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!
One of the things on my bucket list is to attend a professional football game. I just never thought that it would be in Canada! A bunch of us "seasoned missionaries" went to watch our home team, the Montreal Alouetts, play a game a week ago. I love that their mascot's name is Touché.
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!
The branch was friendly and inviting. But my favorite part was meeting these two missionaries who are both stellar young men. We didn't mean to, but we ended up having Sunday School in the hall. The Spirit was soooo strong as we discussed important aspects of being missionaries. It was very apparent to me that one of these elders was being taught something powerfully by the Spirit as tears streamed down his face. I was supposed to be at the Granby Branch that day!
This sign says "I am unpredictable." Apparently Canadian moose can talk!
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.
I have fallen in love with the Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac (the Abbey of Saint Benoit of the Lake.) It's a monastery in a beautiful country setting. It was founded in 1912 by some monks from France who came via Belgium. Today there are 40 monks living at the abbey. More history here if you're interested: https://www.abbaye.ca/en/learning-about-the-abbey/history/#:~:text=The%20foundation%20of%20Saint%2DBeno%C3%AEt,construction%20of%20a%20stone%20monastery
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 love how simple their chapel is.
I attended mass one day and heard the monks singing Gregorian chant. It was beautiful as it echoed throughout the chapel. One of the things that stunned me was that the people who were visiting and were asked to participate in the silence COULD. NOT. BE. SILENT! I was a little shocked because I felt like it was disrespectful. However, it may have been easier for me to be silent because there was no one in the chapel that I knew so I wasn't tempted to want to talk to anyone. People were quiet and talked in whispers. But to me, the word silence is an all or nothing kind of word. There's no such thing as being mostly silent. You're either silent or you're not.
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!
The last stop of my weekend trip was this charming tiny town called North Hatley. An owner of one of the antique shops (who just so happens to be a cousin of Ervil LaBaron!) told me that there are a lot of Americans who spend the summer in this tiny town because their families have owned cabins here for many generations. And we're not talking New Englanders. . .Southerners! Apparently the Southerners didn't want to spend the summers with the Northerners after the Civil War so they went further north into Canada. There even used to be a train that went from the South and its route ended in the tiny town of North Hatley, Canada! Who knew??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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