Prempeh Champion is Going on a Mission!

I could not be prouder of my son. He has chosen to spend two whole years of his life in the service of God and his brothers and sisters in Nigeria. He will offer them the opportunity to come unto Christ and learn more about Him and His teachings. Prempeh Champion is well named. He is a champion of righteousness. He is good, kind, hard-working, faithful, considerate, loving, and a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. What a blessing he is in my life. 

I'll miss having the frequent contact that we've been able to have but I look forward to the discussions that we'll have when we are BOTH serving missions. What a unique opportunity to be serving a mission at the same time as your son! It wouldn't happen in a traditional family setup. Prempeh and I are blessed by this unique opportunity. I can't wait to hear about his mission experiences as they unfold and watch his spiritual growth as he serves. He only joined the Church 2 years ago and his life has changed in so many positive ways since that day. Prempeh also received his patriarchal blessing this week. What a tender thing that was.

Prempeh will enter the Missionary Training Center in Ghana on January 2, 2024. What a great way to start a new year! This photo is from when I visited him in Ghana back in March of this year. All he's missing is a name tag.

There's not a lot going on in Montreal this week. We only served at the archives a day and a half due to closures for the holidays. We had a 5 day weekend last week and we're having another 5 day weekend now.  The archives building was open on Wednesday but when we arrived on Thursday afternoon after zone conference, we found it closed. The security guards let us in anyway. They're our friends.

We had another fabulous zone conference. Every zone conference is centered around one part of our purpose as missionaries. This time we were taught about baptism. We were asked to think about the details of our own baptisms. That was a stretch for me because I was baptized 52 years ago!

I always love being around our young missionaries. I love them dearly.

Mount Royal got a dusting of snow this week. We only had one good snowstorm in December. Hope January has more to offer! I love snow!!

Running total of captures: 185,887

CHRISTMAS!!!

One of the senior missionaries was particularly naughty this week and parked in "my parking spot".  He did not receive anything from Santa this year. Let this be a lesson to you, little children.

Some fabulous new friends visited us at the archives this week. This couple has the same assignment as we do but they are serving in Ottawa a few hours away. They wanted to come and see our operation in Montreal. They are both wonderful and she is definitely a kindred spirit!

The next day we all went to temple together. I drove with the new couple to help them navigate. The three of us were so enthralled with our conversation that I wasn't concentrating and my "autopilot" took over and had us headed to the meetinghouse instead of the temple! Huh! Lots of help I was!

After the temple we found a charming little restaurant in Boucherville that overlooked the St. Lawerence River. The food was exquisite! I forgot to get my bag out of our new friends' car before they left so my temple clothes are in Ottawa right now. Haha.

I was told that meat pie is a tradition around this time of year. It's for Christmas or New Year's depending on who you talk to. I tried some. It's OK.

All of us seasoned missionaries (senior missionaries) who live in the same apartment building went to brunch on the 23rd at Bistro Tot ou Tard which is just a few blocks away from our apartment. As I lagged behind the group on the way back, I looked at them and had a sacred moment. The thought came to me that I am with the covenant keepers. These people have made covenants with God in His holy temple to serve Him and build up His kingdom on the earth. They are serious about these covenants because they choose to serve and be away from their families at this time of the year. I also had this thought was when I was on pioneer trek with adults who chose to take vacation time away from work, walk until they had blisters on their feet, and sleep on the ground so that young people could form a stronger connection with their roots and gain an appreciation for the sacrifices that have been made for them by those who paved the way for them.

The branch Christmas party...ahhh, the branch Christmas party. Here are "wise men" and women sorting out tangled cords to headphones. I love the young elders who serve in our Mandarin branch!

Santa showed up on Sunday (Sunday?!?) right after church. I put in my request.

All I want for Christmas is. . .a hymn book?

Then we were finally to the big day! Fourteen of us crowded into one apartment to celebrate the birth of our Savior! I was over-the-moon happy to be with young missionaries on Christmas Day. They had been reminded by mission leaders to not overstay their welcome if they were invited to eat dinner with members. We told them that that rule did not apply to this apartment. We told them we wanted them to stay as long as they wanted to.

We had a Christmas message focused on Chirst.

We played a game where you stand on chairs and try to drop candy canes onto a string. 

It's harder than you think! The candy canes pop off the string!

We laughed ourselves silly while playing charades. We were trying to guess Christmas songs. When Sister W pulled "Santa Baby", she went over and sat on her husband's lap, gave him a kiss and started stroking his face. One of the young elders looked at her husband and said, "Well that was a win for you!!" We laughed long and hard!

A family in one of the wards invited us for dinner in the evening. They are from Barbados and Jamaica and cook THE BEST FOOD! My new favorite food is macaroni pie. I really enjoyed being in their home and getting to know them.

I had the opportunity to speak in church on Christmas Eve. I started by asking how it would be if someone gave you a brand new car for Christmas. What if you were given a big house? How about your own private jet with a pilot? Then I asked, "What if our branch president gave you his son?" Of course, I tied that in with the greatest gift any of us has ever been given, the gift of our Savior given to us by our Heavenly Father. I talked about how important this gift of our Savior is in every aspect of the Plan of Salvation, the plan that Heavenly Father created for us in the pre-existence, our life here on earth, and what comes after this life for eternity. Christ is vital to this plan and I am so very grateful for all that His Atonement does for me. And THIS is why I love Christmas so much.

This was one of the best Christmases of my entire life! When I told my friend that, she asked why. I think it's because I was so focused on the young missionaries and not on myself. I was worried that the young ones, especially those who had only been in Montreal for a week and a half, would have a difficult Christmas because it was likely their first time being away from home for the holiday. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to make sure they had an enjoyable day. It's good to think of others and not ourselves. It brings happiness. It's what Christ did. He was always focused on others and not Himself. I want to do that better.

Running total of caputures: 183,409

Transfer Week

TWO men got baptized in the Mandarin branch this week! That's a BIG DEAL for our little branch! One of the missionaries who did the baptizing has only been in Montreal for 3 days. He certainly benefitted from someone else's hard work. 😄

My "tiny home" feels so cozy and Christmasy! The newest addition glowing in the corner, a lightup Snoopy Christmas tree, is from my dear friend, Kelli. She spoiled me.

The other day when I was helping out at the office, I saw this box on the floor and thought, "Oh look, some young missionary gets a darling Snoopy Christmas decoration." After walking by it two or three times, I jokingly walked over to the box and said, "I wish I was Sister. . . (and I was going to say the name of the missionary that it was addressed to.)" Lo and behold, it said Mariann Jones (not a typo, that's how my name was spelled on the box.) I was super excited!!

                   

Some of my favorite people finished their missions this week. I had the rare privilege of dropping off this sister at the airport on Saturday. It reminded me of dropping off my newphew, David, at the MTC when he began his mission. Both were sacred experiences for me.

This elder has served with me in the Mandarin branch for several months. He is such a hard worker and because of the way he is living, he has an incredible way of bringing the Spirit into a room!

This sister is one of the hardest working missionaries I know. She is solid in every way!

Here's one of our assistants to the president. Not every young missionary can be patient with senior missionaries when we have questions about technology. This one can. I think that says a LOT about the kind of man he is. And you should see him hustle when the president gives him an assignment!

This sister is filled with joy. She's been a very serious missionary and she gives the best genuine hugs.

This sign and the accompanying pile of luggage pulls at my heart every time I see it. I've noticed that Transfer Days are getting harder and harder for me. Now I KNOW some of the missionaries that are going home quite well! And that's more painful. 

                    

Good thing we're not losing this one yet. Whew!

I threw down the gauntlet this week. This is my new record of captures in a single day. And it was grueling mentally (you gotta stay hyper-focused all day long) and physically (it's hard to sit in a chair for that many straight hours!) I'm positive that this record will be broken. One of our new archives missionaries is picking up serious speed in just the first month of his mission! And he is driven! We gotta have fun little things like this to save us from the monotony of doing the same thing day in and day out.

One of our darling Mandarin branch members invited us to a dinner in honor of Elder D (in the blue) as he finished his mission. He's been such a good missionary and has earned the trust and respect of the members.

Our Mandarin branch really got shaken up with this last transfer. Only ONE of these missionaries is still serving in the branch! We have 2 missionaries who are brand new to the mission. It will be fun to get to know new elders.

While the weather has generally been warmer this week (in the 40s today!) this was the reality one morning shortly before I left the house. And don't look at the "current" temperature. Reality is the "feels like" temperature. 

Covid has been going around in Montreal. One of our senior missionaries had it and now he has his own special Covid named after him...well, after his age. 😄

               

Every Sunday night we have a Zoom meeting called "Joy & Success." In the meeting, we hear about how each zone in the mission did on their weekly goals. We also get to see pictures of everyone who has been baptized in the mission during the past week and hear a little about them. A man who got baptized yesterday sent the sister missionaries a text that read, "You were sent by God to restore my soul to its rightful place and bring hope to my lost happiness. I have never been happy in these past few years like I am happy now." Oh wow! Those are powerful words! It sounds like this man's life has really changed!

Running total of captures: 177,502

A Beautiful Snowstorm

I got to spend a lot of time with these lovely, lovely people this past week between church, district council, and a district P-day. I truly love being with young missionaries. They inspire and energize me. I'm so glad that I've found ways to be where they are because the first few months of my mission, it was extremely rare for me to see a young missionary...at all!

District Council

La Plateau District

I got to know these two missionaries much better at lunch on district P-day. They are stellar young men.

We had different plans for district P-day but because we woke up to over a foot of snow, we decided to go with plan B and go to lunch. This seemed to be the perfect restaurant for our "plan B". 

 

After lunch we went to a nearby chapel and played pickleball, volleyball, hockey, and whatever the elders and sisters could find to play with. It was so fun to see the kid in each of them as they played together. We could only find 3 paddles for pickleball, so I went to the kitchen and found a jelly roll pan for the 4th player. It was a challenge to play with such an awkward implement! But a fun one! We laughed a lot.

The Utah missionaries know what to do with snow! Snow angels.

I absolutely LOVE snow!! So I was very excited that our first real snowstorm in Montreal left us with a serious accumulation of white powder...at least a foot. It's been interesting to watch the progression of the city this week after the big dump. 
 
Other missionaries who were here last winter have told me fascinating stories about snow removal so I was excited to see it. They told me that snow plows move the snow to the side of the road first. Then a series of vehicles come to remove it from the street. I was told that a "Dr. Seuss-like" vehicle blows the snow into the back of huge trucks. Then the trucks take the snow to the St. Lawerence River and dump it in. Sadly, this is the only snow removal vehicle I saw this storm. But never fear! There will be many more snowstorms! I'm sure to see the process at some point.

My walk to the archives...

Back in the summer, someone gave us a ride in a rental car and I noticed a shovel in the car. I asked why there was a shovel and they laughed and said, "You haven't been here during the winter, have you." You can see in this photo that the snowplows bury parked cars and they have to dig out.

These are the stairs going down to the metro. Do you see the salt dripping down the stairs that is brought in from outside?

From what I've been able to observe, the city also clears the sidewalks but, of course, they can't get to all of them at once. So from Monday-Friday, I mostly walked on top of a thick layer of ice. They throw a mix of sand and gravel on top of that so that you don't fall. In the next photo, you can see the slush that can be created with sand and snow.

On my walk to the archives, the sidewalks became more and more cleared as each day went on and the city cleared different parts of my nearly mile-long walk. The final strip to be cleared was the block where the arcives building is. This is the shot from Friday. You can see the national archives building on the right.

Though I'm used to snow in Salt Lake City, we usually have a snowstorm and then a few days later the weather warms up and the snow begins to melt. Not in Montreal. No melting going on here all week. In fact, when I left home one morning the "feels like" temperature was -2 F. And yes, I walked to the archives that day. 

Here are two shots of the same street from close to the same place. The first picture is Monday right after the snow stopped.

And here's the same place on Friday after the snow has been cleared by the city on both the street and the sidewalk. And once again, none of the clear street or sidewalk can be attributed to melting. We haven't been above 0 degrees all week.

A frozen shot of my beloved Mount Royal.

Running total of captures: 169,289