November 28-December 4, 2022

After all the excitement, suspense and surprises last week, there isn't much to report this week.  Sherri (daughter) flew home on Monday and we are all alone again!  We love when family and friends come to visit us when we are far from home.

We shopped at the dollar store for Christmas decorations.  We have no room for a tree, not even a small one to set on a table.  Unless we want to give up our dining table/desk for a month.  So we decorated the door and hung large ornaments from the ceiling.  It isn't much, but that isn't really what Christmas is about anyway.

The food bank where we volunteer was closed on Friday for adjustments  in preparation for Christmas.  We switched our day to Tuesday last week.  They told us that the next two weeks will be very big for Christmas.  We aren't sure what to expect - more patrons?  Larger quantities of food distributed?  Maybe both.  We were told the same thing at bishops storehouse yesterday, but we know what to expect there.  The Church is so generous and the quality of food is good, unlike the community food banks that generally depend on donations from companies and grocery stores.  We often notice that items like bread, yogurt, and sour cream are past the "use by" dates or are about to expire.  We sort through the fruits and vegetables and discard much that is unusable.

Because of Thanksgiving and family arriving, we missed visiting with Sister Smith last week.  When we entered her room on Thursday, her face literally lit up and she had a big smile for us.  She is back in her regular room at the nursing center.  She looks and feels much better.  She had just finished eating her lunch but ripped into the baggie we brought with banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  She always wants to know when I made her treat, how I make it and what is in it.  We have been told that she is a very good cook and enjoyed cooking for others so I think that is why she always asks about the treats.  We know that she doesn't have many visitors and we are grateful that we can bring her a few minutes of happiness.  Or at least a few minutes of distraction in her daily routine.

Sister Corbett (office secretary) and I have been friendshipping a single sister in our ward.  She is my age and has had quite a difficult life (sexual abuse as a child, drugs, multiple marriages).  Too much to explain so I'll just say she is about to marry a man that I don't like at all!  I realize I don't need to like him but I am afraid that she is going into a situation that won't end well and will make her feel like she has failed again.  Enough of my feelings - the story is that we took her to lunch for her birthday on Friday.  She chose a place called Allo Mon Coco (literally translated is hello my coco, so not sure what that means!).  It is open for breakfast and lunch only.  We all had a breakfast casserole that was similar to what Village Inn used to call a skillet meal; potatoes, sausage, egg and cheese combined in a small skillet-like dish.  Sorry, no food picture, just one of the chandelier in the restaurant.

I had to look twice before I realized the "crystals" were wire whisks.  So clever.  We had a great time talking and laughing together.  She said she couldn't remember the last time she had done anything with girlfriends and really enjoyed her time out with us.

Saturday evening was the annual Stake Christmas concert at the Stake Center.  It was about one and a half hours long.  We enjoyed a variety of Christmas music, vocal and instrumental.

As you can see on the invitation, the concert benefitted the Ukrainian Newcomers Center.  Montreal has received a large number of Ukrainian refugees; several of those families are members of the Church.  There was a very large collection of donated items by the end of the concert.

We are grateful for this season to focus more on the Savior.  We are looking forward to the First Presidency Christmas message later this evening.