First week

I have already been here in Quebec City for over a week. It does not feel like a week. Sometimes it feels like I got here yesterday, but it's beginning to feel like a decade has passed already. So many things have been keeping me busy, stressed, tired, and excited all at once. It's almost too much to explain. But I will shared with you what I can.

When I first arrived I had two calm days where I unpacked and organized myself and got to know my host family a little better. Patrice is a retired pastor who works part-time as a chaplain, and volunteers in Hopsice homes. Suzanne works full time for a local A&W restaurant in the mall. She is also a key member of the Samaritan's Purse organization here in Quebec. You may know that company from their well known Operation Christmas Child program where you send shoeboxes full of stuff to children all over the world. Did I mention how sweet and helpful this couple are? They both know a good amount of English so I am able to have some conversations with them. They are also always ready to help me with my French vocabulary, which is very helpful.

It can be very quiet in the house during the day, and I was ready to do something. Anything really to keep me from feeling like I wasn't doing anything. So I called Pastor Bernard, who asked a couple from church if I could have lunch with them on Saturday. On Saturday, I left the house planning on just having lunch with this couple, but it turned out to be a busy day. After I had lunch with them, they took me to the Old Town Quebec, which is downtown. We walked around pretty much all of the tourist areas and I got a good history lesson out of it. After three hours of walking in the city, we returned home in time for me to leave for a banquet. The church here works with a pregnancy care center, and they were celebrating five years of being open. (That, by the way, is apparently a big deal for the city) So I was invited to their banquet that evening. I didn't get home until past 10pm.

The next day was church. I met so many people, I only hope I can remember all their names soon. It was quite something being approached by people who know a little English and I really didn't know any French words at this point. Some people even talked to me in French, and many talked around me and over me in French. It is difficult to join conversations when you don't know what is being said. After church I was invited to join the young adults' group for lunch. We had at least 20 people from the ages of 17-30 in one small apartment for lunch. Of course most of it was in French, but some would try to talk to me in English which I appreciated. After a full afternoon there it was time to go back to church for evening service. It was a long day for me, but I was able to appreciate the community that this church obviously has. It was a good day of worshipping God.

Monday and Tuesday were full of learning the bus routes and figuring out money and phone situations. Wednesday I was able to join the women's prayer group in the morning and then spent the afternoon with Mrs. Westerveld, Pastor Ben's wife. Thursday and Friday I had my first French lessons, which will be interesting I am sure. And then last night(Friday night) and this morning(Saturday) I helped with a conference the church was having. It was a nice conference about the history of different reformed churches in Quebec City. I was in charge of the book table and the snacks. And now I find myself preparing for a night with the youth group (teenagers). We will be spending the night at the church and setting things up in the morning. My goodness, will I be so tired from this week alone!

So that has been my busy week so far. Please pray for me, especially with learning French and that my health will keep up with me and my busy schedules. But especially the French, it can be overwhelming at times and it is tiring, trying to think/speak in French all the time. It is a difficult language to learn, especially because all the sounds are so different from English, but I know that with God's help I can do this.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support thus far. I hope to write again soon.
In Christ,
Jennifer