Dream Dreams!

We had a very inspiring zone conference this week. Our mission leaders saw a presentation of projected new stakes and temples for the North America Northeast Area. Our mission is in blue at the top of the pictures. No potential new stakes or temples.

The top picture is what our mission leaders saw in the presentation. The bottom picture is their dream. They encouraged all of us to "dream dreams" and "see visions." (Joel 2: 28) With our dreams, there will be two new stakes in the Canada Montreal Mission--one each in Ottawa and Quebec City...

and three new temples, one each in Ottawa, Quebec City, and New Brunswick!
Why not?!?

This is God's church and HE can do ANYTHING!

We also watched a video where Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said,
"Whatever you think this church is going to be, it's going to be a LOT more than that! It's the ONE THING that I know for sure is going to succeed. I'm not sure about economies. I'm not sure about politics. I'm not sure about businesses. I'm not sure about universities or hospitals. I don't know what's going to work and what's going to fail. But I know ONE thing that's GOING to work. And I know one thing that is never, ever, EVER going to fail. And it is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. And so we're supposed to dream our way to the finish...all the way to the end."

You can watch the powerful clip here. 

If we stay focused on our purpose, this can really happen!! In 2022, our mission had 212 baptisms. In 2023 there were 429. And we had 677 in 2024!! In reality, I should say that Jesus Christ gathered that many people to Him in Eastern Canada and He allowed us to work with Him in the vineyard. What a privilege for us!

I've never been one to get too excited about numbers. It's PEOPLE that I really care about. And these numbers represent all of the people in eastern Canada who are being gathered into God's fold. This is the hastening of the gathering of Israel that we're seeing happen right before our eyes. And we are so blessed to be a part of the greatest work that is happening on the earth today!

We had a white Christmas! But it made driving a little sketchy.

The bus says "Happy Holidays!"

I fish tailed my "blue sleigh" out to my Mandarin elders' apartments a few nights before Christmas to deliver packages that their families had sent.

I'm sad that most of our missionaries had to wait until zone conferences--AFTER Christmas--to get their Christmas gifts.

I love this little 3D nativity that one of our elders designed!

It will be part of my Christmas decorations forevermore.

These two sent me a voice message that is among my most treasured Christmas gifts this year. Young missionaries rock my world!!! They are so good to me. And I am continually in awe of their devotion and stamina. Should I mention that it's been really, really cold here? Like the high for the day is around 10 degrees F. And they just keep going out, looking for people who want to come closer to Jesus...because they said they would when they accepted their mission calls.

Sixty-four degrees inside my apartment. And I don't have much of a heater. Lots of sweats and blankets when I get home from the archives.

My cute friend who is from Algeria is moving in a few weeks. He's been a maintenance man in our apartment building. Now he's ready to go out on his own and start his own business. I'll miss him.

Luckily he joined us for Christmas dinner. We had a fun gathering. We enjoyed yummy food together then watched the Christ Child video and talked about its significance for each of us. And our Muslim friend "sang" us a verse from the Qur'an. Then we played games together. We were lucky to have two young elders with us. I love being with our young missionaries.

The day after Christmas one of the members of our Mandarin branch invited me to join a HUGE feast at her house! Look at all of that meat! And there were seven desserts on top of that!

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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!

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