Holidays are a missionary’s
nightmare. First, all of your amis are
out of town. Second, their progression
is stalled or has digressed over the holidays. And third, missionaries don’t
get holidays and it’s a cruel reminder of what holidays are like at home. But,
that’s for the best!
This week went by pretty dang fast.
All the weeks seem to do that gosh darn it!! As you all know.....I have sadly
hit my 9 months. It was a bittersweet moment. Sad because I only have a
precious 9 months to work as hard as I can as the Lords servant but happy
because I am proud with the work I have done thus far. No Regrets. I figure
that is a pretty good sign! For my 9 month mark, I chose to celebrate with my
favorite Bio Cookies. I first discovered these cookies with Soeur Caldwell in
Toulouse...And I recently discovered the same cookies here in Chambéry (BOO YA)
Framboise Chocolat Noir et Noix de Coco. (Dark Chocolate Raspberry cookies and
Coconut Fig Chocolate cookies!!) They are soo good!!
We celebrated New Years with a
potential Ami. She has some physical disabilities and we have been doing
service for her. She invited us over for a meal and we gladly accepted. Well
when we arrived she had set the table with her nice china and cooked us a meal
of courses!!! We were overcome with love. With her handicapped hands it must
have taken her all day to cook us that meal! Homemade vegetable soup. Cooked
potatoes, steak, zucchini....and two homemade cakes for dessert!! #spoiled. We
even ate fois gras—again. Gotta love the fois gras holiday tradition. While our
potential Ami was cutting the Fois Gras she accidently cut her finger. She
continued to cut the fois gras and blood was getting all over it. You can
imagine my face. I was sitting next to Soeur DeO and she was literally about to
pass out. She just kept saying, “oh, I don’t feel good.” Hahaha While our Potential Ami was still hacking away at the fois bloody gras we were all thinking, “OH MY
GOSH WE ARE GOING TO EAT HUMAN BLOOD!!” She went to the Kitchen to get a
better...sharper knife (#badidea) and while she was there I began to pray that
we wouldn’t contract some crazy human blood disease. Well it turns out she just
got it all over the cloth covering of the fois gras.....alors...so we did NOT
eat human blood, phew. Moral of the story: prayer works.
I'd now like to recount a
story that happened Sunday. As you know, it was the first Sunday of the month
(aka Testimony meeting). We had quite a good turnout for church this
Sunday...about 56!! Of those 56 we had about 5 less actives (ohhhh ya!). And among those less actives was a man I had
never met before. He showed up in the same boots as Soeur Beeny, a Russian fur
hat, and a good looking coat....that I would wear. We taught the Adult Sunday
School lecon and he made a few comments that were interesting (but honestly
this is France so I didn’t think much of it)! Well testimony meeting begins and
I leaned over to Soeur Belibi and asked "Soeur est-ce que vous le
connaissez? (do you know him?). And right after I asked, “What can you tell me
about him?” She just smiled at me and said "ma chérie, Vous allez
voir" Translation: “My dear, you will see." aka ATTENTION, ATTENTION ..something is about to go down!!!
So I continued to look over to see if he was ever going to stand up. Well I
looked over and saw a stack of papers. The title was "Témoignage" aka
Testimony. Well he stood up and when he did the whole branches eyes about
popped out of their heads. Obviously this
guy clearly had a reputation! He got up and began to pull something out of his
coat. It was a Menorah, you know, a Hanukah Candlestick. He began to
explain that he found it by his mailbox so clearly it came from God. He
continued to explain that he had been living with Satan for the past few years
and thanks to the grace of God he is now freed.....hmmmmmm?! After he had
finished his 6-page testimony he said, “I would like to add this testimony in
hard copy to the Branch history." He then turned around and handed it to
our Branch President as he bowed. He
then exited the stand while holding the candle in front of his heart as he
walked down the isle to his seat. I do have to admit it was quite a great
presentation of theatrics and drama. You can imagine the awkward silence
afterwards. #classic. Other than the drunk guy making up a song for me
and my comp that went something like "Les Filles à Chambéry..Vous êtes
très jolie!!" and then blowing on his harmonica...it was a pretty normal
Sunday.
While this week was full of crazy
stories, many miracles happened! We have had the great opportunity to work with
a couple of families! One family has loads of potential!! We are praying sooooo
hard for them right now!! Come to find out their other son is one of our progressing
Amis! Small world!! We were dying when we found out!! They love us and we were
invited us over where they cooked a homemade cake!! It’s truly amazing the way
God can open doors and hearts!! As a missionary you get to see miracles daily. I often have to remind my self how lucky I am
because miracles seem to be something so...normal. God is a God of Miracles.
This week I also got a letter from
a member from Toulouse. I was so touched and happy to hear that they still
remember me! :) I just love being a missionary. It’s an amazing opportunity to
work closely with people (members, investigators, and less actives). You truly
get to feel the love Jesus and God feel for these people. My eyes have been
opened to that love. And I am forever grateful.
Challenge of the Week: Set New Year Resolutions.
I have set mine and am grateful for the opportunity I
have to improve myself! I would suggest setting a goal for 5 things: Physical,
Spiritual, Financial, Intellectual, and Emotional. That is what I did and I
found that they are really focused and I will be able to see a lot of
improvement in those specific areas!!
Happy 2014 people!! Meilleur Vœux!! XOXO
ps. Meg got your package with the ornament...it was pink ;)
Thanks for the candy!! And the pics were the best!! I cried. Also, Momma if you
could be so kind as to send me a pair of my running spandex (the long black
ones) that would be super helpful for morning runs!! pps I love the lotion
stuff and face soap you sent me! It’s the greatest! Love you!! XOXO
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