We had heard alot from the locals about the Christmas Lights at Stanley Park so on December 26th which is their "Boxing Day" holiday, we had to physically go to the Park to get the tickets 3 hours before our 5:30 scheduled time. After we finally got the tickets we talked about where to go for dinner and Pam thought a buffet would be a good idea....we looked it up on our GPS and choose the "Grand Buffett" which was only 10 miles away in Burnaby. No problem since we had about 2 1/2 hours.
Here we are after getting our train tour tickets...happy! We got in the Jeep and started driving the short distance but it took us a long time to get there....an 1 1/4 hours later. Vancouver is all two lane roads with stop lights and no highways or freeways. When we finally got there it was a Japanese Sushi buffet. We made an immediate U-turn to start heading back to Stanley Park and stopped at a Denny's for breakfast. Not exactly what we had in mind!
The tour was worth it however. It is about a 20 to 25 minute train trip showing millions of lights depicting many different Christmas scenes with accomping music.
It is put on each year by the BC Firefighters for the benefit of the children's burn center. They raise a tremendous amount of revenue and good will for the cause. It was raining, but the train which was open air did have a roof on.
January 18th and 2012 is underway with 13 new missionaries coming in and only 4 going home. We are increasing our missionary complement over the next few months by about 20 which means 10 more vehicles and 10 more apartments. The Mission is improving and we are growing.
The start of this escapade was their 2 1/2 hour wait in customs in which they only got their 1 year visa instead of the usual 2 years. When they got to the mission office, we started right in with snacks and training since we were on the late schedule and they had to go to their Welcome Dinner at President Tilleman's at 5:30 PM. At 5:15 all of the electricity went out in Richmond. The result was a shortened training scedule with flash lights, a testimony meeting in the hall under the two exit sign lights, and a cancelled dinner. This resulted in a pizza party at the Abercorn Inn where they stayed. They will always remember their arrival in the mission field in British Columbia.
Happy Chineese New Year for 2012...THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON! The Chineese Branch put on a new year party with dinner and a talent show. To kick off the event is our Stake President, President Soll (who comes from South Africa). He is giving his remarks in English and the Chinese sister is translating it into Mandarin.
One of the talent acts was the "Dance of Joy" by some of the Chinese Relief Society. This year the talent was really good but we didn't like the dinner. It was NOT the American Chinese food that we know and love. The Chinese Branch is really growing and we are getting a lot of new converts.
