It's May Already?! April 28, 2014

Bonjour tout le monde! (Hello Everyone!)

Well this week has just flown by. The weeks just seem to be going faster and faster!

Mini update on Sonia: We went and saw her and her kids this week. We decided to teach her the Plan of Salvation. We brought the hand-made lay out (that my bestie Sr Barton made for me) so the kids could be more involved. So we get to the RDV and the 2 boys are playing on the couch. Sonia and her daughter (Skyla) are sitting at the table when we started the lesson.

Skyla is helping me put all the pictures down for the PDS lay out. Then as we start talking about our life here on earth, Wesley (the oldest-8 years old) sneaks his way over. He then stood at the corner of the table and started answering questions. Within 5 more minutes, all of the kids had found chairs and were seated at the table and giving some of the most inspired answers I have ever heard children give. For example:

Soeur Bitter: "Who remembers from the last lesson what happened after Christ died?"

(All their hands shoot in the air)

Skyla: "He rose again!"

Soeur Francis: "And so what does that mean for each of us?"

Soeur Bitter thinking to self, "They won't know the answer to that. They're children."

Skyla: "Hmmm......that we will all rise again someday too."

Soeur Bitter’s mind blown. "What the! Aren't you 6?!"

Basically they are awesome. Haha. I love them so much. Right now we are having a hard time getting them to church. Blast. So we are trying to work on that. Besides that, they are absolutely wonderful!!

We also taught the Batista family a few times this week as well and the dad (Sylvain) is Sonia's brother. They are AMAZING. They are not married BUT!!! THEY'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED!! They are going to their home in South America this summer to get married and then they are going to get baptized at the beginning of September when they get back. Sylvain is incredible. Seriously. He will be a great member of this ward. He and his 2 boys came to church this last week and after church, we had a RDV with them. We asked him what he thought about church and his answer was something like this:

Sylvain: “I really like the hour that is for the visitors. The one that is small...the one that you're there and so are the brother missionaries.”

Soeur Bitter: “Yup, second hour. What did you like about it?”

Sylvain: “I learn so much. Like today was all about the Restoration and how all “ordonnances” must be done through the Priesthood. After everyone killed all the apostles, the truth was dispersed and separated and sometimes misinterpreted. It's like a mirror broke and everyone took a piece. The piece is good but it's incomplete. So we needed a new mirror...”

He continued on for about another 5 minutes and gave one of the most in-depth run downs of the restoration I've ever heard. He just GETS it. It is awesome to see. We're trying really hard to work with his wife. She has only come to church once but we have so much faith that with Sylvain, she will continue to progress :) It's awesome, he pushes them to read the Book of Mormon together and actually during our FHE last week, HE gave the spiritual thought. So cool.

We had a huge break through lesson with Anita. Almost all of our amis are having a really hard time understanding the importance of the Restoration. Anita has been taught by the missionaries since February and she comes to church pretty regularly but she is having a really hard time understanding the Restoration.

My first lesson with her was an entire session of deflecting questions and asking about deep doctrine. We tried to pull it back to the lesson over and over but it was incredibly difficult. Earlier Sr Francis had told me that Anita had indicated that she wanted to be baptized but when I asked Sr. Franics why Anita wanted to get baptized, Sr. Francis wasn't sure. So we decided that maybe we should just ask Anita and find out for ourselves. After talking about the restoration of authority (which still wasn't quite sinking in) and then asking her why she wanted to be baptized, Sr Francis turned to her and asked:

"But why do you want to be baptized in THIS church? You said that you have already been baptized Evangelical. Why do you want to be baptized again?"

She then went on to explain that when she was baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost she didn't feel any different and how she felt like she was still searching. INSTANTLY the Spirit was there and I knew where we needed to go from there. It is always such a delicate situation when you are talking about authority so I was so grateful that the spirit was there.

"Anita. It shouldn't be that way. In the last year, I have seen many people get baptized and met many others who recently have gotten baptized by Priesthood authority. Every single person says that there is a noticeable difference after their baptism. That is why so much depends on you gaining a testimony of the Restoration of the Priesthood. So you can feel that difference for yourself."

Anita's face completely softened. We immediately turned to Moroni 7:9 and explained what praying with real intent really meant. We told her that we don't ask our Heavenly Father to know if these things are true just to know. If you want an answer, you must do so with real intent meaning making a promise beforehand that you will DO something with the answer He gives you.

“For example, if you pray to your Heavenly Father and you already have the promise in your heart 'I will be baptized if I receive an answer that Joseph Smith is a prophet', we promise that you will receive an answer to your prayers that he indeed is a prophet."

The Spirit was SO strong. I have to say, I have taught the Restoration many, many times but I don't know if I have had many lessons where the Spirit was stronger than it was in that moment.

And then the most amazing thing of all happening, Anita was SILENT. That does not happen people! After a little moment Sr Francis asked her, "Will you pray like this Anita?" Silence continued. She then looked up and said "Yes. Yes I will."

WOOT! SHE'S GOING TO PRAY!!! Now we're praying constantly that she will have the courage to follow the answer that Heavenly Father will give her.

Well that is all I'm going to write for this week. I wish I could have thought of a funny story to tell you. It's almost as if nothing funny happened this week....which is weird because Soeur Francis and I are always DYING of laughter. Seriously. She is so great. I will write a funny story in my planner next week and then you will get to benefit from our hilarity as well.

MUCH LOVE
Soeur Bitter

All over Vannes right now are these cute orange poppies.
 I see them all the time when we are driving.
 I just wanted to pick some. Well, last Friday, I got my chance :)

Well, after I picked my poppy, I went home and put it in water.
Later that night, I came home and found it like this.
Coolest thing ever.
 Every night, it closes up and goes to sleep
 and every morning it opens back up. Happiness.

Comme d'habitude the members/our amis and pretty much everyone
we meet are the kindness most generous people in the world.
 Here is one of the treats we got last night-
A GIANT, GOURMET, DARK CHOCOLATE BUNNY. Yum yum yum yum.

Hello Ocean! April 21, 2014

After running around town for about an hour and a half, we discovered that EVERYTHING IS CLOSED. Why you ask? Because it's Easter Monday. "Wait I thought Easter was on Sunday." Oh it is. But in France, it's also on Monday. Why? Because why would you have a holiday on a Sunday when everyone takes that day off anyway? It's better if it's also on a Monday so that the whole world can close up shop. After a stroke of inspiration, Sr Francis realized that there are actually two computers at the church! Not just one. There is one under the podium in the chapel. (Why? No idea. Not asking questions. I’m just grateful to have a computer). So after calling the 1st counselor to get permission to use it, we headed over to the church and now I am sitting on a child stepping stool, typing on a computer that is about one foot off the ground in the church's chapel. Haha. Just thought I would paint an image of my surroundings.

Well first of all let's just say that I am the happiest missionary alive. Vannes. is. AMAZING. It is basically like a mini Rennes. And the people are just so lovely. And on top of that, we live...RIGHT NEXT TO THE OCEAN!!! I walk by it every day and I say hello. Also, ALL of the members have really good friends or family in Rennes. So it was really easy getting to know them all. We are actually in a Branch. But it's a decent sized branch. There are about 70 people who come every week.

Soeur Francis is the BEST. I love her so much. I haven't laughed this hard in a really long time. She is so humble and an AMAZING missionary. We clicked right away and we have just been laughing and tearing up this Ville from the get-go. I have so much to learn from her. I will attach a picture of us. We are so cute.

So the work in Vannes is on a high. We are teaching tons of families and I feel that all we ever do is walk from one lesson to the next. We're still looking for new amis but we have the chance of teaching some pretty amazing people right now.

There are so many highlights that I do not even know where to start. Well for starters, we pretty much only taught one lesson this week- our 'Easter message'. The message is centered on the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ and we just applied it to each person depending on their individual needs. It was probably the best way to personally prepare for Easter.

Well, a personal favorite was actually a less active lesson we had. Her name is Soeur Tamahouki. Back in July(ish) Soeurs Garrett and Johns (love them!) started visiting her. She was raised in the church but after her divorce with her first husband, she stopped coming. She is remarried to a really nice man but he does not believe.

We sat down for our lesson and I took out the Plan of Salvation brochure and showed her the picture of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane (something I learned from Sr. Francis) and asked her what she thought when she saw that image. Her eyes immediately filled with tears and after a moment she whispered out "nothing". To which Sr Francis immediately responded, "You know that's not true". Silence. For a good minute or two we just sat there as she stared at her lap. She then looked up and said "I'm too lost. Too far. I've made too many mistakes."

The lesson then turned to the meaning of repentance and HOW MUCH the Lord wants to forgive us. It was one of those moments on my mission where you feel as if the Heaven's open and you can feel so strongly the love that God has for the person in front of you. It was interesting because I could see in her face the scripture in Alma 36:

"Yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror. Oh, thought, I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds."

But then I felt this overpowering love. I could not explain it if I tried. In that moment I was the one being taught. Through teaching her, I got a window into how our Heavenly Father feels as he urges and begs us to repent. I understood how much it pains him to see his children who have fallen or slipped into sin and who have accepted the idea that it is "too late" for them. The Savior wants to forgive. He wants us to feel the redeeming power of the Atonement and to be wrapped once more in the arms of his eternal love. Then we too can feel as Alma the younger did when he said:

"I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!"

What a glorious message we carry forth to the world! People can change and grow and become more like our Savior. And in the process find peace and joy beyond what they previously thought possible.

Next story: So one of the families we are teaching has 3 kids but the dad is gone right now on a military mission. He will be back at the end of May. Before he left he said, "When I get back, I'm getting baptized."

So right now we're teaching his wife and kids. The mom's name is Sonia and she is just about one of my favorite people. We visited her this week to teach the Easter message. She misses her husband so much--it's touching. But she's so sweet and loving and happy at the same time. After talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we then asked her "and what does that mean to you? Christ's victory over death?" She thought for a second and then said, "He proved that death really isn't the end."

We then went on to explain that not only is it not the end but he made it possible that we can live as a family forever. I then said as I pointed to her kids, "That means that if you live these things, you will live with each one of your 3 children and your husband for eternity". At that moment, her daughter was sitting on her lap. Sonia tightly wrapped her arms around her and said with a smile, "That is what I want."

So beautiful I can't stand it!

Oh my goodness. I wish I could tell you more. Those two lessons were just half of one of our days together. We really do teach so many amazing people and we have already met so many great people together. This transfer is going to be amazing.

Below, I attached pics of me and my new comp. Aren't we so cute? The senior couple is the Harris couple. They were here when I was in Rennes too! I love them so much. The chocolate bunnies are actually from them. How kind is that?!

Love you all!!

Soeur Bitter

Brother & Sister Harris with Sr. Francis in Vannes

Transfer Notice to Vannes and Chocolate to Spare - April 14, 2014

So this week was the last week of the transfer--which always means THE BEST WEEK EVER!!! It's the week where we really get to see the 'fruits of our labors'.

We went to see all of our less-actives and amis and I told them all that I would probably be leaving. Needless to say, now our cupboard is FULL of all sorts of Belgium chocolates, over 7 boxes of different kinds of cookies, chocolate dipped marshmallows. You name it. I was so touched by their generosity and love...it's just too bad that I'm on a diet hahaha.

This week at the Rosenbluth's, Soeur Rosenbluth told us that she read the talk that we left her—“Come Join With Us” by President Uchtdorf. She told us, "It was like it was written for me". The amazing thing about this talk, it addresses pretty much every reason why someone would go less active. After discussing the talk, I then asked her what exactly was stopping her from coming to church. Frere Rosenbluth comes about 2x a month but Soeur Rosenbluth hasn't been to church in about 8 years.

Half way through testifying of the importance of church, I felt that familiar voice telling me exactly what I needed to say. I started by telling them that this would most likely be our last RDV together. I would probably be leaving on Wednesday. Immediate shock! Then I went on to tell them that from the very first week I got to Charleroi, their name came to my mind. Over and over and over. I didn't even know them at this point. And since meeting them, they were constantly in my thoughts. I went on to tell them how much I really love them. And that I was only asking them to do these things because I knew it really would help. After a second or two, Soeur Rosenbluth looked at me and said "I'm coming this Sunday. I'll be there".

We're going to put this story on hold while I go on explaining the rest of the week.

Cool miracle later that week: So we were on our way to pass by someone on the other side of Mont-Sur-Marchienne. On our way, we noticed a woman sitting on a ledge holding a bouquet of flowers. As we walked past, the Spirit whispered so subtly to go and talk to her. So we make a really sly (NOT!) detour around the street pole and I started by introducing myself and our message.

She then looks up at us and tells us "Today is my birthday."

Soeur Bitter: "TODAY? Oh la la! Happy birthday!!"

Then she said, "And this morning my dog died."

Soeur Bitter is now at loss for words. All I could mutter was a "I'm so sorry".

She then went on to explain that her dog had been attacked by a German Sheppard and had been mauled to death. We continued talking to her about the healing power of Christ but it was obvious that she was in a state that was hard for her to focus on what we were saying. We then offered to walk her home and to help her carry the groceries she had around her. She complied and we just continued talking to her as we went.

When we got to her house we just let her talk for a little bit and then we asked if we could just sing a hymn to her and leave her with a prayer. We left her the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told her that it would give her peace. She made us promise to come back :)

That Sunday, we go to church and we see the Elder's super cool ami Phillipe. He comes up to us and says, "HEY! I heard you visited my mom and sang to her." Instantly confused, I start scratching my brain for all the names of people we sang to during Christmas.

I ask, "When was it exactly?"

Phillipe, "Thursday."

Me: "Wait, like recently?!"

Phillipe: "Yes!"

Me: "Elizabeth?!"

Phillipe: "Yup. That's my mom!"

I. was. Floored. I was incredibly humbled to see the hand of the Lord. Charleroi is a fairly big city—about 200,000 people. There is no way that you can justify what happened that day to be mere circumstance. We were in the right place, at the right time, in the moment that she needed us most. This then made Phillipe's family SO much more open to the idea of him getting baptized and meeting with the Elders.

Through the rest of church, I was EXHAUSTED. I'm not going to lie to you all. Charleroi has been a really hard place for me. There was A LOT of work that needed to be done when I got here but every missionary has their own Gethsemane's and so there is no room to complain. But it felt weird that those days were coming to a close. I was almost certain that I was leaving and there was just one desire that I had that whole week--that I would receive a confirmation that the Lord accepted the work I had done here. All week I tried weighing it out in my mind. Things I had done successfully v. things I had not been able to finish. Would it end up being enough?

Sacrament is the last hour and as I walked in I kicked myself and thought stop focusing on you. Time to work! I ran around and welcomed our amis and said hi to all of our members and asked how they were doing. It looks like the meeting is about to start so I turn around to go find my companion when I see SOEUR ROSENBLUTH walking into church. She's beaming from ear to ear and comes running up to me "I told you I would come!".

She then is swarmed by all of our ward (she's lovable so obviously everyone has missed her). I told her I would save her a spot. When church started, she plopped herself right next to me. The Bishop got up and said that we would start the meeting by singing The Spirit of God. Before he sat down, I felt the most amazing feeling. I felt as if my soul was being expanded within me and I heard "Look around you". I looked up and instantly my eyes feel on Soeur Puissant, I then looked a few rows back and saw Soeur Charles there with her granddaughter and daughter (1st time she's been in church in a few years). I then thought of the wonderful couple sitting next to me--the Rosenbluths. I instantly started choking back tears. Let's just say I didn't make it through much of the hymn.

I am so grateful to have served here--even if it was just for that moment right there. Saying goodbye to these members will just about kill me. They all came running up to me at the baptism last Saturday and through tears asked "BUT YOU'RE NOT LEAVING ARE YOU?!" The ward here really is unbelievable. I'm so grateful to have met all these beautiful people.

The first day with Soeur MacKay I told her "Charleroi may not be beautiful but you will fall in love with these people. They are the best". And it's true. I'm sad to be leaving them BUT I'M SO EXCITED TO BE GOING BACK TO BRETAGNE!!!! Yup. I'm in the same stake as Rennes, my favorite place in the world. I'm going to Vannes. HAPPPINESS. My new comp's name is Soeur Francis. I've heard she's AMAZING and I've talked to her a bit and she seems really cool. Also, tender mercy, Vannes goes to Rennes...A LOT. Do you remember who is IN Rennes??? MY SOPHIE!!!!!! Praying we'll get to see each other!!

That's all my updates for this week. I need to go pack my bags and get ready to head out to the beautiful Bretagne.

Soeur Bitter



Well this last week we had an all sister conference. IT WAS AWESOME!!! It made me feel like a girl again! Win. Well Soeur Barton and I...naturally... embarrassingly cling to each other...so all my pics are of her. Whoops haha. But Sending them anyways!!!

 

With My Mission Mom and Soeur Barton

Soeur Puissant. If you look hard, you can see some of her art in the back

Soeur Rosenbluth.

Mission Conference Arts and Crafts w/ Soeur Barton

Finished Product

Soeur Barton Reunion

Train Wreck - April 7, 2014

Let's start off with a funny story shall we?

So this last Thursday, we were in Paris to do Soeur MacKay's legality. We went down with 3 elders. The Zone Leaders bought the tickets for 5:30 at night...so ya...we had lots of time. (Side note went to go see the Versailles Chateau. Pics will be included). Well we finally get to our fancy bullet train and start heading up to Belgium.

On our way, suddenly I hear fjkdahjdfighafadjueioklvklasjf. Yup. We hit something. The train comes to a halt in the middle of nowhere. The nice lady on the intercom announces to us that it will now be a 2 hour delay. Sigh. Well at least we were in good company. We laughed and told stories for about 2 hours. Then we start inching forward. And when I say inching...I literally mean inching. I looked out the window and turned to the Elder next to me "I'm not being dramatic...I think I could literally run faster than this train". After about 1 Km, the train halts again. Happiness.

We wait there for another hour and then one of the controllers comes into our car "ATTENTION EVERYONE! This train is no longer in working order. We will be evacuating this train and boarding the train in front". Yup. They had to send a train to come and save our poor selves.

Now off the train, it is pretty dark and all the passengers are just stumbling along this broken path towards the next train. We then climb up a make shift ramp to get on the next train. Since it was significantly smaller than the previous, I was privileged to stand. HAHA. Well at this point we've called President and Soeur Poznanski because...it's 10pm and missionaries should be in their apartment getting reading to dream of sugar plums. He told us that once to Brussels, we would have to take a cab because he did not want us taking public transportation that late.

We get to the train station in Brussels and head out to where the taxis are waiting. Well, everyone on that train was now waiting for a taxi. It was a taxi man’s Christmas!! They must have called up all of their friends and told them to come to the gare immediately because it was a field day!

We finally get in our cab and before I can even fasten my seat belt, the driver FLOORS IT!! And when I say floors it, I mean, patching out in his Mercedes, using running lights, and running up AND OVER The median. The 50 km/h speed limits seem more like a "guideline" and he was hitting over 150 km/h. The good thing of the story was that, because of the high demand for taxi drivers, he did not take his sweet time getting to the apartment haha. He took us there quickly and directly. Bad news, I think I lost 2 kg from sweating bullets. But in the end, we made it to the sister's apartment in Brussels and were safe and sound in bed...at a little past midnight. Not your usual missionary day. THAT'S for sure.

Onto the miracles of the week: Well actually we had a super awesome miracle this morning. So the Elders called us last night and told us that they had a rdv for us this morning at 11. Normally on p-day we don't have rdvs but it was just one so we happily took it and headed that way.

We knock on the door and the most fabulous TINY little Italian woman opens the door. My mind immediately flashed back to my days in Melun. "It's Grandma Italy!" I thought. "Win. This is going to be the best lesson ever." And you know what, IT WAS!!! We go in and after about 5 minutes of introducing ourselves, we start teaching the Restoration. She kept saying the most INSPIRED THINGS EVER!!! Oh my goodness. We would be about to teach a principle and then she would interrupt and define to US the doctrine we were about to teach HER.

Example: "....and Christ gave his apostles the Priesthood, meaning the power to act in his name" Gma Italy "Ah! Yes. Like marrying people and baptizing them and teaching the Gospel." Dumbfounded. All I could say was "Yes...that's exactly right". She's really solid and very inspired. She's Catholic but she told us there are small things that she decided are "just not right". For example, she told us that she doesn't say memorized prayers because she doesn't feel like her mind is fully engaged in speaking with the Lord. "Instead I found it's better to tell him how you really feel and talk to him like your Father." SOLID TRUTH! We love our Grandma Italy.

Soeur Puissant is doing very well. We went and had a lesson with her this week. It was interesting. We thought to teach her just about the same lesson that we taught the very first week I got here. As a reminder, the first week I was here, Soeur Puissant opened up and said why she had a problem with these things and why she has been less active. Well we had the same lesson, except this time, she bore a strong testimony of these truths of the Gospel. It was inspiring to see the progress that she has made in such a short time.

Mince. I got a little preoccupied during emails haha. I didn't pay attention to the time. That is all the time I have time to write. I'll try to catch you up on more of the amazing Charleroi miracles next week. Things are really happening here and it's an amazing thing to see.

Also conference was absolutely inspiring. Wish I could dwell on that for a minute more.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Soeur Bitter

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles

Versailles Gardens

Versailles Gardens

Versailles Gate

Slow Bullet Train

10:53 PM - Where is My Bed!

Why Are You Here? - March 31, 2014

BONJOUR My favorite Americans!!!!

So...it's only been about 3 days since I last emailed you haha so I don't know how much I have to tell you but here we go anyway.

On Saturday we decided to do some porting and pass by a few people before our meeting with our ward mission leader at noon. We passed by this one woman and ended up talking to her for a good 30 minutes. During the Easter season we're going from door to door and telling people we have a message about Christ and that through his resurrection, we can all live with our Father in Heaven again. She told us that that was exactly what she had been searching for. She had been raised Christian but was never taught about a life after. She has lost a lot of family members and friends. The only living family member that she has is one brother. She had such profound yet simple questions about this life and the life after. We're really excited to teach her tonight.

Well then that night we went to Nivelles for that music concert. I played Schindler's List, Bach—Gavotte and then the hymn medley of Amazing Grace, As Now We Take the Sacrament and How Great Thou Art. AND IT WASN'T ALL IN VAIN!! Afterwards, one of the elders of Nivelles was like "SISTERS! You should talk to this guy. He's from Charleroi". Well, one of the guests who showed up was from our area. How he heard about the event? I have no idea. He was very interested in the church though and had never heard anything about it. We gave his number to our Elders here and so we're hoping that he comes to conference this weekend!!

Well...then Soeur MacKay got really sick on Sunday. So we stayed in all day. So...yup haha that was our weekend. Sorry there is not much to report.

I'm so shocked at how quickly my mission is flying by. I might start praying to make time go slower. haha. At the music concert, I met a 19 year old girl who had done a mini mission here in Charleroi. Her name is Soeur Snickers.

She stopped me in the middle of the hall and asked me "why are you here?". She kind of caught me off guard and I just responded "Uhh...to play my violin". "No, no. I mean why are you here on a mission? What made you want to come here?"

She had so much eagerness and sincerity in her eyes that I decided that she deserved an answer with the same amount of sincerity. As I began to recount to her my story of how I came to leave on a mission I then told her "BUT, the better part of the story is what KEPT me on a mission."

I then found myself telling her about the beautiful lessons I've been in, the uncontrollable laughter, the cries I thought would never end and the shoes I've worn out. "But more than anything. Know that it will change your life. You'll feel you're Heavenly Father's love every day and you're relationship with Him will grow so much".

Tears rolled down her face as she told me "You're just confirming everything I've already thought. I must go". I felt so much love and admiration for her in that moment. I see so many 18 year old elders and 19 year old soeurs in this mission. The fact that they were ready and willing at such a young age is absolutely inspiring. At an age that is usually characterized by selfishness, they have one of the most pure and selfless goals that I can think of.

Quote of the week. Brought to you in part by Aubrey Brennan who gave it to me by an unnamed source haha: "God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability."

I'm so excited for conference!

Love you all

Soeur Bitter

Ward Mission Leader Treat of Chinese Food  -- Perfect Day