Joyeux Noël 🎄🌟❄

December 20, 2021

Joyeux Noël!

I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! Somehow it seems like Christmas always sneaks up on me, and with all of the excitement of transfers this year has been no different. Speaking of transfers, I am officially in Quebec city now! It’s very different from anywhere else I’ve served - it honestly feels like I’m starting my third mission - but it’s been really great so far! 

Our mission really is massive, so the logistics themselves for transfers were pretty interesting. As I mentioned when I first arrived in Canada, I actually flew to Halifax, Nova Scotia before driving to my area in New Brunswick so I ended up taking another hour and a half flight from Halifax to Montreal to get back. On the last night before transfers, Elder Eich and I got to have dinner with some members in Shediac which is a really pretty coastal town. We even got some pictures with the world’s largest lobster so I’d say it was a great send off! 

I really enjoyed my time in Moncton, and I am happy that I was able to leave the area in good shape. The people there are great, and I really enjoyed serving with Elder Eich. Something funny about Elder Eich is that he really loves spicy things, and he has a tradition of eating a piece of dried Carolina reaper (I guess he got them from a member somehow haha) with each of his companions before they leave so of course I had to try it. Not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous, but I guess the peppers must be pretty old by now since it actually didn’t end up being hot at all haha It was definitely a tender mercy from the Lord!

I traveled with some other missionaries from the Atlantic which was a lot of fun. Due to some last minute changes with flights, though, we arrived later in Montreal than expected so I met my new companion, Elder Felix (he’s from Bountiful, Utah and he’s awesome!), and we ended up spending the night at the assistant’s apartment before making the three hour drive to Quebec. Being at the assistant’s apartment felt just like when I first got to Canada, and it really felt like I was starting all over again.

And now that brings us to the lovely city of Quebec! It’s not as large as Montreal, but it is definitely larger than any other city I’ve served in, and it is pretty much as French as it gets. There is some pretty cool history here, and today we actually got to visit a citadel (basically a fort) and it was so cool! It was a lot like the one I visited in Halifax, but the citadel in Quebec is actually still an operational military base!

In all honesty, the last few days since arriving in Quebec are kind of a blur. Elder Felix and I are assigned to the Charlesbourg (pronounced shar-luh-bour) branch, and we’re in a pretty unique situation since we are doubling in (meaning we are both new to the area) and we actually don’t have a car so we primarily use the bus for transportation. Needless to say, it’s been a big adjustment, but there have been a lot of miracles and tender mercies that have made it a great experience so far! 

The biggest difference is obviously that pretty much everyone speaks French, and, while I’m happy to say that my 15 months spent studying French are finally paying off, I am still pretty much a novice. Elder Felix has been serving in French his whole mission, but he’s only been out for about 6 months so he’s not exactly an expert either, but together we’ve been able to get by! Using the bus is actually a great opportunity to get to talk to people and practice French, and all of the members of the branch have been very kind. 

Our first night in the area we stopped by the Torres family since they lived within walking distance and they were super friendly and even invited us over for Christmas eve! Their son David, welcomed us in and told us that he was actually going to watch the premiere of No Way Home at 10:00 which did make me somewhat jealous haha We met with the branch president and his family as well and they are were super kind and gave us a lot of direction on how we can help the branch. On Saturday we also had a Christmas activity with the branch with a mini-Christmas concert which was really fun! Elder Felix and I got to sing “What Child is This” with the other Sisters in the branch and it went pretty well.

Now, I want to share the most amazing thing that has happened so far in Quebec. While Elder Felix and I were walking around some apartment buildings visiting members and people who had previously met with missionaries, I saw a man and a woman carrying what looked like a metal bench. I shouted at them in French asking if they wanted any help and they stopped. At first they didn’t understand me (which isn’t too uncommon haha) and then the man asked me if I speak English so I said yes and then he started talking in perfect English! His name is Clinton, and it turns out that he is from Cameroon which is apparently the only other country in the world that is bilingual with French and English as official languages! He had recently moved here to Quebec for a doctorate program and he was helping his sister, Saraphina, move. We spent the next three hours or so helping him move things and assemble furniture, and at the end he said he knew that God had sent us to help him. We invited him to join us for church the next day and he accepted! We found him a ride to church and he came and it went really well. He was really interested by everything even though he says he’s not super religious, or at least interested in organized religion, and later that day Elder Felix and I bussed over to help him assemble some more furniture. Unfortunately, he’s going to be moving a few hours north of Quebec in a few days, but meeting him truly was a miracle and I hope that we can get him in touch with the Elders up there.

The last, last thing I’ll mention (sorry this letter is so long!) was getting to meet our friend Martin! He was already being taught when Elder Felix and I got here, and we were able to have a lesson with him after church and it went really well. Martin is on date to be baptized on January 29th, but he has been facing some opposition. Although he speaks Spanish and quite a bit of English, we ended up having the lesson pretty much entirely in French and even though I didn’t always understand everything he said I know that l was getting some help from the Spirit during the lesson. We got to talk about faith with Ether 12:6 and President Nelson’s April 2021 talk, and it was really powerful! I’m super excited to keep meeting with Martin and to see my French progress and the work move forward here in Quebec. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! 

Love you all,

Elder Jackson