Filming

There's been a bit of filming at the archives building this week. One day I walked in the front door to find this. Apparently it's for a TV show.

We also happened across this one day in the consultation room.

We're back to the cold version of Spring. Can you tell from the ice on the windows at the archives building?

We had another fabulous zone conference this week about enduring to the end. By the end of the meeting, I'm sure that Sister Harkness had everyone in the room convinced that we ARE going to make it to the Celestial Kingdom! And every time we meet, I love watching our young missionaries practice teaching with each other. It's so powerful!

These two are leaving very soon and I'm not looking forward to that at all. She has become a dear friend and he is like a little brother to me. Can you tell? The two of us tease each other incessantly.

Found this surprise gem on my phone after he helped us take the above shot. Oh, how I love young people and their flair for fun!!

I got some new shelving this week so that my cubicle can handle the storage of larger projects. This big project has such beautiful boxes! It's pathetic the things that we get excited about at the archives. 🤣

We went and did apartment checks at young missionaries' aparements. Wouldn't it have been great if I had remembered to take photos of the missionaries?!? But no, this salt drenched car is all I have to show for our one hour drive to Mascouche during a snowstorm.

And I have nothing to show for a fun Friday afternoon where the archive missionaries played hookie and went to lunch together.

I'm ready for Holy Week. I love how our church leaders are asking us to put more emphasis on our Easter celebrations. I absolutely adore Christmas and spend a lot of effort decorating, preparing for, and celebrating that season. I want to do better at my Easter celebration. Inside every egg is songs and scriptures to read each day this week. I'm using this simple wreath to symbolize Christ's crown of thorns. I found this awesome Easter study plan on the Church's website! I'm going to have an Easter devotional every night this week.

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It's Official, Canada is Warm

Do you see this delicious Pad Thai lunch I had on Thursday? Cute Elder B, one of the young missionaries in our Mandarin branch, cooked it and shared some with me. Wasn't that sweet of him?? He's a good cook!

Just another dose of Montreal...

Here are the newest additions to our archives team. There are 6 seasoned missionaries currently serving at the Archives Nationales du Quebec (the National Archive of Quebec.)

They made all of us these fun Montreal aprons. Wasn't that kind of them? Though I'm not a big fan of aprons, I was sold after noticing how clean it keeps my clothes from paper dust and paper crumbs...espcially when I'm wearing black. And yes, I finished a project that had 80 boxes this past week. I've been working on it since mid December. That's a really large project. But rumor has it that one of us lucky clickers will soon be working on a project with 250 boxes! 😮

I guess it's official. We're wrapping up the warmest winter on record for Canada. I suppose this means I'm not justified in any of my whining about cold temperatures for the past few months.

So this happened. . . I was doing initiatory ordinances in the temple. I had 5 family names that I'd quickly printed before leaving home. Guess where my Grandma MacKay's 3rd cousin's wife was born?!? MONTREAL!! I'm doing her ordinances FOR her in the city WHERE SHE WAS BORN!!! Coincidence? Nope! Tender mercy, both for her and for me. And you can bet that I'm going to do her other ordinances too!

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Excuses, Excuses

Sadly, my number of document captures was very low this week. There were a lot of interruptions. I know, excuses, excuses. 

Here is a list of my excuses. . .

I spent time talking to my cute, devoted missionary on Monday morning, my new favorite day of the week.

These two lovely sister missionaries came to visit us at the archives, see the building, and find out what we do. Our supervisor from Family Search also came to visit this same day. He drove up from Pittsburgh where he lives.

I went to the temple one morning.

And my most favorite/dreaded day every six weeks...transfer day where I help out in the office. This was my hardest transfer yet. Some incredibly lovely, seasoned missionaries left us this week and it nearly broke my heart.

This is a powerful missionary with a rock solid testimony. Her core is strong and her conversion is deep. I can't wait to see the ways that God will continue to use her as she serves in His kingdom!

This tiny package is a bundle of fun! We've been in the same district for quite some time. We share a love of libraries and children. She's the very first missionary to find out about my "secret" key indicator. I tell the missionaries that I'll share it with them the last day of their mission.

Everyone needs to get a hug from this adorable girl at least once in their life! It would change you, I tell you! She has so much love to offer this world.

And this one? I can't even really talk about this one. Everything is still too fresh and raw. Suffice it to say that there is something truly special about this one. Out of the ordinary in a stunningly spectacular way.

Well, there you go. My list of excuses for such a low number of captures this week.

Some shots of Montreal on my walk home from the mission office. . .

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Fake Spring

I feel like Spring is slowly coming to Eastern Canada but the locals tell me to put that foolish thought out of my head. The law of opposition has been at work in Montreal this week. One day we made it up to 55 F and the next day it was 18 F! You can't appreciate the 55 if you haven't had to endure the 18.

Here's a darling fish pond I used to stop by every day last summer on my walk home. Look at the difference from one day to the next!

We took these two cute sisters to dinner because the one in white finishes her mission very soon. They are in our district. 

After district council, the young sisters were telling us how frustrated they were. They've been working hard to find new people to teach but they've turned up nothing for two whole weeks. I reminded them that president told us at last zone conference that the success of your mission is not based on your numbers, but on your daily diligence. They are assigned to work in a Young Single Adult ward so they only teach people in that age range. But this week has been mid-terms at all of the universitites here in town so it makes sense that students are not being responsive to missionaries' invitations.

That conversation was a tender mercy for me later in the week when I was feeling very frustrated about not being able to reach my goals for the week because of unforeseen circumstances. Last week I hit a new personal weekly high so I thought if I hit that number last week, why couldn't I do it again? I had some bizarre exhaustion one morning and needed extra rest so I was nearly 3 hours late to the archives. A new archives couple arrived in Montreal this week. Elder and Sister W had arranged to meet them and help them settle into their apartment but Elder W hurt his knee. Sister C and I ended up helping out the new couple. We lost a whole day at the archives due to that. Then on Friday I was thinking, "Great! I'll get in a full day of clicking!" But the project I was working on wasn't prepped properly and it caused me all sorts of problems that took a lot time to fix.

I only reached 2/3 of my clicking goal this week. The advice I'd given to the young sisters was uselful for ME to remember. In the end I just had to remind myself that I did my best this week and that's all I can ask of myself.

I visited a different district this week. One of my Mandarin elders was called as a district leader this transfer and I wanted to see him in action. He's doing awesome! It has been really fun to see him rise to the responsibility that has been placed on his shoulders!

Being in that council gave me the opportunity to hear the departing testimony of one of our stunning sister teacher leaders. She'll be finishing her mission on March 9. Her testimony and thoughts were so powerful and I was grateful I got to be there to hear it.

Just in case you lose your way in Montreal. . .   😂

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