I didn’t write anything last week as we were both sick with a bad cold or whatever it is that is going around now. Mostly we were coughing with very hoarse throats. That curtailed any meaningful work for us for about 10 days, but we are all better now. It has been super cold here too, so we were getting a bit of cabin fever. Finally, the sun came out and we ventured out to our favorite park. At the Michel Chartrand Park there was sledding and serious cross-country skiing going on. We were sort of hoping that they would have skis to rent so that we could try out the track but no such luck. They do have a nice cafe with Hot Chocolate though. We were amazed at how many people brought out their skis on this sunshiny day. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to get outdoors. Many families were also enjoying the sled hills. There is also a love for ice fishing here on the St Lawrence River. I think it is kind of amazing to see the Montreal cityscape behind the ice fishing tents. I sure don’t get the appeal for sitting on a block of ice waiting for a fish to bite, but I know some people do like it even in frigid cold weather.
After our little hike through the woods, we went to lunch at a place we had been meaning to check out. We see these chicken cars all over town. There are actually two companies that use them, but we went to St Hubert’s where they boast of the best roasted chicken. It was very good, and the place was really clean. Even though it is a fast-food restaurant they served with real forks and knives and actual glassware, not paper. They had a motto on their wall that really appealed to me. “Notre mission: Livrer du bonheur” which means Our mission: to give happiness. I told Elder Glenn that is the mission of the gospel in a sense. We want to give happiness and we know just what can bring the greatest happiness.
I wish I had more to write, but even the people we were working with came down with illnesses this past week. Everything is getting put off by weeks now. Our friend, Lulu is still very interested in the gospel, but the elders had to pass her and her family off to the Mandarin elders and they will attend the Mandarin branch in Montreal now. She is so awesome, I know they will be baptized soon. We also had transfer week and even though we didn’t get any sisters back to our area we did get one new elder. He is Elder Falke from Germany. We are looking forward to getting to know him better. Our mission president sent us this map showing the recent division of areas in North America. Now Canada is its own area separate from the states. Note that the state of Maine is swallowed up into Canada. Our mission goes into Maine a little bit now, but this looks like we will be getting the whole state. It all takes effect in August. This is great news as it shows how much the church is growing in North America.
We still have two sisters with children who are planning to be baptized in the next month and several children who are being taught by the missionaries. Our primary sure could do well with more kids in there. We have some teaching appointments this week again and our institute class is still going along. I’m getting a little itchy for Spring, but the groundhog says 6 more weeks of winter. If only we could get out on some cross-country skis.
Au Revoir,
The Glenns