March 14-20, 2022

More mission statistics from a meeting with President and Sister Harkness this week.  Some of it will probably be a repeat of what I previously wrote.

• 6 provinces
• 1 territory
• 2 countries (United States and Canada)
• 3 time zones
• 4 languages: English, French, Spanish, Mandarin
• 12 million population
• 6 stakes
• 2 districts
• 6 missionary zones
• 205 young missionaries
• 35 senior missionaries

We attended way-too-early morning online Seminary this week to see how the current teacher is doing the class.  We are trying to learn some Zoom tricks so we can share and teach effectively.  We are secretly hoping the Benson's baby comes about two months over due.

One of the interesting and fun things about living someplace new is discovering how common things are accomplished differently than what we are used to.  We take our trash down to the receptacles in front of the apartment building.

We think they are much more attractive than metal dumpsters.  Some are for trash, others for recycle.  When we drop the bags in, it seems to be a bottomless pit and we have wondered how the containers are emptied.  We came home one day and saw the answer in action.

The cylinders are lined; one of the men on the truck unfastens the top of the tank and fastens the crane to it.  The crane lifts the liner out and over to the truck where the first man releases the bottom and the trash is emptied.  I am easily entertained!

We have had a slow week - part of the reason is that John has been having episodes of dizziness and light-headedness for a couple weeks now.  We were monitoring his blood pressure but it is normal.  When things didn't get any better, we went to see the mission doctor.  He wasn't able to determine any reason for the episodes so ordered some blood tests and an EKG to be sure an irregular heartbeat wasn't restricting the flow of oxygen.  He sent us to a private clinic near the mission office but they were not able to do any of the tests at that location.  We found one in Châteauguay that would do the blood work but not the EKG.  The blood work is done and the doctor says John is healthier than most of the young missionaries.

Our next stop was the hospital out-patient clinics.  We waited in line for about 20 minutes to make an appointment for the EKG.  After many questions (why don't we have Canadian/Quebec medical cards, etc.) they made the appointment.  For May 6.  So glad we weren't having a real emergency.

This was our first experience of using any kind of medical coverage while on a mission.  We are grateful to be healthy and not to have needed any medical assistance before.  The church requires us to pay $348 each per month for international coverage.  No one in Quebec will accept that card or coverage and the mission doctor told us that up front.  We paid $400 cash for the blood tests alone.  And to wait 7 weeks for a test... I have not been impressed with the Canadian medical coverage John has been bragging about.  In his defense, I'm sure things have changed considerably since he left Canada 30+ years ago.

We had a busy Saturday.  We started with Bishop's storehouse in the morning.  We brought the five Elders back to Châteauguay with us.  One of the families in the ward hosted a Cabane à Sucre (Sugar Shack) just for the missionaries.  It was wonderful and the food was every bit as good as the senior Sugar Shack outing I wrote about earlier in the month.  I learned more about the food and Sister Schurman promised to teach me how to prepare the food so we can have our own Sugar Shack when we return home.

This is the dessert table.  There are 3 courses to the meal:

First course:

• Soupe aux pois - pea soup
• Pain - bread
• Cretons - a spread made with minced pork and spices.  Similar to a pâté and so good
• Pickles
• Pickled beets
• Fruit ketchup
• Sausages soaked in maple syrup
• Cold slaw - made with a vinegar dressing, then you drench it with maple syrup.  I can't get into this one.  Tastes kind of nasty.
• Oreilles de crisse - Christ's ears or deep fried pork jowls.  We know them as pork rinds.
• Lait - milk, then add maple syrup.  I can't do this one either.

Second course:

• Omelets
• Maple cured ham
• Maple cured bacon, cooked very crisp
• Tourtière - meat pie
• Fèves au lard - baked beans
• Pommes de terre - potatoes, cubed and fried or baked in maple syrup until crispy

Third course:

• Crêpes - referred to as pancakes
• Tarte au sirop d'erable - maple sugar pie
• Grands-pères dans le sirop d'erable - literally translated it means grandfathers in maple syrup.  They call it pudding.  These are dough shaped balls (similar to dumplings) cooked in boiling maple syrup.

If you are smart, you stop after the first course.  But who can resist all that food?  I did learn from our first experience to go easy on the maple syrup.

Sister Schurman even did tire sur le neige for us.  She had saved a pan of snow in case there wasn't any on the day of the party.  I was past done at this point but it was fun watching the young missionaries roll their candy.

We had a few hours break before returning to the church for a birthday party for Sister Pollock and two young ward members with the same birthday.

Sister Pollock turned 21, Happiness is 12 (I think) and Airee is 13.  Airee is the Relief Society President's son.  The Elders made frozen pizza, four kinds of chips, lots of soda and juice and 3 kinds of cake.  Not that we needed any more sugar...

I saved the best for last.  We had a baptism on Friday evening!

Sisters Pollock and Bly have been teaching Solomon and Wumi for a few weeks.  They are from Nigeria and have been in Canada since November 2021.  They left their four adult children in Africa and were in New York City for a year before coming to Montreal.  We aren't sure why they are here but are so happy to know them.  They are both so sweet and pleasant to be with.  Solomon's laugh is infectious and he uses it often!

Oluwaseun, Solomon, Wumi, Sister Pollock and Sister Bly.  Oluwaseun is a member of our ward and is also from Nigeria.  She is the mother of Happiness (the birthday girl).  She has three other children named Marvelous, King David and Anna.

Solomon and Wumi at church today.  Seeing Wumi dressed in her African finery made us feel like we were back in Ghana again.  We asked him how he felt after being baptized and he said "so happy, so happy."  This is what it is all about.

We bear witness of the reality of Jesus Christ; that he lived, he atoned for our sins, he died and was resurrected and lives again.  We love him and want others to share the same joy and happiness we feel because of our brother Jesus Christ.