November Zone Conferences

Last week we participated in three days of zone conferences.  Elder Pieper of the First Quorum of Seventy presided.  Here he is at the right next to our mission President Patrick.  On Monday we were in Quebec City.  On Tuesday it was Mount Royal, Montreal North and South, and Longueuil North and South zones combined, and  on Wednesday it was Ottawa.  We did a lot of traveling between conferences.  It takes about 3 hours to drive to QC from Montreal and about two and a half hours in the opposite direction to go to Ottawa. We didn't get to hear too much of the conferences because most of our time was spent checking all of the mission cars.  Our mission now has 60 cars and that is a lot of work.  Add to that the cold weather and snow on Monday, -2C and very high winds on Tuesday and -2C all day Wednesday and you get two cold and tired people after all of the inspections are completed. Luckily my ink in the pen did not freeze this time so that was a real plus.
From what we did hear, we were very impressed.  One of the things Elder Pieper stressed was member involvement in missionary work and it's benefits on the family, the missionary, and the investigator.  He also really stressed how each individual has the right to receive personal revelation and direction in teaching and also in reading the scriptures.  He helped the missionaries to see how they can and should rely on the spirit and how they truly are representatives of Jesus Christ.
We loved seeing all of the missionaries and spending a little bit of time with them.  I love the missionaries and am so impressed with how wonderful they are. They are so young and yet they carry the spirit with them.  They know how to talk to people and how to teach the important principles of the gospel.  They are just great.  Here are some of the missionaries in Quebec City.  I love to get reacquainted with the ones that I get to know well.  It's always an exciting reunion.  The Sisters always give me the biggest hug and the Elders give me a great handshake and the biggest smile.

We have missionaries from all over the world, Canada, USA (Alaska and Hawaii) and many other states, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Mexico, France, England, Columbia, Chili Switzerland, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Peru, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and EnglandC.  It is amazing to see the talents and abilities of these young people.  They all speak at least 2 languages.  Many of them speak 3 and more languages.

We had a yummy lunch prepared by a family in the Stake.  We had chicken with rice and a sauce, salad and rolls.  This dessert was so delicious. I am a chocolate fan so I especially like this.

Our Tuesday conference was our busiest because we had 38 cars to do.  When we inspect each car,we have to check all sorts of things; tire pressure and depth of treads, all signals, brakes and brake lights, horn, seat belts, all of the levels under the hood, cleanliness of the inside, outside, and trunk of the car, certain paperwork that must be there and various other things.  We do have a system going now and so we are much quicker than we used to be.  It's harder when it's cold because of the bulky clothes we have to wear to keep warm and also because our fingers freeze.   It's all okay though because we are doing what needs to be done.  We don't mind at all. 

I was so impressed with Elder Pieper and also the fellow below who is one of the Stake Presidents.  They both got up and helped serve everyone else who was there when they were the ones who should have been served.  They both went around and made sure that everyone had their plates of food and that they have something to drink.  They also talked with those who prepared the food and thanked them.  They were the last ones to sit down and eat and then they also helped clear the tables.  Of course they weren't the only ones helping, but it was still very impressive that they would think to do that.

At this zone conference we had salad, mashed potatoes that had cheese curds in them, and meat loaf that had pistachios and other yummy ingredients.

                                                 Cream puffs were the yummy dessert.

A sea of young missionaries from all over the world wanting to serve the Lord, wanting to bring the gospel to the people of Canada, wanting to be the best that they can be.  They are the cream of the crop.
                                  This is part of our Spanish speaking delegation in Montreal.

This is our Chinese delegation hailing from China, Utah, Great Britain, and 3 from France.

Aren't these the best young people?  Looking at how clean they are and seeing their great smiles you can just tell how happy and wonderful they are.

Downtown Montreal

 When  we were driving home from the temple a few weeks ago, I took these photos of Downtown Montreal.  It's so interesting to see so many modern building right next to very old buildings.  This is the route a short ways after crossing the Champlain Bridge, turning on Sherbrooke and finally going on Berri which is the street we live on.

 We live in the white building.  Next to our building is a Metro stop.  We can access the Metro by going downstairs and into the basement level.  It's very convenient for wintery, snowy days.  We can just go downstairs and take the Metro to the mission office.  When we get to our stop, it is just a short walk across the street.  Our little Prius is so low to the ground that last year we got stuck several times in the snow.  A few times the missionaries got us out and a few times a little snow plow had to come and dig us out because we just couldn't get out of the snow.  We also had help a few times from people on the street who were digging out their driveways and would stop their work to come and help us.  Some of the streets get so much snow that it's nearly impossible to pass through them.  We noticed that so many of the people who live in Montreal are very helpful to those stuck in the snow.  We saw many, many cars being dug out or pushed with the help of people on the street.  There are also several little shops, a bakery, some medical offices, and a hair/nail salon there.  I love that I can just go downstairs for a hair cut or a mani or pedicure.

Halloween 2013

Here it is November and I'm just now writing about Halloween.    I have a good excuse though.  My internet was down and it was just fixed by Elder Bendio.   So, I'm back in business now.

We had a nice Halloween day at the office.  I bought lots of candy for the missionaries to eat all week long.  In the afternoon, Sister Patrick, President's wife, called and asked if we were going to be in the office around 4:00.  I said that we would be there.  She then said, "Don't tell anyone there, but the kids really want to come and show YOU their costumes."  Of course I was so happy to see them.  I was so glad they wanted to come up and show off a little in front of me.  

 Dan loves everything Harry Potter and I think he made a great Draco.

      Emily was a beautiful little Rapunzel.  She danced up and down the hallway she was so happy.

                                                        Here's Clifford the Big Red Dog.

                                              And we have a very happy Sherlock Holmes.    

The amazing thing is that Sister Patrick made all of the costumes herself. I think she did an awesome job.  She said that it is their tradition for her to make the kids costumes every year.  This year they used old costumes, but no one here in Canada has ever seen them so all was well.

 Here she is in her Halloween sweater.  I remember that I always had Halloween clothes to wear in October when I was teaching school.  I also have Thanksgiving clothes and Christmas clothes.  It's a lot of fun to wear " appropriate for the month clothes" when you're teaching little kids and they always love it.  I really did love teaching.  It was never a chore for me, but always a pleasure.