We’d like to wish you all a very

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Many of you who received our Christmas letter will already have this post in your hands but bookmark or follow this blog so you can keep up to date on what’s happening with us.

 

Dear Friends,

What a blur this past year has been!  Here we are closing in on Christmas once again and soon the New Year will be well under way.  We’ve had some interesting things happen in 2012 and look forward to what’s in store for 2013.  We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and blessed New Year.

This past year has been one of preparation and waiting.  The year started with interviews and medical testing for missionaries.  We both spent a week in Calgary at the end of April, beginning of May for a course we needed to take as part of our preparation for mission work.  We were able to make some time to visit friends while we were there and had a great trip!  The trip ended attending our denomination’s Regional Gathering in Kitchener.

Phil had a very busy summer finishing up work at Bethel Evangelical Missionary Church here in Lion’s Head.  We had a great week of VBS the third week of July and then had a much needed three weeks of holidays before finishing as Pastor in August.  As part of our holidays, our friend Rob visited us from Calgary.  We had a great time together, mostly just hanging out and taking in some of the sights around the area.  Somehow you just don’t get to see the touristy spots very much when you live there.

In the middle of August Carolyn’s step-dad fell and fractured both of his arms.  So, Phil went to Orillia to stay with him for a few weeks while we tried to get him bumped up on the waiting list with Home Care.  Since then, Phil has been going back and forth to Orillia quite a bit helping him with all the things that needed to get done around the house, to and from doctors and running errands.  Finally, in November both of his arms started healing and he was able to do a bit more for himself – a long haul for a diabetic and an 81 year old.

In September Carolyn had her credentialing interview for the mission.  It turns out she needs to audit a couple of courses to complete her credentials.  So, Carolyn has been working hard at studying and getting those courses finished.  She hopes to have them wrapped up in January 2013.  She is still working doing Home Care so it’s been quite a busy fall season for her.

We’ve been learning Spanish on the computer through Rosetta Stone – we highly recommend the program, it really is fantastic.  A ton of work, but very good!  We work at it each week and progress a bit more each day.  Grammar and conjugating verbs – Wow!  Hopefully by the time we get to Mexico we’ll be able to converse fairly well in Spanish.   Once we’re there we’ll take language training so that we can work fluently in the language and culture.

The Christmas season has been busy already!  Carolyn has been baking some goodies and Phil has been busy practicing music for Christmas services.  We look forward to a blessed Christmas with family and a blessed New Year as we continue our mission preparation and wait for the right timing on it all.

Please be praying for us.  We covet your prayers.  Please pray that all this goes smoothly and that we do not get frustrated with the waiting and details of the process.

Oh, people keep asking how our dog is.  Bear is great!  He is the best dog in the world, and yes we plan to take him to Mexico with us.

We’d like to thank you all for your friendships and we pray God’s richest blessing on your lives!

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