March 24,2014 Le bonheur...c'est du fait-main

 Le bonheur...c'est du fait-main

Bonjour.

Sorry this is shorter, don't have tone of time today.

To start, my companion just got asked to stop playing the accordian that she borrowed from a Romanian guy in the metro, by a secret agent (he flashed his badge....that he probably made himself)...

So, this week was good. We did exchanges (duh), and I got to see Soeur Richardson! We did exchanges with Chambery, and I was with her cute bleu, who is French and wonderful, and so much fun. Also, Soeur Richardson and I went running in the morning, and it was like a flashback to the good ole' Toulouse times. The other exchange was with Soeur Young, and we ran all over the place, trying to use the questionnaire as much as we can. It is magical. People stop and listen and want to learn more.

Okay, okay, I can't even write in any sort of order because there were major highlights of the week. 

1. Roberto. 

Roberto found our card on the bus or something last week, and sent us a text. It went something like this "Bonsoir Thomas S. Monson..." (guess we contacted about the prophet), and then asked to meet with us. Almost fell off my chair when that happened. 

So in our first lesson, one of the first thing he tells us is that he believes in 3 degrees of glory, and can't find anyone else who believes that....

............. ..... .. ..................... .... ... ... . ................... AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH)é&'_ç'(ç)_~[`\`\]}^`¤`|\`\|`\[`[^$ù*:!;!!!!!!!................................ ; ...... . .......................

Don't worry, we held it together.

We taught him four times this week, and he came up to us at a baptism, yesterday and said "Hello, I'd like to be baptized on Saturday, please." Well, calm yourself, Roberto, you've got to go to church 2 more times first. But we set April 6, before they broadcast General Conference! Come to find out, other missionaries in Lyon were teaching him as well, so we had to figure that all out, but he lives in our sector. He's seriously so golden. He just drinks in everything that we teach, and is so willing to change. He has the weirdest opinions I've ever heard on religion, something about a king..on another planet..looking for gold...and I think an apple might have been involved, but really who knows. This is why we needed a Retoration, people.

2. Eliette.

Another ami who contacted us. She's 82, ad teaches Ti Chi (I know that's spelt so wrong...), and looks like she's 60. She's a Buddhist Catholic, because apparently that exists, and she loves us. She came to the stake relief society activity on Saturday, and enjoyed it. Which is incredible, cause that's sometimes hard, even for members.. She's really progressing, and we talked to her about baptism once, and now that's all she brings up.

3. Amida.

Another one who contacted us. She saw that we were "Soeur"s, and set up a time to meet with us, telling us she was about to get baptized in the Catholic church. Get this, I've actually contacted her before, and she's Albanian, and originally met missionaries there. She's so willing to learn more, and is literally a light.  

Okay, moral of this story, is that people seem to be coming out of nowhere. Come to find out, most of these amis were actually contacted previously by missionaries. I am grateful for the hard work of missionaries who have gone before us.....may they rest in peace...(too much?)

At the Relief Society activity on Saturday, I got to see some Grenoble members! Also, Soeur Carter and I are going there tomorrow for her legality. When you have been out for a year, you have to renew your legality, so you can stay in France. Guys, I got the big, white, scary envelope. Do you know what this means??? I'M OLD. Gross. 

Oh, and zone conference is in Switzerland! #countryofmyheritage #butmostlyexcitedforthechocolate #alsoSoeurFrancis

Also, saw a rollerblading race on Friday night, as we walked to our appartement. I love France.

I've been working on my personal prayers lately. Sometime, they get kind of routine. I'm actually praying only in English, since I can focus more. But, the Bible Dictionary has a beautiful definition of prayer:
"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."

Je vous aime.

Soeur Luthi

March 17, 2014

Bonjour!

This past week, our sister training duties commenced. What a week it was.

First of all, started with an incredible day wandering around Vieux Lyon. The nice thing about being with Soeur Carter, is that we've both been in Lyon. So we no longer feel the desire to go to the touristy locations, so now we're looking for some good souvenirs that we'll love forever. I got a beautiful, old print of Carcassonne. Also, on the way, we ran into one of our old amirs, Joy. She is African, and has the similar problem of having the desire and faith, but not actually transferring that into action and commitments. We ran into her on the commitment, and ended up meeting with her 3 times, and she's progressing! 

Tuesday, we had the Fellowship of the Jedi....also, properly known as Mission Leadership Council. The secret meeting, where all of the zone leaders and STLs all over the mission come to Lyon, so President can tell us his secrets (but mostly train us). It was incredible. We mostly went over the new questionnaire that President introduced, and it's our jobs to take it to all the new missionaries, and to make them as excited as we are. I know it sounds weird, for us to carry around surveys, but guys, I HAVE A TESTIMONY THAT IT WORKS. We talk to less people, because people listen. We've gotten so many numbers and found new amis through it. There are 4 simple questions, that are designed for us to be able to launch into a gospel conversations, easily. People who would normally say no right away, listen and become involved in the conversation. We got to practice at the meeting, and all of us leaders went into Lyon for 2 different hours, to put it into practice (even though we'd already been using it), and made a competition out of it. Any metro stop you got out of, you'd see missionaries spotting the streets, in conversations. Missionaries contacted entire metro cars...all at once (crazies). It was fun to see all of these incredible action spring into action. The cool thing is seeing that this is exactly what our mission needs. Hearts have been softened, and are open to our message. This is working, because the Lord's involved. At the end of the meeting, President said "I know this'll work. I know this'll work, because the Lord told me.", and got all teary. Basically, it was the best/most overwhelming few hours of the week. After, Pres took us out to dinner, and we sat by him and asked him gospel questions. Then at one point, he leaned over and asked "Who are you going to marry?"..... .... ... .. ......ummmm...*cue him telling me all the things I need to look for*. #thanksPres

Our first exchange was that night, and I was with a quiet Italian bleue. She was very sweet, but VERY timid, and had a hard time talking to people. We worked on that, and I tried to open her up a bit. I told her that (from my experience with European comps), Italians would be drawn to her. She laughed it off, and then, the last hour of our exchange, I contacted someone on the way to the metro, who was Italian. She sprang into action, and talked to her for 15 minutes, teaching her the first lesson. It was cool to see her confidence grow, as she talked and talked. This Spirit-building expererience, left us very late, and we ran all the way to the GARE, almost missing her train.

The day we were together, Soeur Carter and I visited a sweet family, who live about an hour from Lyon. They came from Tahiti, and it's just the mom and two kids, since she got divorced. She was the cutest, because you could tell that they didn't have much, but what they had, they gave willingly. She told us about how she would always take care of us, because when her son was on a mission, she would always worry that someone was. So mom, don't worry, Soeur Schohn's got my back.

We did another exchange, and I was with a fun sister. She is very reserved, but is wonderful. I loved seeing her desire as she works to set goals, and her fearlessness to teach at any point during lessons. It is wonderful to work with all of these sisters. All of them, trying to overcome trials or fears, but all here for the same purpose.

This'll take some getting used to though, because after each exchange, I feel like I need to curl up and sleep. But the work keeps moving. In other news, I forgot my plaque yesterday, and on the way to church (darn weird transition between winter and spring), I figured it out, so Soeur Carter loaned me one of hers. It was a sign of success to see that almost none of the members noticed, because they all know my name. Also, Ecully is splitting at the end of the transfer :(

Actually, not a sad thing, and it'll be good, since it's ginormous, but sad to say goodbye to some members. Also, we had 5 amis at church! And we're finding more, wonderful French amis. the members are excited every time we bring a stable, French person to church.

I love the work. It's progressing at a crazy rate. I love Soeur Carter, too. We have fun together, and she pushes me to be my best kind of missionary. Also, she's fun. Today, we had a race to see who could find a hymn in the hymnbook with Irish origins (shout out to St. Patrick's day). I won. *princess wave* But in all seriousness, I love the opportunity to be here as a missionary. People always talk about the sacrifice that it is, and yeah, that's true I guess, but really, it's a gain. A blessing.  A wonderful, hard, fun, crazy, fulfilling, French blessing.

Also, Isabel, I was thinking about you Saturday. I can testify that you, in fact, looked best.

Je vous aime,

Soeur Luthi

March 10, 2014

Bonjour.

I loved staying in my area, especially since Soeur Carter has been serving on the other side of the river in Lyon, so she's pretty familiar with the area. Made the transition go so smoothly. We had a good week. 

To start with, this whole "Sister training Leader" gig, is showing me all the work that goes on behind the scenes in the mission. Kind of cool. We had a loooong to do list, and are still making our way through it, because the days seem to fly by. 

Guys, I LOVE being with an older missionary. This is the first time since my first transfer that I have a companion who is older than me in the mission. I love training, but it's a different, awesome experience, when I can look at my companion, and know that she will have an idea of what to say and how to say it. We both lead the lessons, we both talk to memebers, we both contact. 

Okay, okay, so this week, other than all the random,w eird jobs we had to do like reorganize out apartment and getting maps and calling sisters, etc, we also did a lot of normal missionary work. It was a bit bizarre the first few days being with Soeur Carter, since it seemed like we were on exchanges. I had to shake off the idea that she was leading me around, and remember that this is my sector. But I showed her around, and she showed me the ropes of being a STL. 

A really cool thing this week, was that so many people that we met and talked to *asked us* if they could meet with us. We found new amis, who have lots of promise, just as we were going to and from other rendez-vous. Like this woman, named Eliette, who is 82 but looks in her 60s, and kept bowing to us and telling us how happy she was to have met us. At the end of our first rdv with her, she asked "Why aren't more people Mormon?"....yes...exactly...you see why we're here. 

We met with lots of members, to try to show the ward that Soeur Carter and I are in fact companions, even though for the rest of the transfers, we'll be with lots of other sisters. It included meeting the Relief Society president, who LOVES us now, and totally trusts us, since we're helping her with the sisters in the ward. More than half of our giant ward is sisters, so she needs a lot of help. But Ecully will be splitting soon #toomanyofus #templesoonplease?

These member visits included a semi-less active trying to teach us how gaurdian angels are the fourth members of the Godhead...#apostasie Probably the funniest experience of my life, when she kept testing us on the words to "As Sister's in Zion"...

We had mangez-vous with families who need lots of loves and prayers, and visited THE CUTEST and probably THE OLDEST couple. We had planned a language study at a members, and she forgot, but told us to go to her parents who live right across the street, so we popped in. Little old "Papa Torres" came hobbling out, yelling "LES SOEURS MISSIONNAIRES!!!!", because he's deaf (shout out to my favorite Papa). They were so excited, and Soeur Torres kept playing with our hair, and calling us "mes filles" (my daughters). We helped a member set up for her wedding, and got lost in a random bit of beautiful countryside on the way to a members. We made cookies for young women who didn't know what they where, and on Sunday, we randomly got invited right after church to go on a nature walk with a family with 2 twin 3 year olds, and had dinner at their house after.

All of these member experiences are important, because yesterday was mission-wide "E" Day (endearment day), where we do all we can to endear members. We worite notes, made cookies, smiled a lot, and sang in sacrament meeting. It was great, and it worked like a charm. We are booked, with exchanges and member visits. Soeur Carter was in awe of how simple it was, since the members asked us to come, instead of the awkward other way around.

There were 2 baptisms in our ward yesterday, and Zamir obviously came, and told us after:

He's going to ask his parents....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH3627è_éç'è_éç&(é&!!§/%%A"'éçè_çè(àçàè_ç-#|^^@@]^|`\[`[`\!!!!!

This is major progress. Keep him in your prayers.

I love being a missionary. I love working in Lyon, and I love working with Soeur Carter. Even though it's new work, this now calling has helped...I don't know, ignite (?) a new desore to work hard. Whatever it is, I love it, and I'm just going with it. 

I found this clip on lds.org. THIS IS WHERE I SERVE MY MISSION. Watching it fills up my heart, and makes me even happier to be serving here. I love this work.

Je vous aime,

Soeur Luthi

March 3, 2014

At the parc (also, Soeur Carter is on the right).

Best surprise of our lives.

Sunbeams

Well this was quite a week...to say the least.

My heart was almost ripped out of my chst and stamped on because this week was transfers, and Soeur Francis is off to Suisse. It was surreal leaving her on the train, but she will do incredible things. Never have I worked with someone so similar to me. Love you, Sister British!

Oh, as for me, I'm staying in Ecully, receiving Soeur Carter (aka, best missionary in the mission). Aaaaand our equipe is becoming the new Sister Training Leader equipe.

For those who have no idea what that is, it's basically like a ZL for sisters..but with more sisters to cover. Lots of exchanges, and who knows what else. Soeur Hulme and Soeur Bragg screamed when I told them, so that's a good sign, yes? The subject of this email is because our equipe and the other STL's in Lyon decided to become the Fellowship. Mom, if you could send 4 rings of power, that'd be great..

The week started with the greatest P-days of our lives (minus the one at President's). We went to Parc de la Tete d'Or with other missionaries, had a picnics, and rode bikes through the zoo and the botanical gardens there. Also,  we had one last visit to Soeur Theroomy, our less active from Malaysia. she was so sweet, and so sad at the possibility to see one of us go. She even gave us Malaysian jelwelry, which looks very similar to Garment district jewelry...

This week, we were able to teach Lydia twice, out golden, French ami. We taught her the Retab and the Plan of Salvation, and the Spirit was incredibly strong. She kept trying to relate it back to Catholicism, so I talked lots about the priesthood, which I KNOW they don't have, and that's what got her. By the end, she was asking about baptism and inviting us for dinner at her house. 

We ate with the famille Rouffet, a classic French family this week. it was an adventure trying to even get to their house out in the country, but the best part was when Frère Rouffet said "A meal without cheese is like a day without sunshine." Welcome to France, everyone.

We did lots of less-active/recent convert this week, partly because we got tombez'd like 4 times in one day. We had 10 minutes before our next rdv, so we tried passing a random name we didn't know on the list. It worked. The famille Richa, as a whole, weren't there, but the non-member husband was happy to see us, and invited us back when his wife comes back from vacance. We also did activities centered on family history, which weren't super successful, but we stood out in the cold for a good part of the week, trying to talk to as many people as we could about family history. 

Calls came Friday, and the rest of the weekend went by way too fast. With packing, lessons, lunches with members, and lots of goodbyes, we were running around up until when Soeur Francis got on the train this morning. But we got matching shirts #alliswell. 

Yesterday was pretty much the best day of my life. Started by missing the bus on the way to church and walking. Then we taught sunbeams. We got the call Saturday night at around 8/30 from the desperate Primary president, begging us to teach the 3 year olds "WHATEVER we want". Yeah, cue us finding the one coloring page we had in the apartment (Joseph Smith), and planning to "teach" the Restoration. It became very apparent, very quickly that we haven't dealt with small children in a long time. A tidbit of our...interesting...planning for the lesson.

"We could watch the full Retab movie!" (20 minutes long...with 3 year olds....no)

"Well, we could just watch the vision part..?" (.....)

"We could teach them English!"

"We could talk about prophets?"

.......Yeah, we ended up holding up a picture of Joseph Smith and telling his story in about 2 minutes, and they colored the rest of the time.

Zamir came to church, telling us he had a surprise for us. Sadly, it wasn't Zamira (she doesn't want to meet with us anymore..) After Soeur Francis gave a rockstar goodbye testimony and finished crowd surfing back to our seats (sacreligious..sorry), we looked back and there was SOEUR FAHL. SOEUR JO FAHL. (Whatever her "real" name is.) Sitting, with her mom. We freaked out, especially since we were all emotional from Soeur Francis' impending departure. Soeur Fahl came to surprise us, bring her mom and the rest of her family. It was SO great to see her, and she's doing well. Her family is awesome, and I know she will do incredible things. Also, she brought us a huge box of peanut butter, Double stuffed Oreos, Doritos, and other smuggled American goods. Guys, if you didn't figure it out yet,

I HAVE THE BEST BLEUES.

We ate at Ivalani's, visited Soeur Berger-Perrin, and then had one last visit with Zamir and his parents. They were very sad to see Soeur Francis leave. But I just sat back and marvelled at the miracle that has happened since she's been here. It went from being completely not interested, to loving us and being so sad when Soeur Francis left. But that's what she did, she came, she touched hearts, softened people up, and then left. She did what she needed.

So, I'm excited for my new..calling? I guess that's what it is. We're over 7 or 8 equipes (including Soeur Richardson's, YAY), and will do exchanges and whatever else STLs do. I'm excited, especially for all I will learn, from my new comp and all the sisters!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Luthi

February 24, 2014

And now some Degas for you

This week was full of ups and downs.

Started the week by a beautiful trip to the Museum of Beautiful Arts. Got our bit of culture in, in case walking down the streets of France everyday isn't enough. That was an "up" of the week.

Soeur Fahl, who had health problems before her mission, hasn't been feeling to well since we came. She wasn't feeling good at all on Tuesday, and after we came back from running, she curled up in a ball on the flooor....yeah, okay, that's not okay. So the next two days was spent in and out of the emergency room and the pharmacies, as random doctors perscribed things that didn't work. By Wednesday, President decided to send her home, because her health really can't be improved while on a mission. So that was heart breaking. We packed her bags, and then walked her around Lyon. We took her to see a few cool things, and just ended up wandering, arm in arm. We dropped her off on Thursday, which was sad and hard, but she needs to get better. She was here for a reason, and she was definitely a tender mercy. She came when she did for a reason, and helped make us better. We love you, Soeur Fahl!

We got back into work right away, since after dropping her off, we went back to district meeting. Thursday was just a weird and surreal day, but we got back into pretty fast. We visited members, had language studies, and taught Eude and Kessman and Zamir. All have a great desire to follow Christ, we're just trying to help them overcome their certain problems. 

Emma, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Just so you know, Soeur Francis and I made a birthday video for you. It's awesome, and I probably won't ever be able to figure out how to send it, soooo look forward to that in 7 months. Thanks Mom and the Woolsey's for the packages. The best was watching/videoing Soeur Francis try a Butterfinger for the first time. She loved it.

Yesterday we were busy. We had church, then the Elders had a baptism after, then we taught Soeur Berger-Perrin. She's this awesome less active who can't come to church due to health reasons, but she's got rock solid faith. Then we taught Zamir, sans his sister. He came to church, too. Kind of weird seeing those two seperated. Basically, some guy from Albania came and ruined everything (kidding...kind of), but he doesn't like us missionaries, so Zamira has been hard to reach...pray for her. But it was AWESOME teaching Zamir by himself. I wish I could record his responses, because they are so profound, with his child-like, innocent faith. Like yesterday, he said "Repentance is like my favorite part, because it helps us to be better, and helps us be happy." Yes.....*cue me crying*...yes, it does. We visited the Pascaud's, who introduced us to their neighbor, who is Arthur Weasley, French-version. 

Oh, and so you know, transfer calls are on Friday. NOOOOOOOO! Just kidding, nothing to stress about, Soeur Francis and I are staying and all will be well........ ... ...

We've got the ward praying for us.

My bleue found a cool quote yesterday that I thought I'd share with you:

"The process of being made whole, begins with a broken heart."

A simple, beautiful truth. The Savior can heal us.

Psalms 147:3 "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."

Je vous aime.

Soeur Luthi

February 17, 2014

Another start to what I'm sure will be a great week.

This past week has been good, just a bit slow. I only say that because almost all of our amis now are slowing down to that weird, no-longer-really-progressing stage. Wah wah. But that's okay, because that means we are really on the hunt for families. I did an exchange this week with my STL, Soeur Carter (who is my idol), and we talked all about how we need FRENCH amis. You'd be surprised how most of our amis are not actually French, here in France. African, Albanian, etc. The one French ami we have, Lydia, is the one with the most potential. So I've decided that that's who I'm looking for. French families. That's like the hardest group of people to contact, because more often than not, that's the group that quickly says no. But if the Lord told President Roney that we need to find families, and if He called me to France, there WILL be a French family out there whom we can find and usher into the gospel. 

 

So anyway. We had some really great member experiences this week. For example, Soeur theroomy, who is a less active, but only because her children told her they wouldn't speak to her if she kept coming. But she wants to. She promised me by the end of the transfer, she'd come. And by «Promised me », I mean she just randomly looked at me and said « i promise I'll come to church before the next transfer ». Cool. She made us delicious Malaysian food, and Soeur Anderson came with us.

Again, this week we had lots of tombez. There was one day where it seemed literally everything we planned, even with members, wasn't working out. But, at the end of the night, we went to the famille Heras' for a heathly meal, again with the Andersons. (Mom, I hope you liked the pictures.)

We also worked with members by having them help us do language study. Most genius idea. We just chat, and love the members, and they correct us, and we teach them, and after an hour I think « I KNOW FRENCH ! »......and then we go back to speaking English together.... .. …... …

Also, we had Zone Conference this week. Not only that, but interviews. I was looking forward to it all week. Our zone was dead last out of the 11, so I'm sure the Roney's and the A.P.'s, and everyone else involved were beat by the time they rooled into Ecully. But it was still incredible, none the less....is that one word ?

Zone Conference was all about love, and learning to love like the Savior did, in both loving God, and our fellowmen. Some bits that I loved was when President pointed out that if we don't love, the Plan of Salvation doesn't work for us. Think about it.

Also, « Love and faith are the wealth of heaven. » Wise.

I especially loved my interview....even though I pretty luch was the ne asking the questions. I picked his brain for what to study, what he expects from mybleues and from me, how I can be better, etc. Guys, It. Was. Awesome. We talked for like half an hour, and I learned so much, but to sum it up- The Savior and Love. So, those will be my focuses. Also, he gave me an incrdible book to study all about the life of the Savior. It basically puts the Gospels into chronological order, but adds in stuff from the B.O.M d D&C. Usually he gives it out at the end of our missions, but he gave it to me early, and told me to learn all I could about the Savior.

We also had lunch with Ivalani and Nicole, two of my favorite members. We celebrated Nicole's birthday, and I figured out, especially on Sunday, that I CAN'T leave Ecully. In the biggest ward in our mission, I feel like I finally know the members, and tey know and trust me....

Anyway. Yesterday was great, and really full of member love. Except with one minor set back. I woke up befoe the alarm (wah wah), and was lying awke, waiting for it to go off. Then I wondered why there was light in our usually pitch black apartment.....no......NOOOOOO. The alarm didn't go off. It was 8:24...church starts at 9. Cue the most hectic morning ever, which included us leaving 15 minutes later, looking abou as great as you can imagine, and running to church. We got there late and sweaty (gross), but all was well. We taught amis class, Soeur Georges gave us chocolate for Valentine's, and 2 amis who haven't come to church came! One was Lydia, who actually works with Nu Skin, and almost fell over when she met President Roney. #dinnerwithbothfamsnextweek #instantfellowshippers

The famille Couapel, the cutest couple, took us to their house for lunch, and then we saw Soeur Heras again so she could try to help my sick comp, and then went to Soeur Berger-Perrin, a less actve who can't come to church for health reasons. All went well, and we were ediied by all. But by the end of the day, we were kind of gross. Buuuut that's missionary work for you.

Also, had another testimony builder of how fasting works. Zamir and Zamira kind of had a blow in their family this week when Zamira pretty much ran away with some sketch guy from Albania who came 3 weeks ago. All around a bad situation. But we fasted as companionship Saturday-Sunday, and on Sunday evening, we got a text from Zamir "She's back." AHHHHHHH3è"'_éç&è470-èè_"'à~|`\^]]`\]§§§§!!!!! The situation is a lot deeper than that, but prayer works, guys.

I love being here is France.

I love Ecully.

I love training.

I love the Savior.

I love my mission.

And I love you all!

Soeur Luthi

 

PS....sorry, I would add pictures but this sketch internet place won't let me..

February 10, 2014

Some of my favourite people

Reading emails today opened up the emotions all over again. My heart is tender for my dear family. If I said "I love you" a million times, I'm not sure if it would be enough. (Someone hug my mom for me.)

The incredible thing, is the gratitude I feel, despite this loss. I am grateful of the incredible love that I feel. I am grateful for the divine support I know we are all receiving. I am grateful for the support my family has received. I am grateful for Stacey. For her beautiful example of Christlike love. 

She was and is a light. 

She makes heart tender, more receptive, and more loving. She showed us how to be obedient, and how to love the Lord by loving others. 

She makes me want to be better. She makes me want to work harder. She makes me want to smile more, and show people that God is there, and He is real, and that He loves them. Because that is what she showed me. I love her, and I love my family.

This week was good! It was one of those weeks where day-to-day, sometimes it seemed to last forever, with lots of tombez-vous, but by the end of the week, we saw that really we were successful. That was Heavenly Father humbling me.

We went on exchanges this week with the sisters who are in Dijon, and I did it with Soeur Vidal, who used to be my STL. A bit weird, since I'm used to her leading the day. But she is an incredible missionary, and an incredible example. That day, we decided to do a language study at a members. I was worried the members would be bugged that we were calling so last minute, but the sweet famille Bize LOVED it. We went over and Soeur Vidal and I ate crêpés while Soeur Fahl taught them the Retab and was corrected on her French. By the end, there were 8 people crammed in the small kitchen, laughing, and eating crepes. So love-filled. So French. Soeur Bize told us the missionaries hadn't visited them in forever, and Frere Bize showed us a picture of his entire extended family, all active members, all married in the temple, and cried as he explained the effect the missionaries who met his parents had. By the end we were crying and then sprinting to catch our bus. It was an incredible night. And we saw the blessings of letting the members serve us.

Lots of amis ended up coming to church again yesterday, and one ami showed up right at the end, wanting to be taught. So we did, and during the lesson, he asked how he could be baptized. Alrighty, then.

Zamir and Zamira are still doing well..well, by that, I mean we see them at church. They are really busy right now with their legal stuff to try to stay in France, and a new boyfriend who came from Albania. I think their priorities have changed a bit, plus their parents don't think they have time to meet with us. The good thing is that I know that we taught them all they need to know, and now they have to choice, plan and simple in front of them.

OH! And the greatest part of the week, was on Saturday when the Manzonies came up to Lyon, and we got permission to go out to lunch with them! They took us to the Halles of Lyon, whoch is a really cool indoor market kind of thing, and we ate yummy food, but had even better company.

This week is Zone Conference, so I am currently finishing Preach My Gospel during my studies. Today the thing that really stuck out to me was service. I think that's what I want to get out of this life. Is serving others. Lifting up arms that hang down. Showing people that there are things to be happy about. So I then read 3 Nephi 17, which is one of my favorite chapters. The love that the Savior exemplifies is hard to describe. Read it. 

President Monson said:
“My brothers and sisters, we are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our support, our comfort, our kindness—be they family members, friends, acquaintances, or strangers. We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon each of us. …
“That service to which all of us have been called is the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Service, what the Savior taught, and what Stacey does.

I love you all,

Soeur Luthi

February 3, 2014

Tender feelings today.

Got a couple calls this week, one which brought good news, and the other I didn't want.

Firstly, this was a pretty good week. With obvious bumps, but a definite high was getting a new companion! I got a call from President on Thursday, telling me that I would be getting another baby...whaaaat? #doubletraining So Saturday night, we got picked up by Pres, and he took us to his house to pick up our new companion. Her name is Soeur Fahl (pronounced fall), she is German but sounds American, is a convert, goes to BYU-I and reminds me of Chan. Guys, she is the epitome of a tender mercy. After we took her out to dinner and got home, I got the call from Mom and Dad. Cue the most surreal experience of my life. But that's why I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's timing. And also, to be on a mission. It's the best way to distract myself, I just turn to this little baby bleue who is about to fall over due to jet lag. She is great though, and so willing and happy to be a missionary. Also, she was in the MTC for only 9 days. Basically long enough to get used to the time change, only to fly back, and get all messed up again. 

Something that I thought a lot about over the past 2 days is our reactions to things like this. I feel an incredible amount of peace. I realized that in heart breaking moments like this, we are shaken, but then we can be strengthened. I can feel divine support that is difficult to explain. But now I know. If I had a testimony before of Heavenly Father's plan, now I have a knowledge that God created a perfect plan, so we can be with our families forever. 

I love this opportunity to be here as a missionary. This is why we need missionaries! Because I never want to think how dealing with these trials would be without the truths that I know. This is why we need to find families, to show them that they can be for forever. And even with trials, and struggles, and pain, I know that we are receiving divine support. Thoughts that have been rolling through my head over and over are "Trials are either stumbling blocks or stepping stones." or "All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

Jacob 3:1-2

Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those [trials] who seek your destruction.
O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

D&C 101: 14,16

And all they who have mourned shall be comforted.
Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine ahands; be still and know that I am God.

For my family, you have my prayers. I miss you all, but I am so grateful for your faith. Let this build you up, not tear you down. I LOVE YOU.

Love,

Soeur Luthi

January 27, 2014

BONJOUR!

First of all, big shout out to Amalie, and the new baby, FInley Grace! Plan of Salvation in action, people. also, biggest, chubbiest, cutest baby I've ever seen. Love you both.

We had a good week this week. We taught a good amount, but the thing is, a lot of our amis seem to have hit some sort of plateau or another..so that's what we're working on at this point. Helping them overcome that, and cntinue to progress. 

I'm grateful for missions, because they TOTALLY prepare you for the rest of your life. Learned a lot, mostly how to get along with others. I love that! A mission teaches you how to love everyone around you, and how to work with them. I especially love learning from my comp (since we're together 24/7), and her reliance on the Lord. I write all the things that I love from the examples of members, and write them down to use them in the future. I love learning how to love others, who I don't know, and who aren't members. Strangers. Because I'm the weird one, going up to people and talking to them about how to change their life. You CANNOT do that effectively if you don't love the person....you come across weird. Aaaanywho, 

Yeah, this week was good. Here were some highlight,

This cute couple started teaching broke up this week...I guess that'll make teaching chastity easier, yeah? The good thing was that they asked if they could both still come to church.

We had a family home evening with the famille Heras and Anderson(both American families), along with Zamir and Zamira and their parents. Okay, the Spirit in members homes? IT WORKS. It was what we needed. We ate dinner together, and then we taught about the Family Proclomation (which they have in Albanian), and focused on:

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. 

This is what their parents needed. I felt the Spirit SO powerflly, as we testified about how applying the principles of Jesus Christ in our families changes homes, member or not. We saw the Spirit working, especially within their dad. He usually is pretty sullen and quiet, and at one point he looked up and smiled at me, nodding. HE'S GETTING IT. One day, their family will be eternal.

Went to Bleu's Conference for the 4th time this week. I guess I haven't learned it enough, yeah? 

I saw some Grenoble members this week, too! There was a youth stake activity on Saturday, and it was fun for them to run up and excitedly hug me/shake my hand.

We have a golden ami, named Kessman, who is so dead set on being baptized. The only problem is that his marriage isn't legal in France. Guys, guys, seriously, I've NEVER seen an African ami work so hard to get baptized. President said it'll end up being a blessing, since if he has to work this hard for it, he won't fall away. So pray that all will go well, and he can get married soon!

I was a good companion, and Soeur Francis had her first experience with tacos.....in France? 

#calirepresent

That's about it for the week, it was a good one! I love you all, and you are in my prayers. Oh, and check out the link.

Je vous aime.

Soeur Luthi

http://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation

January 20, 2014

Aaaaaand to end on that note, behold, the Kevin Bacon plate.Bonjour!

Happy transfer day!

To let all of you know right off, we're staying here. Yay! Going on my third, and that's the longest I've ever been in an area. Firstly, Mom, Zamira came up to me very, very excited telling me "Guess what!!!!", aaaaand of course the first thing I think of is, "You can be baptized!"

"Not yet."

"...... ... .. ......" (most disappointing moment in my life)

"YOUR MOM IS MY FRIEND OF FACEBOOK!"

Are you kidding me?

So she's excited.

So this week was a busy one. 

We taught A LOT. The only bummer part of it, was when members would fall through, or amis would call us day of to fiw a rendez-vous. (How am I supposed to get a member 2 hours before?) But we were very happy for the lessons we had. Okay, so here were some highlights of the week:

We met with Kessman, an older ami who I haven't met with since I came to Ecully. It was an incredible RDV. The only thing stopping him from being baptized is the "validity" of his marriage in France. So we figured out that his marriage in some African church here might be valid, and if so, he's good to go! The problem is that his wife isn't too fond on the idea of him being baptized, but her heart has been softened, and that's not really a problem now. He told us how his iPad had gotten stolen and, I quote, "The reason I was so sad wasn't for the iPad, but because it had my LDS scriptures app, with the Pearl of Great Price and everything." Oh. My. Word. So keep him in your prayers, he's so close!

We also had a soiree familiale with a family in our ward, and Joy and her daughter, and talked about the Book of Mormon. The members gave her daughter one of those drawn out Books of Mormon, and both Sophie and Joy are now reading the Book of Mormon regularly! Also, she made us fried rice #iheartnigerians

Okay, I'm just going to skip to the end of the week. That's where the real magic happened.

So Friday consisted of lots of tombez-vous, and the most stressful morning of the transfer, waiting for transfer calls. Saturday, we had a maticulously planned day, complete with members for our lessons, and even at our visits with less actives. Nope. 

Started really well, going to lunch with a member, who made me fajitas because I told her 2 months ago that I liked Mexican food (I love the members). Aaaaand, that was one of the highest parts of the day. Rendez-vous, after rendez-vous fell through, over and over. We worked hard to stay positive, as we walked to and from where we were going to meet, talking to anyone in our path. The night ended with our member being 45 minutes late to our lesson, meaning we were standing out in the cold and the rain with our male ami (#obedient), and his lesson went pretty well after that, but we were tired by the end of the day. We had started a fast after lunch on Saturday with the missionaries and DMP in our ward for our amis. So not only were we a bit emotionally tired, but also physically from fasting.

*And then.....*

Sunday morning. We made our bus to church. Cool. Our super cool new ami, Lydia, who is a beautiful, stable, French woman with a family, came to church. The members LOVED her immediately. We were happy with her coming, even though we thought our other amis weren't going to make it. 

Then Zamir and Zamira came....WITH THEIR MOM. Their mom came, and had bought them new church clothes before hand. Also, on their way to church, a random member saw them on the side of the road in the rain, and gave them a ride. Okay, I would've been thrilled if it ended there. But it didn't. 

In walked Joy, who almost didn't come to church, and then some random, third Nephite gave her a ride to church, and left..

Hyppolite, Kessman, and Mama Helene were there also. 

The Elders gave an incredible lesson in Gospel principles on the Rétablissement. And in come Nara and Emilie, who travelled an hour to get to church.

Count. 10. TEN. Are you kidding me?

"Sometimes God brings us low, so that He can lift us higher."

TRUTH. This was a humbling expereince. I know that fasting works. I know that Heavenly Father heard our prayers. I know that He knew how difficult it was for us to put on a happy face, even when nothing was working out. I felt immense gratitude for the opportunity to watch 5 people take the sacrament for the first time. I got to see the Spirit working with them, as they sat their quietly and read the hymns, and noted the reverent spirit in the room. 

We were on some sort of spiritual high after that. Even when we were chased by a dog, through the rain last night, we were just laughing. Really laughing. It was like in Acts, when the apostles said how their joy was full when they could experience persecution for the Savior. I don't think I'm being persecuted. Far from. But I am grateful for the trials that we go through, daily. I'm grateful for the hard times, because then the blessings are so much sweeter. I love being a missionary.

This whole spree of miracles has yet to cease. Today, I got a message from Pritish (from the Grenoble days). For those of you who don't remember, Pritish was an ami in Grenoble who was on the tract to be baptized, but disappeared, due to his trouble to find a job, and other trials he was going through. This is what he said:

"Hi I hope you are doing well. I have found an internship in Paris. This was possible because of your prayers and motivating me to have faith in the Almighty. I would also like to wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. I have joined the church of Jesus Christ in Cergy (Paris). I am planning to get baptized in near future. Here I have elders who are teaching me but I still miss the wonderful experience we shared together. I hope to get in touch with you directly soon. Please mail me. Thanking you for everything. God bless!! -Pritish"

If ANYONE reading this is struggling, is doubting their faith, is doubting that they are being heard, or doubting that a solution will ever come, I am here to testify that relief will come. Heavenly Father is very aware of you. He knows what you are going through. He won't take all of our trials or sufferings away, but He is ALWAYS there to lift our burdens. Make them seem light. He will shape our backs to bear the burdens we are facing. He will NEVER forsake us.

It's like what the Lord said to Joseph is the midst of his afflictions;

 

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high;thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

And then the Savior, who said;

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

The Savior is there. Our Brother, our Savior, our Friend.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Je vous aime,

Soeur Luthi

January 13, 2014

We were sick this week. Wah wahhhh. Lame way to start out the email. The week started off super well with a semi-relaxing day wandering the streets of Lyon, but Tuesday morning in the middle of studies my comp randomly got super sick. Thus commences the 3 longest days of eternity...

Okay, okay, that's a bit dramatic, but not really! The mission nurse "grounded" us for 3 days. RDVs cancelled. Calling our Z.Ls so they could bring us apple juice and bread since we were quarentined. Day 2 was the worst, because I started to not feel so good, but then I fingured out I was just going crazy. At one point, we were both lying on the floor, sipping chicken broth, and reading random passages from Jesus The Christ out loud to each other. Classic.

We were very, very, VERY grateful when we could actually go out again. As much as I love studying for hours, the day just goes better when you are thinking about someone other than yourself. Unfortunately, that only gave us 2 days left. But in those days we saw so many miracles!

In one day we had taught three new amis, three others, fiwed lots of rendez-vous, and had RCM. We were running all over the place to make up for our lost time.

Saturday, the entire day was taken up with a genealogy activity with all the missionaries in Lyon. President has asked us to do more activities, and we're focusing on families, so viola, family history. It was so great to work with the other missionaries, and talk to the busy people of Lyon about their families. It's genius, because everyone (should) love their family, and loves talking about them. Offer them free cookies, and viola, you've got a return appointment.

And then suddenly, we were going to church again. Which was good, as usual, especially since afterwards we taught a new ami Natalie, who LOVED what we had to say, and has the cutest little girls I've ever seen, who will one day be sealed for eternity.

Today, we tried to do a little soldes shopping without much luck, since we then had P-day at President's. We ate, played ping pong, played the name game, and President freaked everyone out about transfers (which are next week)...

Also, I rolled my companion down their driveway in a giant hamster ball (of ALL the things to bring from America...). Probably the highlight of the week.

Sorry this is shorter than usual, but half of the week was spent watching Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration over and over so as to not go crazy. But we love the work! And we LOVE Lyon!

 

Je vous aime.

Soeur Luthi

 

January 6, 2014

 Yeah...my artsy comp snuck this one at the cathedral. Knew Mom would love it.

 

Bonne Année!

Happy New Year! Hope you all fixed some good goals, and all that jazz.

Last Monday was not actually a P-day, since we worked ALL day, and the STL's « commanded » that we « take Tuesday as our p-day ». But, not before we had an FHE with Zamir and Zamira's parents, along with President Roney's son. #ecullyperks

So President's son served in Albania (yeah, who knew they actually had missionaries there), and he was here for the holidays...so obviously we interrupted his family time, so he could come speak in Albanian, while we just smile and pretend we know what's happening. Basically we told them the importance of having family nights, a way of teaching them without 'teaching' them. Baby steps.

Guys, guys, people keep contacting us! « Hey! Jesus! Can I learn more? » Are you kidding? So we taught a lot more this week, and they are people who really want to learn more. Also, they don't think I'm some sort of weirdo interrupting their silence on the bus.

New Years Eve, we had our P-day, so after we taught a lesson to this cool African named Hyppolite who introduced us to his beautiful family, we went to a cathedral and bought food and made fajitas, and went to bed early. #missionarynewyears

The only weird thing about it being a New year, is that so many people are still out of town. Walking around on the morning of the first, and the streets were dead. But we still taught, and found new amis! We also taught Zamir and Zamira, who asked Soeur Francis “If you're from South Africa, then why are you white?” …....anyone?....

Kate, I was thinking about you on your birthday. Mostly because I was trying to convince myself that you aren't actually TWELVE. * barf * I remember when you were 2....... I even sang Happy Birthday to my Brit, in your honor. I hope you had a great day, and I LOVED that you sent me pictures of the temple! I'm so glad you went! Love you.

We had to go to Siberia again for district meeting in St. Etienne, and later that night a cra....funny family in the ward had us over for a mangez-vous, which included them trying to make us teach the future anterior to their cool daughter (guys...just because I can speak English, doesn't mean I actually know what grammar I'm using), the mom who is Edna Mode from the Incredibles putting on creepy spa music, and the dad, who almost had a heart attack, and got us home 15 minutes late since they would not let us leave to catch our bus. Members are the best (for reals).

Friday was January 3....do you know what that means? Half way. 9 Months. Had no idea how to react. Wanted to cry and scream all at once. The longest and shortest 9 months of my life, and everyone keeps telling me “it just gets faster”. Everyday, for the last 9 months, I have known what I needed to do for every hour. I've had to plan it all, and yet it went so fast. But I feel like I always have been, and always will be a missionary, living in France, contacting people and teaching them about the Savior. Hands down the happiest 9 months I've ever had. Soeur Francis, being the best Brit, bought me a macroon to “celebrate”.

We had a few tombez this week, but the good sign was that all of the amis rescheduled. But it was interesting to see it play out, because they definitely needed to happen. Like for one, a member came who has been struggling. Our ami didn't show up, so we spent the time instead talking to her. She really opened up, and it was what she needed. Also, on the way back from a tombez, I contacted this cool girl on the bus. We started talking about school and what she was studying, and got talking about why I was a missionary. She was 18, wants to get a doctorate in Sociology (shout out to Mr. Gibbs), grew up religious, and is now atheist. WHAT. That's a change. I talked to her about how I was a missionary because I had seen the blessings in my life. We started talking about prayer, and I 

could tell she wanted to stump me with her sociology-like questions She had prayed, but never really felt an answer. So we talked about real intent, or acting on the answers we do receive, even if they aren't the ones we want. She then asked if I thought prayer would answer the world's problems. Franchement, yes. Because God is the answer to all problems. So then she asked why there are problems in the world, and why does God just let it happen? (Notice, that she recognized there was a God.) And then we talked about choice. People can choose good things or bad things. Not meaning that bad things don't happen to good people, but people can choose to be better, and can choose to rely on the Lord. At this point, I was tripping over myself to actually get off at my stop, but she promised she would pray, and as I was handing her a card, the lady behind us leaned in and told me she had been listening and wanted one too!

Shout out to Elder Tenney

This week ended in an incredible way. First, with going to the Pascaud's in our ward last night, and them showing their missionary book. They have a book with pictures and testimonies of missionaries who have visited them for the past 1,000 years or something. And then, my bleu pointed to one, written by a then bleu missionary, from Dallas, Texas. Elder Kendall Tenney. WHAAAT? #family Nearly flipped the table. So Mom, tell Kendall the Pascaud's say “Bonjour”. They were worried he wouldn't remember them, but wanted to take a picture and photocopy his entry, just in case he did.

And then the greatest moment of my life happened...

WE TAUGHT ZAMIR AND ZAMIRA'S PARENTS.

Their mom wants to come to church. We spent an hour talking to them about God and talking to Him. This is a straight up, 100% MIRACLE. Even Zamir and Zamira were in shock as we got up to leave. Their hearts are softening. They will be sealed for time and all eternity.

With that, I appreciated a few important things.

1. God listens. He hears our prayers. He knows our needs and our desires. He also knows what we need and when we need it.
2. God speaks. He answers prayers. He does it in ways we don't expect, and when we get to the point when we might doubt it'll happen. There are countless experiences in my own life, as well as in the scriptures that testify of this. It is the epitome of how a “restoration” came about. Because God answered the prayer of the young Joseph Smith. He also answered the prayers of the two Albanian siblings. And their missionaries. He is there. He KNOWS us. He loves us. And He will answer us.

Je vous aime.

Soeur Luthi