Soeur Stahly and I have started a "missionamentary" with video confessionals every night. Stay tuned for a full version coming chez vous soon. This week was SO. MUCH. FUN.
We started out the week by visiting the Chateau de Versailles, which we discovered is FREE for student-age EU dwellers. So we walked a million miles and had so many adventures through the gardens of Versailles and were over the moon excited about the animals at Marie Antoinette's farm. There were BABY GOATS. And pigs. And we ate berries off the tree! And we are still alive! (don't panic Dad, I know this is bringing back memories of gerbil hospitals ... ) It was a magical day.
That night we went to Simone's and had a lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited them to be baptized and Simone said yes, and Marc jenny said he would like to really pray about it first. Later on in the lesson, Marc jenny had his head down and we asked if he was okay and he said, "Yes, I was just praying to know if I am ready to be baptized." The problem now is that they have a nurse that comes to their house every day to check his blood, etc. And so because of that it is near impossible to come to church. Simone looked at Marc jenny and explained to him that they needed to pray with all their might that he would be healed enough to come to church. It was the most sobering thing to see that this was the most important thing to them. Then they got a hold of my camera and went a little crazy with it. You can thank them for all of the pictures.
I think the most amazing thing that happened this week was General Conference. I Loved Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf and Elder Dyches. And I haven't even seen the Sunday session yet! There were multiple times where I felt so many personal questions answered. It is beautiful that everything was so personal. I know so many people who were blessed individually because of the words that were said. I think one of the most mind-blowing things I have come to know on my mission is how God knows people individually, and how He is very aware of us. We had a lot of moments this week that reminded me of this. Like how we taught a girl at the gare who decided to be Christian THREE WEEKS AGO, and is looking for a way to follow Christ. Or the soccer player who is recovering from knee surgery and and said that it was bizarre that we knocked on his door because he has been thinking about starting to pray to God again lately. Or the lady that I met on the train yesterday from Switzerland. We started talking about her day and then eventually how she had visited Salt Lake City before, and how she is from Bern. I mentioned that my parents were married in Bern and she was so dumbfounded and excited about it, and I was able to tell her about Papa being a mission president there, and about why we are here etc. Or the girl we contacted last night who was on her way back from Messe, and so open to our message. Our week was full of all sorts of serendipitous moments like those, and they were such reminders of how there is a pattern and a purpose to this all.
We are out of time for today, we are going to search for a coat at the secondhand stores around here, which would probably be a good thing with the winter months approaching.
I love you all beyond words. Sorry for the short email this week.
Love
xoxo
Olivia
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