Winter thaw

The past five days have been pretty wonderful because the temperatures have moderated significantly.  Who would have imagined that a temperature of 32 degrees fehrenheit  would bring the comment "Hey, it's really warm today!"  One man came to our English class last night and when I asked him how he was doing he told me he really was not happy because it was raining instead of snowing.  Why so much focus on weather?  Well, for one thing, in a small town like this, there isn't much else to focus on; and for another, one's life in a Quebec winter is dictated by it.  I wanted to share a couple of photos taken during a snow storm a few weeks ago:

And just where do they put all this snow?  It becomes absolutely huge mountains which start out as white but soon become brown and rather ugly, and which we are told make for a big mess come April. These piles are all over:

    Missionary work ebbs and flows and the holidays are typically very slow.  The two elders here lost most of their investigators.  Because we saw this in Switzerland and France, and thus have some perspective, we are trying to keep them positive.  They have been brainstorming of ways to get some people interested.  New ideas will be welcomed if you have any!  

No Hype

   It is January 4th, 2014.  Christmas has past and the meager decorations in our apartment have been packed away for the next senior couple who will reside here.  Our decorations consisted of a 3 foot tree, pre-lighted, with a few clip-on ornaments.  We also had two strings of Christmas lights which we put around our sliding glass door, and a small wooden sign which says "HOPE", given to us by one of our branch members.  I did bring two of my nativity sets, small ones, and very simple. That was it.  It took us about 5 minutes to set up the tree and other items (well, maybe 10 to get the lights to look right around the door), and less than that to put it all away.  I was srtuck this year by how low-key it all was.  The branch had nothing in the meetinghouse to indicate it was Christmas except for three small Christmas trees (no more than 8 inches high) which our dedicated branch librarian found and put on a table.  I admit I wished there had been something to indicate that we, as a congregation, loved the Savior and celebrated His birth. We had a nice Christmas Day with Jaclyn--she opened three small gifts; and Paul and I opened a couple.  I tried to imagine the gift-opening frenzy taking place in other homes.  Ours this year was so serene it made me want to never go back to the stress and hoop-la of years past.  We visited one of our members that afternoon. It was really nice, and so non-commercial.  Have I made my point?  I really liked it.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture!
   However, we came face to face with the loneliness that is reality to many people, especially older singles, during the holidays. Several of our branch members were, quite literally, all alone on Christmas Day.  These are individuals who have adult children, living within driving distance, but who chose not to come to see their mother, or father, on Christmas.  We visited with several of these individuals several times over the week of Christmas and New Year's,  in person and on the phone.  Of course, we were a poor substitute for their loved ones and I had to battle down some feelings of animosity for young adults who were so self-consumed that they couldn't reach out to a lonely parent.  It made me wish I had been better at paying attention to Mom at all times (we did a decent job on holidays), when she was alive.
     Winter is upon us in full fury.  Next post will have pictures and details.

Its all Relative

Yesterday was a day of service.  We drove to a town about 25 minutes from here to pick up our friend Gisele and bring her to the church so she could work in the library.  She is perhaps the most dedicated ward librarian on the planet. She likes to come in at least once a week (this was her 2nd time this week) to organize and inventory the books, etc. in the library.  She got the approval to purchase some office supplies but since she doesn't have a car, we volunteered to purchase them for her, and then the branch will reimburse us.   Later in the day we drove her to Trois Rivieres (Three Rivers), a city about an hour north east of here for a dentist appointment.  On the way home I noticed the temperature on the car's gauge said it was 3 degrees fahrenheit.  Wow, I thought, it is cold outside!  We were happy to return to our warm apartment.  Luckily I reminded Paul to plug in the heater for the car engine.  This morning I realized that everything truly is relative:  this morning the temperature was -25;  that is negative 25 degrees fahrenheit!  I have never experienced anything like this.  We had an activity with the leadership of the branch and the stake presidency today where we went to visit individuals who haven't been to church in a long time.n's morning, and I was amazed at how everyone, although they mentioned the cold, acted like it is normal.  I bundled up in several layers and I wasn't too cold, except for my face.  I am so grateful for my lined boots and a long wool coat, worth every dollar. Tonight the temperatures will rise (it will be a warmer minus 4) but then the snow arrives.  We are expecting 10-12 inches by tomorrow evening.  I know the schools were closed in Virginia for two days because of the 3-4 inches of snow they received, but church and school will continue as usual here.  Paul is absolutely giddy about the challenge of driving around in the snow tomorrow to pick people up for church; me,, not so much.

Winter is coming

With highs for the day in the low teens, one might consider us in full-out winter.  Not so. We have been told by the locals that, come January, we will relish a day with a high of 17 degrees.  Am I smiling?  No, I am not. We have had a couple of snow storms but not much more than a few inches.  With the cold temps, however, the snow doesn't melt.  The beautiful reservoir near us is frozen over, as is the river that runs through town. We spent a little time the other day taking some pictures of how the Quebecois prepare for winter's onslaught:

These green tarps are apparently placed on the grass to protect from the huge amounts of snow that will be dumped/pushed onto yards from the snow plows.  We suppose that they must really work because we have seen them everywhere.

These lovely plastic structures are erected early in November in anticipation of the snow.  Do they do this in the Northeastern parts of the U.S.?  I don't know.  While hardly attractive, one has to admit they are less expensive than a permanent garage, which isn't needed in the summer months.   And, shoveling one's driveway is eliminated. We have seen blocks of cement laid at the base to hold these in place during the frequent winds we have (Oh, so lovely to be outside at 2 degrees F with a stiff wind!).  The plastic at the entrances to the front doors supposedly cut down on wet junk getting into your home.  We have even see a few really serious residents connect their "garage" to a door covering, making it possible to walk from car to home without going into the snow. And here is a "double" garage:

These Quebecois are serious about being as comfortable as possible in the winter.  I guess they need to be since we have been told that winter lasts until sometime in April. 

Feasting

    Last week we drove to Montreal for a zone conference with Elder Piper of the Seventy.  He was here to conduct a "mission tour".  How well I remember these from our other mission!  It is a time of high stress for the mission president and his wife, but also a chance to be taught what the prophet and apostles want us to know.  The tours now are conducted almost solely by the Seventy because of the number of missions throughout the world.  Even though they come to provide support to the mission president, one still is anxious to have everything perfect so a good report will be made on "your" mission.  As I listened to Sister Patrick give her remarks in beautiful French with no notes and then saw her dealing with her four children, one of whom wasn't necessarily thrilled to be spending a scheduled school holiday in a stake center with at least 100 missionaries, I marveled at her capacity to be unflappable.  She had called me on Sunday evening to ask that I talk to couple of sick missionaries because she was "trying to have a nice dinner with the Pipers."  I was happy to accommodate and gave both of them my normal spiel about drinking lots of water, getting some rest and taking Tylenol if necessary, which always seemed to work in Geneva as long as I added a few "motherly "words of sympathy and encouragement.  Anyway, the conference was great and it gave all the missionaries a spiritual lift, us included.
     "L'hiver commence" (winter begins) here in the north.  We have had highs in the 30's but so far just a little snow.  More is on the way for this weekend, if the forecast is correct.  I purchased some lined boots and a long wool coat, and Paul got some leather "boots" that are more like shoes, but they go up over his ankles.  He is more concerned with looking fashionable and "sharp" than I am.  The Arctic geese are still here and most days the entire surface of the lake/reservoir is covered with them.  One day as we drove past a huge flock of a hundred or more took flight at the same time. But we are assured that once we have some real snow they will head south.  I guess 21 degrees at night doesn't seem unpleasant to birds from the Arctic.  I will post some pictures in the next couple of days of how the locals prepare for the onslaught.
     I never got this posted, so will add a few more things and get it done.  It is now November 24th, and although it is nearly Thanksgiving in the U.S., there is no sign of a holiday here.  We went to Costco yesterday to purchase some food for a family in the branch;  I searched in vain for one of their famous pumpkin pies.  I did find a couple of frozen turkeys.  It is strange to be so removed from all the hoopla of Thanksgiving dinner and 'Black Friday'.  We will be teaching our regularly scheduled English class on Thursday night, and will go to bed early with absolutely no thoughts of getting a deal at a store.
    We are going to begin teaching the temple preparation class to two single individuals; we already are teaching another who is nearly ready to go to the temple.  We are also planning a marriage class, and we meet weekly with a man who is participating in the addiction recovery classes via phone.  We continue to work with several less-active members, and a couple of investigators.  It doesn't always seem like we are busy, but the days fly by and I have much to put into the record of our work.  Once again recently I had a confirmation from Heavenly Father that we are here for a reason.  One of the sisters who is preparing to go the temple looked me in the eye and said, "You may sometimes think you are doing anything very important here, but I an assure you that, if for no other reason, you are here for me." She couldn't possibly know how important this statement was to me!    
   

Really?

   On November 3rd we were on our way to visit a family when we saw this , all lit up in a yard:

This may be the earliest date I have ever seen holiday decorations other than in Walmart.  Nov. 3rd, really?  I suppose they are just getting a jump start on the impending snow storms, predicted to begin this next week.  And, to their credit, this is a Snowman, not a Santa...
    Speaking of colder temps,  we have already been 'enjoying' (enduring?) some 20 degree temperatures, complete with a brisk wind. And we have learned that the temperature has a huge impact on the Arctic geese.  The members of my English class told me that the geese arrive in early October and will remain until the first significant snow, which could be up to two months from October 1st.  (I, for one, am hoping they are here well into December.)  As I said, they leave the lake every morning and return later in the day.  They head off to nearby fields to feast on the remains of the harvested crops, mostly corn and corn husks, then come back to the water for the night.  Every morning about sunrise, we can hear deafening honking above as they fly to find food.  Then, later in the day, they return.  It defies description.  We have taken numerous pictures, but what we really need is a good video recorder. (Now where is that huge monster camera Paul used to haul around on his shoulder when the kids were young?)

    To add to my previous post about receiving little ( and big!) heavenly encouragements to help us continue on, we received a nice email from one of our former missionaries the other day.  He is a ward missionary in his ward and he wrote to tell us that one of the zone conference teachings from 6 years ago had been very useful now, in his new calling. He wanted to thank "President Peterson"  for his insights. What is interesting about this is that we had forgotten those ideas, and now we can use them in our own member/missionary work.

More on those who pop up; and language faux-paux

     We continue  to have confirmations that Heavenly Father is aware of us.  He keeps nudging us onward at just the right times so we remain motivated and encouraged.  Specifically, often when we go out to do an errand we run into someone who asks us about the church, or about what we are doing here.  I wrote earlier about the woman at the coat store.  Recently, on another evening as we waited for our Kentucky Fried Chicken order (you know Paul and his concept of "eating out"), a young man engaged us in conversation about the "Mormons".  He was a member of a pentecostal organization, but was very nice.  Again, a positive experience for him and for us.  Another evening we were at Sears (the most 'up-scale' store here- ha!) where they had a couple of coats on sale. The young man working at check-out asked us if we were Mormons. He was very cordial and told us his father is a Mormon.  We have had other encounters as well.
     In another little validation, while we at stake conference last weekend the visiting authority showed the congregation a new video on member/missionary work (excellent,  by the way) which he encouraged all to watch and use in their families. We had discovered this video the week before and have already been using it with the families we visit.  We weren't smug, but grateful that we had been led to do something which was approved of and encouraged by our church leaders.
     Maybe I need these assurances more than most, but these seemingly small events serve to remind me that this isn't my work, and that He knows my needs, and those of each of His children.
     On another topic, we continue to provide some comic relief to those around us by saying dumb things in French.  I thanked a lady for bringing one of our less-actives to stake conference, using the word for bringing things, not people- I guess you had to be there to get the full effect of its stupidity.  Yesterday we had to get our car winterized and while waiting we watched in awe as the young woman who handles the office made calls, printed out receipts, talk to customers, etc.  In trying to pay her a compliment Paul said to her "You are the brains of this operation".  She looked a little startled, then smiled politely.  Later we were told by a native that this expression doesn't make sense in French, and that what he has really said  was "You are the brain in this surgery."  I have been known to get flustered and say "Au Revoir" instead of "Bonjour".  This happens sometimes at a grocery store, where one would normally say hello to the clerk at check-out;  I say "good-bye".  In my defense it is because I am distracted with worry that I might be asked a question I don't understand, like "paper or plastic", or "Do you have a rewards card?".  I know the definition of idiot is in order....