February 8, 2010

As I sit here thinking about this week and what has happened I realize how fast the week went by. The days sometimes are long but the week its self is short. In missionary work you have 3 pools ther teaching pool the finding pool and the baptizing pool. lets just say that we are in the finding pool we dont have many amis but are doing a lot of searching. It is really cool though because we are preparing for a day missionary day with the ward where the members will come and work with us for the day. We will be split off and will go and visit the less actives and our amis. But in preparing for the day we are doing a 40 day fast. Like Christ when he went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights to prepare for his ministry. We are preparing with the ward in the same sense. It is cool to see the power of fasting. We have a different member who fasts each day. WE call them and remind them and also give them an idea of what we will be doing the day they are fasting so they can keep our amis and member in mind. I guess you could say that gives us an extra boost. We are more accountable too or more aware of the little things that happen through out the day. One thing thing that was really cool was Sebastien (I think I told you about him last week) who had said he wasnt ready right now, well we called him just to see how he was doing and he asked if we could fix another appointment. I know that it is thanks to the fast and the prayers of the members that he is being prepared to hear more about the gospel. Another cool thing was we had contacted this family that is from New Zeland the husband is here playing rugby. He is married with 2 little boys. They were actually taught before they came here and had lots of friends that are members. We have set up another appointment to see them this next week. The reason it is cool is because it is an entire family! We are going to teach them! I am so excited!
I almost forgot about the frog legs. We spent the moring with the family Oger taking down the wallpaper Sr. Brunt and I knew what we were going to be eating but the elders didn't. It was the funniest thing. But I was kind of weirded out the more I thought about what we were going to be eating. So when we finally got to lunch I wasn't so excited anymore. Brother Oger showed us how to eat them then let us go at it. THey are actually pretty good. They taste kind of like shrimp but with bones in them. I can officiallly say that I have tried almost everything weird there is to eat here now.

P-Day Fun and Touring

Last week the Sisters did a little touring around northern Perpignan and these are some of the things they saw.

Modern art statues at one of the beaches

Look close and you can see Soeur Lake and Soeur Brunt hiding

A lighthouse on the coast - they only saw it from a distance
Soeur Lake at a castle
All the stories of princesses are coming to life for her as she realizes that castles really do exist.
We have been told that tourists that go to France go to Nice and the natives go to Perpignan to get away.

February 1, 2010

This last week we saw that with a couple of our amis. We have been praying to get in contact with them again and as we ahve been more obedient Heavenly Father has helped everything to fall into place. WE finally saw Xavier again. On wednesday we were crossing the street to go to the church and I see a car coming toward us and said to myself that looks like the same kind of car as Xavier. As it got closer there was a man waving to us. It was Xavier. Luckly the light was red so we ran u pnext to his car and he asked us if we were going to the church then said that he would be there in 5 minutes. We were both so excited. We were able to talk to him then and again on Saturday. And saturday he opened right up with us. We were teaching him with Bro. Bolter and xavier looks up to him like his own grandpa; It is going to take some time but slowly but surely. I have complete faith he will be baptized soon. We met this guy las week when we were contacting his name is Sebastien. He was really receptive. We got to teach him this last week he really has been prepared and is still being prepared for the gospel. He has never been religious neither does he know much about religions. So as we explained and testified you could really feel the spirit working on him. As he left the church he told us how he felt good and was excited to see us again. I was kind of sad when I called to confirm our next appointment and he said that he isnt ready yet. He needs more time he isnt ready yet. I got to thinking how important it is for us to continue to pray for him especailly for the spirit to work in his heart.

January 25, 2010

This week has really been amazing! As we did our planning for mast week we realized that we needed new amis because we had lost contact with almost all of our other amis. We even lost contact with Xavier this last week and didnt know why. We started really praying and asking Heavenly Father to help us to find people that are ready to hear about the gospel and to help us find a way to get in contact with 3 specific amis. As we prayed and work this week I can honestly say that Heavenly Father answered our prayers. First our Ami Gabriel We were able to see 2 times. He had cancelled on us so many times but finally this week he came through. Then Friday we were contacting and found Steve. He has recentely moved here from cameroon. he is very humble and very believing. He had talked with the missionaries a few times before and was really open. As we taught him he said that he feels like he is already a member. That same night we decided to pass by Christophe an ami that just moved back to Perpignan. We didnt know if he would even be there but said why not. Well Heavenly Father heard our prayers and he was there. It was the first time we have seen him since before Christmas. We talked with him for a few minutes and were able to set up an appointment for Saturday. It was so cool to see the hand of the Lord leading us along and helping us to find and recontact our amis. I think one of the coolest experiences we had was yesterday. We were once again contacting. It was raining and I had found that I had a hole in my boot. But we had set the goal to have 13 SNAPs(that means 13 peoples name and phone nmber and/or address) for the day. So the raind and wet feet didnt stop us. It was dark and we were talking to everyone we could. We saw a man coming towards us and we decided to talk to him. Come to find out he is a nurse and was just heading to work. He is just starting his career but eventually wants to work with children. I thought how weird. Then as we kept talking he said that he has passed by our church a couple of time sna siad that one day he would enter and see what it was like. He was pressed for time so we set up an appointment for later in the week. We were excited! THen a little bit later he called us and said that he just looked at his work schedule and needed to change our appointment. We were shocked. He really is interested. It was a testimony builder That there are people out there that are really prepared to hear about the gospel.

January 18, 2010

This week has really been a good week. I find such a joy in Missionary work. It is easier to work when you like who you are with. We were talking about our week last night and thought that we hadnt had such a productive week but then as we really looked at all we had done and everyone we had been able to teach and see it was actually the best week we have had! Xavier continues to get ready for his baptism but he didnt come to church this week so that was a little disappointing. We had a good laugh with him the other night. I dont remember what we were talking about but we had just finished reading a scripture and she says "I love my dad." we looked at him like what then he said it again this time adding "Ilove our dad, come on dad give me a kiss;" I was laughing so hard. But he was so serious the scripture had touched him. Ya it was funny but thinking about it now how cool it is to see how much love he has for our Heavenly Father. Then yesterday our lesson in Relief Society was the same as yours about our Heavenly Father. It is so cool to think how we grew up spiritually speaking with him. We taught us helped us, and prepared us to come here. One thing that we talked about was we forget those things when we come to earth that is why we need to try new things. Also why we have Patriarchal Blessings; We have so many tools to help us grow and develope in spiritual things and worldly things. I really am loving my mission. I learn so much everyday. There are definitely advantages to staying int he same place for such a long time. I was thinking about it this weekend. I can say that this ward needs the sister missionaries. It is true that we are here to find people to come to christ but also to strengthen the church where we are. And This ward really needs that. There are way to many stories and sad things that have happened in this ward. I cant even begin to tell you. but there is one thing that I know and that I can tell you I love this ward.I love the members here. There is a young women Jeanne that is same age as I am. She is amazing. She has become like a sister to me. She teaches with us a lot and is just so strong in her testimony. I love her.

January 11, 2010

Xavier is doing well. We fixed a baptism date with him for the 6th of February. He Came to church Yesterday. He fits in really well with the members or the members seem to like him and here that is sometomes a hard thingfor our amis. It was really cool to see how the members his age especially welcomed him and we hardly had the chance to talk to him which is such a good thing. It is so cool to have an ami that is serious and keeping his commitments. Besides Xavier we don't have very many amis that are progressing or that we see often. But this week we have done a lot of contacting and even knockinig doors. We had more success knocking doors this week than we did contacting. We pray that we can really be instruments in the hands of the Lord to touch these peopel when we see them this next week. It is so true that without the Lord we are nothing his work doesnt go anywhere. It has been cool the last few days as well with the members. We are trying to work better with them. This Ward is in real need of strength you could say. It is something that we can see and want to help with. sO we decided to go and to visit some of the members that have been here since the ward was started to get their ideas of what we can do. Can I just tell you that it has been amazing. One of the families was the Trevision's. They were one of the first couple baptized in the 60's. We went with the intention to stay for an hour and ended staying for 2 and a half. THey can see what we see and have somany ideas. Sister Trevision has been fighting cancer for the last 2 years and has really struggled with not coming to church and not being able to help the missionaries. ANd so for us to go and to visit made her week. I cant tell you how cool it was. Even Yesterday Brother Trevision was asking us about how the work is going. There were other members as well that we went and saw and they too were more interested and asking us how the work is going and how thye could help us. I love to see all of the changes in the ward and how I much the members really take care of us.

I love pictures from France!

Sister Trevision and Jen

They have a tradition in France that the first of theyear they have a dessert and they hide a little figurine in it and there is a crown that comes with the dessert when you buy it. The person that finds the figurine as you are eating dessert becomes the queen or king and has to wear the crown. It is a fun tradition. The day Jen and her companion ate dessert with the Trevision's, Jen found the figurine so she became the queen.
Soeur Lake and Soeur Brunt striking a pose!

Jen just goofing off at a castle on P-day!