Week 20 in the Field

"To catch you all up on just a couple things. So the past few weeks we have been going to tristan's hockey games and I always feel dumb when I go to them. Normally I understand everything that is going on in sports and the rules and whatnot and now Elder Freeze tries to explain it to me and sometimes I still don't get it! Ha Humbe pie - I'd love some! Also 2 sundays ago we were in St. Lazare and Bella Stothart (an 8 yr old member) gave me a picture that she drew of me. So on the left half is a picture of me as a missionary and on the right side is a picture of me as 'Mortonman' - so as a superhero. Ha I like how she views missionaries! So one of our investigators has deemed me as the 'nerd' and elder freeze as the 'creator' haha good times. I guess wearing glasses that day didn't help my cause.

"We were able to have a lesson with Candace - a 17 yr old girl we found awhile ago - and it was neat because she hadn't done any reading in the book of mormon and so that was what our lesson turned out to be. She had talked about meeting with us to her sister and that was cool because she had some questions for us. At the end of the lesson our member was able to testify of the book of mormon and Candace really seemed eager to meet with us again this coming week!

"this week it looks like we will be teaching Seminary 3 times. We're excited for that! Ha In trying to prepare for this lesson I have grown in respect for seminary teachers! Congrats mom and dad for doing it so successfully for so long. Ha I'm grateful that I was able to learn the stories in the bible during seminary - it for sure helps now on the mission.

"Cool experience this week came from when we were up in Rigaud (about 20 min from our home) and we needed to call an investigator at 6:30. Well we were doing some tracting and when 6:30 came around... we couldn't get any service to call her. So it turns out that both E Freeze and I said our own prayers unbenknownst to the other for us to get service to be able to call Kristina. As we knocked on one door and returned close to the spot where we had tried calling but didn't have any service, I looked at the phone and we had service and were able to call her! Ha It was way cool! unfortunately she didn't answer, but our prayers were!"

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The gospel of Jesus Christ is such a joy and light. I am thankful for its powerful influence in my life and the lives of my family members. I love seeing how the gospel fills each of us with hope and purpose.
This week I shared the following quote with Travis in an email:
"If you follow the Spirit, your personal search for the truth inevitably leads you to the Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ, for He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” This may not be the most convenient way; it will probably also be the road less traveled, and it will be the path with mountains to climb, swift rivers to cross, but it will be His way—the Savior’s redeeming way." President Uchtdorf

I truly believe that. The gospel of Christ is worth sacrificing for. It grants the ultimate ability to find and feel lasting joy.

Love,
Jessi

Week 19 in the Field

"We were invited over to a french member's house for dinner... we finished the main course and Sister talec was asking if we wanted any more, so I was like 'non, pas maintenant, mais c'est correct' So, 'Now, not now, but it's all good.' Which definitely confused her, but then she realized I was saying that I didn't want anymore and then asked elder freeze if he wanted anymore. What he was trying to say in English was 'No, I'm ok.' But what he said in French was 'Je suis d'accord' which means 'I agree.' Ha so we all busted up laughing and giving him a hard time. It was an awkward night for us missionaries. Oh and then also - so Elder Freeze doesn't eat very much and so they were making a joke of how we would say thank you for me I would say 'merci beaucoup' (thanks a lot) but elder freeze would say 'merci pas beaucoup' (Thanks not a lot).

"So it was really neat this week because we found several new investigators and a fair amount of potentials. And at least 2 of the new investigators we found accepted a soft commitment to baptism! Their names are Zach and Brittany - he's 19 and she is around 16. It was cool during the lesson because we were teaching it and talking about how if they would read the book of mormon, they would come to know the truth of it and know that if that is true - that everything else is true too. Ha Zach asked a great question 'So Where can I get a book like this one (he had my copy of the book of mormon in his hands)?' So we definitely gave him one and then Brittany (his sister) had mentioned that she wasn't a good reader - so she asked him if he would read it to her! That was great!

"this past Tuesday we had President and Sister Cannon at our house for Interviews and just to see us. It was the first time that they had seen the apartment and so we made sure it was really clean. It was really nice of them too because they brought us some bagels! They were really good. It was really neat too because Sister Cannon was feeling a bit under the weather and so we were asked to give her a blessing. I annointed and E Freeze gave the Blessing. After that, Sister Cannon told me that that was the first time that Elders had given her a blesssing. That was a neat experience for all of us."

Photos From the Field

We just received more pictures from Travis.  They arrived on my birthday, so you can imagine it was one of the BEST birthday presents ever!!  You know, we expected to have Travis grow a bit over the course of the two year mission, but we were pretty amazed to see just how much he has grown already!!!

We wondered if it's something in the water, or perhaps it's the fu-fu, or that other dish that included fries covered in cheese and gravy.  

Oh wait!  Mystery solved!

This is back when he was a little runt with his trainer companion, Elder McMurrin.
Looks like they are taking Montreal by storm.

Aren't these kids beautiful?!

I wish I knew who everyone is in these pictures!

Missionaries in Montreal, the island.

Travis and his companion Elder Freeze in Valleyfield.
"What?  It's blank?  Ok, who switched the signs?!"

Go Canada!  This is either an iceskating rink they helped
clear, or a practice photo for when they top Mt. Everest.

Snow golf anyone?

Hole in one!

What's for dinner?

That wall color will keep the Elders awake!
Are those ukuleles hanging on the wall?
Travis is sporting the new beaver hat we sent, and I'm diggin' those slippers!

Rockin' out to "I Hope they Call me on a Mission"

Elder Freeze and Elder Mortenson
and a dog named Wolf
(Just kidding.  I don't know the dog's name.)

Week 18 in the Field

"One cool thing that happened is that the Hawkesbury elders had two baptisms this past saturday and we were asked to sing at their baptism. It was fun because Elder Freeze and I put together a rendition of Nearer, My God, To Thee accompanied by his ukelele. So I think that that is a first of it's kind at a baptism... well I guess maybe not in the polynesian islands... but at least up here in Canada.

"We ended up having to teach an English class that night. Ha I gained a lot of respect for teachers of languages. I can speak english without a problem... teaching it is another story! Ha it wasn't too bad thankfully and the guy we were teaching understood english very well. He really just wanted to talk, so we did a lot of that.

"For some reason, people here really like this green pepper and mushroom pizza and they get it all the time. So it was nice to have a quality and inexpensive little caesar's pizza. Ha It made me really happy. There is a Little Caesar's close to the Chapel in Kirkland (where we have our district studies now) and I think that buying a hot-n-ready pizza for the trip home to Valleyfield is going to become a weekly tradition.

"It was super neat this week because we have wanted one of our investigators (the non-member husband of a part member family) to teach us spanish. So Elder Wright and I went by their house on the way to unsplit and we were able to just talk with him for about an hour. We didn't learn any spanish but it was really good for him I think, to get to know us just that much better. I am hoping that Alma 17:29 will apply in this scenario."

Alma 17:29 says, "Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him for joy; for said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks into the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words."

****
Sharing the gospel is a personal matter I am glad to see that he and his companion understand that to effectively teach they must have a common bond of trust that unites them to their investigators.

Belated Christmas Post

Now that it's the end of January, I am getting to writing about talking to Travis at Christmas time!

We all gathered around the computer Christmas day at my parent's house to see and chat with Elder Mortenson. It's probably because I am a known sentimental shmuck, and on top of it a sensitive pregnant woman, but my heart felt so happy it might burst! I stayed glued to the computer the whole 2 hours we got to talk to him.

He was able to see all of his nephews and nieces, including his newest niece Leah who was born the day before. She just couldn't wait to have uncle Trav see her, so she made her debut early (lucky us)!

Elder Mortenson looked great. He was his usual cheerful self, and was easy to talk to. He told us more about his companion, gave us a view of his apartment via pictures he showed, and showed off some of his French.

It was so nice to hear his voice and see his face. I've always felt very protective over my baby brother, so it was nice to see how well he is fending for himself, and nice to hear that there are loving members and comps who are watching out for him.

We sure are blessed to have our missionary out there in Canada. He's growing in ways he couldn't if he had stayed here. It is nice to hear that he is finding joy in the service and continuing to develop a testimony of God and His gospel.

Love,
Jessi

Week 17 in the Field

"Probably the most exciting story this week is Sophie and Tristan (her 12 year old son). I'm not sure if they have ever had a baptismal date and so elder freeze and I decided to try and commit them this past lesson that we had with them. it was a really cool lesson that we had - we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and used the burning tea bag as an object lesson and then watched the mormon message 'reclaimed' with them. Then we committed them to baptism and they accepted and said that they would pray about it. That was super neat! So then the next day tristan had a hockey game and so we went to that to support him. His team really isn't very good... I'm not sure if they have won a game actually. But anyways - it was cool because tristan was playing defense and unfortunately they were down 2-0. Then one of the kids on his team scored a goal. Anyways - it comes down to the third period and almost at the end of the game when tristan steals the puck and has a break away and scores the equalizer. It was awesome. Elder Freeze and I definitely jumped out of our seats (then we had to remind ourselves that we were missionaries and that we needed to keep our composure). Then the game ended in a tie and as tristan was walking with his team back to the locker room we gave him a high-five and then I looked up at Gary (his dad) and he gave us a thumbs up. The reason why that is so cool is just because we've only met Gary like twice. And So I felt like that was a time that we gained a lot of his trust. It was funny too because then we went up and talked with him and tristan and gary said 'what, so you guys so up and he scores a goal!!?' ha it was awesome.

"This week was filled with a lot of knocking. We definitely had a couple days where that is all we did. Hopefully that will change this week as our potentials turn into investigators and the investigators that told us to come back in a couple of weeks become more interested. Some good door experiences came when this one lady saw that we were super nice, so she asked for our names and numbers cause she had 2 daughters! Ha Another awkward experience was when we asked this one lady if we could share how the family can be together forever... to which she told us 'thanks for the message. Bye' Super awkward. One guy let us in and talked with us and he thought that we were JW's. As he was asking us questions he found out that we were actually the mormons and then he found out more of our beliefs to which he said, 'you know, I think this is the first time that real Christians have knocked on my door.' We were pretty excited with that. Unfortunately he wasn't too interested in anything else. Oh yeah, one guy offered us jobs when we knocked on his door and talked with him for a little bit. That was really cool.
We're really excited for this coming week and hopefully a lot of our potentials become investigators."

Week 16 in the Field

"So dearest family, transfer calls came and went... and not a creature in valleyfield is stirring. And by that I mean that Elder Freeze and I will both be staying in Valleyfield for at least another six weeks. That will be a lot of fun because Elder Freeze is a great comp.

"We've had a lot of fun this past transfer just trying to be creative in the things that we do and the ways that we approach missionary work. [W]e took E Freeze's ukelele with us a couple of times as we either went tracting or caroling and had a good time using that to sing songs. We've also just placed 2 snow shovels in the back of our car so that no matter where we are we have them at our disposal. Last week we made cupcakes to give to less actives in our english branch. We've worked a lot with the youth in having them come tracting with us and trying to have them come teaching with us. We've taught a seminary class. And we've tried to be creative in how we present our lessons to less actives/part member families. It is also exciting too because President Cannon gave us the suggestion to try and get this one non-member in this part member family to teach us spanish. So that should be exciting to do.

"This week was another tough week in that another family we were excited about essentially dropped us. But it was cool also because we found the wife of a less active member in the english branch and we taught her and she was answering the questions perfectly and even accepted a soft commitment to baptism. She didn't accept a date though. Ha and then when we tried to set up a return appointment for later that week she declined that for one a couple weeks later. But still, she is super cool and we are excited about her.

"This week Elder Freeze and I were in charge of the meal for our district study - and we went all out on it. We made some enchiladas... that turned out to be burritos but they were really good. Then we also had crepes. It took a fair amount of effort but for sure it was worth it! I think more now than before have I realized how nice it was to be at home and having mom's dinners that were always so filling and complete. Ha thanks be to the members for their dinners here."