Last week's happenings (final MTC and first days in France)

Hola amigos!
I've heard too much French this week, so I decided I'd rather greet you in Spanish.
A lot has happened this week, and this keyboard is all French-y and confusing and stuff, so I probably won't be able to tell you everything I want to. But, I shall try.

Sunday, March 2 -
In sacrament meeting, everyone in our district bore our testimonies in French. It was really awesome and spiritual and such-like. Then we all sang Le Premier Prière de Joseph (Joseph Smith's First Prayer) to the tune of Come Thou Fount for the rest of our zone, and it was really beautiful and brought the Spirit in, even though most of the people in our district aren't very good at singing. :D

Monday, March 3 -
This day was a day of much running around and getting things done. We hurried and finished packing and cleaned our residence, then we went and visited the rest of our zone before we had to go to the airport. They sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again in Tahitian for us, then we said our goodbyes.
Then everyone that was leaving (12 people total) got into two vans that took us to the UTA track, shuttle-bus type thing. The missionaries in our van gave the driver dating advice. He was very grateful. I think.
While we were in the train, a man came in and saw that we were missionaries and started talking about how Satan is taking over the world with GMO and robots and Obama. He also started talking about the history of the Word of Wisdom and how important it is. He was a little bit all over the place, but he was a really nice (crazy-ish) guy who seemed like he just wanted to be friendly to everyone and was trying to do the best he could to live what he believed.
When I got to the airport, I got to talk to my family, which was fantastic. Elder Teh couldn't call his family because they live in Malaysia, so I tried to get him to talk to my family. For some reason he didn't want to... oh, well. Anyway, I enjoyed hearing from my family (I love you, family!) and hearing what's been going on while I've been gone.
On the plane, I sat next to some random dude. Even though it scares me to talk to people, I started to talk to the guy I sat next to, because I know I'm going to have to talk to everyone on my mission. He was really nice and he enjoyed talking, so I didn't have to talk as much. I learned that his name is Aaron, he's from South Dakota, he likes acting, he was a chef for a while, and he wants to teach art. Also, he was travelling to Dubai with his parents and two of his brothers, and this was his first time on a plane. He told me he'd never met a Mormon before, so I told him a little bit about why I was going to France, and about some of our beliefs, and apologized that it was me that was the first Mormon he talked to. :D I ended up giving him a pass-along card, and wished him luck on his trip. That was a pretty fun plane ride, but I didn't really get any sleep. But who needs sleep anyway? 'Tis not important.

Tuesday, March 4 -
After we got off the plane, President Poznanski met us and gave us pain chocolate (chocolate filled bread/croissant thingy). YUM! Then he handed out Books of Mormon and pass-along cards and told us we were to start contacting people on the metro.
Soeur Ridd and I were really scared, but when a lady came into the metro looking for a place to sit, I told her she could sit next to us. We started talking to her and learned more about her. We learned that her name was Benedicte, that she loved sports and she was going to Paris for her job. She was curious about our nametags and we started talking to her about why we were in France, and asked her about her beliefs. She was one of the nicest people I've ever met, and it was really easy to talk to her, even in French (she did speak English a little bit, so she was able to help us when we didn't understand/know what to say in French). We ended up asking her if she'd read the Book of Mormon, and she said she would. We gave it to her and bore our testimonies about it, then she had to get off the metro. I'm so grateful for that experience. I know Heavenly Father put Benedicte in our path because she was prepared, and I learned from this experience that I can talk to people and that Heavenly Father will help us if we're willing to do our part and trust in him.
After we got off the metro, we went to an old building in Paris where they hold institute and talk to the new missionaries. President Poznanski, his wife, and their assistants welcomed us and told us some things that I'm sure were really important but I don't remember because I was falling asleep as they spoke. I guess sleep actually is a little bit important. After they spoke to us, Soeur Ridd and I, and Elder Bigelow and Elder Amaya were sent to a hotel and everyone else went and slept in the mission home.

Wednesday, March 5 -
All the new missionaries were herded to a place that the missionaries call Consecration Hill on Wednesday morning. It's a gorgeous park on a hill-ish place overlooking Paris. All new missionaries are taken here to think about what they want to accomplish, who they want to become, on their missions. We all separated to different areas of the park to do so. It was really nice to be able to think and pray and reflect, then write down goals for myself. It helped me have more direction and realize what I need to do to be a better servant of the Lord.
We went to Notre Dame after that and took some pictures. Cool experience. Not much else for me to say. :)
Then we went back to the old building we were in on Tuesday and were assigned our villes (cities/areas) and our companions. The area I'm serving in is called Rennes, which I was really excited about, because I've heard a lot about it. It's really beautiful and they have a cool culture (like a mix of French/Celtic history). My companion is Soeur Johns. She's also from Utah - southern Ogden. I've loved having her as a companion so far. She's really kind and pretty much the exact opposite of me. She's really talkative, confident and outgoing. I'm her first bleu (new missionary) and she's already taught me a lot.
Before we left on the long train ride to Rennes, Soeur Johns and I went with Soeur Ridd and her new companion and Elder Teh and his new companion to take pictures at the Eiffel Tower. Then we went our separate ways to our new villes.

Thursday, March 6 -
On Thursday morning, I taught my first lesson. Happy joy times! We taught a woman from Mongolia named Tsengee who doesn't speak French too well. She has a son, believes in God and loves praying, but also believes in Buddha.  It wasn't too bad of a lesson, considering I've never taught a lesson to a real investigator before. It was mostly Soeur Johns who talked, and I just said a few things, which Tsengee didn't understand, so Soeur Johns had to repeat them for me...
Then we went and visited an inactive member named Jocelyne. I didn't understand her most of the time, but I really grew to love her in the short time we talked to her. She's a little bit shy and insecure, so I was able to share a scripture that's helped me, because I feel that way a lot. We found out that she wasn't going to church because she had a bad back. She told us how much she loves the Lord and how much she wants to go to church and we told her we'd pray for her. I really learned a lot from her, and I'm glad we got to visit her.
Then we went to a member's house for dinner. It was really difficult because the member, Symone, had a Cambodian accent while she spoke French so I had NO idea what she was saying. At all. I pretty much felt like crying. I felt bad because I kept almost falling asleep while she was talking because I was so overwhelmed, so tired, and I didn't understand what was going on.

Friday, March 7 -
I had my first contacting experience on Friday. It was really scary, and I wouldn't be the one to engage the people on the street in conversation at first. But eventually Soeur Johns made me go first in talking to a young woman walking down the street. She was really nice, and could speak English as well as French, and Russian because she's from Russia. She was really nice, and she said she respected what we were doing, but she said she wasn't interested in hearing more. We didn't find anyone to teach, but it was a good experience and helped me be a teeny bit less afraid of talking to random strangers.
Then we went to do "service" at a member family's house. The Pellerins were really nice and we ended up just talking and eating pretty much the whole time. The father was French, but he also spoke English and Thai, and his wife was from Thailand and she spoke French, English, and Thai. They just barely had an adorable baby. We asked them if there was anything we could do to help them, and they said there wasn't really anything they could think of besides the dishes. So we did the dishes and they took us back to our apartment.
In the evening, we went to institute with a recent convert named Sophie, then we taught her a little lesson based on a story in the Liahona. She was really fun and loves the gospel. She tells all of her friends and everyone they meet that they should go to her church.

Saturday, March 8 -
We had a lot of things planned on Saturday, but most of them were cancelled.
We went to the church to meet with a man named Mauricio. He didn't show up, and we waited for an hour and called him, but still nothing came of it, so we went back to the apartment, where we did weekly planning and had a good, sincere companionship talk. Maricio called us six hours after our appointment with him to tell us he was at the church. Soeur Johns was not happy with him. :P We taught the lesson we'd planned earlier, about the Restoration, and we taught fairly well with the Spirit, but Mauricio asked us why he needs to go to a specific church. He believes that God is in his heart, and he just needs to do good things and pray to him and he'll be fine. Soeur Johns and I should have just borne our testimonies and told him to pray, because the only way he'll know this church is true and be convinced of it is through the Holy Ghost, and not through our words. But instead we tried to explain to him and that didn't really help anything. We just ended up going around in circles and told him just to continue praying and reading the Book of Mormon to find the truth. We got a solid "maybe" to meet with him this coming Friday. We'll see.

Sunday, March 9 -
I was a little bit afraid of going to church on Sunday, because I was afraid I wouldn't understand anything that was going on, but it wasn't too bad. I actually understood about 70 percent of what people were saying, and I got something out of it.
I was also really nervous because as a new missionary to this area, I had to bear my testimony in French in front of the ward. It wasn't an especially frightening experience, and the people in the ward said I spoke French pretty well, so I'm happy about that.
Soeur Johns forced me to go and talk to people in the ward, even though talking to people, having conversations with people, is really hard and nerve-wracking for me. But I did it! And I talked to Jocelyne, because she came to church for the first time in a really long time! That was so exciting. :) I can't wait to visit her again on Thursday and see how she's doing.
In the evening Soeur Johns and I went to a part-member family's house to do a family home evening/soiree familial with them. The father (Miguel) isn't a member, but the mother is. They have two little kids, a boy and a girl, and everyone in the family speaks Spanish and French. We did the soiree familial on prayer, did an activity, shared a story from the Liahona, and shared our experiences and testimonies about prayer. We asked Miguel to share how he felt about prayer, and he actually did share some really good experiences, and I felt the Spirit as he did so. He's such a good father, and it's almost like he's a member already: he goes to church with his family, he does family home evening with them, he sang a hymn with us, and he supports his wife in her calling. He's a kind man, and I liked talking to him and getting to know more about him.
After the soiree familial, we ate dinner with the family. They had made some delicious Venezuelan roll-type-things and we made them into sandwiches and had some cookies after. I went home after feeling spiritually and physically fed, and that is always a wonderful thing.

So, that is my long week in a long email. I hope you find something in there that interests you! I wish I could write more details, but I don't gots the time! I will leave you with a scripture I liked and found in my personal study, in Doctrine and Covenants 24:8-
"Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for lo, I am with thee, even to the end of days."

Je vous aime! Vous me manquez! Adios!
Soeur Williams

P.S. I just realized, you might want to know about France itself. Um. So. It's green here. The buildings are really old and pretty. I haven't had much actual French food besides that pain du chocolat, so I can't tell you much about the food. And we ride buses everywhere. Lots of people use the bus and the metro.

First Preparation Day in France - and no blog post from Cathryn

Soeur Williams in France!

Well, we got a couple of small personal e-mails from Cathryn, where she just answered questions we'd asked in our e-mails.  According to her, she also wrote a big long letter (the one I have been posting and forwarding to people), but it wouldn't send and she was already out of time and was frustrated with her inability to send the e-mail.  So, she'll try again next week.  So we didn't get much detail on her first week in France from her, but I'll tell you what I can infer from her letter to me, and she did manage to send a few pictures.

First, she rides the buses and walks to get to all of her appointments.  No bikes.

Second, in her own words: "Companion in French is "collègue". You could just say "companion" but that means gay partner. And that would be bad."

Third, again I'll let her speak "Soeur Johns is awesome. She's really outgoing and knows pretty much everyone in our mission and almost everyone in the ward here....She talks a lot. Like, a lot. But that's totally okay with me. She's really caring and helps me feel a little less overwhelmed. "

Soeur Williams and Souer Johns in front of the Eiffel Tower

Souer Williams & Ridd

Oh, and from her e-mail to her mom: "We'll probably go and see Mont St. Michel one of these P-Days, but not this one. We kind of got locked inside our own apartment. Long story, but the elders came and fixed it somehow. They don't even know how they did it. Anyway, we have a little less time than usual."  I guess that's why she ran short of time and couldn't get the long e-mail out this week.  Cross your fingers that they don't get locked in again on their next P-Day! :)

Arrived in France!

Cathryn has officially arrived in France and been assigned her first location and companion. We got an email from the mission president this morning, and here are the relevant parts:

"To the Family of Sister Williams

Sister Poznanski and I were delighted to welcome your daughter , Sister Cathryn Celeste Williams , into the France Paris Mission on 04 Mar 2014. She and her MTC companions were enthusiastic and all arrived in good health. She spent her first day eating some good food, visiting with me, contacting non-members in the heart of Paris, and sharing testimonies. We enjoyed her spirit.

The next morning, after a mission orientation, Sister Williams left for her first assignment to work in the Rennes S Area with Sister Johns, who will be her trainer."

I loved my mission in Germany so much, and am excited to live this one vicariously through my sweet daughter.

There were also pictures of her with the mission president and her whole MTC district and the other newly-arrived France-Paris missionaries.

They also mentioned that there's a mission Facebook page. Search for “France Paris Mission Poznanski” on Facebook and you'll find it. They've got tons of photos there, including the arrival of Cathryn's group, and photos of her being assigned her new companion. Pretty cool. Wish we'd had the Internet way back when I went on my mission!

When we talked to Cathryn at the airport this past Monday, she thought their Preparation day would be on Mondays, so she should write us then. Not sure if she'll have to do snail mail or if she'll have access to a computer. Hopefully the latter! 

One more partial P-Day at the MTC

They're letting us have a P-day-ish type thing today since we don't get one next week, because we arrive in France on Tuesday.

I'm pretty scared to go to France, because I'm not really confident in my speaking skills in English or French. But I'm also really excited. I'm excited because this is what I'm on a mission for, to help other, real people know Christ and receive help, happiness and comfort through Him and His gospel. And I know that the Savior knows my weaknesses and will help me as I give my heart over to him and do as He asks.

 Tuesday, Feb 25-

There was a really good devotional on Tuesday night by Elder Snow of the Seventy about working with members, and encouraging us as missionaries. I really liked when Elder Snow told a story about how Joseph Fielding Smith went on a mission, and for 2 1/2 years never baptized anyone or had pretty much any measurable success, but he found comfort in knowing he was where the Lord wanted him to be, doing what the Lord wanted to do, helping prepare others to receive the gospel. This helps me know that whatever happens, I'm doing the Lord's will and the Lord's work, helping His children.

Wednesday, Feb 26 - 

I hosted on Wednesday... it was... an experience. :P I get really scared of talking to people for no apparent reason, so when I was supposed to go up to one of the cars dropping a new missionary off, I was so afraid, so paralyzed with fear that I couldn't do it. One of the ladies standing on the sidewalk had to comfort me and pretty much force me over to the car to talk to the new missionary and take her bags. She ended up being really nice, and we talked a lot. She's going to Armenia, which is pretty darn awesome. I didn't even get lost when I took her to get her books, took her to her residence, then took her to class. And for those of you who know me well know that is an impressive feat. I hosted another new sister as well, who is going to California. She was really nice and I didn't get her lost, either. Yay! I'm glad I got to have this experience even though it scared me at first. I know that it is only through doing things I'm not comfortable with that I will grow and become a better missionary.

My companions and I skype-taught someone who had gone to Paris on her mission. That was cool, and I felt like we helped her, and she helped us.

Thursday, Feb 27 - 

In-Field Orientation pretty much describes all of my Thursday. From 8 AM to 5 PM,  everyone that was going to be leaving next week had to go to In-Field Orientation. It was actually a good experience. We were taught a lot of the things that weren't really talked about in-depth in class. I really liked that we got to practice things like contacting in various situations and how we learned specific ways we could work with members. This helped me be less afraid and more comfortable about doing things like that, which I'm grateful for, especially since the day we fly in to France we'll be talking to people on the metro and trying to hand out Books of Mormon and pass-along cards. I'd like to talk about all of the things I learned at the orientation, but I wrote four pages of notes, and I don't really have enough time to type it all up. :D The best things I learned were to trust in the Lord more, that He has been preparing people specifically for me to teach, and that I need to simply do what He asks, and just talk to people and He will help me.

Also, I got a package full of magically awesometastic stuff from my family. Huzzah! I was so excited, and I might or might not have opened the carrot cake M&Ms in the package and eaten them during In-Field Orientation. :D

Friday, Feb 28 - 

Hmm. Friday. Don't remember much about Friday...

We taught Siliane for the last time. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom and she accepted it pretty easily. Because she's fantastic. We were about to teach her about the Law of Chastity, but our time ran out. Darn. 

When Frere Kellett came after dinner, we did a funtastic scavenger hunt where we divided into teams and found sticky notes and translated them as they directed. Soeur Rasmussen was on my team and totally won! Because we are amazing. :D There were some pretty amusing sentences on the sticky notes, like: "S'ils veulent, ils pourraient frapper le train avec un poisson." ('If they want, they could hit the train with a fish') and "Frere Kellett etait nomme un parraseux par son district mechant! Il pleurait pendant des heures apres... :( " ('Frere Kellett was called a sloth by his mean/evil district! He cried during the hours after'... As an explanation, we were comparing everyone in our district to animals, and for some reason Fr. Kellett ended up being a sloth :D Apparently that bork-ded his lil heart. :P ).

Saturday, Mar 1 - 

We had a good zone conference about how important the Atonement is to missionary work, how we should keep the Atonement at the center of our teachings and in the center of our lives. I enjoyed it a lot, and it helped me focus on what is important, and gave me a greater desire to serve others and help them know Christ.
I cried a lot today. We had to say goodbye to our teachers, and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I love them so much. They have helped me more than I can ever thank them for, and have shown so much love to me. 

It was actually a little bit easier to say goodbye to Soeur Chard, because she was less emotional about it, and though I love her, I don't have as deep of a bond with her as I did with Frere Kellett. Plus, she's probably going to visit France while I'm there. Which is chouette/cool/fantastique. 

When Frere Kellett came to class, he told us mission stories and had us do a testimony meeting as a district. He started, and he was so overcome that he couldn't speak and he started crying. I loved hearing the testimonies of each person in my district. They're so strong and love the Lord so much. They're such great examples to me and they brought the Spirit into the classroom. 

It was really, extremely difficult to say goodbye to Frere Kellett. He had tears in his eyes (as did I) as he said goodbye to each of us, giving the sisters long, sincere handshakes (because he's not allowed to give us hugs) and hugging each of the elders. I'll miss him. He taught me so much, and the care he had for each individual person in our district was touching and inspiring. Whenever he saw I was discouraged, he came up to me and asked if I was okay and genuinely tried to help me, always saying the right things to give me comfort. If I had an older brother, I would want him to be like Frere Kellett. 

I love you! I will email more thingamadoodleness as soon as I can! 

Soeur Williams

An expliquation de la photo - We compared everyone to an animal in our district (Elder Nez was a narwhal, I was a unicorn, Soeur Ridd was a deer, Soeur Rasmussen was a wolf, Elder Wallace was a hyena, Elder Bigelow was a cheetah, Frere Kellet was a cheetah, and Soeur Chard was a frog), then, on the chalkboard, we drew us going to war against the shadows because Soeur Chard's nickname on her mission was Shadow Slayer. Frere Kellett's was Midnight Hawk, which was why we wrote that on the board as well. :)

Other Photos - District with each of our teachers. 

Final P-Day (in the MTC)

Salut, my friendly peoples!
This is my last P-Day in the MTC before I go to France, so next time I email, I will be typing on a crazy French-ish computer. :D

Here is how my week has gone since you last heard from me:
Wednesday, Feb. 19th -
We taught a lesson over Skype to people on Wednesday. It was an interesting experience... We were actually supposed to be teaching someone who lives in France, but they were all at work when we tried to teach them, so instead my companions and I taught Soeur Chard's (our teacher) dad. He spoke French really well because he'd grown up in France and gone on his mission to France. Then he took a picture of my companions and me and sent it to our parents, which was awesome of him.
So... Soeur Ridd decided it would be funny to highlight a random verse in Elder Teh's scriptures while he was gone. When he found out, he and Elder Wallace decided to get back at her by highlighting a verse in her scriptures with rainbow colors while she was in the bathroom. She was not very happy about it. :D
I'm not sure if I've mentioned Elder Pichon before, but I feel I must now. He is one of the Elders who came from France to learn Tahitian at the MTC. He likes to use his French accent to his advantage and tends to have many girls around him wherever he goes. Page 33 in the mission rule book talks about relations with the opposite sex, and how we're not supposed to flirt, so every time we pass by Elder Pichon, we hold up the number 33 on our hands. :D He either glares or smiles and tells us that it's not on page 33 in the French rule book.
This probably won't be relevant to anyone but the people I was friends with in high school, but I taught Soeur Ridd the fishy handshake, and she loves it. That's how we congratulate each other now.

Thursday, Feb. 20th -
I liked Thursday. Verily, 'twas a good day. :D
We taught Siliane about families and about how the Atonement can help us love our families and forgive them even when it's hard. Siliane has problems with her family and hasn't talked to her mom in a really long time. I was able to share some experiences and I really felt the Spirit during that lesson. My companions asked inspired questions and helped Siliane soften her heart and feel the Spirit as well. Soeur Chard says that was one of our best lessons.
However, Siliane said she couldn't go to church on Sunday when we invited her, because she had work. So we needed to figure out how to help her understand that it's important to go to church, and that it will bless her and help her grow.
Soeur Ridd was really sick on Thursday. She kept throwing up and was really pale and weak, so we stayed in the residence area during gym time, even though Soeur Ridd was stubborn and kept trying to get Soeur Rasmussen and I to go to the gym, insisting she was fine. Silly Soeur Ridd.
I'm actually glad that we stayed in the residence, because that was when I got some of the clearest inspiration/answers I've ever gotten. I decided to jog around our residence hall area since it was gym time, and as I did so I pondered about what we could say to help Siliane go to church. As I thought and jogged, I realized that going to church could be related to running. No one can run forever. We need rest in order to have the energy to run more, to build up our strength. It's the same with church. We get worn out, physically and spiritually, throughout the week. The Sabbath day is provided for us so that we can rest and be recharged spiritually and physically, and that energy lasts throughout the rest of the week until the next Sunday when we get to go to church again. I also received more inspiration as I ran toward the picture of Christ hanging in the residence hall. I realized that we need to go toward Christ so that he can help us. He won't be able to help us as we need if we don't come to him and allow him to help us. I was so happy after receiving this help for my lesson from the Lord that I skipped down the hallway instead of running. Yep. I'm strange like that. :D

Friday, Feb 21st -
For our service project, we put up the 32 flags in front of the MTC. They didn't have the French flag for some reason...
A really awesome experience on Friday was when our elders gave a blessing to each one of the sisters. Soeur Ridd was still sick, so Elder Bigelow gave her a blessing. Soeur Rasmussen is still having troubles sleeping, so Elder Nez gave her a blessing. Then the elders decided I needed a blessing too, so Elder Wallace gave me a blessing of comfort (I've been getting nervous a lot lately) and it was an amazing, powerful blessing, one of the best I've had. I felt so much better after that, and I didn't even know I was feeling that bad before. :D
Even though Soeur Ridd was sick, she decided she wanted to teach Shuang-Bai on Friday evening. It was a really good, simple lesson about the 10 commandments, and Shuang-Bai seemed to enjoy it. I really liked it because he testified of how much his life has changed, how much happier he is, and how much more loved he feels in his life since he's heard the gospel. I know he's not a real investigator, but I loved seeing how much he's progressed, and how happy and at peace he is now. Frere Kellett said he was happy we decided to teach, because he likes our lessons and knew we would all feel better after teaching.
Also, I talked about the good ol' days in Syracuse with Elder Bigelow. It's funny how we knew of each other, but we never really talked to each other before our missions. Apparently he's even driven past our house, and didn't even realize it.

Saturday, Feb 22nd -
Saturday was another wonderiffical day. We taught a lesson to a "less-active" member (played by Frere Kellett) named Jean Michel. It. Was. Amazing. The Spirit was so strong as each person in our companionship sought to simply listen to Jean Michel, love him, and help him with the things he was struggling with in his life. We shared our favorite scriptures, scriptures to give him comfort and help him know that he can turn to God in all the struggles in his life and know that the Savior will welcome him and give him peace no matter what he's done.
Soeur Chard told us a story about how when she was on a mission, she and her companion went and taught this creepy old lady who had 17 cats that were hanging all around her teeny apartment. She had a raspy voice and she looked like a witch, apparently. After she told them she didn't want to hear what they had to say, Soeur Chard and her companion left, and as she left she took a picture of the old lady in the window of her apartment, staring at them, with cats gathered all around her like evil minions. If I can get the picture from her, I shall send it. :D
We taught Siliane again. We'd had her read the 10 commandments as a commitment, and she bought up a question about honoring her father and mother. She was wondering since she wasn't talking to them because of the things they'd done to her if she was breaking that commandment. We were planning on teaching about keeping the Sabbath day holy, but instead we mostly taught about how Heavenly Father knows she's trying and will help her as she tries to follow him, that he knows the desires of her heart. Also, she said she'd go to church. Yay!
I saw Tayzia and Annie after lunch! Huzzah!

Sunday, Feb 23rd -
The devotional on Sunday night was really good. It was about baptism, and why we should be inviting investigators to be baptized. We shouldn't be doing it for ourselves. We should be doing it because it will change their lives, bring them greater happiness and peace, and help them grow closer to the Lord. An interesting question he asked that helped me understand how to better teach investigators (about baptism and other things) was : If you weren't a member, and the missionaries had taught you, would you want to be baptized? And why?
I said goodbye to Tayzia on Sunday. She was a bit crazy... :P I think she scared my companions a little by her sheer awesomeness.  I know she'll be an amazing missionary.
Soeur Ridd made Elder Teh try a peanut butter and banana sandwich because he'd never tried one before, and he started choking on it a little bit. Soeur Ridd said, "Yes! My plan worked! It is the end of Dictator Teh's reign of terror!" His last act was to make Elder Bigelow the new dictator in his place. Elder Wallace was offended that as his companion he wasn't chosen to be dictator. Thankfully, we avoided conflict with such things because Elder Teh survived the sandwich. And he said it was delicious, so all is well. :P

Monday, Feb. 24th -
Um. Not much happened. The French people started comparing everyone to animals. Apparently I'm a bat. I like bats, so I'm good with that. Soeur Ridd, however, was not happy with her animal - a pigeon. Pauvre Soeur Ridd...

I'd like to share a scripture that helped me a lot this week, in Isaiah 41:10 -
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

Apparently people are actually reading my letters. That's exciting. Thanks everyone, for your support!

A bientot!
Soeur Williams

In the picture... I stuck my camera underwater in the fountain at the temple and took a picture.

Only 12 Days Until France!

Hello again, all you amazing peoples!
I hope I'm not boring you with my long letters about the MTC. If I am boring you, you should be excited because I'm leaving for France in 12 days, and next Tuesday will be my last P-Day in the MTC. Then I will send you long letters about France.
Now, for the fun-tastic happenings in the Missionary Training Center:

Wednesday, Feb. 12 -
We got to teach some church members who had gone to France on missions or just spoke French for some reason or another. At first I was really nervous and un-excited about it, because my companions and I hadn't really had time to prepare much of a lesson. But after we taught some old guys who had gone to France on their missions a while ago, I felt a lot better. It was fun hearing their testimonies and stories, and I felt like some of the things my companions and I said actually helped them, despite their being all knowledgeable and wise.
Wednesday was Elder Teh's birthday, so my companions and I got him some candy from the bookstore. He was really confused by the Watchamacallit I gave him, because he had no idea that was a word and he said it didn't make sense to him why they would call it that. Soeur Ridd, Soeur Rasmussen, and I also all chose out some little candies to give him in a bag. Soeur Ridd loves Fireballs (those hot cinnamon candies) so she thought Elder Teh would like them too. Not so. Elder Teh ate one and he only lasted a few seconds before he spit it in the garbage, telling us he is now sure he does not like cinnamon-flavored candies. We decided maybe he would like Warheads more, so Soeur Rasmussen gave him one of hers. Surprisingly... he didn't like that, either. His face was pretty funny to watch though.
I saw Tayzia at dinner on Wednesday, which was awesome! I was hoping I'd see her, but it's hard to find anyone in the MTC who isn't in your district. We talked for a little bit (well, for a while, actually) but then I had to go get my dinner. I've seen her a few times since then and she seems to be doing well. :)
In class, Frere Kellett asked if anyone had a French Vocabulary book he could borrow, and before I had a chance to say anything, Soeur Ridd grabbed hers (it was actually mine... the thief! :D ) and gave it to him. And he said "Soeur Ridd gets one point!" and wrote her name on the board, and one point under it. I didn't even know we were getting points. I want points... :P
Another Elder Teh moment happened on Wednesday as well. They're sadly happening less and less as he's adjusting to our weirdness. But, anyway... during class I got chalk on my hands and I wiped it on his suit. He went all dictator-mode on me and looked at me with horror/disdain/dictator-ness, and said "Do you know what you have done?! Do not defile me once more!" Then walked away. I'm not sure about his choice of words (but he is from Malaysia, so I'll give him a break), but it was pretty funny.
I had a fun surprise when I went back to my residence... a cupcake sitting on my desk! It was from Erin, and it was supremely delicious. It made my day. (Thanks Erin! :D )

Thursday, Feb 13 -
I can't actually remember anything from this day, and I only have one thing written down on my notebook of remembering-ness, so... apparently the only thing exciting that happened that day was Soeur Ridd got her really-super-extra-thick glasses in the mail. Tee hee. She usually wears contacts so it was amusing to see how blind she was. And Elder Wallace loved it even more than I did. He stole her glasses and walked around the room, running into walls and saying how he wished he had bad vision. Strange child.

Friday, Feb. 14 -
Oh my awesomeness! I got a great surprise on Valentine's Day. I got a bag filled with chocolate and love from my family. :D I'd been waiting for it for a while and it was fun to get notes from my family. And chocolate. So much delicious See's chocolate. Mmmm.
Soeur Ridd got five packages on Valentine's Day, so now she has a drawer completely dedicated to candy in our room. And her aunt sent her a huge package filled with a dozen donuts and 3 roses - one for each person in our companionship. Seriously, her aunt is the best. :D
We taught two lessons in one day, and neither of them went very well. We didn't really feel like we had the Spirit with us, and we were very discouraged. Right after our lesson with Shuang Bai/Frere Kellett, Frere Kellett asked saw that we were feeling discouraged and asked if he could say a prayer for/with us. He did, and it was one of the most amazing, sincere, and inspired prayers I've ever heard. It helped a lot, and I'm so blessed to have a teacher that cares so much about us.

Saturday, Feb. 15 -
Everyone in our companionship finally got rid of our scripts, and we were afraid, but it went well. (Also, Elder Wallace is creepily standing behind Soeur Ridd and I while we write, and he says to say hello, so, um, hello for Elder Wallace... I suppose). Anyway... it was one of the best lessons we taught. We basically just had a rough outline of what we wanted to say, and we taught simply and by the Spirit. We all felt much better about our teaching after that.
Frere Kellett is pretty good at seeing when our district needs help, and he knew we'd all been getting discouraged lately, so he had us all take out a piece of paper, write our name on the top, then pass our papers around the room and have everyone write positive, encouraging things about each person in the class on their piece of paper. It was really helpful, it cheered me up and helped me feel closer to everyone in our district.
Everyone in our zone is supposed to write a talk for sacrament meeting on the topic assigned to us, in French, then a few random people are called on to give a talk in sacrament meeting. I was worried I was going to get called on, so I worked hard to write a talk about our topic -- enduring to the end. Soeur Anzi, one of the French sisters, walked by and kindly offered assistance in correcting my French. There were many scribbles/corrections on my talk after that. French is scary. :P

Sunday, Feb. 16 -
Guess what. I was called on to give a talk on Sunday. Quel suprise. People said I did well, but I can hardly remember it because I was so scared.
Relief Society was really good this Sunday. The Young Women's General President, Bonnie Oscarson, came and spoke to us. She had had all of her children and other family members who had gone on missions write to her about their missions and advice they would give missionaries. Her talk made me want to work harder, to give my whole effort to serving the Lord. She spoke of how the Lord can make us better than we can make ourselves, and how he can help us change our hearts.
For our devotional on Sunday night, President Matthew S. Holland came and spoke. Which was great in and of itself, because his talk was amazing (more about that later) and he's Elder Holland's son. One more added thing of awesomeness was that I was in the choir and we got to sing Praise to the Man at the end, which was a great experience. Another awesome thing was that a special choir came in and sang throughout his talk, which really brought in the Spirit. Yet something else that was awesome was that his mom came because it was her birthday, and we all sang happy birthday to her. The last piece of supreme awesome-ocity was that, since his wife came, Elder Holland came as well. And he is the best ever. :D As soon as he came in the room, I felt the Spirit. Then when he spoke - and he spoke only to introduce his son - the Spirit was so strong tears came to my eyes. I know he truly is called of God.
Now for the talk that President Holland gave: it was one of the best talks I've heard. It was about Joseph Smith and really strengthened my testimony of his role as a prophet. What impressed me was how he stayed true to the Lord even through the many, many trials that came all throughout his life, and how those trials shaped him to be the great man that he was. It struck me that some of the best people are usually those who have struggled the most. It makes me realize that our Heavenly Father really knows what's best for me, and all the hard things I go through are helping me to be a better person, a happier person, and most importantly, closer to him and to the Savior.
Elder Wallace finally asked Soeur Rasmussen if she wanted a blessing for her insomnia, because Soeur Ridd and I had told him we thought it would really help her, but she wasn't going to ask anyone for help. I could tell Soeur Rasmussen was really grateful for the offer, and hopefully she will get that blessing soon. She wants Frere Kellett to do it, but we're waiting to see if that's allowed.

Monday, Feb. 17 -
I love teaching without a script. Siliane's lesson was amazing. She had some fears about being baptized. She said she didn't feel like she knew enough, and she wasn't sure if she was getting an answer to her prayers. Soeur Rasmussen got some inspiration as she'd prayed for Siliane the day before, and she mostly guided our lesson. We all bore our testimonies to Siliane and tried to help her with her concerns, then knelt down with her as she prayed to know if this is the true church and if she should be baptized. After the prayer, we asked her how she felt, and she said she felt peace and comfort. I testified to her that that was how I had felt when I'd asked to know if the church was true. I told her I hadn't heard any words in my head or seen any visions, but I'd had an undeniable feeling of peace and love, and I told her I knew that was  her answer. It was really powerful and increased my testimony of the ability of the Spirit to guide me to say what I need to. Siliane is going to be baptized on the 1st of March. Soeur Chard said that lesson was our best lesson we've ever taught.
I'm so grateful for the blessing I've gotten to be on a mission. I have times when I'm discouraged, but unlike when I'm at home, that discouragement doesn't last even a whole day. The Lord always does something to help me feel happy and feel his love. I'm so grateful to be doing this work.

Thanks for reading my rambly-ness! Also, thanks for all the letters and emails I've received! I really appreciate them. When I get them, they make my day better.

Au revoir!
Soeur Williams

Ok. Pictures... one is Elder Wallace wearing Soeur Ridd's glasses. The other is Tayzia and I. :D

Happenings at the MTC, Part 3

Hello friends, family, and any random strangers who might be reading this!

I'm finding that there's less and less to write because every day is pretty much the same at the MTC: food, class/teaching, food, studying, food, class/teaching. :D I do love it, but it doesn't make for terribly exciting reading. But I shall attempt to enthrall you all with tales of the wonderrifical, um, mysterious... happenings at the MTC.

Tuesday, Feb 4th -

Since it was a P-day, they let us missionaries outside of the MTC so we could go to the temple. I loved it. I love going to the temple because I feel such peace there and I know the Lord is watching over me and guiding me.

While we were waiting for our laundry to be done, Soeur Rasmussen dragged Soeur Ridd and I outside because it was snowing. Soeur Rasmussen is still excited by snow. She ran around in the snow, threw snowballs at us, and stomped her name out in the snow. I eventually joined in, building two more little missionary snowmen. Soeur Ridd didn't enjoy it as much. She does not like snow. :P

We went to choir practice after dinner and practiced singing "Be Still My Soul". The choir director is awesome. He always gives a little background or elaborates on the meaning of the song we're singing. He said that "Be Still My Soul" was the perfect song for missionaries, because it's basically us talking to ourselves, telling ourselves to be still and trust in the Lord because he's with us, that through every trial he is by our side.

Wednesday, Feb. 5th -

So, Wednesday didn't start out too well. I wasn't feeling great, I was really tired, and I was having a hard time keeping my thoughts straight. Then we found out that we needed to go teach some members a lesson in French, ten minutes before we had to do it. Apparently we were supposed to know about this beforehand, but no one had told us. So we had ten minutes to prepare a lesson in French to members who already knew a lot about the gospel. Our companionship decided to teach about the enabling power of the Atonement, about how Jesus Christ knows all of the trials and challenges we're having and he will give us the strength to do what he has asked us to do. We were so nervous that we were close to tears, but the lessons ended up going pretty well. We had a lot of good scriptures to share and we bore our testimonies a lot (because we bore our testimonies every time we didn't know what else to say). It was pretty great, because Soeur Ridd bore her testimony, and she's been having a hard time with French. She started crying during her testimony, and she says that that was the first time she'd really felt the Spirit while teaching in French.

A missionary in our Zone named Soeur Frost had to be with us from Wednesday until Sunday because she was leaving soon and her companion was doing training at Temple Square. Soeur  Frost is amazing. She's been a member of the church for a year and a half, and she has a really strong testimony. Every time she bears it and every time I get to hear her teach, I feel the Spirit so strongly.

I had a good discussion in class with Soeur Ridd about how prayer has such an important role in conversion. We talked about all the experiences we've had with prayer and how grateful we are for prayer. She had some really good insights, and I gained a lot more respect for her because of our conversation. (Not that I didn't respect her before. :D )

Thursday, Feb. 6th -

Our district went outside with the French district, and we had to go contacting, talking to the French-speaking people (in French) about the Book of Mormon and give out our Book of Mormon. It was really hard for me, because I didn't know what to say, in French or English. I didn't do very well, and the sister only took my Book of Mormon because she felt bad for me. I started being a little bit mopey after that, because I was disappointed in myself, but then I started thinking outside myself and realizing the reason I'm here is to  help people, and if I do my best to learn, the Lord will help me with the rest.

We had a meeting of all the sisters in our zone on Thursday night. We went around the room and everyone shared why they were on a mission. I felt the Spirit more with each sister that explained why she was on a mission. I found that the common reason was because we love our Heavenly Father, and that the gospel has brought so much joy to our lives that we want to help others find that joy.

I'd say the crowning point of the day, however, was dinner. You see, they were serving dirt cups (you know, the pudding stuff with Oreos and gummy worms), and Soeur Ridd, Elder Wallace, and I had wanted them last week, but they were gone before we could get to them. After we sat down at the table and commenced our consummage of much food-ness, we looked around and found that there were people walking around with dirt cups on their trays. We immediately leaped out of our seats and sprinted (in a dignified, missionary-like fashion, of course) to the line we thought was the source of this deliciousness. It was not, however, where the precious dirt cups were being kept. So we continued on our quest for the treasured dirt cups. Alas, when we got to the line that was serving them, someone took the last one. (The fiends!) We sat back down at our table, dejected and defeated, when all of a sudden Soeur Ridd pointed, barely able to speak as she gestured to an Elder carrying a dirt cup on his tray. We again journeyed in a dignified manner to procure our dirt cups, and this time we were successful. We returned to our table, victorious, and devoured our prize. And it was quite delicious. :D

Friday, Feb. 7th -

Not much happened on Friday. We did teach Shuang-Bai again, and I thought we did very well at teaching him simply and with the Spirit about prophets.

Saturday, Feb. 8th -

So, I haven't said much about either of my teachers, so I shall tell you about Frere Kellet. He is wonderfulamazingstupendous. At first he was really nervous, because this was his first time teaching at the MTC, but now that he's gotten used to it, he's hilarious. He cracks jokes all the time and likes to speak in French with a Southern accent. I'm not sure how, or why, exactly, but he does. He was tired on Saturday so we took out pictures of our families and described them. In imperfect tense. Yay for learning stuff, but not really learning at the same time. :D

We taught Siliane on Saturday, and it went really  well. I think it's been my favorite lesson that we've taught so far. The Spirit was present throughout our lesson, and I was able to share a personal experience that almost made me cry, but I was able to control myself. Soeur Chard says that if I'd just let there be a little silence after sharing my experience, Siliane would have opened up to me, because she'd had a similar problem. Anyway, awesome lesson, and at the end when Siliane prayed, the Spirit was a lot stronger than it's been in any other lesson before this.

Sunday, Feb 9th -

I was really scared I was going to have to give a talk in French during our zone sacrament meeting, because they give everyone a topic, then we have to prepare a talk according to that topic and during sacrament meeting they call on 2 or 3 random missionaries to speak. And I really wasn't prepared. Thankfully, I wasn't called on. That made it a really good sacrament meeting. :)

Soeur Frost left on Sunday. I shall miss her, but she's gonna convert everyone in New Caledonia where she's serving. Pretty sure that's a possibility. :D

I love Sundays. I felt the Spirit all day because we heard a lot of awesome talks and had hours to read and study the scriptures.

Stephen B. Allen spoke again. He gave another amazing talk, just like last time. He showed us Mormon Messages and then spoke about them, relating them to missionary work. As he gave the talk, I felt Heavenly Father's love, and I knew that he called me to France for a reason. Stephen B. Allen spoke a lot about how we need to be ourselves and not compare ourselves to others, because the Lord needs us, who we are with our strengths, different personalities and talents. I also felt strongly just a hint of the joy it will bring me to share the gospel with others, and the joy it will bring to their lives.

Monday, Feb 10th -

I learned lots of French tenses and verbs on Monday. It was painful. I will speak no more about it because it was a tragic, scarring experience. :P

Our teacher, Soeur Chard, made a little square out of tape on the floor of our classroom. That is the only area in the classroom that we're allowed to speak English. Stupid square. But... it is already helping us learn the language faster.

We taught Shuang-Bai again, and he's getting baptised. Whoo! I'm so excited! I was really nervous about this lesson, because this was the first time I taught without a script. I remembered everything, but I said "um" a lot. My companions did really well on this lesson. They each bore their testimonies and brought in the Spirit.

Soeur Rasmussen and Soeur Ridd are both having health problems, which stinks. Soeur Rasmussen is having a hard time sleeping and has a cold, and Soeur Ridd is having other more serious health problems, so we went to the clinic yesterday. Soer Rasmussen got drugs and Soeur Ridd is going back to the clinic on Wednesday. I feel really bad for them and I've been praying for them.

Extra stuff that I have no idea when they happened -

I saw cousin Erin and we took some magniflorious pictures! It was awesome to be able to see her.

While my companions and I were practicing a lesson, we put pens above our lips like mustaches

because we were pretty sure it would help us speak French better because we looked like Frenchmen.

I dominate at four square during gym. Except I accidentally keep hitting people on the head with the ball. That is all.

I love you all! Je vous aime beaucoup! I miss you (even you, random strangers)! Until next week...

Soeur Williams