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| Soeur Homes and Soeur Williams |
Hey, you peoples, did you guess?
I'm in Belgium! WOOHOOOO! I love Belgium so much. Today we're gonna get Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolate, and French fries, and all sorts of other delicious stuff. We have Zone Conference in Belgium right now, so we went a day early to pick up Soeur Holmes' legality stuff (because she was in Belgium before) and have a Belgium P-day. I'm so excited. :D
Anyway, this week...
Tuesday, June 10 -
On the way to visit an ami that the elders gave us we talked to some people on the tram. We met this really nice Moroccan lady and talked to her for a while. Then a guy sat next to us (which is usually a bad sign here in Valenciennes) and started talking to us in English. He said he was from Singapore and that he had seen missionaries there and in the Philippines and wanted to talk to us. He gave us his number so hopefully we'll be able to teach him later.
We got to the ami's house and started talking to her by her front gate. Her name was Martine and one of the first questions she asked us was our birth dates, then she told us our horoscope sign thingy (Libra, Capricorn, etc.) and what exactly that meant. After she talked about that for a while, we asked her if we could teach her and she said that we could pass by later. Then some random middle-aged dude, a friend of Martine's son, started talking to us. He got really close to us, close enough to smell the alcohol on him (which actually didn't have to be very close, 'cause I'm pretty sure he'd been drinking a lot) and stared at us and told us we had pretty eyes. We decided that was a good sign that we should leave. Very quickly.
After that fun experience, we took the bus to a member's house, but I wasn't paying attention, so we missed the stop. We had to get off at the next stop and start walking back towards their house. We ended up talking to a woman on the way. When we told her we were there to help people find hope and the answers they're looking for in their lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ, she said she'd been searching for the truth for a really long time and that she didn't know where to find it. We told her we were there to help her, and that we knew God was there for her and loved her. She then pulled up her sleeves and showed us her arms, which were completely covered in cuts and scars. She said she didn't think she could ever be forgiven. We told her that we knew that she could be forgiven, that she can find forgiveness and peace through Christ's Atonement. She gave us her number and address. I hope we can talk to her soon, because I know the message we have to share will change her life.
Wednesday, June 11 -
On Wednesday, we went to Iwuy. There was a strike, though (those seem to happen a lot here) so there ended up not being a train that went there, so we had to call Soeur Rousseaux. But she's awesome, so she picked us up and drove us to her house. We did a lot of porting that day. It was almost the end of the day and we prayed to know where to go. We felt like we should go down a certain road, so we did, and we found 3 different people who told us we could come back and we found an amazing lady named Michelle who we prayed with and who gave us her phone number.
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| Charly Rousseaux doing a dance |
We visited Soeur Manet and shared Sister Wixom's talk from Women's Conference, and she really liked it. She brought up how she'd been having a lot of trials, and that people always asked how there could be a God if so many bad things happen. She said she sometimes had a hard time answering that. I told her that through my trials I've become stronger, that I've learned so much, that I've come to know Heavenly Father more and feel more deeply the love of the Savior for me. I said that I've learned to rely on the Savior's power through the hard times in my life. She seemed to feel a lot better after our visit, and I know that Heavenly Father loves her and is there for her.
Then came... exchanges! I was so excited because Soeur Cameron was coming to Valenciennes and I'd be doing exchanges with her. We went contacting for a while and contacted a woman who told Soeur Cameron that she talked with the spirits over the earth (or something, I still don't understand everything people say) and that they had told her what Soeur Cameron would be doing in her future - apparently she's going to be a nurse or a doctor, even though that's not something she'd ever want to do. She didn't tell me my future though. So disappointing. Then we went and saw Kathy, an ami that Soeur Cameron had taught who had a baptismal date, but who she'd had to stop teaching because she was so busy that she hadn't been keeping any of her commitments. So, we went and visited Kathy, and she was there, and she said she'd finish with school this week and come to an FHE the next week. Hopefully we'll get to start teaching her and she'll be progressing and ready for baptism!
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| Soeur Williams on exchanges with Soeur Cameron |
Soeur Cameron and I went and taught Patricia with Soeur Deladerriere. At first we weren't sure that it was a good idea to have her teach with us, because she's a bit... rough/insensitive. But it turned out she was perfect for what Patricia needed. Patricia tends to like to talk a lot, so our lessons are usually really long, but this time Soeur Deladerriere kept our lesson to the point and she was bold in testifying to Patricia of the need to pray to know if this church is true, which Patricia needed as well, because she's so attached to her church that she doesn't want to change.
After Patricia, we were trying to figure out where to go in the 15 minutes we had before lunch, and I thought of going to the pastry shop and contacting on the way. Which is always a great idea because pastries are the best thing ever. So, we got to the pastry shop and were waiting in line when someone at the front of the line started to leave. We recognized her -- it was Marie-Christine, the woman that Soeur Cameron and I had found together. We talked to her for a while and found out the reason she hadn't been able to see us was because she was taking care of her dying aunt and said we could pass by if she wasn't busy. It was such a miracle to see her, especially since Soeur Cameron had never been able to say goodbye to her. It's always a good idea to get a pastry, remember that.
I am so, so glad I got to do exchanges with Soeur Cameron. She's doing so well and I'm sure she's helping so many people as a Sister Training leader! She sure helped me a lot, and I felt so comfortable and happy with her. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father let me be her companion last transfer, and let me see her again this transfer. I know that we'll always be friends, during and after our missions.
After the STLs left, we taught Denise. We re-explained the Book of Mormon to her and read it with her, because she hadn't been reading. Soeur Holmes and I bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and how we'd gained our testimonies of the church. I felt the power of the Spirit so strongly. I know that Denise felt it too, and I know that if she reads and prays, that she'll find an answer.
Saturday, June 14 -
We tried to find a less-active named Francoise in a little city outside of Valenciennes. We were walking up a street and felt like we were going the wrong way, so we turned around. We ended up asking a woman in front of her house for directions. She invited us into her house and looked on the internet and on a map for where we needed to go. Apparently we'd turned around right before the street that we'd needed to be on. I know it was because we needed to meet Monica, the lady that helped us. She was so nice and we talked to her for a while. She told us about herself and we told her why we were there. I think that we'll probably visit her again someday.
Sunday, June 15 -
We went to the Gillot's house after church and ate dinner and shared a message about how we can keep our baptismal covenant and endure to the end. It was a really cool experience because Soeur Gillot's husband was there, and I haven't seen him before because he's a less-active and he always avoids us when we come over. We got to know him better, and he's a really nice guy who loves his family and has a testimony of the gospel
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| Soeur Holmes in a pretty park |
"And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours."
I love this scripture so much! I know that even in hard times, the Lord is there to lead us along if we'll just come to him. Even if things seem too hard or overwhelming, we can be happy and have confidence in Heavenly Father. If we do his will, we will receive the riches and blessings of the kingdom of God, of eternal life.
Soeur Williams
