Miracles Still Happen

This amazing missionary son of mine has experienced a HUGE miracle and I don't quite know how to express my gratitude to God for it. His companion has been really difficult to live with for the past transfer. I know, difficult companions are something everyone experiences on a mission. But his companion seems like he's just mad at the whole world, every day, for weeks and weeks! He's been miserable to live with! Sometimes he WAKES UP mad!

Ideas have been coming to me week after week to tell Prempeh to try: serve him every day in little ways, pray for him, pretend like something awful has happened in his life--something like his mother may be dying--which will cause you to feel more compassionate towards him, read the Book of Mormon like crazy! These ideas have not been from me. They are from the Spirit prompting me of ideas to share with Prempeh. How do I know? Because they're brilliant ideas! And I'm not that smart.

When I asked Prempeh a week ago how his week was, he said it had been a really good week. I was SHOCKED! Those words have NEVER come out of his mouth since he's been with this guy. I asked him what had changed and he couldn't give me an answer. We don't know why his companion has made a 180 degree turn, but he has! Life is SO much better for my missionary now! And I'm sure his companion is having a much better time too. They are starting to work together in unity finally, after 6 weeks. 

When Prempeh told me that he hopes that neither one of them will be transferred, I cried and cried and cried. Because all I've heard him say for several weeks is that he's just holding on until transfers and trying hard to be patient. That comment was very telling for me. It means he is truly enjoying their time together...FINALLY!!!

I've thought and thought about ways that I can show Heavenly Father how deeply grateful I am for this beautiful miracle. Our temple president pointed out a few weeks ago that he'd read in the Book of Mormon about a people who were grateful to be delivered. 

Alma 45:1 Behold, now it came to pass that the people of Nephi were exceedingly rejoiced, because the Lord had again delivered them out of the hands of their enemies; therefore they gave thanks unto the Lord their God; yea, and they did fast much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy.

They gave thanks to God, worshipped God, prayed much, and FASTED! I've never thought of fasting as a way to show gratitude, but I did it this week. 

I don't understand HOW God softens hearts. I still don't understand why He intervenes in some cases with miracles and not in other cases. But I'm over-the-top grateful for this lovely, lovely miracle in Elder O and Prempeh's lives.

Canada culture: It was 23 degrees F when I took this picture...just a vest. No shirt. No coat. Probably a homeless guy.

Happy Birthday, Elder C! Thanks for sharing your fabulous cake with our district!!

Another exciting night at "The Berri" building. The fire alarm in our building goes off so frequently! This time we were lucky. It was at 10 pm instead of the middle of the night which is when it usually happens.

These lovely senior missionaries invited me to dine with them at the Black Olive restaurant on Ontario Street in Hochelaga. Oh my! The food was so delicious! It's a Moroccan restaurant. And though the tajine wasn't quite as good as the ones I had while in Morocco, it was still very yummy. The harira soup was divine. But my favorite was the "thousand holes crepe" we had for dessert!

The insomnia seems to be letting up so that made for a good week of clicking! Another thing to thank God for!

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Missionary Shoes

I don't walk anywhere NEAR as many km as our young missionaries, but still, I have missionary soles. I have NO IDEA why my right shoes wear out faster than my left ones. Must be the way I walk.

One of our missionary's dad's wrote some new verses to this hymn. I love them! And I love this missionary. He's our current district leader and I've known him for over a year. I've watched him grow which is one of my favorite things about being a senior missionary. He also has this contagious sense of fun that blesses everyone he's around!

The neighborhood of Montreal where I live is famous for these iconic 3 story apartment buildings with the stairs on the outside...not very practical in the winter. Those stairs are treacherous with snow and ice on them. It makes me appreciate living in a highrise apartment building.

I had an interesting thought while listening to a talk by Boyd K Packer this past week called "The Least of These". In Doctrine and Covenants 117:13, the Lord says in reference to Oliver Granger "for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase." Oliver was to stay behind when the saints left Nauvoo and try to sell whatever he could that belonged to the church. He was largely unsuccessful but it wasn't his fault.

I estimate that by the end of my mission I will have spent about 2800 hours sitting in "that chair" at my work station in the archives building. I am also shooting for a very big number of clicks by the end of my mission. It sounds to me like the Lord considers my 2800 hours in the chair (which HAS been a sacrifice for me) to be more sacred than my number of clicks.

And if I expected to be bored every hour of my mission but I have been bored only ONE of those 2800 hours, what do you call that?? I call that a miracle because I cannot explain it any other way. And I am grateful for this miracle. I still don't like clicking and I doubt I ever will. But I have been content during those 2800 hours and for that I am very grateful to my Father in Heaven.

Canada culture. . .
Maple flavored Oreos??? I doubt I'll be seeing any of these in Utah. Maybe Vermont, but not Utah. Or do they only exist in Canada?

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I Admire My Catholic Brothers and Sisters

Had lunch and played miniature golf for district p-day. I love these people!

My brother and sister-in-law visited for a few days this week. It was fun to have them here.

They came to see what I do at the archives.

We ate at Schwartz's Deli which is touted as the best smoked meat in Montreal. It was really good!

We went up to Mount Royal.

And then over to St. Joseph's Oratory on one of the coldest days I've experienced in Montreal on account of the strong winds and cold temperatures.

Meet Brother Andre who started this oratory. He felt that Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, needed more recognition for his important role in Jesus's life. So he started building an oratory. It was very small and humble during his lifetime and was completed after his death in 1937. He was known for being simple, having a sense of humor, and being compassionate with a listening ear. I think he has a very kind face. I'm impressed with Brother Andre. He had many difficult challenges in his life and yet he chose to turn outward and help others. He was sainted in 2010. He's the first man born in Canada to have that distinction.

 
Canada culture: The snow mountains have started again! 'Tis the season. . .

Only in Canada will you find a stocking stuffer in the shape of a hockey stick. And what a perfect shape to fit into a Christmas stocking! At first I thought it was meant to be the shape of a handgun.

The man that I've been teaching with the missionaries has decided to not get baptized. Well, it's certainly his choice. He's not responding to the missionaries' texts so we don't know what happened.  Ahhh, such is the life of a missionary. I have a feeling that he may return at some point because he loves the Book of Mormon. He says it's so clear. 

The woman who we're teaching moved her baptism date into January because she doesn't feel ready quite yet. Also OK. I keep being reminded that though I'm happy for these people to have a desire to come closer to God, it's not about us. . .it's about their relationship with God, and that is a very personal matter.

It's been a fairly smooth week of clicking, which I'm grateful for after my loooooong hiatus.

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Serenity with God

Nine people gathered at my apartment for Canadian Thanksgiving on October 14th. Everyone helped cook. The senior missionaries who work at the archives, invited two people who work in our building to join us: the secretary at the front desk who is Canadian, and one of the maintenance men who is from Algeria and has only been in Canada for a few months. It was fun having new faces!

Last year I celebrated and helped in the cooking of two Thanksgivings. I've decided that there will only be one for me this year. Two of them about a month apart was too much for me. It felt like overkill.

I have a new tradition surrounding Thanksgiving. You know how everyone says you can't put up Christmas decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving? Well, I'm going to start using Canadian Thanksgiving to apply to that rule instead of the one in November. I adore Christmas! And one of my Christmas decorations may have snuck out of the closet last Friday. Hehe. Nothing drastic yet, just a small beginning.

One of the missionary couples who was working at the Montreal archives moved to Ottawa because they were reassigned. They left the day after Thanksgiving. They will be missed and things won't be the same without them.

Canada culture: these potato chips are "all dressed". . . that's the name of the flavor, not to be confused with all of the other flavors which apparently are half naked!

I had the MOST GLORIOUS WEEKEND!! I spent two and a half days in a tiny town in the mountains. Yes! I found mountains! It made me very aware of how much I'm missing my Utah mountains.

I stayed in a tiny town called Saint Côme which is 2 hours north of Montreal. The place where I stayed had two dogs, so THAT was a bonus!

I spent several serene hours alone in the mountains. It felt so good to be out of the big city. It provided time for pondering, praying, and meditating. President David O. McKay was quoted in the most recent general conference as saying, "Meditation is one of the … most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord.” It was good to spend some quiet time alone with God.

I was SO surprised by this tree! It looked almost furry. 

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it has soft needles. They turn yellow in Autumn and fall off the tree! A quick Google search taught me that they are in the pine family. This type of tree is called a larch.

There was no Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near where I stayed, so I worshipped with my Catholic brothers and sisters on Sunday. You'll notice I sat way in the back. 

When very young children play, they don't interact with each other so they're not really playing "together", just in a nearby space. It's called "parallel play." That's kind of what I thought of my worship on Sunday. I was "parallel worshipping." I worshipped in my way and they worshipped in their way. I'm grateful they were kind enough to share their space with me. And they didn't bother me because everything was in French so it didn't distract me at all from what I was doing. 😊 

I met up with this lovely lady later in the day. She lives in a chalet in the woods, what we'd call a cabin. She is the liaison at the archives building between Family Search and the National Archives of Quebec. She brings our projects to us and helps us when we get stuck with questions. She is one of the kindest, sweetest, most patient people I have ever met. Her demeanor lends a very calming influence to every conversation. It is such a joy to work with her!

Someday soon I hope to live in a similar setting. This is her driveway, for crying out loud! Wouldn't it be great to drive home to this every day?!? I told her if I lived where she lives I'd never come to the city, strictly work from home!

She and I spent a few hours walking beside a river together. I really enjoyed getting to know her better.

And lest you think that all I did was play this week, I did capture a few documents too.

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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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