Family,
First off, I think I may have told you the wrong address for my apartment building. It is 10 rue Brasserie Gruber, instead of Brassier. But the good thing is I have still gotten all your letters, so that address works too, it looks like. Funny French translation: Brassier = inferno, and Brasserie = bar. Both hilariously fitting names for missionaries for multiple reasons. Brassier seems the most fitting for this week however :) Okay okay, that might be a little dramatic. I will spare you the details; needless to say it was a rough one, but after tearful a phone call to my mission mother (Soeur Pymm) I felt much better. I am so thankful for her. She will be a best friend for a long time, I am sure. Guess who still doesn't have their shower fixed and takes the train in the morning or night to a member's house to use their shower? And the bus driver KNOWS said people, and asked the other day when we got back on with wet hair, "So is everything going okay for you?" True story. Like I said, pride has flown out the window. The loveliest member in our ward, Aline lets us come to her apartment. We love her so so much. She is a student in Paris, and she is a ward missionary so she teaches lessons all the time with us. She is the best example to me of charity and love. She is from Rwanda and she gave a talk in church yesterday about how her family had to flee Rwanda, and how God helped them get to France. It was beautiful and she is my saving grace here in Melun.
It was a big learning week for me.We had the majority of our lessons fall through this week, and ended up doing a lot a lot of porting and contacting with not much luck. We were worn out this week and felt a little discouraged. Then we get a phone call from Alexi, the man who had shown up at church two Sundays ago, and we set up a rendezvous with him. We taught him the Restoration and watched the Restoration video. After it was over he talked about how he feels exactly how Joseph Smith felt, and he has been searching for a church that is true. He was baptized Catholic when he was a child, and then through the corruption he saw in a lot of religions he stopped believing in religion, but always felt like he needed to have a relationship with God. He spent most of his life trying to have that relationship, without religion, but got to a point in his life where he said he knew that wasn't enough. When we knocked on his door that night, he said it was as if God sent us to him, because he has been going to a bunch of churches around Melun and couldn't find one that was right. He said the day he came to the chapel that Sunday, he knew that it was right. He has started reading the Book of Mormon and knows that it is true. He said he needs it because he needs peace. He said there are so many paths you can turn to in life, and he found that when he wasn't turning towards God, he was turning to things that didn't bring him happiness. We talked to him a lot about how when we live our lives according to the commandments, we are actually made free. I see this over and over again in myself and in other people. It is the most beautiful thing to see people become free from guilt, addiction, pain, all from turning to God. I love the definition of repentance in the Bible dictionary. It says that repentance is "a fresh view of yourself and of the world." He said he wants this, and we talked about baptism and he wants to get baptized! We set a baptismal date for March 9, and we are going to work with him to help him to be ready by that point. So exciting! He came to church yesterday and loved it, and the members in this ward have just welcomed him so well. So keep Alexi in your prayers!
Then on Saturday we went to visit our favorite Russian. He has read up to page 170 of the Book of Mormon and has a million good/'oh no I don't know the answer to this' intellectual questions. We answered the best we could, and then talked about how logically you can talk your way in or out of anything. We have to know the truthfulness of things by prayer and the Spirit. He paused after we talked about that, and then said "You know, I do know one thing: every time I read the book I have a peace, and I feel lighter." He seems like a really troubled guy, and he is searching for a lot of peace in his life. I have found that with a lot of people we have taught in Melun, more so than I have seen before. They seem weighed down by troubles. They are just searching for something that makes them feel at peace. Each of them have said that inexplicably they find themselves turning to God for what they are searching for. That is such a testimony to me that we are children of God, and that this life is neither the beginning, nor the end. It is in our nature to turn to our Father. Even on days when it is pouring rain and I can't feel my feet and I maybe start crying a little on the bus (low point) and I feel kind of mad that I am here, I find myself saying prayers in my heart. And then I am filled with gratitude and I am so humbled to be here and to talk to these souls who are all searching for something, along with the rest of us. And they can find it in God, which is awesome. So after the rdv, he showed us his library and he has a HUGE collection of books. I think Mom and Dad would love talking to him. He is a fascinating fellow.
We got our transfer email this week, and Soeur Jenkins is leaving :( :( I am so sad that she is going! She is going to Angers with Soeur Searle though, which I assured her is the best news ever from what I have heard about Soeur Searle. So Soeur Johnson and I will be here together for her last transfer. There are so many places to go here in our area and I can't wait to discover them all in the next few months.
Tonight we are teaching the family Debarbaraque (sp?) YES. As in Danielle Debarbaraque from Ever After. Whooooa. I'll let you know how that goes. I love you and miss you so very much.
Bisous,
Olivia
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