Tuesday, January 5, 2016
New Assignment - Saying Goodbye to Annemasse
Christmas Cookies, Conferences and the Lion King
Live Nativity |
spent the rest of the day in two different members’ homes and then went caroling with one. Overall an incredible week. It's incredible to see the love all around during the Christmas season.
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Talking to the Family in Texas |
Member Missionaries and Curfew
This week was a really good week for us here in Annemasse, despite the fact we didn't get to go outside much. Earlier on, I caught the same sickness that my companion had all of last week, so we went out and into the church or members houses to visit them or teach lessons, but didn't stay outside for very long periods of time, to help me heal.
However, we were able to see an incredible spirit in our ward this last week and this Sunday. With all that happened in Paris a few weeks ago, the mission has been given a curfew, we are no longer allowed to stay outside after dark (around 5:30 pm) unless we are with a member, for our own safety.
The ward found out about this, and has reacted in an unbelievable way. Last week we were only inside our own apartment very little after dark, we were either at members’ houses or teaching with them at the church many of the nights. Yesterday in fast and testimony meeting, a large portion of all the testimonies given were all about missionary work, and in ward council they asked us and made absolutely sure we weren't in our apartment any night this week. I was so overwhelmed by the love that the ward has shown us, we have so many people here who want to help us so much, and we're spoiled to be here. This upcoming week we have so many rendez vous with members it's incredible.
We had a lot of real great days where we spent a lot of time with the members, and were able to see some cool things. One recently returned missionary took us driving around our area, going through the list of members to go visit them, and we were able to see and get to know a guy that hasn't been to church in a very long time, he seemed really happy to see us and we got to know him pretty well, it was a good rendez vous. The rest of the week was relatively normal, and we got to go many members homes, then Saturday was great.

We had a Samedi Sportif in the morning, then service in the afternoon, but on the way back from the church to eat lunch, we ran into a man that had come to an English class of ours a while back, but we had never gotten his number, so we talked to him for a bit, then got his number and invited him to church, and he said he'd come. Many people say that to us, but the next morning, as we were greeting people at the door, he showed up! His name is George, and is really quiet, but curious to know more.
The ward was great, they all introduced themselves and made friends with him, and we were able to fix a rendez vous with him for this Wednesday, and have a member coming too! It was super exciting, we're thrilled to start teaching him! That was the best part of the week, I want to invite everyone at home to help the missionaries this Christmas season. It’s a super special spirit when we can work together. I hope everyone stays safe and has a good week, I love you all, au revoir!

The ward found out about this, and has reacted in an unbelievable way. Last week we were only inside our own apartment very little after dark, we were either at members’ houses or teaching with them at the church many of the nights. Yesterday in fast and testimony meeting, a large portion of all the testimonies given were all about missionary work, and in ward council they asked us and made absolutely sure we weren't in our apartment any night this week. I was so overwhelmed by the love that the ward has shown us, we have so many people here who want to help us so much, and we're spoiled to be here. This upcoming week we have so many rendez vous with members it's incredible.
We had a lot of real great days where we spent a lot of time with the members, and were able to see some cool things. One recently returned missionary took us driving around our area, going through the list of members to go visit them, and we were able to see and get to know a guy that hasn't been to church in a very long time, he seemed really happy to see us and we got to know him pretty well, it was a good rendez vous. The rest of the week was relatively normal, and we got to go many members homes, then Saturday was great.
We had a Samedi Sportif in the morning, then service in the afternoon, but on the way back from the church to eat lunch, we ran into a man that had come to an English class of ours a while back, but we had never gotten his number, so we talked to him for a bit, then got his number and invited him to church, and he said he'd come. Many people say that to us, but the next morning, as we were greeting people at the door, he showed up! His name is George, and is really quiet, but curious to know more.
The ward was great, they all introduced themselves and made friends with him, and we were able to fix a rendez vous with him for this Wednesday, and have a member coming too! It was super exciting, we're thrilled to start teaching him! That was the best part of the week, I want to invite everyone at home to help the missionaries this Christmas season. It’s a super special spirit when we can work together. I hope everyone stays safe and has a good week, I love you all, au revoir!
Giving Thanks and Forgiving
One of the coolest things I remarked on this week was something a member said yesterday in Sunday School. He said that the gospel and the scriptures in particular are like the seasons of the year. They're always the same, never changing, summer, fall, winter and spring, but you'll never have two winters or two summers exactly the same. In the same sense, the gospel and the scriptures never change, but we can get something new out of them every time we read them. It made me even more grateful for the chance to study the scriptures out here on a mission, cool experience.
I hope everybody is gearing up and ready for Christmas, because it's the best time of the year! This week was possibly the longest week of my mission, though not because anything particularly horrible happened to us, but mostly because my companion was sick all week. We had a normal Pday on Monday, but then Tuesday morning Elder Bentley woke up very very sick, and didn't get any better.
Sooo, long story short, we were in the apartment from Tuesday morning to Sunday morning. I spent the majority of my time either cleaning our apartment, taking care of my companion, calling people in the phone I don't know, or just studying my scriptures, made for a monotonous week.
However, church yesterday was a really neat, I wanted to share something. In Sunday School one of the sisters shared a really touching experience with the whole class. She talked about at one point in her life she had lived with her older sister for a while, and that they hadn't gotten along at all. They had had many arguments and she left with a lot of bitter feelings towards he sister. Then, shortly after she had moved out, her older sister died suddenly, without any warning. She started crying at this point and told us how much she wished she could have had the chance to apologize and reconcile with her sister before she passed away. The lesson was on forgiveness, and so she encouraged everybody really strongly to forgive others while we still can, that no matter what they may have done to us, we will feel much better if we forgive.
I wanted to encourage everyone at home, especially in the spirit of Christmas, to try and forgive someone, and to right a wrong, and watch how much better your Christmas season becomes because of it. I love you all, and pray for you, have a great week!
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