Montréal East Week 5

Exchanges with Elder Wilson 

It's already week 6 of the transfer! Things go by way too fast! Every transfer seems faster than the one before it. It stresses me out! It's been a great week, though, and we got to do a lot of work. Taiwo sadly was admitted to the hospital on Friday, so he was not able to be baptized this past Saturday. It was super funny though, when the doctor told him he had to stay for a while, Taiwo was about to cry. When the doctor asked what was wrong, Taiwo just said, "I need to get baptized this Saturday!" It was funny hat it was the first thing that he was worried about was not being able to be baptized rather than the fact that he was pretty sick. He's super excited! He got released on Sunday, though, so he should be baptized this Saturday. We're really excited! Here are some other highlights from the week:

Jhonel!!!

I was able to go on exchanges to Montréal-Est with Elder Wilson last Wednesday! It was weird being back in my old apartment with my old companion in my old area. But it was tons of fun! I got to see Odette which was awesome, we got to go out with Jhonel which was super fun, and saw a bunch of other people that I've been missing. It was great!

Also, CJ was baptized in Kirkland on Saturday, and I got to go! It was awesome to see him be baptized; he has been investigating the church for a long time now. He was really excited and bore his testimony at the service. It's cool to be able to see how far he's come!

This picture doesn't do it justice,
but it's already been snowing a lot 

We had an incredibly spiritual lesson with a less active member whose wife we are working with to be baptized. We taught about temples, and he felt the spirit super strong. He's a huge Nigerian man, and he started crying. He always kept asking questions about how he can help build a temple someday, and what he has to do to be sealed to his wife. He was really motivated after the lesson to come back to church and to help his wife get baptized. It was awesome to see that as he understood the doctrine, it motivated him to work hard to accomplish what God wants for him. It was an incredible experience!

Things are going great here! Sorry this is brief, I don't have much time left. It's been an awesome week! We are excited for Taiwo's baptism this Saturday, he's such an amazing man with a crazy story. It's cool to see how much God has guided him to be able to find the church!

I love you all so much, and I hope you have a great week!

Elder James

Montréal East Week 4

Taiwo, who is getting baptized this Saturday, with a member, Sister Peggy

 This week was great! We were very busy, which is always amazing, and we have a few people who are progressing well. Taiwo, who I talked a little bit about before, is getting baptized this Saturday, which I am super excited for. He's really cool. Here are some highlights of the week:

We got to see Goodluck and his family again this week; he is hands down the king of Montreal. He read Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price (which can get dangerous with some people without giving an overview) because "the spirit commanded [him] to," but he actually understood it well and appreciated it. He also always gives us the best motivational speeches for missionaries. We think that he should do something at the MTC.

The only picture I could get with Elder Bishop before they got on their bus

We got to go on exchanges with the Ottawa Zone leaders and the Montreal Zone leaders which was super fun. We always have tons of miracles on exchanges. When I was on exchanges with elder Bishop from Ottawa, we felt like we should pass by a certain person that we had lost contact with. We happened to catch him in the perfect time between coming home from work and going to sleep. We got to have a good lesson with him, and we connected the scriptures super well with him. It was awesome to see how the Book of Mormon was able to help him feel the spirit, and help him learn valuable lessons that were applicable to his life. He was a lot more motivated to read in the Book of Mormon, which was great!

We had an awesome meeting with all of the teams that are in training on Monday. It was very cool to see how far the new missionaries have come in only four weeks. We were also able to receive a lot of promptings for people we are teaching, which was amazing as always.

We had an amazing Miracle yesterday. We were out knocking, and on the third door we met a family from Congo who opened the door and immediately invited us in. They told us a little bit about their story, which was crazy. They left Congo and flew to Ecuador. Then, over the period of a little over a month, with three small children, they traveled on foot, by bus, and by taxi, all of the way up to Montreal through the United States, Mexico, Central America, and so on. We taught them the Plan of Salvation, and it went super well! They were very knowledgeable about the Bible, but they were totally open to learning new things. At the end of the lesson, as we were about to leave, they begged us to come back another time. They were super cool!

All in all, it's been a great week! We are loving it in Montreal! I love you all so much, have an amazing week!

Elder James

Montréal East Week 3

It was sad to hear about Grandpa Cozzens' passing; I hope you all are doing well with the news. Like I shared with mom, if there is one thing I've learned on my mission, it's that the gospel is true, and that the Plan of Salvation is real. The peace that I feel with that knowledge is indescribable. It is the reason I am out here; to help others to feel that same peace in their lives. I hope you all can find peace through Jesus Christ during this difficult time.

Exchanges with Elder Rossi in Quebec    

On another note, this week was pretty good! Zone Conferences are over, which means that we get a lot more time in our area which is great. We got to visit Quebec City which was really cool. The trees up there and on the drive were absolutely amazing. Fall in Canada is a magical time. We got to go on exchanges up there as well, and I was with Elder Rossi. For some reason, basically the entire exchange was all in Spanish! We had tons of Spanish contacts and a lot of Spanish lessons as well. It was amazing to feel like I was in a Spanish area again!

Exchanges with Elder Fourie in Kirkland    

We also got to go on exchanges with the Kirkland Elders this past week, and I got to spend a day back there with Elder Fourie, Elder Jeronimo's new companion from South Africa/New Zealand/Australia. It was super fun to be able to be back and see lots of people that I miss. I'm surprised I miss them so much after only being gone for a couple of weeks! 

Got to see Brother Parsons from Kirkland    

We had a cool finding miracle together while we were knocking. We happened to run into a guy who has a lot of members in his extended family. He talked about how his cousin in Chile was trying to "convert" him which he thinks is funny. Then I asked, "well, why aren't you baptized yet?" (Something I don't usually ask). He laughed, but when he saw that we were serious, he thought for a second then invited us to come to his home. We had an awesome discussion. He doesn't believe in God, so we talked a lot about how he can know for himself if he is there. It was an awesome lesson, and he seemed to have taken a lot in. He recognized that his life would definitely be different for the better if he were a member of the church due to what he has seen in his family. The Elders are going to go back tomorrow which is so cool! It was cool to see how his family had softened him enough to be open to receiving us. It was a great example of how we can prepare others to receive the gospel just by being good examples.

Beautiful fall leaves up in Quebec City    

 Life is good as a missionary, I'm loving every second of it. I hope you all can find that joy that sharing the gospel can bring as you share it as well.

I love you all so much, have an amazing week.

Elder James