John and Karen in the Canada Montreal Mission

We had a district P-day on Monday.  The district leader sent us a list of suggestions and asked us to vote for the option we wanted to do.  When the options included 1. Spikeball at the park, 2. Senior vs young missionaries basketball (there are two senior couples), 3. District dance party and 4. Saint Joseph's Oratory, it was fairly obvious what the young ones wanted to do.  Both senior couples made alternate (and better) suggestions but we all went to Saint Joseph's again. Saint Joseph's Oratory It's a repeat photo from a previous post!  The senior couples sat at a table by the gift shop and chatted while the young missionaries explored the Oratory.  They had a good time and we were happy to sit so it worked out well.  Transfers are this week so it is probably the last time these missionaries will be together. Sisters Barlow & Ledding, Elders Loveland, Johnson, MacDonald & Sharp We met with Sister Liang one last time before she went to the temple ...

Some weeks are busy and filled with activities, others are slow with not much to write about.  This is one of those weeks.  We did our usual Friday service at the community food bank and did the Bishop's storehouse at the chapel on Saturday.  The July temps are in the high 80's with high humidity.  We have been forced to walk earlier in the day to avoid the heat. We are working with two ward members, helping to prepare them to receive their endowments at the temple.  The sister will be going this Saturday and the brother will go July 29.  They both participated in a temple prep class via Zoom during the pandemic but I think that must have been a difficult medium for temple  discussion.  They seemed surprised by some of the things we taught them about the temple, but both are okay and ready to go! Our friend Hayden, who was baptized two weeks ago, has received the priesthood and was ordained a priest.  He passed the Sacrament for the first tim...

I think I suffered my first bout of being homesick on July 4.  It was just another day here in Canada and I dearly missed the parades, patriotic concerts, family picnics and fireworks at home.  All I wanted was a Jersey Mike's #5 on rosemary parm bread, an icy cold lemonade and to be sitting comfortably in my lovely backyard.  Home, the USA, is a mere 30 miles away but that didn't help as it is outside the mission boundaries.  Fortunately the feeling passed after a day or two and I'm good to go - 6 months completed, 12 months to go! We did take Monday afternoon off.  We went back to Old Port and walked the entire boardwalk.  This time of year it is crowded with kiosks and booths filled with anything a tourist might think of wanting.  And lots of tourists.  John found a new hat that protects his head better than his ball caps. The Montréal Science Center is located at Old Port, as well as the cruise ship docks.  There is a huge Ferris wheel an...

Happy 4th of July.  We miss all of the celebrations associated with this day at home. 🎆  We have had some really great visits with ward members this week.  Two of them were dinner appointments and we were treated to delicious food from China and India.  We are helping Sister Liang prepare to receive her endowments on July 23.  Brother Liang, who is not yet a member, prepared the meal for us, then left the house.  He is friendly but extremely shy.  He prepares all their meals and is a great cook.  I neglected to take photos of the food so I stole one from the internet. Chinese potato salad I fell in love with this simple salad.  I know some of you reading this have lived in China and I hope you learned how to make it while you were there.  I had never heard of it but think I could eat it by the bowlful.  The Surla family is from India.  They were baptized in September 2021.  They are also preparing to go to the temple to b...