This week has been a sunshiny week in Quebec. We literally had sunshine and 70s all week, which is why we decided to join some other senior missionaries to go to Ottawa for the annual Tulip Festival on Saturday. As it turned out it began to rain on Saturday and is forecasted to rain this whole week, back to the 50s and 60s for us. We were blessed with a window of halted rain for a couple hours while we toured the gardens, though. As soon as we made it back to our shuttle the rains began again. Tender mercies! I couldn’t stop snapping pictures of these beautiful tulip beds, but even more interesting was the story behind them. Canadians are very proud of their efforts in WWII as they helped liberate Europe. During the war people were eating tulip bulbs in the Netherlands just to stave off starvation. When their country was invaded by the Nazis, Princess Juliana and her two young children were given refuge in Canada. The princess was expecting another baby at the time. In order for the baby to be born with full Dutch citizenship, the Canadian government designated Princess Juliana’s maternity suite in Canada as “extraterritorial.” The prince or princess needed to be born in the Netherlands, so this designation legally accomplished that. Later Canadian soldiers advanced over the Netherlands in May of 1945 and took back The Netherlands. The Netherlands have been ever grateful to Canada for their compassion and rescue. As a token of their gratitude, they gave a gift of 1 million tulip bulbs. Every year since, they give another 10 thousand bulbs to Canada. The Ottawa Tulip festival is the largest tulip festival in the world. It is spread over several gardens throughout the city of Ottawa. We only had time to see one, but it was really lovely. It was also fun to visit with other senior missionaries. We even got to meet the Hamptons, who are from Michigan and knew Kimberly and her family when they were there. Kimberly, the Hamptons especially loved your little Everly in her primary class. They are a great couple and will do much good in Ottawa.
It was nice to have that little trip over to Ottawa at the end of the week as the beginning of the week was a bit busy. We have been waiting for the kitchen in the mission office to be finished with its remodel. Like all remodels, they always take much longer than estimated. We have had to do a few meals from our home kitchens and then cart the food in for some mission conferences. But the kitchen is finally done, and we helped put it all back together again, as in putting all the dishes, pots & pans, etc. back. New appliances, more counter space and more cupboard space are going to be so helpful for our conference luncheon preparations as well as for the YSA’s weekly Friday night dinners. Both our luncheon couple and our YSA couple are leaving soon and only got to use the new kitchen once or twice. The new YSA couple and the two of us will be using it a lot over the next year or so. We are really grateful for the added space. Our new zone cooking responsibilities will begin in full in June. It will be another great opportunity to meet with lots of hungry missionaries.
The missionaries in our branch have been teaching a lot of new friends. We have had the pleasure of teaching with them in places like Tim Horton’s, a very popular coffee shop chain here in Quebec (we order smoothies). We also teach at the church or over the phone in group chats. It’s amazing to see how many people are on a spiritual journey looking for a church that gives them peace and a sense of belonging. We love the gospel and love to see how it changes people’s lives. I am constantly thinking about my own conversion and how it felt to learn about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation. I remember feeling like a sponge just soaking up so much new knowledge. It also felt like a puzzle when the whole picture starts coming together and the pieces all fit nicely together. It just makes sense, and you wonder how you got along in life without knowing these truths.
Pictures of tulips and a clean kitchen make it feel like Spring is here. We love our mission but sure do miss all of our family and friends. We would love to hear from you at our new address: 305 – 1021 Montee Champagne
Laval
QC H7X 0C2
Au revoir,
The Glenns