March 13-19, 2023

We had a big milestone this week.  Literally.  In the car.  We wanted the photo at exactly 100,000 but we were just starting to cross the Mercier bridge when it clicked over and there was no place to pull over until we cleared the bridge and all the off/on ramps.


Our plan before the mission was to sell this vehicle, as we thought we would be using a mission car.  If you serve in the United States or Canada (and reside in either of those countries) you are asked to drive your own vehicle.  So our trusty Pathfinder is now nine years old and has never given us any trouble.  We hope it stays with the plan for another three months and gets us safely back to Utah.

We have completed four of the temple preparation classes with this group of participants.  After class next week, Simon and Louise are traveling to the Congo to visit family so we will do the last class without them and finish their classes when they return.  Today after Bishop Storehouse, we took Solomon and Wumi to the distribution center to purchase their temple clothing.  They haven't decided on a date yet, just sometime in April.  We are so excited for them!

Some sad news this week - when we did our weekly visit with Sister Smith at the nursing home, she wasn't there.  Her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low during dialysis on Wednesday so they transferred her to emergency.  We visited with her in emergency (here they keep patients in emergency for 2-3 days, depending on what the issue is) late Friday afternoon.


She has since been transferred to the palliative care unit in the hospital.  Her nephrologist informed her that because of her chronic low blood pressure, she is no longer eligible for dialysis.  He asked permission to put her on life support and she refused.  Sweet Agnes has undergone dialysis treatments for 20 years now.  She had a stroke about the same time we arrived in Montréal and has been hospitalized since we have known her.  She is only 68 but has suffered a long time and is tired.  The goal now is to keep her comfortable for her few remaining days.

Today was our ward conference.  Bishop Gagnon gave an excellent talk on the use of our time.  He invited us to focus on and prioritize our time so that we are spending time with our family, taking care of ourselves (spiritually, emotionally and physically) and serving the Lord.  The Stake President touched on several topics but the one that I remember most was his testimony of tithing.  He also told us how he came to be the Stake President.  His family was living close to the Ontario border, southwest of the city.  They were contemplating a move north west of Montréal and out of the Mount Royal Stake.  During a family council his two young daughters told him they thought it was time to move back "home."  He and his wife both felt the spirit confirm that the girls were right, so they found a home in the Montréal ward.  He was called as the Stake President a few months later.

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