John and Karen in the Canada Montreal Mission

Close to the end of the week I was worried I didn't have anything to write for this week's blog.  Now I'm afraid there's too much! We taught the first Temple Preparation class on Tuesday.  One sister had Covid symptoms and didn't come.  Everyone else was late!  Everyone!  So we changed the start time to 7:30 and will see if that works better.  Once we got started, class went well. Sister Smith has been moved from the hospital to a nursing home but it is also temporary.  She is still waiting for a space in a nursing home closer to her former home in Verdun.  We visited with her on Thursday and was surprised to see her in her own clothing rather than a hospital gown.  That blue gown is all we have ever seen her wearing!  We noticed that many of the residents had personal touches in their rooms - an afghan on the bed or family photos - Sister Smith has nothing.  I thought I could make a small quilt for her for Christmas.  That dec...

It is a cool and rainy day here in Montréal.  Only 55 F at 3:30 in the afternoon.  Sunset is coming earlier in the day - fall is on the way.  Fall is normally my favorite time of the year but I'm kind of dreading it this year because I know what will follow - another awful Quebec winter! John has been helping one of the families in our ward with some home repairs.  They have a large home that has not been well maintained over the years.  The father had an accident a few months ago and is not working so he thought he would use his time fixing up the house.  John is teaching him some basics so he can do a few things on his own.  So far they have repaired some dry wall and re-hung the curtain rods in the dining and living rooms. Monday after Senior District Council we drove to Vaudreuil-Dorion, where Elder and Sister Gothe live.  We coveted their large, roomy apartment but decided that having underground covered parking year round was a great benefit...

We went bowling on Monday for District P-day.  I think I was in college the last time I bowled, so that may give you an idea how good I am at it. LaSalle District We were missing the other senior couple, Elder and Sister Kjar, and the Cornwall Elders, who are one and a half hours away.  The lanes were 10 pin lanes and we used smaller balls with no finger holes. John envisioning a strike Elder Loveland (seated) and Elder MacDonald Sister Larsen Elders Johnson, MacDonald, Loveland John gets the spare and whoever was in the next lane got a strike!  I had the highest team score two of the three games - that tells you good we all were.  But we had a good time.  Transfers were on Thursday so it was the last time we were all together as a district. We had heard about a u-pick farm northwest of Montréal and decided to check it out on Wednesday.  It was a lovely, warm day and we drove through areas of the city we had not been to before.  The farm is located in ...

It was a pretty slow week for blog-worthy events and pictures.  We spent one day doing missionary apartment inspections, where we take photos of problems or broken items.  Some of those pics are gross and some are just plain boring so we won't share those.  The rest of the week was pretty routine - Senior District Council on Monday, District Council on Thursday, our Thursday afternoon visit to Sister Smith in the hospital, service at the food bank on Friday and Bishop's storehouse on Saturday.  We also had a couple member family visits this week. We don't usually have dinner appointments like the young missionaries do but this week we had two invitations!  The Bishop loves to cook, especially outside on the grill.  Last week when he went to the store to buy a new gas grill for the ward, he saw a Traeger grill/smoker that was 50% off so he bought it for himself.  We were the first beneficiaries of his purchase - he made ribs and grilled vegetables that ...