Letter # 29 is my guess
In the Acadia driving to a baptism in Longueuil
Saturday June 25, 2011
Dearest family,
Hello to each one of you. How is your Saturday going? Ours is going wet, rainy, pouring buckets and cool but the results are colors that almost seem unearthly. Babajun says there is a word in Farsi that explains this "color" only seen after a rain. It is impossible to replicate this with a garden hose or sprinklers. I agree 100%. It has been beautiful, at least the snippets of time we were able to see outside…magnificent.
So much has happened since I last wrote I can't begin to catch up. But here are a few things that stick out in my mind.
First, Emy came and left. It was so wonderful to have Emy here. Thank you so much for coming Em, for leaving that loverly husband of yours and your adorable chillins and for spending time with dad and I. It was the best Father's and Mother's Day gift ever.
It was comical because when Em walked out into the greeting area of the Montreal airport, she looked lovely. She was so slender, her hair was great, she looked radiant. In fact I thought she looked just like one of the college kids coming home for the summer. We hugged and she said, "So do you notice anything?" to which I replied "Yes, you got a hair cut and it looks great" she said, "do you notice anything else?" and I realized her hair was a shade darker. No, that was not it…so one more time she said, "anything else" while looking down at her belly. And there was a small protrusion at most. She is pregnant with her fourth. Dad noticed as we were standing there. WE were thrilled and very excited for them and US. What a grand surprise. Thank you!
And thank you Ben for making this happen. Ben stayed home with the kids and had all kinds of fun. OHHH so many wonderful shenanigans. The best part, was that throughout each day, Ben kept mms-ing pictures of the things they were doing, for example, look mommy here we are in a canoe without a lifejacket and here is Eli on a tractor without a hat or sunscreen, or check out our meals. One at McDonalds, one of pizza and another of corn dogs. There were others like time well spent at the Apple store or Clara on the leather couch holding a newly sharpened pair of scissors etc. It was so funny. Ben I know very well, those were all orchestrated very carefully. You are a wonderful father and dear husband. And you are so kind to have made it possible for Emy to come. We missed you and the kids but we had a terrific time together. WE love you.
OK, this past week we attended a social event. We don't often have time to attend things like that but that night, we did. We arrived at the Venu's home where they were hosting a potluck dinner for the ward. This is Amy Venu (actually that is not really her last name as the women here keep their maiden names) who owns the company AppleCheeks that make the groovy cloth diapers with the brightly colored exterior plastic pants or outer cover and inserts.
The Quebecois LOVE potlucks and let's just say they almost put the Persians to shame. I have never seen so much food. It was fun as we sat out on a blanket in the back and visited with the members. There was one very nice man in particular who sat himself down by dad and did not leave dad's side for the rest of the night. Dad is a very popular guy wherever he goes. Everyone wants to converse with the President. This kind man, who has an amazing grasp of the English language, chatted unceasingly. Dad sat for an hour all the while nodding his head. This good mans wife, who had 9 children, was very quiet. I believe she is from the states. Or from the place south of the border as they say.
As the night wore on, we were attempting to leave but could not get away as everyone wants to speak with the President, I started up a conversation with this good wife of 9 children. Her good husband joined us and before I knew it we were in a conversation….or she and I were listening as he told us of his old days of playing with New York Rangers. That is up until he broke his back during a game. This is when the story gets good. His mother who was a fairly rough lady, was very upset at him for breaking his back. She was upset he would not be playing any more.She LOVED, and I mean loved the game of hockey. But then that is par for the course, here in Canada when referring to hockey. I think you are all aware of this fact considering the Canadian fans went ballistic after Vancouver lost to Boston. They were rioting in the streets, breaking into stores and looting, "duking it out" while generally having a very bad tantrum. This dear old lady would have been one of those. They mentioned she is long been dead. They used to watch all the games together and this wonderful daughter in law learned about the game, watched every game with her husband and mother in law and soon learned to love the game of hockey. Never missed a game. After her mother in law died. She was cremated and since none of the other kids in the family wanted her ashes, they were given to this good man and his wife. The wife put the URN on the mantle in the living room. As they watched the games, she felt she should place the URN on the coffee table so the mother in law could "watch" the hockey games she so dearly loved. So in life and in death, the tradition goes on. Grandma is right there in the thick of things and will never miss a game as long as they live.
The Elders called me with a miracle a couple of days ago. They explained that they had tracted all day without much success. But towards the end of the evening, they met a man on the street. He was Romanian. He could not speak ONE word of French, Spanish or English as they tried all three. As none of them spoke Romanian, they still tried to get the guys name and phone number to set up an appointment. They used every means possible to explain who they were and what they were doing. They set an appointment and went on their way. They next night they arrived at the appointed time for the meeting. A young woman answered the door and spoke some English. She said "Oh you are the missionaries who speak Romanian." They were confused and told them that they were not, as neither of them spoke a word of Romanian. She assured them that the men her father spoke to, spoke Romanian to him and he understood every word they said. They were confused and wondered if they had the wrong address. But it was too much of a coincidence. A few minutes after, the man from Romania walked in and greeted them. It was him. If you have ever wondered if the gift of tongues still exists among man, I would like to tell you that is does. It was a true miracle. The Elders had to have the daughter translate for the rest of the evening. He was there on vacation for a couple of weeks visiting family. He plans to continue the discussions in Romania. These divine rendezvous happen every day to our missionaries. There are miracles every day. We need only look for them.
Another call I got two nights ago. A sweet Elder from France in his lovely French accent told me that they were sitting down around 9:00 p.m. for their nightly planning when they thought they heard a knock on the door. Just as you might imagine, no one ever knocks on the doors of missionaries. They just never have visitors or knocks on the door. As they planned, they heard the same noise. This time they were pretty sure it was a knock on the door. So one of these Zone Leaders got up and opened the door. There stood a man who they had seen many times coming and going. He lived on the third floor. He told them that he had been watching them, and knew they were missionaries. He had always hoped that they would contact him but they hadn't. You can imagine how surprised this missionary was. The man not only asked to hear the lessons, but asked if he could come to Church. They gave him a Book of Mormon at the door and set an appointment. I can say, that has NEVER EVER happened, not to me, to Nels or any other missionary for that fact. It was a wonderful miracle for these two as they have had a tough few weeks. This was a blessing for them and a tender mercy from the Lord.
I hear so many faith promoting stories but one of our Chinese Elders made me bawl because he has been having a tough time. He has questioned what he is doing here. But he had a miracle happen. Since then, he has changed completely. The other day they had tracted all day with nothing. Then the last, very last few doors of the night, they found a Mandarin speaking family. They had a wonderful lesson and the family wanted them back again. On the way out the one Elder said, let's try and find another family but the one Elder said, "No we need to offer a prayer of thanksgiving to Heavenly Father for this blessing before we continue." His companion told me that story. This is such a wonderful thing. I am grateful for the love of our Heavenly Father that heals us in all ways. His love is real, it is almost palpable at times. It is what we all seek. His love.
Well, I am finished for today. It is actually tonight. It is 9:50 p.m. I am so tired I hardly know what I am writing.I should edit this but at this point I will just send this off. I love you all so much. I miss you but we are doing well and we continue to stay very busy. This keeps us out of trouble. I am still trying to stay away from desserts. This was a challenge from Emy as she is doing the same. This is a good thing. I have tried to stay active and do some biking and walking. We also have a Wii exercise thing for our TV downstairs. I apparently tried a little too hard on the golf thing as I think I messed up both my shoulders. Getting old is not fun. Or maybe I should say, there is no good that comes from being competitive with a Wii.
Make it a great week and I will do the same.Will someone let me know if the link below takes you to the pictures on flicker please? Thanks!
Love,
Mom, Shir, MeMa, Soeur Cannon
See pictures from the mission at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadamontrealmission/
THIS WEEKS PIX: SISTERS PACE AND FLETCHER HAPPY MISSIONARIES
OUR SWEET EMY LOOKING BEAUTIFUL AND WITH CHILD
DURING OUR DISTRICT LEADER TRAINING LAST WEEK WITH VISITING SISTERS
Soeur Shirin Cannon
Sister Shirin Cannon
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