St. Lawrence River.

 A few weeks ago the Howards and we took a leisurely Saturday drive along parts of the St. Lawrence river.  Quebec is split along its southern latitudes by the St. Lawrence river, one of the longest rivers in the world.  The St. Lawrence is the gateway to North America and the Great Lakes and flows all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.  It is surprisingly wide.  Ships come to Montreal via the St. Lawrence and we often drive past the locks.

 The Howards are the CES couple and they run the institute program here.  We often take a Saturday drive or have some fun outing with them.  They are a very fun and interesting couple that we enjoy spending time with.  They also both have a great sense of humor so we get to laugh a lot too.

 We stopped at this Drive-in which you can't drive through. Haha.  The food was good though.

There are quite a few little harbors along the way with lots of boats docked there.

We have been so busy as usual.  Last week we went to 2 zone conferences.  One of them was in Quebec City.  Tomorrow we have to drive back almost to Quebec City to get one of the mission cars out of impound.  One of the missionaries was wrongly stopped by a police officer.  He, the policeman, told the elder that he was illegally driving because he didn't have a Quebec license after being here more than 3 months.  He impounded the car, gave the elder a huge fine, and left the 2 missionaries on the side of the road.  Luckily zone leaders were in a city not too far away and were able to pick them up.  It has been a real runaround and big problem for a month already.  John and also the mission president have been on the phone with the legal department in Salt Lake and with various agencies here in Montreal and Quebec City.  The Elder absolutely was legal, but it will take a while for all of the paperwork to be approved, signed and sent here.   Meanwhile John is the only one with power of attorney to get the car out of impound.  And so tomorrow morning we drive there to get the car.  Then we turn around and back track and drive in the opposite direction to go to Ottawa for a zone conference which will be held on Tuesday.  Thursday is another zone conference.  In between, we go to the office to catch up on the multitude of tasks there.  I'm not complaining.  I'm happy to be serving the Lord, but it is a lot of work.

Birthday and Transfer Day

 I had my birthday clear back in June, but have been too busy to even blog about it.  I had the most wonderful few day.  I received so many texts and cards and calls that it blew me away.  I am so blessed.  Elders McCook and Smith called me on the phone and were talking to me.  Then they asked me if I could go downstairs for a minute.  I did and when I got there, they sang happy birthday to me and presented me with this Cannoli, "From the best bakery in Quebec."  They were several days early, but that was because they wanted to be the first to give me wishes.  I was so happy and excited and appreciative and it was delicious.

 Elders Ruby and Wilber helped me get zone orders ready and packed.  We had a good time together laughing and talking.  Sadly a few days later Elder Ruby got a phone call that his grandpa had passed away.  We have now had about 6 missionaries with that sad phone call.

                        Here's a photo of the delicious Cannoli and what is in the ice cream box?

 Yes, it's banana "birthday" bread from Elders Ruby and Wilbur.  Is there a better way to transport yummy bread?

 At transfer time last week these 4 all moved away.  Elders Wilbur & Ruby and Sisters Bolanos & Bourdon.  I will miss seeing them every day, but they are needed elsewhere. Transfer time is always exciting.  Which missionaries will move? Which will stay?  Who is going home?  Who are the new trainers.  All four of the above will be training newcomers this transfer.  I love the shot below of the bear hug.  I love how all of the Elders give each other a huge hug when they meet, even if it's a brand new Elder coming into the mission who doesn't know a soul.  Each Elder always get a big hug from the others.  These missionaries truly love other and they especially love serving the Lord.  The Sisters get a handshake except with each other, of course.

Transfer time was so, so hectic and busy for me.  I had to get supplies to fill 10 new apartments and also phones for all of the new missionaries.  I also had to get the zone orders filled and packed up.  That along with the regular duties of answering phones, billing insurance, writing letters, etc. etc. was A LOT.  In addition, we have a new president and so he has changed a lot of the standard form letters.  Well, actually he changed one and I had to change the rest of them because "Now you know how I like the write the letters and what I want in them.  You will be able to handle the rest,"said the Pres.  We also had to change all of our filing and labels because he also changed the name of the zones.  I had to match everything up to reflect all of the new changes.  John and I also did training of the new missionaries.  As well as all of that, I did the flights for the departing missionaries and arranged and went to a temple session with the departing missionaries.  Whew!  What a busy two weeks!

Quebec City Senior Trip

 We were able to go on a senior missionary couples trip yesterday to Quebec City.  We had such a great time.  Quebec City is so beautiful!  We first went to the Plains of Abraham where the British and the French had a big battle.  In September of 1759 the 7 year war or the French/Indian war, as it is known in the United States came to an end.  The French General Mont Calm fought the troops of the British General James Wolfe.  General Wolfe secretly moved his forces down the St Lawrence (photo above) and then up the cliffs, during the night, to the plains of Abraham.  Apparently the front British solders, who spoke French, fluently tricked the French into thinking they were French soldiers coming to help. Battle ensued and the British won.  This battle gave the British control over New France, later Quebec, and ended French power in what in now a part of Canada.  General Wolfe died on the field and General Mont Calm died later of wounds received during the battle.

                                                Here is our little excursion group.

                           Just a little sample of some of the cannons.  You can see the balls inside.

We then drove into old town Quebec and past the Citadel.  Here is the beautiful, very large boardwalk with the St. Lawrence in the back.

The castle Frontenac is huge and so beautiful.  We were not able to go inside because it is now closed, but we loved walking all around.

                                      The photo below is looking down on old town Quebec.

                                                 Part of the wall around the citadel.

For lunch we split into 2 groups.  The guys and Sister Allen had sub sandwiches and the 3 of us had the most delicious sushi.

                                      

After lunch we drove up to Montmorency Falls.  These smaller falls are called Bridal Veil Falls.  Just a little ways up the hill are these beautiful Montmorency Falls.  We took a tram all the way to the top.

                                               On the other side of the road is this bridge.

When you get off the tram, you arrive at the Montmorency Manor.  If you walk a ways, you can walk on a bridge right over the falls and go to the other side.  Everyone but me did that little hike.  Because of my bad foot, I had to stay and wait for them, but I didn't mind.

I was entertained by this fellow who welcomed everyone who got off the tram and told quite a few fun historical stories.  He is also a tour guide of the manor, but at this time no one wanted to take a tour.  He was impersonating Governer Haldimand who was the third governor of Quebec and who had Montmorency Manoir built.

There is a legend about La Dame Blance, or the white lady.  As the story goes Matilde, the white lady, fell in love with Louis.  Louis asked Matilde's father for her hand and since he was already well liked by the family the father readily accepted. They were engaged to be married.  Unfortunately this was the time of the great war and Louis went off to fight.  One legend says that the next day Matilde went to search for her lover and found his pale body killed in battle.  The other says that she mourned for a year and kept waiting for him to return home.  In any case, she was so distraught that she put on her beautiful white gown and veil and threw herself over the falls.  To this day people say that they see her in her white dress in the mists of the Falls.  Additionally, as she was walking, her veil got caught on some rocks and blew off thus creating the bridal veil falls.

To finish out our wonderful trip we stopped at Chocolat Favorit, a shop with the most delicious chocolates and famous ice cream cones that were tasty every lick.