Week #10 Bordeaux

Hello,

How are you? Who is ready for Thanksgiving? THIS GIRL. The Senior couple from England insisted on making us Americans a "proper thanksgiving meal" although Sister D is pretty irritated with the lack of turkey's here. She said she is finding pieces though. So that will be our District Thanksgiving meeting. I'M EXCITED!

Anyway, another great week. Still cold, but I'm not wearing gloves typing this time so that's good! Ha ha We were able to wee A three times this week. Tuesday we were going to out to dinner with the Elders and members and their ami, but things got a bit mis-communicated, so it was just us girls. It was okay because we had a nice spiritual thought on Faith.We asked her to read Ether 12 and Hebrews 11. She loved it. She marked Ether all up and really seemed to understand the concept of "after the trial of your faith." She really wanted to meet again, so Friday we went to her place. She made us hot chocolate, so sweet. We gave a nice lesson on Baptism. She expressed how she didn't really understand why baptism was so important, or what it meant really. She said she has known people who were "baptized" but it didn't seem like it meant anything, because, for example, they lied, were mean, basically hypocritical when they should've been taking on the name of Christ. We explained how baptism, when done by the proper authority, is not the end. You must endure to the end, 2 Nephi 31:20. So after the lesson she was better able to understand baptism, what it means, etc. We asked her if she believed she received answers to her prayers and she said she feels like He has always answered. For example, she said meeting us was an example to her prayers. We challenged her to pray to know if the things we say are true. She's going to then she'll get baptized. Sunday she came to Stake Conference. Earlier in the week when we asked if she wanted to come again, she said "I thought I was already coming?" Love her. We plan on getting her a date for baptism this week.

M is a tough one. We are running into a couple tricky things, mostly due to his strong Muslim Background. We are worried that it is too dangerous for him to get baptized, so we are in a bit of a pickle. I won't go into detail, but we are praying for inspiration to know what to do. It is really honestly sad. We love him though. Such a good guy.

S continues to progress. It may take a while for him, the only reason being that he lives in Angoulame, about an hour from us, but he is here in Bordeaux almost every weekend with M, in our ward. So we can only teach him once a week, which stinks! We're going to give him a date the next time we teach him, because he is so ready. He asked M how church would work after baptism. We just need to give him a goal to work towards, and he's golden :)

Those are our progressing Ami's :) They are all wonderful. The rest of the week was good. We teach this woman C English. It's a long story, but before she thought we were a cult and was a bit afraid of us, but she's warmed up and now we are going to HER house (we used to go to a members house) so her boyfriend is warming up to us too. I see a baptism in the future for them :) Her boyfriend has really fluffy hair. Reminds me of that movie the scarlet pimpernel?..... And we passed by an old ami who was home with her husband! They are catholic. She said usually she is not home at the time we stopped by but today she was. She said maybe it's a sign. I think YES. So we'll see where that goes. They are very religious and practicing, we just need to help them understand the restoration. They said they'd pray to know if there's a living prophet :)

 My companion is so awesome, she saved my life and pulled me out of the almost departing tram. And she is obsessed with the otters by our bus stop to church. She takes a picture of them every time. I love her! OHHH! Also! Sorry this is so long, but yesterday after church we were discouraged because this great family that we wanted to teach the restored gospel, didn't exist. Well they do, but they don't live at the address anymore. BUT MIRACLE. This guy we contacted last transfer called us and wanted to meet! He is so cool. Muslim, but he accepted the Book of Mormon and is going to read. Super nice guy. It was a tender mercy for sure.

Anyway, sorry again for the length. I love you all, look for the Tender Mercies of the Lord. They are all over the place. Be grateful! I'm so grateful for you all and your support and love. I wouldn't be able to do this without you. I love you. The gospel is true.

Love, Soeur Roberts

Bordeaux Week #9

Apartment front door.

Dear Family, 

This week went fast! I feel like I just emailed you yesterday! First things first. It is freezing here. Like 5° Celsius. So like 37°F. And our apartment is as big as my room at home and has no heating so you'd think the small space would heat up quicker when we open our mini oven to give us heat. The other day I put on my sweat pants under my skirt and leggings and socks and wore my big wool jacket during studies because it was so cold in our home! And I'm typing right now with mittens on. It's kind of great!  I can't imagine what it's like up more north..... 

So we had our lesson with M on Monday with a couple in our ward. We focused all on Prophets. Luckily, Muslims believe in Prophets after Jesus but they are just confused as to who it is. So we talked about Joseph Smith. Basically he took everything we said and agreed with it. Then he started explaining how a prophet needs to have evidence. BINGO. Good thing we have the Book of Mormon. So we testified that the Book of Mormon is evidence that there is a prophet today. He was pretty excited to get the Book of Mormon in Arabic so that was good. He is going to read it. Our member gave him a chapter to read. We couldn't meet with him again this week, but on Saturday we are and are going to focus on Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost and why they are necessary. It'll be a tough, heavy lesson for him, but with the Spirit and faith we can do it.  M is really great though. One of the most gracious people I have ever met. 

A is still incredible and doing great. On Tuesday we had this music night that some elders in the mission are doing for all the stakes and some wards. She came to that and really loved it. She loved "Savior Redeemer of My Soul". Everyone loves that song. But it was a great night. A young adult came up and talked to her and just testified. He's great and she loved it. Then we had a lesson with her on Friday before the YA activity with Ar the same YA. We talked about the plan of Salvation. The first part of it. She really liked what we said about Adam and how we are here THANKS to him. She said it makes sense that yes we have suffering because of the fall, but we also have happiness. Loved the idea of opposition in all things. We talked then about why we are here on earth and the Atonement. She expressed how she feels like God must be so "done" with her after always making mistakes. Remember when Elder Holland said that God has been working with imperfect people since forever? I told her that. She loved that. We testified that the atonement is here for us because we are imperfect, God knows that and He knew we were going to make a million mistakes. We needed someone to save us from our sins. And someone to understand our struggles. She had never known that the Atonement was for our pains and afflictions too and so that really touched her. She asked what would happen without the Atonement, to which I shared Alma 34. Perfect. Anyway, Ar was such a great addition to our testimonies and the spirit was so strong. She said that when she know it's true she will get baptized. OH! She told us about her fear to really make the first step, to have that faith because she is so afraid of "what if." Anyway. It was incredible. After she told us how this week she had been feeling bad and had been thinking a lot of the things we talked about and was just so grateful and we helped her so much and answered so many questions. I LOVE A. She leaves for Paris for the rest of her studies here in France on the 21 December. I'm so sad. She came to church too and liked that a lot. She is so great. 

Remember S? He is progressing too! Doing so good. His friend got baptized a few weeks ago and he has been really moving forward. He lives like one hour away, but he is always here on the weekends and that is why we teach him every Sunday. But I wish we could teach him more often! We had a lesson after church on the Doctrine of Christ, He read 2 Nephi 31 and really liked it, he understood it well and even read the gospel principles book to help him understand better. Soeur M was able to testify too. She is doing so good! French is hard for her but I am so proud of her. It was a good lesson. Anyway, we'll keep teaching him once a week until his baptism, I just wish we could do it quicker. WE NEED SALVATION NOW! But he's doing so good.

At church yesterday in Relief Society I was sitting by a sister and she was trying to open this medicine bottle and then finally got it open and then dabbed it on her hands and then rubbed her hands together and then took like a 10 second sniff of her hands and then shoved her hands into my face and said it is good for colds. I was so funny I wanted to burst out laughing right there. This member is so funny! She makes me laugh. Then when we were contacting this guy came up to us and said he was Muslim, offered us free cigarettes and alcohol, and while that was happening this other guy came up to us to ask for money, said he was Jewish, then said "mosque, synagogue, church. Ciao!" and then left. It was bizarre but funny! I love France and the people here.  Also I’m doing a lot better with reading maps :) We ate at this members home and it was such a great time! they are a wonderful couple and said they were so happy to have sister missionaries over :) Yay for us! Anyway, it was a great week. This next week will be even better. 

I love you all. The church is true and I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World. God loves us. Remember to be grateful for everything you have.

Love, Soeur Roberts

Cooking onions hence the glasses. I love seeing her living conditions!
Jiffy PB on the shelf I sent her in the background!

Bordeaux Week #8

Dear Family, 

Hello. This week was great. We did this M-Week thing so each day we had things to study and challenges to do. It was fun :) 

I'll start with Tuesday. We had a challenge to give out 5 Books of Mormon, and Soeur M and I were so ready! So we went out on the bridge to contact for as long as we could to give out Books of Mormon. It was the most faith led, prayer filled contacting experience I have ever had! So we were walking and Bordeaux is super rainy and gloomy lately, but I had my hood on and scarf and it was great! We prayed. No one coming towards us. Prayed again. First guy Muslim, super excited about something, but kept walking. Finally we met B. A Muslim who said he wishes we had more modern day things to help us. Well lucky for him we have modern day prophets and a Book of Mormon that totally applies to our day. Bingo. He accepted and set up a lesson. About twenty minutes pass and no one. We say another prayer, this time in Finnish :) still no one. We turn around. Pray again. Meet L! He was so nice, so genuine. Was a little rushed, but was super excited about the Book of Mormon and gave us his number :) of course we prayed again to say thank you! Then right after we met J, who told us he was Christian and I just about exploded because I was like Oh my goodness then you're going to love this book because it's another Testament of Jesus Christ!  I gave him the book and he was so happy. He was like can we meet again?? Yeah duh. Another prayer. Then we had to go home, one because Soeur M's scarf was shedding and getting into her eyes because of all the rain and it looked like she had a black fuzz beard, but we also had to meet the senior couple. Let me tell you. Prayer works. Faith works. Because the Lord works through those that demonstrate faith. Even though we didn't give out 5 Books of Mormon, we were able to meet more of God's children who may be prepared to accept the fullness of His Gospel. Then we contacted a referral with the senior couple who lived like an hour away and wasn't super ready to accept so that was a bummer but I don't care because it was a splendid day!

Wednesday was exchanges! I was with Soeur M and we had a great day. We actually weren't able to teach any lessons because they all fell through, but it was still good. We met this cool atheist, used to be Muslim who had questions that we of course had answers to, so we set up that for next week :) 

Thursday was the best day ever! We had zone training, which was just about serving members and having members serve you. It was good, but the really good part was our lesson with A! Did I talk about her last week? We met her our first night back in Bordeaux and she said meeting us was divine intervention because she was looking for a church. So we were able to have a lesson with her and it was the best first lesson i have ever had. She is Kenyan, Muslim dad, christian mom, said she always wished she had grown up with a faith, but realized that everyone kinda needs to have their own spiritual journey/finding anyway. She talked about how she wishes she had more faith, but she was always drawn to the Bible. We started with Ephesians 4:5. She totally got that there is only one true church. Then we went down to vs 11-14 which talks about prophets and apostles and she just soaked that right up. She totally understood and it totally made sense for her. We need prophets today. Then we went into the apostasy, Joseph Smith and Soeur M asked her what she would ask God if He appeared to Her she said she'd ask why she is here? What is the point to life? Great discussion. We were able to testify of the Savior and His atonement and gave her a Book of Mormon and she loved it. She said it was so beautiful. She loved how we do believe in miracles still, and that God still talks to His children and we do receive revelation. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. She really wants to come to church but she'll be in London this week. Anyway, she is a miracle and we love her so much. 

Friday was our monster, work all day skip meals day! We had two lessons with potential amis, and searched for old amis and we were so tired. It was fantastic. We actually weren't able to find anyone at home, which was a bummer. We felt a little unsuccessful that day, and like we didn't work hard because we didn't see success, but it was still  good.

Saturday we had another lesson with M. It was mostly him asking about our lifestyle, but at the end we asked him why he was meeting with us, because he is pretty Muslim and we don't want to be wasting our time, even though he is one of the nicest, most gracious people I've met. But he said he is trying to find truth with what we are saying and what he knows. He said he wants to know truth and essentially he said if he starts to have the same beliefs as us, that wouldn't be bad. It's interesting because there are so many connections with what we believe and what they believe, except for their Prophet Mohammad and Jesus Christ. It is very interesting. So we decided to not drop him, as long as he keeps commitments and he asked to see us again Monday, which is today, but I'll tell you about our lesson today next week! Saturday night we had a ward Tahitian party and it was a blast! :) 

Sunday we were able to set up some great dinner appointments with families with less active kids and they were so excited to have the sisters over! so we are excited :) and sacrament meeting was all about the law of chastity and same gender attraction. awkward. 

Great week. We are doing so good and finding such great people. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week and don't forget to smile! 

Love, Soeur Roberts

Week 7-Bordeaux

Hellooo!!

This past week was wonderful! I was in Lyon and Toulouse for the first half, and then back to good ol' Bordeaux :) I dropped Soeur G off, chilled on P-Day with Soaur P, who is awesome, and then Tuesday I got on a train to Lyon. That night all the trainers ate at McDonald's and we stayed in a hotel. The next morning we did a training which was very helpful! Then we went to a chapel and we met our new missionaries! Sister M is my blue and she is from Finland! She is so fun and so willing to put forth effort. We went contacting for a bit and said "Bonsoir" to almost every person we passed, even though she can't speak very well. I already love her so much :) 

Thursday we got on a train back to Bordeaux and that night got straight to work! One thing that really helped me as a new missionary was contacting, and so we went on the lovely bridge and contacted for a bit. We met a few really great people! One in particular is A from Kenya. She is here to learn French and all we had said was that we were missionaries. She said she had been looking for a church to go to and so bumping into us was divine intervention! Soeur M was so excited. She couldn't come to church on Sunday because she had plans already, but she wants to come to institute classes. She is so nice and we are really hoping things go far with her. Far as in she is going to be baptized :) Friday we were getting off one of the trams and this guy says Hello! And starts talking to us. He asked us if we could meet so that he could learn more about our beliefs. His name is Mohammad. Yes, he is Muslim. But we set up a lesson on Sunday, so that was exciting!!!!!!!!!! 

Saturday was a super busy, super full day of kinda a lot of disappointments. But never fear because it was worth it anyway :) We contacted this guy who was Muslim and he talked a lot about how he felt sorry for us and that we were blind and one day when we are older we'll know the truth and we are so young, etc. I must say I felt bad for about half a second, then I didn't. In fact, that experience strengthened my testimony even more of the Savior, of Prophets, and of the very real ability we have to pray and receive answers to prayers. So thank you Muslim man. After we went to the Baptism of arc, the zone leader ami and S came! :) N was out of town, and we found out that he is planning on moving very soon to morocco so that was really sad. He is so ready, so I know that he'll find the gospel again if he doesn't stay here. S seemed to really enjoy the baptism. Our only concern with him is that he will get baptized to please the other people around him. He has to know for himself! The rest of the day was raining, which I like rain so it was totes fine, but everyone we tried to visit either lived at an abandoned house, or weren't there. But we tracted and did other productive things. Soeur M was very positive so I was grateful for her willingness to try other things.

Sunday S came to church, but we couldn't teach him because he had to go fast. He sits with M and a family and one of the daughters always sits by him and totally distracts him during sacrament and he's like 22 and she is like 15 so I'm like what the heck? Let him feel the spirit please. We'll get it. After church we had our lesson with M. He asked some super deep questions. Luckily Brother and Sister T were there from Utah and they helped loads! He asked why wasn't Christ the first person on the earth if he is so important and is He like us or like God? Who are we like, why do we need a Christ if we can just pray to God? So I studied this morning....

.... I studied the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which I will tell you right now the incredible light that I received. I'm sure you all know this, but Christ is THE ONLY PERSON that could atone for us. Mosiah 3:17 Why? Because He is perfect and you have to be perfect to take on the imperfections of every other human in the world. We are imperfect and in order to live with God again, we need to have someone pay the price, someone perfect because no unclean thing can dwell with God. That's why we need Jesus Christ. We need a savior because there is no way possible that we can save ourselves. I love how in Luke it talks about how an Angel came to strengthen Jesus in the garden during His suffering. Jesus Christ is more than that to us. He strengthens us everyday if we let Him. He inherited the ability to die through His mortal mother and the Godly qualities from God. He overcame spiritual death in the Garden and physical death on the cross. He died so that we could live. It is such a beautiful, incredible blessing that we have. Words will never be able to describe the feelings I have of the Atonement, and of my Savior. Through Him all things are possible, through Him we can know the way to true, eternal, everlasting happiness. Happy forever. We can make little sacrifices in this life to have ETERNAL happiness. That is what I want. Anyway, He lives. Just like Joseph Smith testified. He lives and He stands on the right hand of God. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I love you too :) The Gospel is true.

Love, Soeur Roberts