It was a humdinger of a week for weather in Montréal. The whole week was blistering hot. On the worst day, the high temperature was 88° F but the humidex (what it feels like when the humidity is factored in) was 106° F. The rain finally rescued us on Friday. I've never been so grateful for rain! Some of the senior missionaries have a de-humidifier and they've been pulling a gallon of water out of the air in their small apartment every 5 hours. The air has been so heavy this week! And I'm just not used to having crackers that don't crunch...they feel like they're wilted in my mouth. This desert girl is not accustomed to all of this moisture in the air!
Saturday, September 9, 2023
My Crackers Are Soggy! 😟
The next day I headed out for 2 days away from the big city since the archives was closed for Labor Day, which happens to be the same as Labor Day in the U.S. I wanted to go to church so I drove to a small town called Granby. I was surprised when Google maps took me to a strip mall and I nearly missed it because I've never been to church in a strip mall before!
I sat through testimony meeting and understood next to nothing since the meeting was in French. But I was amused to watch a 4 year old boy's set up on the row his family was sitting on. Do you see how he creatively used hymnbooks as corrals for his animals? Brilliant!
This! This is why I flee the city as often as I can. My dream home would be in a setting very similar to this. The beauty and the peace do wonders for my soul.
As I was on my way to the AirBnB, I came across a car rollover so the police officer was diverting all traffic onto a dirt road. A detour in the back woods of eastern Québec? Yes, please! I got so lost and GPS was freaking out as I drove in and out of cell coverage. I could have cared less. I knew the general direction of the main road I needed to find and I saw some absolutely beautiful settings.
Here's what the AirBnB looked like. The original part of the house (the right side) was built in the late 1800s. The left side was added as a garage but the current owners have remodeled it into their living space. As soon as I arrived I was told the power was out due to the car rollover which had hit a powerline. So the hosts lit candles throughout the house. I thought it very apropos since that's probably the way the house looked in the evenings when it was first built. The power was back on by 11 pm. I spent the evening in the backyard where it was cooler. Click on the link for the backyard scene.
The AirBnB property came complete with chickens, geese, and the most well-mannered dog. I spent quite a bit of time getting to know him. I loved his gentle personality.
They allow guests to stay. Men can stay in the main building with the monks and women stay in a nearby house but take meals at the abbey. Silence is required at all times. I tried to book a room but they're full for the next 3 months! I'm going to plan ahead and find a weekend to spend in contemplation and silence while staying at the abbey.
I'm inspired by two things from my Catholic brothers who have dedicated their lives to the Lord: 1) I've been trying to build quiet time for pondering into my schedule this past week, and 2) these men gather for worship in the chapel 7 times every day. I have made covenants to always remember Jesus Christ so I want to be more intentional about remembering Him each day.
This cheese! Ohhhhhh, THIS CHEESE! It cost me $10 and it was worth every penny!!! Coaticook is a small town in Québec. I bought this cheese to eat with some plumb, crunchy green California grapes. What a grand meal THAT was! The other missionaries and I have been really impressed with the dairy products in Québec. The milk stays fresh longer. The cheese tastes better. The ice cream is richer and creamier.
It's staaaaarting! The leaves are just beginning to turn up here in the north!
I went to Primary this Sunday. It's so much easier for me to understand the Mandarin spoken in Primary than the adult class! We were talking about how Heavenly Father is Jesus' Father. One of the kids asked, "Who is Heavenly Father's father?" Oh wow! I've actually never thought of that! It floored all of the Primary teachers and they simply said they didn't know. But it kind of makes sense to me that Heavenly Father would have parents also. After Primary I told this boy that the reason we don't know is because Heavenly Father hasn't ever told us. I told him that Heavenly Father knows everything but He has only shared some things with us.
I can only assume that the young missionaries in the Canada Montreal Mission are serious, hard-working missionaries. Every Sunday night we have a missionwide Zoom meeting called "Joy and Success". We hear each zone report about their goals and accomplishments for the week. We also get to see photos and hear some quick thoughts from missionaries about each of our friends who have been baptized during the previous week.
Check out these numbers! Our missionionaries find about the equivalent of an entire ward of friends every week who are potentially interested in learning more about Jesus Christ and His restored gospel! And you'll notice that boils down to approximately 10 baptisms per week. A few weeks ago I heard that we were among the top 5 baptizing missions in the entire world! What?!? We're not an African or South American mission! . . . or ARE we?? Most of the people who are being baptized in our mission are immigrants. Our mission leaders tell us that these people are being led to Canada to find the gospel.
I'M SO PROUD OF OUR YOUNG MISSIONARIES!!!
President Harkness told our young missionaries last night that they brag to their family all the time about the missionaries in our mission. And then Sister Harkness quickly added. . .RIGHTEOUS bragging! 😂
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