Did Someone Say AP?

My happiest news BY FAR this week is that my charming son has been given an opportunity to humbly serve EVERYONE in his mission by serving as an assistant to the president. I'm so grateful that he's been given this chance because it will be a huge opportunity for growth. Not only will he still be inviting others to come to Christ, but he'll also be able to learn the administrative workings of the mission. I'm so grateful to God for giving him this unique opportunity to serve.

And I'm also grateful that he is a hard-working, obedient missionary.

I took these two to lunch the day before one of them got transferred last week. I've decided that missionaries are almost in a constant state of grieving--grieving for friends they've been teaching who ghost them, grieving when beloved companions get transferred, grieving for members and friends they have to leave behind when they get transferred, and the BIGGEST grieving of all...grieving the loss of your fantastic mission when you leave for home.

That's the stage where I am. I have begun to grieve leaving people that I dearly love here in Montreal. My fabulous young missionary friends, the kind, gentle, patient woman who is the liaison between Family Search and the National Archives of Quebec who we work closely with, my African brothers and sisters at church along with other beloved members, and my darling young security guard friend who works at the building where I serve every day. These people are embedded deeply in my heart. 

I've begun loading up packed boxes into the car because I don't want to leave the huge job of packing and cleaning to the bitter end and have it catch me off guard. My mission here in Canada has been a very good experience for me, but it's time to go home now. It feels like the time is right.

Look who's back! This geranium has grit! She just keeps blooming through the winter, though it takes a lot more energy now because the conditions aren't prime. I admire Penelope's tenacity  (that's her name.) I want to be like her...keep throwing out beauty into the world even when conditions are tough.

Winter in Montreal

I've had a goal to reach a half million clicks before my time is finished here. At this point, I'm certain I'll reach that goal unless something goes terribly wrong. So my new goal is to finish the project I'm currently working on before I leave. There are 150 boxes and I'm on box 98. This is going to be a really  good challenge for me!

Running total of captures: 490,105

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

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!

Running total of captures: 484,350

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

In Patience Possess Your Soul

My computer at the archives has now been down for three full weeks. A week ago, we lost another computer. And as of last Friday, our operation in Montreal has completely shut down. There are no documents being captured. It's a continuing test in patience. A lot of my scripture study this past week has been about topics like patience and long-suffering.

Wednesday morning I happened to glance outside at my balcony and saw these red buds on my nearly-dead geranium. I was SHOCKED!! I stopped watering it when it started getting cold about a month ago. We've even had a mild freeze since then, although it has been a much warmer November than usual in Montreal. 

I took this as a symbol of thriving in adversity. I've since named the plant Penelope and she gets to come inside at night now. If she can be this tough for the past month then I can too! Both of us have had a rough month.

I'm so impressed with this missionary! He translated the majority of stake conference into Chinese for our branch members. It's SOOOO hard to do simultaneous translation! You're listening and speaking at the same time.

We had a visiting general authority for stake conference last weekend. His name is Robert M. Daines. I loved the Saturday evening session. He projected a lot of questions onto a screen and had us think about them. Essentially, he let the Spirit teach us instead of him teaching us. Brilliant!

We also had a mission tour this past week from our area president, Elder Allen D. Haynie. The seniors got to spend an hour with him and his wife. They are so personable! 

We learned so many valuable tools and skills from Elder Haynie! A few points from his presentation:
* Scattered Israel is drawn to Israel (like a magnet)
* Invite people to come to church as soon as you find them. It's a way to tell how serious they are about learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ...a way to sift, those who don't come to church aren't ready
* Find a need in their lives in the first contact and promise them that that need will be met if they come to church
* Use a dozen different ways to find people to teach, not just street contacting and knocking
* Our mission is really good at digital contacting, 20% of our baptisms come from it

This would be my least favorite part of mission tours...standing for 45 minutes to wait for "the picture".

But I love being with the missionaries. 

My African cowboy missionary. . .

Another GREAT part of my week was that I got to be in lessons with two different friends that the young missionaries are teaching. One is the secretary of our apartment building. All of the missionaries who live in our building have become friends with her, but particularly one couple in the beginning. The secretary started lessons with the missionaries after that couple moved to another city. I asked her how the lessons were going then kind of invited myself to attend the lessons as well. 

The first lesson I was in with her this past week was incredible! She felt the Spirit so strongly! She grabbed her chest and said, "It feels like fire in here." I whipped out D&C 9 and told her that's EXACTLY how God says it will feel when He is communicating with us!

Another set of sisters invited me to teach with them. A man responded to an ad from the church on social media. He's been looking at lots of churches and religions for years. He's been having Bible study with the Jehovah's Witnesses for two years and is about to be baptized into that church. But curiously, he decided to look into this church. He's responding very well to the Book of Mormon.

What a huge blessing for me to watch changes in these two friends! I was thinking about how lucky our young missionaries are because they get to see this ALL THE TIME! But as a records preservation missionary, it's extremely rare for me.

Running total of captures: 441,312

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

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.

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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.

Running total of captures: 414,769

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

A Swarm of New Missionaries

My missionary had a birthday!

I finished prepping the project I've been working on!! I'm really happy about that because it took me an entire month and now I get to go back to clicking. While neither job is very exciting, I prefer clicking. I'd love to reach 1/2 million clicks by the end of my mission but this month of prepping may have thwarted that plan. Oh well, it doesn't matter. It's all God's work after all.

Here's the BIG news of the week...

TWENTY-EIGHT incoming missionaries! We haven't had such a big group ever since I've been here. 

And a FABULOUS group of seasoned servants of God went home to greet their families and friends. It's so darn hard to let these missionaries who I love go home!

The archive missionaries went out for dinner after we finished our work on Friday. We love this restaurant near the national archives. It's calle Nelson Garden (Jardin Nelson in French), but we call it "President Nelson's Garden."

On Saturday I drove down to a tiny town called Hemmingford near the US border. No, I did not consider crossing. No, I am not getting trunky. One of our couples who left the mission a few weeks ago told me about it. They know I love to visit small towns to get away from Montreal.

They told me they crossed the border just below Hemmingford. It's a super easy crossing with no waiting because it's out in the woods, not on a main highway. I think I'll keep that in mind for future reference!

This is one of the first signs Americans see after they cross into Canada, I thought it was hilarious! Welcome to the land of metric measurements, Americans. You're not in Kansa anymore, Toto.

I saw these signs on my drive home. Look at ALL THAT ENGLISH!! It turns out I drove through the Kahnawake Indian Reserve. No, they don't call them "Native Americans" up here.

Canada culture...orange AND pink traffic cones!

Running total of captures: 375,753

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

Carry On!

See this cute missionary? He's from Africa so he never participated in any "fun lockdowns" during Covid Days. Well, he's getting a taste of it now. He's serving in Nigeria and that county has been having protests against the government since August 1 and none of the missionaries in his mission can leave their apartments. Protests in Nigeria often turn deadly. They were instructed to buy enough food and other supplies to last for a month. The protests were scheduled from August 1-10 but they generally go longer. I'll talk to him tomorrow to see if they've found any freedom yet. He didn't even get to go to church! Well, all of us Americans and Canadians know what THAT'S like. He's being tried in the furnace of boredom. I HATE that furnace! But I learned a lot while I was in it.

I thought I was finally going to be finished prepping this project last Friday so I could go back to captures. As I finished box 22, I discovered there are REALLY 49 boxes! ARRRRRGH! The archive people just didn't bring all of them to me at once. As it turns out, I'm not even halfway through the project!! Ugh. Oh well, it's all God's work and I'll just keep plugging away.

This is one of my favorite hallways at the archives. On the wall is a panoramic view of Montreal city taken from the top of Mount Royal. Fun fact: Did you know that Montreal is just the French way of saying Mount Royal? So really our city is called Mount Royal.

Sister M and I had a big adventure on Saturday. In Quebec, we received almost 6 inches of rain on Friday from the leftovers of Hurricane Debby combined with a low pressure that met the storm over the Great Lakes. Well that storm headed up the St. Lawerence River towards us and dumped a LOT of water in 24 hours. 

The next day Sister M and I headed out to Shawinigan (about 2 hours from Montreal) and Trois-Rivières (Three Rivers in English.) We had NO CLUE that there was major flooding! 

There were roads that were closed, traffic that was crawling, we drove over 2 flooded roads. One was a dirt road that I was really hoping had gravel on it too. It was in between corn fields. Ummm, yep, we were off the beaten path. Then we hit a paved road...thank goodness! Nope. A short while later we were driving over a flooded road again. When we got to the end of that road we discovered that the road was closed from that end. The guy in the truck with the cones let us out. 

We ended up having a really fun day. We went to a military museum. . .

The tire on this monster is almost up to my shoulder!!

Ate at Holy Burgers. . .

. . .and found some fun little shops to explore. We also got lost a bunch of times because of rerouting due to closed roads that were flooded. We thought we'd be home around 3:00 or 4:00. Nope. We pulled into our building at 10:00 pm. 

Canada Culture moment: On our weekend travels we came across this truck. The sign says something like "stop here". After the oncoming traffic has passed, a person in the truck hits a switch and the arm with the orange flag goes up. Then you can drive on. Hmm, we have flaggers in the U.S. for this. If I ever want this job, I'm moving to Canada...you sit in a truck and push a button.

The world lost a great man this past week. My cousin, Charles, died of cancer at age 36. He leaves behind a wife and four very small children. It's so hard to be separated from people we love even though we know we'll see them again. 

Photo credit: MacKay Jones, the master photographer

It was really, really hard for me to be here and not be at the ranch with all of my cousins. It felt so strange because this Jones family GATHERS and SUPPORTS each other at times like this. It's a legacy that our parents left us. And it just feels so strange to me to be so far away instead of at the ranch to mourn with my cousins. But I know God is there for them. And He can comfort them in a MUCH more supreme way than I could anyway.

Running total of captures: 375,753

Running total of docs prepped: 6650