I made it through the first transfer!!! Haha, I am halfway
through my twelve week training program. I will be staying here in Villeneuve
D'Ascq for at least another six weeks, and then ... who knows?!? I was able to
Skype with my family on Mother's Day! My grandparents on my mom's side were in
town, so I got to hear from them as well ... BONUS! I spent nearly an hour with
the family and then my companion came on (see screenshot below) and I
introduced her to everyone. It was so much fun! I love my family so much and am
so grateful for the prayers and continual support they give me. My mother is
such an incredible example of a woman anchored in her faith in Jesus Christ. I
am so grateful for the time she took to teach us as little children the
principles of the gospel through Primary songs and church hymns, as well as
teaching us the stories in the Bible and Book of Mormon. She helped lay the
foundation of my testimony and conversion to Jesus Christ and is so unselfish
in everything she does. I love my mom!
Summer is on its way (BUT NOT HERE)! Haha, it's still full
of gray skies and winter coats, but hey, I can deal with it. Last week we had a
zone conference and President Poznanski and his wife came for interviews! They
are so inspired and gave us such wonderful counsel. I know they are called of
God and that they receive revelation for our Paris Mission and this part of the
Lord's vineyard. We had Samedi Sports again on Saturday and had the chance to
play some good ol' futbol! I ended up scoring two goals off of headers! Haha,
it was awesome - whenever I make a good pass or play, they all just yell,
"Whaaaat?!!?! That American girl can PLAY!! She's dangerous!" It's
hilarious.
We had our first baptism!! It was so unbelievable seeing
Mehdi, our 12-year-old convert, go through with such a sacred ordinance that is
going to bless him and his future family for the rest of his life. His parents
were in tears as they hugged us and thanked us for all we have done for their
family. I have truly gained a testimony about helping to reactivate part-member
families. There is such strength that comes when a family centers their time
and life on the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 3 Nephi 18:21, it talks about the
importance of praying together in your families. I find that I am truly able to
testify about how spending time with your family, praying together, and having
family home evening together has impacted my own life. Even though our family
always seemed to have the craziest schedules with sports, school, work, travel
and other social activities during the week, we always made it a point to set
aside time for our family to be together. That has kept us unified and allowed
us to help one another to stay on course with our family goal … to one day live
in the celestial kingdom of heaven together. I will always be grateful to my
parents for showing me by example the importance of Family Home Evening and
family prayer. We can live with our families forever, but we must do our part
here on earth to strengthen and fortify our families! I hope to be able to
emulate their examples and implement these principles in my future family someday.
The two speakers that were supposed to give talks in church
on Sunday sort of, well, disappeared. So about ten minutes before the start of
the meeting, a member of the bishopric came up to me and asked if I would speak
and bear my testimony in front of the congregation. I said I would, of course,
haha. Gotta love being a missionary! I prayed for help from my Heavenly Father
to be able to express the feelings in my heart about what the gospel of Jesus
Christ means to me ... in a foreign tongue that I am still learning. As usual,
I was blessed with His guidance and able to share what I know to be true as the
words just came to me!
The other day on a bus I felt prompted to speak to a young
family with a few children. I was in the back of the bus and they were all the
way in the front. I didn't really want to make a scene and go all the way up
there as the bus was moving, but I felt really strongly that I needed to do so.
I got up out of my seat and marched up to the front, feeling slightly off
balance as we hit a huge bump and I had to grab one of the nearby poles to
regain my balance. I approached the father, who had many piercings and tattoos
and did not seem interested in talking to me at all. I introduced myself anyway,
and explained that I was here for 18 months of my life to share a message of
Jesus Christ and help strengthen families. I wish I could say that this story
had a fairytale ending and that the man and his entire family committed to be
baptized ... but instead, he shook his head and gave me weird looks. His wife
just busted up laughing right in my face, completely making fun of me and who I
represent. They mocked and scorned me, and couldn’t have been more impolite or
less interested. But my companion and I left them with a "The Family: A Proclamation
to the World" brochure and testified to them that we know we can be with
our families forever and that they can be strengthened and fortified through
Jesus Christ. Normally, I would probably walk away from this situation downtrodden
or discouraged, but I decided to turn the other cheek and testify with love and
power. I don't know why the Spirit urged me to go to speak to this family that just
ended up mocking me and my beliefs ... but I'm glad I did it. We often don’t know
the fruits of our labors, and I know at times the Lord tests us to see if we
are willing to follow what we are asked to do. Besides, Jesus Christ, the very
One we represent, was scorned, mocked, and crucified of men. How are we
supposed to better come to know Jesus Christ if we do not, even in small ways, have
some of those same experiences ourselves?!
It's crazy to think that I only get to do this for the next
15 months. I’m sure many people think that sounds like forever, but it truly is
going by fast! I love being able to represent my Savior each day and have fun
in France along the way.J It's hard, and to be honest, I'm pretty exhausted
most of the time. But there is absolutely nothing else I wish I could be doing!
I love my companion - we work so hard together and are always actively finding
those people who are ready to hear our message! Thank you to all of those who
have reached out to me and given me kind words of encouragement and support! I
feel so blessed to be in this area as I learn to love the people here more and
more every day!
Have a wonderful week and find ways to share your faith with
those around you!
Soeur Madeline Vance
