This week was full of adventures and miracles! I love Soeur
Doyle. She is so energetic and has just plunged into this work with me. The
members and our amis love her so much already. We get along wonderfully, are
working hard, and find ourselves laughing a lot during the day.
TODAY I HAD CHIPOTLE!!! Who knew that it would taste so
heavenly after so long?! The other day, a sister asked me what kind of food I
liked, and I started talking about Mexican food, such as Cafe Rio and Chipotle.
She laughed and said, "You know, there’s a Chipotle here in Paris …"
I WAS SO MAD!!! No one even told me! Haha, it was delicious, and so worth it!
This week we have two exchanges planned: with the Versailles
sisters and then we will be heading out to Rouen, Normandy (where Joan of Arc
was burned at the stake!) I am excited to head out to these areas and serve
alongside the sisters there. There is incredible history here in France … I
feel so lucky to be a part of it!
We had the neat opportunity to take the brand new
missionaries out contacting! These were sisters and elders who had just arrived
to our mission from the Madrid MTC! Many of them came running up to me and
said, "Oh, it’s YOU! We were just with your sister, Hermana Vance, and she
told us to look for you!! She is doing so well. She is super happy and is
getting really good at Spanish. She loves you so much." What a tender
mercy.
I got to go out with a missionary who knew my sister very
well from the Madrid MTC. Her name is Soeur Liaboeuf. We hit the streets of
Paris and started talking with everyone in sight. I didn’t understand why she
seemed pretty shy and intimidated at first, but then I realized that she had
JUST ARRIVED HERE, haha. What was brand new and a big challenge for her, had
crossed my mind as nothing but natural. We ended up seeing a huge miracle when
we met a woman named Messe. She was believing and told us how Christ has been
that rock for her in her life. Soeur Liaboeuf summoned up her courage and
testified from her heart the love she has for this gospel. I was so proud of
her and the words which left her mouth were so powerful! Messe let us leave her
with a prayer right there in the street and agreed to come to church on
Sunday!
We are continuing to find more and more people to teach! A
less active member who is a baker here in Paris simply invited his neighbor to
come to church, and she came! Her name is Josara and she is from Brazil! Now we
are teaching her! She is searching on her own to grow closer to Christ and is
interested to learn more! It’s that easy! Miracles happen!
Michele is still working to stop smoking. She has come such
a long way and truly is a different and better person. At times I have to
remind myself of her potential and the love I have for her, even when she
frustrates me. I’m sure it’s how Heavenly Father feels when He sees His
children make wrong decisions or feel apathetic about His gospel. I know with
time and patience that Michele will come through. I can’t help but love her
when she laughs and smiles, thanking me for being one of her only friends.
Every time we go over to teach her, she has a new dress or skirt made for me.
Ha, I think she likes it when I play mannequin and have to try them all on for
her. She really is so sweet. She knows the Book of Mormon is true and reads
chapters and chapters from it every day. It’s inspiring. I know that all we can
do is continue to lead her along, to do ALL WE CAN to help her grow closer to
Christ, and believe that God really is in charge.
Michele came to a family home evening with the Maillot
family. I love this family … they remind me a lot of my own family! For dinner
we ate shrimp, and to help prepare the meal, I actively participated in
reaching into a big bucket of shrimp, then helped by popping off the heads
(with eyeballs) and tails of them myself. Yes … I was laughing the whole time
as juice was squirting all over me.
We had a great night together and talked about the Savior’s
Atonement, and how it truly is for all of us … saints and sinners.
I love the verse found in the Book of Mormon in Moroni
10:32,
"Yea, come unto
Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if
ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might,
mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye
may be perfect in Christ..."
When we put God first we are blessed. We must love Him with
all that we are, and give Him our whole hearts. It is Christ who can change us
to be the person He knows we can become. I love the gift of the Atonement, how
it truly enables us to change for the better.
Soeur Doyle and I are seeing so many miracles. We continue
to work towards our mission goal of 125 baptisms and are preparing for the
coming of our new mission President, President Babin. I know this is the Lord’s
work. It’s not always easy, but it really is the greatest thing. We are never
alone when we stand shoulder to shoulder with our Father in Heaven. My family
and I are reading the Book of Mormon together before I get home in August!
Those who would like to join in, I encourage you to do so! It’s a book that has
changed my life, and brought me closer to Christ than anything else.
Passez une bonne semaine! Je pense a vous! Bisous!
Soeur Madeline Vance
