I hope everyone had a Happy Father's Day!! At church
yesterday, I ran into Brother Wilson, who was visiting here in Paris, and was
in our bishopric long ago when my family lived in Wisconsin! It was funny
because he knows my dad really well and we even got a picture together, and
sent it to him for a little Father’s Day surprise! It’s such a small world
sometimes.
I loved one of the talks that was given in church yesterday.
A young woman talked about the example of Abraham in the Bible, and his willingness
to sacrifice his own son to show his obedience to the Lord. I truly know that
when we put the Lord first in all circumstances, as Abraham did, we will be
blessed.
Last week I trimmed my companion’s hair, and have recently
been asked to cut the other sisters' hair who also live in our apartment! It’s
fun trying new things and playing hairstylist!
Soeur Doyle and I had the wonderful opportunity of having
two different teams of sisters come in this week and work in our area with us.
The sisters were from Le Mans, Caen and Normandy; and we saw so many miracles
and found many new people to teach! My companion and I were on our way to visit
a less-active member, when we sat down near a couple women in the metro car. I
could tell they were looking at our badges so I turned to my companion, smiled,
and at the same time, we both turned to the woman sitting next to us and began
talking with her!
I started the conversation in English, assuming these women
were from the Philippines, and I was right! Their names were Ester and Marie
Grace. They took interest in our daily lives as missionaries and began to
express their deep faith in Christ. It was so neat to sincerely tell them how
much peace and joy the gospel has brought to me in my life. They were so
interested to learn more, as they said they have been looking for a church to
attend here! We got off the metro with them, found a quiet place to sit, and
said a little prayer with them, blessing their families and them in their busy
lives. They were so touched and kept saying "Thank you, Thank you
sisters!!!" They were adorable, haha, as I felt like I was towering over
them as they had to be only about 4'10” or 5 feet tall. We set another time to
meet with them, along with some other Filipino members in our ward and it went
super well. The two women even brought a new friend with them! They became
instant and best friends with the members who were willing to teach with us.
Members play such a huge role in this work!
At the end of the week, we had two young university
journalist students follow us around and film us!! We had permission from our
mission president and even talked a bit with a woman who works for the video
department of the church! These two journalist students are doing a project on
our beliefs as members of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
since there are so many misconceptions from false productions people see on TV!
It was a neat experience, haha. We were a bit nervous, having the camera
following us and in our faces as we stopped and talked to people in the
streets, but we realized we just had to be ourselves! The Lord came through for
us, and it ended up being such a wonderful experience. Luckily, I think it’s
just a low-key, under-the-table project, haha. I’m not ready to have our faces on
the front page of LDS.ORG!
I completely agree with the statement of Elder D. Todd
Christofferson, who visited our mission a month ago, when he said,
"Oftentimes the biggest reason a missionary is sent to his or her mission
is to be under the influence of his or her Mission President and wife." I
will forever be grateful for the examples of President and Sister Pozanski. It’s
our last week with them, and I am looking forward to a very spiritual and
edifying zone conference! We have even put together a little surprise for them!
Have a wonderful week; and know that I love you all.
Soeur Madeline Vance