you tonight, how did that sheep get lost?  He was not rebellious.  If you follow the comparison, the lamb was seeking its livelihood in a perfectly legitimate manner, but either stupidly, perhaps unconsciously, it followed the enticement of the field, the prospect of better grass until it got out beyond the fold and was lost.  So we have those in the Church...who wander away from the fold in perfectly legitimate ways.  They are seeking success, success in business, success in their professions, and before long they become disinterested in Church and finally disconnected from the fold;  they have lost track of what true success is, perhaps stupidly, perhaps unconsciously, in some cases, perhaps willingly.  They are blind to what constitutes true success."
     Well dear family, I will sign off now.  We love you, we pray for your well being, health and everything  that Heavenly Father knows you are in need of.  I know you invite your friends to learn of the Restoration and the blessings of living the commandments.  I know you strengthen each other and your friends.  I also know you reach out to the lost sheep.  May God bless you as you live the commandments and reap the joy of raising your children in the Lord.  That is where is greatest joy comes from.  We miss you but feel our Heavenly Fathers strength as we try to lift others.  Happy New Year.  I hope you set realistic goals and in them find success and peace.


 All my love, Mom, Grandma, Sister B.
   
 

A Few Photos

English & French

London Ward Building

Mission Home

Mission Home Dedication Plaque

I forgot to tell you all what Mom and I did on our 40th anniversary Dec. 16th. It was on Friday which is our training day at the Mission Office. It had snowed about an inch so we drove over at the appointed 9 AM hour and found Elder Paulson just starting to shovel the parking area in front of the Mission Office. The Mission Assistants usually do that chore but they were gone on assignment. We pitched in with snow shovels and a broom and made short work of our snowfall. It was a bit brisk that morning, about 12 degrees F. After our brief workout we were off with Sister Paulson to inspect four missionary apartments. I am happy to report all apartments were in good order. The Mission is real big on clean apartments and clean cars. After some afternoon visits we went out to dinner and then home to our apartment. The days pass by quickly when we are busy.

Fast forward to last night Dec. 23rd. Sister Getz from our Ward invited us and our Ward Elders to her home for a Christmas dinner two days early. She is German lady and she can really cook. Reminds us of Michelle Kings great dinners. Today which is Christmas eve day, the Elders, ourselves and our Zone Leaders were invited to our Bishops home for breakfast. We arrived at 10:00 AM and were treated to a dando breakfast with all the usual bad stuff that tastes really good, bacon, eggs, pancakes, sausage etc. After a fun visit we dropped by the Ward building, tidied it up a bit for tomorrow and then came home mid afternoon. Tomorrow all the Wards in Winnipeg have Sacrament meeting only at 10:00 AM. I have been invited to be one of the speakers for our combined two Ward Sacrament meeting.

Tonight we will be home and tomorrow at 2 PM (Christmas Day) the senior missionaries are invited to the Mission Home for dinner and a get together. President Paulson likes ham with ham gravy on Belgium waffles. It is now after the fact and the ham gravy on waffles is magnificent. We had a wonderful time at President and Sister Paulson's home it was nice to have something to do on Christmas. On Monday (Boxing Day) all missionaries were invited to a one hour open house at the Mission Home by District. It was also fun because we got to rub shoulders with all the young missionaries and eat more delightful goodies. Mom and I missed you all but the skyping was great. It was fun to see everyone .

Good news the winter solstice has taken place. On Dec. 22 and 23 the hours of daylight were the same 8 hours and 5 minutes. Today Dec 24th was 12 seconds longer according to a local weather page. Spring is nearly here. Hurrah!! And keeping with the longer days we are now up to 8 hours and 6 minutes of daylight.

We are keeping fairly busy looking for lost members of the Church in our Ward area. We ran out of people who we could call and set a day time appointment with so now we are looking for those on the Ward list who don't have a listed phone number. So far not so successful. Lots of apartment houses with locked entries where you have to be "buzzed" in. Usually we find someone new in the apartment who didn't know the person we were looking for or can only tell us that the one we are seeking has been gone for a year.

As we travel around the city we are seeing more of the diversity of Winnipeg. There are lots of Churches that offer services in a variety of languages. We have see Spanish, Ukrainian, German and others' Also lots of old domed churches and others with great steeples. We have seen several that must Russian since they have the domes that look onions with the curl on top. The city is old and there are tons of building that look like Brian Beards bank in Cottage Grove. Also many have old time adds still painted on them from years ago. A photographers dream here in Winnipeg.

That's all for now. We love you all. Dad.

Christmas Day 2011

40th Anniversary!

Shoveling snow in 12 degree weather

Zone Conference December 2011

Merry Christmas 2011

     We are a long way from home this Christmas and are doing our Christmas letter a little bit differently.  We are for the next 18 months Elder & Sister Basting.  We have been called to the Canada Winnipeg Mission.  It is a warm winter for the Canadians however we are shivering.   The people are extremely friendly, helpful and kind, hence the phrase "Welcome to friendly Manitoba."  We didn't expect Canada to be a foreign country but surprise, surprise.  We feel fortunate that we don't have to learn another language, at the same time we admire all of you who have done so to serve God.  We have enough trauma navigating their roads.  For now, the roads are generally clear of snow and ice; that is a blessing.  Shana has a blog up and running if anyone is interested in more mission information.  It is bastingmission.blogspot.com.  We were blessed with 3 new grandchildren this year.  Our family is such a treasure, so I will start with their news.

          Shana & Tim Heywood family:  Taylor is 13, beautiful, talented, a basketball legend in the making, an excellent student, upcoming scriptorian and just a great young woman.  Jeremy 11, a great young man, so good natured, athletic (multiple sports), an excellent student, involved in student government and the school mascot.  We just happened to be there last year when his (hum) car won the pinewood derby.  Should have seen his dad get air with glee!  Natalie 7, a dancer/comedian, good student and fearless when it comes to theme park rides and kayaking with sharks.  Now there is Bonus Baby-Troy (built). He was born January 22. He has brought great joy to the whole family.  Weighing in just shy of 10 pounds he was tough on his mom.  30 pounds at 9 months and wearing a size 2 or 3, I struggle to lift his giggling, wiggling little body.  Everyone else packs him around no sweat!  Shana is a busy mom juggling 4 schedules, helping Tim every chance she can, and she is back serving in Young Women's. Tim is a multi-tasking dad.  He did buy the family a ski boat this summer.  It is nice to see him get out of his office more often. 

          Pete and Christine Rudge family:  Aiden is 10, a good student, snowboarder, Lego constructor and computer whiz.  Hadley with the big eyes, good student, artist, jump rope expert in the making, and hates to ride in a car.  She doesn't even want to go to grandma's and the beach, she detests car rides so much!  Pete and Christine moved their family to Bend.  Now they are both closer to their places of employment.  Pete is in a new job, I just can't remember the name of the company.  They love to host Thanksgiving dinner and I think that has become a tradition.  Christine continues her long time service to Home Depot.  But now, she is closer to home, got a promotion that allows her to be home more and closer to Mt. Bachelor.

          Seth and Amber Basting family: Last year Seth took a job with an independent contractor who worked like a crazy man and expected everyone else to do the same.  Seth built roads all summer, 6 days a week 14-18 hours a day.  In the meantime, Amber delivered a beautiful Brad Swindle (named after Uncle George) June 4th.  She had to be a real trooper taking care of 4 children with Seth gone so much. Her mother, sister and 1 brother came and helped for a month.  They were a huge blessing. Seth has now taken a job with the Oregon Department of Forestry-the Forest Grove office.   Kase is 6, loves school, plays soccer and goes on service projects with his dad.  So does Grant who is 4, except he is not in to soccer as of yet.  They have a trampoline,  swing set and tree house.  They love the outdoors.  Molly is 2 and cute as she can be.  She is going to be tough with all those brothers, she can already hold her own.  Seth and Amber work all the time.  They have a huge piece of property to maintain.  Plus, they serve in their church callings, so they go non-stop. Oh, to be young again!

          Rex and Britney Basting family:  Olivia Sharen (named after Britney's mother) was born the 1st of April.  She is another beautiful addition.  Annie is 5, very artistic, loves books and so far has perfect form when she runs.  Macey 3, has a giggle that is so contagious you cannot restrain yourself from laughing right along with her.  Who cares why?  This Fall they moved to Cottage Grove because Rex got a job in his field.  Oh happy day.  We celebrated and offered many thankful prayers to God.  He is one of the two counselors for Cottage Grove High School.  He loves his job.  He has also started a mountain biking club and is enjoying associating with students and parents.  Britney is a busy homemaker, creative chef and baker.  She was going to receive a new calling when we left the USA but we have not heard what it is yet.  Rex teaches the Elder's Quorum. 

Well, Jim retired after 42 years of service to the Oregon Department of Forestry.  They gave him a wonderful send off, better than any eulogy I've ever heard! C: We had to move out of the home there on the compound.  We decided to get rid of much of our clutter, put the good stuff in storage and go and serve the Lord on a mission.  We have been called here to Canada as Member and Leader support missionaries.  We have already learned so much.  It is fun to learn new things and be challenged.  This is a place with diverse cultures.  The Filipinos and South Americans are particularly friendly and gracious.  Although everyone (so far) has been kind, helpful and they possess very good manners.  We are not used to a big city yet.  It is very evident that we are small town hicks!  We have enjoyed a variety of foods so far.  I being partial to German and Filipino cuisine.  We miss our family but we have been promised that our grandchildren will be more blessed by our service here then if we were hovering over them.  We feel it an honor to serve the Lord and hope we can do a good job.  We love all of you,  We pray you have a joyous Christmas and a New Year filled with blessings and answered prayers.  Please forgive our form of a Christmas letter-Canada taxes everything, making it impossible for us to mail a card to everyone. 

 We love you, Merry Christmas, 

 Elder & Sister Basting (Jim & Donna).

Some additional pictures just for fun. I get such a kick out of the English and French on the groceries, I couldn't resist sending another photo. I don't remember if I explained the Mission and mission cars. There are 56 missionaries spread over the entire mission (Saskatchewan, Manitoba and a piece of Ontario). This number is just the young missionaries, so each companionship (28) has a car. It's just to cold and spread out to be on bikes or walk. The mission cars are Chevy Malibu's, a couple of Chevy Cobalt's and some Colorado 4x4 crew cab pickups. In the Manitoba Zone the Assistants to the Pres. and Zone leaders drive the Colorado's. They will eventually try to swap out most of the cars because they don't do as well in deeper snow. The cars are prone front bumper damage. If you pull into a parking spot and hit the concrete parking stops (they are extra high here) with the air dam under the front bumper it cracks (the cold helps the breakage) and then works into the bumper. It costs $1800.00 to replace the front bumper assembly. There have been three crashes this winter, none were the fault of the missionaries. Everyone else keeps running into them.

Wednesday we attended our first District Meeting. We missed the first two because we didn't know we were supposed to go. Just like a couple of newbie's. The District leader is from England and within 3 months of going home. I was impressed with his skill and enthusiasm. All the young Elders and Sisters handle themselves very well. Our meeting lasted 90 minutes and was filled with instruction and involvement from everyone present. The other neat thing here is the open affection between all the young missionaries. A great group of young people and with them as our future leaders we will be in good hands.

Today we were out visiting and had only one set appointment. We found the place and had a nice visit with a Filipino family. We did notice it seemed a bit brisk as we left their home but didn't get the real force of the cold until we parked the car and started walking. It was only a short distance to a small apartment complex where we were searching for a less active member. As the wind picked up Mom and I started gasping for breath as we walked into the light cool breeze. We were out for maybe 10 minutes and were frozen. It was a mild 10 degrees F. After we found the place the lady had the nerve not to be home. We searched out another less active man and found his place but not him. Nobody home today. We parked about two blocks from his apartment and slipped and slid down the sidewalk and back.

The Canadians are a hardy bunch and find humor that we think it's cold at 5 or 10 degrees F. These folks ride bikes, wait for the city buses and walk all over the place like it's normal and tell us wait until it gets to - 20 or 30 C. which translates to -4 to -22 F. The young missionaries have to be out until it's a -40 C. which is where celsius and fahrenheit equal one another, so -40C and -40 F. are the same, darned cold. Did I mention that everyone wears black including the missionaries. Black hats, coats, pants and boots to their knees. It's OK in daylight hours but at night it's hard to see them especially in downtown Winnipeg. The pedestrians dart out and run across the first three lanes of traffic and take refuge on the median until they get a break and then sprint across the remaining three lanes. Of course this is mostly done between cross walks. I have been impressed with how fast some of the old people are. One day we saw an older woman with a walker jogging across the street like everyone else. Sure enough she made the median and after a few breaths she was off across the last three lanes.

One night last week we had an evening appointment and were early so we went up the street and parked at school parking lot. As we sat there we noticed a kid hockey game in progress on an outdoor rink. We watched awhile and I noticed over on the wall of the school a sign that said Park at Own Risk. I thought what could be the risk. We thought it might be from snow or ice sickles falling on cars from the roof. After a brief discussion we saw the hockey puck crash into the side of the school right where cars could park "at their own risk". It still makes me smile when I see a kid packing a hockey stick like you would see a kid in The States carrying his basketball or baseball gear.

Tomorrow Mom and I get to go on apartment checks again with Sis. Paulson. Their are four apartments to check. It will prove enlightening I am sure. Love you all. Dad

 This is what $10 at the car wash will get you.

Mission cars, or should we say trucks.

 Ouch! A little mission car mishap.

Bilingual labels