la.la.liv

Fam,

Due to the fact that I had a nasty bout of food poisoning last night (think Olivia circa 1995 in my yellow PJs: "Daaaad I fink Im gonna fwow up . . ."), and we are leaving for St. Malo with some members in a few minutes, I am afraid this email will be short and sweet. This past week was full of so many small miracles. I am starting to realize that too often I overlook the small things looking for some large miraculous occurance to remind me of why I am here. And then I add up the small things that happen everyday and realize that if I forget those, I am missing the point. So here are a few small little miracles we saw this week that made it beautiful:

This Wednesday we were on the metro to go porting, when Soeur Pymm and I felt like we should go somewhere else. So we got off at a random stop and took the bus and then starting walking. We were in an area with a lot of office buildings and hardly any houses, and then when we were about to turn back I looked over and saw a fence with a tiny little house inside. I just pointed to it and said "Porte." So we knock and a 19ish year old boy answers and he LISTENED to us. I know that doesn't seem like a miracle, but trust me. It is. So he let us in and we heard his story: Atheist, never even thought about the possibility of a God, doesn't think we have a purpose or a soul etc. And so we started from the basics. We told him there is a God. We taught him how to pray. I could literally see the light entering him as he thought about this very new concept. He told us that he would pray that night, but he didn't know how, so we said a prayer with him and the whole time he just stared at us confusedly, but in such an inquisitive way. When we asked him if he would pray he said "Why not? If there is a God and a purpose then it will only add something to my life, and if not then I don't lose a thing." He said if it goes well then he will let us know if he wants to talk to us again. As we were leaving he was so concerned that we just go knocking on random peoples doors, and he said, "Make sure that you stay close to all the street lamps and that you are always on a busy road." I knew you would appreciate that Mum and Dad. 

And then miracle number two occured: we texted him to see how it went and he asked us to come back. I have no idea if he will ever be baptized or interested in the church. But I do know that introducing God and the possibility of purpose to someone is what this is all about. Everyone needs something to believe in and to hope for, and I know that that is what the gospel gives. And out of all of the thousands of people in Rennes and the hundreds of streets we ended up in his hidden little house. THAT is a miracle, no matter what the outcome is. 

Miracle number three: Pymm and I set up our new IKEA beds all by oursleves. Trust me, if you saw the instruction manual that IKEA gives you, you would realize just how big of a miracle this is. On this night we also had to go pick up our car from Republique (Rennes city center) because the Elders had borrowed it, and we were all grumbly because it was late and we didn't want to have to go back out, but then we take the escalator out of the metro and realized it is December 1st which means CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! It was pure magique. Hundreds of lights lining the cobblestone streets. It's not quite Christmas Street, but it was pretty good. 

We met a woman from Vietnam with the most increblie faith. She told us stories of being in Vietnam during the war, and there was one time that she was in a boat for five days without food with her children and she prayed and prayed and they found food. She said she could never deny that someone was looking out for her, and that we need to follow Christ because of his bon coeur. If all our hearts were that compassionate she said, the world would be a better place. She was lovely. 

The Salas had us and Elizabeth (girl from Connecticut) over for a Swedish Christmas tradtion. On the first Sunday of December they have all of the Swedish treats and Glog (Note to Richard Fetzer--RICH! GLOG! I thought of you and Reece. . .) Homemade gingerbread and carrot cakes and oh my goodness. It was beautiful. They are the sweetest people I have ever met. 

There were lots of other little things that happened this week that made it great--tea with Lucy, Saturdays with Nathalia, falling UP the stairs on the metro. Sigh. We had one lesson with a couple from the Congo though and oh la la we were un peu attacked. And man, they know their Bible. I had a migraine by the time we left their house. Pretty impressive but also a little too aggressive on their side and it didn't feel like a real discussion, which I don't like. But it was an experience.

I have to go, we are being picked up to go to St. Malo with the Elders and a guy in our ward named Pierre. I can't wait to see the ocean again! Huzzah. I love you all. 

Don't forget to see the little things and be happy for them. Life gets overwhelming if you don't.

beaucoup d'amour,

Olivia