A pain in the neck, and Spring???

    One of the joys of being "middle-aged", or maybe "late middle-aged",  is the appearance of new-found aches and pains.  One can go to bed feeling just fine and awake the next morning with some new irritation which sometimes leaves you incapacitated.  On other occasions a slight twist or turn develops into a real crisis.  Such was the case with me during the past couple of weeks.  Last week I awoke from a fairly good night's rest to lower back pain, accompanied by tingling and numbness in my foot.  I have had this before so I knew the best course of action is ice packs and rest. A couple of days of this and I was much better.  Monday and Tuesday this week I exercised in the morning, but didn't push myself.  However, as I was putting dinner on the table for the young Elders Tuesday evening (we feed them every Tuesday), I felt a light pop in my upper back.  Immediately it began to hurt, and as time went on it became full-out spasms, very  painful. I went to the church to teach my English class, but knew before it started that I wouldn't make it.  A nice member of the church who was at the meetinghouse, offered to drive me home;  Paul stayed to teach both mine, and his class combined.  Now, after a full day of rest and Tylenol, I am feeling much better.  Who knows what brought this on?  Perhaps it was the lifting of heavy dishes from a bottom cupboard at church on Sunday for the potluck, or the lying on the floor with the vacuum hose to clean under the fridge on Monday? (That was a site to see, I am sure!) Whatever the cause, I have spent part of the last two weeks "laid up" as they say, and none too happy about it.
    I try not to dwell too much on the weather, but given that today is the first day of spring I thought I would share a couple of photos I took this morning from our apartment.  Our branch president's wife told us recently that Quebec has three springs:  white, (because it is still snowing); brown (when the rains come and melt all that white stuff), and green (when we will really see grass and a few flowers).

 The above is taken from our sliding glass door to the street- yes, it is snowing.

 See these piles of snow outside our front door--those will one day (apparently) melt into masses of brown yukky-ness.

This is the parking lot of our complex.  This also happens to be our neighbor's truck, which Paul covets.
HAPPY SPRING!!!!!      

Icey

About a month ago we took a little trip on our preparation day to visit  L'hotel de glace (the Ice Hotel).  This is a relatively famous place near Quebec City.  Every winter (probably in late November) when there is enough snow (yes, definitely November!) a structure is erected, made entirely of ice. I had heard about it and wanted to see to so my companion (he's eternal) accommodated me.  The day we went was sunny, which in the province of Quebec, in the winter, translates into very cold.  Fitting to see the Ice Hotel. For a fairly decent price we were admitted.  We walked down "hallways"  which are open on each end to the outside.  No need to keep the cold wind out.  The rooms were open so we could go into as many as we wanted to.  Each had an ice bed, (that is ice, not nice) with a foam mattress and a coverlet on top.  Absolutely not sufficient for an night's stay, but I had read that if you want to spend the night you should dress very warmly (duh) and bring warm sleeping bags. A couple of them had a heater of some sort, but for the size of the room, insufficient.  There were no doors, just curtains over the entrances, so no privacy.  Of course the guests would be so wrapped up in heavy clothing and blankets, etc., just trying to survive, that there would be no need for privacy.  Most of the rooms have some kind of design cut into the walls of ice:  we saw a representation of Easter Island,  animals, horses and other themes.  There was a large gathering area where you could buy a drink in a totally ice glass.  I saw some people drinking these, but I couldn't imagine it given how cold it was. There was also a glass slide where you climb some glass stairs and can slide from the top-- we saw some children having a good time on this.  I do not know how much a room goes for, and I assume those with elaborate ice carvings in the wall would be more expensive, but it was certain that no one had requested a late check-out time.  Oh, and did I mention that none of the rooms had bathrooms?  There were two Don-Jons out front where, if nature calls, you better be quick about it or you will be found frozen solid the next morning.  I read about the hotel on the internet (so it has to be true), and they do have individuals who want to experience spending a night there.  I was happy to visit for a half hour or so, and then hurry back to my warm car, which has heated seats...  

 

The Strength of Youth

   One of the true highlights of being on a mission is spending time with the young missionaries.  In most cases, they are powerhouses in every sense of the word.  They work hard every day and they are fearless in talking to everyone.  Here in Victoriaville, we have come to know and love these young missionaries.  So far we have had five different missionaries in this city and when they have been transferred it has been so hard to say good-bye.
   Every week we attend District Meeting in a city about 45 minutes from here. We take the young elders with us to save them "clicks, which are the allowable miles they can use each month.  By riding with us, they have more to use on other days to get to appointments. At District Meeting we are instructed on differing aspects of missionary work by the District Leader, a young man about 20 years old.
  In addition to District Meetings, about once a month we go to a zone meeting where the zone leaders also teach about how to be more effective missionaries.  We attended one of these meetings this week. The zone leaders  gave a great presentation, and then two sets of sister missionaries also taught.  As when I was in Switzerland and France, I was once again reminded of how very capable, committed, and loving these young leaders are.  As I looked around the room at the 40 or so missionaries sitting in a large circle, I thought about what a privilege it is to associate with them.  We might be sacrificing a little bit, but these young men and women are taking eighteens months to two years out of their busy young lives, putting their educational, career, and personal relationships on hold while they attempt to find those who will listen to their message about our beliefs.  In addition, I reflected on the thousands of other similar gatherings of missionaries all over the world.  They willingly go door-to-door and have those doors slammed in their faces every day. Once in awhile someone listens, and lets them come back for another lesson.  Every now and then someone is willing to make the necessary changes in his or her life required for baptism, and what a great day that is for the missionaries. The amazing thing is, however, that even though there aren't many who will make those changes, the missionaries cheerfully keep on working and trying.  Associating with them always lifts us to a higher plane…
  This was our District in December.  We had missionaries from Switzerland, Denmark, Vanuatu, and the U.S.