SISTER MARTINA THOMAS: July 2017

29th June 2017

Me and Sister Bolander in front of a river we found!

Hi everyone!

Wow this week has been so fun and so busy! (Literally the way I start every email, you'd think I'd be a liiiiittle more creative by now)

but here's a funny moment to start us off,

Sooo, I know at least once in the past I might have mentioned Quebec drivers, but I think I failed to sufficiently mention Quebec (specifically Montreal) TRAFFIC. OH gosh it's awful! And all the drivers must have taken the aggressive driving courses here because sometimes it's terrifying. They do things you'd only think of people actually do in movies. Quebec must be where they get all their crazy action scene ideas. BUT anyways, this last week we were trying to make it back on the South Shore after a meeting we had in Montreal, and we literally stood at a light for 7 consecutive green lights before there was enough room for us to actually fit and not being hanging in the middle of the intersection. Pictures to follow.

THE TRAFFIC WE WERE THERE AT THIS LIGHT FOREVER!!!!! And everyone else just kept going then they hung out in the middle of the intersection. it was crazy!

Anyways, I digress. Quebec traffic is AWFUL. Only comparable, in the words of Sister Bolander, to the traffic in California. If that gives you any reference point.

Also this week we had lots of amazing experiences, we've started teaching Nicole with her husband, Jimmy, there with us. We taught them the plan of salvation and it was so special! Jimmy truly is the key because he is able to translate what we say into Kinyarwanda (their dialect) and then able to translate more simply to us the questions and concerns that she has. The teaching will be able to go much smoother now with him there. (Before he was gone in Alberta working, but he had to come home early because he was sick, but don't worry he's better now, and they are doing so great!) And the whole family came to church yesterday and the members love having them there.

Sydney and Ryan are both doing well, sorry to have not given an update for awhile, they are both coming along, but they are finding it hard to come to church, so their progression has slowed down a bit. But we are working with them!

And Marie, I just have to tell you more about Marie. We've been teaching her for a few weeks, and she's come to church the past month. And today when we saw her to follow up on her scripture reading, she just told us about how much she loves church and how much it is helping her put herself on the right path. She is like a sponge. We teach her something and she just soaks it up. She reads something, she understands, and she has already started to live some of the principles and commandments of the gospel before we have even taught them to her. She is truly a miracle. We love her soooooo much. We always say that if we ever need a pick-me-up we should just got see her.

We also helped this last week at Assisted Living place for the elderly that we usually do service for. June 24th is St. Jean Baptist Day and all the French speakers in Quebec go nuts for it (it's like their 4th of July). They had a big BBQ for all the residents and their parents, but because the weather was kind of rainy we moved all of it inside. And the even had a petting zoo, INSIDE. IN AN OLD FOLKS HOME! They loved it! And we got to play with the animals a little and it was so fun.