John and Karen in the Canada Montreal Mission

Femi and Seun were baptized on Wednesday.  We were pleased to see so many of the Montréal Ward there to support them. Femi and Seun Oduwole Solomon and Wumi introduced Femi and Seun to the gospel.  Solomon was excited to baptize both. Sisters Larsen and Barlow started teaching in the LaSalle Ward Sisters Ledding and Ulloa continue the teaching in the Montréal Ward The service was lovely; both Femi and Seun were in tears as they were confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  They are already sharing the Book of Mormon with some of their coworkers. We rode the metro to the chapel but Femi and Seun insisted on giving us a ride back to our parked car in LaSalle.  When we parted ways, they asked if we would be their parents in Montréal.  In the African culture, that is one of the highest compliments or honors one can ask an older person.  I always loved it when someone endearingly called me Mama or Mummy in Ghana - I knew that they really liked me!...

A few weeks ago we decided that we needed a better idea where more of our ward members live.  So I made banana or zucchini bread (believe it or not, zucchini isn't nearly as popular in Quebec as it is in Utah.  It's almost hard to find, even at the farmers markets) and we delivered the treats to member's homes. One day's work Our intent wasn't necessarily a visit, just to be more visible and to learn where members are located.  If it resulted in a visit, so much the better!  We tried to arrive around dinner time, thinking more people would be home then.  We left many on the doorstep with our card attached and received a thank you text from most of them.  We started in our Châteauguay community and have a long way to go! Last week the Young Women's presidency was changed because the President is moving out of the ward.  Their current house is in Châteauguay, not far from our apartment.  On Wednesday evening we went to help load the truck.  I g...

We attended Zone Conference on Tuesday.  Sister Harkness used Minerva Teichert's painting Return of Captive Israel to teach us about freeing ourselves from bondage. The painting was completed in 1945 and it hangs in the Relief Society building directly across from the Salt Lake Temple.  Sister Harkness first noticed the painting when she was in the building attending a training session.  She was so impressed with it that she started to research the story behind it and then purchased a copy that hangs in their home now. Here is the information from the Church website about the painting:  After the Jews had been held in captivity for 70 years in Babylon, "the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia," and the king allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. King Cyrus said, "Let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.....

We have been really impressed with the efficiency of public transportation here.  We spend a lot of time on the metro and busses every day.  The metro is usually clean and we see maintenance folks cleaning the covered bus stops frequently.  The four metro lines can get us fairly close to most places we need to go.  There are currently 43 miles of underground track.  The average speed is 40 mph but they can go up to 78 mph. These are two of the three escalators we descend to get to our train at the Charlevoix station.  Charlevoix is the deepest at 98 feet below ground. This was a pretty routine week with District Council, our weekly hospital visit with Sister Smith and weekly service at the food bank.  Saturday was Bishops Storehouse, always a rewarding experience.  After storehouse we drove to the small community of Mercier near Châteauguay in search of a farmer's market.  We found a small fruit and vegetable stand at a farmhouse and bought s...

Several people have commented on the diversity in our ward.  We have observed that Quebec has a very diverse culture so we did a little research.  According to Statistics Canada, one out of three people in Montréal is an immigrant.  It is home to over 120 cultural communities from five continents.  More than 50% of Montréal's population is bilingual and over 20% is trilingual.  Because of its diversity, the greater area continues to attract immigrants from all over the world.   We made a list of the countries where some of our ward members are from:  Canada, United States, United Kingdom, West Indies, Barbados, Granada, Trinidad, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, China, Viet Nam, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Columbia, Peru, Mexico, Italy, Haiti, New Zealand, Pakistan, and France.  And these are just the ones we are aware of! Our sweet friend from Barbados celebrated her birthday on July 24.  She likes to joke that all of Utah celebrates her bi...