Kidney Stones and Pompiers!

Kidney Stones and firefighters– that about sums up our week!

Last Sunday in January – can’t say that I’m too sad to bid adieu to January 2018. This month has been challenging on many levels one of which has been health issues.

First, let me say that health care in Canada as we’ve experienced it is EXCELLENT. But when we need it here, we are in a strange environment; we don’t know where things are located; and we don’t know how it all works. I knew coming into Canada that I needed a doctor who could prescribe the medications that I need to control my diabetes and order the blood work needed to know if it is still under control—no biggie, I’m used to dealing with that. Luckily for us, we have wonderful Sister Tamtom, a senior missionary whose calling is mission nurse. She arranged for me to go to the Abikhzer Clinic, a father and two-daughter medical practice that has been incredibly good to the missionaries. If I were home, when it’s time to get the required tests, I’d make an appointment with the doctor, drive straight there because I know exactly how to get there. If I needed any lab work, I’d just drive there, again because I know where to go. Here each time that I need to see the doctor, I’m always very nervous about getting there. I’ve explained before how awful driving is up here. Parking is even worse! I have had to go three times: the first time, the weather wasn’t bad at all and there was no snow piled up. I found a parking spot about three blocks away—no problem. A couple of weeks ago I needed to go again. This time it was a nightmare because there were piles of snow on all the streets on which I was hoping to find a parking spot. Essentially, I had to park in a snow bank and hope for the best. Mercifully, I was able to get out once I was finished with the appointment. Next problem: I needed to have some lab work done. Once again Sister Tamtom came to the rescue. She identified a lab where I could go. Because I had to go fasting, I went first thing in the morning a week ago Monday. That’s when the fun started. I knew what metro line I needed, but I forgot the stop and my smartphone decided to play dumb and not work. I ended up having to go to the office, look up the place on line, and head out again. This time I found it, had the work done, paid for it because we were given the wrong insurance card, and returned to the office. I made an appointment to go over the results with Dr. Abikhzer on Friday. I was prepared this time! I found the route on the metro, knew the stop, and had the directions for walking to the clinic from the metro. Didn’t go exactly as planned—but then nothing ever does, does it?

Friday morning at 2:30, Pat woke up and said he had very severe pain in his lower abdomen. At first he thought it might be appendicitis—ruled that out because it was on the left. The pain continued to increase. At 6:00 a.m. we decided we needed to called Sister Tamptom--yet again. She directed us to go to the emergency room at Jewish General Hospital—the closest hospital to us (6.6 km away). She also said that the hospital was only about three blocks from my doctor’s office. I didn’t want to have to cancel and reschedule my appointment thus missing another day of work so I asked if she thought we’d be finished at the hospital by 11. She said she doubted we’d be finished with the hospital before I needed to go to the doctor. She advised us to take along a good book. (I finished Changed by His Grace by Brad Wilcox—I recommend it highly!) We left shortly after 6:30 and thought we’d be at the hospital by about 7. Now the real fun begins. With very few exceptions, we have to rely on Lucy our GPS to get us where we need to go. I drove out of the parking garage, stopped before turning into the street to enter the directions. As is our habit, I drive and Pat uses Lucy to navigate. Well, ditzy Lucy decided to do her own thing and take us across the Jacques Cartier Bridge near the temple—the opposite direction than what we needed. When we figured out what was happening, I pulled off and tried to reprogram Lucy. Also used my phone for good measure. Now we are right in the middle of rush hour traffic. Cut a long story short, it took us 90 minutes to go the 4.1 miles between our apartment and the hospital! We arrived just after 8—and the waiting began. Around 10, Pat was assigned a room. At 10:15 I left to walk to the clinic. I arrived back at the hospital about an hour later. By this time he had seen the doctor who ordered an IV and pain and anti-nausea medication. He also ordered a CAT scan that was supposed to take place at 1. So we waited—Pat had been given a narcotic, so he slept; I read. About 1:30 he went off for the test and was back in about 30 minutes. And then we waited some more. Around 4 the doctor came in with the diagnosis: a 3mm kidney stone! I wasn’t at all surprised that this was what it turned out to be because he had so many of the same symptoms that I did when I had kidney stones several years ago. After another 30-minute wait, we were on the way home. Long, long, long day. He is still not feeling great and he hasn’t passed the stone. So, he’s likely to experience more pain as all of that happens. At least he’s got medication to help. 

Happy to report that all my tests came back great and I don't have to go back for 3-6 months!

Tuesday, two senior couples and four single sisters went over to the Ville Marie chapel to prep the lunch for zone conference the next day. We had had a freezing rainstorm during the night and everything was a sheet of ice. Getting into the chapel was challenging even with winter gear. Elder Droulet forgot his boots and took one step forward and slid two steps backwards--quite comical to watch! Getting the food from the car was a feat as well. At one point we were throwing bottles of water from the car to individuals standing on the landing by the door! 

Ice in the parking lot at night

Still as nasty in the morning!

By and by we were all inside ready to work. I was assigned to cook the hamburger. As the meat was cooking, I wondered why there was so much steam coming off it. I don’t have much of a sense of smell, so I didn’t realize it wasn’t steam, instead it was smoke. We put the fan on, and pulled the pan off the burner. Someone had spilled something in the burner pan—that was what was smoking. Then the alarm started! Good heavens, it was like banshees screeching in the night! One of the sisters called the fire station and told them what was going on. She also managed to turn the alarm off. We thought we were safe--next thing we knew, six, yes, six firefighters were walking in all decked out in full gear including axes! That is one for the record books. Turns out that in addition to the smoke, there was a problem with the smoke detector as well. So glad that day was over.

The rest of the week, thankfully, was pretty mild. We’re gearing up to become a smartphone mission, so much of my time was spent working on that.

In spite of the challenges of January and particularly this week, we love our mission and are so glad to be here.

I’m including a picture of a pompier Québecois (Quebec firefighter) and three shots of the ice in the parking lot when were there Tuesday evening and again when I returned Wednesday morning. The ice was so bad that they actually canceled school on Tuesday—something, like at home, that occurs only rarely.

Have a wonderful week. Please know how grateful we are for each of you.

Another Sunday Already!

How is it possible that another Sunday is here! As I’ve said before, the weeks just fly by—this was no exception.

Every six weeks we begin a three-week cycle that includes missionary transfers, missionary arrivals, and missionary departures. That was this week. The next two weeks are Zone Conferences. The office missionaries are incredibly busy during this cycle.

When I was a missionary in France so many years ago, the missionaries bought their own tickets when they were transferred. That is not how things work here. Once the transfer list is ready, the office missionaries buy tickets for all the missionaries needing them, scan them, and then email them to the missionaries. That was what I did on Monday. I had the tickets purchased and printed by the time we left on Monday. When we arrived at the metro, it was packed! We were not able to get on it. After trying for about 40 minutes, we decided we had two choices: we could walk home or we could go back to the office and work. We opted to go to the office, so I was able to scan and email all the tickets—that made Tuesday a lot easier! Friday I had to begin preparing for zone conferences. The zone leaders call or email their order and I have to pull it together, box it, and get it ready to be taken to the chapel where the conference will be held. 

Missionaries who are departing come into Montreal on Wednesday. They are given the privilege of attending the Montreal Temple one last time before their departure. The office missionaries are invited to attend as well. I have come to love these missionaries so much, and to be with them in that sacred place is something I truly treasure.

Wednesday we had the missionaries who were departing plus their companions and a myriad other missionaries in the office. I sit at the front desk, so I interact with people as they enter the office. That day I was trying to write letters to parents in five different languages (thanks to Google Translate and our multi-lingual missionaries – we have missionaries from all over the world who speak a variety of languages); I thought I would lose my mind as I was concentrating on whatever language and letter I was writing and then being interrupted so many times! I finally got them done, but it took almost the entire day! The frustrations of the day melted as I sat in the holy temple. I’m so grateful that we have a temple so close!

Thursday the transfer cycle ended with the missionaries leaving for home and the new missionaries (who arrived yesterday evening) coming into the office for their first training. I look into their eyes and remember how frightened I was when I was in their shoes so many years ago. I try to reassure them that all will be OK—it just takes a bit of time to acclimate to a new city, a new culture, and new responsibilities.

Earlier today we attend an English-speaking ward. Pat was in heaven! We have permission to attend an English-speaking ward once a month so that Elder McGee has a clue about what is going on! It was a wonderful block of meetings, and he is on cloud 9! French is just not his thing!

One of the responsibilities that senior missionaries have is to provide lunch for zone conference. Right now my car is packed with the non-perishable items! Any idea how much room 14 bags of Costco chips take! Lots! We will prepare most of the lunch on Tuesday evening and freeze half of it for the second conference. Always lots to do.

Funny Montreal moment: One of the senior sisters and I were on our way to Costco to buy what wee need for the two zone conferences. The road is two lanes. I am in the lane closest to the middle, stopped at a red light. A man is parked on my right. Suddenly his car begins to move; he goes into the intersection (remember, the light is red!) and makes a U-turn (in front of my car!). That, my friends, is why you have to be on your guard constantly when driving here!

Our District: Elders Wensel and Tueller and Sisters Davis and Louder

From outside our window - it's snowy

Have a wonderful week!

Greetings from a Snowy Montreal!

This week we had quite a heavy rainstorm that cleared out the snow except where there are huge piles of it. Yesterday it snowed and snowed and snowed. So, we have as much if not more snow than we had before the rain. We ventured out yesterday morning to go to a Metro grocery store on the metro. So convenient—we don’t have to go outside our building to catch the metro and we only have to walk across the street to go to the Metro store. The wind was blowing and the snow was falling—makes for a lovely combination! The plow had made at least one pass on the road we crossed. When I stepped into the snow, I sank to the top of my 10” boots! Quickly made our purchases and headed for the metro and home. We didn’t venture out after that. 

One of the missionaries is pretty tech savvy. We inherited a combination printer/copier/scanner that I couldn’t get to work. We told him and his companion that we would feed them a great dinner if they would come over and try to get the contraption working. The elder worked his magic and our little gizmo works. I have now been able to scan all the items that I needed to scan and prepare for taxes—yes, we still have to deal with that rather unpleasant reality. Also, I printed off a pattern that I need in order to start working on a sewing project for a little guy who will be born in March. 

Our Mission Tekkies: Elders Harvey and Stanley

Dinner for a printer set-up - sounds right to me!

Truly, the weeks just melt into each other. While there are many things that are routine, each day, each week brings challenges and differences. The Holts were in Ottawa setting up a new apartment on Wednesday, so that meant that Pat and I were in the office alone—except for the steady flow of missionaries who were in and out. It’s very difficult to get the routine work done when we have so many interruptions—but we love these missionaries so very much.

We are gearing up to be a smartphone mission—believe me, the missionaries are excited about this. Parents received an email last week and then the chatter started as they tried to sort out what they are expected to do. It is going to be an interesting time for the mission. I use my smartphone all the time in the work that I do—so I believe that the missionaries will be able to use their smartphones in very wonderful ways as well.

We had a funny experience yesterday. Pat loves Coke. The cans are red. He went to a little shop near the office and purchased a couple of cans, brought them home, and put them in the fridge. He looked at one of them and couldn’t figure out why the pull tab on it was red but didn’t think too much more about it—until yesterday when he went into the fridge and pulled it out. It looked like a can of Coke from the one side, but when he flipped it around it was actually a can of Budweiser Beer! That can was dispatched very quickly down the drain and we had a very good laugh about it!

Thursday is transfer day. Several missionaries will leave for home and some of the missionaries we’ve come to love so much will be transferred to other areas. But that is the nature of a mission.

Those of you who are in the US, enjoy MLK Day. Elder and Sister McGee will be working!

Love to all of you.

First Week of 2018

And another week has raced by. And it was another busy one—but that is truly the norm.

This week we added a new task to our repertoire—apartment inspections. We inspected three sisters’ apartments and two elders’. It’s quite fun to see the missionaries in their space. Missionary apartments are interesting—one was much nicer than our apartment, three were similar to ours, and the fifth one was probably older than ours. Four of the apartments were accessible by metro. The dear missionaries met us at the metro stop and walked us back to the apartment. The last apartment required us to use Lucy (our GPS) and drive. We do not just show up—we make an appointment with the missionaries. However, this set of missionaries were off, so we waited for an hour before they showed up. I was not a happy camper! But we watched the amazing Montreal snow removal system! Huge machines remove the snow from the street and blow it into waiting trucks. As one truck fills up, another takes it's place.

One sisters’ apartment had a washer! Oh, how I miss our washer and dryer! We spend a fortune on laundry and the machines that we have to use beat up our clothes!

Like members around the world, we were saddened by the death of our dear Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Although we will miss his leadership, his wit, and his warmth, what a grand reunion he must have had with those who went before him. His death prompted someone to call from Florida—still not sure why he chose to call Canada. He was very distraught by President Monson’s death. He was concerned that the missionaries would be devastated by the event. When I told him that they, like the members of the church, were sad but know The Plan and knew that this was the will of our Heavenly Father, he couldn’t believe that they could go on. Then he wanted to know about one specific missionary. He wanted to talk to him—I wasn’t about to give that number out, so I called the missionary. He knew him very well. He said he would give the individual a call and let him know that he is OK.

President Monson

This individual was not the only interesting individual I spoke to this week. On Tuesday, a man called the office. He wanted an English and a French Bible. I was on the phone with him for a good 20-30 minutes. During that time, he sang to me, asked me why people don’t keep the Sabbath day holy, called me an angel from God because I didn’t hang up on him. I referred him to a set of elders who would be able to get him the Bibles. He called the next day and said it was inhumane for him to expect missionaries to go out in the weather (it was typical Montréal weather-cold, wet, windy). He asked me to call the missionaries and have them reschedule. I reassured him that the missionaries work in all types of weather, but he insisted that I call them. When I spoke to the missionaries, they were already on their way. They came into the office later in the week with a package of material from him—lyrics, drawings, etc.

Pat and I had a very special experience on Thursday. We drove to the South Shore and taught a lesson to a Haitian family with two sister missionaries. The family was incredible—so kind and welcoming. It was such a beautiful experience to be able to teach the Gospel. The lesson was in French, so I was able to speak directly to the family. Either the sisters or I translated for Pat.

Montréal has wonderful restaurants. The Bistro Tot ou Tard is one of them. Luckily for us, it is just a couple of blocks from our apartment. On Friday, we decided we would have dinner there. We bundled up and walked the short distance. Although we were warm decked out in coats, scarves, boots, and gloves, our glasses freeze! I had to look over them in order to see where I was going. Finally, I took them off a few feet away from the restaurant because they were so bad. Same thing happened on the way home. I’ve had glasses fog up—never freeze up!

Tonight we had two lovely sister missionaries over for dinner. One of them is a vegetarian, so I had to come up with something tasty and meat free. Thank goodness for the Internet. I found a recipe for a vegetable quiche—it was delicious. Adding a plate of vegetables and dip and another plate of fruit resulted in a delicious meal!

Dinner guests: Sisters Larsen and Martin

Next week promises to be hectic—it is the final week before transfers. Once transfer week hits, we are crazy busy for three weeks because zone conferences begin the week after transfers! But we love this crazy, busy missionary life.