January 1, 2023
Happy New Year!! We knew that not much would happen between Christmas and New Years so I saved the previous week events for today. And I didn't want to clutter Christmas day with trivial stuff.
We had a lovely Christmas afternoon with our Nigerian friends. I had asked Wumi what she would like to eat for Christmas dinner. She promptly requested turkey and shrimp, so that's what we had. We found an 11-pound turkey, put it in a deeper 9x13 disposable pan and it filled the entire oven! We were a little worried about it roasting properly but it came out just fine. We also made homemade stuffing, which none of them had ever tasted but they loved it and took all the leftover home with them. None of them had tasted cranberries nor did they like them; said they were too sweet. They ate a lot of mashed potatoes but they don't do gravy.
Solomon and Wumi
Seun, Wumi, Solomon, me, John, Femi
Solomon, Seun, Wumi, Femi
After dinner Seun insisted on "rinsing the silverware." I told her to please leave everything but she rinsed all dishes and cleaned the kitchen and put everything away for me. It took me awhile to find things again but she did a super job. We were too full for pie (I had bought a pecan, apple and lemon pie) so I asked if they would like to take some pie home with them. Wumi jumped up and said yes, we'll take the pecan pie. Seun said they wanted the apple pie. The whole pie? Of course! What delightful people to be with. We love them dearly.
John was happy with his new Montréal Canadiens gear and I used the Instant Pot for the first time on Friday. We made BBQ chicken drumsticks and they were pretty good. We will try ribs later this afternoon to break our fast.
On Christmas Eve Day the seniors had a brunch at a restaurant near the apartment building where the office missionaries reside.
After brunch we went to the mission office for a white elephant exchange. John ended up with a small first aid kit and I got a Chinese tea cup.
President Harkness likes to take selfies
Meet two of the great families in our ward. These are their Christmas photos.
The Surla Family
The Surlas are from India. They joined the church in Montréal in September 2021. Sujana and Sunil (mom and dad) were part of our last Temple Prep class. Reeni is 11 and Johan is 9. They are the sweetest family!
The Tulieva family
The Tuliev family joined the church in the Ukraine several years ago. I'm not sure how long they have lived in Montréal. Aleksandr (dad) was an engineer in Russia and decided to go back to school here so he could be a licensed engineer in Quebec and support his family. I love his pose in the photo - he looks so Russian! Svetlana (mom) also went to school at McGill University for a Master's degree in music. She is an amazing concert pianist. Nicolas lives here in Montréal (not sure what he does). Nina is majoring in fashion design at BYU Provo. We taught Sasha in Seminary last year. Victor is 12. All of them play two or three musical instruments, speak 3-4 languages, and are all pretty amazing.
Les Patriotes de 1837-1838
My friend whom we have worried about being involved with the man I don't like was married on December 23 by our bishop. As punishment for my unkind thoughts, they asked us to be their witnesses. I had to repent and talk myself into a better attitude but I behaved and everything went well.
Monica and Serge filling out the paperwork
Bishop Gagnon performing the ceremony
The happy couple
It was just the five of us in the Relief Society room; none of their children or friends attended. Made me kind of sad for them. The original plan was to live in her current apartment but they have decided to move to Victoriaville, about two hours north of Montréal. I will miss Monica but think the move is probably a good idea. They can start fresh where no one knows their history. I wish them much happiness.
I think I have mentioned Lillian before - she is 88, a widow of six years, has some health issues but still lives on her own. She is so immersed in self pity that she can hardly function. When we first met her, she expressed a desire to go to the temple and be sealed to her husband. Frank was very active in church and served in leadership positions but was never able to convince Lillian to go to the temple with him. She said she realized that she had made a mistake in never going to the temple. Our first goal was getting her to attend church. We have tried and tried, along with her faithful ministering sister, but she has too many excuses and is paralyzed by her self pity. Today we witnessed a miracle - Lillian walked into the chapel during the opening hymn and sat down. I thought her ministering sister may have brought her but no, she was all on her own! I was so happy to see so many ward members approach her after the meeting and speak to her. We told her that the bishop wanted to say hello (he didn't have advance warning but we were sure he would want to talk to her) and she was surprised at that. We walked her to the front of the chapel and the bishop gave her a hug. We hope this is her New Year's resolution and that she sticks with it!
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