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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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!

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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!

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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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Three Day Transfer to North Hatley

I was assigned (by myself) to serve in North Hatley for three days! One of the other senior missionaries said, "Heck, if you're "on vacation" from the archives, you should REALLY go on a vacation!"

Done!

I spent Wednesday through Friday in a small town that I visited over a year ago and fell in love with. I only had time for a very short stop on that trip and have always wanted to return.

First stop: St.-Benoit-du-Lac Abbey (Saint Beniot of the Lake Abbey)
I've visited here before as well but I loved it so much more this time because it's off-season for tourists. I spent quite a while in this chapel praying, pondering, and reading Bishop Budge's talk from last general conference.  He talked about being still and seeking God.

I love the simplicity of this chapel.

The charming town of North Hatley is about an hour and a half east of Montreal in what is called the Eastern Townships.

Here's the AirBnB where I stayed. I was in the suite on the 2nd floor. It was 400 sq feet larger than the main floor of my home in Salt Lake!

This is the charming town store which was right next door to where I stayed. The people I met in town couldn't have been more friendly! I told the clerk in the store that I could live in this town!

Fun fact:  It turns out that these LeBarons are related to Ervil LeBaron.

I drove around the area as well exploring several small towns and farmlands. It was EXACTLY what my soul needed, to be out in the country and away from the big city. I felt like I was a million miles away from Montreal.

This is the first covered bridge I've seen in person. It was SO CHARMING!

The first snow I've seen this year made my heart happy. I love snow!

This setting looked like it should be on a Christmas card. It was so stunning!

Had some lovely lunch before I headed back to Montreal. 

This transfer was SUPERB! I needed a complete break from Montreal--physically, emotionally, and mentally-- and the Eastern Townships delivered! As I drove out of North Hatley I thought that these three days had felt like a complete break from everything that's happening in Montreal. Then I thought it would be MORE accurate to say it was a break from all that is NOT HAPPENING in Montreal. Haha!

Update on the two friends we're teaching. . .

G. is progressing nicely and has a strong desire to be baptized. She's working on a few Word of Wisdom items and is determined to lick them! I love her strong spirit and her ease in feeling the Spirit. The sister missionaries who are teaching her have both been serving missions for  just over a year. They both said that G's lessons are some of their very favorite ones on their whole missions so far because the Spirit is so strong when they meet with her. G. is shooting for a baptism date of December 15.

I didn't get to meet with C. and the other sisters this week because they forgot to tell me when the lesson was until 5 minutes before it happened and I wasn't available. 

We did apartment checks this weekend. Elders are some of the funniest people on the planet and I LOVE THEM!!!

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In Patience Possess Your Soul

My computer at the archives has now been down for three full weeks. A week ago, we lost another computer. And as of last Friday, our operation in Montreal has completely shut down. There are no documents being captured. It's a continuing test in patience. A lot of my scripture study this past week has been about topics like patience and long-suffering.

Wednesday morning I happened to glance outside at my balcony and saw these red buds on my nearly-dead geranium. I was SHOCKED!! I stopped watering it when it started getting cold about a month ago. We've even had a mild freeze since then, although it has been a much warmer November than usual in Montreal. 

I took this as a symbol of thriving in adversity. I've since named the plant Penelope and she gets to come inside at night now. If she can be this tough for the past month then I can too! Both of us have had a rough month.

I'm so impressed with this missionary! He translated the majority of stake conference into Chinese for our branch members. It's SOOOO hard to do simultaneous translation! You're listening and speaking at the same time.

We had a visiting general authority for stake conference last weekend. His name is Robert M. Daines. I loved the Saturday evening session. He projected a lot of questions onto a screen and had us think about them. Essentially, he let the Spirit teach us instead of him teaching us. Brilliant!

We also had a mission tour this past week from our area president, Elder Allen D. Haynie. The seniors got to spend an hour with him and his wife. They are so personable! 

We learned so many valuable tools and skills from Elder Haynie! A few points from his presentation:
* Scattered Israel is drawn to Israel (like a magnet)
* Invite people to come to church as soon as you find them. It's a way to tell how serious they are about learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ...a way to sift, those who don't come to church aren't ready
* Find a need in their lives in the first contact and promise them that that need will be met if they come to church
* Use a dozen different ways to find people to teach, not just street contacting and knocking
* Our mission is really good at digital contacting, 20% of our baptisms come from it

This would be my least favorite part of mission tours...standing for 45 minutes to wait for "the picture".

But I love being with the missionaries. 

My African cowboy missionary. . .

Another GREAT part of my week was that I got to be in lessons with two different friends that the young missionaries are teaching. One is the secretary of our apartment building. All of the missionaries who live in our building have become friends with her, but particularly one couple in the beginning. The secretary started lessons with the missionaries after that couple moved to another city. I asked her how the lessons were going then kind of invited myself to attend the lessons as well. 

The first lesson I was in with her this past week was incredible! She felt the Spirit so strongly! She grabbed her chest and said, "It feels like fire in here." I whipped out D&C 9 and told her that's EXACTLY how God says it will feel when He is communicating with us!

Another set of sisters invited me to teach with them. A man responded to an ad from the church on social media. He's been looking at lots of churches and religions for years. He's been having Bible study with the Jehovah's Witnesses for two years and is about to be baptized into that church. But curiously, he decided to look into this church. He's responding very well to the Book of Mormon.

What a huge blessing for me to watch changes in these two friends! I was thinking about how lucky our young missionaries are because they get to see this ALL THE TIME! But as a records preservation missionary, it's extremely rare for me.

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