Monday, February 24, 2014

Marriage Is What Brings Us Together Today

Hello, babelets!
How is my sweet American dream doing? I miss you all dearly and I hope you are surviving the dregs of winter! Lucky for you, spring seems to get started on its way in March. I think we still have a good two months to go, but it's not nearly as cold as usual. In any case, I hope you are all doing well and loving life!

This week was comme ci comme ca. On Monday I spent the entire day sleeping and watching church movies, which would have been nice if I wasn't feeling so darn sick. Thank you for all of your prayers though! I know they helped. :) Around 8 o'clock on Monday I had just about had it with the fever and the chills and not being capable of eating my Korean Ramen noodles or any of my usual foods, so we decided to call the elders for a blessing. At exactly 10:30 at night the APs and the Zone Leaders showed up. PARTY! Ha ha. I am so blessed. We felt super weird having four men in our apartment after bedtime, but I desperately needed the blessing, so it was worth it. Even if the apartment smelled like elders for days afterward.

The next morning I felt that I had made a full and complete recovery, aka, it was our temple trip on Tuesday and there was no way on earth I was going to miss it. So at 7am I found myself on the metros, hacking up a lung and shivering to death, but I tell you, the minute I walked into those temple doors I felt completely healed. And continued to feel that way during the three plus hours I spent sitting in the Celestial Room. It was such an incredible experience! We even did a session in French! Thank you, gift of tongues. :) Our district went to the 9 o'clock session to beat the enormous crowd of missionaries coming in at 11 o'clock, but the sisters I was with decided to wait for the other missionaries in the Celestial Room. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I sat and watched dozens of missionaries fill the room, some I hadn't seen in months and months. I think I know what heaven must be like! It was also my year in the field mark, and who did I see but Sister Murdoch and Sister Landeen! I hadn't seen Sister Murdoch since June! I gave her a huge hug and just could NOT stop smiling! It will definitely be a day I will never forget. Ahhhh. I love being a missionary! We had such an incredible day at the temple, and I vowed to myself that I will NEVER go a year without visiting the temple ever again. The minute I walked out the doors, however, I was horribly sick and exhausted. Worth it? So definitely worth it.

N'inquietez pas, mes biches! I went to the doctor and got antibiotics to treat what turned out to be a bad sinus infection progressing toward... pneumonia! Haha. In a couple months I have to go back and get the pneumonia vaccine, but I should be healed soon! Thanks for your love and care. :) 

This Saturday we got to go to a WEDDING! It was so beautiful and fantastic. I was supposed to sing at the ceremony but my voice sounded disgusting, so no fame for me. I was pretty devastated, but the wedding was super fun and we met a lot of great people, nonmembers, and less actives we've been looking for but haven't been able to find! Needless to say, we saw a lot of miracles this week. On Saturday we also helped one of my very favorite less active women do her genealogy, and we saw miracles GALORE doing that! Cool stuff happening. The work is hastening! I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to be a part of all of these exciting changes. Good things are happening here in Montreal!

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week! I pray for you loved ones on the daily and hope that you know just how much I MISS YOU! No worries though, we'll be seeing each other so very, very soon. I can't even believe it! For now, have an exceptional week and take great care! Love you forever! Until next time,

Soeur Cutler

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Sicklet

Dearest chickpeas,

Ehe ehe.... I'm sick.

I'm currently laughing at my Mean Girl's reference, but I keep breaking out in coughing fits, so I'll try not to be too funny in this letter. I'm dictating this letter to my companion right now actually, and she has so lovingly accepted to be my scribe for the day. Forgive me if this letter is a bit bizarre. I'm a little delirious today due to my fever and the lack of oxygen to my brain. I hope you all can find it in your hearts to feel sorry for me, as I am battling what looks like the beginning stages of pneumonia. Don't fret though, I'm a survivor, I'm not gone give up.  Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic week and that you have sufficiently recovered from your Valentine's Day chocolate hangovers.

This week was... interesting. Last Monday we had a cottage meeting with some ward members and less actives for Family Home Evening. We had to tag-team a lesson with the elders, and they totally tried to steal the show with an object lesson involving a Rubik's cube. We had a cool way of explaining the apostasy by whispering awkwardly into everyone's ears, but it ended up not being as cool as we thought because the elders took it upon themselves to reteach everything we had taught with their stupid Rubik's cube. Sigh... #sisterproblems

This week was filled with sister training leader responsibilities, which spiced things up a bit! On Tuesday I crossed over to the Riv Sud for exchanges with my main Brit, Sista May. She confessed her deep, dark secret to me that she is a feminist, and now I can officially say that she is the second coolest sister missionary in the mission (with the exception of Sister Sherwood). (Just found out after typing this that Sister Sherwood added her own commentary to the letter I dictated to her. Lol.) Seriously though, we had such a groovy day! We bopped in and out of hospitals and homes all day, singing and playing guitar everywhere we went. I felt like Joni Mitchell, bringing good vibes and mellow tunes to the wonderful people of Montreal. 

On Wednesday, Sister Sherwood and I prepared our training for zone conference in under twenty minutes... whoops. Our training was flipping awesome! All of the elders worshiped us! But nothing new there... Zone conference was so amazing. President Patrick taught us the difference between justification and sanctification. I would explain what I mean by that in greater detail, but my head is swimming and I am coughing up a lung. So I will have to tell you all about it when I come home. It totally changed my life though, and I'm beginning to understand the purpose of being a Mormon and how blessed we are to have the knowledge that we have.

On Sunday I was lying in bed unable to move because of sickness, so I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me to feel a manifestation of His love throughout the day. I ended up wobbling into church, rasping out the hymns and sitting around looking like I was on another planet. At the end of the meeting the kindest man came up to us and gave us boxes of chocolates and roses for Valentine's Day. He said he had felt impressed to do that since Thursday, and I proceeded to cry. It was a testament to me that Heavenly Father is always thinking about us, and is always sending us manifestations of His love. I encourage you all to be open to the spirit and look for those moments throughout the day, even when everything seems to be crashing down around you. He really does love each of His children and wants them to know it. That is why I share the gospel. There is no greater manifestation of His love than the truths that He has given us! 

Well, I better wrap this letter up! I hope you're all doing fabulous! Remember, I love you all so very, very much and think of you constantly. You are always in my prayers, and I hope you feel my love from afar. Take care! Have a wonderful week. Keep smiling! Until next time,

Soeur Cutler

Monday, February 10, 2014

Six Months to Sexy

Hey there! How are all of my smoochlings doing? Any fun plans this week for Valentine's Day? Ohhh là là! Tell me all about it! We're going to try to do something exciting for Single Awareness Day, so all the single ladies (all the single ladies) send me your ideas! As long as they don't include wailing (whaling) over a bucket of Ben and Jerry's! Alright. Moving on to more exciting things. I'm a year old! Whoooo! Seriously don't know where all that time ran off to. It was the weirdest day of my life, to be sure. Funny how an anniversary can make you remember a lot of things! I think my flashbacks included memories of Daniel weeping, Mom screaming after me as les elders pulled me away from my family into the MTC doors, right down to those last sobs into my pillow before I finally drifted off to sleep under those scratchy MTC prison blankets! Aaaaah. Haha. I'm making February 6, 2013 sound like a nightmare. It was actually a wonderfully fulfilling day. The highlight was putting on my name tag for the very first time. Don't judge me, but I may or may not have worn it to bed the night before my year mark.... haha. Yeah. I'm one of those sisters.

This week was FAB! On Monday we literally drove through the entire city of Montreal looking for an Indian food restaurant to celebrate my mission birthday. I don't even want to tell you the damage we did to our kilometer limit in our attempts to find a dang Indian restaurant. At least it was a beautiful drive! I got to see parts of the city that I've  never seen before, so that was special. We ended up settling for a mediocre Thai restaurant after ...hours... of searching. We were convinced that there had to have been a purpose for us being in that place at that time. Well, as we were chilling and hipstering and eating Pad Thai, Elder Hernandez and his companion walked by our window! Ha ha! I guess it was meant to be. We chatted them up for a few minutes but then it got awkward so they left. Typical elders. I think they were super confused as to why we were all the way up in their area, and even more sketched out that we were somehow on the same street as their apartment. Ha. Story of my mission life. Creeping out elders has become my forte.

Tuesday was a WONDERFUL day! I got to go on exchanges with my mission granddaughter! So fun to see my posterity thriving. Next transfer I'll get to do exchanges with my GREAT-granddaughter! Just call me big Mama Cutler! I've got little ones all over this mission! It was fun to spend the day with her though. She told me all about my Montreal peeps, and it was nice to see how much things have changed since I was there a year ago with Sister Cantu. She even helped me brush up on my Canaccent a little (she's from BC). ;) She is seriously an amazing sister missionary, and even if my greenie was the one who trained her, I still take full credit for her achievements. :) 

THEN on Wednesday DISASTER struck. It was a great day for the most part. We had dinner at the Bishop's house, at least. They're a cool family from London with the best accents known to man, and their daughter is serving in our mission. I seriously felt like I was in Harry Potter. Or more like Downton Abbey, starring as that annoying American relative with a horrendous accent. Ugh. For shame! But anyway, the day was going well. After we left Zumba, however, we realized that we didn't have our cell phone! Someone flippin stole our archaic, pre-technological flippin flip phone! Aaaah. Devastation. Two days as a missionary without a phone is quite possibly the worst thing on the entire planet. #sonothasteningthework So there was that. I wanted to call and text EVERYONE for their year marks, but I was stranded and phoneless! Worst day of my life, to be sure.

To celebrate February 6th we sat in the car for lunch and ate week old cheesecake. Celebrate good times! It actually turned out to be a blessing not to have our phone because we relied on the spirit the entire day and saw miracle after miracle. On Friday we for real celebrated my year mark. We did our weekly planning at the mission office so that we could have phone access, and then miraculously passed by a wonderful Indian restaurant as we were leaving! I remember walking by the same restaurant on a cold winter's night as a greenie, yearning with all my greenie heart to go inside. It was a wonderful feeling being on the inside looking out this time. I felt just like I was in Bombay House again, and probably spent half my grocery bill on Saag Paneer just to feel that way. (And it was oh so WORTH IT!) For an hour I revelled in dim lights, sitar music, and a classy view of Rue St-Denis under soft snowfall. Truly, it was a day I will never forget.

So that's the week that was! Now I've got to start pushing my six months to sexy, which so far commenced with Indian food and a Filipino feast last night. Yikes. Go big or go home big, eh? Haha PRAY for me to have self control! Anyway, I hope you all have a WONDERFUL, LOVELY, ENCHANTING Valentine's Day! I do so wish I could be there. Have a beautiful week! I love and miss you all to the skies and beyond! HUGS! Bisou bisou! 

Love,

Syl

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Year That Was...


My babes! My loves! Oh my GRACIOUS! Comment ça va? How are my precious ones? Baaaah! I miss you all so much. Permit me to go down trunky road in this letter today because... this week is my YEAR mark! WHAT IS LIFE?! Can you believe you haven't seen my beautiful face in a whole year? You wouldn't even recognize me anymore! Ha ha but really, you wouldn't. Last night my compie and I were looking through some photos from the beginning of my mission, and we just sat and laughed our heads off about my eyebrow less, skinny self. Those were the days! Oh well. At least I'm building character! I had to so I could tell off those street kids for mocking me and my ghetto brows. Ain't nobody got time for that! 

So this week I couldn't have asked for anything better! It got off to the worst start, but by the end all was well and we saw miracles a plenty. Last P-Day after I emailed you all, Sister Sherwood and I went to visit chez Target to grab us up some cute nick knacks. So on Monday we had the most vicious winds I have ever seen. When I opened my car door, it practically blew off the entire frame! I literally had to use ALL of the muscles in my Zumba bod to shut it! Well, since I'm *slightly* the dramatic type, Sister Sherwood thought I was joking about how strong the winds were. So she popped open her door as if there wasn't a hurricane a brewin' outside! Unfortunately, a car was right next to her side. And I tell ya, it doesn't take a prophetess to guess what happened next. In the blink of an eye, her door snapped the side view mirror of the other car CLEAN OFF! The next HOUR (and this is not an exaggeration) was spent in a panic, Sister Sherwood frantically trying to get in touch with someone from the mission office and me sitting there in desperation trying to figure out how to write in French, "We're spazzes and the ...wind... snapped your side view mirror off and we really, really, really hope you don't key our car. If you want to learn more about forgiveness, ASK THE *SISTER* MISSIONARIES!" So after a good hour of this nonsense, we decided it would be a good idea to move our car so that it wouldn't get keyed when they came back to our note. Well. We go to start the car. NOTHING! In the process of all of this mayhem, our car decided to just give up and quit! So we decided to just give up and quit as well. We proceeded to spend the next TWO hours wandering around Target avoiding the situation and feeling sorry for ourselves. After two hours of looking at birthday cards and yoga pants we'll never be allowed to wear, we decided to call the elders and tell them to come jump our car for like the fourth time in a six day period. And they were so mad that they didn't say ONE word to us! *tears galore* Ugh. So to end the world's worst P-Day we found ourselves a McDonald's and proceeded to binge on fries until dinner. And there you have it! No sugar coating. A day in the life of ME!

Luckily the rest of our week went exceptionally well. We were led to the right people at the right time and we did a lot of good in the world. Lately we've been doing this thing where we have the women we visit teach us one of their talents. It has been so incredibly fun and we're getting to know people a lot better. On Thursday one of the women in the ward that we adore taught us sign language! She has a deaf daughter and has been teaching sign language to parents of deaf children for years. Sign language is incredibly beautiful, and I am utterly amazed at the ability of the human mind to communicate in such a profound way. On Friday we went and did makeovers with one of the women who is a fab makeup artists, so that was fun too! She even invited one of her nonmember friends and invited her to take the discussions! Like, seriously? How awesome is she? Love me some member-missionary work! THEN on Friday night we visited with one of our awesome returning members, and she taught us how to crochet! Aaaaah! I haven't done crochet since I was an anti-social fifth grader! I fondly remember about a two week period of my life when all I did was crochet long chains of yarn that wrapped around the house! As sad as it is to say, my crochet skills today are not much better.... haha. STILL! it's totally addicting and it lowers our blood pressure, so it's a skill I'm willing to acquire! 

THEN on Sunday I was asked to SING! It felt sooooo good to share my talents with the ward. I sang "Savior Redeemer of My Soul," which is the last song I sang for my family and friends a year ago before I left! Everyone in the ward worshipped me pretty much. ;) Haha. They said I sound like a Disney princess, and so I've promised them a rendition of Color of the Wind sometime. ;) Man I miss that jam. 

Anyway, that was the week that was! Thank you everybody for your love and support during the first year of this amazing mission. I have loved every minute of being a missionary, but I know that would not be possible without your love, prayers, and infinite support. I am so incredibly blessed that I can't even believe it sometimes. I love you all and miss you terribly! But n'inquietez pas, my little ones. I'll be seeing you soooo soon it's unreal! Until then, bisou bisou! Have a great week!

Love,

Soeur Cutler

Monday, January 27, 2014

Away to Ontariooooooo!

Hello, my little chiclets! How in the world is everybody doing out there? Are you still trapped in the polar vortex? Freezing to death from those Canadian winds? Wasn't me! I swear I had nothing to do with it, eh? Gosh, this has been a lowsy winter. I simply cannot WAIT for spring! ... in like... four months. Boo! Oh well. At least Valentine's Day is around the corner! Eh hem... that was just a little reminder to all of my lovers to start sending me chocolates and love letters.... Although... most of my lovers these days are also missionaries, so they won't be seeing this anyway. Still, a sista can dream!

This week was pretty sweeeeet! We had a lot of adventures and good vibes all around. Last P-Day we organized/texted all of the cool people on the island to come play "bored" games with us. Not a huge fan, but it's nice to hang out with other missionaries. We ended up having a bunch of fun people show up, and we played Catch Phrase in a large group. I'm super amazing at that game, but for some reason the teams I would be on kept losing, and the other missionaries started to catch on, make fun of me, and refuse to be on my team. Gaaaaah! IT was like elementary/middle/high school all over again! Now do you see why I hated going to all of those singles ward activities? Well, 5:40pm rolls around. P-Day was almost over. I just needed ONE more point to win. The time starts ticking. I'm yelling out phrases left and right, my brilliant mind racing. The time gets going faster and faster. I see that my teammate is searching for her words, stressing, not sure what to say. Everyone starts crowding in on her, all of us on the edge of our seats. The timer is accelerating, all of us hyperventilating. Almost two seconds to go, and I scream out "ANGELINA JOLIE!!!!" For the WIN! Pandamonium ENSUES! Elders are on the ground worshipping me! High fives all around! I finally redeemed myself from all of those years of losing at kickball and getting chosen last to be on someone's team. Needless to say, it was a victorious P-Day.

On Tuesday I upped and quit la belle province to spend the day with my sweet little babe Sister Rios! She lives in a place called Cornwall (which she lovingly refers to as Corn-nuggets) a beautiful town that borders the United States. I could see 'murica from my house! The temptation to cross over was soooo strong! Ontario is very different from Quebec, and it was nice to see a brand new part of my mission. Sister Rios and I had a ball gossiping, eating burritos, and reminiscing about the good old days in Quebec City. The next day I accidentally stole their cell phone though, and they live like two hours away from us... so the good feelings of the exchanges were forgotten. Ha ha. Nah, we made them cookies. Hopefully we're forgiven. Still, leave it to me to steal the cell phone of the team of sisters that lives in the middle of a cornfield and desperately needs a phone to communicate with the outside world!

On Friday I got to attend my FIRST (and hopefully not last....) Mission Leadership Council! Aaaah! I cannot tell you how long I had DREAMED of this moment. It was such a wonderful day. I now realize how left out I've been on the decisions being made in the mission. It was nice to throw in my two cents and sit there look cool and leaderly. I feel like I'm the Queen bee of the mission or something! ;) ... JOKING! I promise I'm like the most humble missionary out here. #selfierighteous

Anyway, the mission is going oh so great! We had eleven of our less active members come to church, which was a complete miracle. They are all doing so well and progressing so much in the gospel. It is absolutely AMAZING to watch. We have had amazing moments this week and have been blessed to feel the spirit so strong in their homes. Doctrine and Covenants 50:24 was the power scripture of the week if anyone feels inclined to look it up! :) The ward here is completely fantastic as well. We Zumba'd HARD this week! And the instructor told everyone there was a star in our midst and then pointed to ME! Aaaaah! Ha ha! I felt so special. :) It's nice to know that all of those years of ballet were good for something. If those long, tear-filled years of stress and pain and agony bring one person into the church because I'm a fabulous dancer, it will be totally worth it! ;)

Well, I hope you're all having a wonderful Monday! Let me know the drama, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Through a letter most likely... haha. Which could take a couple weeks or months, but remember that I love you all sooooooooooooooo much and can't wait to see you in just a few short months! In the meantime, keep rocking that scene! I love and miss you all so very, very much. Bisou bisou! HUGS!

Love,

Soeur Cutler

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Metro Babe-Tron

Hey, sweet peas! How goes the work? Oooooommmm... sigh.... I do believe this was the LONGEST week of my life. So much happened that I don't even know where to begin! I may or may not be losing my mind out here haha. 2014 is going to be a doozy!

So you're probably wondering why I'm in a tailspin right now. Well, this week was just insane. But a GOOD insane, so don't fret after me! We had to do two missionary exchanges, two zone trainings, AND our interviews with the mission president. PARTY! We were literally ALL over the place. But our zone trainings were out of this world, and we practically made them up on the spot. So honestly I can't complain about this week. I'm amazing and I know it. ;)

On Monday night last week we treated ourselves to Cantonese food in Chinatown, anticipating that we definitely would deserve it by the end of our treacherously busy week. From there we prepared ourselves for what would be my first exchange as a sister training leader. Oh my. I LOVED IT! It was super fun to be in a new area with a hip sister showing me around the east end of Montreal. I got to go contacting in the metros for the first time in nearly eight months! The creepers all threw their grungy 90's era coats upon the ground for me to walk across the winding corridors of damp, dark metro. Hee hee. Not really. But I DID get a lot of double takes. ;) We actually had way tons of fun and I was overjoyed to see how much better I've gotten at talking to people since the last time I was in public transportation. I met a super cool Muslim guy who I chatted up about Lord of the Rings for like 20 minutes, somehow managing to tie it back to the gospel and eternal families, and now he's interested in meeting with the missionaries! TOTAL success! Another highlight was meeting a totally cool girl from France who had her entire day brightened by talking with us. I forgot how much I enjoy not hiding out in my car. Of course, I didn't like the fact that my booty was in sheer agony from walking, running, standing, and climbing stairs all day, so I would be lying if I didn't express how overjoyed I was to plant myself in the car by the end of the day. ;)

On Wednesday we got to do some actual member-missionary work. "hasteningtheworkofsalvation OH MY! It was AWESOME! So a few weeks ago a man asked one of the members if he could pay the church $300 to park his car in the church parking lot for two weeks. Well, the member thought of something better. He told the man he could park for free, but that in exchange he would have to take two missionary discussions. BRILLIANT! So that's where we found ourselves Wednesday night. The man told us straight out that he didn't believe in God, but he had no choice but to listen to us. We started talking about the joys he has experienced being a father, and his heart was totally softened by the spirit. Sister Sherwood and I are 100 percent sure that he was converted in the first lesson, but he's afraid. He was downloading the church library like crazy at the end of the lesson, but he still says he doesn't believe in anything. We'll see about that. :)

On Saturday Sister Sherwood and I did something called Zumba proselyting. It's exactly what it sounds like. We have permission-ish to test out going to our ward's Zumba classes and working out with the women there because there are like a bazillion nonmembers in our chapel every week. And it was AMAZING! I danced my heart out and dropped it like it was hot! Aaaaah. So good! But today I am totally feeling the burn. Like, we can't even walk. But hey, my body is a sacrifice to the Lord for the next seven months, right? It will definitely be worth it when I have a super toned bod and someone gets baptized. ;)

On Sunday we had ANOTHER miracle. A member was at the clinic one day and invited a lady next to her to come to church. Well, all throughout sacrament meeting they talked about Priesthood blessings, and this woman had a really rough life and wanted to know why these blessings were so special. So the stake president invited her to receive a blessing after church! What the? Who does that? She isn't even our investigator yet! #hasteningtheworkofsalvation After the meetings she received one of the most beautiful blessings I have ever heard, from the stake president himself. And he told her, and I QUOTE, "You have the best missionaries in the entire world." Yes. That's right. So we've been spreading that quote around the mission now. ELDERS BE JEALOUS!

This week was fantastic, to say the least. Just SUPER busy! But I'm living and loving and growing every minute. Even if it is only horizontally. I hope you are all feeling fabulous! I love and adore you all and wish I could be with you right now! :( Boooo. But I'm coming up on my year mark, so it really won't be too long now. Roll out the fatted calf! I can't wait to see you all one day. But until then, have a great week! Lots of love and hugs coming your way!

Love,

Soeur Cutler

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Away to Montreal (AGAIN!)


Jan 13, 2014

Hello, my sweet angels! How oh how are you doing? Comment ca va? Quoi de neuf? On my side of the world right now, I currently can't decipher which way is up and which is down! It has been just about the craziest week of my mission. I'm finally here in LaSalle! And falling in love with it already. The members are BEYOND FABULOUS, the people we work with are completely stellar, and my new compy is just about as crazy as I am. I'd say it's shaping up to be a wonderful transfer. :)

The bad news is that Quebec City still holds a large piece of my heart. Sighhhh... saying goodbye was a complete nightmare. I think I felt just as sad leaving Quebec as I did when I left on my mission almost a year ago. That just tells you how much I adore those people and that place. My favourite fame of all time gave me so much love and attention in those short days that remained after the transfer call.  I knew I would have to say goodbye eventually, but seven months in a place with people that you love creates some pretty deep roots. Plucking myself from the ground that I love was no easy task, but don't worry your little hearts out. It will all be alright in the end!
And besides, Quebec City DID tow my car two days before I left, leaving me a big fat ticket as my goodbye present, so that at least softened the blow of leaving SOMEWHAT. ;)

Okay, the sob fest is over. I really do LOVE being back in Montreal. My area is adjacent to my very first area out here, so it honestly feels like I never left! The day of the transfer was definitely one to remember. My lovely missionary friends of Quebec and my dearest, sweetest, most lovable and huggable greenie Soeur Guevara all saw me, Soeur Bourdon, and Elder Hernandez off at the bus station bright and early Wednesday morning. Three hours previously Sister Guevara and I were still awake packing, so needless to say I was completely exhausted. Yeah... don't try packing all of your belongings the night before if you've been living somewhere for the past seven months..... You know me though. ALWAYS procrastinating! :)

I intended to sleep on my three hour journey to Montreal, but I ended up sitting next to Elder Hernandez. And... you know me. The three hours that were supposed to be used for a nap ended up being used for flirting...er...I mean..cougin....ehhh...I mean... chatting with my dear friend from the Ste Foy. At one point he said, "Don't you wish elders and sisters could go on splits?" And I was like, "Hmm... be careful what you wish for, Elder." When we got to Montreal we had to take all five thousand pounds of our luggage with us in the metros to the mission office. Setting foot back in the metros after 7 months was an indescribable feeling. It was honestly like I had never left. The smells, the dampness, the sounds, the Muslim man next to me on the platform winking at me... it was as if I could hear the chants of all creepy middle aged old men saying, "Welcome home, Sister Cutler! Welcome home. Ha ha. The best. So it was inevitable that ONE of us would get separated from the travel group. Turns out it was Sister Bourdon.... haha. For a good fifteen minutes I found myself all alone in downtown Montreal with Elder Hernandez, just the two of us. SCANDALOUS! But hey, his wish came true. Pretty sure every elder here dreams of being on splits with me, so he should feel honored. It was quite the experience, to say the least. ;)

So LaSalle is great! The people we work with are so incredibly awesome. We have an investigator who has bear decor all over his apartment, and more chest hair than Austin Powers. He is seriously awesome. I can tell he's going to become my new best friend. We teach like 20 less active lessons a week out here, so the work is going to be a bit different. I'm super excited though and remember how much I adore the diversity of Montreal. Tonight I'm going to be taking one of the Montreal sisters on splits, so I'll be back in the metros today! Bahhhh... Pray for me PLEASE. Not a big fan of metro contacting haha.

Anyway, that's the week that was! I'm currently in the Apple Store jamming out to Blondie, so I better get going. I'm getting dirty looks from the employees, and I don't blame them. Aaaaah mission life! The best! Take care, everybody! I love you all so very, very much. Smooches and hugs! Have a great January!

Love,

Soeur Cutler