Hello Family!!
This was the best week of my LIFE! Probably. Just like all the others I have spent out here. So many miracle moments.
So here we go, in the order I wrote them down so as not to forget them.
I taught a nun yesterday!!! I can't express my excitement. I LOVE
nuns. I feel some kind of wierd connection to them... and I've always
wanted to teach one. The best thing about it was that it was a surprise,
one of our less-active members told us like a month ago about a friend
she wanted us to teach and we haven't been able to get a rendezvous with
her and then we showed up yesterday at the member's house for lunch and
there were four places set and we were like, Helene, who's the other
place for? And she just grinned and started sort of bouncing. She said
she'd had the hardest time not telling us all morning at church! So her
friend showed up and we had an awesome conversation. She's amazing, not
only is she a nun but she's also a doctor and works specifically with
kids with learning or social disabilities and works with the parents and
teachers so that all facets of their life are in harmony and help them
grow and learn right. She was telling us about this and I was like, uh, I
want that job! So she's now my hero. And she told us about her whole
decision making process that led to her being a nun and it was just
amazing. She's just such a wonderful person who has done everything
possible with the light that she has. The lesson went awesome, she's
studied the whole Bible and said she'd noticed the pattern of apostasy
in the old testament. We taught about the Book of Mormon and read from
it and shared our experiences and she said we'd given her a lot to think
about. She's going on some retreat this week to meditate and she said
she'll think and pray about all we said. Converting a nun would just
make my life complete.
Next, Clement got a calling! I think it's probably creepy how much I
grinned at him yesterday when he was sitting at the sacrament table and
got his certificates for his baptism and for the priesthood and a
calling all at once. Be still my soul! So good.
Actually all of church yesterday was just really awesome. The
lessons were all super good, the talks were all super good, all our amis
were at church, it just doesn't get any better than that. Side
note, way back in November when we were first visiting all the members,
we'd visited a family and the mother of the family said missionary work
just wasn't her thing and gave various reasons for it. We didn't really
know how to react and I had kind of erased the visit from my
memory. Then yesterday, during relief society, this sister shared how
during that visit we had suggested that maybe she could try to just
reach out to her neighbors. I think the Spirit said that, because I
don't remember it. She then told about a series of wonderful experiences
she had had in reaction to that invitation, and neighbors she had met
and come to love in the months since then. It was one of those wonderful
moments when I realized once again that as a missionary the Lord makes
up for our weaknesses and speaks to the hearts of the people we serve,
as long as we're there and trying to do our best.
Also, church was wonderful because Kevin and Alex and Kyllian came!
You guys are probably wondering about these people, since I've
mentioned them throughout the last 5 months. Yes, we've been teaching
them since I got to Blois. It's been a really long time. Saturday we had
decided to talk to them and have kind of a make or break discussion,
because they have been progressing ever so slowly. We talked to them
about how our entire purpose is to help people to get baptized and
become disciples of Christ. Kevin opened up and bore his testimony about
the Book of Mormon, saying that over the last 5 months, the only thing
that has been consistently good about his life is the Book of Mormon. He
said, when I read it, I feel okay. It doesn't fix my life, but it helps
me know that everything will be alright. Then he said, you might have
another baptism before you leave Blois! We talked about how it was a big
decision and how it needed to be a commitment and they needed to start
coming to church. Sure enough, there they were all three Sunday morning,
all dressed up. Kyllian just melted my little heart when he came over
and showed me his little Cars backpack with his own Book of Mormon
inside.
We had so many good experiences with the Book of Mormon this week! MIRACLES, I tell you! Miracles!
So, the best one was Carlos. I mentioned him about a month ago. He
used to be a really strong member, a member of the bishopric,
everything. But he has a difficult family situation and so for the last
couple years he's had a really hard time and been mostly inactive. When
we met him for the first time, he spent about an hour waving the Bible
in our faces and telling us why the Church wasn't true. We snuck in a
verse from the Book of Mormon and then left. We had felt strongly since
then that what he needed was to be reminded about the Book of Mormon and
the importance of reading it every day to keep our testimonies strong.
This week we got to go teach him, along with a couple from the ward, and
we walked into the apartment and the whole atmosphere had changed. We
started the lesson and I noticed that his triple combination was out,
along with his Bible. We asked him if he'd been reading it and he
started to cry. He shared with us how he'd started reading it from the
beginning, rebuilding his testimony. He bore such a sweet testimony. I
am telling you, the man we saw that day was a completely different man
than the one we first met. The Book of Mormon has a power I feel like
I'm just beginning to understand.
It has also been working miracles with Nadiha. She's the sweetest,
spunkiest little woman but I honestly usually only understand about half
of what she says. (What makes me feel better is that the members seem
to have the same problem) But she really really wants to be baptized, so
we do our best. This last week we made the Book of Mormon our big
focus, reading it with her in every lesson and calling her to read
together over the phone on days we don't see her. Her understanding of
the gospel, as well as our ability to understand her, have just soared. I
loved one night when we had prayed to all be able to understand each
other, when we read a verse and she goes, this is probably really silly
but that verse reminds me of the story of the three little pigs! She
then explained how building our lives the way the prophets ask us to is
like building the house out of bricks, so that when the wolf (Satan)
comes and tries to blow it down, he can't even make a dent. She got so
excited and I just looked up and went "Thank you!" I love the way the
Lord works with people.
We've had so many tender mercies this week. We've just been working
our little tails off and every night I come home and collapse into a
big red chair and my whole body starts to buzz. Sometimes I feel like
angels are pushing me forward. One night I had a really special
experience, I dreamed that I was at the judgement, and I was asked if I
had proclaimed the gospel. Before I even had time to answer, I heard
someone say, "She taught me the gospel." I turned around and it was
David, a boy I taught in Brussels. Then someone else said the same
thing. One by one people stepped forward, people I've taught, people I
just contacted, members, even friends and people I know from home. I
can't even explain the happiness and the hope I felt, the faith that
everyone I talk to will one day know that the gospel is true, and even
if they don't accept it, they will know that I tried to share it, as
feeble as my efforts may have been. I'm grateful that the Lord knows how
to speak to his children, how to comfort them, how to help them have an
eternal perspective.
I realized yesterday during the sunday school lesson on prayer that
my relationship with my Heavenly Father is the most wonderful gift that
has come out of my missionary experience. Learning to talk to him, to
ask him questions, to join with him in wanting to bless others and see
the good in them, just learning to know him, is the richest part of this
mortal experience.
Well, I don't have time to share the story that will make the
subject line (which was questionable chicken nuggets) of this email make
sense... haha. Let me just say that on friday we ate at this shifty
little diner and I ate the most questionable chicken nuggets I could
ever have imagined up. But the guy who owned the place made the visit
worth it, he was super funny and when he found out we were American just
couldn't contain his excitement. He went, "You know, this is the first
time I've had American girls in my place!" I was like, "Ta da!"
This has just been a wonderful week, beautiful weather, beautiful
people, beautiful experiences, lots of lovely time wandering around the
ville that I adore. I think my favorite was Thursday night, we just
walked along the Loire river and watched the sun set and listened to the
birds (there are birds here that only sing after dark, nutty birds) and
contacted people. Life is a beautiful thing.
Well I love you all! Sorry for the really long email! You only have to endure a couple more :) haha
Have a good week!
Soeur Larsen
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