27 August 2013 - Quebec

Today we intended to have some spiritual refreshment and uplift during our journey.  Each Sunday, so far, has been good and we have truly enjoyed visiting different Wards.  We have met wonderful people and felt of the Spirit and enjoyed worshiping with brothers and sisters from different areas.  We strongly recommend  when you travel that you follow our example and take the opportunity to go to Church each and every Sunday, it is worth it.  But today we elected to expand our experience.  We took a room overlooking the Saint Lawrence River across from Montreal.  It is in the town of Longueuil, which also happens to be the location of the Montreal Temple. It was closed yesterday, but offered 3 sessions today.  We went for a walk this morning and as we walked, I noted something sticking up above the trees.  As we got closer, it became a recognizable icon.

We were fortunate enough to take a place literally about 15 minutes walking time from the Temple.   When it came time to leave the hotel, we just headed down the road and turned in to the Temple.  It is one of the small temples so does not stay open each day and does not have all day session options.  Today there were sessions at 0900, 1100 and 7:30.  We choose to attend the 11 am session.  A few cars were in the parking lot when we arrived and we walked up to the door and found it locked, which surprised us. 

I looked about to see if there were another entrance, but none presented itself.  As we looked closer, we saw a doorbell beside the door. Now, if your were to go to  the House of the Lord and ring the doorbell, who would you expect to answer?  We found that it is answered by a servant of the Lord. A kind brother with a French accent opened the door and invited us in.  Each patron who comes to this temple has to ring the bell to be admitted.  I think that is because the workers all have extra duties to perform and one is not assigned to just wait for people to come.

We were able to change clothes and then have about an hour to wait.  It was peaceful and quiet, with few people around. In the endowment session there were only about 20 attendees.  Only two people were at the veil at any one time. We were greeted by the Temple President himself who also opened the session.  He welcomed people in French, English and Spanish, he is truly multilingual.  In deference to "visitors" from Salt Lake City, they held the session in English and we were the Witnesses.  We very much enjoyed the session and both had names that were very French.  Pronunciation was a challenge, however, the brother assisting at the veil was from Murray, Utah on a mission to the temple and he also struggled with saying the name.  He does not speak French and in fact is assigned to help Chinese members, but does not speak Chinese either, which I thought was a unique challenge for him.  He was very kind and helpful and nice to meet.  It was a soul refreshment to attend the Temple and worth the time.  We find that we enjoyed this small temple, with the slower pace, quieter environment and intimate sessions.  We hope to attend others.

Notice the red and white flowers bordering the grounds, the colors of Canada. 

After the session, we headed east again, traveling through the continuous lush country.  We did get a bit lost heading for the freeway and drove through the center of Longueuil.  It was like being in France itself, with small shops. sidewalk cafes, looming stone churches, narrow roads and everything in French.  I though it was charming.  We found the freeway and are now in a little town outside of Quebec called St. Nicholas.  Tomorrow we will take a stab at exploring old Quebec, with its citadel, battlefield and historic sites.  I am looking forward to it.  Bon jour.