His Promises are Sure

My missionary son had a wisdom tooth pulled that was giving him pain. Ouch! But he's tougher than nails. He was out proselyting the next day. Sadly, he's got one more wisdom tooth to come out, probably next week.

What a blessing that we can pray to God for help. Isn't He marvelous to be constantly available to us? What if our Father had "office hours" and we could only contact Him during that time? Or what if He was confined to the limits of a certain time zone? What if He slept and wasn't available during that time? I couldn't do a single thing for Prempeh this week as he endured this awful experience except to pray for him.

I finished reading this book this week. Our mission leaders invited us to read it before general conference and mark every reference to our Savior. They also gave us a printed sheet with promises from the prophets about ways our lives will improve if we read the book. I chose one promise that I wanted to see happen. I was a bit skeptical that it could happen but God, indeed, has made good on the promises He gives us through His prophets. I am a witness that God keeps His promises. My life is better for having read this book again.

Canada culture: We have these in Utah, but on a much larger scale.

The highlight of my week...

This is near a tiny farming community called Brigham.

Oh, and I captured some historical documents.

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The Creator of Beauty

I'm not sure what kind of a shrine this is. . .

But it got more elaborate the next day. 😂

Canada culture:  Sorry for the fuzzy shot, but this is what supreme pizzas are called in Canada.

President and Sister Sorensen invited all of the seniors who serve in or near Montreal to join them for lunch after our senior district council. When I asked them why they pay so much attention to seniors, president said that his aunt and uncle served a mission and were not welcomed to the mission, were hardly noticed by the president, and they left without any notice of the mission leaders. He said he strongly disagreed with that and decided it would NOT happen in the mission he served in! And he and Sister Sorensen have been good to their word. I feel SO noticed and respected by them. It's such an honor and blessing to serve with them. It's just nice to be noticed...not that we need accolades, just acknowledge that we're here and that what we're doing is a contribution to the mission.

Hmm, something seems to be missing here.

One of my Chinese piano students' mothers sends some kind of food for me every week. She is so kind. These are little twisted cookies.

The pinnacle of my week was a drive two hours from Montreal to a tiny town to see the leaves starting to change. I passed through Rawdon on my way and saw this beautiful scene.

Then arrived at Saint Côme thirty minutes later.

My happy place. . .

I'm so grateful that our Savior created a season (at least in parts of North America) where leaves change colors. It's magical! In the plan of the creation, it could have been that green leaves just fell off the trees as winter approached. But no, our Creator decided to delight us with magnificent beauty at the changing of the seasons. I praise His name for this beautiful creation of changing leaves which brings me great 

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One Cog on the Wheel

I've been thinking about this dear man a lot during my mission. My dad taught me through example that we take ANY assignment from our Church leaders, whether it's something we like or not. I'm sure there are many a bishop who are grateful for members of the Church like Harold Jones, members who will do literally anything asked of them. They don't hesitate to take the hard-to-fill callings. 

I'm grateful that my parents left us a legacy of hard work. While I do not always find joy in taking pictures of historical documents, I understand that it is an important piece in the gathering of Israel happening in the latter days. My parents taught me to get the job done whether I like it or not. I took this picture to remind me that I am just one tiny cog on a large wheel. But every cog is important to keep things running smoothly.

Canada culture: You think these are two common rolls of coins. WRONG! They are a MUCH sought after commodity in Montreal, and VERY difficult to find. We need them to feed the laundry machines in our apartment building. There's only one bank in the entire city that we've found who is willing to sell us rolls of "toonies" and last week when I went to get some at the branch near our archives building, they refused to sell me any. AHHHHH! Luckily another branch sold me some and I will not have to wear dirty clothes for the rest of my mission.

I helped gather food for the food drive again this year. People were very generous. And I got to meet four very impressive teenage girls who were on my team. 

We received some unexpected news this week. One of our archives couples will be transferred to Ottawa to replace a senior couple who is going home next month. That will change things up around here.

Greetings from Viger Avenue Est!

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Canada History

Montreal has all of these cool murals painted on sides of buildings. Here are a few I encountered this week.

Yay! Fall is just around the corner! I love how Jesus created Fall to delight us with so many colors! I get kind of tired of greeeeeeeen the rest of the year.

This weekend's excursion was to a historical village called Upper Canada Village. It's 2 hours west of Montreal. It's a working village meant to represent 1866.

There are craftsmen producing items from their trade. This is the carpenter.

This is the schoolhouse. I found it very practical that the benches are under the windows instead of in rows. That way the students get more light from the windows.

Here's the broom maker.

This is the sawmill.

I found the mechanisms of this mill fascinating. Running water from below turns the crank which makes the HUGE saw go up and down to cut logs into lumber. The saw is just to the right of center. You can see the sawdust falling from the cut.

We learned more of Canada's history by visiting this village. I love learning about Canada's history and seeing where it crosses over with the history of the USA, especially being so close to the border.

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Green Dot=A Cheap Thrill

Do you see that little green dot on the box in the upper left corner? That's an example of something we archive missionaries like to call a "cheap thrill." There are few real joys in our assignments, so we grab at tiny ones and call them our "cheap thrills." This tiny green dot was one of mine this week. It means that first box has been captured. And that, my friends, is something I haven't done in over a month...capture documents. One down, 48 to go.

Montreal rush hour. . .  😂

I'm still "reading like Parley"! I'm reading because I WANT to and because I LOVE this book!

Not a lot to tell this week because I've been sick with a cold. The first two days nearly knocked me out but I'm gaining speed again slowly!

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