It is definitely beginning to look like Christmas around here. We had snow in the beginning of the week and again last night. But what really made it feel like Christmas this weekend was our visit to Quebec City for the annual German Christmas Market. We have read a little about the history of Quebec, so seeing this “old Quebec city” along the St. Lawrence River about 3 hours northeast of us was a real treat. The old part of the city has been preserved and looks like an old European village with cobblestone streets that you walk along. The streets are too narrow to drive, and the doorsteps of the shops are literally right on the streets. For the holidays each storefront is decorated in an old-fashioned Christmas tribute to the old days. Then there were little wooden sheds set up for locals to sell their crafts. We took in the beautiful Basilique-cathedrale Notre-Dame de Quebec and the magnificent Chateau Frontenac (a hotel) at the very top of the hill. The only downside to our day was the temperature. We picked the coldest day of the year to make this trip. At the warmest it got up to 16 degrees. We had to keep moving to keep warm. There were plenty of stairs also to climb and I think we wore out our legs on those long staircases. I grabbed as many photos of the unique buildings and streets as I could. A children’s puppet theatre performed in French was really fun to watch as were the crowds of people milling around in fur hats.
Our week was also filled with visits to members as we prepare for the new year and the new curriculum. We have been asked to start a new class for Young Single Adults who live on this side of the river. There is a missionary couple who are called to do YSA over in Montreal, but some young people don’t like the distance. So, we are going to start a class on our side of the river at our chapel beginning in January. We are super excited to get this opportunity to teach a young crowd of adults. And this will be an in-person meeting, not on Zoom like our Monday night class. We have been working with a couple of young adults already who could benefit from this closer arrangement. The curriculum will be Foundations of the Gospel and so we hope to have some good discussion.
The postal strike continues into its third or fourth week now with no end in sight. Even UPS is getting backed up with deliveries. For anyone who has sent packages, please know that we will enjoy them whenever they arrive. I’m thinking particularly of the extra sweaters I asked Jamie to send. The strike started like the day after she put it in the mail. Apparently, it is an annual thing for the postal service here to go on strike right before the holidays.
Lastly, we are all ready for our ward Christmas party. A less active sister has been making our costumes and attending church again. Everyone here is excited to see it all come together. We will be relieved when it is done as we have had a lot of hiccups along the way. The program is going to include a short summary of “A Christmas Carol” written and performed by one of our very talented members and the part of Scrooge will be performed by a very fun guy in the ward who loves to “be in costume”. We are hoping to see a lot of people who haven’t been to church for a while, and we are hoping that we don’t run out of food.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from Quebec City.