I Love Old Québec

February 7, 2022

Rebonjour!

I’m happy to say that there was actually a lot  of fun stuff that happened this week so I’ll just get right into things!

Something that I forgot to mention last week that was kind of a big deal is that the government of Quebec is starting to ease some of the Covid restrictions! For the last few weeks we haven’t been able to meet in people’s homes, but that changed as of last Monday which meant we were finally able to meet with our new friend Robert again! I can’t remember if I mentioned much about Robert in the past, but I think he actually takes the cake for most Quebecois person we’ve talked to. The first time we stopped by his appartement a few weeks ago he literally couldn’t understand a word I said, and I’ll admit that it was equally difficult for me to understand him. He’s 80 years old and not exactly tech savvy, so meeting with him over video call was a no go and communicating over the phone wasn’t exactly ideal either. Robert has been taught off and on by missionaries for a long time so I wasn’t really sure how interested he would be, but we talked about the Book of Mormon and read the introduction together and he agreed to read a little bit of it every day! He is pretty funny and honestly really nice so I’m excited to keep meeting with him!

The funnest thing for this week though was the activity I mentioned last week. On Tuesday night we met up with some members and a couple nonmembers as well and had a great time walking around Old Quebec and getting some “beaver tails” (basically flat churros that were super good!). The other Sister missionaries in our branch came as well and ended up having around 9 or 10 people in total. Unfortunately Brother Paradis wasn’t feeling well the night of the activity, but I still had a lot of fun getting to meet new people from all over! I talked to two guys from Tunisia, one of whom was actually born and raised in France, and another guy from Colombia (I actually got to brush up on my Spanish with him and another member!) and they were also super kind! It seems like people come from all over the world to study here, and I think that is awesome. One of the things that I’ve really come to appreciate on my mission is diversity. Diversity of thought, interests, nationality, culture, etc… it’s all important! God made all of us different and he did it on purpose. Everyone in the group was pretty much between 18-30 which was an interesting change of pace since we have other missionaries that usually cover that age group, but it was so much fun! 

Something that most of you know by that I always look forward to is zone conference, and this zone conference was once again a wonderful experience! Every zone conference we focus on a different aspect of our missionary purpose, and this time we focused a lot on the principle of repentance. As per usual, all of our leaders gave wonderful trainings and bore powerful testimonies. I could honestly spend an entire letter trying to explain everything but I don’t have that much time and you’d probably rather not sit through three hours worth of notes haha. One activity/teaching that was really powerful that I want to share though was a musical activity from Sister Harkness. She took the lyrics to one of my favorite hymns, “I Stand All Amazed” and she broke down the meaning and symbolism of the lyrics and in particular what it means to “praise and adore at the mercy seat,” and it reminded just how grateful and all amazed I am by our Savior’s sacrifice and his justice and mercy. Thanks to Him, everything that is wrong in the world will one day be made right. I also got to have my interview with President Harkness and he said a lot of things which were exactly what I needed to hear.

This week I also got to go on exchanges in person again and it was a good time! I went to the Quebec Elders area with Elder Faerber. We got to do some service shoveling snow for a non-member, did some online finding, and had a lesson over video call with a member. Elder Faerber is also quite the cook so we ate well and had some good conversations about family history and some other fun stuff. 

This week we also had a district pday (which means all of the missionaries in our district were able to get together for an activity!) and this week in Quebec is actually the annual Carnaval so we got to visit Old Quebec again and check it out! Apparently it’s kind of the same idea as Mardi Gras and other festivals like that except with way more snow haha. Things were pretty laid back with Covid and it being a Monday, but it was still a lot of fun! 

This week also happened to be the last week of the transfer (a transfer is a period of 6 weeks; every six weeks there is a chance that a missionary can get “transferred” to a new area, hence the name) and last night we got our transfer news! Neither Elder Felix nor knew what to expect for this transfer seeing as pretty much everyone in the mission changed areas within the last eight weeks, but contrary to what we anticipated we will both be staying in Charlesbourg for the next 6 weeks! It seems that President wanted to give everyone a break after changing so many things up recently since only two missionaries in our whole district ended up getting transfered. The one small change was an adjustment to district boundaries and leadership assignments so now this transfer Elder Felix and I will get to go on more exchanges which is something I’m really excited for! 

To be completely honest, the last eight weeks have been a huge adjustment for me, and while it hasn’t always been easy, I’m grateful that I will have the chance to stay in Charlesbourg. I have already felt the confirmation that this is where I’m supposed to be right now, and I know for certain that there are still things Elder Felix and I need to learn and accomplish here.

Love you all,

Elder Jackson