Playing with My Sister

This is what my cute missionary son does on our Monday calls...he reads me scriptures! He also inevitably ends up teaching me part of a lesson in each video call. He's SUCH a missionary! And I love what his mission is doing for him. It is deepening his conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ and he is understanding the doctrines of Christ MUCH more clearly than he ever has before. 

I was a bit worried about him last week because he had malaria. That is ONE. TOUGH. ILLNESS. I've never experienced it but I've watched many of my African friends suffer through it. Thankfully, Prempeh has returned to full health.

My sister and her friend came to visit for 10 days! I played and played and played with them. It has been a lot of fun to take a break from the scanning day in and day out.

In Montreal we...

visited the archives building where I serve every day,

had lunch in Chinatown,

and saw the Notre Dame Bascilica.

This painting in the basilica always makes me smile. Look at the focus on the maple leaf! Both mother and child are looking at THE leaf. 

In and around Quebec City we...

visited the stunning Montmorency Falls,

drove around the Island of Orleans where they have six teeny, tiny chapels as well as a few churches. They were built before transportation was simple so that people would have a nearby place to pray without traveling a long distance to a church.

This is one of the tiny churches that has been turned into a boutique.

Here's my yellow dream home on the island.

My sister...

a very old and tipping cross to mark a grave...

Of COURSE we had to stop for some of the chocolate dipped ice cream that the island is famous for!

I found the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac Hotel that Quebec City is famous for! Last time I went to Quebec City, we never found it. This trip I realized that we had parked the car 1 block away from this famous icon. Duh!

We met these two fabulous people in a Christmas store. When she saw my nametag, she threw her hands in the air with a loud gasp. I knew that they were members of the church. We have this huge church family wherever we go. She gave me a huge hug. When I introduced my sister she said, "Well then SHE gets a hug too!" 

They told me they had given their driver a Book of Mormon and he said he'd read it. They shared his email with me and asked that missionaries contact him to see if he's interested in finding out more. I promised I'd follow through with that.

A few minutes later we ended up at the checkout counter together. She insisted on paying for the Christmas ornament I was buying. What amazing and kind people! I will think of them every Christmas when I decorate my tree.

We flew to Prince Edward Island where we...
visited the house where Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote "Anne of Green Gables",

saw the kitchen where the book was actually written,

saw an upstairs bedroom that looked like it could have belonged to Anne Shirley,

walked through the "Haunted Woods",

and down "Lovers Lane".

We also visited a lighthouse on the island and went to church. Sadly, none of my missionaries attended the ward that I did. They had gone out to worship with the smaller branches on the island that day.

And then back home to Montreal.

I actually DID spend two days at the archives in the past two weeks! Our supervisor drove up from Pennsylvania to help us launch the new project of capturing vital records. Those were two frustrating days as we tried to figure things out, make adjustments to our workstations, and iron out the details. We'll get there. But I knew the beginning wouldn't be smooth. Better luck next week!

This week was our final zone conference with our mission leaders, the Harknesses. They will complete their mission at the end of June and the Sorensens will take the helm. There were some very tender moments at zone conference. They have been fabulous leaders. They love our young missionaries and pour their hearts and souls into helping them grow spiritually. They care for and love our young missionaries.

We had the opportunity to attend the temple with one of the zones in our mission. We couldn't attend with our own zone because it's a very large zone so they didn't have room for the senior missionaries in that session. I loved thinking about all of the consecrated lives in that room at the same time. We seniors sure do think a lot of our young missionary friends. They are stellar! I wish every young person in the world equaled their goodness and devotion.

A bit of sad news, the man who spoke to me on the street and who has been taught by the missionaries had to be dropped because he was no longer making progress. I accept that, because it's certainly his choice whether he wants to draw closer to Christ or not. Maybe the time is not right for him and he will make that choice later on. Even though the young sister missionaries need to move on, I will continue to text him to see how he's doing and pray for him. That's one of the luxuries of senior missionaries. We function more like a member of the ward than the young missionaries. We have different roles than they do.

Running total of captures: 348,781

Captures, Waterfalls, and Ice Cream

I'm learning more every day about how to do a better job of the assignment I've been given to accomplish on this mission. 

Ever since the day I opened my mission call, I've been dreading sitting in front of a machine taking picture, after picture, after picture of historical documents that I couldn't even read because they're in French. The reality has been MUCH better than I expected. I count it a tender mercy that I have not felt bored while doing camera captures. A missionary couple who was only here for 2 weeks after I arrived taught me to make a game of it, to set goals and try to best myself from the day before. The husband captured 3025 images in a single day during the last week of his mission! ASTOUNDING! I hit just over 1400 for a high this week. I've got a long way to go.

Another missionary challenged me to find out WHY this work is so important. He said the WHAT would become easier if I had a deep understanding of the WHY.

Here's an example of gorgeous handwriting on one document.

You may not find anything fascinating about this stamp, but any variation in the documents makes life just a little bit more interesting.

And how about these cute little red seals on this document?

A seal AND a stamp! This one is over-the-top! 

I also go to the temple every Thursday to break up the week. The Montreal Temple is about a 25 minute drive from my apartment. I love that a bit of the local culture is apparent in the design of the temple. There are fleur de lys impressions in the carpet and on the altars. And there are maple leaves on the outside. I feel very blessed to be assigned to a place where I am close to a temple. I love going to the temple every week. It is a place of solace and realignment for me.

    

Our weekends are spectacular! Sister C, another single sister, and I like to go exploring on the weekends. Work hard, play hard! The archives were closed on May 22 for Victoria Day so we headed off to see Quebec City for the three day weekend. Quebec City is about 3 hours away from Montreal.

There's a spectacular waterfall nearby called Montmorency Falls. It is 30 meters taller than Niagara Falls. When you are near it, you are stunned by the power and the volume of the falling water!

Old Town Quebec City is gorgeous and has a European flavor.

Our favorite place by far on our weekend getaway was Orleans Island. Sadly, I don't have many pictures of it because as we drove around the entire island, I was behind the wheel. We are determined to go back and spend more time on the island.

We did manage to snap a few photos at the ice cream shop where we stopped. Look how thick that shell of chocolate is!!

I'm grateful to be serving in Montreal. I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve Heavenly Father's children who are on the other side of the veil. I want them to have the chance to receive ordinances. I think of myself as a missing link to facilitate someone finding their family through historical documents. There are many blessings that come from serving the Lord! Have any of you been thinking about serving a mission?? I invite you to pray about it and ask Father what He thinks you should do.

Missionary moments:

• We talked to a young man from India on the metro. He says he hopes to go to the US someday because he has family and friends there. "Which state?" I asked. UTAH! No way! "Which city?" SALT LAKE! I told him that his family and friends have surely heard of our church. And now he has as well.
• During a lesson about patriarchal blessings a few weeks ago, a young woman who was sitting two chairs away from me scooted over and asked how she could get a patriarchal blessing. I explained a little bit and later discovered that it was her first time to church and she was not a member of the church! Surprise! Last Sunday I learned that she had been baptized.

Running total of captures: 6390