Bonjouuuur! 

Today I had good customer service in a French store! She smiled! She asked if I needed help! She didn't get mad when I knocked something off the hanger! Just thought I would start out with something happy. 

And this week was really happy. Soeur Lefrandt arrived and it seems that the fact that [mom and dad] were friends with her parents just ensured our friendship. She is so wonderful. We go running every morning, eat the same food, have the same clothes (really. It is kind of bizarre) and have a grand ole time together.  I think the fates put us together for my last transfer. We have a visa waiter here named Soeur Defranchi as well and she is great. She is going to Taiwan and is half Taiwanese and teaches us cool Chinese things. 

But the most beautiful news of the week is this: Paula is getting baptized! We had our FHE last Monday night and we walked in and she ushers us over and shows us her tablet and how she has downloaded every single thing she could from lds.org. Book of Moromon, DandC, you name it. She was thrilled. As were we.

We taught Plan du Salut and focused on earth life, and how while here we are subject to hard things —  to sin, to sadness, to things outside of our control. And we talked about Christ and how through Him we can overcome this, and not just overcome it, but become because of it. We talked about prayer as an important moyen to communicate with God and navigate our way through life. We asked her if she had been praying and she said 

"Well last night Aisha woke up with a fever and was screaming and I exhausted and at my wits end, and I simply cried out to God 'Are you there?!' And then Aisha stopped crying, looked at me, and fell asleep. So it works!"

We went through prayer and invited her to pray every day. She said she would and two days later she called me and said 

"Rhondeau, it WORKS! The first day I prayed about thirty times and today my heart is continually praying. Every time I am overwhelmed I pray and I receive peace in my heart. My kids even asked me what is happening to me, they said 'Maman we like you like this'"

One of the most beautiful moments of my mission. To see someone change through prayer and God's love. Yesterday at church she said 

"I have changed so much in one month, can you imagine who I will be in a year?!" 

I loved that. How beautiful. That is the point of all of this. Of baptism, of faith, of repentance. To change how we see ourselves and God and the world and prepare us for eternity. We read this scripture with her and I love it: 

And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

I love that the fruits of what we do when we follow Christ are the feeling of hope and perfect love that helps us be diligent until the end, until we are all together again, united with God. 

This is all true. It is beautiful and I love seeing it change hearts and families. I also love that Aiman has a stuffed animal scottie dog named Clauchard that he carries around with him everywhere, and makes us bisous it chaque fois. 

The other night our neighbors had a craaaazy party right above us and it sounded like the party was in our house it was so loud. So what does our new Fench friend do? Hit the ceiling with a broom and then calls the cops at one a.m. The perks of living with a sassy frenchie. 

Je vous aime. BEAUCOUP. Have a happy week. 

Love 

Olivia

Salut!

This was a week of the most small and simple miracles.  I love being on a mission because you get to see (or perhaps you have the TIME to see) how God is in the details of our lives. 

So Paula grew up speaking Portuguese, but then lived in Spain where she spoke Catalan. She loves speaking Catalan and has been searching for books in Catalan for a long time so she can read to her kids. But she cannot find them anywhere. Now a little side story — Two months ago we were in Versailles and I saw this smaller-looking Book of Mormon on the shelf and, for a reason totally unbeknownst to me at the time, picked it up and stuck it in my bag and kept it with me ever since. This week we taught Paula about the Book of Mormon (which she was THRILLED about and had already done research and was hanging on every word) and guess which Book of Mormon I had in my bag? The Catalan one! She was THRILLED. Smile on the face, tears in her eyes. When we asked her to read a chapter she said "Well yeah I will read that, but could I read the whole thing too?" Yes Paula, yes you can. 

This week we were on the bus going to a lesson, and I was sick and not feeling so well, but we get on the bus and Paula and her kids are there, and then as we are on the bus I look out the window for a split second and see the Albanians that used to be in Blois but had to leave! We jumped off the bus and laughed and cried and hugged and took pictures together and it was her birthday. Small thing, but important thing. 

Then on Sunday we walked to church with Paula and the kids, and guess what? The teacher of the amis class speaks Portuguese. And so does is wife. And so does our ward mission leader. So they sat there chattering about in Portuguese (while I sat with Aiman coloring and eating snacks. He won't go to Primary and I secretly don't mind at all because then he gets to sit with me) and throughout the lesson they would translate what was going on. We talked about God and the preexistence and Paula was crying tears of joy and said "I believe this and I have always believed this!" It was beautiful. I love something a teacher at the MTC said: "We aren't in the business of teaching people. We are in the business of reminding them." I see it all the time. We are simply helping them remember. 

And then we ate couscous with Amina and it was a FEAST. Man, Middle Eastern food is GOOD. And she is so so sweet and she talked about God and her faith and we love her. 

So this week I just was amazed at the little things that God prepares for us. Is it the end of the world if Paula reads the Book of Mormon in Portuguese instead of Catalan? No. Is it the end of the world if we don't see the Albanians on their birthday? No. Is it the end of the world if we have our lessons in French and not Portuguese? Nope. But what is important to us is important to God. He is in the details. Because He knows us and He loves us. And to be able to recognize the little details of joy that He puts in our lives just makes life happier.

 

And guess what? So our District leader was joking around with us last night and was like 'They are totally going to put a second equipe in Blois etc' and we were like don't even joke about things like that and then he was RIGHT! Soeur Doyle and I are getting split up but both of us are staying and opening up a new equipe and I am going to be comps with Soeur Lefrandt. So today is the last first day of a transfer on my mission. Whoa. Excited to be opening up a new equipe here in Blois. And then there were four. Lots of good things to come. And we have an FHE with the Ferreira's and Paula. 

I love you. 

Love

Soeur Rhondeau

Bonjour! 

The week in review:

Met an amazing new amie named Amina. We had found her number that the old soeurs left, gave her a call and she said "I have been waiting for your call for months, what happened?!" She is from a Muslim background and is from Algeria and has the most beautiful little children in the world. Her 4 year old is obsessed with police and by the end of our rdv I had about ten police cars, helicopters and other various items and toys piled up on my lap. Amina embodies kindness. She is one of the most beautiful people inside and out. We talked about faith and prayed and then she invited us back to eat an Algerian meal with her! We are going tomorrow and I can't wait. 

Another lost and forgotten amie named Mirlande invited us over and we went with a member because she lives far away. Two hours later we are lost in the countryside but it was secretly a tender mercy because I got to see beautiful scenery and chateaus and I know it doesn't REALLY matter, but it was a nice tender mercy quand meme. We eventually found her and she is wonderful. From Haiti and full of love and faith. 

I mentioned in passing to Paula that I have always wanted to do service on my mission but can never find associations that will take us. She calls two days later and tells me we have a rdv at a shelter in Blois that she will take us to on Friday. She is a SAINT. She did this in the midst of finding out some awful news at the hospital and caring for her three kids. She is the most pure example of turning outward. So we went to the rdv and it was just a beautiful thing. People of all backgrounds and walks of life sitting and eating together. We get to start next week distributing food. I cannot wait! 

We had a rdv with a man that Pymm taught and saw baptized when she was in Blois. He is the most tenderhearted, heart broken person. He has struggled with so many hard things, and this week we talked about re-finding faith. He feels that he has lost it and cannot get it back, or is not worthy to get it back. We talked about Alma 32 and about DESIRE. How desire is what we need, and then our faith grows from there. 

We had exchanges in Paris and it was lovely to be back. Such a busy, moving city. We taught another beautiful Muslim woman there who is actually getting baptized! It is such a beautiful thing to meet these people who would have otherwise just been strangers on the street. 

I just love these people. It is really the most beautiful part of being here. They bring so much to the world with their light and their faith and their stories. A pretty quote for the week:

"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest to you."

Such a good mantra. We need not look far, juist help the person nearest to you. 

Those are my thoughts for this week. I love you and I miss you and I am thankful every second of every day for you. 

Love

Olivia

bonus!

Since I couldn't send any photos today here is an oldy but goody that Soeur Stahly sent to me today. MAGNIFY YOUR LIFESH BY MAGNIFYING YOUR SHMILE! Just a catchy phrase I came up with. 

xoxoxoq uizeofjqslkdjf

bravo!

Bonjour! 

Bonne Nouvelle Année! Happy 2014. This is going to be a good year. I can just feel it. 

To ring in the New Year we were invited over to the Family Ferreiras' house. There weren't busses running that day so I got out the map and, feeling confident with my one year and four months in France map-reading ability, mapped out the quickest route to their house. Flash forward an hour and a half later when we are LITERALLY in the forest on a road called 'path of the donkey' in the pouring rain and covered in mud. I thought it was just a cute name not an ACTUAL donkey path. Well. Good story for the future right? Eventually we found their house and they thought it was hilarious and so at least my map reading mishap brought some New Years cheer, and lots of comments like "Hey what a great omen for the New Year! Lost in the rain in the forest! Also why didn't you take the bus? The one to our house takes 15 minutes and it runs on New Years." 

Faux pas after faux pas. But this week was good! We spent most of our days inside doing some crazy area book work and scheduling lots of rdv's for this week. But we did have a beautiful Sunday when Paula and her three kids, Maria, Ayman and Aysha, all came to church! We picked them up and all walked together, and Paula participated during every lesson. I got to sit by the kids during sacrament meeting (GOLD STAR to every single mom in the world who sits with their little kids during sacrament meeting. That was no easy task.) During Sacrament meeting Ayman would observe everyone during the prayer and then follow suit and fold his arms or clasp his hands together. And during the songs he just belted whatever tune came out and after everyone's testimony he would shout 'BRAVO!' As they were leaving church he was sobbing and wouldn't leave without us, and was rattling off phrases in Spanish and Portugeuse that ended with "Laaaasss CHICAS!" So we walked on home with them and I got to walk hand in hand with Ayman while he told me about boats and his favorite colors and animals. The cutest curly haired three year old I have ever seen. Can I bring him home with me?

Paula has had a hard life. One of the hardest. And it was so beautiful to see her with this new family that she has at church, and speaking in Portuguese with the Ferreiras, and smiling and laughing. She talked about how she is just searching for a "hope for joy." I just kept on thinking of our fave fam memorized scripture: "Adam fell that men might be, men are that they might have joy." 'Tis true. I believe in joy and I believe that we find joy in finding God. 

So it was a happy day to end a pretty cooped up in the apartment week. I love you and miss you toujours. Tonight we are teaching a lady named Zena Fofana. YES!

Olivia