More Missionary Stuff I'm Doing

Hello Everyone, and welcome to yet another Soeur Williams Email, where we'll be talking about more stuff that happened this past week:

Tuesday, May 20 -

We taught Chantal, a recent convert who's been having a hard time understanding a lot of the stuff that goes on in church and understanding the Book of Mormon. The last time we saw her, we told her to read the first 3 chapters of 1st Nephi. When we got there this time, she had read it and she'd even written down questions that she had. We went over her questions and read with her, going slowly through the chapters she'd read until she understood. During it all, I felt Heavenly Father's immense love for her and I felt him working through me to help her. By the end, she understood better and was so grateful that we were willing to help her. All she needed was people to love her and be patient with her and work with her at her level.

Then we visited Jacqueline again, the old lady who's been taught by the missionaries for 9 years. She spent a while showing us her photos of her family and her when she was younger. Then we shared a scripture in the Book of Mormon about perfect love casting out all fear, because she's afraid to change and afraid of what her kids will think if she joins the church, and invited her to baptism. Earlier that week, she'd had a close call where she could have died, where it was a miracle that she hadn't, and we told her that Heavenly Father had saved her because he knows that if she becomes a member of his church, if she gets baptized, she can be a huge example and help change the lives of her family. The Spirit was so strong, almost the strongest I've ever felt it, and I felt God's love and knowledge of her. She didn't say no, but she did say she knew Heavenly Father had saved her and she said she'd pray to know what he wanted her to do.

As we were about to leave, the sky started to become covered with gray clouds, and Jacqueline was afraid it would be too cold for us to walk home in. She asked us if we could stay over for the night, or if she could call us a taxi. We assured her we could walk the 5-10 minutes home, but she was still worried about us, so she opened her closet and search through her cute little old lady clothes and got us some scarves and jackets. We had a really hard time not laughing as she did so... but we managed not to until we got outside, sporting our new/old clothes. Then we walked home, and though it barely sprinkled outside, I was grateful for Jacqueline's generosity and thoughtfulness in letting us borrow her clothes. :) She is such a wonderful lady.

Wednesday, May 21 -

We spent the whole day in Iwuy, a beautiful little town about 45 minutes outside of Valenciennes by train, where the Rousseaux family (a family in our ward) lives. We prayed with them, then started working in their area, porting and contacting. We didn't find anyone, but we've only ported half of the town, so we shall see. Then we ate barbecue with the Rousseaux's, which was probably one of the most delicious things ever. And we had really, really good frites (French fries) which were so delicious, because Frere Rousseaux is from Belgium, where they have the best frites. Then it was their little daughter Lylou's birthday (she turned 3) so we opened presents with her and she got a rocking horse and a baby buggy. She was so happy. I wish I could describe the look on her face when she found out the horse whinnied and its mouth moved when she pressed a button on its ear. She is so adorable and the Rousseaux family is so great and involved with the work here.

Thursday, May 22 -
After visiting a member in the ward named Jan (who is so awesome), we took our dinner hour to go to a museum in Denain (a little village where a few members and amis live). The people that work there were so excited because I bet hardly anyone visits it, and I doubt any Americans have, 'cause Denain isn't a very touristy place. But it was really cool to find out the history of Denain. It's really rich with some interesting history, and it's sad it's fallen so far -- it's one of the poorest cities in France. The lady that gave us the tour of the museum was really awesome, one of the nicest people I've met in France.

Then we went and taught Denise. At first we talked about baptism and she got a little bit offended (because she'd already been baptized into the Catholic church) and at first I was worried we were going to lose her, but then I just calmed down and said a little prayer for Heavenly Father's help. Then I let the Spirit lead me, and we were able to show her we loved her and taught her about how she could receive an answer that what we were telling her was true, and once she knew she would have the desire to be baptized. We also shared about Heavenly Father's plan for her and how much he loves her. I really felt the Spirit and Heavenly Father's great love for Denise. The lesson we taught her was truly powerful and I know it was Heavenly Father who led us to know what to say and how to help Denise. I couldn't have done it without his and the Holy Ghost's help.

Friday, May 23 -

Er. Not much happened that I can talk about. We went to the Duez's (Ward Mission Leader and his wife) house and Soeur Duez made Filet Mignon with mustard sauce. It was so delicious. And I got to talk to Soeur Duez, which was awesome because she's one of the greatest ladies ever. :)

Saturday, May 24 -

We spent most of the day at Amanda's baptism. Amanda is the 9 year old girl who is in a member family but whose parents never taught her anything about the gospel. It was great to see her testimony grow as we taught her, to see her progression and her love for the Savior. I really felt the Spirit at her baptism, telling me that Amanda will be a strength to her family, an example, and that she will be a strong, faithful church member.

Then we went and stopped by the carnival that is pretty much right in front of our apartment to get a kebab and frites to eat during weekly planning. That mixed with the neighborhood party (which we weren't invited to! Mean neighbors) where some drunk dude was singing and playing the accordion, made for a lot of noise... late into the night.

Sunday, May 25 -

Lots of stuff happened on Sunday... we taught the Young Women's lesson, which we were nervous about, because the Young Women in our ward can be unkind at times... which is why after praying and studying we decided to teach about charity. At the start we talked about personal revelation and how we'd received revelation to teach about charity. We gave them paper to write their impressions from the Spirit on as we taught. The lesson went so well with the help of Heavenly Father, and all the girls took notes and I could see a change in them. They really are good girls and I can see that they all love the Lord and are trying to do better.

After our lesson, we went to go pick up Denise, who said she'd come all the way from Denain to go to church. She even brought all four of her kids, and they were all dressed up in their best clothes. I'm impressed with her willingness to do that, to come to our church even though she's a practicing Catholic, and that shows me that she's serious about finding the truth, finding the answers she's looking for. I really love her and I'm excited to continue teaching her. The ward was really great, too. They welcomed her once they saw she was new at church, and they helped her with her kids. They even offered to help her and give her transportation if she needed it to come to church and church activities.

Then we went and taught Nadege in her shop. When we first started teaching her, we thought she wasn't serious about learning the gospel, but she definitely proved us wrong this time. She had read the whole Restoration brochure we'd left with her and she said she liked it, but she was having a really hard time believing Joseph Smith could see God, because she's been taught her whole life that no one can see God because he's too powerful. We just bore our testimonies to her and told her we'd try to find scriptures in the Bible that show that God's shown himself to others in the past. Without us even saying anything, she said she knew she needed to pray to know the truth, and that she wanted to know if it's true or not. She's an amazing woman. I love her so much.

Also... we got a call Sunday night from President Poznanski saying that Soeur Cameron is going to Torcy (a city right outside of Paris) to be a Sister Training Leader! I'm not surprised... she's helped me so much, and though I'm sad she's leaving, I know that's where she's meant to go. Also, she will be doing exchanges in Valenciennes, and since I'm still going to be in Valenciennes... she'll be doing exchanges with me! It's amazing the little ways Heavenly Father shows he knows us and loves us.

Fun stuff that happened:

While we were porting in Iwuy, we found someone who's name was Sexy Pedro. Not kidding. It was even written on their mailbox. It turned out to be some old lady. Hmm.

After Amanda's baptism, some cute little kids in our ward volunteered to do the dishes and they were so excited about it. They even wiped off the counters afterward.

Scriptures:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

"Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13

I've been studying charity a lot this week, because charity is truly the greatest characteristic we can achieve - it is related to all things, and without it anything we do is meaningless (according to 1 Corinthians 13). Charity is the pure love of Christ, and we manifest that love by giving - not just by giving money or gifts, but giving of ourselves. Giving everything we have, everything we are to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and to others. Once we have that pure charity, that's exactly what we'll want to do. Heavenly Father is an example of that charity - he has given us everything. He gave us the earth, our bodies, the gospel, his son. The Savior is the same - he gave his whole life to serving others, and at the end, he literally gave all his strength and his life to us in the ultimate act of charity, the Atonement. I know that as I've focues on loving others with a pure love, and giving my whole heart to them and to Heavenly Father, I've felt guided more in my life and in the lessons I teach. I've felt Heavenly Father's presence more in my life. And even as I give back to him by giving everything I have, he gives me more because of his endless charity. I will always owe him for the countless blessings I have each day of my life.

Until next week!

Soeur Williams