Ice Storms Cannot Stop the Work of God

I cannot say enough about the young missionaries in this mission! They work SO hard! Just look at what they did last week! They found over 1400 people who are willing listen to their message. Once I asked the missionaries in our district how many people they think they talk to before they find one person who is willing to listen to the message they have to share about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Their guess was that they talk to about 20 people before they find one that is interested. If this is true, then our 180-ish missionaries talked to about 28,000 people last week! That's some serious diligence! AND they were out working in freezing rain. Ohhhh, these young people are stunning, I tell you!

God's hand is over this mission. He is sending people to Canada from all over the world to be gathered into the House of Israel. We are surely blessed to be called to participate in His work.

Another thing that I love about this mission is the trust that the Lord and our mission president place in our young men and women. This missionary has been in Canada for 3 months. He just finished his own training, and this week he was called to train a brand new missionary AND be the leader of a district consisting of 8 missionaries. And he's probably all of 18 years old. When I asked him how he was feeling about these new responsibilities, he said that if God had put trust in him to do it, then he'd try his best.

And here are some of the conditions we worked in this past week...freezing rain. This is a weather phenomenon that I am largely unfamiliar with. I only remember it happening once in Salt Lake City. It's treacherous travel! The fire alarm went off in our building on Thursday morning at 5 a.m. so we trekked down the stairs which dumps us out into the alley beside our building. The short walk to the front of the building was scary! It was very slick ice. By 8:30 when I left for the archives building, the roads and sidewalks had been plowed and salted so there were only a few dicey spots.

Here I am on a cold morning walking to the archives. But it's not a SUPER cold morning or I'd have my hat on to prevent what I've dubbed a WCHFHA (procounced Whichifah.) A WCFHA is a Wind Chill Factor induced HeadAche.

It was transfer week. I love seeing the young missionaries gather at the mission office to pick up their brand new missionaries or the ones who are passing through to their new areas. Transfers are nothing short of an act of God in this mission since we have such a huge geographical mission. I've heard that ours is the largest geographical mission in operation. The one that is larger than ours is in Russia. Our missionaries travel by metro, train, and plane to get to their new areas. And other missionaries who are staying put are assigned to pick up moving missionaries, house them for the night, and drive them to the train station or airport. It is a massive, intricate dance!

They're preparing for something in this park that I walk past every day. Looks like a valentine-y something or other.

Here's a little game that we play at the archives to distract ourselves from boredom. We call it the "Haystack Hunt". It's like hunting for a needle in a haystack except we're hunting for a tiny little something in a mountain of documents. Sister W found this picture on the internet and writes the item we're looking for on it because we tend to forget what we're looking for. After someone finds the item, we rejoice and pick a new item.

Recently we looked for a heart. Do you see the tiny heart punch in the brown stamp? Right now we're looking for blood, or anything that looks like it could be blood. Haha! Whatcha gonna do when you've been assigned a mundane (albeit incredibly  important!) task?

Funny side note about captures. . .Elder W has been trying to beat my daily number of clicks on the camera ever since he arrived in November. He's been picking up some serious speed in just a few months! But he hasn't been able to catch me yet. Yesterday when I spent the day helping out at the mission office, like I do on every transfer day, he got more clicks than I did. . .because I got ZERO! So he wrote on the back window of my car "I beat you, more clicks." 

I told him he's disqualified from the competition after pulling a stunt like that and wrote this on HIS back window. I'm not sure who has more fun in this mission, the young missionaries or the "seasoned" ones. 😂

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The Move is Finally Over!

Look who came to help me christen my new apartment...our La Plateau District! I finally have a place that's big enough to invite people over! Woohoo! We get to have district p-day once a transfer (every 6 weeks.) The young missionaries wanted to get together to make pizza and play games. All of us had SO. MUCH. FUN!! Can I say just one more time how much I LOVE BEING AROUND YOUNG MISSIONARIES??

The elders were kind enough to help me move some furniture when they were here on their P-day.

This is probably my favorite picture from P-day at my apartment. That's a LOT of consecration in one closet!

Because of Monday P-day activities, I didn't go to the archives. Then on Thursday when I was getting ready to go to our district council, I couldn't find my socks anywhere because my apartment is in such a state of chaos. So I made an executive decision to stay home Thursday and Friday to get things put back together so that I can function. The move has dragged on forever because I wanted to do it outside of my time at the archives. But that meant that I was working all day at the archives and all night at home and it wore me out. 

If you look closely, you'll see a pile of socks on the recliner. Isn't that where you keep YOUR socks too?

I finally finished the move and cleaning my old apartment by 10:30 on Saturday night. Here's what my old apartment looks like now. I hardly recognize it! It will be used as an emergency apartment for young missionaries if they need to be evacuated from their apartments...which happens more often than you'd think!

My one sad thing about the move is the view that I lose of Mount Royal and the lighted cross at night. Check out my old view. . .

. . .vs. my new view. One of my sons suggested that I blow up one of my photos of Mt. Royal and hang it in the window of my new apartment so it looks like I can still look out my window at the mountain. Not a bad idea!

Oh well, life's full of trade-offs. A wise friend once told me that there are advantages and disadvantages to every situation. The smart people take advantage of whatever situation they're in. I think I'll take advantage of my HUGE, new apartment and invite some seasoned missionaries over for a game night soon!

Here's the project I'm working on at the archives. Boxes with a green dot are finished. There are still about 12 more boxes to complete this project that are not even pictured. There are 80 boxes in all. This is one of the biggest projects we've done. I think one of the missionaries who left in November had a project with 90 boxes!

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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.

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Missing My Champion

This week was a tough one for me. I've been missing my darling missionary son like crazy! It feels like my heart was ripped from my chest and is now walking around somewhere in the Ghana MTC, running from district scripture study, to breakfast, to class, to lunch, to a workshop, to dinner, to class, and then finally dropping into bed after thanking Heavenly Father for the tencer mercies of the day. Only to rise at 5:00 a.m. the following morning to start it all over again.

I'm so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for protecting me from any extreme pain in missing my son. A few days before he left, a wave of grief hit me as the realization of our separation became a stark reality. We've been accustomed to communicating every day and I knew that that would end in a few short days. I cried off and on for about 45 minutes as I cleaned my apartment. Then I decided to go upstairs to get a hug from Sister W, another senior missionary. After a long, caring hug, she asked if I wanted a priesthood blessing.

The difference I have felt before and after that blessing has been a huge tender mercy to me. Before the blessing I felt unglued, undone, unhinged. Every day since then, I have felt a longing for my son, but underneath it all there has been a strong foundation of peace. God has carried me and I praise His holy name for it!

Prempeh left for the MTC on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. After I knew he was safely there, I took a long drive to a small town I've heard of called Rawdon. It's about an hour and a half north of Montreal. One of the employees at the archives lives up there and has showed us pictures of her lane so I've been wanting to go see the area. 

Looks like a Christmas card! I could LIVE here!

I stopped at a store in Rawdon to pick up some things and my phone rang. It was a Ghana number and I was very confused. It was my son calling from the MTC! Who knew that when you enter the Ghana MTC they give you a list of things to do and one of the things on the list is to call your mom?!? I LOVE the Ghana MTC president, whoever he is!!

May this be a good year for all of us! God bless us everyone.

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Prempeh Champion is Going on a Mission!

I could not be prouder of my son. He has chosen to spend two whole years of his life in the service of God and his brothers and sisters in Nigeria. He will offer them the opportunity to come unto Christ and learn more about Him and His teachings. Prempeh Champion is well named. He is a champion of righteousness. He is good, kind, hard-working, faithful, considerate, loving, and a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. What a blessing he is in my life. 

I'll miss having the frequent contact that we've been able to have but I look forward to the discussions that we'll have when we are BOTH serving missions. What a unique opportunity to be serving a mission at the same time as your son! It wouldn't happen in a traditional family setup. Prempeh and I are blessed by this unique opportunity. I can't wait to hear about his mission experiences as they unfold and watch his spiritual growth as he serves. He only joined the Church 2 years ago and his life has changed in so many positive ways since that day. Prempeh also received his patriarchal blessing this week. What a tender thing that was.

Prempeh will enter the Missionary Training Center in Ghana on January 2, 2024. What a great way to start a new year! This photo is from when I visited him in Ghana back in March of this year. All he's missing is a name tag.

There's not a lot going on in Montreal this week. We only served at the archives a day and a half due to closures for the holidays. We had a 5 day weekend last week and we're having another 5 day weekend now.  The archives building was open on Wednesday but when we arrived on Thursday afternoon after zone conference, we found it closed. The security guards let us in anyway. They're our friends.

We had another fabulous zone conference. Every zone conference is centered around one part of our purpose as missionaries. This time we were taught about baptism. We were asked to think about the details of our own baptisms. That was a stretch for me because I was baptized 52 years ago!

I always love being around our young missionaries. I love them dearly.

Mount Royal got a dusting of snow this week. We only had one good snowstorm in December. Hope January has more to offer! I love snow!!

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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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