BE with God

We got another referral for the young missionaries! Another sister missionary and I went out to dinner and the waitress asked about our nametags. We asked if she wanted to come to church and she said yes. That threw us off guard a little. Then I asked for her phone number so missionaries who speak Spanish could call her and SHE SAID YES! That one REALLY surprised me! Usually they say, "Just give me the address to the church and I'll come sometime." This is my fourth find on my mission. Woot! Woot! That ONLY happens with God's help. He puts people in our way and all we have to do is open our mouths.

In general conference, a phrase that Bishop L. Todd Budge shared, screamed at me: "...when praying, what if we were to spend less time talking and more time just being with God?" I've spent the whole week pondering what it means to "just BE" with God. The more I learn about it, the more it seems to be a higher form of worship. When I'm "with" a person, what does that mean? I think it means I'm being present, attentive, focused on them and not distracted, as well as other things that I haven't discovered yet.

I felt SOOOO spoiled on my birthday! This sweet, sweet lady whom I've never met before in my life, was commissioned by one of my African sons to bring me flowers for my birthday. She joyfully made a difficult drive at night to bring me this BEAUTIFUL bouquet. I was VERY surprised, VERY touched, and VERY grateful!!

I also got to spend my birthday with young missionaries. . .couldn't have wished for a better gift! Zone conference had to be moved up a week so that it landed on my birthday! Can you say "tender mercy"?!? The entire zone sang to me and I was very touched by their love.

Our darling, HILARIOUS APs . . .

And here's a bonus selfie you ALWAYS get when you hand your phone to an elder to help you take a photo. I love these funny young men. They make my mission a joyful place!

Though I had many thoughtful gifts and birthday wishes, my very favorite was having these three together. I love these 3 young men and the one who couldn't join us. It was an absolute joy seeing them interacting with each other after such a long hiatus. It made my heart burst!!!

A very kind and generous couple treated us to "yam chah", a traditional Chinese brunch with lots of small dishes. It was SO nostalgic for the sister in the black jacket and me because we used to go to these kinds of meals with members on our mission in Hong Kong when we were young missionaries.

I squeezed in a quick drive to the countryside Saturday afternoon.

Oh, I almost forgot, I captured some documents too.   

Here's my new project. . . 151 boxes. I've never tried conquering something this big! And this one has some unique challenges that will make capturing difficult. Here we go! I'm up for it!!

Running total of captures: 426,964

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

Green Dot=A Cheap Thrill

Do you see that little green dot on the box in the upper left corner? That's an example of something we archive missionaries like to call a "cheap thrill." There are few real joys in our assignments, so we grab at tiny ones and call them our "cheap thrills." This tiny green dot was one of mine this week. It means that first box has been captured. And that, my friends, is something I haven't done in over a month...capture documents. One down, 48 to go.

Montreal rush hour. . .  😂

I'm still "reading like Parley"! I'm reading because I WANT to and because I LOVE this book!

Not a lot to tell this week because I've been sick with a cold. The first two days nearly knocked me out but I'm gaining speed again slowly!

Running total of captures: 380,963

Running total of docs prepped: 12,859

Fake Spring

I feel like Spring is slowly coming to Eastern Canada but the locals tell me to put that foolish thought out of my head. The law of opposition has been at work in Montreal this week. One day we made it up to 55 F and the next day it was 18 F! You can't appreciate the 55 if you haven't had to endure the 18.

Here's a darling fish pond I used to stop by every day last summer on my walk home. Look at the difference from one day to the next!

We took these two cute sisters to dinner because the one in white finishes her mission very soon. They are in our district. 

After district council, the young sisters were telling us how frustrated they were. They've been working hard to find new people to teach but they've turned up nothing for two whole weeks. I reminded them that president told us at last zone conference that the success of your mission is not based on your numbers, but on your daily diligence. They are assigned to work in a Young Single Adult ward so they only teach people in that age range. But this week has been mid-terms at all of the universitites here in town so it makes sense that students are not being responsive to missionaries' invitations.

That conversation was a tender mercy for me later in the week when I was feeling very frustrated about not being able to reach my goals for the week because of unforeseen circumstances. Last week I hit a new personal weekly high so I thought if I hit that number last week, why couldn't I do it again? I had some bizarre exhaustion one morning and needed extra rest so I was nearly 3 hours late to the archives. A new archives couple arrived in Montreal this week. Elder and Sister W had arranged to meet them and help them settle into their apartment but Elder W hurt his knee. Sister C and I ended up helping out the new couple. We lost a whole day at the archives due to that. Then on Friday I was thinking, "Great! I'll get in a full day of clicking!" But the project I was working on wasn't prepped properly and it caused me all sorts of problems that took a lot time to fix.

I only reached 2/3 of my clicking goal this week. The advice I'd given to the young sisters was uselful for ME to remember. In the end I just had to remind myself that I did my best this week and that's all I can ask of myself.

I visited a different district this week. One of my Mandarin elders was called as a district leader this transfer and I wanted to see him in action. He's doing awesome! It has been really fun to see him rise to the responsibility that has been placed on his shoulders!

Being in that council gave me the opportunity to hear the departing testimony of one of our stunning sister teacher leaders. She'll be finishing her mission on March 9. Her testimony and thoughts were so powerful and I was grateful I got to be there to hear it.

Just in case you lose your way in Montreal. . .   😂

Running total of captures: 247,014

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

Canoe Ride or Train Station? Or Both?

I got to talk to my darling missionary son, Elder Nana-Prempeh, on Monday. The internet network from Nigeria was really challenging. I'm convinced it was created to teach us patience. The phone log shows that we talked for an hour and 40 minutes, but in reality it was much shorter than that. There was a lot of time spent frozen and the call dropped 10 times.

He was a little nervous that they were going to travel by canoe to teach people who live on an island. The catch is that he can't swim. I'm grateful there are life jackets supplied by the mission that they keep in their apartment. 

Here's a short video of him on the water. It just feels so amazing to me that we get to serve missions at the same time!

Here's a beautiful building all lit up at night. It's right across the street from our archives building. We lovingly call it Hogwarts. For a long time we didn't know what it was but then found out it used to be a major train station with a hotel above it where travelers could stay. I've admired it many times in the day but it is truly in all its glory when it's lit up at night!

Here's a photo from back in the day. According to Wikipedia "Place Viger was both a grand hotel and railway station in Montreal, constructed in 1898 and named after Jacques Viger, the first mayor of the city."

Photo credit: https://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/plaque/horizon/gares/images/11_00_6b.jpg

I have a theory of why parking strips were invented. We don't have any here in Montreal. When there are puddles of water or piles of slush on the street and a car comes whizzing by. . .insta-shower. And it's not  a clean one! Also, one day I was walking near the curb on a crowded sidewalk and the side mirror of a bus passed by my shoulder within about 6 inches!

I went to the temple this week. I haven't been since before Christmas because of a series of unfortunate events. It felt soooooo good to be back! I love the House of the Lord! There's a feeling inside there that cannot be found anywhere else on earth.

Here's an interesting find this week at the archives! It's a blueprint for a bridge and it was longer than the tables we work on. Thankfully, we don't have to take a picture of this monster. One of the missionaries prepares the projects for us. She sets these aside for the archivist employees to capture because they have a setup that is larger than ours to capture huge documents like these.

Our Mandarin branch went to Chinatown for an outing on Saturday night.

At this restaurant, you build your own bowl and then they cook it all up for you. Can you spot the frog legs? The elders talked me into trying them.

I was lucky enough to end up at a table with these two.

Running total of captures: 217,422

WHO Created This??

This is the street where I walk every day to get home from the archives. I've been watching them paint the side of the Hyatt Hotel for several days now. One of our Canadian missionaries tells us that this is typical for "Québecois", Québec people. They like whimsical things. 

A woman in my ward from home sent me a website telling of musical swings in Montréal where you make music as you swing. DEFINITELY going to go in search of THOSE next week! It's these kinds of things that make Montréal so fun!

Here's my food bank dream team. I love these gals. When I showed up to help with the food bank drive last Saturday, a service missionary approached me as soon as I walked in the door. She said there were some young missionaries who needed to be hooked up with a driver. Lucky me! I got to spend the morning with these lovelies. I was inspired by the people of the LaSalle neighborhood. They were incredibly generous with their food! There are still many, many good people in the world!!

Don't you love this row of God's army??

Don't worry, they aren't really yellow elders and sisters. It's the lighting from the stained glass windows in this circular church where we gathered to get instructions for gathering the food.

This sister is ON FIRE with missionary work! She has a goal to knock 100 doors in one week!

We ran into some cool homes while gathering food. See the beaver and the maple leaves at the top?

I am the queen! I finished a project. But it was an awful one. Many of the documents had ancient cellophane tape on them which cracked, fell off, and made the project just plain awful to work with. I wrote a song about it. . .

Sing to the Rubber Ducky song from Sesame Street:

Cell-o-phane tape

You're the one.

You make captures

Not so fun.

Your inventor should be drawn and quartered. . .posthumously.

(You have to just say the last word because I ran out of notes in the tune for it.) 😂

Whenever I broke out into this song in my cubicle, my archive teammates knew that I was fighting with old, old cellophane tape.

See what I mean? UGH.

This was a smallish project, one with only 24 boxes.

I went to district council with these lovely people this week. I didn't even KNOW I could attend district council with the young missionaries until I started poking around and asking questions!! I love being with the young missionaries. I'm going to start attending two district meetings every week, 1- the Lawry District (this is what I call our senior district because President Harkness says we should be called "seasoned missionaries" instead of senior missionaries...seasoned SALT is Lawry's so I just borrowed their name for our district), and 2- the La Plateau District council.

This is the first picture we took where Sister Jones has a look of shock on her face because Sister B just held  her hand up in the air and the phone camera clicked. I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT!!! #newtechnology/oldmissionary

This missionary! Ohhhh, how I love this missionary! He is our district leader but I have known him for several months now because we both serve in the Mandarin branch. Early on, we were sitting at the same table for a linger longer to break the fast. He is an incredible young man. The Spirit told me that in a powerful way as we sat and talked that first time. He is kind, gentle, and a diligent missionary. He has a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. He decided to read it while he was in his first year of college to "prove his parents wrong". Oops! He didn't figure on the power of that book sucking him in! That exercise in faith is why he is here today serving a mission in Montreal.

I am blessed to have been able to attend the very last district meeting he will ever preside over in this mission. He'll be going home next week and I'm going to miss him terribly. I cry every time I think about it. But I best get used to comings and goings because that's what missions are all about. Well, that, and bringing our brothers and sisters unto Christ. These young missionaries had better watch out at my first mission reunion after I get home because I'm going to give them the hug of a lifetime next time I see them! I really hate that I can't give them a hug when they go home.

This woman had the most fascinating story to tell. . .

And then I poked her eyes out. Which made a man who was walking by stop and talk to us. We asked him if he wanted to come to church with us. 😂 

The young missionaries inspired me at district council as I listened to them talk about their weekly goals. I realized that I've been missing a piece of goal setting! I have a goal to find one person, ONE PERSON, for the young missionaries to teach. I know it's a tiny goal but I'm going to reach it first and then I'll broaden my horizons. The young missionaires told me that they think they talk to about 20 people before they find one that is willing to have a follow up appointment with them. I realized that I need to have a goal of talking to 20 people about the gospel in order to achieve my goal of finding one person for the missionaries to teach. So far I've talked to four. Gotta long way to go!

. . . reminded me of my childhood

I have a whole new apprectiation for the Creation after today. Sister C and I visited the botanical gardens this afternoon. It's huge! We only saw half of it in 2 hours. We'll go back another day. Now I know where my 15% taxes are being used every time I buy something.

These are not manmade. They are some kind of huge lilypad type plant...fascinating!

This spot in the garden reminded me so much of the Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I was nearly alone so it was very quiet...except for 3 mosquitoes.

I have plans to visit the Sacred Grove on the way home from my mission. It's a place I've always wanted to see.

Don't miss the turtle in the upper left in this photo. This is my first glimpse of a Canadian goose IN Canada!

OK, I look at this plant and think, "WHO designed this??" Let's combine pink, purple, and orange and then to make the individual leaves stand out a little more, let's put a tiny, white scalloped edging on them. See what I mean about being in awe of the Creation?!?

Running number of captures: 102,029