letter #15

Oct. 24, 2010 Sunday

Somewhere between Cornwall, Ontariao and Montreal, Quebec in our Acadia

Letter #15

Dearest precious family who I love,

Greetings, on an overcast day in Ontario, Canada. It is a time of great beauty as the dense, tall trees that line the side of this road to Cornwall are blazing with color. I can’t describe the beauty of the hues we are seeing but suffice it to say, it is most certain, Autumn. The sun illuminates the leaves in a way that takes my breath away. I am constantly pointing out amazing sights as poor Nels tries to drive…safely.

It is also, MOST certain that the winter freeze is upon us. We finally had to turn on the heater. We have kept it off because our basement flooded three weeks ago and they (Frere Houde) are still sanding, patching walls and installing a new floor. The mould was in the walls, carpet and padding so by turning on the furnace I was afraid it would spread the mould. In addition to turning on the heat, we have pulled out the scarves. Yes, even dad stole one of my gray scarves. You all know I am not a fashion icon and never have been. However, I may be forced to resort to what Quebecois women do ALL year long and that is to throw or arrange a scarf around their necks. It was odd to me that in the heat of summer, women of all ages, while sweating profusely, wore scarves in every configuration known to man. They wear them with a scanty tee shirt, with a jacket, over one shoulder, and with and dress and any other outfit they may be wearing. A very hip woman at a garage sale tutored me in the culture of “female fashion” in Montreal. She taught me that the women here have an unspoken motto…“We dress to impress.” That…could be a problem for me. So in an effort to stay warm rather than dressing to impress, I brought out the scarves. Thank you Shirlene. I actually received a compliment from one of our young sisters. She loved my scarf and ohhhh where did I buy it? The next problem for me is this. HOW does one arrange these scarves on your person? Do you realize there are more ways to wear a scarf here in Montreal than there are ways to skin a cat. Where did that saying come from any way. It seems to me there would only be one way. As we were driving down the street in the city, I counted, in two blocks, eight different methods of hanging a scarf around your neck. There is the fold in half and thread the two ends through the loop look, the throw it over you neck so both ends hang down in the front look, there is the one loop around the neck and one tail hangs in front or back or both tails in back. There are variations of all of these and more. And the trick is, you must make it look like you didn’t really care how it looked when you put it on. It just ended up looking natural, as if the scarf just spontaneously landed that way. I will work on this until I get it right. Right now, I look as if I am trying to hang myself. Sou, you have the scarf thing down. Where are you when I need you? And my girls, you all know how to arrange the scarves so they look cool. I think there must be some correlation of not being able to walk in high heeled shoes and arranging scarves to look impressive. I can’t do either. Anyway, my neck is toasty warm.

In my kitchen, I have been blessed with yet, another lovely view of nature. We have a very small backyard but full of trees and the neighbors have large beautiful foliage as well. As a result, the colors are framed in a large bay window, a pretty view from my sink. I never sit down to eat unless I have someone over for dinner or unless Nels and I eat together…which is not very often. So, I stand at the sink, inhale my food and drink before launching into yet another task or chore. Yesterday, the day was glorious indeed. The sky was cloudless, clear and the temperature brisk. Many people were out walking dogs or biking. It seems that one of our neighbors was out with his dog. As I stood by the sink taking in the scenery, from out of nowhere a beautiful, young Huskie with ice blue eyes shot past my view. He was running as if he were toying with someone. You dog owners know that wild look. And no more than a minute later, my neighbor who is very tall and lanky burst through the bushes only to come to a dead stop in order to muster the strength to yell at his dog. He was pointing here and there, stomping his foot, but to no avail. The dog was nowhere to be found. So he took off running across my backyard in pursuit of this cute dog just feet from my window. I laughed as I knew exactly what he was going through. I have done that very thing with Turpy. She was so naughty every time she escaped. She darted and would not come back. No matter how I waved and yelled. I would have to run all over the neighborhood looking for her. Anyway, I chuckled as I thought back over those fond memories. Two minutes later, I see the dog darting back across the yard again. A minute later, the neighbor is racing after him. I started laughing so hard. It was like a cartoon or almost staged. And then a third time. The dog shoots through the bushes with a grin on it’s face. Seriously! And for the last time, my neighbor sprints across my eye sight again. It was hilarious. Maybe you had to be there. As I pulled out in the car, I saw him with his wife on a bike walking the dog on a leash headed home. Oh I love dogs.

I am headed to bed but before I do, I want to tell you about the miracle hotline. I love the miracle hotline. The missionaries call me and report their miracles to me on occasion, when they remember. I received a funny call last night. It was from an Elder in Chicoutimi. He told me of the woes of the shower head that has never, no never worked in that apt. Apparently the Elders have chosen to live with it the way it is. The shower head is stuck in one position and that is almost straight across to the opposite wall. It shoots over their heads. They have to jump up to get some water. Or lay flat against the wall to get their backs wet. Apparently the landlord who is LDS wanted to do an apt. check, thank goodness, and he asked if there was anything they needed fixed. Elder V. told the man to come and see the shower. The man was shocked. Why hadn’t anyone all these years, ever told him about this? Good question. So he fixed it and the Elders were SO happy about their miracle they called me and every Elder that has ever lived in that apt. They were in awe at this miracle. Sometimes it doesn’t take much. Just ask. It is a good lesson to learn.

I taught a few times this week with the sisters. Actually three times but the one I want to tell you about is with a young man by the name of Leon. He is 21 years old and he is from Russia. He has been in Montreal for 13 years. When he was 4 ½ years old, his parents died. He did not tell us how. He had such sadness in his eyes the first time we met with him. It was the second lesson that I was in attendance for. He has one dear older sister who has raised him since that time. She is married to a wonderful man who has become Leon’s older brother. They have two kids and one on the way. They all take care of each other. Leon has many things that are tough in his life. He is going to school to become a chef. People make fun of him there because he lives with his sister. They tell him she is ugly because she is pregnant. Odd! That hurts his feelings. He is so innocent and kind. He would not hurt a fly. He does not understand those who are unkind. He loves the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized. The only problem is, is that he has a girlfriend who wants to move into an apt. with him, he has friends who want him to smoke pot with him, he does some heavy drinking and smoking and drinks a ton of tea and coffee. That is fine except for if he wants to be baptized he has to cease with all of this. At the last lesson we told him all about these commandments. He said he would stop them all. He wants this so badly. It is amazing to see how he chose to walk away from it all. He said he might have to have our support in helping him to stop smoking. We are there for him. He is such a wonderful young man. He has been to church twice, and he says the sweetest prayers. And when we sing hymns, I have never in my life heard anyone so tone deaf as dear Leon but he sings and does so out loud and with gusto. He makes me laugh. He is so wonderful. It is such a privilege for me to witness the change in these investigators. To be present in these lessons. It is remarkable how happy they are. I love this work. It is true. I am so grateful to be a missionary again. I am so blessed.

I love you all, good night, sleep tight, have sweet dreams and don’t let the bed bugs bite.

Love,

Mom/Shir/Soeur Cannon

p.s.I finally found a French tutor and I start up tomorrow. Yipee…I think!