Zone Conferences Begin

This is coming out a couple of days late.  We were in Quebec City on Sunday when I normally send my weekly email—so here it is on Tuesday. r.

Last week was transfer week.  Let’s just say it was crazy!  There is always so much to do that week.  For me, my big responsibility for the transfer itself is to purchase bus tickets. I didn’t get the list until late Monday afternoon, so I had to stay and accomplish that task.  Thank goodness it wasn’t as complicated as it was last transfer!  Everything went smoothly—just had to buy a lot of them!

As the missionaries transfer from one area to another in the mission, many of them stop in at the office so we get to see them.  Love that!  We love seeing those that have been in this area and moved on and we love getting to know the new missionaries that are assigned to work in Montreal.  Honestly, you can’t find a more wonderful group of young people.

I spent two nights in the Temple this week.  Wednesday is my usual night to serve, so I was there that evening. I was also there on Thursday to be with the departing missionaries. This is always a very bitter sweet experience for all of us.  One of the memories I will treasure  of that evening is being seating waiting for the session to start. President Phillips came in after all the missionaries were seated.  He walked in, looked at them, and flashed a huge smile and gave them a thumbs up before he sat down.  He and Sister Phillips work so incredibly hard to serve all of us.  I can only imagine the joy he had to have felt as he saw this group of young people he had shepherded so faithfully and so well.

We had a pretty funny thing happen on Friday. We decided we would walk to the Banquise Restaurant. The missionaries rave about this and since it is within walking distance of the office, we’d go there for dinner.  As we left the office, Elder Harvey and Elder Roskelley followed us out.  I said we were headed to Banquise. Then Elder Harvey said, “Oh, can we come?” So they went to Banquise with us—we had a great time with them. It has been so fun to see the growth and development in these young people.  Elder Harvey has been in Montreal for a long time so we’ve seen him blossom and shine.  So much fun!

Poutine at La Banquise with Elders Harvey and Roskelley

Sunday was an interesting day.  We planned to leave for Quebec City right after our church services ended. True to Montreal driving conditions, we couldn’t get on the freeway. Instead, it routed us back home and out another way.  Unbelievable.  It is impossible to plan with any degree of accuracy when you will arrive. As we use Lucy, we watch her recalculate our arrival time.  I left for the Temple later than usual on Wednesday. Lucy had me arriving within 30 minutes when I pulled out of the parking lot. Then she kept adding minutes.  I made it with moments to spare!  From what I understand, road construction is horrible during the summer—if it is, that will make a very difficult task—driving—more difficult.  However, once we were on our way, the drive was beautiful.  Quebec is lush and green.  Coming from the desert, I’m not used to such sights.  I wonder if it will stay that way all summer or if it will turn brown like it does at home.  Since we make that trek every six week, time will tell. (It's hard to get good pictures while we're driving!)

Two other things happened on Sunday that had a huge impact on me.  One of the speakers in Sacrament Meeting spoke on the importance of forgiving those who have wronged us.  I have rarely heard such a powerful talk in Sacrament Meeting. Both Pat and I were amazed at what we were taught.  I sought out the sister and asked her if she had a copy of the talk—she handed me the one she had used!  I scanned it today and emailed it to Pat, the two senior sisters and myself.  The second things was that my dear friend Sandy LeCheminant whom I have known for about 20 years and with whom I worked at Indian Hills helped our family in such a loving, kind way.  She is certainly one in a million. I am so very grateful for her and her husband.

Yesterday, Monday, we spent the morning at Zone Conference in Quebec City so that Pat could do the car inspections. He is supposed to do that for each zone conference. I go along as the chauffeur! I love being able to see the missionaries that we have known in Montreal and who are now in Quebec.  All in all it was a busy but enjoyable week.

Tonight Pat had to go back to the office to help a couple of missionaries and I had to get the supplies ready to go to the Mount Royal Zone Conferences.  I still need to do the dishes before going to bed and it’s already 8:30!  Miss my dishwasher!

Thanks to all of you for supporting us as we serve here in Montreal.

Another Transfer Cycle Ends

I have said this often—time rushes relentlessly!  Here we are at the end of another transfer cycle.  It seems that we just finished the previous one yesterday! In reality, that was six weeks ago.

This was the week that we make certain we’re ready for the new missionaries who will arrive on Wednesday, the transfer that takes place on Thursday, and the departure of the missionaries leaving on Friday.  We check and double check and then find we’ve missed something and then get whatever it is done!

While we were busy, as usual, it was a rather calm week.  Friday, Sister Puzey and I were the only ones in the office! For much of the day it was very quiet! The Evans were doing apartment inspections and other out-of-the office tasks.  Pat came into the office briefly before Sister Puzey and I arrived to take care of paperwork necessary for a car that was involved in an accident. I met him at the top of the metro stairs as he was heading home and I was heading into the office! He is having horrible issues with his allergies this year.  He went to the doctor on Thursday and was given a couple of prescriptions and told to stay down for a couple of days to see if he can get them under control.  The President was doing interviews, so we saw several missionaries.

Yesterday nine of us headed to Ottawa to go to the tulip festival.  During WWII, the future queen of the Netherlands Juliana took refuge in Canada. One of her children Margariet was actually born in an Ottawa hospital. The Canadian government declared the room in the hospital where she was born extraterritorial so that she  could derive her citizenship solely from her mother. Canada was also heavily involved in the liberation of Holland at the end of the war.  To show their appreciation for what Canada had done for them and their country, Juliana’s mother, Queen Wilhelmina, sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa. Holland continued sending bulbs annually since that time. Most of the tulips are around Dow’s Lake. We went early in the morning and missed the crowds.  The tulips are in Commissioner’s Park. Unlike the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point, there is no charge to stroll through the park. They were simply gorgeous!  

Gordons, Sisters Hyde, McGee, Iverson, Howe, Puzey, the Evans, and the Carlsons

The white tulip with the red stripe is the 150 Canadian to commemorate Canada's 150th anniversary.

Commissioner's Park and Dow's Lake - the site of the tulip festival

Marina at Dow's Lake

The Gordons provided a delicious picnic lunch for us in Hog Back Park, Elder Gordon took those of us who wanted to go on a walk to see the Rideau River and the locks on the Rideau Canal. I'd never seen locks before, so I was fascinated.

We also saw the Rideau River from the bridge in Hog's Back Park.

During the afternoon we took a bus tour around the city—when we boarded it, most of us were on the top deck of an open double-decker bus. We got soaked! We were going to go through the history museum, but it was so crowded we decided we didn’t have the time we necessary. Several of us went to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stables instead. The only thing I knew about the RCMP is what I’ve seen in TV programs on read in books. One of the earliest of these was Sargent Preston of the Yukon who   helped maintain law and order in snowy Canada. There is a 32-member unit that does precision riding to music. The stables house the horses used for this special show.  It was a great tour!

The performing horses involved in the Musical Ride

We also ran into this. Pat has a relative named Thomas D'Arcy McGee who was involved in early Canadian government. I wonder if this was named after him?

Today we had two sisters from our ward came to dinner. We joined forces with Sister Puzey and managed to pull together a wonderful mean.  She made chicken cordon bleu and I did the potatoes, vegetables, and dessert.  I was going to make a tropical pecan pie but discovered late last night that I didn’t have the right kind of pineapple, so I decided on a dessert from my childhood:  cottage pudding.  Cottage pudding consists of a plain yellow cake with a vanilla sauce that we used to call dip. I remember making the dip with my mom but haven’t done it for probably 35-40 years.  I remembered the ingredients but didn’t have a clue on the proportions, so I consulted Dr. Google—found something that I was able to use.  It was delicious and such a sweet memory of long ago.

With Sisters Puzey, Ashcraft, and Steno

While we were doing the dishes, Marianne initiated a video call—we spent about 40 minutes with her and those precious children.  She was on her cell phone and they were roaming the neighborhood—so we had a bonus of seeing places we love as well as people we love.  Can’t ask for anything better!

We continue to enjoy our mission experiences. Every day we are so grateful that we chose to put our papers in. Every day we’re so grateful we were called to Montreal.

Middle of May – How Can that Be?

Lovely, fickle Montreal!  It was so beautiful last Saturday and then we had rain on and off this week.  Today, it is absolutely beautiful.  We walk through Angrignon Park it was sunny and warm with lovely light green touches all through the trees.  What a glorious morning to be alive!

Our week was quite routine. It was week five of the transfer cycle, so most of the major tasks that we have to do are completed—now we “gird up our loins, fresh courage take” as we head into next week and then transfers.  We did have one rather unusual day—Tuesday.  Tuesday is the young missionaries’ preparation day and many of them come into the office to use the computers to write home.  This week we were told that our carpet was going to be cleaned on that day, so we “closed” the office although the five of us were there.  I arrived at the office around 8:30-8:45 and found the cleaners cleaning away.  They had blowers all over the office, so the racket was bad, but the inconvenience was almost non-existent!  We certainly got a lot done that day because we had virtually no interruptions!

Yesterday we were up early to get our Saturday chores done, then we off to St. Joseph’s Oratory.  It is the largest church in Montreal; it is massive. It sits on the top of a hill and it is a hike to get to the top of it!  The grounds outside are beautifully kept. The inside is large enough to hold thousands of people.  I have been in many beautiful churches.  This one was impressive, but it was a bit too modern in décor to be classified as one of my favorites—it doesn’t compare at all to St. Patrick’s or Ste. Anne de Beaupré. We were famished by the time we finished exploring St. Joseph’s so we stopped at St. Hubert’s for lunch.  Delicious.   We had to race home to prepare for hosing two sister missionaries.

Looking toward St. Joseph's Oratory from Queen Mary Street

 There are many stairs to climb. The stairway in the middle is reserved for pilgrims who climb on their knees—it was all I could do to climb them on my feet!

Looking toward Queen Mary Street from the bottom of the church—still many more stairs to go to reach the top!

 A bit higher up—still more to go!

 Magnificent organ loft—there was a concert being played while we were there.

Altar—the picture does not show the massiveness of the altar and the crucifix.

 Sculptures, wooden, I believe, adorn the walls of the church. Again, the picture does not capture their massiveness!

One of the sculptures in the Garden of the Cross, a meditative garden east of the church. It depicts the Stations of the Cross in sculpture. (The Stations of the Cross is a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ's last day on Earth. The 14 denotations, or stations, focus on specific events of His last day, beginning with His condemnation.)

The Redemption pool and fountain in the Garden of the Cross

Today we invited two sister missionaries to come over so that one of them could Skype with her parents who are serving a mission in France. The other office couple knew this couple when they were in the MTC, so we invited them and Sister Pusey as well.  Each senior missionary contributed something to the meal and we enjoyed a feast.

Sister Puzey, Larson, Hicken, McGee, and Elder McGee. Interesting side note: I was Sister Hicken's assistant principal at Indian Hills Middle School. She was never in my office!

To make the day perfect, we were able to talk to Chris, Marianne, and our precious Sarah and Michael. Now it is just after 8 p.m. We are sitting in our little apartment with the door leading to the patio open. We’re listening to the street sounds that float up the three stories to us.  Soon it will be time to call it a day and a week and get ready for Week 6 of the transfer cycle!

Love to all of you.