Montreal, Canada! Mandarin Chinese!

Xander gets a call from Ben Lehnardt on Vimeo.

Montreal! Mandarin speaking!

We are all so thrilled. I’m excited to send him packages through Amazon Canada and Xander’s delighted to use his six years of French. He’s already downloaded Mandarin apps to my phone and spends every free moment learning characters and tones (though he should probably be studying for his French AP test).

It’s funny how a mission call seems obvious once it’s assigned. We’ve been teasing Xander about adding a Quebecois accent to his French while never seriously considering a call to Canada. Sammie’s brother, Benji, is already serving in the same mission– Spanish speaking. And most interesting…. all those years ago when I was looking for a name for Xander I chose Baptiste as one of his middle names after my great-great-grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Frechette of Quebec.

For now, we’re not thinking about saying goodbye, just reveling in the joy of each day. Hans arrives home July 1st (Canada Day!) and Xander leaves August 16th which gives a six golden weeks together.