Choking

What a difference seven days makes! Today I can barely make out Mount Royal from my apartment because of all the smoke from the wildfires. There are 80 wildfires burning just north of us. And that's just Quebec Province! Other provinces are having a devastating fire season as well. Depending on which direction the wind and the weather patterns are flowing, some days we are choking on the smoke and other days are just fine. I feel a little guilty when I pray that the smoky air will be cleared from Montreal because that means it will just move to another city to choke my brothers and sisters elsewhere. And I don't wish this nasty air on anyone! Our young missionaries were even told to do no street contacting today...to stay indoors!

Last Sunday this was the same shot from my balcony.

I sure do love this House of the Lord! I love that He lets me come inside to visit whenever I want to. When I walked in these doors on Friday I was very concerned about something. I cried and prayed for the first 15 minutes. And then a beautiful peace descended on me. I felt like everything was going to be okay and that I didn't need to worry. I was in SUCH a different mental place when I came out than when I entered God's holy house. I feel very blessed to serve in a mission where there is a temple nearby and that my assignment allows a TON of flexibility.

I needed a break from the big city so after I left the temple I just drove and drove until I found a quiet place. 

Not really ideal to be trekking through the forest dressed in my Sunday clothes and shoes, but it worked.

Here's a thought I had while capturing documents this week. When I held and read this letter written by my great grandfather about a year ago, it was a very emotional experience for me because I was holding a piece of paper that he had touched. I was looking at his handwriting. I could see the folds in the paper. It felt personal to me. 

     

As I was looking at the signatures on this document that I had just captured, I thought to myself that perhaps when a descendent of one of these people sees these signatures, she or he could possibly have a similar experience to mine because a signature is a very personal thing, unique to each person.

It's the little, tiny things that keep archive missionaries going! 🙌😄

On the fun side of things...

A week ago I was invited to a Nigerian barbeque which turned out to be more like a wedding without a bride and groom. Lots and LOTS of yummy Nigerian food with fun dancing!

This weekend Sister C and I explored a huge market with fresh produce and flowers in abundance. I was kind of excited to find mangoes. Hehe. They were nowhere as scrumptious as my African freshly-picked mangoes, but they were good.

Missionary moments:

• The young elders in our Mandarin speaking branch brought a new friend to church a few weeks ago. I could hear them speaking English to him while I was playing prelude music for sacrament meeting. I felt prompted to pop down off the stand and introduce myself. Last week the elders said they were teaching him a lesson right after church and asked if I'd like to attend the lesson. I was so disappointed that I couldn't because I had to attend branch council meeting at the request of the branch president. Our friend wasn't at church today. The missionaries told me that he is suffering with allergies so I texted him letting him know I noticed he wasn't there. Though my role is tiny, I'm thankful to have any role in helping others come unto Christ! I have a feeling this man will be baptized and be a leader in the branch in about a year's time.

Running total of captures: 32, 146