Doings

    I am not really sure if "doings" makes sense but oh well. Mom will be clicking her tongue up there in heaven and saying I should use the thesaurus ( she loved using the obscure words she found there).
    I was going to post this as "comings and goings", but realized that right now we aren't doing much of these.  Paul is quite sick with what I hope is just a head cold, but he is on day 3 and doesn't seem to be improving.  I tried every natural remedy I know including large doses of vitamin C, ginger root tea, and the netty pot.  Because of his heart medication he can't take any decongestant or antihistamine, so he is really miserable.  I have been spending my time trying to watch what he touches and disinfecting it because I do not want to get sick.
   Having so much time on my hands while Paul rests is stretching my creativity.  To my children who are consumed with work, child-rearing, sports and games, scouts, "Trek", homework, social activities, and relay races, this will seem as foreign as it gets. I remember as a young mother wishing for just a little time to do something I wanted to do.  Now that I am here it is less appealing and more of a burden.  It is true I am somewhat curtailed in what I can do for two reasons:   1) I am on a mission, and have a few rules to follow, and 2) I can't speak the language here well enough to go out much on my own. I have studied French for hours, listened to General Conference talks, written in my journal, crocheted, and even watched a few wholesome Hallmark movies online.  I will look back on these past 3 days with longing someday, I am certain.
    We are mentoring a young man who has, up to this point in his nearly 24 years, never set goals nor planned for the future other than the coming weekend.  We have been meeting with him twice a week and helping him set some goals he can achieve, and having him listen to some positive thinking CD's.  He says he wants to go on a mission, but at 24, he needs to hustle it up a bit.  We hope we are making some progress. He says he is keeping on track with our weekly reading assignment for the Book of Mormon.  We can't really know for sure if he is doing this, because when Paul asked him to list things "he is good at", one was, "I am a good lier."  He clarified that he meant only to his parents, but if he is that good at it, who knows?  He is a nice boy and I would like to see him make something of himself (as Helen Ann was known to say).
    In the past month or so we drove to Burlington, Vermont three times. It is out of our mission boundaries but there are certified U.S. doctors there who will take U.S. insurance, and yes, who speak English, and you can get an appointment in less than six months and don't have to wait four hours to be seen (all of which is not possible in Quebec).  We took a young sister missionary twice and I saw a doctor myself once.  It was funny how excited I was to be back in the U.S.  Seeing a Five Guys hamburger place thrilled me.  Despite all the problems in our government right now, I am proud to be an American. When we leave the Canada, Paul uses his American passport.  When we re-enter, he goes in on his Canadian one. This is necessary because he was not given a visa when we came because, they reminded him, he is a Canadian citizen.  The last time we re-entered, the official questioned our U.S. vehicle and even threatened to charge a tax on it.  He wanted proof that we lived permanently in the U.S. He was dumbfounded when we produced the American passport; he had to go ask someone about it.
   We are teaching a missionary preparation class every Sunday afternoon to about 8 members of our branch.  Mostly these are 17-24 year-olds-, but we even have a couple who anticipates a senior mission in a couple of years. We have had one class so far, due to the Easter holiday, but it is fun to be with them. I love being with young adults.  Of course, if Paul isn't better, and I have to teach, it will be a very short class tomorrow!
    Remember the picture I put in the blog of a snowman in a yard, installed in his spot in October?  His head eventually came out of the snow (yes, it was that deep!), and he was removed from the yard this week.
   Here are a couple of pictures of our Soirée de film (movie night).  This is what senior missionaries do, i.e., pop and bag 60 bags of popcorn:

All these candy bars were free from the IGA where we collect food every Saturday.  The trick was having the discipline not to eat them before we had the move in night.