It has been a few weeks since I last wrote. We have been so busy with visiting new friends (lots of driving) and zone conference luncheons. We are really getting a good rhythm in the kitchen as we try to estimate the quantities for hungry missionaries. So far, we always come out with extra on the main course and desserts; better than coming up short. Each zone is a different menu and slightly different size. This week we made pulled pork enchiladas and lasagna for our two zones in Montreal. My gluten free and dairy free lasagna was a big hit and I’m glad I made enough of it as we found a couple more sisters who are lactose intolerant. We also have several missionaries who are very health conscientious and who try to avoid too much sugar. I’m usually giving away extra desserts to other missionaries as they go out the door. They aren’t all worried about too much sugar. Anyway, it really has been fun to cook for and visit with these young missionaries during zone conferences. Our district missionaries helped clean up in the kitchen with us and had the work done in no time. What fun that was! They are so polite and happy. It’s just a real joy to be around them. Since we are in the kitchen, we are also missing out on the amazingly inspiring messages from our mission president and his wife. So, at our next conference this Tuesday in Longueuil I am going to try to sneak in for part of it. We have a fairly easy menu with our Tuscan Chicken and rice dish and only a couple of nut allergies.
Aside from cooking we have been reaching out to some of our members who haven’t been to church lately. The distance is a real hinderance for some and for others it is their work schedules. There are some who have health issues as well which make church attendance challenging. We try to visit them all and share some light as best we can. In particular we have been visiting a sister who lives far away and doesn’t drive. Her husband is not a member and does not support her religious views. She is so strong in her faith in spite of her challenges. At one of our visits, we discovered that her temple Recommend had expired and she dearly wanted to go again. We arranged to get her to church for her interviews and we took her to the temple yesterday. It was her first time in over two years. Sharon was so happy. As it turns out some friends of hers who also live in her town of St. Jerome are willing to drive her as they have decided to come back to the Chomedey Branch soon. They have been going to another branch in Hucksbury, about an equal distance in the other direction.
For the second time in about two weeks Elder Glenn has had to help move a refrigerator from someone’s apartment. The first time it was down a steep staircase with the help of our elders. The nice thing about it is that we wound up getting a free dishwasher for our apartment too. Today it was an “ox in the mire” situation but it wouldn’t fit through the door so they actually had to feed the fridge through an outside window in the pouring rain. That’s what you get for bringing a truck on your mission.
Our friends, Fongwon and Sandra had a little setback last week when she had an emergency appendectomy. She is recovering quite quickly now. Elder Glenn had the privilege of giving her a priesthood blessing. She has remarkable faith. We are all so anxious to see this amazing family enter the waters of baptism. We are still waiting for them to be ready, but they are already fitting into the branch as though they were already members. Fongwon is so impressed with our missionary program that he wants his sons to be missionaries someday. They are 5 and 7 right now.
Another exciting visit we had recently was with a lady who had been taught previously and attended church for a couple months last year. Due to some extreme family drama and the long distance, she stopped coming and stopped receiving missionaries. I have been reaching out to her through emails for several weeks and finally she agreed to meet with us. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I learned more about her. She is the author of some sci-fi novels and has even won a “Reader’s Favorite” Five Star award for one of them. Of course, I ordered the book and started reading it. She lives even farther out than St. Jerome in this cute little town filled with old homes, mostly with historical markers on the front lawns. It is a very wooded area and really lush and green with flowers everywhere. When we entered her home, she was just making the frosting for a lava cake they had just baked for us. As we talked, it was served up with homemade pineapple ice cream. She shared all that had happened to her in her life and especially in the last year. It was about this time last year that her husband died suddenly and then her 20-year-old son became seriously ill with a devastating disease that I can’t pronounce let alone spell. It really hit him hard and his mother, Debbie, who was a nurse, became his caretaker. She also had an older daughter who was in and out of the house as an unwed mother with two babies. Debbie and her two younger daughters had their lives turned upside down dealing with all the chaos that ensued. Fortunately, her son is mostly recovered and is living on his own again and her daughter is out of the house again too. As we talked, we could see that Debbie is an amazing, kind and faithful person. I also saw it in her writing as I had finished her book. She believes strongly in family values and kindness. I am guessing that that is what drew her to the church. I felt an instant connection with her. When we parted with her, she and her girls gave us the biggest hugs. Before we left, I asked if we could come back with the sister missionaries and she said yes, they are ready. I am so excited to see her again next Saturday.
Au revoir,
The Glenns