Many are called…and I was chosen!!

August 5, 2013

        So transfer calls were this week, can I just say that all week was so stressful!! I am sooooo attached to Toulouse and I didn’t want to leave! Soeur Luthi and I would role-play fake transfer calls to prep me for the change (it was slightly hilarious!). So transfer day finally came on Friday Morning. The phone rang at 7:46 am and I picked it up.  President said, "Hello Soeur Richardson, You will be training a new bleu! I will see you on Wednesday!" You can’t even imagine what was going through my head.  The attached picture can give you a pretty good idea! Moral of the story—I am training a brand new missionary and I am staying in Toulouse! Sadley, Soeur Luthi is leaving me. BOO!  She is going to Grenoble and will also training!  We were in SHOCK! I wish we filmed it! So that is my big news for the week! I am training a new bleu fresh from the MTC and I get the privilege to stay in Toulouse! Happy Day!! I feel completely at peace with this! I am soooooo excited to train!! Nervous of course...but I am mostly down right PUMPED!! 

So this week was fabulous for many reasons. 1) transfer calls, 2) Sylvio committed to a baptismal date!, 3) I ate curry! YAY, WOOOT, YAY!! and 4) we started the week off with 3 lessons on Monday!! We were sprinting to one end of the town to the next! It was fabulous! We also ate Curry at this little park stand with a legit Indian woman...it reminded me of the good old days of eating Thai with you Mom! It was UNREAL delicious! So P-day was down right fabulous because we had so many lessons to teach we had to cut our P-day short.  Then we ate curry and got my first ever crepe in France! Yay us!! And best of all—I was complimented on my accent! A woman said that I had a gorgeous accent and I almost started crying. I don’t think anyone could have given me a better compliment!! The French is coming!! In fact, this last transfer my French has grown leaps and bounds!!  I know it’s because Soeur Luthi and I were put in a “sink or swim situation.”  And boy oh boy did we FLY!! Overall this week we taught 8 lessons, contacted loads, committed someone to baptism, found a new amis (investigator), and I enjoyed every second of it! There is nothing better than losing yourself in the work! Sylvio committed to a baptismal date—in December!  At least it is a great first step! The date is for December 7th! I have never been so proud of an Amis (investigator)! Thank you for all your prayers and love! Keep them coming!   

We had a Soirée Familiale (FHE) with some families in our ward. We had a FouFou night! FouFou is an African dish! It was way fun and successful! We had about 35 members and investigators there. That is a miracle. It was great! It’s amazing to see members trying really hard and making the effort to do missionary work. THIS IS VERY SUCCESSFUL. The FHE was great! Loads of food, fun, and conversation!

I was sad for Soeur Luthi to leave.  We were really getting in a rhythm and we were heart broken to leave each other. I sent her off on a train this morning and I cried—a lot. It’s amazing how the gospel, spiritual experiences, and tough/hard situations can really bond you with someone. I love that Sister with all my heart! I will never have a companion like her again.  All the experiences and memories with her are priceless. We were in denial that she was actually leaving but lucky for me I get to see her tomorrow in Lyon to pick up our Bleus!! 

         So funny story for the week: We were teaching our new amis (investigator) Antionne and we were doing the classic lecon 0/retab. Well, Soeur Luthi whipped out the soft baptismal commitment and said, “Antionne, will you be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority? Antionne started chuckling sooooo bad. And I literally said, "Attendez! What do you think the Prêtrise is?” And he said, “Why do I have to be baptized by a priestess?” Bahahahaha! I said, “NO, not a priestess! The Priesthood!” So in case you were wondering, it is true that priestesses do not baptize us in our church but by those who have the priesthood! Soeur Luthi and I were laughing all the way home!       

It’s amazing the miracles that occur in our life everyday. Soeur Luthi and I were blown away! So this is my challenge to all of you this week—open your eyes to the miracles that occur everyday in your life.  If you do, you will only see/recognize them if you open your eyes and look for them. So, please open you eyes. I promise that if you do you will be astonished and humbled by the things you see. God loves you. God is there. 

One other random funny note. I had the idea to make a "Where's President Roney Book" that has pictures with his bobble head appearing randomly in it! It’s hilarious! I will send pictures of it next time! Anyways long story short—your  bobble head is a big hit! Thanks for sending it!! I was looking at the pictures of the family that you sent from Deer Valley.  It really looks like you had a FUN time!  I kept looking at all the pictures and was thinking, “Who on earth is missing?” I honestly couldn’t figure it out for the longest time and then I remembered, “Oh yah, it’s me!!” It’s crazy to think that I had my four-month mission anniversary just 2 days ago.  My mission time is flying!! So the "thing to do" in our mission is decorating your agenda.  This transfer I did a fabulous job!! And I also decorated one for you bleu!  My Richardson creativity really showed throughout this transfer!

K love you all!! xoxox