letter #10

Mission Office-Letter #10

Sunday Sept. 5, 2010

Bonjour chere famille,

We are alive and well here in beautiful Monteal ,which in the last day, has turned from sultry, humid heat, to brisk, clean Autumn air. There is beauty all around. Wait, that comes from a song I know. It really has changed in a day. I feel like I am back in our old stomping grounds of wonderful Chicago. I love that place.

I want to tell you of two baptisms we attended yesterday. Three were baptized, two in one meeting. The first was a young, beautiful Hispanic woman, 23 years of age by the name of Jessica. She was radiant. I instantly connected with her as we met. She seemed so familiar to me as we embraced. I love the fact that I can hug all of the sisters here and as I have mentioned before they do the Quebec peck as I call it. A swift peck on both cheeks, sort of kisses, air kisses in most cases, a quick one two. It is very similar to what the Iranians do when they or I should say we, meet. A warm embrace greeting both sides of the face. In Canada, the cheek kiss may involve one or both cheeks. ... by Franco-American or French Canadian cultures, cheek kissing is popular. In Quebec, cheek kissing is referred to, in a popular language, ... In France, where the custom is called "faire la bise". I love this. Anyway, she was being baptized by one of our newest missionaries. He has been out for three weeks. He told me he was very nervous, as this was his first baptism. I assured him he would do just fine. This woman had been investigating the church for 8 months, had 3 baptismal dates that fell through, but for some reason, this sweet Elder F. made a difference. He did a great job!

He is a young man who has impressed me so. We were lucky enough to meet him in the MTC and had heard such impressive things about him from the Elders who preceded him. I first heard his testimony as he bore it in church the first week he arrived in the mission field. He explained how his life had changed, how he had been involved in some bad stuff. Come to find out he somehow, pulled himself out of that mess and turned his life around. His mom was a major factor in this. He did not want to continue hurting her. He is so sweet and kind you would never imagine. He baptized Jessica and she was so happy, so filled with joy that she turned and hugged this tall Elder having difficulty reaching up to him. We were all a bit surprised for as you know, there is no hugging the opposite sex on missions. This was a sweet innocent gesture. She did not know the rules and he was baffled as to what to do, so he patted her on the back. It was so cute. We all chuckled and enjoyed what turned out to be a very wonderful meeting which was half in French and half in Spanish.

Let me explain why. The other person who was baptiized was a very sweet man named Jon LaFluer. He was in his early 20's. He is from Haiti and spoke French so they split the baptismal meeting, half and half. I took a picture of both Hymn books we used. It was amazing as our AP's taught in both languages at the “half time” when they were getting out of wet clothes into dry. Both of our AP’s (assistants to the president) speak three languages. Oh to be so talented. We are very proud of them.

We just arrived home from Church. We try to attend a different Ward/Branch each week in an effort to meet all the members and leadership. It is so fun to meet so many wonderful people. It is such a blessing. For instance, today I was sitting (and mind you this is an English speaking Ward) in Relief Society next to a very friendly woman from the Philippines. The chorister is the new Bishop's wife, Sister May. He was just sustained today as Bishop. They are black as night and from England with the most perfect English accent. The lady teaching the lesson was from Mexico and the woman conducting the meeting was from Trinidad. Could this get any better? Yes, because as I was leaving I met a woman from Ireland. Oh I love this church. I love that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is taught among all men. All are welcome.

There is something about Canadian Hotels that I am not fond of. At some you have to pay for parking, at one we stayed at, a Marriott, they charged a $10.50 fee to use the internet, they ALL have super soft beds, they control the A/C and I would imagine heat so most of our rooms were a bit warm at night, and the waiters here are slow as molasses on a very cold day. We are so spoiled being from the States. I feel like we are in St. Thomas or some island (oh wait, we are on an island) such as that. Maybe it is island living that perpetuates such relaxed attitudes. I remember when Wanda and Grandpa were on the island of St. Thomas on a mission and in one of their letters they mentioned needing to have something fixed....and they waited and waited....and waited some more. Seems like folks get around to stuff when they darn well please. That is kind of the way it is here with the waiters. The only place people are in a hurry are on the autoroutes/freeways. Seriously if you have the audacity to hesitate, even a nano second, without driving forward, after the light has turned green, and you are not half way through the intersection, someone will blare on their horn! I just smile and ignore it. I love Montreal so much.

There are some areas that are way more difficult to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, than others. Quebec city is tough but the communities beyond, such as Ramouski and Chicoutimi are the most demanding. Our Elders are on their own and don’t see other missionaries very often. Only at Zone conferences or interviews do they get together. Other than when they do splits, which means they split companionships for a day, they are in no man’s land. These communities are very closed minded and steeped in religious tradition. If you ask, most of these folks don’t even know what they believe, they only know they belong to this or that church which their parents belonged to, so that is good enough for them. That is great, as that is the way it works in our Church except for one huge difference. Our children are taught the doctrine and they know what they believe. They then, make their own decisions as to whether this Church is true or not. I am not slamming other churches, I just don’t understand that if you belong to a church, if you are a member of a church, should you not know what it is all about, and then be active in that church? That is not the case here. It is much like it was in Europe. The churches sit vacant. They are beautiful buildings that “gather dust” as they are there mostly for show. The other day, I got a call from the Elders in Ramouski. It had been two months of knocking doors since they had taught someone. I have a thing I call the Miracle Hotline where when our missionaries experience a miracle whether it be big or small, I want to know about it. The call came, the Elders were ecstatic as they told me how they were invited in to teach and then asked to come back. This was their miracle. They worked so hard, they never give up and they do this for the Lord because they love Him and know their message is true. I love these missionaries. My miracle is that I am sleeping pretty much through the nights now. I have not been able to sleep for a year. Thanks for all those prayers. They have blessed me in more ways than even I can imagine. Thank you so much.

I have so much more I could have written about this week. I should be out with dad as he is on a bike ride but I need to write a ten minute talk to give in Zone conference while Elder Walker of the 70 is here. He is coming out here to tour the mission with his wife for five days. They will stay with us and we will drive them around to the different cities. I am trying to get all my work done this weekend before Em and Ben, Clara and Eli come on Monday. Wehewwww, I am so excited. That same day, Elder J. Jensen of the 70, will also be here. We will pick them all up at the airport with our Assistants to the president, Elders Sorensen and Corbett. We will all come here to the house and have lunch with Elder Jensen. He is stopping by Montreal to check in with us and see how we are doing. He’ll be here for 6 hours. That is so nice of him. He said he just wanted to come to the house and hang out with the family and he was thrilled to know Em and Ben would be here and said he would love to meet some of our family members. It should be a wonderful day. I need to go figure out what I am serving them for lunch on Monday. Thank goodness for my crock pot.

Love you all and have a dynamic week! Wynn, give the baby my love, oh and James too. Glad the nursery is almost ready. Mom, have fun at Sou’s. Dad, send a picture of your tan please. Dane and Tracie thanks for all you do for us. Lib and Mark….get up here fast! Grampa, love you and give Grandma a huge hug from me and tell her I love her as I do you.

Love ,

Mom/Soeur Cannon/Shirin

p.s. pictures-the Jewish section of the local Cemetary is the most beautiful I have ever seen. They put rocks on top of the grave stones when someone visits. They do the same in Jerusalem. Then, the repercussions of buying a BUSHEL of eggplants because they were only $5.00! And our wonderful Elders singing at a baptism.