Missionaries

 As I've said before, the best part of the mission is spending time with the missionaries.  The above photo was taken last week after district study.  The missionaries always come upstairs to the mission office to check their mail and to get supplies or have a little chat.  It's always great to talk to them.  They are so upbeat and happy all the time.  They are so hard working, always willing to lend a hand or to help in any way they can.  Of course, they also love to eat some goodies.   We get to see some of them quite often because they either work right here with the young adults or they are near by.  Others we see very seldom because they live and work so far away.  These young men and women are smart, diligent, and full of the spirit because they are representatives of the Lord.  They love Jesus Christ so much that they devote 2 years, 18months for the girls, of their lives to serve Him and to spread His gospel to all those who are ready to hear His word.

 Elder Navarro, the one holding the sign, is sadly going home tomorrow morning.  Last week he was running to the metro and tore his ACL.  He has been in a lot of pain and after seeing a few doctors and conferring with the mission President, it has been decided that he will go home.  He will be having surgery to repair his ACL at the end of the week.  Everyone is sad to see this great young man go home, but he needs to take care of himself.  He has an unofficial fiance who is also serving a mission.  Elder Navarro is hoping to complete his mission after his recovery either back in Montreal or most likely somewhere near his home.  Then when they are both done with their missions, they will plan their wedding.  Today is P-day (preparation day) and so they are dressed in casual clothes.  Elder Chacon, his companion, will now be in a trio until the next transfer. Sister Verdin Delgado and Sister Gutierrez are wonderful, hard working sisters.  Love them.

  

Each Monday is the young missionaries P-day. On this day they do their chores, clean their apartment, do laundry and shopping, write home and have a fun day with their companion or other missionaries.  The ones who live close to the mission office always want to come to the office to do their e-mails.  As soon as we get to the office we have a barrage of phone calls to sign up for a time to do their e-mails.  They are allowed to have 1 hour.  There are two extra computers at the office and they are both filled with missionaries starting at 10:00 and going on throughout the day.  It is a busy, noisy, fun day.

Silverware

When I was just a little girl of about 2 years old, I had a very fun time once (fun for me anyway).  According to my Mom, she was in another part of the apartment doing something when she heard many of the Chinese people congregating, laughing and shouting from the street below right by our apartment building.  When she went to investigate she found me on the balcony throwing the silverware and money down to them.   Apparently I found the chest with the silverware in it and threw a few pieces down.  When the people saw them they began applauding and laughing.  Of course, I continued making them happy by throwing more silverware as well as coins.  The fun stopped when my Mother brought me inside.  

Years later when I became engaged it was the custom for the bride to pick out "her pattern".  My choice of sterling was Legato by Towle.  I really loved this simple, curved, elegant look and have enjoyed using my silver on many occasions.  I love to have fancy dinners and use nice linens, china and silver.  It is fun to prepare a nice meal and share it with family or friends.  I really do enjoy entertaining.

The Spanking

For as far back as I can remember, I was a good girl.  I never got into trouble and I never caused anyone trouble.  When I got older I asked my parents about this memory to see if it was accurate and they agreed that, "Yes that was a true statement."

However, I did get one spanking in my life.  Even though I was little, about 3 1/2 years old,  I remember it very well.  We were living in a very busy section of the French concession in Shanghai.  The streets in China are always very busy, full of traffic, pedicabs, and throngs of people.  My brother, Nicky, was just a baby.  My Mother had taken us for a walk to the park.  The baby was in a big carriage that my Mother was pushing.  We had spent a wonderful afternoon at the park and were on our way home.  Apparently I knew the way home very well, because when we were about 2 or 3 blocks away from our apartment, I ran away from my Mother and ran straight to my Father's store. The store was located directly across the street from the apt.  I remember my Dad seeing me and being so happy to see me.  He held out his arms and I ran right into them. We were both so happy, but my joy was not to last.  Shortly thereafter, my Mother came rushing up with my little brother in the carriage.  She was very upset and very unhappy with me and rightfully so.  After all,  I could have gotten lost, been hit by a car or bus, or been kidnapped.  She left my brother with my Dad, took me the arm and rushed me into the apartment.  I was crying and didn't want to go with her.  As she pulled me up the stairs, the maid and the two Amma's (nursemaids) were yelling, "No spank Missy, no spank Missy."  It did not good.  Their pleas were not heard.  I was taken into the bathroom and got a big spanking.  It did teach me a lesson though and I never ever ran away again.

Bocadillo and Panera

 Thursday after working at the office all day, the Howards and we went out to eat at Bocadillo's a Venezuelan restaurant.  It was my first time eating Venezuelan food and we all really enjoyed it. We started out with Pequenos.  One dish of these tasty goodies were filled with cheese and the other with chocolate.  Look how much chocolate is in there.

 The restaurant itself is pretty upscale, but a funny thing about it is that connected to it is a Greek restaurant.  When you walk in the door you can go either right for Venezuelan food or left for Greek food.  Some other time we will have to try the Greek.

 Our main course was Arepas. The bun is made out of corn meal mush which is fried.  My filling was shredded pork with black beans, avocado, and cheese.  Papa's had a fried plantain instead of the avocado.  We both liked ours.  After eating we came to our apartment and had a good game of hand and foot.  The "boys" won again.  Now we are 3 (boys) to 2(girls).  Sister Howard and I are planning our revenge.  Ha!

Yesterday we took the day off from the office and went down to Plattsburg, New York so that I could go o the dentist.  My tooth has been bothering me for about 3 weeks now, so I decided I better go in.  We woke up early to go and when I looked out the window, it was snowing again.  It's time for it to stop snowing.  Anyway we left and the snow didn't last too long.  Pretty soon it turned to rain and then even the rain stopped.  The rest of the day was cold with a very cold wind.  Well, when we got to the dental office, I went in and had x-rays taken.  They told me I would need to get a root canal.  However, when the dentist started checking me teeth, he said he would need to look further.  He checked my teeth and did all kinds of tests on my teeth.  He said my gums looked terrific.  My teeth all looked good. They were all alive except for my root canal tooth and he couldn't really find anything wrong.  All of the teeth reacted the same to an electrical impulse and they all had the number 2.  Finally, after quite a while, he told me that I had a tooth that has been traumatized.  "Was I under any stress?" he asked.  Oh yes, is the answer.  I have lots of stress.  He ended up just filing a little tiny bit on one tooth and now we will wait and see what happens.  I was happy that he was so honest and didn't just do a root canal when one wasn't needed.  Now I will try to relax a bit more and not stress so much.

After the dentist we went and did some shopping and finally had lunch at Panera.  The lunch was delicious.  I had a most tasty Chinese Chicken Salad.  John had a turkey, apple, cheese panini and a pastry. We both liked our lunch.  I especially liked the salad.  Yummy!

The Office

 Every month the zone leaders meet with the president at a zone council.  After that they come to the office and pick up zone orders.  One of my responsibilities is to fill these orders.  This month I had so many orders that I had to put many boxes into the hallway.  The boxes are much larger than they look in the photo.

 My orchids at the office are doing so well.  I just love how beautiful they are.  I just wish my camera could capture their beauty. These pictures do not do them justice.  They are large and beautiful with more buds waiting to bloom.  Of course, I have them sitting by my desk right on a window sill where they can get plenty of light.

 I also packed up all of these boxes.  I pack up books of all kinds, manuals, various forms, pamphlets, dvd players, dvd's,  phones, pictures and anything else the missionaries or zone leaders have ordered.  It is a lot of work and I try to fill 2 zones orders a day.  We now have 6 zones, but with so many new missionaries coming in, I think there will be added zones.  Friday when they get the orders is an especially busy day for us at the office with many missionaries coming into the office.  I love talking to them and helping them any way I can.

 Every week we get notes from some missionary or another.  One week we came and found this big sign hanging up on the counter.

Last week two of the sweet sister missionaries made zucchini bread for Sister Conway and me.  They left this darling note.  We do love our awesome missionaries.

Warlords

                                                               Photos from google

I am not sure how my Dad met them, but he was friends with at least one and maybe a couple of Warlords in China.  Unfortunately I don't really remember.  He would often go out riding with them.  He also went hunting and fishing with them.  Here are a few of his favorite stories.

Once he and his Warlord friend and some of his men went fishing on an amphibian.  When they got to the spot where they wanted to fish, the men and the warlord took out sticks of dynamite or maybe grenades and threw them into the water.  This stunned the fish and they would then get into the water and just pick up the fish.

Other times they would go duck hunting and this is how they did it.  After arriving at just they right spot, they would walk quite a distance to get to where the ducks were.  They would be wearing waterproof suits and would then wade out into the lake.  They would go underwater with a long reed in their mouth through which they would breath air.  As they passed under the ducks, they would grab them by the legs, pull them under the water and wring their necks.  This is not the kind of fishing my Dad loved, but he did enjoy his time with his friends.

Whenever George, my Dad,  would go to visit his friend the Warlord, he would always be treated to a special meal.  Often the meal would include a very special "treat" that was unusual to the white man.  They ate all sorts of insects, snakes, and other various "delicacies".  My Dad said that he could eat just about anything they gave him except for one time.  They were sitting around in the tent talking, smoking, and  eating.  At the end of the meal they were to have a special treat.  The servants brought in a round table with a small hole cut out of the middle of it.  The men gathered around the table and waited excitedly for their treat.  The servants then brought in a live monkey which they had tied up.  They then put the monkey under the table with the head sticking up through the hole.   (stop reading if you don't want to read the graphic next step)


 
The next step was to smash the head of the screaming monkey with a wooden mallet.  The skull was then removed and the men ate the still warm brains.  My Father said he could not handle that.  He had to make a quick run out of the tent where he was sick to his stomach.

Chinatown

 No, we did not eat Subway at Chinatown.  Somehow the picture posted in the middle and I don't know how to change it.  I took the picture of the Sub sandwich because we had it the other day for lunch.  Usually we just bring our lunch and I usually only take only about 10 minutes.  Sometimes it's a little bit longer.  I am so busy at the office that I usually need to just get back to work.  Anyway this day we just felt like having a Subway and there is one just a few blocks away from the office.  The sandwich was quite good, but expensive as most things are here in Montreal.  We paid over $16.00 for two.

There is a little Chinatown here in Montreal not too far from us.  It has little grocery stores, lots of souvenir shops, and lots of restaurants.  We ate at a super yummy Chinese buffet.  We both really like it a lot and have been there a couple of times already.  

When I was young and we lived in San Francisco, we often went to Chinatown to eat dinner.  My parents loved to go there to eat with their friends.  They really didn't like to go out to eat to other restaurants because they said they could cook better food than they could get at those restaurants.  So, very often they would call their friends they with their kids and we would all go out to eat.  Parking was always a problem, so we would usually have to park far away.  We didn't mind at all.  We loved walking through Chinatown, looking in all the windows, going into the little shops and sometimes buying little things.  We often ate at the same restaurant, but no matter which one we chose to eat at, my Dad would always go into the kitchen and talk to the main cook.  He could speak Chinese really well and he would go in and talk to the kitchen staff.  He was the kind of guy who talked to everyone and everyone loved him.  The staff and chef were always surprised that he could speak Chinese and they enjoyed chatting with him.  They ALWAYS brought out some special dish that they made just for him.    Some of the things they brought were unusual to us Westerners, but we always tried it.  When we would go to our favorite restaurant, he would always have a little treat that he would take into the kitchen for the staff.  On the way back to the car, we often bought a little bag of pine nuts or some other little treat to nibble on.