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