Seniors and Technology

I don't have a lot to say this week. . .

My cute nail biter

What!! I waited until after Thanksgiving. That's the rule!

I love my Mandarin elders

A funny thing happened in district council, but maybe you had to be there to get the full hilarious impact. One senior elder excused himself to take a phone call because his phone was ringing. As he walked to the door, another senior elder said, "It's me." The first elder said, "No, it's some sisters calling me." When he got to the hallway and answered the phone, we could hear the conversation in stereo, one conversation on the phone and the other in real time, simultaneously. We're not sure who called who or how it even happened. We were all laughing soooooo hard! The young missionaries get a huge kick out of seniors and technology. I'm sure they think we shouldn't be allowed to use it.

God is good to me. I needed some healing this week and He provided it...on cue...just like He always does. I would like to share the details, but this is not the correct forum.

Running total of captures: 432,987

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

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.

Running total of captures: 429,602

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

BE with God

We got another referral for the young missionaries! Another sister missionary and I went out to dinner and the waitress asked about our nametags. We asked if she wanted to come to church and she said yes. That threw us off guard a little. Then I asked for her phone number so missionaries who speak Spanish could call her and SHE SAID YES! That one REALLY surprised me! Usually they say, "Just give me the address to the church and I'll come sometime." This is my fourth find on my mission. Woot! Woot! That ONLY happens with God's help. He puts people in our way and all we have to do is open our mouths.

In general conference, a phrase that Bishop L. Todd Budge shared, screamed at me: "...when praying, what if we were to spend less time talking and more time just being with God?" I've spent the whole week pondering what it means to "just BE" with God. The more I learn about it, the more it seems to be a higher form of worship. When I'm "with" a person, what does that mean? I think it means I'm being present, attentive, focused on them and not distracted, as well as other things that I haven't discovered yet.

I felt SOOOO spoiled on my birthday! This sweet, sweet lady whom I've never met before in my life, was commissioned by one of my African sons to bring me flowers for my birthday. She joyfully made a difficult drive at night to bring me this BEAUTIFUL bouquet. I was VERY surprised, VERY touched, and VERY grateful!!

I also got to spend my birthday with young missionaries. . .couldn't have wished for a better gift! Zone conference had to be moved up a week so that it landed on my birthday! Can you say "tender mercy"?!? The entire zone sang to me and I was very touched by their love.

Our darling, HILARIOUS APs . . .

And here's a bonus selfie you ALWAYS get when you hand your phone to an elder to help you take a photo. I love these funny young men. They make my mission a joyful place!

Though I had many thoughtful gifts and birthday wishes, my very favorite was having these three together. I love these 3 young men and the one who couldn't join us. It was an absolute joy seeing them interacting with each other after such a long hiatus. It made my heart burst!!!

A very kind and generous couple treated us to "yam chah", a traditional Chinese brunch with lots of small dishes. It was SO nostalgic for the sister in the black jacket and me because we used to go to these kinds of meals with members on our mission in Hong Kong when we were young missionaries.

I squeezed in a quick drive to the countryside Saturday afternoon.

Oh, I almost forgot, I captured some documents too.   

Here's my new project. . . 151 boxes. I've never tried conquering something this big! And this one has some unique challenges that will make capturing difficult. Here we go! I'm up for it!!

Running total of captures: 426,964

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

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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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.

Running total of captures: 386,430

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859