All of you have been telling me about your exciting 4th of July adventures so I thought I would tell you about ours. Well, Sr Mason and I were determined to make this day as patriotic as possible. So naturally we wore Red, White and Blue. :) (The only problem with that...those are also the French colors...and France was competing in the World Cup that day...so there may have been some confusion.) So we head out in our patriotic colors and go to a less active's house and they gave us lunch too. And what did they give us?? Hoagies, coke and watermelon!! Win! Little taste of AMERICA!! Later that day, when home for dinner, we made homemade American flags...and attached them to our wooden spoons. And had a photo shoot.
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Well the night before we decided to find the most patriotic street in all of Vannes and knock EVERY DOOR!!! Well, usually cities have at least rue de la liberté or rue de la victoire or even sometimes Franklin Roosevelt or other American presidents...well apparently Vannes isn't too fond of America because the only Patriotic thing we could find was Albert Einstein haha close enough!! So we went out there!...but disappointingly we found pic 2 of email 2. A Science research block. Luckily there were some neighborhoods nearby we were able to porte!! Also, notice the spontaneous change of clothing from afternoon finding to night time. Yes..it pours in Vannes...in July. Well then that next day, we found red white and blue macaroons and that topped off our 4th of July celebrations. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!! I LOVE YOU!!
Well this week was awesome. It started off a little slow but ended with a bang! First off, we went to Angers again to meet the new mission President and his wife. I love them SO MUCH!! They are so inspired and loving. At first I was thinking "MINCE!! I wish I could have had my whole mission with the Poznanskis!" Now I'm wishing I had more time so that I could learn from and get to know the Babins. They are so wonderful and I can already see that they will continue to push this mission greater heights...all in preparation for the Paris Temple!!! Predicted completion--Oct 2016. Also, I wish I could share the story about how all roadblocks were cleared to make the Paris Temple possible to build. But it was nothing short of divine intervention. It reminded me of a quote that Soeur Mangum read to me my first day in Charleroi:
"the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church 4:540)
We visited Francoise and Patrick a couple times (always with the Gentry family) and they are doing amazingly. Actually, Francoise wants to be baptized!!! Before going to our RDV on Saturday, Sr Mason and I prayed about a date to fix with them. Our branch only has one baptismal service a month so that narrows down the options by default :). We started by praying about July and August (me secretly hoping that I could be there for the baptism). But after praying and just waiting for a bit, we both felt that September was the month for her and honestly, I felt totally ok with the fact that I wouldn't be there. We texted the Executive secretary to see when the baptismal date for september was and he said either the 3rd or 4th saturday. So we decided on the 20th and went to our RDV.
We shared the 1st half of the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was REALLY strong. Francoise told us that she wakes up every morning now and her mind immediately goes to the things that we have taught. We had told the Gentry's that we would be giving the baptismal invite this time but when I invited francoise to be baptized the 20th of september, Sister Gentry let out an audible gasp. haha I thought to myself "sr gentry, this shouldn't be a surprise. We told you." well after Francoise accepted, Sr Gentry bore testimony to how inspired that date was. All this couple wants to do is to build this branch and she told us that that day was in fact their wedding anniversary. Immediately I knew that it was the best Anniversary gift that the Gentry's could ask for--to see a friend come unto Christ. Patrick said that he will need a little more time but he is definitely "very positive about what he has learned so far". He loves that there is a modern day prophet and he LOVES the Book of Mormon. :) They both came to church again and it was so cute because Francoise was introducing herself to lots of the members and taking notes on all of the upcoming activities. It was so cool to see someone take the decision to be baptized and then throw themselves fully into the ward. :) Awesome.
That night, we had the entire evening to do porting. We found out that we would have the car that night so Sr mason and I went to the map of our area and prayed about what area we should go to. We both felt that we should go out to the city where our Branch President and his family live. We head out there and it is POURING. Oh my goodness haha it was so funny. Luckily it wasn't that freezing rain that I knew in belgium. It was warm summer rain but still. Crazy. Door after door, not very many interested people. Very VERY nice people...but not interested haha. We then knock on this door and I hear "Oui?? Hello?" I'm looking from the door to all the windows and I don't see anyone haha. Luckily Sr Mason saw this cute woman from Djibouti poke her head out of the tiny window that was obstructed from my view. She then starts to introduce herself but the rain is too strong that she couldn't hear us at all. She then tells us "i'm coming. Wait there." My thought "oh no...She's coming out in the rain?! She's not going to be happy".
A minute later she comes out in her rain coat and she grabs her umbrella from the porch and comes running to the gate. We reintroduce ourselves and told her that we are there to pray with her and her family. She just stared at us..."To PRAY with us?" I responded "yes...pray to God." She then responded by telling us that her and her family are not believing. Well after continuing to talk to her and ask her questions for about 3 minutes, she then tells us that the reason her family isn't PRACTICING (but they DO believe in God) is because they are a mix of a lot of religions. Her dad was jewish, her mom muslim, her husband is Christian. So they feel they can't choose. We then continued to talk to her and we asked her one more time if we could pray with her and leave a blessing for her house and children. She looked at us and told us "with so much pleasure." Sr Mason offered a simple beautiful prayer.
After finishing, the rain POURED like never before. I was just thinking "aw come on. This poor woman".
Sr Mason: "All day every day"
Naima: "...even when it rains"
Sr Bitter: "YES!"
Soeur Mason and I just beamed at her while she looked at us in amazement. She then told us to wait there for 2 seconds and then she ran into her house and came running back with 10 euros. She told us that she would LOVE to have us come in but that her aunt was there and she was doing Ramadan (Muslim religious period) and that she didn't want to put her out so she wanted us to go and get ourselves a warm drink. After insisting for 3 minutes straight that we take her money, she gave up and just looked from one of us to the other and just said "what you do is TOO nice. You are amazing people". We then gave her a brochure of the restoration and she told us that she would come to church because of this little meeting.
As I walked back I turned to sr mason with tears in my eyes. I told her that in my whole mission I had never had someone come out in the rain to pray with us. During a lot of our 20 minute chat, I kept thinking "But I bet she's so cold. We should just let her go back inside" but then the spirit would push us to just talk with her a little longer.
Sometimes we're asked to reach out to those around us but logically it just doesn't seem like the "right moment". It's raining, her Muslim aunt is there. There is always an excuse. But maybe that "not ideal moment" is the perfect time to share your testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is so easy to justify away a spiritual prompting. But when followed, an undeniable peace can enter into our hearts and the hearts of those around us.
Another transfer has ended and I have started my very last transfer. I have no idea where the time has gone. I can so vividly remember my very first day when I stood up in a room of 40+ people and saw my trainer for the very first time. Cute little Sr Rhondeau. She then came bounding up to me, beaming from ear to ear and immediately took me under her wing. That started the most miraculous months I have ever lived and the wild ride we call a mission. There have been days that I couldn't stop smiling and days where I didn't stop crying but it has been the most rewarding and spiritually honing experience of my life.
I'm excited for these next 6 weeks!!
All those who have been slacking in your love letters to me---your days of repentance are drawing to a close. 6 weeks. Make them count. thehehe
The Church of Jesus Christ and His Gospel are restored again on the earth. He lives, He loves us and He will lift our burdens if we but turn to Him. For those of you who are tired and heavyhearted, just hold on a little longer. The sun will rise. He will come to your side. I promise.
Love you all so much,
Soeur Bitter
Oh p.s. I'm staying with Sr Mason!! I love her so much and I'm so excited to spend 6 more weeks with her :)
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| Sr. Mason, Sr. Bitter and my BLUE!!! Sr. Tane!! I love her so much. |
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