Haglund's-jolly good time folks!

Bonjour everybody!

Well this week was pretty eventful comme dab.

Last Monday night we had an awesome lesson with Jeanne. We thought we set a date for the 19th of January, but turns out she's just not quite ready. This week we met with her a lot and finished all of her lessons so now we are pushing her to get baptized, because she knows everything is true and she believes our church is true, she is just a little nervous. It'll come with time though. She has made so much progress.

Tuesday we visited Soeur Rousslet. She just lost her husband and they both had gone a little inactive because of his health problems. We had a great idea to print off the talk that President Monson just gave the last General Conference about how our Heavenly Father is aware of us. There was a story in it about the woman who wanted home made bread and so we also brought her a fresh loaf of my favorite, brioche. I had the opportunity to open up to her and talk about losing loved ones and my personal experiences with it and she just broke my heart. I just wanted to give her the biggest hug, but they don't really believe in hugs here. I can't imagine how hard it would be to lose your best friend especially after doing everything for him these past years. We just hope she turns towards our loving Father in heaven for comfort.

Also on Tuesday we contacted pretty much every person we saw. We walked through this wooded area and there was a woman reading a book on a bench. So we walked up to her. She started talking all about how she used to live in New York and loves Americans. She was super sweet and so I asked her if she knew about Palmyra, New York and she said no so then we gave talked to her about the 1st vision and it was so cool to teach it in a forest! So cool. Then just as the Spirit was beginning to really touch and soften her heart, her phone rang. I hate it when that happens. It was an alarm for work and she hopped right up and began to run away saying she needed to go. We asked if we could see her again soon and she said to go back to the bench another time and she'll be there. We don't even have her name..so we call her 'lady on the bench.' One day..one day :)

Later on Tuesday night, my wonderful friends, Soeur Evans and Soeur Hafen came over for the night and the next day we did exchanges. I LOVE these 2 sisters! They're just such a party and crazy hard workers and the best STL's ever. 

I was with Soeur Hafen and we went to Nantes for the day. We had THE coolest lesson ever. They met a guy on a metro one night. His name is Michael. He is from South Carolina and heard them speak English and told them how he was searching for a good Christian church. He has friends that are LDS, and we gave him a tour of the church with the elders. It was a 'hand-off' lesson to give him over to the elders. It was one of the most incredible lessons I've ever been in. It was all in English so I felt like I could express myself more and bearing my testimony in English just felt so easy, yet I was using the same basic words I would've used in French. It was just a cool contrast with what I am used to. The Spirit was incredibly strong. Michael prayed at the end and gave an awesome prayer. He even prayed for us 4 American missionaries because 'our English was slippin' haha! so funny

Later we visited the cutest family with 3 boys because the mom wants them to be taught before they get baptized. It was a rough lesson, but it was still good.

We also visited one of their amis who is having trouble quitting smoking so we promised her blessings and she gave a beautiful prayer and expressed her strong desire to quit smoking.

Soeur Hafen and I also contacted later on and we felt really impressed to talk to this one lady and we ended up talking to her for 30 minutes and she apparently lives right next to the elders in Nantes and they sang for her and her family and she also has a Finding Faith in Christ and a brochure. So we introduced the Book of Mormon and she took it and said she would read it! It was a super cool contact/lesson.

Later that night Soeur Sorenson and Soeur Evans came to Nantes just in time to switch off our companions and they went straight to Paris for Soeur Evan's legality the next morning so Soeur Sorenson and I stayed in Nantes for the night. We had a few hours in Nantes so we went contacting and met the coolest lady on the metro. She was a beautiful French woman with the cutest baby boy. We started talking to her and she asked us to sing a lullaby in English for her baby. So cool! We sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and she was so happy. We got her number and address later and gave it to the sisters, but it was so incredible because if we weren't called here to France to preach the gospel, I would have never been on that metro and sung to a random French baby. Just an interesting thought I had.

The next day we had a big Zone Conference in Nantes with our zone. Later, we had the coolest lesson. So last week I wrote about a boy around 8 years old that we met while porting. Well we saw them later on Thursday and guess what? This little kid, Titouan, read 4 chapters in the Book of Mormon! How cool is that! He said some of it was a little hard to understand but he was talking about Laban and Nephi and we were so shocked he had actually read. It was the biggest testimony to me that the rising generation are incredible. They are so amazing and have been preserved for these final days. We showed the coolest Mormon Message called "A Book of Mormon Story." It's a bishop in England who talks about the Book of Mormon and it was so cool because it really helped Titouan and his parents loved it. They were kind of on the side of the lesson, but I think they like us. His mom even offered to give us a ride to our next rdv. I was so pumped because we hadn't had the chance to talk with her and we got to know her religious background and you can just feel she is searching for truth, but doesn't know she is searching. I am so excited to see them again this week.

Friday we got to see Esperence! She has been out of town for a while and we talked to her about the 10 commandments. Soeur Wynn taught me the coolest way to remember the 10 commandments with your hands and we showed her the little game and she loved it and she wants to teach it to Anthony, her son. 

Later we had a lesson with Jeanne. We have an awesome member named Hortense who joined us and we talked about baptism. Jeanne is really feeling nervous about it, but the more we work with her, the more she is able to retain everything we have taught and she has progressed so much it is incredible. We are praying really hard that she will be able to see her progress and make the decision to get baptized sooner rather than later. She wants to be baptized, she is just nervous about actually doing it, but she received a blessing from our awesome branch president and she really liked it.

Saturday was interesting..but we had a cool experience that night. Our rdv got canceled so we went to pass by one of the contacts that Soeur Sorenson and Soeur Evans had while on exchanges. As we were walking there we walked by the garage of this house not too far from our apartment. I heard them playing ping pong and flipped around and said, "We are knocking on this door and we are going to challenge them to ping-pong to let us in" :) So the dad opens the door and I started to testify about families and he was really nice. He started to tell us that they weren't interested, but they respected us for what we were doing. I then said "Oh you're playing ping-pong. How about this..let us play one game and if we win, we get to pray with you..if I lose, we will leave." After about 3 times of trying to ask for this to happen I finally said, "What are you scared?" haha that pride gets them everytime...and he said, "OK come on in" YES!!! 2 points for Griffindor! So I started playing the son who was about 15 years old. Here this poor boy is standing in front of 2 American girls from the South and he looked like he was going to pass out. So after it was near the end, it was tied I could see his poor manhood was on the line so I let him win, but we kept the game going just long enough for us to have a great conversation with the dad and in the end they said that we were welcome to come back and see them again! HECK YEAH! It was a cool experience.

Later that night we saw Mata and her family. I just love Mata. We had an awesome meal with them. We are trying to help her oldest son, William prepare for baptism. 

Sunday was the coolest. First, we woke up early and went with the Stake President, his wife, Frere Poisbeau, President Phillipe, and the Harris's to rededicate Saint-Nazaire. We went to this park at 8am and President Raveneau offered a prayer to rededicate Saint-Nazaire. We were in this beautiful park next to this lake just as the sun was rising and it was incredible. So spiritual and so sacred and something I will keep in my heart forever. The Spirit was so strong and afterwards, President Raveneau just looked us in the eyes and just testified to us and it was so sacred for me. Such a special experience.

Later we had a great time at church with all the Stake Presidency Auxiliaires and got to know some really cool members from other wards. We had the best meal and there was so much laughter and it was a jolly good time. Then we had a HUGE ward council meeting and it was so cool. I learned so much! 

Then we went straight to visit a less active who was baptized earlier this year. Her name is Tieta. (She's the pregnant member at church who was about to throw up and pass out at and she leaned on me as I patted wet washclothes on her forehead for her to cool down.) She had her baby finally so we went and visited her and her new baby boy named Jack. We shared a message about the pre-mortal world since Jack was just there and it was cool to talk about this place that Jack had just come from and I think it was so much more real to her thinking about it like that. Cool lesson. We are going to try and help her get ready to have her baby blessed.

Now we get to the funny stuff. Well you're probably wondering what the heck 'Haglund's' is. Well let me tell you..I have these big bumps on my heel and they have been getting bigger and bigger and get really iritated and hurt. So I talked to the mission nurse and she said that I probably have 'Haglund's Deformity.' I know..what a name..Anyways, because of all the walking I've been doing apparently they've just shown up. haha so I'm not really sure what I need to do so I'm going to go talk to our doctor investigator, Dr. Lesouef and see if I can figure out how to help it. I'm probably going to have to just get it surgically removed after my mission if it doesn't go away, but it's just another wonderful souvenir from the mission :) It's not a big deal, but Soeur Sorenson and I had some good laughs about it and everytime I need something and don't want to move I just tell Soeur Sorenson that my 'haglund's' are acting up and she instantly becomes my servant ;) haha naw, but it's just something funny that happened this week that I thought I'd share with the class.

Well I must say that it has been a wonderful week full of tender spiritual moments and much joy and laughter. I love this gospel and I love this wonderful time to be alive and to share the truth with the world and help prepare them for the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ! I love you all!!

GROS BISOUS!

Soeur Berge

Good, Better, Best and Let the Yester-Year Rest!

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.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may ^aknow the ^btruth of all things."

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

Let Us Choose This Day

Cher ma famille et mes amies!

What another great week full of miracles. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Last Monday night we were supposed to go caroling around town with some of the members, but it was storming so bad that no one wanted to be out there, so we went caroling to the Poisbeau's instead.

Tuesday, Christmas Eve was super cool. We didn't have any appointments made so we went porting for about 3 hours in a really big neighborhood. After about 60 doors, we found 2 families :) We knocked on the door of a man in about his 40's and he was with his son who was 7 years old. At first, he kind of laughed at us, but then he realized we were serious and said that we could come back on Thursday in the afternoon and sing for the family when they were all home. Sweet!! So then at the very end of our porting, the last house on the street, the last house we planned on knocking on, was this man in about his 40's as well. He was home with his cute little daughter who was about 2 years old. We sang for them and it was such a tender moment with them. As we sang Away in a Manger there's a part in the song in French that says something about being in His arms and it was so cute because this father was just beaming and glowing while looking at his little girl just smiling at these two Americans singing to her. We weren't sure, but I think the mom passed away. This girl was the cutest thing I've ever seen. She had dark brown curly hair and the biggest smile. After we finished singing the dad made her give us bisous's (kisses) and she just loved having us there. It was so hard not to scoop her up in my arms. She was just so darling. The dad then asked us lots of questions about who we were and what we do in France and what we believe. They are going out of town, but after the holidays he wants us to come back and talk more with him. We then prayed and kept on our way. As we walked away from this cute little family, the daughter ran to the window and just waved and smiled to us until she turned the corner. Then she ran to the kitchen window on the other side of the house and continued to watch us and wave to us until we were far out of sight. This little girl was the sweetest and cutest thing I've ever seen. I can't wait to go back and bring the beautiful gift of salvation to her and her family. After that house we went home with our hearts full and big smiles on our faces, for we were so grateful to see the real meaning and the real beauty of Christmas-sharing the Spirit of giving, gratitude, and family. I can't even describe the joy as we walked to the bus stop and the face of this cute girl is just forever painted in my heart.

Later that night we went over to the Harris's for dinner and shared a nice meal together for Christmas Eve. The Harris's are just great. They've help us so much and I really have grown to love and appreciate Senior Couples more than I ever could without this experience of serving with them. 

Christmas was a wonderful day. We got to sleep in! I slept til 7:30 and was oh so happy and couldn't sleep after that. Then Soeur Sorenson and I watched Nemo and got ready to go to the Harris's. We went to the Harris's and we picked up Jeanne and she came over with another man in the ward who was going to be alone for Christmas. So we made our food and ate and watched Joy to the World and it was great to celebrate the birth of our Savior and Lord together. Then we skyped and that was so fun to see you for Christmas! I can't believe how everyone looks different and everyone just looks older and it's so strange! I can't believe how big Nashua is now! She looks like she is going to pop! And the Smith kids have grown! Wow! So crazy! Miss and love you all!

Thursday was another normal day. We went straight over to the family that said we could come back and sing for them. We got there a little early so we ported some more doors but didn't find any success. I have this analogy for all the people we meet as "biscuits" or "cookies" and when they reject us, that just means they're still in the oven and just not done cooking yet. They're just "still gooey" waiting for another missionary in the future to get em out of the oven. So after all that we saw this family we had an appointment with and they were so excited. The mom was super nice. She isn't super believing, but she was so nice. This family was so beautiful! Totally French and so cool. Before we sang, the mom said, "Is it ok if we film you???" Haha WHAT! That's a first! We said sure and they filmed us singing in front of their Christmas tree. We gave them a Book of Mormon and they said we can come back after the Holidays because they will be out of town. The dad tried to pay us in the end, they were just so generous and so much fun.

Later that night we went porting again. We met this lady named Sophia. Crazy Sophia. Oh man, so she opened her door and we told her who we were and offered to sing for her. At first she said no and she told us she had cancer and life was hard so we offered to pray for her and she let us in. She then said she doesn't have a lot and wanted to be baptized. Cool right? Well, then she asks us what our church does to give to the poor..to people like her..first red flag. So we read the scriptures and gave a Book of Mormon to her. We told her we'd come back on Saturday. We weren't really sure what to think of her. We had kind of a funny feeling. But the gospel is for everyone!

Friday was super interesting. We had an appointment with a man named Philbert that we met while contacting next to the beach one Sunday evening. He let us come over and we brought Frere Poisbeau and we got talking to him and he is way cool! He has these MASSIVE geneology trees hung up on his wall and he then showed us about 4 others he had. His job is so cool. He has this website and he designs really cool family trees..like waaay cool! He loves geneology and history and was really smart! He was buddhist for about 20 years and now he isn't. He knows the Bible very very well and a lot of things he was saying were right in line with the true doctrines! It was super cool. We then talked about the Book of Mormon and testified of its truth and explained the great promise in the Book of Mormon and he was interested to read it and find out for himself. He is a really cool dude. We're going to see him again this Friday and we are really excited to see what happened.

Later we went over to Jeanne's and the Harris couple met us there. Jeanne is very close to baptism but is a little nervous. We gave her a paper with all she needs to know before she gets baptized outlined, and I highlighted the things we had already taught her so she could see how much she knew. She gave me a really funny look like, "You think I know ALL those principles?" So we put it to the test. I asked her what she knew about each highlighted box and she explained almost everything wonderfully and at the end she was surprised at how much she really knew. She is starting to feel more comfortable with baptism so we are going to keep working with her and explain the other things she has trouble with. She still feels really weighed down by her divorce and it still is really hard on her, but once she realizes the healing powers of the Atonement are real and they are for everyone, I think she will find the joy and peace in her life that she is searching for. We talked a lot about prayer and shared Alma 37: 36-37 which has become some of my favorite scriptures. God wants to hear our prayers, our thoughts, our fears, our joys, our trials, our temptations, our sorrow, our questions. He wants to hear everything we have on our minds, we just have to take the time and courage to talk to Him. To really talk to Him as our Father in Heaven. 

Saturday was really interesting as well. First thing in the morning, we went to a funeral at a Catholic church. It was Frere Rousslet's funeral. He was the man that Soeur Huntsman and I visited a few times who had cancer really bad and he hadn't been doing too well. He passed away in the night on Thursday. Part of his family insisted on having his funeral in the Catholic church in the city named Donges, so we went to it. There were a lot of members from the branch who came out to support. His wife seemed to be handling everything really well. She seemed at peace with it. She had taken care of him and done everything for him for years. I think she was relieved she didn't have to continue to watch him suffer here on earth anymore. Frere Rousslet was a great guy. He apparently has done tons and tons of geneology and found thousands of names for the temple work to be done (even though he had never gone through the temple himself) So we find great joy in knowing he has thousands of people welcoming him on the other side and thanking him for finding their names. His brother at the funeral told one of the brothers how it was super nice to see all the Mormons come out to support and it really touched him, personally. It was a rainy, cold morning and so dark and dreary.  It's especially sad when people who don't quite understand the beauty of God's plan for each of us.

Later that day we went to see crazy Sophia. She ended up completely forgetting about our apointment but let us in anyways. As we stood there and she talked about how she has nothing and needs help I soon realized and had an instant image in my mind. I realized she was the woman that begged for money in front of the post office. I really didn't have the best feeling about it so we prayed and left. We were really not sure what to do about her. I didn't want to abandon her because the gospel is for everyone, but I don't think she is stable enough to understand the gospel fully. So Soeur Sorenson and I knelt down and prayed about it and decided we shouldn't bring her to church.

Later we had a lesson at the church with Edwidge. She was a really ancient ami that we had been trying to get a hold of all of last transfer. She was really close to being baptized. Saturday she called out of the blue and said she moved and really wanted to meet with us. So we met with her at the church and had a great lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She told us that when she first met the Elders on the street, they gave her their card. She then waited a whole year to call them. She said life had been really hard. She is from Cote d'Ivoire. She just found out her sister has AIDS and life has been really trying. She said she wants to baptized, but her husband doesn't want her to. She has such a great testimony and has such a beautiful spirit. She wants us to come over Thursday to pray with her and her family. She's going out of town to Cote d'Ivoire for 3 weeks so I sat her down and we looked up the 3 closest churches to where she will be staying. One of them is a huge, beautiful stake center. I immediately had this vision in my head of her going to church and being so welcomed by all these incredible African members in la Cote d'Ivoire. I'm going to make sure we can get a hold of someone down there so she will have people ready to welcome her with open arms. I'm so excited!

Sunday was interesting. We walked in 5 minutes before it started and there were literally only 2 members there. Everyone is always late. Jeanne showed up and some other members and like last week since everyone was late. I just started Relief Society and welcomed everyone. We did our song and prayer and I did the announcement and just began the lesson. Half-way through we got interrupted and they said that 5th sunday was everyone together. I was kinda ticked, but we stopped our lesson and went and had a lesson with everyone else in the Sacrament room. Then they told us that no one had anything prepared because President Phillipe was supposed to give the lesson, but he was really sick. So we had a really interesting lesson. Then after that we went into the room and I restarted our lesson (since the ami teacher wasn't going to be there as well.) I taught plan of salvation and it was so rough and hard. I hate teaching without being prepared. Then in the middle of the lesson this lady walks in and sits down and I've never seen her before. I didn't know if she was a member or not so I just recapped the lesson and then we finished and later I realize she was a member visiting from another ward. So then we had Sacrament. It was like 10 people, but we still had sacrament meeting. Then the wierdest thing this week happened. As I reached out to take Sacrament, all I see is ripped up wax paper...what? I looked up at the boy passing it and gave him a look like "what the heck is that?" and he just gave me a look and shrugged his shoulders that meant, "I don't have a clue" so we took our waxy paper things and ate them..because they had been blessed and prepared. I'm not really sure what they were. They might have been some kind of flour substance thing, but they looked just like wax paper. Soeur Sorenson almost refused to eat it, but I told her it was the sacrament and it had been blessed. I was kind of glad some of our amies didn't show up to church that day. It was just so strange.

Later we went porting and door after door we were so eager to share the gospel. We knocked on one door and the lady told us she wasn't interested. I just wouldn't take no for an answer and I kept testifying and telling her she's a daughter of God. I fought it for a good 5 minutes and she still didn't want to change her mind. It was so sad. It's just so sad to me that people can't understand what we have to tell and share with them. It's the truth!

Later that night we went to the Poisbeau's for a New Year's dinner. They are so funny. They speak really fast and they're always telling jokes and I feel bad because Soeur Sorenson never understands anything they're saying (I barely understand them so I don't blame her haha) It was a fun night with our little sparkling juice. They're so funny.

Well this week feels like it was sooo long, but it was full of wonderful memories. I can't believe it's almost 2014. As I reflect on 2013 and realize that half of it was spent on my mission I can't fathom being anywhere else in the world right now than right where I am. These people really need someone who can listen to their concerns and problems; they need someone to confide in and to draw upon for hope and strength. I'm just so grateful to show them how to draw upon the healing powers of our Savior. There is joy awaiting us to claim it. Let us take this time to choose to use the Atonement everyday. Les us choose to share it with others. Let us choose to be better than 2013. Let us choose to be more like the Savior.

Be safe, stay healthy, choose good things, be something different this year and don't party too hard without me ;)

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