Lovely People and SNOW

I had the time of my life with these three lovely humans this week. We all went to a Moroccan restaurant. One of them is a security guard at the archives and the other two are the custodians who keep everything neat and tidy. One is from Morocco, one from Tunisia, and one from Senegal. I delight in having friends from other countries. All of God's children who live on this globe are much more similar than we are different. It's going to be painful for me to leave these three.

The company was by FAR the best part of the night, but the food was pretty fabulous too.

That night will be one of my most treasured moments in Montreal. 💖

Two of my Mandarin elders on the metro...looks like they're in jail 😂  I love my Mandarin elders. I probably know them the best of all the young missionaries because we end up serving in the same branch together for so long. 

On Thursday, February 13, 2025 Montreal got over 13 inches of snow. It all gets piled up. Note the mountain of snow in the church parking lot is nearly as tall as my car.

Frozen hair does not obey the law of gravity 😂

This is the second big whammy this week. We don't yet know how many inches it will end up being but it's been snowing all day long (Sunday, February 16, 2025.) The predicted snowfall is close to two feet. I'm not really sure where all of that snow will be plowed to. Church was cancelled for our entire stake and 3/4 of the wards and branches in our mission did not hold any church meetings today.

It never really dumped snow today. It was just a steady snowfall all day long, probaby exceeding 24 hours of snowfall. I thought about how small and simple things bring about great things. An average amount of snowfall extended hour after hour after hour can shut down an entire city. God usually works in small and simple ways in our lives. And we can each do small and simple things that will make a big difference over time.

One of those things is reading the Book of Mormon. If you read for 15 minutes, you'll notice nothing different in your life. But if you read for 15 minutes, or even 30 minutes, each day for a year, you'll notice a BIG change in yourself and in your life. You'll learn about the power of the book and the influence it has when you begin a serious study of it. If you haven't yet, TRY IT!

Anyone who reads this before Monday morning (Feb. 17), PRAY for us! I'm driving a senior couple to a surgery. One of our elders needs a hip replacement and has been in SO much pain this past week. They don't think their car will make it so we're going to try my SUV. We're allowing 2 hours for a 20 minute drive...that's how bad things are right now. Hopefully they'll be much improved by morning!

Running total of captures: 497,672

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

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

I HATE INSOMNIA!!!

I've had a lot of insomnia the past two weeks. It goes something like this: go to bed at 10, wake up at midnight, back to sleep around 3 with usually very light sleep after that, either wake up around 6-7 and then have to go back to sleep about 8:00 for a few hours OR not wake up until about 10 am. One day I didn't even wake up until 2 pm! It feels rather ridiculous to me. I wish I had some way to control it. It affects the amount of time that I can spend on my mission assignment which is really frustrating to me.

I ran across this verse in Mosiah 4:27 "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent" It was comforting to me because I hear the Lord saying that I should get sleep so that I'm not exhausted, even if it's during my clicking time, but I should also be diligent in the hours that I am awake. So I just do the best that I can. It's humbling to not be able to keep the hours that I'd like to at the archives. I've been arriving at the archives between noon and 1:00 so I stay until they kick me out because they're locking up the building at 7 pm. And that's the best that I can do right now.

I've actually had quite a bit of insomnia throughout my mission. In the beginning, I fought through it and just got up at 6 am whether I'd slept or not. Then I'd fall asleep in my chair while clicking or put my head down on the desk and sleep for a while. Sometimes I'd even lay down on the hardwood floors and take a nap. But you can only do that for about three days. At some point, your body demands sleep. So I started turning off my alarm clock and letting my body wake up at whatever hour it wants to after it's had enough sleep.

I know, way too much information about insomnia! But it's dominating my life right now.

These four taught Sunday School last Sunday. . .in CHINESE! They are amazing!

Some senior missionaries and I were laughing the other day because we were excited there were temperatures in the 20s in the forecast. We were saying how "warm" that was. It's been pretty cold here with highs in the teens and single digits. One day the high for the day was 0 F! Then add 15 mph wind onto that. BRRRR!

Running total of captures: 477,544

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

A Great Dad

Manhole artwork. . .

Here's the temperature at 4:00 pm which doesn't include the wind chill factor. It's been a pretty cold week.

Elder Morris' glasses had both fog and frost after a short 10 minute walk from the bus to the archives building.

Thought of my dad when I saw this signature on one of the documents this week. He has figured into my mission in two major ways, 1) he taught me to have a good work ethic and to have integrity which I have applied to days when I don't feel like going to the archives, and 2) he did menial callings in the Church without a word of complaint. My mission is all about menial work. I honor my father and I'm grateful for the important things he taught me by example.

Can you spot our mission goal for baptisms in 2025? It's gigantic!! But nothing can stop the Lord from gathering His scattered people across the earth. And we are living in the latter-days so the Lord is hastening His work.

Canada Culture:

Can you see all of the gravel that's been tracked onto the bus??? It was like walking on a carpet of gravel! I've never seen a bus this bad! Gravel is thrown onto the sidewalks to improve traction when it's slippery. But then it gets tracked EVERYWHERE! For some reason, a lot more gravel has been tracked into my apartment this winter than last winter. A funny thing about gravel...last winter it was stuck in all of the treads of my shoes. This winter, there's not much tread left on my shoes so there aren't many grooves for gravel to get stuck in. Haha!

Running total of captures: 465,409

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

Sick...Ugh

I've been plagued with a wicked cold this week. Because I didn't want to share it with anyone, I missed some amazing events: zone conference, a temple trip with senior missionaries who drove over from Ottawa, and a Valentine's party with the senior missionaries. Oh well, life is like that sometimes. The senior missionaries have been so kind to me this week while I've been sick.

I was, however, blessed to teach with some of our young missionaries this past week before I got sick. We taught a young couple that was baptized a few weeks ago about the importance of family history and how to use the FamilySearch website. God wants us to find our ancestors so that the entire family of God can be sealed together. Also, it gives those who have passed on the opportunity to make sacred covenants with God that bind them to Him. I love that God has made this a part of His all-wise plan so that everyone has the same opportunities.

God is hastening His work here in eastern Canada. Consider this growth in numbers of baptisms over the past 3 years:

January 2022    5    

January 2023    28

January 2024    48

We amuse ourselves with little games as we capture documents to thwart the monotony of camera capturing. Recently we hunted for an ink blot that looked like an animal. Do you see the hummingbird?

And since we see soooo much beautiful handwriting--because penmanship was an art form during the era from which our documents were created--we decided to look for illegible handwriting. When I found this chicken scratch, at first I didn't realize it was English! Most of our documents are in French.

The repetitive melting/freezing cycle here in Montreal fascinates me. It forms ice on top of the snow and can also make walking to the archives a bit treacherous.

What's this, you wonder? A thatched roof in Canada? Hardly. It's a humongous mountain of black snow behind a Walmart. This mountain was produced from the snow removed from the parking lot of a strip mall. You can get some perspective by comparing it to the height of the 4 story apartment building behind it.

Yep. It's still cold here in Montreal. However, I've noticed that the mugginess of the summer has bothered me MUCH more than the cold of winter. But that's generally true no matter where I am. I always prefer winter over summer.

Running total of captures: 224,566

The Big Move

Just LOOK at that warming trend! I can't wait! This week has been frigid. One day as I was walking home it was about 0° F and I was thinking it wasn't bad. . .until the wind kicked up. It was blowing from my right side and all of a sudden I had a small headache on the right side of my forehead. THAT was a new phenomenon for me! I've never had a headache caused by cold weather before! The headache was cured as soon as I walked into the front door of our building. Haha. It's funny now, but it  wasn't at the time!

We have some new missionaries coming to serve with us in the archives in February. They're from Arizona. I'm a little worried about them. 😉

I got to talk to this cutie who is THRIVING in the MTC! He loves it there! All except for the A/C. He's used to living out in the heat. I spent about the first 10 seconds of our call with my face buried in my hands crying. The emotions were intense. I've been missing him so much.

My big news is that I'm moving to a new apartment and I'll have a BEDROOM! I'm going to DOUBLE my living space. It feels SO SPACIOUS compared to the studio apartment I've been living in.

And the kind housing missionaries offered to swap the two twin beds for a queen size bed. When I arrived in Montreal and found out that I'd be sleeping on a twin size bed, it occurred to me that I haven't slept on a bed that small since I was in college. The bed also had to be next to a wall since the living space was so small. That made the bed feel even smaller.

The one sad thing about moving from the 8th floor to the 4th floor is that I will lose my view of Mount Royal. Since my new apartment is on the back side of the building, I now have a view of an alley and the back sides of buildings across the alley. There are, however, positive things about being on the back side of the building. I won't hear yelling and sirens all night long. It will be much quieter. And since the back side of the building faces North, my apartment will be much cooler in the summer. Farewell, lovely Mount Royal.

Running total of captures: 196,862

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