The Farewells Begin

It has been REALLY difficult to move around this city on foot this week because of all of the snow. Driving is fine because the city has cleared the streets, but they just haven't had time to get to the sidewalks yet because the volume of snow is so huge.

This is the sidewalk in front of the building where I serve each day. At the beginning of the week we were walking on tromped down snow from other pedestrians. Thursday started to warm up a little so the snow started melting. Well, that made navigating the snow treacherous! After walking a short distance to the corner, I decided to walk in the street. I also decided that I can't return to the archives building until they clear the snow in front of the building because it's just too dangerous so I missed "work" on Friday. 

But luckily over the weekend, I came up with a way to get into the building another way which circumvents the walk in front of the building.

This is me waiting one night for a bus which was a half hour late . Then when it finally arrived, it just drove right past me. Sheesh!

I'm seeing these trucks ALL OVER TOWN, hauling snow out of the city.

I also see these little yellow signs all over stuck into mountains of snow. My guess is that the plan is to clear that section of street next so they don't want anyone parking there overnight.

The members of the Mount Royal Branch, the Chinese speaking branch where I've attended church for nearly two years, showered me with love on Sunday. I knew we were having a potluck after church, but I didn't know we were also having the "Sister Jones hour." I was uncomfortable with all of that attention, but they really did make me feel special. 

They had an "open mic" where people shared very kind words about me. And they also showered me with gifts. One person created a beautiful memory book. I received a gorgeous  bouquet of flowers. And one of the members who is a very talented artist drew a portrait of me.

A few of my former piano students returned to share their musical talents with all of us. Oh wow! I felt so loved and so honored by all of them!

I've been thinking a lot during the past few weeks about "each life that touches ours for good." We really are  meant to help each other along the way as we travel through this journey of life. 

Running total of captures: 503,559

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

Changing of the Guards

The big news this week is that our mission leadership is changing. President David Harkness and his wife, Lisa Harkness, returned home on Friday, June 28th, the same day that President Craig Sorensen and his wife, Melanie Sorensen, arrived in Montreal. The Harknesses have been amazing leaders for this mission. They lead with very high expectations and much love. And the young missionaries respond in a powerful way because of the great love that they feel from the Harknesses.

The senior missionaries pitched in and one of the senior sisters quilted this wall hanging for them. It represents all (as nearly as we could guess) of the countries that have been gathered into our mission so that people could learn of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had a tearful farewell last Sunday night at our mission-wide meeting held on Zoom. The Harknesses left us with beautiful words of encouragement and love. And one of our APs sent us all off with a beautiful, heartfelt benediction on the meeting and the Harknesses' mission. These two stalwart servants of God have made a huge difference in this mission!

We're excited to meet and welcome the Sorensens. They have a gargantuan task ahead of them. Salt Lake calls us "a complicated mission", and we are! President Sorensen will not only be the mission president, he will also be the district president for two districts of church units. The Sorensens will be traveling by plane or car for 2 weeks out of every month in the mission. 

These are some of my favorite people on the planet. I get to see these elders every Sunday because we worship together in the Mandarin branch. They have been given a very difficult task. Not only are they asked to learn a complex language on their mission, but they only get to teach a small portion of the population here in Montreal. While other missionaries log huge numbers of friends they are finding and teaching, these patient elders work and work but only have few friends to teach. That doesn't seem to bother them. They continue baptizing anyway. I admire the way they deal with the challenging task they have been given.

Ah! It's already shoulder-high dandelion season!

And how about this coffee can garden? Kinda fun!

Running total of captures: 361,515

Oh! The Heat!

It's was really hot here in Montreal for three days in a row. The hottest one hit 113 F for the "feels like" temperature. I don't do well with the heat. The AC in my apartment was working like crazy and could only cool my place to 76 F.

I shouldn't complain because my missionary son in Nigeria has little to no electricity to run the fans in their apartment. Often he goes to bed by 10:00 but can't sleep until midnight because it's too hot. Here he is with a washcloth on his head to provide some shade from the sun. He and his companion are waiting in a long line at an ATM on Pday hoping to be able to withdraw some cash. After an hour and a half, they found out the ATM ran out of cash so they'd have to go to another ATM. They waste SOOO much time on Pdays waiting in line at ATMs. We were chatting while he was waiting in line so that he could multitask.

I had a temple appointment to do sealings and I was thinking it would feel nice to be in GOOD AC for a few hours. When I got there I discovered the AC at the temple was broken. As I was kneeling at the altar, I started to feel light-headed. As soon as the ordinance was finished I quickly moved to a chair because I've heard many stories of people fainting at the altar while doing sealings. 

I didn't feel well the rest of the evening. And the next day I spent either lying down on the couch or my bed. Wow! The heat really knocked me out! I felt dizzy and very weak. I'm glad that's over with!

We had another false start to our vital records project this week. I'm sure we'll start...someday! 

One of the archives missionaries had a birthday this past week so we decorated her cubicle.

Last week I finished teaching a class on how to conduct music at our Chinese branch. about one fourth of the class was comprised of members of the Church. The other participants are just interested people in the community. It was a little tricky since I don't speak Mandarin, only Cantonese. So one of the bishopric counselors came each week to translate. In a few weeks I'll take the cream of the crop from the conducting class and start teaching them how to play piano.

The Harman family (think KFC owners) has a grant program that provides keyboards and manuals for students to learn how to play piano in hopes of building the musical abilities of church members. Then they can start accompanying songs on Sunday in our church meetings.

Canada culture moment...KFC is called PFK (Poulet frit Kentucky) in Quebec.

I felt like I was in Utah for several hours on Saturday afternoon. I joined a Jones family reunion via Zoom. It's always so good to be with my cousins. I'm glad they made the extra effort to include a few of us who couldn't be there in person. Thanks to those of you who planned it!!

Running total of captures: 354,795

An Appearance by Two Fabulous Elders

Look who made it into my blog!!! These two elders have been waiting and watching for WEEKS to see if their pictures would appear on this blog. FINALLY! Today their dreams came true! It is a highly sought-after honor in this mission to appear on Sister Jones' blog, after all. 😂 I love these two hard-working elders. They are devoted to God and to helping His children. And I am lucky to be serving in the same branch with them right now.

I was with some very lovely people at our branch president's house this weekend. He cooked us some fabulous food! We celebrated his son's birthday and had a beautiful discussion about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love that our branch is led by an energetic, loving man of God. Some faces are blocked to protect their privacy since I didn't have their permission to post their pictures, not because they are in some kind of witness protection progam.

A sad thing happened this week. The general secretary in our mission lost her brother. He was only 54 years old and he died unexpectedly. When you are in God's service, He doesn't always protect you from difficult things but He DOES carry you through them. The secretary and her husband flew home to Alberta for the funeral. Our entire mission is mourning with them. She is pictured here with her husband. These two are dearly loved in this mission because of the genuine love that they show to our young missionaries and the rest of us! It's easy to give back love to someone who is so kind to you.

This was a fun little find for me! This week while I was clicking away, I saw a Chinese signature on a document! I'm really surprised I even noticed it because I generally don't look at what's on the documents because I'm moving along at such a quick pace. Some missionaries like to stop and read the documents, others of us just plow ahead as fast as we can, hastening God's work. Neither way is better, they are just different.

Speaking of plowing along, I had 10,303 "clicks"  in ONE week! That's a HUGE week of clicking for me and a number far beyond any I've ever reached in a single week! Thanks be to God for allowing me to work with Him in the vineyard. Numbers like that cannot be achieved without God's help.

I visited a small town called St. Hyacinthe this weekend and was surprised to find an African shop!

Our missionaries inspire me with their hard work and devotion to God! They are very fixed on their purpose to bring others to Jesus Christ. In the first two months of this year they have help 109 people be baptized. Our goal for the entire year is 691. If we keep going at this rate, we're going to do it! But really, GOD is going to do it and He's going to let us help Him. My goal is to find one (yes, you read that right) person for the missionaries to teach. I've found three so far, but none of them was really serious about learning more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. But I'm going to keep trying. . .with the young missionaries as my heroic examples!!

Running total of captures: 240,713

Transfer Week

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 sister is filled with joy. She's been a very serious missionary and she gives the best genuine hugs.

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!

Running total of captures: 177,502

I'm Thankful for Water and November Holidays/Seasons

Ohhhh, how I love these men...devoted servants of the Most High God! These six are now serving in the Mandarin branch. We got 2 additional elders because a new area was opened.

We got a wicked surprise this week. One morning we woke to no water. When I left our building to walk to the archives, the reason for our building having no water quickly became apparent. Can you see the water bubbling up through the pavement behind the orange cones? My apartment building is the white one, second from the corner.

The city workers were finally able to restore running water to our building around 11 pm that same night. But it did thwart a trip to the temple because the entrance to our parking garage was blocked.

The day after I arrived in Montreal, there was no water for me to take a shower so I decided to store water in jugs so I'd never have that surprise again. Luckily, I had enough water to shower AND flush the toilet. I was pretty happy about that.

Oh how I love snow! I feel like we're bouncing between Fall and Winter right now. And so I am also bouncing between Thanksgiving and Christmas in my holiday moods.

Here's another "holiday" we're bouncing around in...Veteran's Day. I've discovered it's a tradition in Canada to wear a red poppy on your lapel for the 2 weeks prior to Veteran's Day. A young man approached me in the metro with some plastic poppies and said his fraternity was handing them out and also collecting donations. I told him I didn't have any money on me but he gave me one anyway. The poppy on the lapel is a symbol of remembering those who have fought in wars. I like this tradition! I also like that the red draws attention to my nametag.  :)

After the young man gave me the poppy, I kept going. But a few steps later I realized that I had missed an opportunity to share the gospel. I went back and told the 2 young men that I was impressed that young people of their generation are doing good things with their time. Then I told them about our young men and the good that they are doing with their lives. And with excellent timing, 2 of our young missionaries just happened by so that I could point them out! They stopped to join the conversation. It turned out that one of the fraternity brothers is from Tahiti and knows one of our sister missionaries who is also from Tahiti! He said he'll pursue faith when he gets older. I strongly encouraged him to look up his high school friend when he is ready to focus on faith and to seriously consider learning about this church. Well, at least I dropped a seed.

Here's another interesting thing about Montreal that marks the changing of the seasons, the laying down of the rugs. During winter, entryways have rugs to protect the floors from the snow and salt that are tracked in on the bottom of boots. This is the entrance to the national archives. The first day, the rugs had been laid in the entryway to our apartment building, when the elevator door opened to the lobby, I didn't recognize where I was!

Here are the first hints of Christmas that I've seen in the city.

Running total of captures: 145,449