Mission Office/Montreal- Week 29

I am leaving the office this week and getting a new companion. It will definitely be a change to go back to regular missionary work.  I am staying in the Mandarin branch. My companion will be Elder Z. He also plays violin and I have let him borrow mine a few times in the last months - I feel like I already know him pretty well because we have both been around each other and in the same district for the past 4ish months. I will be back in the area where I first started my missionary with  Elder T. Elder B is staying as the housing coordinator- He is getting Elder Z's companion, Elder G so its like our two companionships are just switching people. 

A few weeeks ago, Elder B and I called a member in the branch here to see how she was doing with covid and everything. (She is a single mother with two children and also taking care of her own mother. Her son had went through some medical challenges early in life where he had lost all his hair and it had just now recently grown back. I had been here a year ago and he looks completely different now that he has hair.) She picked up the phone and told us that she was doing well and that she hadn't been to church in a while. (Because everyones zoom names are in Chinese or just say iphone, we never really know who comes to church and who doesn't - everyone keeps their camera off) 

Anyways, she told us that she had started attending a different church's bible study. That sounded awesome, so we asked if we could come and study with them too. She said she would have to ask and then she would let us know. Well, a few weeks went by and we didnt hear from her so we decided to call again (genius idea right? In retrospect it is odd we didnt call sooner). She didnt pick up and so a few more days went by and we left some more missed calls on her phone. We resolved that she must be prrtty busy with her kids and mother, so we decided to take her dinner. I made pizza pasta casserole -a recipe that my mom would make. While I was making it, I wondered how well it would be recieved as this is most definitely a dish a recent immigrant chinese family had experienced. In case, we took it to them and when we got at the address we discovered she lived in an apartment building. (No surprise). We called on the intercom and tried her cell with no luck. We were getting back in the car - we had just parked right out front with hazards on. (It is law in Montreal you cant get a ticket if you have hazards on) we were getting back in the car when the guy at the front desk (a very nice man from the Philippines named Steve) came running out and asked "hey are you with the Mormon Church? I called them for you and they are on their way down!" We were confused but we waited and a few minutes later, the elevator dinged open and out came Elder H and Elder H! I took another look at the address and realized I had seen this on my office computer before. The man at the front desk had thought we were trying to get the Elders. It had just turned out they lived in the same building as the mother. They are some of our spainish speaking missionaries in Montreal. Elder Hi served one year in El Salvador and then got sent to Montreal  (covid) to finish his two year mission. Anyways, they let us in and then we went to the mother's front door and knocked and gave her the pizza pasta  (I handed it with very deliberately with two hands because its disrespectful to hand something to a Chinese person with one hand). She seemed a little startled to see us. I could tell she was wondering how we got it in. I am hoping she thought it was a miracle because that what it felt like to me.

Lots of love,

Elder Pinkney