So Soeur Hilton got transferred to Belgium :( sad day. We got taught and worked together so well and she is just a BLAST. And actually our last day together, we decided to go into Paris REALLY early with the Zone Leaders of exchanges. Zone Leaders have to be into Paris by like 930 but we don't really have to be there until noon. So we decided to get in just as early as the ZL's...and carry her bags all the way to the eiffel Tower :) We just sat under the Eiffel Tower and reminisced on an AWESOME transfer. It was so fun and the perfect way to end such a good transfer. I'm so grateful for my mission and the opportunity it has to be able to meet some of my greatest friends. Anyway, I stayed here in Rennes and my new comp (Sr. Barton) is awesome! In fact, she reminds me of Aunt Lora! Haha it is so much fun. Her little mannerisms too I just think...."I'm serving a mission in Paris with Aunt Lora". She is from Monticello Utah and she is just one transfer below me so it's really fun because (like last transfer) I'm with someone who has lots of energy and missionary fire. It's so fun.
So this week highlight was probably our lesson with Annabelle. Well...we actually had a couple lessons with Annabelle this week but last night we brought a member with us--Sr. Hamzic. Annabelle lives alone and is from a Catholic background. When we were telling Sr. Hamzic (our RS prez) about her, we found that the two of them had a lot of similarities and that a lot of Annabelle's confusions are the exact same as Sr. Hamzic's were.
For those of you coming late into the story, Annabelle is an ami that Sr. Hilton and I met our 2nd week together and we've been teaching her 2-3 times a week since then. She ADORES the Book of Mormon. She has read up to Alma 12 already and then she's read chapters here and there as we have assigned them. So... ya...she's pretty good at reading haha. However, prayers for her have been really hard. In the past, prayers have always been memorized. So the idea of just speaking to our Heavenly Father is definitely new.
Well anyway, yesterday, I was reminded why we invite members to lessons. Sr. Hamzic shared some experiences and ideas that really touched Annabelle. So much so that she said that she would pray and ASK if the Book of Mormon is true!! In her prayer at the end of the lesson, she thanked our Heavenly Father over and over for Sr. Hamzic and the things she shared and that "it touched her so much". She also thanked Him for how....persistent the missionaries are hahahaha.
Fatima is still doing so well. We had a goodbye dinner with her and the Delacourt's before Sr. Hilton left for Belgium. Galets. Yum. Fatima will be leaving to Morocco soon to visit her family for about a month. So we are going to back her a "vacation calender" of reading and things that will help her keep her testimony and keep her progressing while she is away.
Saturday there was a baptism (8 year old) and I had a chance to play my violin! woot. And then yesterday after church there was a picnic and we ate like kings. Double woot.
Congrats Jon and Sarah on little Callan!! I think his face might be rounder than mine! He's super cute and I feel like I'm officially an Aunt because now I have one niece and one nephew :) :) :) :) I love you guys so much and I'm so glad that everything went well.
Sorry it's shorter this week but know that I love you lots!
Soeur Bitter
Monday, 23 September 2013
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
The Sun Shines on Missionary Work - September 16, 2013
Greetings,
This week was such a good week and the perfect way to end the transfer. It is such a testimony that our hard moments can last as short as a week. The sun does rise again.
Let's start from the beginning. So this week we went back to see that new young family that we found last week. On the way there I started thinking 'oh mince...I hope that they are there...and if they are not there...I hope the Grenal's don't remember." The Grenals having been fasting and praying for a missionary opportunity for years and the last thing we wanted to do was to squash their hopes. Well, sure enough, we turn the street and the Grenals are in their front yard haha at this point I think, "well, now they HAVE to be there."
Sure enough we turn the corner and the family was waiting for us! The lesson went super well. At the beginning of the lesson, he said "well, I just don't see the point of religion because no one has all the truth." Me and my companion think "well this is perfect" And we tell him "well, that's actually what we wanted to talk to you about today." haha. We go back to the Grenal's and tell them about our lesson with them. They are freaking out while we're playing it all cool (but secretly geeking out). They then told us that they had been praying all day that the family would remember our visit. I was seriously touched by their devotion to missionary work.
Then Soeur Grenal asks us about one of our Amis who we had been teaching and who had come to church once. This was kind of a sad topic because this ami had dropped appointments for about 4 weeks straight. We told her that we weren't seeing her any more. She then explained to us that the time that Fatima came to church, she had asked about baptism. This was super surprising to both of us because before I came, they had not taught Fatima formal lessons. Fatima is Muslim but non practicing. The missionaries had kept the appointments more casual just to keep the relationship up and then ease her into the missionary discussions.
When I came, Soeur Hilton and I decided I could play the new missionary card and we could start to structure the lessons more. Anyway, after our visit with Soeur Grenal, we decided to call Fatima again and see if we could fix something. Sure enough, she says that she is free the next day! We call a member and have her come with us. We're teaching the Doctrine of Christ. The spirit is really strong and towards the end of the lesson, we invite her to pray to know if Jesus Christ is her Savior. She then starts describing these experiences she has had and then finally proclaims that she has Faith in Jesus Christ. I was floored!
I remember the lesson we had with her at the beginning of the transfer and she was so confused by who Christ was and his role. She went on to say "Now that I believe in Him, it's like I've known him all along." The spirit was so unbelievably strong. Apparently she had been searching the internet and reading all she could. She kept our commitment to pray and felt an outpouring of the Spirit. It was probably one of the more touching moments of my mission. I met this woman about 6 weeks ago and at that point she wasn't sure who Christ was but now it's "like she's known him all along."
Other great news: This week Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard were here and this last weekend we went to Paris to a multi-stake conference. Officially, there are no more districts in France. All Stakes now. The temple is finally under construction!!! WOHOOO!! One of the highlights of the conference was seeing all the people I love and miss from Melun. I was able to see Prisca and she is doing SO WELL!! The greatest news was when I heard, "Soeur Bitter!". I turn around and it's Benjamin! I was SO excited to see him! Even more excited to see him in a white shirt and suit! That was shocking! We used to go and teach Benjamin and his mom every Friday night. They were a less active family in Melun. Our lessons were always really good but it was hard getting them to church. As I left Melun, Benjamin was coming more and more often and starting to volunteer for the YSA activities and things like that. Well, I now find out, HE'S GOING TO SERVE A MISSION! Complete turn around!! I'm so excited for him. Oh my goodness!
Fun moment from weekend: We have an ami who is in Paris on an internship right now so we decided to set up a RDV while at the multi-Stake Conference. And where would we be meeting? In front of Notre Dame. Pourquoi pas? Ha. It was pretty magical as we were waiting for her in front of the most identifiable cathedral in the world while the Organ is blasting away. I serve in the coolest city in the world.
Last preparation day, we decided that after p-day was over, we would go and visit this family who live kind of far away. So far, that we can't take a bus or train...ROAD TRIP!!! We decided we would spend p-day down there and see the chateau and then after, just stay and visit this family. First off, driving for an hour through french countryside-just loved it. More than that, the Pahio's are the most Christ-like, loving people I think I have ever met. They have so much love for Christ and for others. When we heard their conversion stories and I was floored to find out that Soeur Pahio was the first member in her country! And now, just 11 years later, there are 2 branches there! They are so wonderful. It was kind of sad though because I could tell that being so far from the ward was really hard for them. Their car doesn't work 100 percent of the time and I don't think people go down and visit them often. So I'm thinking we're going to make a once per transfer road trip :) We love them so much.
Well, those are all my stories for today. :)
Jon & Sarah: You have been in my prayers so much!! I'll be thinking of you two more than usual this week! Also, loving all the pictures that you are sending. You guys are the best. Tell my favorite nephew hi and give my favorite niece a kiss for me.
I love you all and think of you often.
Sœur Bitter
This week was such a good week and the perfect way to end the transfer. It is such a testimony that our hard moments can last as short as a week. The sun does rise again.
Let's start from the beginning. So this week we went back to see that new young family that we found last week. On the way there I started thinking 'oh mince...I hope that they are there...and if they are not there...I hope the Grenal's don't remember." The Grenals having been fasting and praying for a missionary opportunity for years and the last thing we wanted to do was to squash their hopes. Well, sure enough, we turn the street and the Grenals are in their front yard haha at this point I think, "well, now they HAVE to be there."
Sure enough we turn the corner and the family was waiting for us! The lesson went super well. At the beginning of the lesson, he said "well, I just don't see the point of religion because no one has all the truth." Me and my companion think "well this is perfect" And we tell him "well, that's actually what we wanted to talk to you about today." haha. We go back to the Grenal's and tell them about our lesson with them. They are freaking out while we're playing it all cool (but secretly geeking out). They then told us that they had been praying all day that the family would remember our visit. I was seriously touched by their devotion to missionary work.
Then Soeur Grenal asks us about one of our Amis who we had been teaching and who had come to church once. This was kind of a sad topic because this ami had dropped appointments for about 4 weeks straight. We told her that we weren't seeing her any more. She then explained to us that the time that Fatima came to church, she had asked about baptism. This was super surprising to both of us because before I came, they had not taught Fatima formal lessons. Fatima is Muslim but non practicing. The missionaries had kept the appointments more casual just to keep the relationship up and then ease her into the missionary discussions.
When I came, Soeur Hilton and I decided I could play the new missionary card and we could start to structure the lessons more. Anyway, after our visit with Soeur Grenal, we decided to call Fatima again and see if we could fix something. Sure enough, she says that she is free the next day! We call a member and have her come with us. We're teaching the Doctrine of Christ. The spirit is really strong and towards the end of the lesson, we invite her to pray to know if Jesus Christ is her Savior. She then starts describing these experiences she has had and then finally proclaims that she has Faith in Jesus Christ. I was floored!
I remember the lesson we had with her at the beginning of the transfer and she was so confused by who Christ was and his role. She went on to say "Now that I believe in Him, it's like I've known him all along." The spirit was so unbelievably strong. Apparently she had been searching the internet and reading all she could. She kept our commitment to pray and felt an outpouring of the Spirit. It was probably one of the more touching moments of my mission. I met this woman about 6 weeks ago and at that point she wasn't sure who Christ was but now it's "like she's known him all along."
Other great news: This week Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard were here and this last weekend we went to Paris to a multi-stake conference. Officially, there are no more districts in France. All Stakes now. The temple is finally under construction!!! WOHOOO!! One of the highlights of the conference was seeing all the people I love and miss from Melun. I was able to see Prisca and she is doing SO WELL!! The greatest news was when I heard, "Soeur Bitter!". I turn around and it's Benjamin! I was SO excited to see him! Even more excited to see him in a white shirt and suit! That was shocking! We used to go and teach Benjamin and his mom every Friday night. They were a less active family in Melun. Our lessons were always really good but it was hard getting them to church. As I left Melun, Benjamin was coming more and more often and starting to volunteer for the YSA activities and things like that. Well, I now find out, HE'S GOING TO SERVE A MISSION! Complete turn around!! I'm so excited for him. Oh my goodness!
Fun moment from weekend: We have an ami who is in Paris on an internship right now so we decided to set up a RDV while at the multi-Stake Conference. And where would we be meeting? In front of Notre Dame. Pourquoi pas? Ha. It was pretty magical as we were waiting for her in front of the most identifiable cathedral in the world while the Organ is blasting away. I serve in the coolest city in the world.
Last preparation day, we decided that after p-day was over, we would go and visit this family who live kind of far away. So far, that we can't take a bus or train...ROAD TRIP!!! We decided we would spend p-day down there and see the chateau and then after, just stay and visit this family. First off, driving for an hour through french countryside-just loved it. More than that, the Pahio's are the most Christ-like, loving people I think I have ever met. They have so much love for Christ and for others. When we heard their conversion stories and I was floored to find out that Soeur Pahio was the first member in her country! And now, just 11 years later, there are 2 branches there! They are so wonderful. It was kind of sad though because I could tell that being so far from the ward was really hard for them. Their car doesn't work 100 percent of the time and I don't think people go down and visit them often. So I'm thinking we're going to make a once per transfer road trip :) We love them so much.
Well, those are all my stories for today. :)
Jon & Sarah: You have been in my prayers so much!! I'll be thinking of you two more than usual this week! Also, loving all the pictures that you are sending. You guys are the best. Tell my favorite nephew hi and give my favorite niece a kiss for me.
I love you all and think of you often.
Sœur Bitter
Monday, 9 September 2013
Tough Week - Delacourts Were Robbed: September 9, 2013
Bonjour mes chères,
This week was incredibly hard so I'm going to keep this short.
Miracle of the week: We were on our way to a members house this last Thursday and we got there about 15 minutes early. So we decided to do a little port à port for a few minutes. We really wanted to find a someone in this neighborhood.
The couple that we were going to go visit is AWESOME. They are such a strong family in the Gospel and the wife is fasting and praying all the time to have missionary experiences. So we really wanted to find a family in their area allowing them the opportunity to welcome-in and enjoy the spirit of missionary work. So we start porting and on the 3rd house, a young father answers the door. We start talking about the Plan of Salvation. He was really open and his wife was incredibly nice.
They invited us back for this week. Needless to say, the members were THRILLED!! I don't think I've seen someone's face light up like that except for kids on Christmas haha. It was awesome. But we're really excited because this week all of the families we were teaching have decided to stop seeing us. But now we have found a potential amis again. My companion and I were talking the other night about how much we want to find this ward REALLY STRONG stable families. People who will desire to build the kingdom here in France. So we are really excited to teach this awesome young French family.
Other news, the Delacourts got robbed for the 2nd time (in a month). The thieves took laptops and hard drives. The drive had all of their pictures on it. The robbers emptied closets and bookshelves. Every room has a pile about 3 feet high of stuff. It is so sad. So we spent a chunk of Wednesday helping her clean things up and we'll be there again this week.
God loves us. Christ lives. The Church is true.
Loves you lots
Sœur Bitter
This week was incredibly hard so I'm going to keep this short.
Miracle of the week: We were on our way to a members house this last Thursday and we got there about 15 minutes early. So we decided to do a little port à port for a few minutes. We really wanted to find a someone in this neighborhood.
The couple that we were going to go visit is AWESOME. They are such a strong family in the Gospel and the wife is fasting and praying all the time to have missionary experiences. So we really wanted to find a family in their area allowing them the opportunity to welcome-in and enjoy the spirit of missionary work. So we start porting and on the 3rd house, a young father answers the door. We start talking about the Plan of Salvation. He was really open and his wife was incredibly nice.
They invited us back for this week. Needless to say, the members were THRILLED!! I don't think I've seen someone's face light up like that except for kids on Christmas haha. It was awesome. But we're really excited because this week all of the families we were teaching have decided to stop seeing us. But now we have found a potential amis again. My companion and I were talking the other night about how much we want to find this ward REALLY STRONG stable families. People who will desire to build the kingdom here in France. So we are really excited to teach this awesome young French family.
Other news, the Delacourts got robbed for the 2nd time (in a month). The thieves took laptops and hard drives. The drive had all of their pictures on it. The robbers emptied closets and bookshelves. Every room has a pile about 3 feet high of stuff. It is so sad. So we spent a chunk of Wednesday helping her clean things up and we'll be there again this week.
God loves us. Christ lives. The Church is true.
Loves you lots
Sœur Bitter
Thursday, 5 September 2013
Rennes Ward Is Awesome - September 2, 2013
Hello world!!
I can't believe another week has gone by. This transfer has just been flying. Soeur Hilton and I were doing planning last night and we both just turned to each other and were like "Is it P.day again?!" Haha. This week was pretty crazy. We had exchanges last Wednesday/Thursday and I went down to Nantes. It's a little bigger than Rennes and it's SO beautiful...but I was happy to return to my own ville with my own friends :).
So I'd like to start by talking about the ward. This ward is AMAZING!!! We had dinner with a couple of families this week and each time I was just AMAZED. The Rennes ward is FULL of the Pioneers of France. The first members of the Rennes Branch, The first members in bretagne. It is AMAZING. And it's even more unbelievable to me that Rennes is now one of the biggest wards in all of France. It is pushing the capacity of the chapel!! How awesome is that?? So Tuesday night, we saw the Trahmels--and of course they made us classic Bretagne galets. Yummm. Before we ate, Frère Trahmel walked us around his .5 acre garden telling us stories as we picked fresh raspberries and strawberries. (Sometimes I think my life isn't real). We brought our violins with us and we played a couple of hymns and then they told us their French Pioneer story. It blew my mind. It makes sense why the French LOVE the early pioneer stories so much. I feel like a little part of them relates but then they stand in awe at the added physical trial. So many members will ask us if we have pioneer stories in our heritage. When they tell us to recount them, without fail, their eyes just fill with tears.
Also, our ward takes care of us SO MUCH! EVERY Sunday, we're bringing home some sort of goody. Crepes, fresh picked corn, etc. This last week, Frère Mocquard comes up to me as we're greeting everyone at the beginning of church. He turns to me and whispers:
"Soeur Bitter, we have something in our car for you and your companion."
"Huh?"
"Do you have your car today?"
"Wait, my car? Yes. We drove today."
at this point I'm confused. Are we talking about HIS car or OUR car? Did he want to see our car? What's he trying to say? haha
I just decided to follow him out the door and find out. Low and behold, him and his wife bought us 3 GIGANTIC boxes of granola. Back story: We were at their house this week to eat dinner with them. I noticed they had BIG boxes of cereal--like putting Costco to shame. I asked them where they got it. I told them I've been trying to find cereal like that since coming here but without fail, the stores always had tiny boxes and they were super expensive. So what did they do? Bought us a month supply of yummy cereal haha. Oh my goodness I love this ward.
After church, we're all standing around and a few of the members bellow "MES SŒURS!!! ON VOUS AIME!!" :)
At the end of church, they took a ward photo and they insisted that we were in it, so I'll try to get my hands on one and send it to you all so you can see the great ward I'm in :)
So last Sunday (8 days ago) I noticed that Yann (a recent convert of 2 years) was with his mom. I had remembered Soeur Hilton telling me that his mom was a recent convert (not even a year) but that she didn't come too often. I ran up to her and asked if we could visit her this week. She was thrilled and invited us over for that Thursday. Soeur Hilton and I had noticed that she had not gotten any after baptism lessons. The missionaries just kind of left her!! I think they figured because her son was there that he would answer any questions. So we decided to ask her point blank if she wanted the lessons or not. We sit down with her and I tell her that normally there are lessons after you have been baptized. I asked if she had had any of those which she said she hadn't.
"Would you like these lessons?"
"If you can be patient with me..."
"Of course we'll be patient with you!"
"Then yes. I want those very much. I just feel like I don't know a lot. My mom asks me all these questions about the church and I don't know where to turn for the answers. In church, everyone knows where every scripture is and I just know what I learned from the missionaries."
She went on to say how she felt a little forgotten after she had been baptized and sometimes church was scary because she didn't know how to navigate the scriptures like the members. Notice to all members: Take care of the recent converts. Just because they're baptized doesn't mean that they instantly know everything.
But it was an awesome lesson and I am SO excited to teach her more.
I don't remember if I told you about Annabelle but we have been seeing her for a couple weeks. Soeur Hilton and I found her my very first week and we have been teaching her a couple times a week since then. She is French and she really thinks about everything we teach her which is AWESOME! She reads everything we give her and she has such good questions each time we come back. The thing we are trying to get her to do is just pray. Everything else she does. Haha. So this last week we decided it was time. At the end of the lesson I ask Annabelle if she will pray. She gets really nervous and starts saying "but I don't know what to say." and things like that.
Soeur Bitter: "He's your Father. Talk to him like you would talk to a friend. Tell him all the thoughts of your heart."
Annabelle: "I don't know if I can."
Soeur Bitter: "Yes. You can do it!"
And then I promptly bowed my head, folded my arms and closed my eyes waiting for her to start. I had to bite my lip from laughing at how funny this scene must look. Me standing there in ready prayer position while Annabelle is probably staring at me dumbfounded. Annabelle then scoots closer to my companion and whispers "what do I say?"
Soeur Hilton: "You start with Dear Heavenly Father, then you thank him for your specific blessings, ask him questions if you have any or for aide if you need it and then you close 'In the name of Jesus Christ Amen'"
Sure enough, Annabelle offered the prayer and it was one of the sweetest prayers I've ever heard. All she did was thank God for her blessings and she thanked Him over and over for sending us to France and to her house. She didn't ask for a single thing because "I'm actually pretty happy at the moment. So thank you for that too." We've had one more lesson after that lesson and without hesitation she offered the closing prayer again. :) There is nothing I love more than seeing our Amis progress!!!!
Our lesson with Tugsuu this week was so beautiful (no surprise there). She is so meek and humble that the spirit is ALWAYS so strong. We're helping her to know the stories and teachings of Christ more and how to navigate the New Testament. We showed her the bible videos on lds.org and she LOVED those. This last week we shared with her the story of the Good Samaritan. Her eyes filled with tears when we told her that the Samaritans and the Jews are enemies but the Good Samaritan chose to put differences behind him and see and serve his enemy as God would. We actually chose this story because we thought "Tugsuu IS the good Samaritan. She is always looking for opportunities to serve in the ward and putting others first." But sure enough she turns to us and says "I am not that good. How can I do that??" It's so amazing to me that the most Christ-like people are always the ones who think they are so far off the mark...when in reality they're the greatest example to us all. It's always the people who are full of Charity who are the ones saying they need to obtain it. It's such a testimony to me that you can't just obtain patience, Hope, Chairty etc. It's not a question of whether or not you have these Christ-like attributes but rather to what degree you have obtained them. Everything is a process in the Gospel. If my mission has taught me anything-it's that.
I love you all so so much. Thank you for all your letters and love.
Mayu: THANK YOU SO MUCH for your birthday package! PNB M&Ms!!! MY favorite :) They were such a good surprise and made me so happy. I was talking to my companion the other day and she was asking me about all my friends on my wall (which you're in most of the pics haha) and I said "Mayu is just one of those people who knows how to love. She loves so much and expects so little". And it's SO TRUE! You are seriously the best. I count it a blessing that I can call you my friend. xoxo
Until next we mes chères,
Sœur Kari Ann Bitter
p.s. Mom you have been asking me about French food. So I ate at a members house yesterday and they cooked this UNBELIEVABLE meal. Haha I wish I knew what it was called but it went like this: There was a giant zuccini and she cut it long ways down the middle so that it made a little boat. Then she filled the inside of the boat with a meat loaf kind of mixture. And stuck it in the oven. I wish I could be more descriptive but it was AMAZING! She referred to it like it was a common recepie so maybe you could look it up online. :) maybe search meatloaf stuffed zuccinni haha
I can't believe another week has gone by. This transfer has just been flying. Soeur Hilton and I were doing planning last night and we both just turned to each other and were like "Is it P.day again?!" Haha. This week was pretty crazy. We had exchanges last Wednesday/Thursday and I went down to Nantes. It's a little bigger than Rennes and it's SO beautiful...but I was happy to return to my own ville with my own friends :).
So I'd like to start by talking about the ward. This ward is AMAZING!!! We had dinner with a couple of families this week and each time I was just AMAZED. The Rennes ward is FULL of the Pioneers of France. The first members of the Rennes Branch, The first members in bretagne. It is AMAZING. And it's even more unbelievable to me that Rennes is now one of the biggest wards in all of France. It is pushing the capacity of the chapel!! How awesome is that?? So Tuesday night, we saw the Trahmels--and of course they made us classic Bretagne galets. Yummm. Before we ate, Frère Trahmel walked us around his .5 acre garden telling us stories as we picked fresh raspberries and strawberries. (Sometimes I think my life isn't real). We brought our violins with us and we played a couple of hymns and then they told us their French Pioneer story. It blew my mind. It makes sense why the French LOVE the early pioneer stories so much. I feel like a little part of them relates but then they stand in awe at the added physical trial. So many members will ask us if we have pioneer stories in our heritage. When they tell us to recount them, without fail, their eyes just fill with tears.
Also, our ward takes care of us SO MUCH! EVERY Sunday, we're bringing home some sort of goody. Crepes, fresh picked corn, etc. This last week, Frère Mocquard comes up to me as we're greeting everyone at the beginning of church. He turns to me and whispers:
"Soeur Bitter, we have something in our car for you and your companion."
"Huh?"
"Do you have your car today?"
"Wait, my car? Yes. We drove today."
at this point I'm confused. Are we talking about HIS car or OUR car? Did he want to see our car? What's he trying to say? haha
I just decided to follow him out the door and find out. Low and behold, him and his wife bought us 3 GIGANTIC boxes of granola. Back story: We were at their house this week to eat dinner with them. I noticed they had BIG boxes of cereal--like putting Costco to shame. I asked them where they got it. I told them I've been trying to find cereal like that since coming here but without fail, the stores always had tiny boxes and they were super expensive. So what did they do? Bought us a month supply of yummy cereal haha. Oh my goodness I love this ward.
After church, we're all standing around and a few of the members bellow "MES SŒURS!!! ON VOUS AIME!!" :)
At the end of church, they took a ward photo and they insisted that we were in it, so I'll try to get my hands on one and send it to you all so you can see the great ward I'm in :)
So last Sunday (8 days ago) I noticed that Yann (a recent convert of 2 years) was with his mom. I had remembered Soeur Hilton telling me that his mom was a recent convert (not even a year) but that she didn't come too often. I ran up to her and asked if we could visit her this week. She was thrilled and invited us over for that Thursday. Soeur Hilton and I had noticed that she had not gotten any after baptism lessons. The missionaries just kind of left her!! I think they figured because her son was there that he would answer any questions. So we decided to ask her point blank if she wanted the lessons or not. We sit down with her and I tell her that normally there are lessons after you have been baptized. I asked if she had had any of those which she said she hadn't.
"Would you like these lessons?"
"If you can be patient with me..."
"Of course we'll be patient with you!"
"Then yes. I want those very much. I just feel like I don't know a lot. My mom asks me all these questions about the church and I don't know where to turn for the answers. In church, everyone knows where every scripture is and I just know what I learned from the missionaries."
She went on to say how she felt a little forgotten after she had been baptized and sometimes church was scary because she didn't know how to navigate the scriptures like the members. Notice to all members: Take care of the recent converts. Just because they're baptized doesn't mean that they instantly know everything.
But it was an awesome lesson and I am SO excited to teach her more.
I don't remember if I told you about Annabelle but we have been seeing her for a couple weeks. Soeur Hilton and I found her my very first week and we have been teaching her a couple times a week since then. She is French and she really thinks about everything we teach her which is AWESOME! She reads everything we give her and she has such good questions each time we come back. The thing we are trying to get her to do is just pray. Everything else she does. Haha. So this last week we decided it was time. At the end of the lesson I ask Annabelle if she will pray. She gets really nervous and starts saying "but I don't know what to say." and things like that.
Soeur Bitter: "He's your Father. Talk to him like you would talk to a friend. Tell him all the thoughts of your heart."
Annabelle: "I don't know if I can."
Soeur Bitter: "Yes. You can do it!"
And then I promptly bowed my head, folded my arms and closed my eyes waiting for her to start. I had to bite my lip from laughing at how funny this scene must look. Me standing there in ready prayer position while Annabelle is probably staring at me dumbfounded. Annabelle then scoots closer to my companion and whispers "what do I say?"
Soeur Hilton: "You start with Dear Heavenly Father, then you thank him for your specific blessings, ask him questions if you have any or for aide if you need it and then you close 'In the name of Jesus Christ Amen'"
Sure enough, Annabelle offered the prayer and it was one of the sweetest prayers I've ever heard. All she did was thank God for her blessings and she thanked Him over and over for sending us to France and to her house. She didn't ask for a single thing because "I'm actually pretty happy at the moment. So thank you for that too." We've had one more lesson after that lesson and without hesitation she offered the closing prayer again. :) There is nothing I love more than seeing our Amis progress!!!!
Our lesson with Tugsuu this week was so beautiful (no surprise there). She is so meek and humble that the spirit is ALWAYS so strong. We're helping her to know the stories and teachings of Christ more and how to navigate the New Testament. We showed her the bible videos on lds.org and she LOVED those. This last week we shared with her the story of the Good Samaritan. Her eyes filled with tears when we told her that the Samaritans and the Jews are enemies but the Good Samaritan chose to put differences behind him and see and serve his enemy as God would. We actually chose this story because we thought "Tugsuu IS the good Samaritan. She is always looking for opportunities to serve in the ward and putting others first." But sure enough she turns to us and says "I am not that good. How can I do that??" It's so amazing to me that the most Christ-like people are always the ones who think they are so far off the mark...when in reality they're the greatest example to us all. It's always the people who are full of Charity who are the ones saying they need to obtain it. It's such a testimony to me that you can't just obtain patience, Hope, Chairty etc. It's not a question of whether or not you have these Christ-like attributes but rather to what degree you have obtained them. Everything is a process in the Gospel. If my mission has taught me anything-it's that.
I love you all so so much. Thank you for all your letters and love.
Mayu: THANK YOU SO MUCH for your birthday package! PNB M&Ms!!! MY favorite :) They were such a good surprise and made me so happy. I was talking to my companion the other day and she was asking me about all my friends on my wall (which you're in most of the pics haha) and I said "Mayu is just one of those people who knows how to love. She loves so much and expects so little". And it's SO TRUE! You are seriously the best. I count it a blessing that I can call you my friend. xoxo
Until next we mes chères,
Sœur Kari Ann Bitter
p.s. Mom you have been asking me about French food. So I ate at a members house yesterday and they cooked this UNBELIEVABLE meal. Haha I wish I knew what it was called but it went like this: There was a giant zuccini and she cut it long ways down the middle so that it made a little boat. Then she filled the inside of the boat with a meat loaf kind of mixture. And stuck it in the oven. I wish I could be more descriptive but it was AMAZING! She referred to it like it was a common recepie so maybe you could look it up online. :) maybe search meatloaf stuffed zuccinni haha
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Seven Birthday Miracles - August 27, 2013
Hello hello everyone!!
This week was SO AWESOME!! We saw a ton of miracles and we had a lot of really great lessons with our amis. But I know all of you are dying to know what happened on my birthday so I thought I would do a rundown of that first :)
Wake up to my companion making me crepes. Such an angel. We do studies and right after studies, I get a call from Soeur Poznanski (the mission presidents wife) to wish me happy birthday and tell me the things that her and President love about me. Did I mention that Soeur and President Poznanski are seriously the most considerate people on this planet?
We head out early to go to practice our violins for a music program that will be that Sunday. We come back and then we go to an Ami's house to teach a lesson. We hadn't had time to eat so we were kind of hungry. We were hoping that we could run home after the lesson. We sit down and our ami is with her friend just chatting. She keeps apologizing and then suddenly says "I made fish! Would you like to try a little?" We respond that we could sample a little bit. Apparently a little bit means an entire fish because then she comes out with an entire grilled talapia hahaha. Soeur Hilton and I were thrilled. BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #1! And can I just say that it was DELICIOUS!!
We then head out and we decide to pass by this lady that was sick for our first lesson so we weren't able to see her. She lived kind of near our first ami so we just jumped on the metro and headed to her house. We knock on the door and instantly she opens and is like "Come in!". At which point I look at my companion confused. She had never met us before (she met the Elders) and we didn't have a RDV. She leads us into her dining room and there are 3 glasses set with napkins and different types of cookies. Haha it was seriously like she was expecting us. We had a wonderful lesson with her. It was really cool because she really meditated on what we said and she was really wanting to understand what we were teaching. BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #2.
After that we head to a recent converts house. Our lesson was SO BEAUTIFUL and so opened up to me and talked about her baptism experience and how she has felt after. On our way there, we were on the bus and a girl comes up to us and (in english) asks if we are missionaires. "Yes..." "That's awesome. We should get together." Mildly freaking out inside!! MIRACLE #3
After that my companion said that she wanted to take me to Ice Cream for my birthday. Don't I have the sweetest comp ever? BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #4.
So we went to Saint-Anne (The touristy spot of our ville) and got (not even kidding) the best ice cream I have ever had in my life. We're sitting on the steps of our cathedral when I see Leo walking in our direction. Now Leo was someone we had contacted in the park last week. She was super sweet and had a beautiful little girl. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and asked if we could visit with her sometime. We exchanged numbers but when I called the number, it didn't work :(. I thought that maybe she had given us a fake number but it was weird to us because she really did seem interested. But things like that happen. Anyway, so we see her walking down the rue that we are on and we wave at her and she comes over and talks to us for a bit. We told her that we tried calling her but her number didn't work. She look shocked. "WHAT?! Do you have the right number?? Here let me call you." To which point she takes out her phone and the little card we gave her and called us. At this point, not only do we have her right number, but also a rdv with her and we then find out that she has TONS of questions about the church and is actually really excited to meet with us. BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #5!!!!
We're really excited to meet with her this week. That was my favorite miracle because I was bummed that her number hadn't worked and running into someone again in a big ville like Rennes is highly unlikely. Turns out I just wrote the last number wrong hehe. Whoops. After that we headed to Marie and Jeans. Marie and Jean are our amis that we met while porting a few weeks ago. They invited us back for dinner and it just happened to be scheduled for my birthday tehehe. We head over there and we had, no joke, one of the best meals I have had in my entire life. MIRACLE #6!! It was the best way to end the day and they are so loving and wonderful. We talked about France back in the day and their family and just enjoyed each other's company. Did I mention it was a 7 course meal? Ya...it was a REAL french meal haha. But it was so fun and we gained like 5 pounds from just that.
All in all it was a great birthday and Soeur Hilton and I noticed throughout the day lots of little and big birthday miracles. :) I felt the love. The next day, we go to our mailbox and their are 3 packages!! SO MUCH LOVE!! Mom and Dad: All the clothes fit great and I LOVE THEM!! I'm wearing the shirt in the pictures attached :) and I'm wearing the scarf right now. Thanks for the makeup and the MANGOES!!! So happy right now. Haha. Also, you were inspired in sending me family pics. I have been wanting some but I kept forgetting to ask so I'm really happy that you included them. You are officially part of my picture collage above my desk.
Other great things of this week: So we had a lesson with the Houmed family. They are awesome! I love them so much. They are from Djibouti and a Muslim but they are looking for more. We taught the plan of salvation and decided to really emphasis Jesus Christ. They were floored at the pre-mortal life. THEY LOVED the idea of living with families forever. My favorite part of the lesson though was when their 12 year old daughter turned to us and was like
"I have another question."
"Go ahead"
"So you said that Jesus Christ suffered for all of us..."
"oui"
"Was he forced to do that or did he choose to do that?"
"That is an EXCELLENT question. A lot of people have that question. In fact there is a little quote in this pamphlet that I love a lot that will answer that"
We then gave her the Plan de Salut brochure and had her read (I only have the French one with me so I will roughly translate):
"Because your Heavenly Father loves you, he sent his son, Jesus Christ to pay for your sins. This payment is part of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ willingly suffered for your sins, your pain, your illness and your sorrows. By his grace and mercy, he can help you in your trials and free yourself from the guilt and shame resulting from your sins."
"so he..."
"Voluntarily suffered"
At this point her eyes grew three times in size. "For all of us?"
"Yes. He chose to suffer to save all his brothers and sisters. All his friends"
That was seriously my favorite part of the week. Seeing the impact of the message of the Atonement of Christ prick the meek heart of someone as young as twelve. The message of the Atonement of Jesus Christ speaks for itself. It amazes me every lesson in fact. They're such a beautiful family. And they love us a ton because we're American. They always ask us about our life in the states and say how the want to come and visit us someday.
OH! Another birthday miracle: We saw our recent convert Tugsuu. She is so awesome. She is SUCH AN EXAMPLE. She is just overflowing with love. We teach her in English. Even though she can't speak French well, she tries SO HARD to communicate with the members and show them how much she loves them. The members ADORE her...as do we :). She is from Mongolia and so Christianity was very new to her when she got baptized. She is still learning a lot about Jesus Christ, his life, his purpose etc. I asked her if she had seen Finding Faith in Christ yet. She hadn't and so we found it out LDS.org and watched it together. Once again, the message of Christ's life and atonement is SO POWERFUL. Recent convert lessons are actually one of my favorite things. They are so wanting to learn and change and grow. It's a testimony to all the members really. In their eyes, they can never learn too much or stop improving. It makes me want to keep continuing to grow and to improve.
Oh also, I hit my 6 month mark this last week...that was weird.
OH, ANOTHER FUN FACT!! I learned to drive stick!! We had President interviews a couple of weeks ago and President asked after the interview
"So Soeur Bitter, do you have any questions or concerns for me?"
"so...we have a car."
"yes you do."
"I don't know how to drive manual and I want to learn. Can we have a member in our car to teach me?"
"Are you late to church?"
"By about 5 minutes"
"That's not good. Let me think about it"
This week, our Elders called us and Elder Richer-Brulé told me that he would be teaching me to drive. WOOHOOOO! We had lots of fun in parking lots. But now I've gotten the hang of it and we're able to go anywhere!!! We don't drive everywhere. In fact, we just drive to church and then if there is an ami or a less active or member who lives somewhere there are no trains or buses. It's super fun and I feel very accomplished.
There is so much more to write. This week was crazy but I don't want this email to be gigantic so just know that I love you all so much!! I'm attaching pictures of our adventure in Fougeres. We got to learn about the 100 years war and see one of the old fortresses. Apparently Bretagne was very, very rich and EVERYONE wanted it back in the day. So...we have lots of medieval castles in our area :)
God loves you and so do I
Soeur Bitter
This week was SO AWESOME!! We saw a ton of miracles and we had a lot of really great lessons with our amis. But I know all of you are dying to know what happened on my birthday so I thought I would do a rundown of that first :)
Wake up to my companion making me crepes. Such an angel. We do studies and right after studies, I get a call from Soeur Poznanski (the mission presidents wife) to wish me happy birthday and tell me the things that her and President love about me. Did I mention that Soeur and President Poznanski are seriously the most considerate people on this planet?
We head out early to go to practice our violins for a music program that will be that Sunday. We come back and then we go to an Ami's house to teach a lesson. We hadn't had time to eat so we were kind of hungry. We were hoping that we could run home after the lesson. We sit down and our ami is with her friend just chatting. She keeps apologizing and then suddenly says "I made fish! Would you like to try a little?" We respond that we could sample a little bit. Apparently a little bit means an entire fish because then she comes out with an entire grilled talapia hahaha. Soeur Hilton and I were thrilled. BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #1! And can I just say that it was DELICIOUS!!
We then head out and we decide to pass by this lady that was sick for our first lesson so we weren't able to see her. She lived kind of near our first ami so we just jumped on the metro and headed to her house. We knock on the door and instantly she opens and is like "Come in!". At which point I look at my companion confused. She had never met us before (she met the Elders) and we didn't have a RDV. She leads us into her dining room and there are 3 glasses set with napkins and different types of cookies. Haha it was seriously like she was expecting us. We had a wonderful lesson with her. It was really cool because she really meditated on what we said and she was really wanting to understand what we were teaching. BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #2.
After that we head to a recent converts house. Our lesson was SO BEAUTIFUL and so opened up to me and talked about her baptism experience and how she has felt after. On our way there, we were on the bus and a girl comes up to us and (in english) asks if we are missionaires. "Yes..." "That's awesome. We should get together." Mildly freaking out inside!! MIRACLE #3
After that my companion said that she wanted to take me to Ice Cream for my birthday. Don't I have the sweetest comp ever? BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #4.
So we went to Saint-Anne (The touristy spot of our ville) and got (not even kidding) the best ice cream I have ever had in my life. We're sitting on the steps of our cathedral when I see Leo walking in our direction. Now Leo was someone we had contacted in the park last week. She was super sweet and had a beautiful little girl. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and asked if we could visit with her sometime. We exchanged numbers but when I called the number, it didn't work :(. I thought that maybe she had given us a fake number but it was weird to us because she really did seem interested. But things like that happen. Anyway, so we see her walking down the rue that we are on and we wave at her and she comes over and talks to us for a bit. We told her that we tried calling her but her number didn't work. She look shocked. "WHAT?! Do you have the right number?? Here let me call you." To which point she takes out her phone and the little card we gave her and called us. At this point, not only do we have her right number, but also a rdv with her and we then find out that she has TONS of questions about the church and is actually really excited to meet with us. BIRTHDAY MIRACLE #5!!!!
We're really excited to meet with her this week. That was my favorite miracle because I was bummed that her number hadn't worked and running into someone again in a big ville like Rennes is highly unlikely. Turns out I just wrote the last number wrong hehe. Whoops. After that we headed to Marie and Jeans. Marie and Jean are our amis that we met while porting a few weeks ago. They invited us back for dinner and it just happened to be scheduled for my birthday tehehe. We head over there and we had, no joke, one of the best meals I have had in my entire life. MIRACLE #6!! It was the best way to end the day and they are so loving and wonderful. We talked about France back in the day and their family and just enjoyed each other's company. Did I mention it was a 7 course meal? Ya...it was a REAL french meal haha. But it was so fun and we gained like 5 pounds from just that.
All in all it was a great birthday and Soeur Hilton and I noticed throughout the day lots of little and big birthday miracles. :) I felt the love. The next day, we go to our mailbox and their are 3 packages!! SO MUCH LOVE!! Mom and Dad: All the clothes fit great and I LOVE THEM!! I'm wearing the shirt in the pictures attached :) and I'm wearing the scarf right now. Thanks for the makeup and the MANGOES!!! So happy right now. Haha. Also, you were inspired in sending me family pics. I have been wanting some but I kept forgetting to ask so I'm really happy that you included them. You are officially part of my picture collage above my desk.
Other great things of this week: So we had a lesson with the Houmed family. They are awesome! I love them so much. They are from Djibouti and a Muslim but they are looking for more. We taught the plan of salvation and decided to really emphasis Jesus Christ. They were floored at the pre-mortal life. THEY LOVED the idea of living with families forever. My favorite part of the lesson though was when their 12 year old daughter turned to us and was like
"I have another question."
"Go ahead"
"So you said that Jesus Christ suffered for all of us..."
"oui"
"Was he forced to do that or did he choose to do that?"
"That is an EXCELLENT question. A lot of people have that question. In fact there is a little quote in this pamphlet that I love a lot that will answer that"
We then gave her the Plan de Salut brochure and had her read (I only have the French one with me so I will roughly translate):
"Because your Heavenly Father loves you, he sent his son, Jesus Christ to pay for your sins. This payment is part of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ willingly suffered for your sins, your pain, your illness and your sorrows. By his grace and mercy, he can help you in your trials and free yourself from the guilt and shame resulting from your sins."
"so he..."
"Voluntarily suffered"
At this point her eyes grew three times in size. "For all of us?"
"Yes. He chose to suffer to save all his brothers and sisters. All his friends"
That was seriously my favorite part of the week. Seeing the impact of the message of the Atonement of Christ prick the meek heart of someone as young as twelve. The message of the Atonement of Jesus Christ speaks for itself. It amazes me every lesson in fact. They're such a beautiful family. And they love us a ton because we're American. They always ask us about our life in the states and say how the want to come and visit us someday.
OH! Another birthday miracle: We saw our recent convert Tugsuu. She is so awesome. She is SUCH AN EXAMPLE. She is just overflowing with love. We teach her in English. Even though she can't speak French well, she tries SO HARD to communicate with the members and show them how much she loves them. The members ADORE her...as do we :). She is from Mongolia and so Christianity was very new to her when she got baptized. She is still learning a lot about Jesus Christ, his life, his purpose etc. I asked her if she had seen Finding Faith in Christ yet. She hadn't and so we found it out LDS.org and watched it together. Once again, the message of Christ's life and atonement is SO POWERFUL. Recent convert lessons are actually one of my favorite things. They are so wanting to learn and change and grow. It's a testimony to all the members really. In their eyes, they can never learn too much or stop improving. It makes me want to keep continuing to grow and to improve.
Oh also, I hit my 6 month mark this last week...that was weird.
OH, ANOTHER FUN FACT!! I learned to drive stick!! We had President interviews a couple of weeks ago and President asked after the interview
"So Soeur Bitter, do you have any questions or concerns for me?"
"so...we have a car."
"yes you do."
"I don't know how to drive manual and I want to learn. Can we have a member in our car to teach me?"
"Are you late to church?"
"By about 5 minutes"
"That's not good. Let me think about it"
This week, our Elders called us and Elder Richer-Brulé told me that he would be teaching me to drive. WOOHOOOO! We had lots of fun in parking lots. But now I've gotten the hang of it and we're able to go anywhere!!! We don't drive everywhere. In fact, we just drive to church and then if there is an ami or a less active or member who lives somewhere there are no trains or buses. It's super fun and I feel very accomplished.
There is so much more to write. This week was crazy but I don't want this email to be gigantic so just know that I love you all so much!! I'm attaching pictures of our adventure in Fougeres. We got to learn about the 100 years war and see one of the old fortresses. Apparently Bretagne was very, very rich and EVERYONE wanted it back in the day. So...we have lots of medieval castles in our area :)
God loves you and so do I
Soeur Bitter
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| Fougeres |
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| Learning About the 100 Year War |
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| Our Area is Such a Cool Place |
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| Exploring the Ruins |
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| Fougeres |
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| My Picture Wall (Family Now Included) |
No Excuses Keep Working - August 19, 2013
Can't believe it's already P.day again!! oh that's right...our last pday was only like 3 days ago. Don't worry I've got some stories up my sleeve to share with you.
First off, once again, I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS WARD!! The Rennes ward is fantastic. Everyone is so loving and so giving. We had a new couple move into our ward from Mongolia. They don't speak any french but they're able to communicate in English. Instantly the ward swarms around them and people are translating during all of the meetings and asking them how they can help them move in, help them navigate the trains etc. It was really beautiful to watch a ward run to the rescue. Needless to say, I think I am going to love my time here in Rennes and I hope it's long lived.
Also, Vacationers in France are KILLING ME. EVERYTHING is closed and everyone is gone...well I guess not everyone. We're still managing to teach a lot but we're spending a lot of time porting. It's a good thing I love my companion so much. She's awesome. We laugh along the way and tell stories while we're porting. It makes the work go a lot faster.
So this week, we met the cutest old couple ever while porting. Jean & Marie. We first start talking to Jean and we notice that he has had some pretty extensive surgery on his scalp. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on but after talking to him for a bit, I learned that he had had some pretty extreme skin cancer and it all had to be lanced off. We talked about his family and his grand kids and everything under the sun really. After talking for about 20 minutes (all right at his gate), his wife comes out and immediately identifies us as the Mormons. When I ask how she knows us she said "Two vibrant Americans going door to door. I thought to myself that can only be only thing-THE MORMONS!" We continue to talk with them and then ask if we can pray with them. Right away, they invite us in and after about 30 seconds, there are cookies and juice and chocolate all laid in front of us (officially in dream land). We continue to talk about families and the importance of strong morals and family in this increasingly degenerate world. At one point, both Marie and Jean turn to us and tell us so sincerely that we are the Angels of France. Marie told us that she knew we would have a good family one day because we were willing to sacrifice this time to the Lord. The most interesting thing of all of this-Marie and Jean don't believe in God. It was so beautiful for me to see how much they loved their family and how much they loved us. In fact they love us so much, they insisted on having us over for dinner this week :) to which we did not refuse. YAY we love new friends!!! It was interesting actually, later that week, we had a lesson with another older woman. Her husband passed away years ago and had been investigating the church. She had a very old copy of the Book of Mormon so we promptly gave her a new one :). She went on and on about how good we were. Marie and Jean and Madame Leclec seriously touched me so much. They were exactly what we needed this week. It was like having our very own grandma here in Rennes. Long story short--we love them.
Miracles of the week: So Soeur Hilton and I decided to explore one of the outer cities of Rennes. First off, wow. French countryside is TOTALLY different than Paris! Haha. I felt like I was in French Idaho...where the people speak French...and there are Cathedrals...OK so it might not be EXACTLY like it but it was beautiful just the same. Anyway, so when we're on the bus, we pass this little group of houses and I think "we should go here". But we continue on our way to our destination. (fail) Once in the ville, I keep thinking of that earlier group of houses. It kept building until it became a sense of urgency. Finally I tell my companion that I think it's time we get back on the bus and head back a little ways. We get off at the earlier stop and I look around and think "Ok...we don't have a lot of time. Where do we even start. This ville (if you can even call it that) looks completely deserted. After saying a quick prayer, Soeur Hilton and I immediately head for a strip of 3 houses. My eyes catch the house at the end of the three and my companion and I head to that house. Out comes a sweet old man in his 80s. After talking to him for a bit, we learn that he has been alone for over 20 years and he lives all alone. It broke my heart to see how lonely he was. We testified of the Lord's love for him and the Plan of Salvation. He told us that he couldn't change because he was too old. We affirmed to him that that didn't change the fact that we were there to tell him that God loved him-so much. It is such a testimony to me that Missionary work is SO MUCH more than baptism. I have seen so many miracles on my mission where people just need a little bit of love. Especially the love of their Father in Heaven. Which is perfect...because that's one of my favorite things to share with people :)
After this we headed back to Rennes. At this point I'm thinking "man I'm hungry. We haven't eaten in probably like 6 hours." Haha. We're sitting on the bus. At this point, my companion turns to me and she's like
"we should visit Fatima soon."
"ya no problem. What's soon?"
"maybe tonight....."
"Ya ok let's do it."
"....."
"or are you thinking we should go sooner?"
"I feel we should go right now. I know there are a ton of excuses why not to go but I think we should just go"
"No problem. Let's do it"
And she was right. There were a ton of excuses not to go. We had tried passing by fatimas 4 or 5 times in the last couple weeks and she was never home. We had been out all day and it was into our dinner time. We hadn't eaten anything, were starving and she probably wouldn't be there. Wrong wrong wrong wrong. Soeur Hilton was totally right in following the spirit. We go to Fatima's house and not only was she there but she said over and over again "I was thinking about you two a lot today." "You were on my mind a lot today". "I couldn't stop thinking of you today." It's so amazing how the Lord prepares people for us to reach out to and I know if we follow the smallest inspirations of the spirit, we can be an instrument in the Lord's hands for blessing the lives of others. Anyway, the lesson went really well and we were able to visit with her and her BEAUTIFUL 4 month old girl. SO CUTE! She's from Morocco and she is so open and loving and just wonderful. I'm so excited to teach her :).
Anyway, there is more I can tell you about our fun weekend in Rennes...but this computer is kind of frustrating...so that's where I'm going to stop.
Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. You are all seriously the best. I miss you all terribly. But I'll make birthday wishes for you all :).
LOVE,
Soeur Bitter
Friday, 16 August 2013
The Zipper Failure - August 15, 2013
Hello hello!!
First off, sorry for the late email this week. Normally our P.day is on Mondays but last Friday, we got a call from the office. It went something like this:
"Hi is this Soeur Bitter?"
"Yes it is. What can I do for you?"
"This is Soeur Roberts. I'm just calling to tell you you're going to Belgium on Monday."
"Wait...THIS monday? I've already been to Belgium for legality."
"Yup. This monday. Something didn't work. So plan to leave from Paris at 9:30"
Two sisters came in from Vannes and Lorient and went with me to Paris on Sunday night and my companion and their companions stayed in Rennes for the rest of Sunday and Monday. Once again, Belgium is AWESOME! Haha but it's definitely been a crazy week. Between packing and moving and then taking random trips to belgium, I've probably been on trains for a total of 12 hours last week. Lots of fun :)
But Rennes is absolutely amazing. The ward is BIG and everyone is so nice. They all came up and were welcoming me and telling me how much I would love it here. Well, they were RIGHT! Rennes is fantastic. The people are amazing, the city is beautiful. It's a lot smaller than Melun but it's still considered a big city. Oh and another fun fact, Mont-St.-Michel and St. Malo are both in my area... so that is just dandy. The ward is absolutely amazing. I actually teared up a little bit at the end of R.S. when one of the members got up to say the prayer. In her prayer she said "please bless us that we may find people who are ready or know which of our friends are ready to have the Missionaries start teaching them". I almost fell off my chair. This ward is very involved in the missionary work and they are willing and ready to talk about the Gospel and bring their friends to church. SO FANTASTIC!!
Another fun story from church. I'm thinking "Wow this ward is so great and I just feel so comfortable here." Well that feeling quickly left when one of the members came up and told me I would be translating for 15 visitors from England. "Translating?! From What to what?!" It was an experience for sure.
Goodbye's were incredibly hard in Melun. We left for Paris on Wednesday. Between Monday and Tuesday, we ran around to as many people as we could to say goodbye and to tell them that I love them. The hardest was definitely Prisca. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!! Oh my goodness and her kids! I will miss them a ton. At the end of the visit, we were walking to the door and Prisca said, "but this is really sad...". DAGGER TO THE HEART! I thought "girl don't do this to me. I gotta be strong". We took some pics together and I took down all her info to send her fun postcards from all over France. It is really sad though. A couple of weeks ago I was thinking "I wonder what the BIG trial of my mission will be. Everyone has their thing. For some people it's contacting, some people it's the culture shock, homesickness...what's mine going to be?" Well I found it. It's the au revoir. Just slays me.
There are lots of fun stories this week. Let's start with a good embarrassing one on the Metro. Those are always fun:
I was in Paris last p.day just have a nice old time. We go down into the metro system and get on a train to go home. I'm standing, holding one of the poles talking to my companion just thinking "I love this city. It may be a crazy one but it will always have a special place in my heart." I'm reminiscing as such when our stop comes up. Still in la la land, my companion comes running up to me..."SOEUR BITTER!" she whispers urgently
"yes??" I day-dreamingly respond
"Your zipper is broken and your underwear is showing!"
Instantly I was ripped out of day dream world. Sure enough, I turn around and my skirt is only being held up by the very top button. BAHAHA I can only imagine what everyone on the metro was thinking when this little American blonde is smiling on the metro, completely oblivious to the fact that she is completely indecent. Ah well. I'll probably never see a single one of them again...except my companion of course. The life of a missionary. Never a dull moment.
Fun facts about my new companion: First off she is amazing!! Her name is Soeur Hilton and she is in her 3rd transfer so she is just one younger than me. IT'S SO FUN! She has so much energy and still has the fire to do the work. It's awesome. She is from California (San Fran area) and she was majoring in math at BYU. She's 22 like me too!! We get along marvelously as missionaries and as friends so I'm really excited for this next transfer. :)
One of my favorite moments of the week happened yesterday when Soeur Hilton and I went porting. Our very first port, this lady comes to the window and we begin talking to her. She is open to talking to us but she keeps saying that she is not interested in changing. We then ask if we can pray with her. Soeur Hilton gives a beautiful prayer and afterwards, Annabell (the lady) has a complete change of heart. She starts talking about how she has never heard anyone pray like that and that it was incredibly touching. She talked about how personal it was and how that is what she felt has been missing in her life. It ended with us being welcome back later this week!! I'm so excited. It's interesting actually. A lot of our Amis here are interested in prayer. The way we prayer and the sincerity of it. So we have been talking about prayer a lot here in Rennes and I absolutely love it.
I will write more about our amis as we get to know them more!! I love you all so much and I hope you're all profiting from the sunshine and summertime :)
Thank you so much for the birthday card Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Jim!! That was seriously so nice :) And you were the first mail that I got here in Rennes. I felt special. Thank you so much. You are awesome.
Brooke!! CONGRATULATIONS!! I can't believe you are married! That is so exciting!!
Aubs: You're the best. Thanks for sending all those pics :) It made me smile to see all my favorite people in one place....although...you're kind of in trouble BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME YOUR SISTER WAS ENGAGED!! What the what!! That is so awesome.
I love love love you all!
Soeur Bitter
First off, sorry for the late email this week. Normally our P.day is on Mondays but last Friday, we got a call from the office. It went something like this:
"Hi is this Soeur Bitter?"
"Yes it is. What can I do for you?"
"This is Soeur Roberts. I'm just calling to tell you you're going to Belgium on Monday."
"Wait...THIS monday? I've already been to Belgium for legality."
"Yup. This monday. Something didn't work. So plan to leave from Paris at 9:30"
Two sisters came in from Vannes and Lorient and went with me to Paris on Sunday night and my companion and their companions stayed in Rennes for the rest of Sunday and Monday. Once again, Belgium is AWESOME! Haha but it's definitely been a crazy week. Between packing and moving and then taking random trips to belgium, I've probably been on trains for a total of 12 hours last week. Lots of fun :)
But Rennes is absolutely amazing. The ward is BIG and everyone is so nice. They all came up and were welcoming me and telling me how much I would love it here. Well, they were RIGHT! Rennes is fantastic. The people are amazing, the city is beautiful. It's a lot smaller than Melun but it's still considered a big city. Oh and another fun fact, Mont-St.-Michel and St. Malo are both in my area... so that is just dandy. The ward is absolutely amazing. I actually teared up a little bit at the end of R.S. when one of the members got up to say the prayer. In her prayer she said "please bless us that we may find people who are ready or know which of our friends are ready to have the Missionaries start teaching them". I almost fell off my chair. This ward is very involved in the missionary work and they are willing and ready to talk about the Gospel and bring their friends to church. SO FANTASTIC!!
Another fun story from church. I'm thinking "Wow this ward is so great and I just feel so comfortable here." Well that feeling quickly left when one of the members came up and told me I would be translating for 15 visitors from England. "Translating?! From What to what?!" It was an experience for sure.
Goodbye's were incredibly hard in Melun. We left for Paris on Wednesday. Between Monday and Tuesday, we ran around to as many people as we could to say goodbye and to tell them that I love them. The hardest was definitely Prisca. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!! Oh my goodness and her kids! I will miss them a ton. At the end of the visit, we were walking to the door and Prisca said, "but this is really sad...". DAGGER TO THE HEART! I thought "girl don't do this to me. I gotta be strong". We took some pics together and I took down all her info to send her fun postcards from all over France. It is really sad though. A couple of weeks ago I was thinking "I wonder what the BIG trial of my mission will be. Everyone has their thing. For some people it's contacting, some people it's the culture shock, homesickness...what's mine going to be?" Well I found it. It's the au revoir. Just slays me.
There are lots of fun stories this week. Let's start with a good embarrassing one on the Metro. Those are always fun:
I was in Paris last p.day just have a nice old time. We go down into the metro system and get on a train to go home. I'm standing, holding one of the poles talking to my companion just thinking "I love this city. It may be a crazy one but it will always have a special place in my heart." I'm reminiscing as such when our stop comes up. Still in la la land, my companion comes running up to me..."SOEUR BITTER!" she whispers urgently
"yes??" I day-dreamingly respond
"Your zipper is broken and your underwear is showing!"
Instantly I was ripped out of day dream world. Sure enough, I turn around and my skirt is only being held up by the very top button. BAHAHA I can only imagine what everyone on the metro was thinking when this little American blonde is smiling on the metro, completely oblivious to the fact that she is completely indecent. Ah well. I'll probably never see a single one of them again...except my companion of course. The life of a missionary. Never a dull moment.
Fun facts about my new companion: First off she is amazing!! Her name is Soeur Hilton and she is in her 3rd transfer so she is just one younger than me. IT'S SO FUN! She has so much energy and still has the fire to do the work. It's awesome. She is from California (San Fran area) and she was majoring in math at BYU. She's 22 like me too!! We get along marvelously as missionaries and as friends so I'm really excited for this next transfer. :)
One of my favorite moments of the week happened yesterday when Soeur Hilton and I went porting. Our very first port, this lady comes to the window and we begin talking to her. She is open to talking to us but she keeps saying that she is not interested in changing. We then ask if we can pray with her. Soeur Hilton gives a beautiful prayer and afterwards, Annabell (the lady) has a complete change of heart. She starts talking about how she has never heard anyone pray like that and that it was incredibly touching. She talked about how personal it was and how that is what she felt has been missing in her life. It ended with us being welcome back later this week!! I'm so excited. It's interesting actually. A lot of our Amis here are interested in prayer. The way we prayer and the sincerity of it. So we have been talking about prayer a lot here in Rennes and I absolutely love it.
I will write more about our amis as we get to know them more!! I love you all so much and I hope you're all profiting from the sunshine and summertime :)
Thank you so much for the birthday card Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Jim!! That was seriously so nice :) And you were the first mail that I got here in Rennes. I felt special. Thank you so much. You are awesome.
Brooke!! CONGRATULATIONS!! I can't believe you are married! That is so exciting!!
Aubs: You're the best. Thanks for sending all those pics :) It made me smile to see all my favorite people in one place....although...you're kind of in trouble BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME YOUR SISTER WAS ENGAGED!! What the what!! That is so awesome.
I love love love you all!
Soeur Bitter
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| Rennes: My New Ville |
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| Meat Trillet in Belgium....So Much Food |
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