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