January 24-30, 2022

 We braved our way into the city on Monday morning to attend the Senior Missionary District Council in person.  It is held at the mission office in downtown Montreal.  Most of the couples join via Zoom but we wanted to meet the office missionaries in person.  And we didn't have internet so couldn't have joined anyway.  We briefly met President and Sister Harkness; they joined the meeting halfway through and were on their way to the airport.  They were flying to Halifax, Nova Scotia for the Atlantic area zone conference.

There are three senior couples and two senior sisters in the mission office.  There are two Seminary and Institute/YSA couples; one in Montreal and one in Ottawa.  One couple and one senior sister serve in the archives doing records preservation.  There are currently six MLS (member, leader, support) couples spread out from Quebec City to Halifax.  An arriving couple is on their way to Newfoundland with a set of Elders.  There have not been missionaries there since before Covid.  Two more couples are in the MTC now and will arrive sometime in February.  President Harkness told the missionary department he wanted 50 senior couples.  He will never get that many but with the geographic size of the mission, I'm sure he could use them.

One the way home from the mission office, we decided to stop at Costco.  Getting inside the store was more difficult than crossing the border.  We had to show our Covid passport electronically, no paper copies, then prove it was really ours.  All Costcos are pretty much the same, except when it comes to method of payment I guess.  We tried Visa first, then American Express.  The cashier said our debit card would work, except it's a Visa debit through our bank so it didn't work.  In Quebec (don't know about the rest of Canada) Costco accepts Mastercard, Discover or cash.  None of which we have so guess we won't be shopping there again.  Fortunately we had been to the ATM so we were able to pay for our items but it took nearly all the cash we had with us.  We had planned another stop but were so frazzled by then that we went straight home.

We are finding things to be very expensive here.  We have been grocery shopping twice now and spent about $50 more than I would have at home for a weekly trip to the store.  Some of it is the 15% (roughly) tax on everything.  Gas in our area is $1.59 per liter; that makes it about $6.36 per gallon.  And we complained about paying $3.79 per gallon in Utah!

This is the view out our front window.  This and the bedroom window are the only windows we have.

And we apparently celebrate the holiday season much longer here.  The lights are on every night outside our window and I am kind of enjoying it.

That's our apartment from the front door to the window.

The same space from the opposite end - window to the front door.  John estimates the entire space to be 40 feet by 12 feet.

Then there's the spacious bedroom.  15 feet by 12 feet.  There is a 3-inch clearance between the bed and the door as it swings open.  We miss our king bed but the mattress on this queen is really comfy and we have been sleeping well.

This is our laundry/storage room.  We are so fortunate to have a washer/dryer right in our apartment so I try not to complain about how small it is.  Two white shirts and 2-3 pair of underwear fills the washer.  I feel like I am constantly doing laundry.

Our fancy galley kitchen.  It really is nice - my only complaint is the tiny oven.  But the controls are in Fahrenheit and that makes me very happy.  I used it for the first time on Saturday when I made cookies for the missionaries in our district.

The Elders had recommended a restaurant not too far from our apartment called Super Gyros.  We love Greek food so gave it a try Wednesday evening.  It is take out only, of course, and we each ordered a souvlaki plate.  I didn't have to cook again until Friday night!  It was very good but sooo much food!

There is a Tim Horton's about a block from our apartment.  It is a doughnut shop similar to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks I guess.  I don't spend a lot of time in coffee shops so can't really compare.  Our good friend is besotted (quoting his wife) with Timbits and gave us a gift certificate before we left home.  Timbits are tasty doughnut holes that we are becoming addicted to.  Since it has been so cold we rationalize that Tim's is the only place we can walk to and get back home before frostbite sets in.  It is about a Salt Lake City block from us.

Tim Horton was a famous Canadian hockey player who started the franchise in 1964 with a partner.  Tim died in 1974 and his partner bought out the Horton family.  It is now the flagship company of a conglomerate that includes Burger King and Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen.

We spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday.  We still did not have internet so we went to the ward building with our district.  We participated via Zoom and had the Sacrament with the young missionaries in the Family History Center.

The chapel is about a 15-20 minute drive from our apartment.  I'll get a better picture of the front when the weather is better.

We have four Elders and two Sisters in our district.  I took cookies for an after church treat and all 3 dozen disappeared quickly.

Elder Guerrette is from Gilbert, Arizona; Elder Ford is from Provo, Utah.  Elder Guerrette is our District Leader.

Sister Quinton is from Cardston, Alberta and is a 4th or 5th cousin to John.  The Quintons are on his father's side of the family.  Sister Pollock is from California.

Elder Bevans is from Raymond, Alberta.  He is 6'7" tall and played basketball for Raymond High School.  He was called to the Georgia North Mission but reassigned to Montreal because of Covid.  Elder McStravik is from Regina, Saskatchewan and goes home in a week.  He may be 5' tall, not sure.  He is shorter than I am.  Now you can see why I thought there was only one Elder in the car when they met us at the apartment.  I watched them walk down the hall together; Elder Bevans was casually loping and Elder McStravik was pumping those short legs as fast as he could to keep up.  They are quite the pair.

All the missionaries are good kids and trying their best to be obedient and teach others the gospel.

They announced in Church that we will return to in person church on February 13.  We will wear masks and be required to show our Covid passports at the door.  The Tabernacle Choir has been providing our music, not sure if that will continue or if we will be allowed to sing.