Train Strike - June 23, 2014

Such a good week. Seriously the weeks are flying by.

Fun Story of the Week: The SNCF (the train travel of France) is on strike. Yippee. It's been going on for about two weeks now. I feel bad for Paris. ALL of their transport is SNCF. Luckily out here in Vannes, we really only use SNCF if we are going to leave Vannes...ya know...like we did last week. Last week was the Zone Conference to say goodbye to President and Soeur Poznanski. They have finished their mission and we had our last conference to say goodbye. At each of the conferences, there were three zones so we went all the way to Angers. Normally, a train to Angers would take about three hours...well...it's a little more complicated if most of the trains aren't running.

We got a text from our Zone Leaders telling us that we all should check our tickets in advance to make sure our specific train is running. We thought we were golden because there are four ways to get to Angers the morning of the conference. The train we purchased tickets for ran just 10 minutes later, an hour earlier and an hour later. Pas de probleme. Well that blew up in our faces. You can't check your train until 6 pm the night before. So we go to the train station and it said, “All ways to Angers have been cancelled”...except one getting us there at 1 pm...3.5 hours into the conference. But we would be leaving at the same time.

Instantly we call our elders. The only train that would get us there in time leaves from a train station 60km away from our place. They immediately tell us to take a train to that Ville tonight. We sprint home, pack in literally 7 minutes flat and sprint back to the gare. Just in time for them to call us and tell us there are no hotels in that city. Ha-ha.

Well after they called everyone imaginable (including President Poznanski), it was finally settled that we would take our little car and drive to that train station at 5:20 am! Roadtrip!! Well finally after 8 different modes of transportation, we made it to Angers. The way back wasn't any easier. In total Sr Mason and I took over 12 modes of transportation in less than 36 hours. We did this while hauling around sleepover stuff and my violin.

After we got home, we took our lunch break. Instead of eating, we just laid on the floor and slept. When the time came for us to get up, I sat up, blurry eyed, tried to get up, blacked out, fell on the floor and then woke up again 45 minutes later. We were pretty sore from sleeping on the tile floor for an hour and a half but at least we were able to do missionary work for the rest of the evening. Win.

Updates:

The Batistas are doing well. Well...Sylvain is doing well. The only problem is, a couple of weeks ago, their car broke down...so Sylvain lost his job. The good news is that they got a new car and he got his job back! WIN! The bad news is that that means they don't have the money to go to Guyane to get married next month. Blast.

On top of that, Karene will be leaving in October or so to go to Guyane to have her baby...and then she won't be coming back until FEB OF NEXT YEAR. Double blast. SO what we're really praying for is that their hearts will be softened and they will want to get married here in France. That way they can get baptized and then when they are in Guyane with their family, they can have the party. It's so sad because Sylvain just looks stuck. He wants to be baptized so badly but for right now, solutions are looking pretty slim.

The LaBontés: We had an awesome FHE with them and a family about their age. They are doing so well and Clement is already halfway through Alma in the Book of Mormon. HE LOVES IT. Their problem...Clement left today to go to the south of France for a month. And then he will leave in October for Africa again for 3 months. Oh the military. Not a fan of the schedule. BUT they're doing really well. We taught them the Plan of Salvation this week and it went super well. Clement is really developing a strong testimony of the Restoration. We're just trying to help Sonia realize why the Restoration would be important. But things were starting to click this week!! So we're pretty excited. :)

Cool finding miracle this week: So Saturday finally came and we had just a little bit of time at night to do some porting. (Like 30 minutes). So Sr Mason and I said a little prayer before starting (which we normally do) but this time we took the advice of our DL (maybe it was our Zone Leader...I can't remember). He told us that to pray to be guided is good but he told us to try something better. In our prayer he asked us to say "We felt we should come here. We know there is someone here who is prepared. Please help us to find them". After praying, we got to work. After 10 doors, only one answered...and they weren't interested. No one was home haha. Well, the next person who answered was a man named Pascale. We talked with him that night and went back the next afternoon to teach him and are now going back again this Wednesday. He is so excited to learn more and in just explaining who we were and why we were there, he was obviously touched by the spirit.

"has the day of miracles ceased?...Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought...wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." (Moroni 7: 35, 37)

It was a humbling experience for me and definitely pushed me to work with more faith!! So much to learn as a missionary. I have a long way to go haha. Luckily I still have time to improve :)

I love you all

Soeur Kari Ann Bitter