letter #19

Letter #19

Sunday Dec.12, 2010

Mission Home Office then,

Quality Inn, Quebec City

Dear Family,

It is Sunday night and we are awaiting the arrival of the Assistants. They come each Sunday night and call all the Zone leaders, who call all the District leaders who have called everyone in their district. We get an accounting of lessons taught, new investigator's, baptisms and confirmations, contacts, people who are committed for baptism etc. It gives us an idea how the Mission as a whole is doing. It also helps us see where are weaknesses are and how we might help strengthen the mission with our trainings. We usually have a snack with them like fruit, or ice cream. I am nearly falling asleep as I write.

Hello and skip to Dec. 8, 2010 where we find ourselves sitting in a Quality Suites in freezing Quebec city. We are here for interviews tomorrow. My favorite meeting of all time. I get to sit with the missionaries and simply chat with them. Each interview I come up with questions about health, diet how they are doing in general,their investigators etc. But tomorrow I am going to ask them to tell me about their families. They always love expressing their feelings about their families and I love hearing about them.

Currently, in the car we have Costco muffins for our break time tomorrow (they love the chocolate muffins), I have my shoe shine kit to shine their shoes. They are mortified when I ask them to put their feet up so I can shine their shoes but I love being able to offer a tiny act of service for them. I also sew for them. That is also kind of a funny thing as I hear about the ways things were torn. I love these missionaries. They will also write a paragraph to their companion expressing the things they love and admire about them. So far, they have all had things to write to their companions, without too much hesitation. Even if they are not the best of friends they all recognize the good in their companion. That is a good thing. I always have my jars of red licorice and some other type of snack they can much on while we chat. It is a pleasure for me, these interviews.

Well, I woke up this morning and took three hours to plan, organize then write down, in Romanian, how to make Chocolate dipped Rice Krispie Treats and other instructions for the day for our dear new helper in the home. Her name is Valentina, she is about 58 years of age, an accountant by trade, she speaks Romanian, Russian, a bit of French and a sprinkle of English. She is great, as far as I can tell. I set everything out along with the instructions, she came in the house after trudging through the two, yes two feet of snow we just received, removed her outer wear and got to work. I had her helping put 100 bags of goodies together for our missionaries. I asked each Senior missionary couple to provide one small thing to put in these bags. So far, we have a bag of three homemade caramels, an envelope of instant oatmeal, a Christmas story with 4 choc. kisses, and a Rocococococcco (whatever they are called) chocolate. I am making them a recipe book and we have a cookie and some caramel corn coming in as well. I set it all up in an assembly line and showed her how to do one, that was clear. Then she read the note I wrote about the Rice Krispie treats. Her face went ashen, I am serious. She looked very concerned. “Wat iiz dis? What is Rice Krispie treat? I don’t know. I afraid.” She was worried she would mess them up. So we went through the motions with all the things I had set out. For the birthdays I make Rice Krispie Treats that are about two inches thick, and about 3 inches wide and 5 inches long. I then dip half of it in chocolate and put sprinkles on the choc. and let them set. Then I wrap them up with a little card and give them out at Zone Conferences. This was so new to her she seemed alarmed. Maybe she was alarmed because of the strange ingredients of cereal, butter and marshmallows. She was so stressed about it I told her on the computer via Google translator, to wait till I arrived home and we would do it together. There are so many things she does not understand about, not only the culture in Montreal, but the Mormon missionary culture and the American culture. She is very willing and I pray I have the time and communication skills to help so it works for both of us. I realize this will take some time and training. I feel she will be such a blessing to me and I hope I will be a blessing to her. I am very grateful for the generosity of the church to offer help to mission presidents and their wives. We do really need it and that is difficult for me to say. We are never home. And when I am home I am knee deep in stuff I am trying to catch up on. I simply can’t do it myself. There I said it. I am learning humility and how to accept help with grace. I am grateful.

This has been a very busy week for me in the department of health. Oh my we have had a lot of sickness, colds, sprained ankles, stomach aches, flu and our sweet new Elder who suffers from such severe headaches that he cannot function is down and out. He tries but it is very difficult for him. He is from Tahiti and is so good and anxious to serve the Lord. He has a solid testimony and just wants to be a missionary. He was in the MTC for 16 weeks. I may have mentioned him in my last letter. He has had the very best medical care in the MTC and every possible test given him. They can’t find one thing that would be causing his headaches. He said he knows Heavenly Father did not call him to stay at the MTC and he was not called to go home. He was called to serve a mission in Montréal, Canada and that is what he wants to do. I don’t think he lets on how bad it is most of the time unless he has a really bad bout with it as he did starting two days ago. I keep in constant contact with them as they are 45 minutes away in Mascouche. When he first came out, he had a slight headache but nothing that stopped him from doing the work. He is in a wonderful threesome and his companions are both Canadians and the best companions you could ask for. They are kind, helpful and concerned about this new Elder. They support him and do everything they can to keep him going along with the work. As I speak to them two to three times a day the one Elder said, after I had just complimented him on being so nurturing, responsible and careful with his companion he said “Oh yeh, wow, tell my mom that” so I said OK I will. I plan on calling her and telling him what an awesome job he is doing with the two new Elders he has been entrusted with and how well he is doing as a trainer. And he has only been out for three transfers himself. Oh in case you don’t know what a transfer is, it is 6 weeks. We have transfers every six weeks.

Well, I really need to get going as I would like to get my recipe book put together. I wish I were savvy enough to do this on the computer but I don’t have the time to try and figure out how to do it. So I will do the old fashioned way. The REAL cut and paste, cut recipes out and paste them on the pages, then Xerox those pages and staple them together. This may not be completed by the Christmas party next week but I will give it my best shot. If not, I am going to make some new kind of candy or cookie with the help of Valentina. I will use one of her recipes from Moldova. I am not sure what that will be but I look forward to finding out. I plan on learning all I can from her. Lots of Moldavian recipes. Sounds fun.

We finally, not that I have been holding my breath for this to occur, “got dumped on” terrible grammar. I mean snowed upon greatly. It snowed for two days and I think it is still snowing sort of like when you turn on the mixer, your Bosch I hope, and you have powdered sugar in the bowl and it makes kind of a misty cloud of white. That is what it is snowing like now. We were gifted with just under two feet. I took a picture of the little table on our patio, just outside the office glass sliding doors. I will include it in this letter. Tons of snow. They have to cart it out of the city. Good thing we have the park across the street to dump snow in. Today after two days the tractors came. Yes, three tractors and a baby tractor for the sidewalks. I have to hand it to them, at least the city takes care of the side walks. But you have to wait a few days for clean up. I think everyone pretty much resolves themselves to just driving on snow packed streets except for the very major highways and freeways. I love the people here though. They don’t complain, you see them out there shoveling and cleaning, sweeping and scraping, trudging through knee deep snow and pushing strollers, prams covered with clear plastic covers to protect their little ones. The children they cart behind them are so dressed up from head to toe they can hardly move their little feet from one place to another. They lumber along through the snow, the sleet and the freezing temperatures. They are hearty, strong and uncomplaining. I really admire that. And somehow the women still manage to look good. How do they do it? As you know, I have said it before, the women have a saying here, they “dress to impress,” even in the storms of winter. I have to take a picture of these make shift plastic garages they fabricate. They are very serious about preparing for winter. I am thinking that should make me a bit concerned for what lies ahead.

I am so grateful for this time of year. This year in particular. I have read much about the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ as of late. I must say, this season, void of anything commercial, in the mode of serving, has been one of the sweetest experiences. I feel that this is how Christmas should be. Less fuss in buying and more fuss about serving others. I don’t mean to sound self- righteous as that is certainly not my intent. I simply want to say that in making memories for you and your families, the Christmases we will remember will be the years we served others. I will NEVER ever forget my favorite Christmas of all time was when mom and dad had each of us 7 kids chose a gift from under the tree and we carted bags of food, a turkey and a tree to a German man’s home on the West side. He had a bunch of little kids and a wife. I remember he cried and hugged my dad and spoke in such a thick accent that I did not get half of what he was saying. However, no words were needed. I know how he and his kids felt by the look on their faces. We took the stuff in and left. I remember all of us complaining about it on the way down and how we did not want to go. We did not know this guy and on and on. Dad and mom ignored us and we delivered the goods. As soon as we entered that humble home, I was struck with how much I had. And how little they had. We were all quiet as mice on the way home as we drove through the snow in our blue station wagon and all of us were laying in the back, looking up, out of the back window. I remember driving in the dark, then we would drive near a street light and you could see the huge snow flakes making their way to the ground. For me that was a very spiritual awakening. It was a time I learned that doing good things for others brings great joy. Not just momentary happiness but lasting joy. I still feel joy as I think of that night so many years ago. Thank you mom and dad for that wonderful lesson you taught us. As we give ourselves to much thought of the Savior, then do what He would have us do, that is when we find the true meaning of Christmas. At least for me anyway. I am so grateful for His birth. His birth was the greatest gift of love, from a loving Father in Heaven. He is our pathway home. I love this gospel. I love this work. I love each of you. I am filled with gratitude beyond my ability to express. You are what is most precious to me in this world along with my testimony.

Make it a GREAT week and I will do the same.

Much love,

Mom, Shir, Soeur Cannon, ShirCan, momcan or whatever you would care to call me….like MEMA! Love and miss you Clara and Eli and little one with the chubby cheeks.