Coucou! (Another way of saying hello)
Everyone in the missionary emails I've been getting has been talking about how it's Spring-y feeling and stuff outside, but here in France it's about the same weather as usual. Sunny with rain sometimes. Sometimes meaning for days at a time, with a little bit of sun in between. Yep. That's why it's so green and pretty here. All that rain. :)
Now for the happenings of this week:
Monday, March 24 -
Not much happened on Monday besides a lesson with Frederique, who I'm still not sure about, whether he's interested in the church or in showing how much stuff he knows. Another relative was there this time, so we taught him too and we fixed another RDV with him.
On the way home from the meeting with Frederique, we met that old German guy with flowers again at the bus stop and talked to him. He's pretty awesome. Maybe we'll meet him again at another random bus stop.
We contacted on the way back to our apartment that night, but it was really rainy and there weren't that many people out. I contacted one lady and started with, (in French, of course) "Hello, my name is Soeur Williams, and my companion and I are here to help people..." and she cut me off and told me she didn't need any help. Okie dokie... I guess I didn't even need to get to the religious part of what I was saying for her to reject me. I think she might need the gospel to make her happier. :D
Tuesday, March 25 -
We met with Lo again. I'm not sure that he really wants to know the truth, or if he just wants to ask questions and have a conversation. Apparently after we'd left last time, he looked up "Mormons" on Google, so when we came on Tuesday to teach him he had even more difficult questions. We answered them, but he didn't accept our answers. We told him he needed a base of a testimony, to pray to know the truths of the things we taught, before more complicated things would make sense to him. We told him we weren't there to convince him, that he had to find the truth for himself through study and prayer. We taught him about the Restoration, and I bore a really sincere testimony of Joseph Smith. Right after that, Lo looked at Soeur Johns and said that he'd seen the light too, and it was Soeur Johns. Seriously. He's still been texting Soeur Johns and asking her on dates, but less and less frequently. Thankfully. :D
After meeting with Lo, we had a lesson with Tsenge and Tugsuu. Tugsuu translated the things we were saying into Mongolian for Tsenge, and testified. We talked about baptism, gaining a testimony, and about Jesus Christ. It was Tugsuu that did most of the teaching, though. She bore her testimony and told Tsenge how she'd gained a testimony (b/c she's a recent convert) and Tsenge seemed touched. At the end of the lesson, we asked Tsenge to say the prayer, and she actually said she would. I was happy about that, because it's been hard to get her to pray in the past. We all knelt down, and though Tsenge prayed in Mongolian, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and after she was done, I opened my eyes and saw that there were tears in her eyes. We explained that was the Spirit she was feeling, and that was her confirmation from God. That was probably one of the best lessons I've had so far.
Wednesday, March 26 -
We had a RDV with Annabelle on Wednesday morning. We talked about baptism again and read Alma 32 with her, talking about faith and how we need to just desire to believe, and act on that faith and the Lord will bless us. But Annabelle is still hesitant about baptism and told us she'd tell us when she was ready. I wish there was something I could do to help her see her answer and recognize/feel the Spirit.
Carine and Shaina were after that. Carine's still having a hard time quitting smoking. And... apparently she's pregnant. Gah. Not good. We definitely need to help her stop. We've been praying for her and sending her encouraging texts. In that lesson we taught about the Atonement and how she can be completely cleansed through repentance and Christ can help her do anything. I love her and want her to be happy, so I hope we can help her in the way she needs.
We met with one of our few remaining texting amis named Liliane. But, there was some confusion. When we came, Liliane seemed confused and she said she thought it was the elders who had texted her and called her, but Soeur Johns told her it was us. So, we taught her a small lesson about the Book of Mormon and found out she already had one. At the end of the lesson, someone came up to the doorway of the room and I looked up and saw it was the elders. And they looked very confused. Probably about as confused as Soeur Johns and I did. Apparently the elders had been teaching Liliane and we didn't know about it. So. Liliane got to meet with two sets of missionaries that day. Lucky her. :D The elders will be teaching her from now on.
We met with a member family and talked for a really long time and shared a message about doing missionary work. Then we ate some sausages wrapped in galettes. They were delicious. But, we got home really, really late that night because the family liked to talk and we were relying on them for a ride home.
Thursday, March 27 -
Jocelyne tried to cancel our appointment for that day, but we wouldn't let her. We saw her and we were planning to talk about talents and how we can share them with others, but instead I ended up sharing Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 (Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God) and asked Jocelyne if she thought she had great worth in God's eyes. She said no. :( So, we ended up talking about how God loves all of his children, and that because we are his children we all have great worth, no matter who we are or what we've done or how the world views us. The Lord sees our great potential, and doesn't concentrate on our weaknesses. We told her to pray to know her worth to God, and she said she would. I love her so much and I hope she sees her worth, because it is great! :)
We dropped by the house of an ami named Salwa, who we'd never been able to get a hold of, and she actually answered! We talked to her for a little bit, and she was really kind. We said a prayer with her and left. Hopefully that won't be the last time I see her.
It was really late after that, and I was really hungry so we got a kebab, my first one ever! It was super delcious.
Friday, March 28 -
We saw Tsenge again on Friday! I'd prayed really hard beforehand that she'd be able to understand us, because it's so hard to teach the gospel to her in French and have her understand the gospel words. But, she actually understood! We taught her an in-depth lesson just about Christ, because she doesn't know much about him. Afterward she said she understood better. We asked her more about her experience with the prayer at Tugsuu's and she said she felt really good, that she felt a sort of energy and she loved it. We explained again that that was the Holy Ghost, and that she could feel that way all of the time after baptism. She was so excited, and she for sure wants to be baptized, but she said she needed to study more (we'd given her pamphlets to read about Christ in Mongolian) before telling us which day she'd be comfortable being baptized. I'm so excited! Tsenge is so much different now, happier and more peaceful, with more hope for the future.
Saturday, March 29 -
In the afternoon, we went and met with another texting ami, Maimouna. The elders had met her at a bus stop and she'd given them her information to give to the sister missionaries. Maimouna was fantastically amazing. She has two young kids and her husband is American. He's working in America right now because he doesn't really speak French and was having a hard time finding work. Maimouna's dad is Muslim and her mom is Catholic, so she believes in kind of a mix of the two, but said she was really confused about all of the churches and their different beliefs. We taught her the Restoration, why our church is different, how Joseph Smith had the same question about all of the churches, and how this church is Christ's church restored to the earth. We also taught about the Book of Mormon and asked her to pray to know if these things are true. She said she would, that she knew she would have to work to find the answer herself. We asked her if, when she knew the truth of these things, she would be baptized. She said that she would. I actually talked about the same amount in this lesson as Soeur Johns, and the Spirit was there. Soeur Johns said that was the best first lesson she's ever taught.
Sunday, March 30 -
We ate lunch with a member family, the Bertollas, on Sunday afternoon before church (church was at 3:00 this Sunday because of a Young Adult special sacrament meeting that morning, for all of the YAs in our stake). They have three little kids and they love the gospel. We gave them a challenge to find one person to have a family home evening with the next time we meet with them, and they said they would.
Judas, Tsenge and Jocelyne all came to church on Sunday. Jocelyne came to all three hours and even stayed an hour after to talk to people! I can't even describe how happy that makes me. But, something that makes me even happier is that Judas is getting baptized on April 12th! He is so, so, so amazing! He is so excited to learn the gospel and wants to change his life. He's already quitting smoking, and he came to all three hours of church again this week.
I'm excited for General Conference this next Sunday! It'll be my first General Conference on my mission. :)
Here, have special extra bonus fact that I just thought of-
- Every ami we invite to have a lesson with in the church, or those we invite to come to church, (who actually come) think that Soeur Johns and I live in the church. We have to explain to them that we aren't nuns.
Here is another scripture for you, about Christ inviting others to come to him:
3 Nephi 9:14 -
"Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me you shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."
With much love and joy-ness,
Soeur Williams
(Sorry, no pictures this week!)
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