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