I Knew You Would Come!

My sister Lydia heads to Barcelona this week! I am so excited for her! Being out here in the mission field with her has given me more motivation and strength than I ever thought it would! Congrats to Emily Proudfoot on her mission call to Paris! You are headed to the best mission! Okay, I’m a little biased.

This week proved to be quite the emotional week for me, in the very best way. In the middle of the week we had our last zone conference with President and Soeur Poznanski. I felt the spirit so strongly as they each spoke to us for the last time, giving us counsel and words of advice, and thanking us for our example. They have become my heroes … two people that I will cherish in my heart forever. I feel so blessed to have gotten to know them and I feel so close to them.

We put together an Arc de Triomphe replica carved out of wood, and asked all of the missionaries to contribute a sentence about what they loved and/or learned from the Poznanskis. Then we put them all together and pasted them all over the wood to give it a collage and artsy/newspaper effect.  When we gave this gift of gratitude to them, Soeur Poznanski just wept when she saw it. Afterwards, President told us all that we could give them a hug! (I was laughing because I haven’t hugged a man in 16 months!) But when I did, I just felt like I was hugging my own dad.

After pulling away, I did my best to hold back my tears and looked him in the eyes thanking him for changing my life. He put his hand on my shoulder, and said, "Soeur Vance, I’m proud of you. Finish strong." It was one of the most powerful moments of my whole life. I want that same feeling when I find myself standing in front of my Heavenly Father, at the end of my life, knowing that I did my best and did all that I could have done for others.

When I went to Soeur Poznanski, she just held me. She wept and squeezed my hand saying, "Merci. Merci. I don’t want to leave." She thanked my companion and me from the bottom of her heart for the beautiful and symbolic gift we had put together for her. She is one of the strongest women I know.

Soeur Doyle and I hadn’t found anyone new to teach during the week. On Saturday, as I was doing my morning scripture study, I was thinking a lot about my dad. I was thinking that, 29 years ago to the day, he had made the decision to follow Christ and be baptized in His restored church. I knew that June 21^st was always a special and memorable day for him, and I said a silent prayer in my heart that Soeur Doyle and I would be able to find someone special that day.

We set out after lunch to do some contacting in a beautiful park close to our home. We talked to a Buddhist woman who had just finished her yoga class, and she expressed to us how meditation had really seemed to help her in her life. We testified of how we feel God's love through prayer, personally conversing with Him each day. She agreed to read a little brochure we left with her.

We talked to a few more families, many of them claiming to be atheists, and they expressed their disinterest in listening to our message of eternal families and how they can be strengthened through Jesus Christ. It always breaks my heart a bit inside knowing the happiness these people are missing in their lives.

Right before we left, I noticed a woman sitting on the bench alone. I felt a push inside of me to go and talk to her. After simply introducing myself, she cut me off and said, "I knew you would come. They always said you would come." We were a bit confused. She continued, "I am believing. I read the Bible every day. It tells us that Jesus Christ would send His servants abroad to preach His gospel, two by two. Here you are! I want to hear your message." I am pretty sure my jaw dropped. I laughed and took a seat next to her.

Her name was Anne-Desirée. We instantly shared with her why we decided to serve a mission, and how the gospel of Jesus Christ has brought us so much happiness. We shared with her the restoration of the gospel and she instantly accepted it. The spirit was SO strong. She kept saying, "This is incredible! Why has nobody told me this before?!! This is wonderful news! Do you know what this means? We have a PROPHET on the earth today! Like we had with Noah, Moses, and Abraham, to lead and guide us. God still reaches out to His children! We are no longer in darkness!!"

It was absolutely unbelievable and incredible. I hope to always remember how wonderful and special our message of the restoration is, and never take it for granted. What a miracle! I am excited to keep teaching her and watch her progress as she comes to know for herself that our message is true.

I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. Ours is a message of peace and hope; of lasting happiness that gives us the strength to push through when we are hit with waves of trials. I wouldn't be out here if I didn’t know for myself that the Book of Mormon was true. I know families are eternal, and I know they can be sealed for time and all eternity, through sacred ordinances in the temples of the Lord. I am so excited for the temple that is currently under construction here in France. I dream of coming back to see the open house and dedication.

There are people out there who are prepared to receive the restored gospel. The Lord helps us recognize them, but He also helps them recognize us, as His servants. I love my mission, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.

I love you all. Have a great week, and recognize the daily miracles in your lives!

Soeur Madeline Vance

Put The Lord First

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

We Live For Our Faith

What another crazy wonderful week in Paris! It’s really starting to heat up here, and it reminds me of the good ol' humidity in Ohio! For Pday today, Soeur Doyle and I climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower! It was something I always dreamed of doing! We ended up meeting a huge choir group at the top from San Antonio, and most of them were members of our church. They treated us like celebrities and all wanted a picture with us! So funny!

My exchange in Rouen, Normandy was so wonderful! I was with Soeur Berge, a missionary who has been out for a year. We had so many powerful appointments where we were able to testify of the restored gospel. We found a cute French family as well!! We were doing some contacting and we both felt so strongly that we needed to cross the street. We stopped a blonde French lady and started testifying of eternal families. She was super touched, and began to cry as we prayed with her! It was so cool! As we were leaving, on JUNE 6 (DDAY!), we passed by the sacred stake where Joan of Arc was burned. I felt the Spirit so strongly as I thought of her and her example. I love this quote said of her, and am always reminded of her courage and desire to stand up for what was right no matter the price:

"She could leave her family, speak to knights, to bishops, to a king, wear armor, wield a sword, go into battle, lead men, bear the pain of arrows that pierced her body and return to the fight, leap from towers, even crown a King. And when this was over, she could bear up under the relentless questioning of the most educated men of the day who tried, hour after hour, week by week, to pinion her into confessing heresy, to abandon faith in her mission, and betray the message God had sent her to achieve. Yet she held her own, until broken at last, she was led weeping to her painful death. She knew she was right, that she had been called of God to save her beloved France. This she would do for she could do nothing less."

Joan of Arc truly is one of my greatest heroes. I know that we too, as missionaries, are called of God to bring about His great work. Unlike Joan, we are not asked to die for our faith, but asked to LIVE for it. We are asked to stand as bright beacons in this dark world and light the way for others to follow and come unto Christ. What a noble calling!

I love you all so very much! We are truly seeing so many miracles in this mission! We continue to work and pray for our goal of 125 baptisms before the end of this month. Michele continues to progress and feels more and more strength each day. We did splits with two BYU study abroad students, Tess and Auburn, who are preparing to go on missions. They were incredible and brought such a special spirit! Those preparing to serve: go out with the missionaries!

I know this gospel is true. Jesus is our perfect example. We had an incredible stake conference this week where we watched a broadcast that was being shown all over Europe. We heard Elder Neil L. Andersen speak, as well as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. They testified that the work here is going to keep exploding as the Lord truly is preparing the hearts of the people here to receive the gospel. All we must do is invite others to come unto him!

I love you all; stay strong!

Soeur Madeline Vance