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 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!
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