This past week has been our slow week as we go into transfer week, so Elder Glenn and I did some exploring around the island. He has traced out most of the island on his bike, but we hadn’t been to the north end yet. After an appointment in the area, we decided to drive all the way to the northern tip. There we found a little park and the point where the two rivers meet. Elder Glenn is standing at the very tip of Laval Island. The Riviere des Prairies and the Riviere des Mille Iles show in the picture with their color change. As the name implies, the Riviere des Mille Iles has about a million little islands on it. Some have little bridges where you can walk or bike over to them. We enjoy exploring around on and off this island.
On Saturday, we decided to finally check out Old Port on Montreal Island. It was also our first time to check out the Metro service to the city. Our ride was pretty slick both ways and so nice not to have to find parking, which is nonexistent in Montreal except at the mission office. We started first with the famous Basilica de Notre Dame. It is supposed to be a smaller replica of the cathedral in Notre Dame in Paris. The blue stained glass inside is really quite beautiful, but like all the cathedrals that we have seen it’s just so dark inside. I was particularly impressed with the stained glass depicting a key scene in Montreal’s founding. In January of 1643 Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve helped by his companions, transported the iconic Mount Royal cross as a gesture of gratitude toward the Virgin Mary, to whom he had prayed to spare the colony from the high waters that threatened Ville-Marie. We had already climbed up to the top of Mount Royal on a previous excursion. It is fun to learn about the history of the area here. The French influence has been strong for centuries in spite of being so far from their mother country. In and around Old Port there were some vintage shopping ally ways and restaurants. It’s not quite as big and quaint as was Quebec City where we visited last December, but it was fun to see. There is a circa soleil there and many amusements including an awesome looking climbing maze.
At our last district meeting we took a picture of our group. Elder Evans goes home, and a couple others are likely to be transferred out, so goodbyes and farewells to some great missionaries. The four missionaries on the right are all Mandarin speaking and it is really amazing to hear them talk so fluently in that language. They serve a tight community on Montreal island, so they spend the majority of their time in one place on their missions. Many of our missionaries who are called either to speak French, Spanish or Mandarin also serve in English speaking areas and we sometimes see missionaries who speak multiple languages. We are still trying to speak French with our old brains.
We have had some great teaching appointments with our sister missionaries these past couple weeks. Elder Glenn really connected with Fongwan the other night and was able to share some gospel messages with him. He has great questions and is intensely interested in the gospel. His wife, Sandra, is ready to be baptized, I think. Yesterday, we had 5 other investigating friends at church along with 2 recent converts who haven’t been to church for a while. Transportation and distance are the big stumbling blocks for many, so we are working on ride shares. The Elders have challenged our friend Lea to be baptized, and she is thinking about it. Her parents are very opposed, so it is a delicate situation, though she is an adult. We will be seeing our friend, Debbie, again this week too. I think she would be ready to be baptized as well but for the distance. As soon as the St. Jerome Branch, which shares our building, can get the final approval on a building in St. Jerome she will likely attend there as she is bilingual, and they are a French speaking branch.
The next few weeks will be quite busy with zone conferences and temple days for our missionaries. Just got a call from our mission president asking if we can officiate at a couple of these upcoming special sessions in the temple for the young missionaries and we are so happy to do that. We really enjoy working in the temple. My French is much better there.
Au revoir,
The Glenns
(to our grandkids; love from Gigi and Papi)