Hey everybody!
It's so crazy, I can't believe I haven't talked to you since
last year..haha ;)
Wow, I need to try and wrap my head around all the news.
Seriously, it feels like everyone is getting married. How many proposals were
in that last email like 5? Goodness. So many rings and babies poppin, my brain
just exploded.
Well, in the missionary life, everything is awesome. We had a
wonderful week in good ol' Saint-Nazaire :) We didn't have a million rdv's
because of the holidays, but it was still a great week!
We spent New Year's Eve Day with the branch president, President
Phillipe and his wife, Soeur Phillipe. They made us an incredible meal with my
favorite, scallops. Mm! (perks of serving on the coast) We had a wonderful time
with them.
New Year's Day was spent with the Hemon family. They are such a
fun family.
Thursday we got to see Edwidge again. She is so great. She is
leaving for 3 weeks to go to Cote d'Ivoire, but she has the address for the
church there. I really hope she gets to attend. Pray for that if ya can! :) She
invited us over for dinner and we talked with her about the importance of
reading and praying everyday. It's definitely the little things that make a big
difference. We also got to meet her husband who was very nice. He isn't
interested in discussing gospel, but we talked to him about who we were and
what we do and he was very nice. He warmed up to us after a while so we are
hoping to get on his good side so we can start including him in the
discussions. Edwidge is just so ready for baptism. It's sad we have to wait for
her to return from her trip. But she is just a ball of fun and I'm so
excited to meet with her more when she gets back.
Friday we met with Jeanne and it was quite a lesson. We taught
her the Plan of Salvation and she just ate it up. It was so cool! She just kept
wanting to go through it over and over and by the end she could've taught us
that lesson. It was an answer to a prayer that she was able to grasp all the
concepts because French isn't her first language. She is so excited to have her
own copy of the Plan of Salvation. Oh how I just adore her!
Saturday, we had a lesson with Mylene who is a referral from a
family in our branch. We taught her about the Book of Mormon. We were so
excited and I really clicked with her. She is 20 and wants to be a nurse so we
had lots to talk about. She was super sweet. We poured our souls to her about
how the Book of Mormon is the word of God and how it has changed our lives and
in the end she just said, "No I don't think I'll read it." Turns out
she hates to read, but it was so cool because Frere Hemon bore his testimony
and shared his conversion story about how he hates reading, but he finally read
the Book of Mormon and it changed his life as well. He shared a little about
the story of Alma and Amulek with Zeezrom (one of my all time favorite stories
now thanks to Soeur Wynn ;) After we left the rdv, the Hemon family gave her a
Book of Mormon and a DVD called 'The Lamb of God' and she said she would like
to meet with us again. Never lose hope, never give up the faith!
Later that night we went porting and had a super cool
experience. After knocking on several doors and having the door slammed in
our faces a couple times, we just kept pushing through (even though it was
pouring and it was 8 at night and freezing cold.) We just felt like we needed to
find someone. After about the 10th door we knocked on this one door. A boy who
is 8 years old answers. His dad comes in from the back room and tells us to
come in before we even said who we were. We told them that we were missionaries
and that we wanted to sing a Christmas song for them to bring the Spirit to
their home. They were in the middle of watching a movie with the mom, dad, and
son. However, they let us sing and we ended up sharing the Book of Mormon with
them. This kid who is 8 is just a HAM! He is so funny. He has the biggest
personality and just loved talking to us about America and it was such a fun
time. The dad prepares bodies and funerals for his work..a little eery, but hey
someone's gotta do it. So we ended up sharing a little about the Plan of
Salvation. They listened and were receptive. We challenged them to read the
Book of Mormon and the brochure and the boy took it right from my hands and
said he would! ha! Coolest kid ever. Then we asked if we could come back later
in the week and the kid then tells us his schedule and when we can come over.
Love this kid.
Sunday was so crazy. We had to teach Relief Society..I was a
little nervous because we hadn't had any time to prepare much, but it turned
out really great. We shared bits and pieces of two talks. One was the recent
talk by Elder Dube about Looking Ahead and Believing in our future. It was
perfect for 2014! We had all the sisters write down on a little piece of paper
things they wanted to leave behind in 2013 and it was cool. Then we threw away
the pieces of paper and shared this story about this woman who forgave a
thoughtless teenager who caused a woman to undergo painful surgeries to restructure
her face because he and his buddies threw a giant frozen turkey and it struck her car. He
was to be sent to prison for 5 years, but during the hearing, she stroked his head
and told him everything was going to be alright and she said she would let all
the charges go. It's such a wonderful example of someone who truly applies the
Atonement in her life.
My favorite quote that's become our theme is, “The past is to be
learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing
experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn
and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead
and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future.”
-Jeffrey R Holland.
This just gives me such hope and faith for the future. This week
wasn't the easiest for me, but the more we apply the atoning sacrifice of the
Savoir into our lives, the more peace we find. How refreshing it is that we
have so many opportunites to 'start over' thanks to our older brother, Jesus
Christ.
Later on Sunday we finally got to see our family LESOUEF! Ah, it
was awesome. They've been super busy with the holidays, but we went over (we
took one of his patients, Chloe who is preparing to go on her mission to New
Zealand) and they made us a galette and we had so much fun! There is this
holiday for the first Sunday after the new year has begun that they make this
galette cake and there's a few prizes in it and whoever finds the prize has to
bring the next galette. It's for the 3 kings holiday and if you find the prize
you wear a crown. It was so much fun and so tasty. We just had a blast with our
family and we shared with them how the Book of Mormon has a huge promise with
the book.
"3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read
these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would
remember how amerciful the
Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down
until the time that ye shall receive these things, and bponder it in your chearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort
you that ye would aask God, the Eternal
Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not btrue; and if ye shall ask with
a csincere heart,
with dreal intent,
having efaith in Christ, he
will fmanifest the gtruthof it unto you, by the
power of the Holy Ghost.
We challenged them to accept the invitation. They're very firm
in their church, but I pray that they will be able to come to know for
themselves and learn for themselves of the truthfulness of the gospel.
After, we had a lesson with Jeanne at the Poisbeau's with the
Harris's. They made us a yummy dinner and we had another awesome galette. We
showed Jeanne the film of the Restoration and right after she looked us in the
eyes and said, "I believe that this happened. I know it's true." Wow!
So incredible! The Spirit spoke to her so strongly and she got to feel the
truthfulness that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ did in fact appear to Jospeh
Smith and restored the true and everlasting gospel to the Earth. It was such a
great lesson.
I'm so grateful for the trials and tribulations we sometimes have
to undergo. As I reflected on this past week, I realize Heavenly Father
was giving me a chance to 'practice what I preach.' We don't always know why
things happen to us or why life turns out the way it does, but I do know that
everything is part of the plan. God has such a big plan for all of us for He
created us in His image and likeness. We all have beautiful divine potential to
become like our Father in Heaven. What a reason to rejoice!
I invite each of you to try to make this year better than last. As Tim Duncan states, "good, better, best...never let it rest, until your good is
better and your better is your best." Let's all try a little harder to be
a little better.
I
love and appreciate all of you! I congratulate all the new engaged peoples all
around. My mother has forwarded me the facebook posts and I am still wrapping
my head around Nashua is having a baby, and now I see all these other rings and
babies coming out of no where. Well congratulations to all and Happy New Year!
Until next week!
GROS
BISOUS!
Soeur Berge
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