Hot Water is Back in My Life - January 27, 2014

Well this week was a whirlwind of emotions!! For starters let's talk about the most joyous moment of my life (this may be an exaggeration but I think not). How about the moment I met for the VERY FIRST TIME a hot shower in Charleroi. Yes people--that is 7 weeks. OH QUEL BONHEUR!!! Tuesday morning, I called the agency to see if they had gotten the part in. (they told me they would call either Monday or Tuesday...so naturally I decided to call them Tuesday morning)

Me: Yes hello! This is the apartment under the name La Mission Française de Paris

Them: And how can we help you?

Me: Someone came last week because we had no hot water. They checked our water heater and they told us that it needed a replacement part and I was wondering if that part was in yet.

              *Employees speaking amongst themselves*

Them: I'm sorry miss. We have not gotten in the shipment yet (instantly deflated) but we will call you when we do.

"Oh well" I thought "it will come when it comes". Not even an hour later, I get a call back from the office telling us that the part is in!!

Them: So the technician will be coming next Thursday

Me: Ok let me check my calender...Oh wait. We'll be in Paris that day. Is there any other day?

Them: *disgruntled sigh* Fine how about Wednesday the 22nd?

At this point I think to myself "Wait...like tomorrow??" but I didn't want her to realize that and then move it back further so I quickly agreed, hung up the phone and let out CRIES OF JOY!!!!

That next afternoon, the hot water people came!! They changed out the part and after, I made them check all the water pressure too :) muahah. They spent a lot of time in the shower and now it's like a fire hose!! WOOT WOOT! Instantly we had hot water. That whole time, the water heater was MAKING hot water but we weren't able to get to it. Well, our days of boiling hot water are officially over. I took my first hot shower on Thursday and the whole time I was thinking "wow. This is like 20 buckets of hot water!! We use so much hot water to shower!!" haha

Anyway--moving on to the important stuff. This week was really amazing. We met a lot of really cool people and continued to meet with the people we already knew :)

Honestly, I forgot to bring my planner...so I can't remember a lot that happened (all the weeks blur together) BUT I can remember yesterday :) So I'll share a couple stories from yesterday.

So firstly, we found a less active/part member family in the ward via the ward list. I asked Soeur Mangum "Who is this family?" She told me that she had heard the name before but didn't know them personally. So we decide to call them up to see if they will let us come and visit them. The dad was SO excited to hear from us. We set something up for Sunday (yesterday). On Friday, we are in a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader and I ask him if he happens to know the Duret family. "Of course. They're the family with 14 kids. They live down the hill from your apartment." I about choked on my chocolate mousse. "14?!" Well this is going to be a party!!

We go to the RDV and I am SO excited. We walk in and actually--he was mistaken. There are 15 kids. New baby. And there was a cousin there too :). Kids off all shapes and sizes were running around. Blonde hair, dark hair, curly, straight, tall, short. A little of everything. At first, I was a little lost as to where to start. But then I thought "Tant pis. We'll just start this and they will listen". 

Sure enough when I asked if we could start with a prayer, every kid found a place to sit and immediately it was silent. All the kids closed their eyes and bowed their heads and were COMPLETELY reverent. After the prayer--all eyes were on me. I did the first thing I thought of. Haha. I reached in my bag, pulled out a plan of salvation pamphlet and asked if anyone knew the man on the cover. All the children jumped up and excitedly said "THAT'S JESUS!"

Missionaries: That is exactly right! And who can tell me more about Jesus?

Hands shot in the air as child after child either related either a story or a fact about Jesus Christ.  My personal favorite was the 11 year old who said "The people killed him and hung him on the cross. But they didn't know that he would live again"

The first 4 kids are baptized but the last 11 are not. There are 4 kids who could be baptized and when I asked Stephen (the 11 year old) if he was baptized he said "No...not YET!" and then cute little Claudia quickly said "but soon!"

The lesson went really really well. We talked about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the opportunity he gave to us to live with our families and our Heavenly Father again. We asked them if they wanted to live with their family forever to which all of them shouted excitedly "YES!!!!" We then talked about our personal responsibility so that we can make this happen. It was so much fun. I felt like a primary teacher. It was also so sweet to see all those kids who really love their savoir and who REALLY want to go to follow him and go to church. When we left I smiled as I thought "I wonder if the primary is ready be doubled in size".

Dang...I'm almost out of time. But let me just leave you with this spiritual thought brought to you by ours truly, President Uchtdorf:

"Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter.

Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace.

...patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

I love you all so much.

Tune in next week for the latest news of missionary work in Charleroi Belgium!!!

Soeur Bitter

No More Boiling Water

Top Notch ZLs

Another Best Companion

Cold Water Won't Stop Us - January 20, 2014

Hello All,

Today is the end of the transfer!! We got the new news and me and Sr Mangum are both staying in Charleroi!! Woot woot. So nothing changing here.

Update on our hot water, because I know that seems to be a topic of interest whenever I talk to anyone. We don't have it yet but they figured out what is wrong and they're ordering the replacement part. It should be here this week!! So hopefully by the end of this week we should have hot water!!! PARTY

Lots of great things happened this week. I'll try to cover most of the highlights.

So first off, super awesome. Charleroi 1st Ward had a great challenge in December for the whole ward. For a gift to Christ for Christmas, they would write their testimony in a Christmas card and give that and a wrapped Book of Mormon as a gift to one of their friends or neighbors. Well it's been an awesome turn back. A lot of the members personally committed to do it (most have already done it) and now we are meeting with a few of these people who wanted to learn more.

This week we went to go meet one of the people but unfortunately she was busy when we came so we decided while (since we were already out there) that we would porte her apartment building. And what awesomeness! We found a BEAUTIFUL family that lives just across the hall from her. They were busy when we first went by but we went back this last Wednesday and had the most beautiful first lesson I have had my entire mission. The husband, Kennedy, didn't want us to come back until all the family could be there (including their 3 year old). We came back and taught the restoration. The spirit was so strong and they expressed their sincere gratitude for bringing the spirit into their home. They are such a strong, Christ-centered family already. It was really awesome to see how much the Lord prepares these people. They had the most inspired answers to questions we asked. For example:

"Why do you think Heavenly Father calls prophets?"
"Because he's organized. His church needs order. That way there is no confusion. The path is clear and simple."

And what more, their first language is English. SCORE. I felt like I was back in Rennes teaching Sophie or Tang or Tugsuu.

Another highlight, so last week we were coming back from Brussels (Sr Holmes and I) and I saw a woman who was struggling to get all her bags through the train. We offered to help her to which she gladly agreed but saying "but careful! They're pretty heavy". Thinking nothing of her warning I reached for the medium sized bag. SHE WASN'T KIDDING!! "IS THIS THING FULL OF BRICKS?!" Was the first and only thing that crossed my mind as we helped her off the train. We then told her who we were and why we're here. She immediately gave us her phone number, telling us that she knows so many members here in Charleroi and she would love to meet with us.

We got ahold of Nelly 2 weekends ago and set something up for this last Wednesday. A couple days before the RDV I was talking to the Elders and they said that they had made a goal to have a member at EVERY lesson that week. The day before our RDV with Nelly, the Elders' goal kept running through my mind. I turned to my companion and told her "I think we should have Julie come teach with us to Nelly's lesson". We called Julie up and of course she was more than willing. We go to the RDV, well what do you know? They're old friends. HAHA. But even more than that, during the lesson (we taught the restoration), Julie did not shy away from her testimony. For many it might be intimidating to testify to an old friend of Joseph Smith and the First Vision. But not Julie. With love, she boldly testified of how she gained her testimony of her the Restoration and what that meant for her today. The spirit was very strong and at the end of the lesson we asked her what it would mean to her if there was a prophet today. At first she was silent. She just looked down at her lap and, after what seemed like an eternity, looked up and said "it would mean that there is a living church".

She is awesome. I love her so much. Just a little about her. She is an independent business woman who travels everywhere from Brussels to Madrid to Paris to China. She then uses all the money to fund a school that she opened in Africa. In her spare time, she visits people all over the charleroi area. Brings food to the sick and the hungry. Visits those in the hospital and so so much more. She is a wonderful wonderful woman. Can't wait to see her again tomorrow!!!

GAH! So much more to tell you. But not enough time :(
But know that things are going really well. I feel so blessed to be able to meet all these wonderful people.

Funny story of the week. So we get a call from a private number this last week. He told us that we had contacted him and he would love to see us. At first I thought it was Marc (a dad we met a week earlier) because there aren't very many men who call us haha. So I ask for his address and then I say, "and what apartment are you again (because marc lived in an apartment)".   Reply: "I don't live in an apartment. It's a house. Number 19. Oh. I have to go. See you Wednesday"
*Click*

Oh mince. I have no idea who this person is...or in what ville they live. I quickly looked up his street in our map book....there were 12 options for where we could go. Oh glorious. I started to narrow down options until I realize WAIT! I bet it's that man that we met from Forchies la Marche!! He didn't have a cell phone so if he was calling from a payphone, it would make sense that the number would be blocked. So we frolic out to Forchie la Marche. Well where #19 should have been, we found this instead:



Yes. That is a man in a wheel chair being pulled by a pony. Welcome to Belgium everybody. It rocks.
Side note. That man is over 200 yards away. My new camera is a boss!!

Good news, I found out who that man was :) So we set up something with him and his family for later next week.

Well everyone, I LOVE YOU. Have a great week. 

Soeur Bitter

The Country side of Belgium :) we had a lovely country walk

Love My New Hat -- Thanks Grandma Weber

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the skirts and for the beanie!! And for the red-violet crayon :) haha. The skirts are great and I felt so cute when I gave my talk this sunday in my new skirt. Yes. I gave another talk. This one had to be 15-20 minutes though. Haha It went fairly well though.

Great Weather Follows Me - January 13, 2014

HELLO HELLO!!!!

The biggest highlight of today, our apartment is getting a bath!! Scrubba dub dub!! I sent the zone leaders of Louise and Liege on a shopping trip to buy us all the things that were missing :) They're so great. They bought me a comforter too! (Before I was sleeping with that blanket you sent to me in the MTC. I'm so glad I had that!) Now I'm sleeping so much better.

We got a bunch of organizational stuff and items that were just missing in the kitchen (i.e. pans, 9x13 pans, cutting board, Tupperware, etc.). The hot water guy comes again tomorrow!! So hopefully that will be fixed soon too and my days of water boiling will be over!!

We spent all day cleaning. We are not even close to done and most definitely one of the most disgusting experiences of my life. I was gagging over and over again. BUT the worst of it is over! All the nasty stuff is out and it's just junk that is left right now. Good thing I'm not nostalgic at all or have any attachment to this stuff—five full trash bags later and I’m not even close to done. THE WRATH OF SOEUR BITTER MUAHAHAHA

Everything else is going really well. Also, I don't want to jinx it...but I think I may have found my super power....I bring warm weather with me wherever I go. BUT DON'T JINX IT!!! I remember when I got to Melun, Soeur Rhondeau said that it was the first time she had seen the sun since she started her mission (maybe that was an exaggeration on my part...but I remember it being a really long time). Then I go to Rennes, which supposedly rainy Bretagne. When I was there it was the most beautiful weather in the world. Well now that I'm in Belgium, Rennes is back to its original reputation of raining...ALL THE TIME. But how is Belgium, you ask? The last few days I've just worn my raincoat and a scarf. Pas mal if you ask me. So anyway, maybe I found my superpower.

HIGHLIGHT: So last week we found out that Chantelle had been going to the wrong ward. She was really well integrated...into the wrong ward. HAHA. So my companion and I decided it was GO TIME. I had to use all the tricks up my sleeve to make sure that the members in Charleroi 2nd just adored her. We scheduled a soiree with the Family Vandevelde.

I hadn't met them before and my companion didn't remember them but we both thought they would be perfect for her as we looked over names in our phone. Well as it turns out-they were. For the lesson, we taught the plan of salvation and the spirit was really strong. We testified that she would see her husband again and that she could live forever with him.

Then Frere Vandevelde bore a strong testimony of our personal responsibility; which means that the promises in the plan of salvation are only valid and reserved for faithful covenant keepers. She really understood and she immediately associated that with her upcoming baptism. I cannot count the number of times that I looked over at Chantelle during the lesson or in the car-ride home and she looked so blissfully at peace. It brought me so much joy to see her so happy.

Later, I talked to the Vandeveldes and I found out that Frere Vandevelde used to be the Ward Mission Leader for Charleroi 2. He then told us that ever since he was released, missionaries had not been to his house. We were the first in over 3 years. He was so happy to have us there and to have an ami in his home. And we were THRILLED that he and his wife were SO good to her.

She came to church this Sunday and the members just swarmed around her. Success!! She actually was at the metro stop at around 7:20 in the morning...even though church doesn't start until 9:30 Haha, she was just so excited. :)

ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT: MAJOR MIRACLE!! Sophie is getting baptized this weekend!! So a hang-up with Sophie was that she was in a work contract that required her to work on Sunday. She was trying to quit so that she could honor the Sabbath day but her boss wouldn't let her out of it. She works at one of the top restaurants in Rennes. Every time we would meet someone when we were with Sophie, they would say, "Oh!! I know the greatest Chinese restaurant you have to try! It's at such and such a place."

Sophie: "Oh ya. That's where I work."

Well when she couldn't get out of her contract. She then told the missionaries, "Maybe the restaurant will close down and then I will be out of my contract and can get baptized sooner!"

That's exactly what happened. Here is Soeur Barton's account:

"On Tuesday afternoon she found out about the restaurant for sure, and she talked with us on Tuesday night to ask if she could get baptized on January 18th! It was so cute yesterday. Sophie went around to all the brethren in the ward who she wanted to participate in her baptism and confirmation... they were so touched when she asked them in her adorable Chinese accent. All of these good men--their eyes welled up with tears and they just were all grins that she'd ask them to participate. It was a really sweet moment. "

I am happy for my Sophie. So sad I won't be able to be there but I am so happy that this ward has taken her in and just loved her. I know she will be a huge support to Rennes and they will be/already are her French family.

I feel so blessed to be here. To meet these people and to witness the Lord work that Mighty Change of Heart. He lives.

Love you

Soeur Bitt

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE AMAZING CHRISTMAS GIFTS!!! Uncle Craig and Aunt Maria!! I absolutely loved the stocking!! And I loved the clever scriptures on it too :) You are so sweet to think of me. I also got your Christmas card yesterday! TALK ABOUT A SUPER STAR FAMILY!! I'll try to keep up.

Thank you Grandma Bill and Grandma Bitter and Bro & Sis Hawkins for the Christmas money!! I will most likely buy a warm winter hat with it :) I'm so excited. I hope you are all doing well and that your Christmas season was unforgettable.

MAYU!!! WOW!! YOU. ARE. BEAUTIFUL!! I FINALLY got your invite. It got lost in the mail. DRAT. But you look so unbeliveably happy and beautiful. not even kidding. Happiness just oozed out of the pics on your announcement. By this time your married!! I'm so sorry!! I was planning on sending my rents in my behalf. FAIL. But know that I love you and I'm sending you all my love from Belgium. Next time I'm in Bruxelles, I'll send you something pretty. (but for right now I'm in the ghetto...and there's not much to send haha).





haven't gotten my skirts but thankfully, it has been really temperate weather. I'm assuming they'll get here soon but mail takes a really long time to get to this city.

CHA CHA LE ROOOOOIIII! -- January 6, 2014

HELLO HELLO!!

I can't believe it's Monday again. I can't believe I've already been in Belgium for a month. Things are really turning around for the better here. WOHOOOO! We're finding some really amazing amis.

Last night was our last night to do Christmas Caroling (what our Mission president asked us during the Christmas season) and there were several people who let us into their homes to pray and sing with them. One of the families that we met the mom kept saying things like,

"So you do this all the time??...That's such a beautiful thing"

"I've never met people like you before. What you do is such a beautiful thing"

"Are you going to knock on all the doors?? You should!! People need this!!!"

When we asked them if we could return all their answers were always "WILL YOU REALLY?!" So we're really excited.

Chantelle is doing amazingly. She loves church. She loves the members. And she loves the Gospel. We gave her the film Finding Faith in Christ as a Christmas present. :) We saw her for the third time this last week and when we asked her about the film, it went a little something like this:

Soeur:    "How did you like the movie about Jesus Christ"
Chantelle: "It was sad"
Soeur: "That's true but-"
Chantelle: "but then he comes back in all white. I loved that part. It was so beautiful. I felt so good."

We went on to talk about the power of the Holy Ghost and his role in testifying. That everything that is or leads to do good is from God. She then interrupts us and said "And it's that feeling that I get at church. That feeling that after, I feel so much better than before and I want to be better than before". She is so humble and so teachable. It's crazy to think that we have only been teaching her for a few weeks. This last week we fixed a baptismal date with her for the 15th of febuary!! Wohoo! I haven't checked if that day is free with the building and what not but if it is, then our Chantelle is getting baptized next month!! So much to do before then. But I'm so excited for her :)

New years and new years eve were great. We spent New Years eve with a recent convert and her two little girls. Her girls are ADORABLE! I love the members here so much.

The problem with Belgium: the Chocolate is just too good...and the people are just too generous. Between the two of us, we have pounds and pounds of gourmet chocolates at our apartment...and I'm turning into quite the monster. It's grave really. Sigh. Such a difficult life I lead. muahaha

Happy New Year Everyone!!!
I hope all your new years resolutions still exist...or were even created haha

Know that I love you and pray for you often! Especially you Elder Bitter

Soeur Bitter

Christmas Fun - December 30, 2013

Hello,

Talking to all of you on Christmas was such a highlight. I am glad that everyone is doing so well. When Zoe said "I love you Kari" I almost started crying!  I am such a baby. 

Well this week was...different, mainly because of the holidays but we were still able to see a fair number of people. Christmas eve was really awesome. we went to several of our amis or less actives and we read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Every couple verses, I played on the violin (while they sang) the hymn that went along with that particular part in the story. For example, after it says "and she brought first her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." after that, we sang/played silent night or Away in a Manger. It was so great and it was the best way to pass the day :).

But...at about 4, we had only 1 rdv left with one of our amis. After that, we would go to the Ypersier's and have Christmas eve dinner. So we get to the bus stop and it was FREEZING!! The wind was probably about 20 mph and it's raining pretty hard. We wait for the bus (scheduled to come at 4:12)...and it doesn't come. So then we wait for the next 4:42...still doesn't come. So then we wait until 5:12...still not here. So at 5:25, after waiting in the frigid cold, we decided to call Fr. Ypersier. He is our DMP and we were normally scheduled to be at his house at 6:30 but with the way things were looking, I didn't think we would ever get there. Of course! He comes zooming to our rescue and when we got to their house, Sr. Ypersier handed us blow dryers and took our wet coats away. After that, Christmas eve was magical. The Ypersier's took such good care of us. We were spiritually and physically nourished and they even gave us wonderful christmas presents! The missionaries of Charleroi 1 say it all the time---they are our Belgian Grandparents. and it is true! I love them so much.

Our lesson with Claire was really good. For those of you who don't know/remember who Claire is, she is an ami. She met the missionaries about 3 years ago. She comes to church every sunday. Loves church. Loves the members. Adores the missionaires. When we looked over what lessons she has been taught and when, I noticed that it had been a long time since she had been taught the basic lessons. (i.e. The Plan of Salvation). So we decided to start again with the lessons--and a good thing too! Even though she has been coming for over 2 years to church, she still had a ton of questions and a lot of confusion about Jospeh Smith and the Restoration. It was a really good lesson and she really opened up as to why she ins't baptized. She has no problem with what we teach and say but being baptized would be a form of betrayal to her to her family. So we're working with that and focusing on what her Father in Heaven wants for her. We asked her to bring a question like that to church last week to which she replied "I'm not comfortable doing that if you're not going to be there." I thougth that was kind of sweet :) Since we were at Charleroi 2 ward last week, she will be bringing a question to church this Sunday. We're really praying that when she receives her answer, she will have the courage to move forward.

Funny ancedote for the week: So this transfer, I have been really pushing that we get to know the members. Charleroi is a little tricky with that actually because we are over 2 wards--and they meet at the same time on Sundays--on opposite sides of town. So what we have had to do is really take advantage of the time we do have with members...or just invite ourselves over (more sneakily though)--during the holidays, that has been easier :). So it's coming along!!

Anyway, to the ancedote. So last Sunday (like 8 days ago) I scheduled a couple visits throughout the week with members in the Charleroi 1 ward. The family Rasolo, when I talked to them, immediately invited us over for dinner the following Sunday (yesterday). Well Yesterday, we were at the Charleroi 2 ward so I didn't have to chance to confirm with them to their face but when I called they were still planning on us coming and they were excited to see us. Bon! So we head to the metro and we see that the metro is coming in about 20 minutes. "Mince. I forgot that metros on sundays were so infrequent. I'll call the Rasolo's really fast and tell them we'll be about 10 minutes late". Of course they were completely understanding. Well...20 minutes passes...then 30 minutes. Needless to say. The Metro came VERY late. We FINALLY make it to our destination and at this point I'm pretty stressed. We're super late and we're going to a members house...of which I only have a vague idea of how to find their street.

We step off the metro and this man pops out of nowhere and says hello. We say hi but just continue on our way. We find the exit and we noticed that the escalater isn't working. Fantastic. It's only like 3 flights of stairs. Then that same man pops out of nowhere and tells us to take the escalator on the other end and that that one works fine. At this point I'm both confused and grateful. We head up the escalator and kind of distance ourselves from this reappearing man. We come out at a huge round about. I look at all the streets and try to figure out which one the Rasolo's were trying to describe to me. That same man pops up and says "no no! You have to cross here!" and points to the cross walk. I kind of smile to myself and cross the crosswalk and head over to the other side of the round about. We get to the other side and I start eyeing the street signs trying to find the right one. One again the man appears and this is how this conversation went:

Man: "No No, It's this way! This is the way to where I live."

I thought "well that's cool but I want to get to a different street" So I decided to take advantage of this moment and ask this nice man where this rue was.

Man: "Right here! That's what I'm saying. You're coming home with me."

Suddenly all the gears clicked together. This was the member!!!! Haha he had come to find us at the metro stop and we kept leaving him every time he reappeared. I felt so bad. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice. And that is why missionaries need to get to know their members!!!

We then had an amazing visit with the Rasolo's. They have SUCH strong testimonies of the Gospel and are incredibly proactive about missionary work. It has been really great getting to know all the members in these two wards. We haven't gotten to meet all of them yet but we have a really good start.

Well, I wish all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you made a new years resolution to do some more missionary work :) Find a less active! Have them for dinner! Invite your neighbor for an FHE! Help the missionaries in your wards touch the people in your area. That's the way it's supposed to be.

Love you

Soeur Bitter

Christmas Eve With Ypersiers

PDay in Brussels

More Brussels

Two Words: Belgium Waffle

Beautiful Brussels

Warm Christmas Eve