Montréal Sud-Est Week 3

A park full of snow!

Looks like winter is back again! We got about a foot of snow a couple of days ago, and it's back to being -15 most days. Right when it started getting warmer too! Anyway, this week was pretty good. We're doing a lot better getting to know and developing relationships with the members, which has been awesome.

On exchanges with Elder Wensel

Last Wednesday I had exchanges with Elder Wensel, who lives with us. It was so much fun! We went contacting and were able to teach a few lessons right on the spot. It was super cool! We were also able to teach Lesley and Malorie again, who are really progressing well. We also got the chance to visit Charles again, who is doing awesome! He told us he'd start trying to get work off on Sundays so he can come to church. Hopefully he'll be able to soon!

We got to drive the Zone Leader's car
this week--it's been a long time!

Thursday was spent mostly doing contacting. It was super windy and cold! I didn't think it was cold enough to put on my coat, so I put on a lighter jacket, and I almost froze! I learned from my mistakes though. We also have been spending a lot of time only speaking in French, which has been helping me a lot in picking up the accent and figuring out the grammatical things I want to study. It's been weird though—it’s like I'm in training all over again! It's been an awesome experience so far though.

On Friday we were able to meet up and teach with the branch president and another brother from the branch, which was great. We also met with an investigator named Elfira, who is super cool and really solid. She came to church this week, which was awesome! And, she loved it! We also were able to eat at the familia Alfaro's house (since I talk to them a TON). It was really nice to speak Spanish again! Elder Amichia felt a little left out, but he just ate the entire time, so he didn't have a problem with it.

The First Vision ren

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were also spent mostly doing contacting, which has been pretty interesting. Elder Amichia is a super amazing contactor, and I've been learning a ton from it. He truly does talk to EVERYONE and has been a great example to me. Last night we went to a family home evening with the Famille Pierre, a Haitian family in the branch. It was so amazing! They fed us Haitian food, which was, as always, incredible. I really love our Branch so much!

The mission is just amazing as always. I'm super excited for General Conference, and you all should be too! What a giant blessing it is to be able to listen to servants called of God. It's not something to be taken for granted!

I love you all so very much, and I hope you have an amazing week!

Elder James

Montréal Sud-Est Week 2

This week has been pretty interesting; not very busy, but we've been able to see lots of miracles! This email is going to be a bit shorter, as I don't have as much time today—sorry.

Our district is really awesome! There is one sister team with three sisters, the one Elder team we're living with, and us. Pretty decent sized district! Four of us are called Spanish, so I'll be able to practice with them quite a bit, which will be awesome!

We had the opportunity to teach with one of the Haitian members of the ward, Frère Jean Pierre, who is super cool. We went with him to teach a Haitian family that we found last week. They're really amazing, are very humble, and willing to learn. Even the children were involved in the lesson, which I did not expect! The member was able to speak Creole to them, which was really cool.

We have also been teaching this couple, Lesely and Malorie, who are from Haiti as well. We have only been teaching them for a week and a half now, but they are already talking about how much the Gospel has been changing their life. It's such a humbling experience; they're awesome!

We got to start teaching Charles, who was previously being taught by the Elders we live with. He's super cool, and has as really sad history. He loves the gospel and has lots of promise.

We had a Family Home Evening with some branch members last night, which was SUPER fun. Especially because lots of the Hispanic members from the branch came, so I was able to talk to them basically the whole time! I was able to set up a couple of dinner appointments with them this week, haha. I'm so happy I won't have to say goodbye completely to the Spanish culture! Elder Amichia is super excited to eat as well!

We thought winter was over, but NO!!! 

We've really been spending a LOT of time finding. It's very, very fun, but sometimes hard. Elder Amichia and I are getting along really well. He's very bold in contacting, so he's been teaching me a lot. I've been learning a lot of French from him as well; I'm so blessed to be able to be with a French companion. We're having lots of fun together! Although it might get slow sometimes, we're in good spirits and keep pressing forward!

General Conference is coming up, and I'm super excited. You all should be too! But as it approaches, it's really important that we are prepared. Just think of the magnitude of the conference; we have living prophets who are going to tell us EXACTLY what we need to know for our unique struggles and difficulties that we have this day in age. I invite all of you in the next coming weeks to think about some questions you may have. It could be anything from, "How can I best magnify my current calling?" to, "Which school should I go to?" I promise that as you prepare for this upcoming conference, all of your questions will be answered!

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

Elder James

Montréal Sud-Est Week 1

Me and Elder Amichia

What a crazy, fun week it's been! It's so weird to change areas, with it has come a complete cultural change as well! I went from a Hispanic companion in a Spanish ward focusing completely on Spanish, to a French companion in a French (almost 90% Créole) branch in an area with lots of Haitians, Muslims, and some Quebec-cois. It's been crazy! But, of course, it's been an amazing experience so far!

Saying goodbye to Elder Landetta

Since we opened up the area, we are starting from scratch. We don't have any investigators, and neither of us know the area very well (well I know how to find Spanish speakers, but not French). It's so much fun! It's certainly a challenge, but we both have been really eager to get to work!

Hermano Mendoza

Last P day we actually spent a lot of time visiting people. After Emails we headed to Hermano Mendoza's brother, who is less active, to eat lunch and visit with him. He's such a nice guy, and he's really opened up a lot more because of our service to his brother! It's really given me the opportunity to see how you can never see the full influence of your actions. One act of service, like visiting someone in the hospital, can have an impact that normally you aren't able to see! It's always very important to serve others, despite how little we may think or feel we are doing. A little bit goes a long way, and we can't possibly imagine the extent of our influence! Later on that night we also had the opportunity to eat with the Farfan family, whose father is the Zarahemla ward missionary leader. He is so awesome, and I'm going to miss his family so much.

Familia Farfan

Wednesday was my last full day in the Zarahemla area. We left early to give a blessing to a less active member. I was asked to give the blessing, which was a great opportunity to give one last blessing in Spanish. Afterwards I spent a good chunk of time packing, and later that night we went to the Escobar family's house for my last Hispanic dinner. It was amazing as usual, and it was awesome to say goodbye to the family. They've been so nice to me these past six months! Immediately after we headed over to visit Nicole. We visited with her and her mom a little bit, and talked about her serving a mission to get her thinking about it a bit more. She invited me a while ago to her Quinceañera in Mexico in early December, the year I get back, and I really want to go! Elder Colunga and I are going to try to go together. It would be so much fun! Then Jesus and Yeni picked us up and bought us the Haitian fish one last time and took us home. I love them so much, and I will miss them a lot!

Jesus, Yeni, and I at the Haitian Restaurant 

Thursday was transfer day! Fairly stressful, but it went smoothly. Said goodbye to Elder Landetta. He's been such a great example to me, and he helped me a ton in so many aspects of the work. This is his last transfer, and I hope he makes the best out of these last 6 weeks! Met Elder Amichia, and moved in with two other Elders, in the same apartment that I was in when I started my mission, which was fun. We did a little bit of planning, then got to work! We did lots of finding; felt out a few areas to see how they were. Our area is basically the whole south east section of the island, and there are a lot of Muslims and Quebec-cois, which is really interesting.

Familia Escobar

The rest of our week was fairly similar; spent a lot of time contacting, knocking, visiting members to grow relationships. It's been very interesting, and we've kept pretty busy! Church on Sunday was fun, as it was my first French meeting so far on my mission! There are a lot of Haitians in the branch, and I'm SUPER excited to eat with them. Hopefully we'll be able to get a good relationship so they will start inviting us! I also found a couple of Spanish members, and it was amazing to speak Spanish after craving it for a couple of days. We had Zone Conference yesterday, which was awesome as always. It's been an interesting past couple of days, and I'm sure it'll pick up a bit more soon!

I love you all so much, I hope you have an amazing week!

The Last Supper