The Yellow Canary

 QUEBEC!!

What a beautiful City!

Hello everyone! 

It is true! It is true! Lopez and I skipped town and came to Quèbec. We were lucky enough to get permission to come here for a split. I have always dreamed of Quèbec since I was with Sister Pace and the Honeyhead. My, oh my, it is beautiful!

This week was a really good one! We had a lot of fun and ran around like little chickens with no heads. Also, kind of fun. It has also been getting chilly in these parts. You know it is starting to get cold when 7 celsius is hot. We are like polar bears here!

So this week Sister Lopez and I had a dinner appointment with the famous Athanassi family. They are the ones who danced for us after our super formal dinner. Well this time dinner was the interesting part. They started out with the traditional vegetable soup, and then after hummus and veggies and then the main course. Cute little Sister Athanassi made a huge pot of ravioli, not bad, right. And for the sauce she mixed yogurt, mint, and about 3000 cloves of garlic. Raw garlic. Did I mention we have been contacting a lot of people, lately? So they serve us huge plates of ravioli swimming in this yogurty mixture and wha-bam! Instant heart burn. I am about a quarter of the way down and the oldest sister of the Athanassi family says, "I can't eat this! It's making my throat burn!" So they try mixing everyone's white sauce with more yogurt. You know what that did? It just made more white garlic sauce. Oh did I mention that Lebanese people do not drink ANY liquids during their meals? Yeah. Nada. So, at this point I'm dying for water, I have heart burn and my eyes are burning. Also my companion isn't saying a word, so I have to try to eat and make pleasant conversation. Poor Hermana Lopez was just trying to eat this stuff. After a good 20 minutes of them waiting for me to finish, Brother Athanassi kind of just takes my plate when no one is looking. Bless his heart! We thought the misery ended there. Do you know what we had for desert? Pastries made of dates and a big glass of.....dark chocolate milk. Yeah. That made for an interesting mixture in my tummy. We love the Athanassi's just not the fire breathing garlic sauce. 

This week we also had an amazing lesson with Nicole, our deaf investigator! We taught the plan of salvation and I can tell you, the spirit was there!!!! How do I know? Well, I taught the whole plan of salvation in sign language and pictures of course and she understood me!!!!! Sister Lopez would add in her two cents, here and there, let's be real, sign language is not easy. But the spirit was present and we could see her little face light up as we explained each phase. It was a beautiful thing. 

We also had a lesson with a former investigator who went to Haiti for 3 months, but just came back about a week ago. We were talking to him about people in the ward that we wanted him to meet and we said, "Oh have you met Frére Pierre?" And he said, "No I met this really tall guy though." And I said, "Oh Frére St. Martin! Il est tres méchant!" Which means "Oh he's really nasty/spiteful/mean/evil." My companion looked at me like what are you saying? Yeah I felt pretty dumb:)

We've been working on contacting a lot in this area. I'm not the best at it. I get really nervous. But we've been talking to a lot of people with a lot of sad eyes. And it's really made me think about what the light of Christ does to our physical appearance. It makes us stand up straighter, eat healthier, smile, laugh, and even beam. I have gotten a little chubbier, I have lost hair like a cat, and a myriad of other crazy things. But I feel great! I really do. I wake up in the morning with this energy and I can see in myself more light. And I think that's really what we do everytime we get closer to the Savior. We bring more light into our lives. It reminds me of Alma 5:14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?I've been asking myself this question. And it's really made me think, and really made me want to try harder. I have a testimony that the Lord changes hearts. He's changed mine and I know if you ask, He can change yours.

I really hope you have a beautiful week! Oh yeah! Happy Thanksgiving! Every time I say that I think of that part on You've Got Mail. "Say Happy thanksgiving back." "Happy Thanksgiving back" I'm grateful for you and for your examples. For your love and for your letters that always cheer up my days! Remember to love each other! 

I love you!

Bisous Bisous

Soeur Perkins