Bonjour tout le monde!
Transfer News! I’m staying in Saint Quentin! Big surprise, I
know. It’s only been two weeks, so luckily I have at least six more weeks to
discover this place and get my feet under me before I migrate elsewhere. Random
fun fact about St. Quentin: it’s in the north of France, with a population of
56,000 people. Yes, we have already contacted some of the same people for the
second time. Pretty big change from the population in Paris!
They have called a new mission president for our mission!
Frédéric Jean Babin and his wife Marie-Françoise Babin are from Evry, France
and will begin their service this summer in July. We were all so excited to
hear that a French couple would continue to lead our mission, as we truly feel
like they are able to gain a real understanding of the people, the culture and
missionary work here in the France Paris Mission. He won’t be my mission
president for very long, but it will be cool to see the transition!
Remembering what I said last week … exact obedience brings
miracles. As missionaries, we are expected to live certain standards and abide
by certain rules for our own security, but also to ensure that our minds and
motives are centered on our sacred calling to bring others unto Christ. Monday
night, after a lesson with a less-active member, we made our way home to find
ourselves on the street just below our apartment at 8:54pm. We are supposed to
be home at 9pm. At times, going home early seems really tempting, especially
when its freezing cold and the streets are completely deserted … literally meaning
that no one is on the streets. Soeur Kohlert and I looked at each other and
decided we would be exactly obedient, even if it meant a simple six minutes. We
decided to walk to the end of the street and turn back, giving us enough time
before 9:00pm. To be honest, it seemed pointless, as there truly was NO ONE
outside walking the streets. We started walking anyway, and I said a silent
prayer asking Heavenly Father to put someone in our path. A minute or two
later, a couple came out of nowhere and started walking towards us. We began
talking with them (Francis and Melanie) and they told us that they were no
longer believing because they had lost their child at a young age. We testified
that we knew they would be able to see him again through the Plan of Salvation
and through the Atonement of Christ. They were really touched and opened up
more as we talked. We left them with a brochure and set an appointment to meet
with them again later in the week. It was so cool to see how the Lord blessed
us when we did our best to be obedient!!
On Saturday we went to Georgette's house (a woman from our
ward) and she taught us how to make crepes! She is so adorable - just this
great older lady with delicious recipes! Her testimony is so strong and she has
remained faithful her entire life even through the many trials she has been
through. We are going to continue to visit her to help her with her reading in
the Book of Mormon, because it has gotten hard for her. She is officially my
St. Quentin grandma!
Another miracle … Soeur Kohlert and I decided to pass-by
some members on our ward list who are no longer practicing or active in the
ward here in Saint Quentin. It was pretty cold outside and I was freezing. I
even wrapped my feet in plastic bags over my thermal socks to be sure that rain
didn't get in through my boots! After walking for a while, we found the home of
the Langlos family. We said a quick prayer before, hoping that their family
would be open to talking with us. After ringing the doorbell, we patiently
waited underneath our umbrellas … no answer. After a couple minutes, we turned
to leave and a young man named Stephen came out from the back of the house and
said that the front door was broken. We told him who we were and he quickly
said that his parents were no longer interested. We told him we could leave him
with our card with the address of the church, and told him he was always
welcome. He said he wasn’t really believing, and that he wasn’t interested. He
took our card anyway and trudged back inside.
I didn’t think much of that moment until the end of the week
when we walked in the church doors, to see that SAME young man standing there,
dressed in church clothes talking with the elders. Stephen was happy to see us
and thanked us for stopping by that day. He told us he just felt the need to
come to church that day. We found out that he was never baptized and that he
was really touched by the talks he heard in the sacrament meeting. The elders
are now teaching Stephen! It’s so cool to see how our efforts never go wasted!
The Josse Family is continuing to progress. We did a cute
activity with images we cut out from the church magazines to teach the
Restoration of the Church to the entire family, including the kids, Alexi (7)
and Samuel (3). It’s funny because the little boys actually remind me of my
cousins on the Vance side of my family when they were younger. They loved the
activity and I am so amazed by Alexi's love of learning and faith in Christ!
Continue to pray for their family.
Funny stories of the week:
While at church yesterday (Sunday), as I was listening to
the speakers during sacrament meeting, my left arm began to itch. I took the
pen in my hand and began to scratch the spot where it itched with the end of
the pen, not thinking much of it. After a few seconds I looked down to see that
the cap of the pen had fallen to the ground, and I was in complete horror as I
looked down at my left arm with huge black, scribble marks running down my
sleeve!! I was so embarrassed! Soeur Kohlert couldn’t help but laugh at me.
Luckily we were in the primary helping teach lessons to the kids earlier that
morning, so when the members commented on it, I made a joke that it was the
primary kids who did it!
This morning Soeur Kohlert and I went grocery shopping in a
huge super mart. We were in the fruits and vegetables section picking out our
assorted items. It was super crowded, so I decided to leave our cart where it
was and squeeze past a few French men to get to the peppers and tomatoes (yes,
I LOVE tomatoes now!) After putting them in the bag and weighing them on the
scale, I turned and threw them in my cart and took off down the aisle in search
of the next item on our list. All of a sudden I hear a French man behind me
start hollering, and making a scene. I turn around to see him pointing at me,
accusing me of something. Not knowing what was going on, my eyes quickly drop
to the items in my cart, and I realize that none of them belong to me!!! I had
stolen his cart!! I started dying laughing and my whole face was on fire as I
awkwardly approached this man to give him back his proper cart. I apologized
and strolled off, laughing uncontrollably, pretending like nothing happened.
Je vous aime! I love this work and am so grateful for the
love the Savior has for each one of us. He invests so much in us because He
knows what we can become. I feel so blessed to be serving here at this time and
I know that Heavenly Father is going to put people in our path who are prepared
to accept the gospel. Please keep us in your prayers as we are searching for
new people to teach! Have a wonderful week!
