Bonjour!
So we take the bus to the church this morning to write emails, and we get to a stop and the door won't open, and suddenly we are all stuck in a bus and people. started. PANICKING. All the sudden we realize that we had put our lives in the hands of Versailles public transportation, and oh la la what were we thinking?! So I get up and try to yank the door open with this 70ish year old French woman, and then we just start laughing. Everyone starts laughing. And suddenly we are all just humans stuck on a bus. Public transportation: the greatest human equalizer. Eventually the door opened and all was well.
Versailles is a wonderful place and we had lots of good adventures this week, too many to write. I think my favorite thing was when we went to visit Simone and her family. As I mentioned, her son is diabetic and so things have been really really difficult lately. Despite that though, they are the smiliest, happiest people. And those children are so bright. I have taught families before, and usually you have to make a big effort to make sure that the kids are involved and interested, but with this family, they sit on the floor and stare at you while you teach and listen with such real intent and then ask such beautiful questions. We taught the Plan de Salut, and talked about baptism, and when we said "You have to be eight years old to be baptized," Marc-Jenny starts bouncing and smiling uncontrollably and gasps and looks at his mom and says "MOM! I am eight and a HALF!" I used to be somewhat skeptical about if children can REALLY understand the gospel, or accept it. But that has all been swept away in teaching this family. When the kids make comments, it blows me away. We taught with a couple in our ward, and after the rdv he gave Marc-Jenny a blessing, and after the blessing he says, "I feel better already!" Become like a child. Childlike faith. So beautiful.
We had lots of rdv's this week, including one with our amie Marguerite, who was supposed to get baptized yesterday. She got scared and backed out, but she is so ready, and we are hoping we can help her overcome her fears. She just wants everything to be perfect, and when it's not, she gets scared. We taught her with a recent convert named Alain. Alain is a 6'5'' African man who is skinny as a rod and never not smiling. During the lesson he talked about how he found the gospel. He said,
"So before I found the gospel I was shipwrecked in the ocean. The waves carried me everywhere and I was drowning. And then a big log came by. It wasn't pretty at first, and it wasn't even easy to hold onto, but I held onto it, and it took me to land, and it literally saved my life. What if I had not recognized that the log could save me and I had waited for a little duck floaty? The ducky's not coming Sister Margeurite. And God wants to save our lives. So hold on to the log!"
So I love this for so many reasons. 1. Because he said the phrase "little ducky floaty" and 2. because that is such a great analogy. How often do we want things to be absolutely perfect and are looking for a very specific answer the way WE want it, so that we miss the answer we are given? Or things aren't working out the way we want, and so we just give up, or get angry. We're waiting for the ducky floaty, so we miss the log! I love the Elder Holland quote that says,
"With any major decision there are cautions and considerations to make, but once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now."
Mmhmm.
Yesterday we had church and then after we went to visit a less active girl who lives in the countryside an hour away. We went with a member and it was so fun to see the beautiful green-ness. Versailles actually reminds me a lot of Charlottesville! Lots of green and forest and pretty houses. And then we got home last night and Soeur Stahly and I reaaally wanted to watch a movie, and we chose (out of our huge dvd collection of Legacy, the Testaments, and Preach My Gospel) to watch "Together Forever." A lovely little 80's film about eternal families. Hilarious, A favorite line from one of the songs:
"Like an awkard dancer on a crowded floor, I'll learn to dance once more."
Yes. SO. GOOD.
I love you and miss you so much! Have a lovely week.
xoxoxo
Olivia
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