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
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