letter #43

Letter # 43

February 6, 2013

Montreal, Home Again

Sent the 8^th

Dear Family,

This past week has been a whirlwind. I am feeling better but still have a bass voice. How can it be that January is gone by the wayside? The weather has been more than bizarre with unseasonably warm, high windy weather that knocked out many electric lines and left many without electricity. We are still waiting to see how we hold up. The temperature keeps spiking up then drops like a hot potato. It is like a winter weather roller coaster ride here. But I guess we could be worse.

Last weekend was a very tough one as our baby Evelyn had a fever of 105 and Dane and Tracie spent a lot of time in the ER and then a few days up at Children’s Hospital trying to get her temperature under control. I am sure they had an exhausting time as they stayed over night a few nights I think. We were so grateful to Libby and Dane for occasional updates but we were very worried. She is just so young and these things always scare me. But I felt all would be well. I am grateful so say they came home and she has been recovering well. Dane had to take off and fly out and leave Tracie so Libby extended her stay to be with Tracie. That gave me comfort knowing if Tracie needed any help, Libby and Harper were there. Thanks sweet heart. We are so grateful our precious Evelyn is alright. Guess it was some kind of virus. That was the final conclusion. Found out that Little Nelson, Cort , Chris and Beck went through a similar thing. It is surely going round whatever it is in the U.S.

It was a good thing Libby stayed behind because they came home and realized that we had water dripping out of the vent on the ceiling, on the carpet in the Evelyn’s room. Welcome home sweet Evelyn. I think it is a heating vent. This is not what Tracie needed but as usual she took care of things as she and Dane always do at that beast of a house and have things under control. They also discovered additional water damage in the basement, which will be fixed as well.  Thanks to Kat, Farhad and Libby who all helped, we appreciate it so much. Thanks Farhad for going up to the house to check things out. I am grateful for family we can rely on.  What next? I will not mention what I said under my breath concerning a few contractors who shall remain nameless. Honestly, is there NO INTEGRITY in the construction world? Not in our experience. Our heat taping around the entire house is apparently not working and should have been as we had it newly installed before we left in order to avoid exactly these kinds of mishaps. C’est la vie!

I got a call on the miracle hotline, my cell phone last night. We have three Sisters up in Quebec City and they have had a hard time trying to find someone to teach this past week. They made a valiant effort and still nothing. So they prayed together and had the feeling they should go North to what everyone refers to as “the reservation”.  It turned out there were no members of “First Nation” (as they call themselves) but rather all Québécoise. No immigrants, only people from Quebec who were born there and never left. These are the most difficult to contact to even speak with. Suffice it to say they had many doors slammed in their faces. This area used to be 100% Catholic but unfortunately in the past thirty years have all fallen away because of things that happened in the church long ago. So they are either agnostic or atheist.  The doubted themselves and wondered why they felt they should have tried that area. At the end of the day, a very grouchy man who was not happy to see them, told them to come another time as he was watching a game on TV.  Then he slammed the door. According to the Sisters they were overjoyed. To them, this was a real blessing. Someone took a few seconds to talk to them. This breaks my heart. If only folks would give them ten minutes of their time, just give them a chance to let them explain who they are and why they are there. Just treat them with some human dignity and kindness. Most think they are Jehovah’s Witnesses’ and they slam the door. We are not sure why, but the J.W.’s are NOT LIKED at all throughout Quebec. I wish I could ask those who slam doors why they don’t like them…but people never give the missionaries a chance. Just slam doors in their face. Like they are not human beings. Like they don’t have feelings. These sweet, dear, smiley face young, squeaky clean, faithful kids who are out every day, giving of their time and efforts, to bring others unto Jesus Christ. They want to share a message that has made them and their families happy and that is why they want to share it with others. It is such a selfless life they live. I mean wouldn’t you be curious why these clean-cut kids are out instead of out living a life of  trouble and “me ,me, me?” Or doing drugs or sleeping around? Instead they have chosen to leave their lives, families, school and in many cases paid for their missions themselves, and come here to serve their brothers and sisters who they don’t know but love. I love and appreciate them for it every day. And it is brutally cold, but they get up every day and go  out and do it again. They are full of light and love for mankind. They do get discouraged though and sad when they cannot share that which they hold so dear. A few minutes after that grouchy man, they knocked on the door of a woman who said she was sick and to come back later. Her name was Jocelyn. Long story short, they ended up going back and she was waiting for them. She has been kind and receptive to their message. She is so grateful the sisters came to her door to teach her of the plan of happiness and the purpose of life. She loves the spirit she feels when they are there. THIS is why they go our day after day after day. For the ONE. That one special person who is searching, looking for truth. The sisters are beside themselves with joy. I am so grateful for this good woman and for the faithful loving service of not only our sisters in Quebec but all over this wonderful world. I love the miracle hotline. IT is the very small blessings these kids acknowledge, that is the way it should be.

We attended the most joyous wedding at the Montreal Temple, of a former missionary who served in our mission. Elder Aquim Garcia. He was from western Canada but during his mission his family was transferred to Montreal. It was a bit disconcerting to him as his family would be in the same city he was serving. It all turned out fine concerning that and he completed an honorable mission. He was a very serious Elder. Very strict and to the point. I had a few conversations with him about smiling more. It got to the point where he almost prided himself on not smiling, as he was so serious. Fast-forward, the mother of one of the Bishops meets Aquim and immediately starts her match making with him and her newly returned missionary daughter who is working in Calgary, out west. When Julie came home to visit her family she met Auqim and they hit it off immediately. They saw each other every day. She flew home for vacation. I think he even flew out there. But the miracle in his life that took place is that that young man cannot stop smiling. We saw him just after he had met Julie and he hugged me and was smiling and all congenial. We looked at each other and thought, “what is up with aka Elder Garcia”? Then he told us he was dating. WOW, what a difference this good woman has made in his life and I am sure he has made in hers. They made such a lovely couple yesterday and it was an honor to be there and witness their marriage in the Temple, for time and all eternity. This is the frosting on the cake. We saw him come and go in the mission. He grew immensely and changed dramatically. Then to see him enter University to study to become a Dr. and marry in the Temple…it does not get better than that unless it was my OWN kids. And our children already blessed us with that great blessing. My heart is so full and I feel so grateful for all I have been given.  I can never repay my Father in Heaven for what He has given me.

We finally finished interviewing all the missionaries in their apartments and I can say I am very glad. It has been a long process as we had transfers in the midst of all of this. It is the sweetest thing and often times very funny to meet with them, check out their apartments’, chat one on one, send a picture of them to their parents and make sure all is well with the apt.,  with them, physically, spiritually, mentally and  emotionally. I am glad to say other than three or four ailments, such as wisdom teeth having to be extracted and another’s coming out and one more physical problem I can’t mention, we are in good shape other than one who received the shocking news his parents were divorcing…so sad. He had no clue. What a blessing. We finished off in Ottawa where the threesome of Sisters Houde (from Quebec serving here) Lucas from Guatemala and Anthian who has been called to serve in ST. GEORGE but is waiting for her visa, made a lovely lunch for President and I. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of spaghetti (the choice of all missionaries as it is inexpensive) and salad with the Sisters. They were so sweet. They set the table all fancy as fancy as they could with their dishes, cups and utensils of which not one matches. I love them so.

Well, I have rambled on enough for this week. Just finished a round of four zone conferences.  We are beat but glad to be done. Now we concentrate on finding apartments for all the new incoming missionaries. I love and adore you all. I am so grateful for each one of you my kids, in law kids, grand kids, parents, brothers, sister, in laws, nieces and nephews, friends, and on and on. Thank you for your prayers and support. I feel you carry me through this wonderful experience, each day. I don’t know how one could do this without the help, love and support of loved ones and friends.

Have a great week, I will too!

Love,

Mom, Shir, Mema, Grammah, Sister Cannon, Soeur Cannon, Hemana Cannon

 P.S. it is snowing like mad, we are having blizzard conditions. Just got home from cleaning an apartment we are going to rent, long story, and my windshields could not stay clear. They were so frozen over, I had to stop every so often and  clean them again. Glad to be home.

Pictures:

1) My all time favorite Sister's picture

2) I love this of the Elders just after they finished serving at the homeless shelter, we all served food. They do this every week along with the help of the Sisters as service to the community for four or more hours.

3) The churches are so magnificent here. I love to see the unique steeples. Sadly, they are empty. Unfortunately they are selling them of as business space, condos and retail. It is very sad to see.

letter #42

Letter #42

January 30, 2013

Ottawa

Dear family,

Greetings from Ottawa, the capital of Canada located in the Province of lovely Ontario where we are seriously experiencing a HEAT WAVE of 3 degrees. I am not exaggerating. We have had sub zero temps as of late and tons of snow. The coldest we have experienced is about 35 below C. in Val D’Dor. Ottawa is a very beautiful city, diverse with many cultures living in and about the city. It is quite liberal. They just elected, for the first time ever, a female Premiere of the Province who is openly gay. People speak of her as a role model for the young women. I feel she is a very good person and has the best interest at heart for Ontario however the media is speculating this election was about gay power, gay rights kind of thing. The Pro Family groups are ramping up the ads in opposition. We will see how it all works out. Actually the majority of the Providence’s Premieres in Canada are women. And the government gives much more power and authority to the Province’s Premieres than say we do to our Governors. However the Prime Minister of all of Canada, kind of like our President, is Stephen Harper. As I listen to the folks here in Quebec I realize they are not very keen on him, but then all leaders when they choose to be public servants,  must accept the fact that someone is not going to like them. They can’t make all the people happy all of the time, just some of the people, some of the time. One thing I love about their elections is that they only last for a month. Heavenly. Less money spent and get right to it. Anyway that is your snippet news/info. concerning the Canadian government. Interestingly enough, I never knew anything about their government til we moved here. They all know about our government and how we run things. I don’t recall being taught in school about them, our neighbors up North. But then I don’t remember a lot of things I was taught in High School. The Canadians at least in the news reports refer to us as our neighbors down South often times.

I have caught a bit of a nasty cold. Boo hew or should I say AHHH Chewwww. I am feeling the effects of the Nyquil this morning. Suffice it to say, I sound like Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys of which many of you may not be acquainted with because one, they were popular, most likely before your time or two you dislike country music and would not be familiar with them. Anyway on with my sad story. It hit me like a ton of bricks Saturday night. I actually stayed in bed for a day. Never before have I done that on  the mission. Libby you would have been proud of me. But then Monday came around and we had interviews. We packed up and left for Ottawa. Tuesday we had interviews with three teams. Our first interview was in Valleyfield with Elders Montenson and Freeze. They are both such wonderful, sweet, hard working, obedient Elders. They live in the basement of a member family. Brother Bourreau sp? and his wife are so generous, kind and good to our missionaries. It is humbling to see how they have gone to great pains to create a wonderful place for our Elders to live so “they can feel the spirit of the Lord so they can go about their work” as stated by Brother B. in his broken English. They both speak French. Brother B. has a brain tumor and is waiting to find out today what the prognosis is. Not sure if it is fast growing or not. He is such a good, kind man. He has a big farm and much land and his hands are big, rough and knarly. He can fix anything and has a ready smile that lights up his face. There are so many faithful, wonderful Saints, or member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints here. I love, respect and admire them for their sacrifices and their commitment.

Before we  visited the Elders I called them ahead of time and asked if they would join Nelson in administering a blessing of health in my behalf. When we arrived the three of them placed their hands on my head and gave me the blessing. It was a sweet experience as Elder Freeze let me know I would still be able to continue my work, that I would get over this and assured me of my Heavenly Fathers love for me. The tears ran down my cheek as this sweet Elder pronounced this blessing on my head. Usually Nels would have done that but he wanted the Elders to have the experience. One anointed my head with a drop of consecrated oil and the other sealed that anointing and gave the blessing. It was a very sweet experience for me to be blessed by our dear missionaries. I told them I would stay away from them because I had a cold and they said, “Sister Cannon, we love you and we don’t want you to stay away from us”. Am I the luckiest girl in the world? I love these missionaries with all my heart. I feel so blessed to have the privilege of working with them. I know that this is sacred time and I don’t take that for granted, any day. It is such a wonderful experience to be able to serve in this particular capacity and work so closely with these exceptional young men and women AND seniors who we love. Today I am feeling a bit better even though my voice is still very bass like. On the phone, I have been referred to as President Cannon now three times….once by Kat, that was so funny. It made me laugh in a very bass kind of way.

As we go to these interviews in the apartments of each team of missionaries a number of thing occur. First and foremost, dad/Nels, interviews each missionary to see how they are doing. He does a great job.  I check smoke alarms, make sure carbon monoxide alarms are functioning as well as making sure everything in the apartment works. I check for cleanliness and make sure junk is not accumulating in each apartment. As we go about these interviews I see some of the funniest things. Yesterday, we saw a music corner set up in the apartment. The members loaned a keyboard to the missionaries as they try and learn simple hymns to play during meetings as most branches and a number of wards do not have piano players. So in the corner was this small keyboard and on the wall in front of the keyboard were two medium sized Christmas foil gift bags stuck to the wall. I asked what they were for and immediately both Elders grabbed their Ukuleles’ and place them in the bags. Some of our missionaries have learned how to play the Ukulele in their free time. It seems to help with alleviating stress as well. Their apartment was so clean, the floors, even the top of the stove, counters, bathroom etc. Then I grabbed the handle of the micro wave. It was then time seemed to freeze as the Elder looked at me and his face went pale. I knew then they had forgotten to clean out the microwave. As I opened I realized why he did not want me to open it. It appeared that stuck on the sides and top of the micro, was enough food for dinner that night. We all started laughing and he said he would get to that later in the day. The base of the oven was also a bit crusty but all in all I was so proud of them for their effort and told them so. It is so important they understand that part of this learning curve of being on a mission is the basics of life. Aside from all the missionary work and teaching they do they learn things like properly maintaining a car and apartment, making menus and buying and preparing food, staying healthy by exercising and eating right. Hydrating every day. Grooming themselves, and their clothes, looking sharp. How to cut their own hair, shine shoes and maintain white collars and cuffs, writing thank you notes and practicing good manners and etiquette.  These simple basics of life are things we are trying to teach them here. And they are good enough to be willing to learn.

We had another dinner this past weekend for 24 total Senior missionaries who gathered at our house to bid farewell to our dear Mahaffey’s. They are Roger and Deidre Mahaffey from near Lindon, UT. As usually we had too much food and way too many desserts. But as usually we enjoyed each others company and bonded as friends do. They have been such a strength and joy to have here in the Canada Montreal Mission. When they first came, they were searching for the right apartment down in Cornwall, which is where they have been serving. It took them over a month to find one. In the time they stayed with us we became very close to them. Every time they came in the door they said, “We’re home mom and dad” even though they are a tad older than we are. So they have become our “kids” as we lovingly refer to them as. We will miss them and look forward to the time we can go stay with them for a month. JK

We are preparing for our Zone Conferences, which occur every three months. That is where we gather our missionaries from all over and split them into four groups/locations for instruction. We gather them in Ottawa& Quebec City for meetings and then two separate meetings in Montreal. These meetings necessitate missionaries driving from the far reaches of our Mission. I am currently working on a discussion/training on the basics of missionary work. I will entitle my training “Basic Training” and present it with an Army type atmosphere. I will have them stand at attention and ask questions and if they give the wrong answer they will have to do a few push-ups or something like that. Dad wants to start it off by bringing them all to attention just like he did in the Army. I wanted to try to do something a little differently as we are usually pretty serious in our conferences. Time for a little learning along with some fun as well. Hope it doesn’t backfire and James if you have any inspiration I would love to hear it.

Well, it is time to head out so I will close for now, but know how much I love and miss you all. Heavenly Father has been so good to us. WE have been blessed by your prayers and all you do for us. Including taking care of the leaks in the house this week Tracie, Libby, Kat and Farhad. Thanks for all your help. Hopefully we will get things fixed. I am not worried at all as I know the house is in GOOD hands. Thanks so much. Love you! And thanks for the pictures of the family getting together this last week. If any of you have any at all I would welcome any and all pics.

I love this work. It brings great joy my life and for those who choose to embrace it, it brings great growth, change, joy and peace in their lives as well. It is truly a miracle to witness people before and after their conversion. It never ceases to amaze me. I am grateful for my knowledge of this the Church of Jesus Christ. I know who I am, I know where I am going and why I am here. I know my purpose. For that I am grateful. P. S. We just finished with interviews today and it was so warm I had my window open. What is going on here? Anyone else experiencing bi-polar weather?

Much love to you all,

Mom, Mema, Shir, Sister Cannon

The letter I just sent had three pictures. One of a boat out in the snow on our way to Rimouski. Two, four individuals who I love more than words can describe, and Three us crossing the icy St. Laurent river on a ferry from Quebec city to Levi. Those of you who have made that trip may remember it differently. And three pictures in addition to those, another of our trip across the river, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, and some of our wonderful missionaries in for a zone council along with the coordinating sister. We love them all.

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letter #41

Letter # 41

In the car leaving Alma, Quebec

January 9, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR  ~ HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO DEAR CLARA ON THE 23RD AND FARHAD ON THE 24TH. LOVE YOU!

WELL HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS. YES I AM STILL ALIVE AND KICKING. I KNOW IT HAS BEEN SIX MONTHS, AND FOR THAT I AM SO SAD I have not recorded the last six months. I am sorry for not communicating.  FOR MANY REASONS I regret this, FOR ONE THIS IS MY JOURNAL AND SO MANY WONDERFUL THINGS HAVE HAPPENED!

LIKE MY VISIT TO TACOMA TO WELCOME OUR FIFTH granddaughter since out on the mission, Rainy Shirin Stewart, beautiful daughter of James and Wynn. What a blessing she is to our family. It was a bit of heaven for me to be there. We also attended a mission President’s seminar in Kirtland where we were reunited with a former missionary, Elder Gervasi. That was such a tender mercy. Then my dear Dru came for a most lovely visit. She worked, we laughed, we talked and talked some more and laughed again. Heaven again. Thanks for coming Dru.  We were also blessed enough to be able to see Mark and Libby and our precious Harper on the way home from the seminar, in Rochester. Also a great blessing was to have Emy, Ben, Clara, Eli and our sweet baby Nora came to Montreal in October to visit for a week. What a huge effort on their part to get everyone out here to see us. Thank you guys. We are so blessed. It was so much fun to have the Brashers. Then to top it all off, we finally met our dear Evelyn Cannon, which means Dane and Tracie flew here to see us the week of Thanksgiving and actually the only time we could get them home was on Thanksgiving day. We had the most wonderful time with them and it was a joy to finally meet dear Evelyn. We loved her the second we laid eyes on her but then we loved her anyway.  We also had a visit that was sooo fun from Sou and we had a whirlwind wonderful time with her. Laughing and so much fun.  Also Clint and Diane came to see us. What a wonderful time we had with them as well.

And just last week we had the privilege and pleasure of welcoming Chase Omana (my dear nephew son of  Ham and Di) who came out for a week to serve a mini mission in Montreal. He was companions to two of our finest missionaries, Elders Heder and Reid, Zone Leaders in the Mont Royal Zone. Chase, you looked like a missionary in your handsome suit as you arrived here. You may want to rethink those cool shoes though and get some you can get on a bit easier. JK Thank you for being so obedient and contributing to the work of the Lord here. We are so proud of you. You made a difference while you were here. What a great privilege for us. I am sure I have missed someone who came so forgive me please. We have had countless house guests and visitors. And last but not least it is my pleasure to mention the blessing of having my father in law, Elder Emerson Cannon, and my mother in law, his wife, Sister Colleen Miller Cannon who were called to serve here in the Canada Montreal Mission. Yes, it is true. They are serving and might I add, valiantly and faithfully, in the Chinese Branch. They came in October and have blessed the lives of all of us since their arrival. My memory is fading hope I didn’t forget anyone else. Forgive me if I did. Thank  you - all of you family and friends for making the efforts to fly out, or  drive out to see us or have me/us in your home. We love and miss you so much.

We are on our way to Quebec city from Alma. It is night, it is a blizzard. I only wish I could accurately detail what I see before me. It is literally PITCH BLACK. No towns, no cell phone usage, no lights, only the light of our headlights. I don’t think I have ever in my life, driven in such inky darkness on a road before. Complete darkness. The winds are gusting at high speeds. The snow comes in huge waves across our path. Why have they now cleared this road? We are winding through mountains and hills. It is like a roller coaster here. Normally I would say it is my very favorite drive in Quebec but in these conditions, it is nail bitingly frightening. And on top of that it is snowing, it is negative one, and there is snow on the roads. Yes, I know, especially my dad if he is reading this, must be asking this question… why? Why are we doing this? We are in the  middle of interviews which means we drive to all missionary apartments, inspect them, see how they are doing and simply spend a little time with them. It is the sweetest and most favorite thing we do. I love interviews except for this. And we are on a schedule and we must follow the schedule. When it storms, I don’t like it. But President is driving very safely and slowly which I am grateful for. Otherwise he has become a true Quebecqois driver. I will let him explain what that means. Seriously, I can hardly stand looking up. If I were driving I would be ok but I had a little incident with my eyes in October and as a result I don’t see as well in the night. Wow these hills are very steep We just passed an oncoming car. No one is out, but a few sillies on the road. Hallelujah we just came up behind an enormous snow plow who is salting and we have to slow down and follow behind him. Fine with me. I  am as happy as a clam following this good person, driving this plow.

 Thank you Mr. plow man or woman whoever you are thank you.

Speaking of my eyes. I want to tell you what happened to me not because I want to talk about myself but to exhibit Heavenly Fathers love and attention  towards His children, even me. I was the recipient of His greatness and love. Small miracles abound. We attended the mission Presidents seminar in Kirtland, Oh., in October 2012. It had been the most busy four months, I  think we had ever had. We were sitting there listening to Elder Halstrom of the Seventy in the morning of the first day and I  started having difficulty focusing on him. I had had a severe headache for three or four days. A near migraine but not full blown. By the end of the night I was literally seeing double. To make a long story short, our Medical Area Authority, a doctor was at the seminar and told me to get to the Dr. fast. But we had to drive home so we stopped at the emergency room in Buffalo. This was arranged by the mission Presidents wife in N.Y., the Christiansen’s. She called her Dr. in Rochester who knew an LDS ER Doc in Buffalo. Between them they arranged for me to go there immediately which we did. His name was Dr. Greg or Craig Boyle I think and he was on his day off but he arranged  everything for us including an Ultra sound and MRI to rule out MS and a tumor. I am so grateful he reported to me I was fine with respect to those two conditions and thought it might be the result of a complex migraine. He was so very kind. He even came in and sat with us for a few hours to speed things up. He even arranged for us to go to the Stake Relief Society  Presidents home to sleep that night as we were released at two in the morning. She stayed up and waited for us to greet us and make sure we were comfortable. We did not know any of these people but all were so willing to help us out. So we were on our way home when we got another call from our Area Medical Authority, Dr. Aldous, told me that he had a second opinion and convinced me that I see a Neuro-Ophthalmologist.  At this point we were on the road headed back to Montreal and just heading into Rochester to see Libby, Mark and Harper. Do you know how long it takes to get an appointment with a Dr. with this type of expertise?  Over a year if I were in Quebec. And Dr. Aldous who has a ton of contacts in SL said he tried and they would fly me to SL but it would not be for three months. So there we were on the road wondering what to do. Then I had one of those lightening strikes in my head. A thought came into my mind like a bolt of lightning, or an explosion of the spirit. I was prompted to call our dear friends the Russell’s’ (Dr.)  in Iowa where he teaches and practices at the University of Iowa. His dear wife and my good friend Trudy jumped into action after I told her of my problem. I tell you the Lord works in the most miraculous ways. It just so happens Steve has a good friend (Dr.) who works in the University of Rochester eye dept. and she knows the head of the Dept. there, Dr. Feldon. Steve also knows him. Anyway, she, Dr. Chong or Chen I think it is, asked Dr. Feldon to see me. He agreed. That would never ever have happened without Steve and Trudy.  Fast forward, After a month and a half of no driving which almost drove me mad, I had a return appointment and my sight is pretty good except for my extreme right and left. I see double there but straight ahead I am good. I have learned to compensate by turning my head so all is well and there are no restrictions at all. I am grateful.

January 20, 2013

As you can see I did not finish the letter as we hit some bad weather and I could not concentrate. We are now way, way up North in Abitibi, Val D’Or the valley of Gold.  We drove through another blizzard to get here for a baptism and we spoke today at church. I spoke to this small branch of 20 about sacrifice, service and unity. We were supposed to go to Petawawa today but because of high winds and huge drifts in the roads we decided to leave in the morning.

I am so glad because we are here in the Quality Inn and we got a call from Dane, Tracie and our dear sweet Evelyn. We actually used facetime. It worked pretty well. Isn’t technology amazing? It was so good to see them. They were headed next door to our neighbors, the Smiths for dinner. They always feed them. I love the Smiths and am so grateful for them. They will never know what it means to us that they include Dane and Tracie at their loving table. We love and thank you Smiths. Then one of our former missionaries sent me a message asking me to skype with three other returned missionaries, all in different locations. I just comleted our skype session with them. When I saw them all there on the screen I burst into tears. It made me realize how much we love and miss our returned missionaries. We talked with our wonderful Elder Avitia who is from Tx. But is attending BYU Idaho and is engaged to a beautiful young woman. We talked with our dear Sister Tschumi in Switzerland who has a great job and wants to have our next reunion in that part of the world. Sounds like a blast. She looked beautiful. We talked with sweet Elder De La Vega who is working and going to school in Vegas and plans on heading to Provo at some point. He looks great and lost a lot of weight. So proud of him. And last but not least our dear Sister Penick who is in Calgary going to school but is from St. George and is majoring in Communications. She is a gem and we were lucky enough to catch up with Desiree and her mom in Ottawa! We just happened to be staying at the same hotel. It was meant to be that we get some Poutine together at Elgin Street Diner. All of them so wonderful living such good lives. We are proud of them and happy for them. We love our missionaries.

We had Grandma and Grandpa Cannon, I mean Elder and Sister Cannon over for leftover chicken enchiladas the other night and enjoyed our time with them immensely. It is so fun to have them here in the mission even though we don’t get much time to see them. They are making a HUGE difference in their Branch. Everyone LOVES them and especially the missionaries. Grandpa jokes around with them and they LOVE that.

Today we picked up and drove home, some investigators who are Algonquin Indians and they live on the Lac Simone reservation where all the homes look exactly alike except they are different colors. They rent the homes from the Indian Nation. They call themselves First Nation. They are all very poor and most of them do not have jobs. Alcoholism, drugs and poverty plague these wonderful people. It was so fascinating for me to find out more about how they live. They live on beaver they trap under water, moose they entrap in branches to break their legs then shoot them, deer and they ice fish for Sturgeon and Walleye. They talked about how they use everything from the animals they kill. They must do so to stay alive and feed their families. The men go out and hunt and fish, as do the women. They are going through a very tough time right now as the Canadian government wants to take even more of their land away and they are trying to fight back. But they don’t have the legal power, money and means to do so. It is so sad to me. They are fighting back and their slogan across Canada is “IDLE NO MORE”. They love to go snowmobiling as there are literally thousands of miles of trails or mini snow mobile highways here in Northern Quebec. Chris, one of the guys lives with his girlfriend and they have two little girls. He wants a better life for them. He seems like a really nice guy. He invited us to come up and stay with them and we could hunt, fish and snow mobile some time. Sounds fun but not in the next 5 months that is for sure. No time. But wasn’t he nice to invite us?

I can see I have gone on too long now. I love you all and miss you. Thank you for your support and love. We feel it lift and carry us through times that are tough. We could not do this without your love and support. Thank you.

Much love,

Mom, Shir, Mema, Granmah, Sister Cannon

Pictures, Rainy Shirin Stewart on her blessing day, one of the awful storms we drove in and my sweet Clara with baby Nora,  who will be turning 5 years old on the 23rd of Jan. She is so loving and dear. She brightens my life like no other. Love you Clara.

letter #40

Letter #40

May 23, 2012 actually now it is July 2, 2012

Holiday Inn Express actually now I am in Rochester N.Y.

Quebec City-6:00 a.m. actually the time is 9:03 and all are asleep

Greetings family,

Greetings from the very beautiful city of Quebec City where we have had a Zone Conference and interviews, at the same time. It is painful to think of the things I have not recorded since I last wrote you, as there have been many wonderful occurrences.

No ACTUALLY hello from beautiful Rochester, fast forward in time… we have a new baby in town, in the town of Rochester, N.Y. and in the family of Libby and Mark Miller. I am so blessed to have been able to be here for her birth. I was given permission to drive down here and attend the BIRTH, miracle birth, of Harper Eden Miller. Thanks to Libby and Mark for inviting me to come and attend the birth. I am in heaven to be honest.

 I arrived Tues. June 26^th 2012 after receiving a call from Lib. saying she had been in labor the prior Mon. eve. I finished the things I was working on for zone council and threw the rest of my things in the car as I had already started packing. Off to  Rochester. May I say how grateful I am for Emma, or maybe it is Jane the GPS English voice who guided me safely here. I have no sense of direction unless I study the map and I had not done that. I arrived around 2:30 p.m. to find the love birds anxiously awaiting the arrival of Harper. Contractions were uncomfortable but I knew the worst was yet to come. The Millers found themselves to be hungry so Mark went out for gyro wraps from his favorite place…which Libby ended up throwing up after a few hours. Hint: don’t eat when in labor.

We (she) labored into the dark of the night. We even went outside where it was cooler. At around 11:30 or so we went to the hospital as her contractions were constant, on an average of anywhere from 4-9 minutes apart or so. I parked the cars, Mark took Lib and their stuff in and registered. By the time I took the purple elevator up to the third floor, the gatekeeper would not allow me in as they were determining whether or not to admit her in triage. They ended up doing so but I was still out in the waiting room. There was a glimmer of hope as the gatekeeper gave me a visitor’s wristband. Their wonderful midwife, Helene Thompson, came out and briefed me. We had a long conversation about Montreal and what a great town it was. She and her husband had just recently visited. I read magazines, checked my email, texted updates to Emy and Wynn and Dane I think. I was very exhausted as I had arisen (is that correct, if not all you English majors look away) at 5:30 that morning, driven to Rochester and now it was around 2:00 a.m. on June 27^th, 2012 (Harpers DUE DATE).

Mark and Helene came out to tell me to go home and they would call me when the time came. I had attempted to make a place to lie down on two long benches pushed together. My mid section kept falling through the middle of my “bed”. I lumbered out to the car and to my horror, because of the drive down, found that I was out of gas. Running on fumes. Problem…I did not know where to find a gas station. I tried a couple on the GPS but they were closed. I kept driving and got instructions from a very nice man from India who ran a tiny all night convenience store. Thank you 7-Eleve for being open. I finally made it back home, dragged myself to bed.

Two hours later the phone rang. It was Mark. “Come now, she is dilated to an 8”. You know what mode that put me in. I threw my clothes on, brushed my teeth and headed out the door. When I arrived I found Mark and Libby with Helen who was finishing her 24 hour shift. That is insane. Long, 20 hours of labor, story made short. After much tender loving care from Mark and much courageous, determined, sheer will by Libby, our sweet baby was born on June 27^th, 2012 at 11:22 a.m. She weighed in at 7.14 lbs and was 20 inches long. Her head circumference was 13 in case anyone is wondering. She sleeps and eats like a dream. I have heard her cry only a few times. She is a very peaceful, sweet baby. And beautiful. We skyped last night with Dane and Tracie (on his birthday) and when they showed us their new baby Evelyn, she had grown and her chubby little cheeks had filled out so much I could not believe it. The two cousins met for the first time. Although they did not realize it. I know they will be fast friends along with Nora, Clara, Eli, Acadia and Wynn and James new baby girl upcoming in 4 weeks or so.

Harper is a little angel. We are so blessed, Nels and I. We have 7 beautiful grandchildren and one on the way. Life does not have greater blessings than this. Along with the blessings of the Gospel in our lives and the privilege of participating formally in missionary work, our lives seem to be full of so many glorious blessings. Thank you to each of our children and our in-law children for the great gift of these precious little grandchildren. They give us so much joy. We cannot wait to meet Evelyn in person. We are hoping to convince the Cannon’s to come to Montreal for a visit when they feel the time is right. Hint Hint!

Well,  I will stop for now and use my other letter for next time. I send my love to each of you individually and collectively. I pray for you each day. Yes, we miss you but I try no to think of these things. On June 30, it was two years ago we stepped foot on Canadian ground. We have grown much since that time. We have learned much and experienced miracles in and out of our family. We love serving in the CMM.  I love this work with all my heart. It is the most vital thing I could be doing with my life right now.

Have a loverly week everyone. I know I will.

Love,

Mom, Shir, Mema, grammah or Soeur Cannon