Friday Sept. 3, 2010
Montreal Mission Office
Letter # 9
Greetings from the “real” melting pot of the world,
Hope this finds everyone healthy and happy. The weather here has taken a turn for best if you love heat and for the worst, for those who don’t. That would not include me, as most of you might know. The humidity has been turned up and the A/C still kicks on at our place. You can feel Fall in the air as the leaves continue to change colors and the trees shed their beautiful coats of many colors. I think we will see a spectacular season of fall colors this year.
We have completed interviews except for one Zone and that is Quebec. We will travel there on Monday, stay overnight and have interviews on Tuesday. When we do these interviews, our AP’s, ZL’s and DL’s give instruction while President and I interview/talk with the companionships. It has been so fun to meet with them and hear their stories. I love sewing for them. They love cookies and milk. I also check hair length and if shoes are shined. They did not (purposely) receive a warning about the condition of their shoes, so when they came in, I would ask to see them. Some of them were very anxious to show me their newly shined shoes while others cringed. It was so funny. For those Elders who cringed at my request, I stood up and said, “Elder, please put your foot up on my chair” and then I brought out my shoe shining kit and proceeded to shine their shoes. It was so funny how they reacted. Usually the response was “NO, NO Sister Cannon, please, no I will do it today, honest, don’t do this, I can do it”. I told them I would LOVE to do this for them and insisted on shining them up. They would sit there with a sheepish look on their faces. I was very cheery about this, I did not reprimand them, I simply shined their shoes. They thanked me profusely then we sat and talked. I am 100% sure those Elders will come to interviews with shined shoes next time. I love interviews.
There is something about the air here in Quebec. It makes President Cannon sneeze all the time but especially now. I was on the phone the other day with an Elder Kite in the office and in the background I heard a thunderous sound. It was the sound your father makes when he is sneezing VERY loudly. He can sneeze as loud as my “loud voice”. I noticed he has bags under his eyes and dark circles. He has been getting enough sleep as of late so I am assuming he has bad allergies here in Montreal. The reason I am writing this is because, he is up in the bathroom and I just heard him rumble the walls with his hearty sneeze. He assured the missionaries it was not a cold as he met with them. He is doing a great job as their President!
I have discovered that the previous President as well as the current President do not feel it necessary to keep, file and return to the missionary at the end of their mission, the weekly letters they write to their President. I only wish I would have had mine as I don’t have any letters I wrote from my mission. So, having given his (dad’s) blessing, and in an effort to return these letters, I have taken it upon myself to file, then gather them in a notebook and give them to the missionaries when they leave. Those who were not as obedient in writing the President are saddened when they see how few they have and wished they would have done better. On the other hand, those who wrote faithfully, have a wonderful account of their missions and the goings on that occurred. It is fun to give them the notebook as they are very surprised to receive it. Also, in there, I pull out from their records, a form, we have every missionary fill out when they first arrive in the mission. It is a Missionary Information Sheet. It contains information such as name, address, siblings, what we need to know about your family, instruments you play, what you would like to learn on the mission, but MY personal favorite it what fears they have in coming on a mission. As I have pulled the letters, I have decided to include this information sheet for them to take home. The reason is, is that all the fears they were so worried about, all the concerns about family, learning a language, having tough companions, being rejected, feeling homesick, missing their friends and sports etc., in the end, all worked themselves out. In every case, as I read their fears, I realized the miraculous transformation that takes place in the lives of these precious young people. They have overcome all things with the help of the Lord. They have learned to get along with tough companions through showing forth love, having companion study and planning together and the gift of tongues has been given among these missionaries. Some of them even picked up a second language and they weren’t called to do so. Many of them speak 3, 4 and even 5 languages. I want them to see how they have grown and know of the blessings they have been given because of their faithful service. I love these missionaries so much.
Well, that is enough for the day. I have to go run a few errands and it is my goal to find the huge outdoor farmers market on Boulevard Jean Talon. Maybe I can get dad to go with me. It rained here earlier but seems to be clearing up now. I love this work. I am so grateful for the privilege of serving here in Montreal. I am grateful that you dad is doing such a wonderful job. He inspires these young missionaries to be the best they can be… his influence will be with them for the rest of their lives.
Love, love and love you some more,
Mom/Soeur Cannon/Hermana Cannon/Shir
Pictures-Potatoes-all our Zone Leaders in the entire mission-three baptism in the Chinese branch last week.
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