Chere loved ones,
This week was one of the most miraculous weeks of my mission. We met so many beautiful, prepared people, and were able to teach some great lessons. Sometimes I get caught up in getting as many lessons in each week as I can, but this week was a good reminder that quality over quantity is always better.
Remember Romain, the guy that came to church last week? So we invited him to do a family night with us, and told him to meet us at the gare so that we could all just go to the church together. So we are waiting at the gare, thinking he will come in on the train. He doesn't show up so I call him to see if he is coming, and he says he is almost there. Voila, he shows up in a car and tells us to hop in. Sidenote: missionaries cannot ride in cars with investigators, and sisters cannot ride in cars with men. So I decide to try and come up with some roundabout reason like "oh actually we have to go get something so we will just meet you there etc" Mais bref. Honesty is always the best policy and in the end we just said "Oh umm we actually just can't ride in the car with YOU," to which he responded "Ah BON?!" Just one of those fun awkward moments of being a missionary. But we all eventually made it to the church and had a lesson with William and Frere Prunin and Romain. We talked about repentance, and it was the most powerful lesson I have ever been in as a missionary. Romain really opened up about his life and his desire to change and find peace. He said he has been looking for someone to tell him to change. I love the definition of repentance: how through it we see ourselves, God and the world in general in a new light. We had such an open, good discussion about what it means to repent and WHY we repent. At the end of the lesson he held up his hand and said "I've only got about thiiis much faith. Is that enough to work with?" He is so humble and really has that desire to change. Aaand he was a professional soccer player in Guadeloupe. NBD. There is a youth activity this next week where they are playing soccer, and a member asked if he wanted to come. He said "Sure, but it has been a while since I have played, I am a little rusty." They were like, "Oh, so you used to play soccer?" And then he says all humbly, "Yeah, in Guadaloupe." "Are you any good?" "Well, I was on the national pro team . . ." Everyone wants him to be on their team now.
We had another lesson with a girl named Sarah who we met at the bus stop a while ago. She is from the Ivory Coast and is in her twenties. She told us about how disappointed she was in moving to France—how she misses a people who love God, and build their lives around good principles. She said they live their lives there in thanksgiving all the time. I loved what she said: "In Africa, the second you open your eyes in the morning, you are opening them to God. Everything you see and appreciate is a prayer, because you recognize it as a gift from Him." She told us that her goal in life is to build a stable family centered on God. Ummm, I think we can help her out with that.
The APs called us a while ago with a referral from a guy that they had met on the metro in Paris. We went to their apartment and he wasn't there, so we called him and he said that he would call his wife to tell her to let us in. She came outside to open the door for us, and the second I saw her, it was like she was just exuding goodness and light. And she has the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, named Rufus. Rufus! So cute. We taught her that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and how the gospel can strengthen her family and give her hope. Throughout the lesson, I noticed that she was a little teary. At the end of the lesson she burst into tears and told us her story. How she had to flee the Congo, and how difficult life has been. After the lesson I just kept on thinking how silly the things I complain about are, and how I just need to turn out and forget myself and focus on others. She is amazing and we are excited to start teaching them.
Petula is doing really well. Her little girl is on the mend, and we moved her baptismal date for later in May so that she can get back on track to prepare for it. We are having FHE with them tonight and we are making a cobler and playing charades. This may turn out to be another one of those awkward trying to teach French kids how to play a game and them just staring at us blankly.
This week was so incredibly humbling. We met these beautiful souls who have lived unbelievably hard things. And yet they have this hope and this faith inside of them, and they are just searching for ways to make it concrete and real. In almost every lesson this week we shared my favorite scripture:
"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the sould of men, which would make them sure and steadfast always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." ( ETHER 12:4 )
That is my testimony. That this gospel is an anchor to the soul, and that this anchor is available to every soul. And no matter how rough and crazy their lives have been, there is something that can keep them sure and safe, and can bring them lasting happiness.
I love you and miss you!
Bisous,
Olivia
P.S. Big news! We are moving to a new apartment!!!! It is beautiful and new and in centre ville. There are Elders moving in and they get the old aparment. Poor guys. We will be going between the two for the next little while, so you can send mail to either one, but the new address is:
3 rue de l'Abreuvoir
77000 Melun
France
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