"You Are Late"

WOW! Where to begin. This week had to be one of THE best weeks of my entire mission. Totally unforgettable. 

Monday we had a super fun FHE at the Chretien's house. The mom is Tahitian and the dad is French and they are such a fun family. We were hoping our ami would come, but she didn't. Still a fun time with good people. Can't complain :)

Tuesday we had exchanges with Soeurs from Antony. I got to spend the day with Soeur Bradley, one of my MTC companions. It was so awesome to catch up after not really seeing each other for 17 months! It was so fun to do missionary work together and see just how far we'd really come since the MTC! Soeur Bradely is such a powerful missionary and I absolutely love her. We saw so many miracles. Last Sunday, an Albanian member brought a cute Albanian family to church. Right after church we set up another rdv with them. Our member came as well because the family doesn't speak much French or English. Soeur Bradley and I show up at the church, and realize we didn't have the key. Luckily it was really nice outside so we just sat on a little walkway outside the church and taught them (or rather, just had them read) the Restoration brochure. They loved it. They just soaked it all in like a sponge! It was so incredible, you could feel their faith grow and strengthen the more they understood. We even gave them a Book of Mormon in Albanian. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I've ever participated in despite the language barrier. They even accepted a soft baptismal invite.

Wednesday was actually a hard day..we have those every once in a while. We got dropped by an ami and we were a little down. C'est la vie.

Thursday we were in the outskirts of Paris in a city called Evry. I got to go on exchanges with a brand new missionary, Soeur Walker. She is an incredible missionary and I know she is going to make such a difference on France. We spent part of the day with an adorable Hmong member. She told us her conversion story and how she joined the church in America and then fell away from the church a few times because she just felt like she didn't fit in. However, a calling had made all the difference. When she received a calling to be in primary, she was so shocked because she hadn't been to church in a while. When she accepted it, she finally found her place and realized she did belong. It was such a profound life lesson to me that callings are truly inspired. Later, Soeur Walker and I contacted so many people and knocked on so many doors. Finally, one door that we knocked on was a super sweet Moraccan lady. So we told her how we all know Moraccans make the best couscous and she invited us over to make and eat couscous with her and her daughter. Score! Can't say no to that! We ended the night with an awesome meal with some members-Raclette and Nutella crêpes, coupled with a nice game of Dobble. This family was so cute and so sweet. They had the most beautiful little blonde, French girls. I just love me some cute children!

The next day was a bit unique. We got permission to see Soeur Hosking's aunt who happened to be in London. So she came to Paris and we saw her in Paris before we headed back to Nancy. What a crazy, fun time we had with her, showing her around a little bit of Paris. It was such a blast and we managed to squeeze in quite a few things I must say. Later, we had another lesson set up with our dear Albanian family. The mom, Katerina told us of a dream she had had the night after we had our first lesson. She explained that in her dream it was dark, but she saw a little fire. In the fire, there was a face that spoke to her and said, "You are late! You are late! But this is a good time now. You NEED to read the Book of Mormon!" So she woke up and read 100 pages in the Book of Mormon! She was almost done with 2 Nephi. WOW! INCREDIBLE! We asked her to tell us what she learned and she explained almost all the big stories in detail. She said she knew it was true. We finished with watching the Restoration film and they both loved the film. They kept saying they are so happy they have found Christ's church. So we invited them to be baptized November 8th and they said they could not wait to be baptized. They are the cutest family and I just adore them. 

Saturday had our little sports activity with members and amis that we do every Saturday morning and then right after we went to Maite's to eat and then head over to a hike with the Relief Society. It was such a fun time. Then we went straight to a baptism that was held in our church building. We invited the Albanian family to come and they did! Right after the service, Katerina turned to us and said, "November 8th, it will be me!" Their joy is so contagious and it's moments like these that make it all worth it. 

Sunday was another busy day. We had so many people come to church. Manon, the Albanian family, all the Albanian less actives came, Mariette and Irenes came to church and it was just so good to see everyone want to be there. After church, we had a picnic and it was so cool to see the members try to welcome and talk to the Albanian family despite the language barrier. Over all it was an awesome Sunday at church! Later we went by Manon's to see about her baptismal date. We think we are going to push it back so hopefully this week we can reset a new date and help Manon get back on track towards making this big step in life and making changes. 

By far one of the most amazing, miracle-filled weeks of the mission. God is real. He is so good. The church is true! Love you all! Have a wonderful week!

GROS BISOUS

Soeur Berge

our adorable Albanian miracle family!

Soeur Bradley and I enjoyin some glace on a brisk autumn day in the parc de la pépinière 

exchange with the beautiful Soeur Walker!

all ya need is the eiffle tour and a baguette..you're set for life ;)

never gets old #dontforgettobreathe

chillin with Soeur Hosking's aunt

Relief Society walk in the forest :)

Katerina, our ami, Soeur Hosking, Claudiana (member), and I