Live What You Pray For

Ma Famille et Mes Amis-

Hey yall.

Heavenly Father has such a sense of humor. This week has been an interesting one. We've worked a lot with the members because going door to door and talking with people on the street just hasn't seemed to really work.

Monday was super cool. We met with a member famille that is in our ward, but he is the branch president in a small branch of about 20 people in a neighboring area. We first met him on the street when we were praying with someone on the street and he walked by and said "AMEN SOEURS!" We then ran into him and his family at a baptism for a boy in our ward. THEN, we ran into his wife and daughter as we were walking to the gare after visiting another member! We didn't know where they lived, but we just so happened pas par hasard by their apartment building! 3rd time was a charm and I stopped and told her that it wasn't coincidence we kept meeting her. She invited us to dinner and we went over and had a great evening with them. Neither one of them have served missions. They are both new to the church, she being the only member in her family. She's from Chile and he is from some small country in Africa. They have a cute little girl and they are such a humble, faithful family. When we went over and talked to them, they told us we were the first missionaries that have ever come over to their apartment! Their branch doesn't have any missionaries, but this week they met with our Mission President and the Stake Presidency to see if it was time to open up their branch for missionaries. They want missionaries so bad. They are such a sweet family. They were the first people that actually looked us in the eyes and said "Thank you for sacrificing your time to serve the Lord." How touching! Missionaries will be serving there soon, I pray! They deserve good, hard-working missionaries.

Tuesday we taught Claudia with our friend, Marie Kusseling. They're both just so cool. We talked about the word of wisdom and the blessings from counsel from our prophets. She said it'd be difficult with the tea and coffee, but she'd try. We're still working on fixing a new baptismal date with her, but we're trying to work little by little and focus on what she needs and what she feels is missing. It's so hard for me to watch her just waiting at the edge of the waters of baptism. She's unsure, yet she knows this church and gospel is the true church of Jesus Christ. I've seen her testimony grow from a tiny seed to a beautiful oak tree and right now she can't see all the growth she has made. We just have to figure out how to help her open her eyes and recognize her own testimony.

Wednesday we got to go to the Lethuaires. I love that family. I just learn so much about what a family should be like and how I want to raise my own family everytime I step into their home. A while back I was talking to Soeur Poznanski in my interview and I just told her how grateful we were for the Lethuaire family and she said, "Soeur Berge, wouldn't the church be so much better if we had more Lethuaire families at church?" I told her "of course! That would be incredible!" Then with so much inspiration and love she said, "Do you have faith you can find a family like the Lethuaires and bring them to the gospel?" Later, I called the Lethuaires and told them we had a goal to find a family just like theirs. They told us they knew a family that had the same amount of kids all the same ages as theirs. They said this family even had the same car! So little by little, we are planning on meeting this family and we will try our best to introduce to them the beauty and power of the gospel :)

Thursday morming we did some service for our Bishop's family. We cleaned all the floors and it was nice to do something for them. We met with our ami, Susan and gave her a hymn book in English and we sang hymn after hymn. The Spirit was so strong! I can testify that there is an undeniable power within the hymns and they invite the Spirit almost immediately.

We visited our less active Sarah, who was in the hospital for about 2 months. Now she is going through a really trying time with her job falling through and her sister taking over her apartment. She unloaded all her stress and problems and just talked to us for hours on a bench outside in a park. She really needed that.

We then visited the Lasa's for dinner and ate a wonderful meal and read scriptures and laughed. I love them. They always call us their children and we always have a good time.

Friday we went over to a newly married couple's apartment and had dinner with them and another newly married couple. They're so funny and we all had a blast.

Saturday morning Soeur Lefrandt and I went and cleaned the church building because we were assigned to clean with the members that Saturday. When we got there, no one showed up so we ended up cleaning for hours and then a family from the ward showed up (it's her calling to assign families to clean and they show up every week to clean) They were so shocked someone had actually showed up to help clean. They were so grateful and invited us to come over for dinner!

Sunday was absolutely incredible as well. In the middle of the week I answered the phone and it was one of the members. She's a little older and lives by herself and she told us she had a friend that she's been talking to about the gospel and her friend wants to be baptized! WHAT! So fast-forward to Sunday..her friend comes to church and became the star of the show. So we had ward conference at church and it was ALL about strengthening the ward and reaching out to friends. Frere Lethuaire was speaking to everyone about different experiences he had heard and we told him about this member and her friend and he talked about how great it was! The whole lesson was about how Pierre (Peter) in Mathew 14 came down out of the boat and walked toward Jesus on the water and what faith we must have to do the same. Frere Lethuaire invited people to come up and share experiences of how members had come down out of the ship. Member after member spoke about how they had shared the gospel with some friends and finally Frere Lethuaire invited the lady to come up and speak. How crazy! later we went and talked to her and set up an appointment this week! Frere Lethuaire told us later that he gave her a priesthood blessing and told her she could feel the Holy Ghost for the rest of her life if she is baptized and receives the Holy Ghost! Wow!

There were lots of calling changes in our ward here and it was super cool to see things change and hopefully light a new fire for the Nogent ward. After church we had a HUGE meal with all the members and it was so cool! We stayed quite a bit after and helped clean up.

Later we went and visited the Adamsons and sang hymns with them. It was super interesting because the kids speak French and the parents and oldest daughter speak English so we sang hymns/cantiques with both languages and it was super interesting, but cool. The Spirit was strong even with two different languages going on. They still fight to let Godwith get baptized, but I know she will be one day. As we left their apartment the oldest daughter, Princess, handed us an envelope. This sweet young girl who hadn't been to church in so long because she works, but wants to come to church had her tithing all ready to go. I'm not really sure if we were allowed to take it, but she kept saying, "Please take it, I want to be square with God." We said we'd take care of it and I had to hold back tears as  the biggest smile came across her face and she said, "I feel so much better!"

This week I came across an amazing talk by President Monson and in the talk he gave a poem called, "Living What We Pray For" and I want to share it with all of you..

I knelt to pray when day was done

And prayed, “O Lord, bless everyone;

Lift from each saddened heart the pain,

And let the sick be well again.”

And then I woke another day

And carelessly went on my way;

The whole day long, I did not try

To wipe a tear from any eye.

I did not try to share the load

Of any brother on the road;

I did not even go to see

The sick man, just next door to me.

Yet, once again, when day was done,

I prayed, “O Lord, bless everyone.”

But as I prayed, into my ear

There came a voice that whispered clear:

“Pause now, my son, before you pray;

Whom have you tried to bless today?

God’s sweetest blessings always go

By hands that serve Him here below.”

And then I hid my face and cried,

“Forgive me, God, I have not tried.

Let me but live another day,

And I will live the way I pray.”

As I read this I realize that its so much harder to live what we pray. I challenge all of you to LIVE what you pray. Seek for the guidance from Heavenly Father and then ACT on those promptings! Seek to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Use that incredible gift of the atonement! Believe and be healed and then SHARE this beautiful and incredible gospel with everyone around you. It's true. It changes lives! I know it changed mine.

I love you all and thank you all for your prayers, emails, letters, and words of love and encouragement!

Stay righteous, be true, be you!
Avec amour,
Soeur Berge