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!

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Another Missionary Miracle!

Some cute sister missionaries left this note on my car. We joked about how we were a trio because they were the first set of missionaries in Montreal to teach the man that approached me on the street. He has since moved and a 2nd set of missionaries is teaching him now. One of our "trio" went home this morning. It always makes me sad to say goodbye to these missionaries who I know and love, but they are headed into the loving arms of their parents, family, and friends. And they need to leave the mission to progress and grow in other areas. What an amazing spiritual foundation a mission can provide! It was that way for me. I'm pretty sure that I had a testimony before I served a mission, but on my mission the roots of my testimony went down really deep and wrapped around the bedrock of Christ, never to let go again. What a huge blessing that opportunity was for me!

Here's a fun shot of the interior of the National Archives of Quebec where I serve every day. We really do have an impressive building! Our room is on the 3rd floor which is the middle catwalk in the photo.

I finished another big project this past week...70 boxes!

We received word this week that the books containing vital records that we've been waiting for have finally arrived! This will be a new project that two of us missionaries will be working on. It's exciting to me because while the documents that we've been capturing, notary documents, are important, vital records are the gold of family history work. We've had a couple of false starts in the past few weeks saying the books were coming. But they actually arrived at the archives on Thursday! Now we'll have to muddle our way through figuring out exactly how these captures need to be done. The logistics will  be quite different from what we've been doing.

Look at these spectacular young, departing missionaries! They truly rock my world. I love being in district council with them. I love having brief chats whenever we happen to meet. I love watching them grow over time. I love how devoted they are to teaching others about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the courage they have developed in talking to complete strangers! I love their enthusiasm and their sense of fun. It's contagious. I love watching as they gain maturity while they serve. It's such a treat for me to see them on the last day of their mission.

I take a day away from the archives every 6 weeks to help out in the office on transfer day. I get to see the brand new missionaries walk into the mission office on their first day. I love to greet them. After making a copy of their passports, I put a sticky note in their passport that says, "Welcome to the mission! We hope that you will find JOY in God's work." 

I got to know this elder a bit better than the others pictured here because we were in the same district for a while, we served in the Mandarin branch together, and he has lived in our apartment building for the last part of his mission. It has given me a lot of opportunities to interact with him.

Canada culture moment: This cracked me up when I saw it in the store. Poutine is a traditional Montreal dish. It's a bed of fries with cheese curds sprinkled over them and then topped with gravy. That's the basic poutine. Then you can jazz it up with meat, veggies, coleslaw...whatever! I'm pretty sure you'd have to be in Canada to see a product like this on the shelf...poutine gravy.

The craziest thing happened today. There were two security guards who worked at the national archives when I first arrived in Montreal. I became friends with both of them but they left for other jobs about 3 months after I met them. I've kept in touch with one of them with occasional texts and phone calls in the past year. Well, he calls today and tells me he wants to get married again but he doesn't know where to find good women. I told him I couldn't really help him with any ideas because we usually meet people at church. I told him that I hear other people meet at bars or parties. He said he's not interested in the kinds of women that are in those places. I suggested that he go to some churches then. He said, "Yeah, maybe I'll do that. Maybe I'll start going to churches. Maybe I'll go to your church." He said he wasn't promising anything but he might come sometime. I told him he was welcome anytime. We'd love to have him visit our church. 

Then a few minutes later he said, "No, I'm just going to make a committment. I am coming to your church tomorrow. Send me the address." I was thinking, "WAIT! WHAT JUST HAPPENED???" Granted, he's coming to church to meet women, not seeking for truth. But if he starts getting to know the women at church, he might realize that he's going to have to be a really good man in order to find a really good woman! So I'll meet him at church in the morning! Let's see what happens here. . .

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It's Official, Canada is Warm

Do you see this delicious Pad Thai lunch I had on Thursday? Cute Elder B, one of the young missionaries in our Mandarin branch, cooked it and shared some with me. Wasn't that sweet of him?? He's a good cook!

Just another dose of Montreal...

Here are the newest additions to our archives team. There are 6 seasoned missionaries currently serving at the Archives Nationales du Quebec (the National Archive of Quebec.)

They made all of us these fun Montreal aprons. Wasn't that kind of them? Though I'm not a big fan of aprons, I was sold after noticing how clean it keeps my clothes from paper dust and paper crumbs...espcially when I'm wearing black. And yes, I finished a project that had 80 boxes this past week. I've been working on it since mid December. That's a really large project. But rumor has it that one of us lucky clickers will soon be working on a project with 250 boxes! 😮

I guess it's official. We're wrapping up the warmest winter on record for Canada. I suppose this means I'm not justified in any of my whining about cold temperatures for the past few months.

So this happened. . . I was doing initiatory ordinances in the temple. I had 5 family names that I'd quickly printed before leaving home. Guess where my Grandma MacKay's 3rd cousin's wife was born?!? MONTREAL!! I'm doing her ordinances FOR her in the city WHERE SHE WAS BORN!!! Coincidence? Nope! Tender mercy, both for her and for me. And you can bet that I'm going to do her other ordinances too!

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CHRISTMAS!!!

One of the senior missionaries was particularly naughty this week and parked in "my parking spot".  He did not receive anything from Santa this year. Let this be a lesson to you, little children.

Some fabulous new friends visited us at the archives this week. This couple has the same assignment as we do but they are serving in Ottawa a few hours away. They wanted to come and see our operation in Montreal. They are both wonderful and she is definitely a kindred spirit!

The next day we all went to temple together. I drove with the new couple to help them navigate. The three of us were so enthralled with our conversation that I wasn't concentrating and my "autopilot" took over and had us headed to the meetinghouse instead of the temple! Huh! Lots of help I was!

After the temple we found a charming little restaurant in Boucherville that overlooked the St. Lawerence River. The food was exquisite! I forgot to get my bag out of our new friends' car before they left so my temple clothes are in Ottawa right now. Haha.

I was told that meat pie is a tradition around this time of year. It's for Christmas or New Year's depending on who you talk to. I tried some. It's OK.

All of us seasoned missionaries (senior missionaries) who live in the same apartment building went to brunch on the 23rd at Bistro Tot ou Tard which is just a few blocks away from our apartment. As I lagged behind the group on the way back, I looked at them and had a sacred moment. The thought came to me that I am with the covenant keepers. These people have made covenants with God in His holy temple to serve Him and build up His kingdom on the earth. They are serious about these covenants because they choose to serve and be away from their families at this time of the year. I also had this thought was when I was on pioneer trek with adults who chose to take vacation time away from work, walk until they had blisters on their feet, and sleep on the ground so that young people could form a stronger connection with their roots and gain an appreciation for the sacrifices that have been made for them by those who paved the way for them.

The branch Christmas party...ahhh, the branch Christmas party. Here are "wise men" and women sorting out tangled cords to headphones. I love the young elders who serve in our Mandarin branch!

Santa showed up on Sunday (Sunday?!?) right after church. I put in my request.

All I want for Christmas is. . .a hymn book?

Then we were finally to the big day! Fourteen of us crowded into one apartment to celebrate the birth of our Savior! I was over-the-moon happy to be with young missionaries on Christmas Day. They had been reminded by mission leaders to not overstay their welcome if they were invited to eat dinner with members. We told them that that rule did not apply to this apartment. We told them we wanted them to stay as long as they wanted to.

We had a Christmas message focused on Chirst.

We played a game where you stand on chairs and try to drop candy canes onto a string. 

It's harder than you think! The candy canes pop off the string!

We laughed ourselves silly while playing charades. We were trying to guess Christmas songs. When Sister W pulled "Santa Baby", she went over and sat on her husband's lap, gave him a kiss and started stroking his face. One of the young elders looked at her husband and said, "Well that was a win for you!!" We laughed long and hard!

A family in one of the wards invited us for dinner in the evening. They are from Barbados and Jamaica and cook THE BEST FOOD! My new favorite food is macaroni pie. I really enjoyed being in their home and getting to know them.

I had the opportunity to speak in church on Christmas Eve. I started by asking how it would be if someone gave you a brand new car for Christmas. What if you were given a big house? How about your own private jet with a pilot? Then I asked, "What if our branch president gave you his son?" Of course, I tied that in with the greatest gift any of us has ever been given, the gift of our Savior given to us by our Heavenly Father. I talked about how important this gift of our Savior is in every aspect of the Plan of Salvation, the plan that Heavenly Father created for us in the pre-existence, our life here on earth, and what comes after this life for eternity. Christ is vital to this plan and I am so very grateful for all that His Atonement does for me. And THIS is why I love Christmas so much.

This was one of the best Christmases of my entire life! When I told my friend that, she asked why. I think it's because I was so focused on the young missionaries and not on myself. I was worried that the young ones, especially those who had only been in Montreal for a week and a half, would have a difficult Christmas because it was likely their first time being away from home for the holiday. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to make sure they had an enjoyable day. It's good to think of others and not ourselves. It brings happiness. It's what Christ did. He was always focused on others and not Himself. I want to do that better.

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Christmas is Coming

Just when you think Canada and the U.S. are quite similar, you open a package of cream cheese and find a blue piece of wax paper. Hmmm...

I had a few ornaments leftover that wouldn't fit on my tree so I decided to put together this wreath.

More shenanigans in the parking garage.

Worn out shoes on a hard-working missionary's feet

This guy up and left us at the archives! How dare he?!? He was the night guard and though his English was just about as good as my French, we managed to become good friends anyway because he has such a good heart. Whenever I was feeling frustrated or having a bad day, I'd get up out of my chair and go down to the front desk to say hi to him for a minute. It was always a guarantee to boost my mood. 

The whole room lights up when he smiles. I am going to miss him soooooo much!

I'm ruined. I'll never be satisfied with imitation maple syrup from now on. The real stuff is SOOO good!

Mount Royal

Welcome to my tiny home...all decked out for Christmas.

Getting tired of these pictures? I'm getting tired of LIVING it! But for the past 2 weeks I've been training myself to turn on the water in the sink to wash my hands BEFORE I flush the toilet. Well, this particular morning it paid off! It's much easier to let the waste accumulate in the toilet and then just do one flush before I leave for the day. Crikey! I'm starting to feel like I'm living in Africa again. Good thing I'm proficient at bucket showers.

The range I've had ever since I've been in Montreal has been pathetic. Three of the four burners barely heated up. And the top heating element in the oven was also very weak so the baking was VERY uneven. So they finally replaced it. Hmm, I wonder how I can find 350. The struggle with management is REAL!

A creche outside the Montreal, Quebec Temple

Here's our apartment building. Can you guess where I live? Come on, people! Where are your Christmas decorations???

It's been an incredibly busy week ending in a stake "Spirit of Christmas" music concert. Here's a link to my favorite performance. Are you surprised it's my African brothers and sisters?

My missionary work this week has been done mostly on Facebook since the digital finding young missionaries did a training for us old dogs on how to do that. The funniest exchange I had on Facebook...

Him: Are you married?

Me: Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon? It's another testament of Jesus Christ, like the Bible.

Him: You didn't answer my question.

Me: I could arrange for someone to bring you a copy of the Book of Mormon if you'd like.

...he gave up 😂

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