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)    

Montréal-Est Week 17

Exchanges with Elder Amichia

Another great week is gone! I've officially been out on my mission for over a year now, which feels extremely strange to me. Seems like it's been probably max 3 months since I entered into the MTC. Super crazy how fast the time flies! Here are some of the cool moments of our week!

Hump Day Celebration

On August 2nd, my year mark, I got to go on exchanges with Elder Alejo, who also came in with me from the MTC! We celebrated a little bit and went to Chocolat Favoris. It was nice to have some cold ice cream during this hot week! When I got back from the exchange we had a little pizza night with the other Elders to celebrate Elder Wilson and my year mark. It was fun!

Chocolat Flavoris with Elder Alejo

Things have been on fire in our area recently, there's been way too many things to do! Jean is still doing well, he's been very busy with his work though which has been hard to get him to come to church. His wife and three kids are living in the Dominican Republic right now, waiting to go over, so he's been alone working for them to hopefully send them over. There are a lot of families like that over here, where one parent is working up here and trying to get the rest of their family up as well. Some parents haven't seen their kids in years, which is super sad. It's been very humbling to see the faith and hope that they have.

Exchanges with Elder Alejo

We also got to do exchanges with the Montréal Sud-Est Elders, and I was with Elder Amichia again! It's always weird going on exchanges with him, but it was awesome to be his companion again, even if it was just for a day. He's such an awesome missionary! He's on his last transfer, so he's starting to get stressed about getting a lot done! He's taught me so much!

Anyway, we really did have an amazing week. I love the people here so much, they such great examples of humility and faith to me. And, of course, they make some of the best food in the world! We will get our transfer calls this Saturday, so we will see what will happen! Since I've already been in this branch for four transfers I'm assuming I'm leaving, so I will be making the best of this last week!

I love you! Have a great week!

Elder James

PS - We made Haitian Chicken last P-day, which was great!