Zarahemla Week 25

Saying goodbye to Taiwo and Sister Peggy's family

He regresado! It's weird to be back in Zarahemla, but I am so happy! It was awesome to go back to the same ward I started my mission in, to serve in Spanish again, to be back on the busses and metro, and to stay in Montréal! This marks my 12th transfer being in the same physical area on the east side of Montréal, and my 13th transfer being on the island! I love this place with all my heart! 

Elder Toledo from Oaxaca, Mexico

My new companion is Elder Toledo, and he is awesome. He is from Oaxaca, Mexico, and is an amazing missionary. This is his 7th transfer, and his 2nd in Zarahemla. We are so excited to grow together this transfer!

Saying goodbye to the Omirigbe Family

There are a lot of cool people we're teaching over here. We set some goals on our first day together, and we're planning on baptizing an amazing Mexican family, Jorge, Delia, Kevin, and Jaqueline. They are super kind! It will be some work to help them be ready for baptism, but they are progressing well! We also got to teach a man named Daniel, who is really cool. He is also from Mexico, and has been here for a couple of months. We gave him a date to be baptized for this March, and he is excited for it! The people here are doing so well, and they are very prepared! We will have, and already have been having, a fruitful transfer! 

First dinner back in Zarahemla... Pozole with Hermana Infante 

We have also been able to spend a good time on finding in the busses and metro this past week, which has been fun. We have already found a lot of people that way, and the Lord has been putting so many prepared people in our path! I love just being able to start conversations with, "Habla espanol usted?" and whether they speak Spanish or not, usually it leads to good conversations. It's super cool!

Life here on the island of Montréal is great, I'm enjoying every bit of it! Again, I'm grateful to be back here in Zarahemla, it's the same in some ways, but in many ways there are new and different opportunities and challenges which I am excited for! It's going to be a great transfer!

Have a great week, I love you all!

Elder James

Kirkland Week 6

Sister Howe and Troy (Brother Lallmenet in the backgound being silly haha)

Family,

It was (unexpectedly) my last week in Kirkland! I'm getting transferred already! I'll be going to Montreal East (very confusing but it is not the same as my past area), which covers the whole island of Montreal except the Kirkland area, which, if you've been keeping track, includes the same physical area as Zarahemla and Montreal East, where I spent the first 8 transfers of my mission. I'm going right back! Didn't expect that one! But, we had a great week! Here are some highlights!

Exchanges with Elder Musaalo

I went on exchanges with Elder Musaalo, who is Elder Furness' companion serving in Chinese in our district. We had such an awesome exchange! We saw many miracles which was incredible. We found an awesome Nigerian family with 4 kids from street contacting, and they're super cool. We taught the whole family last week (except for the father who is in Nigeria), and they were very involved! One of the boys who is 11 had some of the best questions I've ever heard in a lesson. It was amazing! I love Nigerians! Elder Musaalo is a super cool missionary and has taught me so many things.

Brother Parsons, our ward mission leader 

We had a cool lesson with Ron again yesterday at the park, but we brought our ward mission leader, Brother Parsons. It was one of the funniest lessons in my mission! They clicked SO well, and seemed to be immediate friends. It was so much fun! They are very similar people, so it was cool to help them meet each other. It'll definitely help both of them!

Awesome's family, who we taught a lot. He's a super smart kid!
(He's the one hugging his little brother with the purple shirt)

Well I don't have much time left, but it's been an awesome week as I said. I'm sad to leave Kirkland already; I've come to love everyone here so much! But I am excited of course to start a new chapter in my mission!

Our district 

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

Elder James

Montréal-Est Week 18

Montréal-Est District    

Last week in Montréal-Est! I'm being transferred, but I'm staying on the island of Montréal! I'll be going on the west side, which will be a bit different. My new companion is Elder Jeronimo, who is absolutely awesome. He was trained in Zarahemla before I came in the mission, so I heard a lot about him already, and I've met him a couple of times. He's super funny! He also is a latino (YES!), so I'll be able to brush up my Spanish a little bit more; I'm excited!

La Famille Saint-Louis    

Anyway, this week was awesome! A lot of it was spent saying goodbye to people, and I have a ton of pictures (that hopefully will make up for my letter being a bit small). I'm sad to leave, especially since there are a few people in the area who are super close to getting baptized, and I'm not going to be able to work with them! At least I won't be far away, so I'll be able to drive over to attend some of the baptisms. It was awesome to work with them!

Exchanges with Elder Cabello    

I also got to go on exchanges with Elder Cabello, which was really a lot of fun. He's probably the most energetic and fun person I know! He's amazing at using his personality in missionary work, which makes him a lot more likable for those he teaches. His area used to be known as a really hard area, but in the past 3 transfers he's been there, he's completely turned it around. He came in and decided that he wasn't going to expect what everyone else told him about the area, and just decided to get to work with a positive attitude. It was cool to see from our perspective how the area had changed because of that! They started finding constantly, they started teaching a lot of people who progressed a ton, and they started burning the area to the ground! It was just cool to see that as we change our expectations and go into new circumstances with a positive attitude, good things ALWAYS follow!

Saying goodbye to Elder Tueller, who is going home this week    

I'm definitely going to miss the Haitian culture over here, they are such a humble and faithful people, and, of course, their food is absolutely delicious. I'll miss that probably above all! But in my new area there are a decent amount of Africans, so I'm excited to get a little taste of that culture as well! I'm exicted to see what wonderful people await me on the other side of the island!

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

Elder James

Frère Cliquot    

Mario    

Frère Charles    

La Familia Alfaro    

Soeur Dorval    

Odette     

Soeur Proulx and Soeur Lacroix    

La Famille Pierre    

Président Groleau (the branch President)