St Joseph's Oratory

 

 Friday we took a little 2 hour trip with the Allens and the Conways to visit St Joseph's Oratory.  The Allen's are in a room that is filled with hundreds of votive candles.  Those of the Catholic faith light the candles and pray.

 This gigantic cathedral is very beautiful both inside and out.  It was founded by Brother Andre, who was a very loving and giving priest who dedicated his life to helping others.

 There are two gigantic chapels.  This is the inside of the one on the bottom.  The one on the top, in the dome is very modern.

.

In the hall of votives there are many sections such as this one.  There is a little stairway on each side where one can go to to top and light a candle that is up high.

Lining the walls in little alcoves are hundreds of canes.  These canes are canes that have been left behind by people who came in using them and after the prayers of Father Andre and other faithful ones, the people left healed.

                                                          Another section of votives.

                                            This is the inside of the oratory on the first level.

                                     Many beautiful stained glass windows line each side wall.

                                      The statue in the front is of Joseph holding baby Jesus.

                                                This is one of the organs.  It is huge.

Many people used to make a pilgrimage crawling to the church from many miles away and then crawling all the way to the alter.  I saw this woman who was on her knees crawling from the back of the church to the front.  She would stop every few feet and pray.

     On the 5th level is a museum.  This is an actual robe, hat and shoes that Frere Andre wore.

                                                         A model of the cathedral.

A wax figure of Frere Andre.  According to this and the size of his clothes, he appears to be a very small man.

This is the bed and furnishings taken from the hospital which he established and in which he died.

We looked through this gated wall into a little box filled with (formaldehyde?) or some other preservative that holds the heart of Frere Andre.

                                     The following are photos from the upper level chapel.

There are many wooden carvings and paintings everywhere.  

There are 7 levels in all, but we were only able to tour the first 5.  The others were closed off.

                                                       The view from the top.

The path to the left leads to gardens and the stations of the cross which depict Christ's journey to Gethsemane.

                     The Allens and the Conways with Papa at the entrance to the gardens.

Outside by the gift shop is this bell tower. As we were leaving some beautiful music was coming from those bells.

Busy Week

 Once again we had a busy, busy week.  On Monday and Tuesday I was busy preparing for transfers, training and getting phones ready for the 20 new missionaries. The phone became a real undertaking which resulted in many hours of work.  I had previously ordered new phones for all of the new missionaries and new areas.  On Monday I had each one activated with a phone number that was on the box which the phone was in.  I also registered each phone and recorded the sim card number with the phone company and on the church records.  On Wed. afternoon I began getting calls from missionaries that their phones were not working.  I quickly figured out that the company gave phone numbers from existing phones to the new phones.  Why didn't their system catch this?  So annoying.  I then had to call the company on Thursday, after they opened a few hours later because they are in a different time zone. I had to have them reinstall each old phone number to the old sim card.  Then we had to open a new line, with again another new sim card and set up each new phone with a new sim card and a new phone number as well as a new name.  What a job.  It took hours.  You would think that was the end of it.  Oh no, on Thursday eve. my own phone stopped working.  They had given my number to another missionary phone and shut mine down.  Friday I had to fix that mess.

Here is Sister Murcdoch.  She is such a great missionary. It so happens that she is a friend of my dear friend Sharon and she lives less than a mile away from where I live in the US.  What a fun coincidence.  I got to e-mail with her before she even came to the mission.  She is an awesome girl and I have had lots of fun getting to know her.  She and her companion were working with the young adults for this transfer and I saw her every day.  Now she is being transferred to Quebec City.  Sister Murdoch just arrived last transfer and she will already be training a new sister this transfer. 

Sister Bolanos is wonderful too.  She just arrived last transfer and this transfer she will be training a new sister also.  It is great and amazing to see the quality of the new missionaries that are arriving.

Elder Yunack is from Vauatu and Elder Beaumont is from Canada.  They come to the office every day.  Both are awesome missionaries.  I love to talk to them and all the missionaries and to hear their fun stories.  For example the thing Elder Yunnack misses most about home is going pig hunting.  He actually hunts with a spear and then they cook the pig for dinner in the ground.  All of our missionaries are so great.  Many come from other countries and they all learn to speak English and French as well as Quebecois.  Many of them also learn Spanish and we also have those who serve in the Chinese areas and so they learn Mandarin.  What an accomplishment!

Sister Bourdon is from France.  Sister Bousiere is from Virginia and Sister U-fa from Tahiti.  Besides being sweet and smart these sisters are hard workers. Here they are in their p-day attire ready to write e-mails home.
On Wednesday morning Sister Conway and I arrive at the mission home about 8:00.  We meet the new missionaries and then we get busy copying their personal things like drivers license, IDP, passport, and visa.  We have to do that as fast as possible because at 9:00 we begin training.  Each one of us trains in a different area.  The Elder Arhets and Elder Conway arrive and they do their training, Elder Arhets trains all of the driving stuff and Elder Conway the financial.  Sister Conway and I then rush back to the office where she needs to get out certain paperwork and I need to print boarding passes and pay for luggage.  Problems often come up.  This time we had four Tahitian Elders whose transfer flight to Tahiti from L.A. was cancelled.  This is a big problem because the next flight wouldn't leave for a few days.  Meanwhile we also have a temple session scheduled for 1:00 this same day.  At first Pres cancelled the temple session and we had to call all who would be attending not to go.  We also were going to call all of the parents who had to pick up the missionaries in Tahiti.  Finally, after many calls to travel and various people we were able to arrange for the LA mission president take the missionaries for a few days until they could catch their plane to Tahiti.  Of course I then had to recall all of the people who would be working at the temple to tell them that plans were back on.    

                                    Here we are with the outgoing missionaries at the temple.

                                                 Sisters Rojo, Gutierrez, and Limburg

 

Elders Pohue, Shaver, and Vanfau.  Elders Berdichevski-Poroi and Teuira were still inside talking to the temple pres.

After the temple we went to Schwartz's with the Howards to have dinner.  Schwartzes is a famous Montreal Deli on St Laurent.  It's a tiny place with table for 8 standing by the walls.  Everyone shares tables. They are famous for serving real smoked meat. The walls are lined with photos of famous people who have eaten there.  Unfortunately my battery on my camera died.

The meal they are most famous for is this sandwich along with fries and a dill pickle along with a black cherry soda.  We all ordered the same thing and it was delicious.  We did have to take 1/2 a sandwich home as it is quite large.

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.