Friday 8:54 p.m. Aug. 20, 2010
Office @ the Mission Home
Hello my dear ones,
How are each and every one of you? I hope you are as perfect as today was. I have never experienced more beautiful weather than today. It started with a brisk walk at 5:30 a.m. It was quite cool, the birds were in full chorus, the squirrels were hilarious as always, and it was superbly still and peaceful. Wynn and dad were asleep when I left.
Speaking of Wynn. It was heavenly to have her here with us during transfer week. I am sure it was not that fun for her as we only saw her, or rather we only had one day to spend with her. But it was a fun day and she always inspires us to do something we would not normally have done. We would have stayed home and worked has she not suggested we take the Metro to Old Montreal. The Metros, or subways as one would refer to them in NYC, are very clean here. They are not as artistically pleasing and unique as NY's underground transportation but they are clean and bright. We took the orange line and exited near China Town. We enjoyed walking on age old cobbled stone streets, eating maple ice pops (it is where they squeeze pure Canadian Maple taffy or thick syrup onto chipped ice and you take a tongue depressor and roll it in the syrup as it sticks to the ice, hence a sort of maple Popsicle), eating a decently priced (unusual for Montreal) lunch of Greek Salad and Quiche etc. Then we made our way to a very "I'm in with the in crowd" bakery where we split an almond croissant and everything cookie. We did much walking to burn those calories off and enjoyed the sights, sounds, myriads of people and smells of Old Montreal.
Tanks as my dad would say, Wynny for coming. Tanks for driving all that way all by yourself....oh wait you weren't by yourself you had our grandchild in your womb. You are never alone. And tanks for all of the help you rendered. It was a joy to have you.
I sent three images along with this letter. For some odd reason, I have forgotten to include some photos with each letter. I dislike writing as it has never come easily to me but I LOVE taking photos as you all know. So in order to make this easier, I will try to include in my weekly letter some photos. You will see a picture of the Prez., myself and a darling Sister missionary. Sister Cal. was our very first missionary to enter the field here in Montreal. She is such a super missionary. We were fortunate enough to meet her in the MTC when we were there for our four day seminar. She is so easy to love, she is full of life and very excited to be here. Her PMA, yes, her positive mental attitude that is, is so contagious. We are grateful for each missionary who is here and who will yet come. We can't wait to greet them as our own. Oh how we love our missionaries.
The next picture is a photo of the carpet in our entry way at the Mission Home. There is a custom here in Quebec and that is, always, when you enter some one's home, you must remove your shoes. This pertains to all seasons, not just winter. I think it is so respectful and sweet. I love it. As you can see, this is one side of the foyer lined with the shoes of a few of our Elders. I snicker as I see holes in socks, mismatched socks and socks that need a good washing. I am grateful they all remove their shoes. I have been trying to get the President to remove his shoes when he enters our home for 30 years now. My dear father in law who I love and adore feels the same way as his son does. However....in this town, things are different. The President now removes his shoes wherever we go. I am so proud of him. Yipeee! Old dogs can learn new tricks. Now I just need to learn a few myself. Grandpa, because you are so extra special, you could keep your shoes on if you came to visit,no problem. We experienced the sweetest, almost sacred experience as we attended the Temple here in Montreal. As we entered, I noticed that everyone walked into the coat rooms on either sides of the entry way. They ALL emerged without shoes on. It humbled me to see everyone removing their shoes before they entered the Temple. I love this practice. It reminds me of the Muslims and others who always remove their shoes. I remember my own Agahjun (grandfather from Iran) doing the same when he would pray 5 times a day facing towards Mecca. It was a wonderful thing for me to learn and a very special thing for me to watch. I am grateful for this act of respect and love for the Lord and His holy House. It will always be difficult for me to walk into the Temples, in the States, with my shoes on from here on.
The third picture is of Prez. Cannon and I AND the entire OTTOWA ZONE at the Elgin Street Diner. The zone decided it was time to break us in as far as "poutine" is concerned. This, according to our poutine experts, is one of the best places to eat poutine. Let me explain why it should be eaten only once in a lifetime. The Elders assured us we HAD to finish what was on our plate. It was tradition. I know I wrote about this before, but the thought of this is still so fresh, so painful and it had such an impact on me that I am compelled to write. Mind you, the hand cut, thin french fries are not only fried once, but twice, in lard. Yes, they must be extra crispy. Once they layer a large mound of those very fries on an oval plate that measures about 16 inches long and 8-10 inches wide, they generously sprinkle their FAMOUS cheese curds over the fries. For those of you who do not know what cheese curds are, they are basically smalls dobs of squeaky white cheese that soften under the weight of the thick, rich brown gravy that covers the cheese and fries. Along with that you can throw in all kinds of things on top of that to make it "special" poutine i.e. fried onions, blue cheese, smoked meat, sausage etc. etc. Not all at the same time but one of those or maybe a combination of two. In reality, the first number of bites are quite good. Why not, you have starch, fat, salt, and more fat. But a third of the way into it, you start feeling a very foreboding feeling. By the end, you are feeling like you did when you were a little kids at the end of a Thanksgiving meal. You are in pain. The Elders egged us....I mean cheered us on. We did it for Canada. We did it for Montreal, we did it for the Elders. But never again.
Well, I just closed the front door on our A.P.'s. after having given them a can of Chile. I got a call a few minutes ago. HELLO SISTER CANNON! HOW ARE YOU THIS EVENING. YOU WOULD NOT HAPPEN TO HAVE AN EXTRA CAN OF CHILE WOULD YOU? I love those Elders. They were starved and wanted to make a Taco Salad. I asked if they had lettuce and I later found out theirs was rotten. So they cooked red rice instead and dumped the chile on top of that. They were working late until 8:30 teaching a man from Rowanda. As they were teaching him, his roommate walked in and they ended up teaching him as well. They have an appointment to go back and teach them both. I am so grateful for their diligent work each day. It is tough to go out into the world,every day, all day, especially in a world of people you don't know and cultures that are so different from yours. Then somehow through little miracle each day they connect with these good people. People who are searching for something better than what they have.
Well, transfers are over. We brought in 3 new Elders on Monday night, we had 10 for dinner. They slept overnight and then, Kosher Bagels in the a.m. and off they went. Soon after we welcomed 17 Elders and one Sister who were going home. They settled in downstairs on the many Aerobeds, and the Sister was upstairs with us. We had a dinner together, attended a special session at the Temple together then came home and had Pizza and the sweetest testimony meeting ever. It was a privilege to hear from these young men and woman who have served valiantly for 2 years for the Elders and 1 1/2 years for the Sister. They were so grateful, so humble, so wise for their years and so true to the cause. Such wonderful representatives of the Lord. I am so proud of them and feel it a privilege to have served with them. We are so blessed.
I will end this letter as it is past my bedtime now. I love you so much and hope you are doing well. We look forward to Em, Ben, Clara who sings the most precious rendition of "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission", that I have ever heard and Eli who plays a mean guitar, to visit us in Sept. We love our entire family and are grateful to our kids, parents and siblings and in laws for all their support and prayers. Thank you Dane and Tracie for all you are doing in the house. Thank you for the hassle of having to rebuild the basement. We love you.
Much love to each of you,
mom, Shir, Sister Cannon Hermana Cannon, Soeur Cannon
Office @ the Mission Home
Hello my dear ones,
How are each and every one of you? I hope you are as perfect as today was. I have never experienced more beautiful weather than today. It started with a brisk walk at 5:30 a.m. It was quite cool, the birds were in full chorus, the squirrels were hilarious as always, and it was superbly still and peaceful. Wynn and dad were asleep when I left.
Speaking of Wynn. It was heavenly to have her here with us during transfer week. I am sure it was not that fun for her as we only saw her, or rather we only had one day to spend with her. But it was a fun day and she always inspires us to do something we would not normally have done. We would have stayed home and worked has she not suggested we take the Metro to Old Montreal. The Metros, or subways as one would refer to them in NYC, are very clean here. They are not as artistically pleasing and unique as NY's underground transportation but they are clean and bright. We took the orange line and exited near China Town. We enjoyed walking on age old cobbled stone streets, eating maple ice pops (it is where they squeeze pure Canadian Maple taffy or thick syrup onto chipped ice and you take a tongue depressor and roll it in the syrup as it sticks to the ice, hence a sort of maple Popsicle), eating a decently priced (unusual for Montreal) lunch of Greek Salad and Quiche etc. Then we made our way to a very "I'm in with the in crowd" bakery where we split an almond croissant and everything cookie. We did much walking to burn those calories off and enjoyed the sights, sounds, myriads of people and smells of Old Montreal.
Tanks as my dad would say, Wynny for coming. Tanks for driving all that way all by yourself....oh wait you weren't by yourself you had our grandchild in your womb. You are never alone. And tanks for all of the help you rendered. It was a joy to have you.
I sent three images along with this letter. For some odd reason, I have forgotten to include some photos with each letter. I dislike writing as it has never come easily to me but I LOVE taking photos as you all know. So in order to make this easier, I will try to include in my weekly letter some photos. You will see a picture of the Prez., myself and a darling Sister missionary. Sister Cal. was our very first missionary to enter the field here in Montreal. She is such a super missionary. We were fortunate enough to meet her in the MTC when we were there for our four day seminar. She is so easy to love, she is full of life and very excited to be here. Her PMA, yes, her positive mental attitude that is, is so contagious. We are grateful for each missionary who is here and who will yet come. We can't wait to greet them as our own. Oh how we love our missionaries.
The next picture is a photo of the carpet in our entry way at the Mission Home. There is a custom here in Quebec and that is, always, when you enter some one's home, you must remove your shoes. This pertains to all seasons, not just winter. I think it is so respectful and sweet. I love it. As you can see, this is one side of the foyer lined with the shoes of a few of our Elders. I snicker as I see holes in socks, mismatched socks and socks that need a good washing. I am grateful they all remove their shoes. I have been trying to get the President to remove his shoes when he enters our home for 30 years now. My dear father in law who I love and adore feels the same way as his son does. However....in this town, things are different. The President now removes his shoes wherever we go. I am so proud of him. Yipeee! Old dogs can learn new tricks. Now I just need to learn a few myself. Grandpa, because you are so extra special, you could keep your shoes on if you came to visit,no problem. We experienced the sweetest, almost sacred experience as we attended the Temple here in Montreal. As we entered, I noticed that everyone walked into the coat rooms on either sides of the entry way. They ALL emerged without shoes on. It humbled me to see everyone removing their shoes before they entered the Temple. I love this practice. It reminds me of the Muslims and others who always remove their shoes. I remember my own Agahjun (grandfather from Iran) doing the same when he would pray 5 times a day facing towards Mecca. It was a wonderful thing for me to learn and a very special thing for me to watch. I am grateful for this act of respect and love for the Lord and His holy House. It will always be difficult for me to walk into the Temples, in the States, with my shoes on from here on.
The third picture is of Prez. Cannon and I AND the entire OTTOWA ZONE at the Elgin Street Diner. The zone decided it was time to break us in as far as "poutine" is concerned. This, according to our poutine experts, is one of the best places to eat poutine. Let me explain why it should be eaten only once in a lifetime. The Elders assured us we HAD to finish what was on our plate. It was tradition. I know I wrote about this before, but the thought of this is still so fresh, so painful and it had such an impact on me that I am compelled to write. Mind you, the hand cut, thin french fries are not only fried once, but twice, in lard. Yes, they must be extra crispy. Once they layer a large mound of those very fries on an oval plate that measures about 16 inches long and 8-10 inches wide, they generously sprinkle their FAMOUS cheese curds over the fries. For those of you who do not know what cheese curds are, they are basically smalls dobs of squeaky white cheese that soften under the weight of the thick, rich brown gravy that covers the cheese and fries. Along with that you can throw in all kinds of things on top of that to make it "special" poutine i.e. fried onions, blue cheese, smoked meat, sausage etc. etc. Not all at the same time but one of those or maybe a combination of two. In reality, the first number of bites are quite good. Why not, you have starch, fat, salt, and more fat. But a third of the way into it, you start feeling a very foreboding feeling. By the end, you are feeling like you did when you were a little kids at the end of a Thanksgiving meal. You are in pain. The Elders egged us....I mean cheered us on. We did it for Canada. We did it for Montreal, we did it for the Elders. But never again.
Well, I just closed the front door on our A.P.'s. after having given them a can of Chile. I got a call a few minutes ago. HELLO SISTER CANNON! HOW ARE YOU THIS EVENING. YOU WOULD NOT HAPPEN TO HAVE AN EXTRA CAN OF CHILE WOULD YOU? I love those Elders. They were starved and wanted to make a Taco Salad. I asked if they had lettuce and I later found out theirs was rotten. So they cooked red rice instead and dumped the chile on top of that. They were working late until 8:30 teaching a man from Rowanda. As they were teaching him, his roommate walked in and they ended up teaching him as well. They have an appointment to go back and teach them both. I am so grateful for their diligent work each day. It is tough to go out into the world,every day, all day, especially in a world of people you don't know and cultures that are so different from yours. Then somehow through little miracle each day they connect with these good people. People who are searching for something better than what they have.
Well, transfers are over. We brought in 3 new Elders on Monday night, we had 10 for dinner. They slept overnight and then, Kosher Bagels in the a.m. and off they went. Soon after we welcomed 17 Elders and one Sister who were going home. They settled in downstairs on the many Aerobeds, and the Sister was upstairs with us. We had a dinner together, attended a special session at the Temple together then came home and had Pizza and the sweetest testimony meeting ever. It was a privilege to hear from these young men and woman who have served valiantly for 2 years for the Elders and 1 1/2 years for the Sister. They were so grateful, so humble, so wise for their years and so true to the cause. Such wonderful representatives of the Lord. I am so proud of them and feel it a privilege to have served with them. We are so blessed.
I will end this letter as it is past my bedtime now. I love you so much and hope you are doing well. We look forward to Em, Ben, Clara who sings the most precious rendition of "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission", that I have ever heard and Eli who plays a mean guitar, to visit us in Sept. We love our entire family and are grateful to our kids, parents and siblings and in laws for all their support and prayers. Thank you Dane and Tracie for all you are doing in the house. Thank you for the hassle of having to rebuild the basement. We love you.
Much love to each of you,
mom, Shir, Sister Cannon Hermana Cannon, Soeur Cannon
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