Learning Stuff is Good

Belated Happy Easter photo

Howdy persons!
I'm so happy to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to help others learn and grow closer to Christ and to learn and grow closer to Christ myself. I did a lot of learning and growing this week. :D

Monday, May 5 -
On Monday we had an FHE with a few of the ward members (two to be exact, though there are usually more) and Catherine, one of our amis, came. We taught a lesson on faith and growing our faith, then we played a card game and I didn't lose, so that was a nice change. I also learned a lot more about Catherine. I found out that she was abandoned and raised by nuns and that she has 14 brothers and sisters and that her mom died and she's never met her dad. She's had such a hard life, yet she's kept her faith through all of it. I know that the gospel will help her so much and I'm excited to talk to her more and to get to know and love her even more than I do.

Tuesday, May 6 -
We had a really good district meeting about how God loves us so much and has shown us so much love and how we have a responsibility to share that love with others and help them feel it once we have felt that love. It was really cool, because Soeur Cameron had been praying that we would be able to know what to teach a less-active member named Danielle (the one we'd seen the week before) and we got the answer to simply love her and help her see how much Heavenly Father loves her.
We saw Danielle later that day and brought Frere Deladerriere with us. They were really excited to see each other and catch up because it had been 30 years since they'd seen each other because Danielle had stopped going to church 30 years ago. There were also two other people at her house who we found out lived with her -- a woman and a man who were old and alone. They work on researching the history of Valenciennes together. We showed the video "Because of Him" and testified of Christ's love for us and perfect knowlege of us and our circumstances. We testified that we were there to help others know of and feel that love and come closer to the Savior so he could help them. Danielle started crying and the other woman there seemed to have a longing in her eyes. Then Frere Deladerriere shared his conversion story and explained a little bit of the plan of salvation and the Spirit was so strong. Without him there, I don't think our visit would have been so spiritual and powerful. It's so great working with members. This visit with Danielle was a miracle and I'm so glad we got to meet with her again. I felt the Lord's love for her so strongly.

Wednesday, May 7 -
We taught Chantal, a recent convert, and at first it was a little bit stressful and the Spirit wasn't there. She said that she didn't want to go to church anymore because she didn't feel like she learned anything and she didn't like all of the commandments we follow in the church because she feels like they restrict her. We prayed in our hearts and felt like we should just concentrate on the Book of Mormon. We talked to her about how the Book of Mormon is powerful and can help her find answers and peace in her life. By the end of the lesson, she had changed so much, she had softened her heart and she said she would like us to help her by studying the Book of Mormon with her so she could understand better and apply it more in her life. I know the Book of Mormon is powerful and it will help her.
It was pretty interesting, because the next lesson we taught was about the Book of Mormon, too.  We met with Patricia, the Protestant lady we'd prayed with the week before. She had some questions because she'd finished reading the Book of Mormon and had started reading the Index/definitions... and had already gotten to the letter "M". It was pretty crazy. I hadn't ever heard of anyone reading every single page of the Book of Mormon before. The problem was that she hadn't prayed to know that the book was true and she didn't understand why it would be important for it to be true. So we explained it to her and shared that it could bring power into her life to help her with her problems and that if it was true, that would mean our church was true. I hope she prays about it, because I know the Lord will answer her.
Then we went to Paris for exchanges. I went with Soeur Finneran, and we didn't have that much time, so we went out contacting and contacted a Chinese family who had no idea what we were saying.

Thursday, May 8 -
On Thursday we were still on exchanges. I went out with Soeur Finneran again, and we visited an excommunicated member named Soeur Jacquet. She was a very nice woman and she had a lot of good insights as we talked about our purpose on earth and Heavenly Father's great love for us. I really came to love her in just that one lesson and I'm sad I'm probably not going to get a chance to see her again.
Buuuut... we both felt we needed to vacate Soeur Jacquet's apartment pretty quickly, because apparently the African food we'd all eaten the night before was not doing good stuff to our bodies. We ran through the rain back to the apartment and realized Soeur Cameron and Soeur Linton had the keys. So we frantically called them and begged for them to come back to the apartment so we could use the bathroom. So, they did, and we did. This will definitely forever be an exchange I will remember. Yay, food poisoning! :D

Friday, May 9 -
We went and stopped by Christelle again, the woman who'd lost her husband, and she couldn't let us inside because there wasn't any room for us because of her children and their friends. But she was willing to stand on the porch and talk to us. Her kids also peeked out once in a while and asked us questions in English because they thought it was funny that we were Americans. Christelle and her family definitely have a long way to go, but I thought it was really cool because Heavenly Father helped me have such great love for them and see their potential... as I looked at them I saw them as how they would be as members of the church and the positive impact that would make on their lives. I know this gospel is what they need right now, and I know Christelle knows that too, which is why she is so willing to talk to us. She feels she has no hope left, and I know our message can give her hope.

Saturday, May 10 -
We did planning and ate a really delicious pastry that was probably the most delicious thing I've ever had in my life ever (an eclair type thing, but more like a sandwich, with cream stuff in the middle, hazelnuts, then chocolate-covered pecans and walnuts, with caramel all over everything) then we went out and ported and met some nice people.
After that we visited Marie-France and Didier and listened to Elder Hales' talk from this conference about keeping the commandments. I asked them what blessings they'd seen in their lives from keeping the commandments, and they shared how much hope the gospel has given them, and what a great change it's made in their lives. Marie-France had been feeling down and sick at the beginning, but at the end she was more open and willing to talk, happier and more hopeful.
At the end of the day, we went back to our apartment and found a bag on the apartment steps from the elders. They'd bought us ice cream and written a note thanking us for all the work we do and for our examples and testimonies. It was really thoughtful of them, and I know they were inspired because Soeur Cameron and I had been feeling a little bit down, especially on the tram ride home when we had to have a bunch of gross men around us talking about not-good stuff and trying to hit on us. It's so amazing seeing how the gospel and how the priesthood changes men as they hold it worthily, and it was great seeing the contrast between the men on the tram and the elders.

Sunday, May 11 -
On Sunday I got to Skype my family! Woohoo! It was awesome seeing them! :D Now the next time I'll talk to them is Christmas...
After we Skyped, the elders came to talk to their families, too. First they told us a really awesome thing that had happened to them right before they came. They had been in their apartment and someone rang the bell, so they went down to talk to them and found it was a homeless man named Cristoff who they talked to a lot. He told them he'd tried to kill himself by slitting his wrist a week before, and someone had found him and taken him to the hospital. As soon as he got better, he went to go see the elders because he considered them to be his friends. The elders saw that his arm was really hurting him and he could barely move it, so they asked if he wanted a blessing. Cristoff was hesitant at first, then he said yes. So they gave him a blessing, and he said he felt something so powerful, that he felt a great peace and comfort. And then he found out that he could move his arm without it causing him any pain. He was so amazed, and he said he wanted to start taking lessons from the elders.
Okay, so after Soeur Cameron and I Skyped our family, we went out to visit a less-active who lives near us. But, she wasn't there. So then we saw Cristoff walking down the street, so Soeur Cameron said we should follow him to see if he was up to anything sketchy. So, creepily, we did. Then he stopped and we had to pass him, but we still wanted to see what he was doing, so we went toward a bus stop to sit down and a woman sat there. We decided to talk to her and said that she could find hope through Christ. She started crying and said her husband had died. As I listened to her and testified that she could see her husband again, I felt such a great love for her and desire to help her. We prayed with her, a prayer of comfort and hope, so she could feel that God was there for her. After the prayer, she cried more and said she felt Heavenly Father's love, and I know I felt it too. I know that he loves all his children no matter what situation they're in (this woman was a heavy smoker with almost no teeth, had been drinking to drown out the pain, and had a bag full of alcohol) and is always there for them to comfort and help them. I know he sent us to help this woman when she needed it.

My scripture has a lot do do with that, in fact -
Moroni 7:47-48  -- "But charity is the pure love of Christ and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."
I know that love is so important. Probably the most important thing in missionary work, the most important thing to guide our whole lives. As we love others with the pure love of Christ, which we can pray for and the Lord will give us, we will want to share the gospel with them because we know it can help them. It's so important to know God loves us so perfectly, and it's so important to love others and to act toward them in a loving way, no matter who they are, no matter what they say or do. That has helped me so much as I've understood and realized that more on my mission.

That being said... love you!
Soeur Williams

Soeur Williams' and Cameron's legs. Guess which is whose.