Poitiers 6:4

Bordeaux conference. Elder Adler from the seventy came with his wife.

They are from Germany.

Poitier 6:3

So, it happened. I hit my half way mark. If you take a minute to think

of 5 good feelings about that, I'm feeling them, and then all the

opposite feelings too. For example, hitting half way I feel excited, I

also feel some dread. Hitting my half way I feel calm, I also think

I'm so stressed that my hair has become a whole half thinner than

before (and I didn't start with much to begin with!!) do you get what

I'm trying to express?

But all in all I feel pretty much the same :) I'm excited for what the

next half of my mission will be like. I'm going to try and do some

good, you know kind of inner reflection stuff, that I've always been

super bad at... We shall see how it goes.

This week was pretty crazy too. We just seemed to be busy. We had

district meeting here in Poitiers, and so we had the elders from

Angoulême and Limoges and then the zone leaders came from Bordeaux

and our stls from Talence (just outside of Bordeaux). It was pretty

stressful for us because their trains didn't get in till about 10:00

in the morning and that's when we usually want to start... So it was

pretty rushed. But the meeting was really good we talked about getting

back to basics, so refocusing our planning and studies and being

better at following things outlined in preach my gospel. We had

homemade lasagna for lunch and it was so good!!! Our district leader

is from Germany, he's kind of exactly what you picture when you think

of the Paul bunion, hoodwinked guy, minus the lederhosen.

So this funny thing happened this week. We had a lesson with our ami

roger. He's doing well, progressing, but he might have to move this

week :( so we aren't really sure what's going to happen, but he was at

church again, he asked me if he could have my pen... So I gave it to

him, it made me laugh. Anyways, that's not the funny thing. Right

before teaching him we were waiting with Santiago the member we were

teaching with, and so we decided to call José the ami that got

baptized the transfer before I got there. He hasn't been living in

Poitiers since his baptism so it's been hard to see him, so we call to

check up. And so I called found out how he was doing, and then we just

started talking, he doesn't have the best French so when he talks he

just kind of says "oui, le Canada, c'est bien... C'est froid. Oui,

moi, prier, lire, oui, s'est bien!" It's just really funny, and he

kept asking me questions about myself, it was nice to chat, but while

we were talking something weird happened with my eye. It had happened

earlier that day, but my eye just started burning! And I mean this

weird stinging burning, so weird, but it made my eye water ALOT. And

so I felt really ridiculous because I'm trying to talk but then my one

eye became this faucet and then roger comes up for the lesson. Haha. I

still don't really know why my eye did that, so weird.

Anyways, also something so random, Montauban, my first ville, got hit

by a tornado! Crazy right. Who knew that could happen. I think

everyone is okay, but I don't really know.

This week we taught our 2 Chinese Amis. The are so cute! We are

teaching with Santi right before soirée JA, and it pretty much turned

into a question and answer period for them. It was so cute, on of the

girls asked, "if I am a member can I get surgery for changed my face?"

Haha, and then she said, "my mom says my eyes are to small"  and that

they hurt a lot. So It's not plastic surgery really, just eye surgery,

she just didn't know how to explain it. We all laughed a lot, it was

cute. But it is so cool because they both just want to keep learning

and we talked about baptism because they wanted to know if there was a

ceremony to become a member... So perfect segway into baptism. And

they both want to get baptized! So we're going to keep teaching them

and preparing them for that! We also played this hilarious game with

them and made crepes all together on Sunday after church.

At church they had me near my testimony on prayer. It was good, I made

sense and I think I've mostly gotten over my nerves when I public

speak because my legs and hands barely shook. I could almost control

it :)

All in alll, really good week. And I really love sister Jacobsen, she

helps me to express my feelings.. So this last comp inventory was

really good, and I just think she's wonderful!!!

Poitiers 6:2

Okay, what cool things to tell you about this week? Hmm, well to start

off this week was FULL of miracles, and also the worst moment of my

entire life so far... Are you ready?

So miracle one, 5 months ago Sister Jacobsen contacted this Chinese

guy on a bus. It was a really good conversation and he seemed really

interested, but he got off before she was ready and so she didn't have

anytime to fix anything or get his information. That day they prayed

that she would be able to somehow come in contact with him again, and

then her and her companion had the district pray for that as well.

Then just this week we were contacting a group of Vietnamese girls (3)

and as we are talking this guy comes up and says hi, says he

recognized sister Jacobsen and said he was really interested and

wasn't sure how to do it. She asks him a few questions, when he met

the missionaries, he said about a year ago, but then that it was

definitely her, and that it was on a bus... 3 seconds later sister

Jacobsen realized it was the guy from 5 months ago at the bus!! We

were able to get his info this time and we have a rdv for this week!!

Then, miracle number two is coming up, we were just finishing our

nightly planning and we get a text from an unknown number. She's

speaking in English and says that she is a friend of Tony's (above

miracle guy from China) and that she just got here from Vietnam and is

looking for a church she can go to each week!!!!! We read that,

freaked out for a few minutes and then texted her back the info for

church, saying we could bus with her. That never happens!! It was so

cool. And her English is perfect!

Then, miracle 3, I know... This is crazy! So last Sunday we had that

miracle guy come to church, Roger, and after church we fixed a rdv

with him. So we taught him twice this last week. He accepted our

baptismal invitation, if he finds out it is true. If. And it is so..

:) He is really surprising, he gives off the vibe I guess or just has

this way of listening and talking that make it seem like he's

listening or understanding, but then we ask him questions like, what

is faith for you, and he gives these great answers, and when we

explained that after Christ was crucified and his apostles were killed

his teachings and the simple gospel truths that he taught were changed

or lost, he just understood. That is such a hard part sometimes for

Amis to understand, but he got it. And as we talked he brought up how

weak ways talk about prophets, but that Christ had apostles too, and

so we were able to show him pictures of the prophet and the quorum of

the twelve apostles, and he just kind of understood. He knows the

bible really well and so it's been cool to just build off of that.

Also, he came to church again :) and when we asked him about if he had

read the pamphlet or the Book of Mormon, he pulls out the pamphlet and

reads a part he wanted us to explain, and then says he didn't read

much in the Book of Mormon--he read all the introductions!! And so he

asked more questions about that. It was so nice! Teaching is so much

easier when they keep their engagements!! Something that I've really

liked about teaching him is that we were able to really explain the

importance of the priesthood, and how that power and authority comes

by the laying on of hands, like how Jesus did, and he just gets it. It

makes sense to him. Also one things he said, we asked what it would

mean or change for him if he receives the answer that our message is

true. And he said, well, that would completely change my life.

YES!!!!!!! I was so happy when he said that because sometimes people

get the answer that it is true, but then don't connect that to acting,

to changing. He just seems like such a miracle ami!!

Then, this week we had planned a JA activity (jeunes adultes=ysa). It

was supposed to be a picnic but the weather was rainy, so we  did it

at the church and Santiago, one of the members here (Mexican studying

here, been a member for 1 year and a half) brought 3 friends!! It was

awesome, so now miracle 4 :)

2 of the friends that Santiago  brought are girls from China here

studying. They are so cute! Their names are Anastasia and Zoé and they

came to church the next day!!!

So this is a big miracle, Roger, Anastasia, Zooey, and Melody (friend

of tony) all came to church!! It was Zooey and Anastasia's  first time

at church, and first time in contact with anything to do with God. So

really really cool. We have roger who has a lot of faith and knowledge

of God, Melody, who definitely believes in God, but hasn't been to

church too much, and then Zooey and Anastasia who have absolutely no

background. We taught Amis class (gospel principles) and we

strategically changed the lesson from tithing to FAITH IN JESUS

CHRIST. It was awesome! At the end of the lesson we asked Anastasia

and Zooey if the believed in God, and Anastasia said in very broken

French (miracle six is that a member just moved here from Toulouse who

is from China and was able to translate for them) that this is her

very first time and she doesn't really know anything, but that she

thinks she does believe in God, and then Zooey who speaks better

French said how she thinks that yes there is a God because she can see

in us that he exists, she said she could see in our hearts that God

exists and so she said how she is beginning to believe too. She made

me cry, I was so touched. And also we did little introductions and she

said, "je m'appelle Zooey, je viens de la Chine, je suis étudiantes à

l'université de Poitiers, c'est mon première fois à l'église, et je

vous aime!" Sooooo cuuuuuutttttttteeeee!

So ya, i need to take a break these miracles are making my hands shape... :)

So this week we have rdv set up with all of them and I'm just so excited!!!!

Also this week we helped a member move, her parents left her this

house, well really this old farm and 3 generations of her family lived

there so there was a lot, and I mean a lot of things to get rid of. So

we went to the dump a lot and while we were there we met a lady that

had met with missionaries a while ago and were able to talk with her,

she didn't seem very interested but she had the number of the member

and so if she ever wants to talk with us she knows how. That was cool

too.

Also, while we were helping the member we found 2 little abandoned

kittens. They were so cute, but they were starving and it was kind of

sad, but we bought milk to feed them from the pharmacy and one of the

workers at the dump adopted one of them. And the lady old ami lady

from above was going to take the other one for her daughter who was

super cute and was showing me all her "new treasures " that she had

gotten from the dump.

Okay, now I can tell you the worst experience of my life. So this week

we had a goal of contacting someone we are afraid of, so maybe sdf

(sans domicile fixer, homeless) or old ladies, or old men, or for me,

groups of junior or high school aged people...

We hadn't done it yet that day and we were walking towards this group

of lissez (high school ) and so I said, that's my fear, and so we had

to do it.. And IT WAS HORRIBLE! Haha, I laugh at it now, but

seriously, it was horrible. I go up, I'm smiling being nice ask if I

can ask them a few questions about the family, and they all look at

me, and they all talk at the same time, half in French and then half

in English, no one wants to do the questionnaire but they keep talking

to me, "do you speak English?" "Who's family" and one of the girls

wouldn't talk to me but asked her friend everything I said and just

like laughed, and one of them just straight up walked away.

I wanted to crawl into a hole and eat chocolate for 2 days.

But it was fine in the end because this was such a miracle week!!

Have a good week everyone! Love you!!

Sister Christensen

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Poitiers 6:1

This last week was pretty filled, we didn't have any planners so I've

been using my ipad this is a screen shot of what the week looked like:

Something cool that happened was wednesday before soiree ja, we went

out contactong with one of the ja (jeunes adultes) and the only person

we talked to was this late 20ish guy. It wasn't a particularly good

conversation, he didnt seem very interested, but we asked him if he

would come to church the next week, and we were standing right next to

the church building so he knew exactly where it was, and he said he

would come. The member we were with (timothé ) asked us if we thought

he would actually come, and being optimistic we said hopefully, but in

my mind i thought probably not he wasn't very interested. But guess

what. He did come!! I still don't know how interested he is, but he

came to church and we fixed a rdv with him. So we shall see!!

Also, we were contacting in the park and we stopped to talk to this

older lady sitting on a bench reading a paper. She was super cute, the

classic fashionable old woman, all put together with her hair

perfectly coiffed. And as we start talking asking about her family,

she starts crying!! It was so sad, she said her only daughter died and

she's alone. And how she's discouraged, lost hope. As we continued to

talk we were able to comfort her, but you could still just see how

much she hurt. She wasnt angry, it was just sadness, discouragement.

And there was this one moment where she just put her hands in her face

and let out a sob because she was just sad. I cried with her because i

just felt so bad for her. As she talked she sounded like she had some

family, a nephew or someone that would visit, we wanted to fix a rdv,

and she said she couldnt do a certain day because this nephew comes

that day, but then she said, well not every week, but sometimes he

comes, so I cam't do that day. And as she said that I just pictures

this cute old lady waiting and waiting each thursday for her nephew to

come visit, how excited she would get each time the door opened and

she thought it was him, only to see a nurse or doctor. It was sad. I

realized what comes with being old, people forget you sometimes. It

was sad. But awesome because at the end of talking to her she was

smiling and laughing with us, and gave us a big kiss on the cheek and

said how much she liked talking with us. We are going to see her this

coming up week again.

This week I watched the bible video of when Christ heals the man born

blind. It was soooooooooooooooo goooooooooooooood!!! Watched it right

now and then come back and read what i liked about it.

I loved how it showed the blind man making his way through the city

trying to get to the pool. It made me realize how hard that probably

was and how long it took. And then I love when he falls on the Saviour

and the Saviour just catched him. I feel like that's what I do alot, I

just fall but the Saviour is always there to catch me, not out of

obligation but out of love, perfect love for me.

On a side note saying that made me think of "trust fall" and then I

thought of the video of the 2 girls trying to do it with their dad

watching, and how the one is explaining how to do it, and so the one

is standing her eyes are closed and her sister is behind her saying

that she will catch her she just needs to fall, and so she goes to do

it, but falls foreward instead of backwards and just lands on her

face... The Saviour never lets us land on our face, even if we fall

the wrong way. :)

Also this week our apartment kind of flooded with water... This is

what happened. We go to bed, everything is normal, we wake up pray,

normal, then sister jacobsen gets up and walks to the bathroom, not

normal. There was water all through the area, but not so much flooded

but like a pipe had burst under us and the water was seeping through

the floor boards. When we walked you could hear the water squishing

and seeing out, and there were areas where it had pooled. But what was

weird was that there wasn't really a patteren or any way of knowing

where it was coming from exactly. My shoes were on the floor right

next to each other and one get completely soaked while the other night

next to it stayed completely dry. Weird right. We calledthe office who

called our land lord, but so far we havent heard anything. We went to

the guy who lives below us andhe doesnt have any roof damage so we

have no idea what happened. This is a video of the sound. So weird,

and now the hallway smells funny because the carpet in the hall got

wet too, but only by our apartment, no one elses.

The weather is cooling off, I love it. Also i met some canadians the

other day. There was a group of people (pretty international) and the

ones i talked to ended uo being from nova scotia amd they were here as

a sort of 30 year reunion. They had all student taughtnin poitiers 30

years ago together. The lady i talked to is a professeur. I dont know

which university and i cant remember her name, baker or something. But

they were cool. They said calgary or somewhere in alberta got a ton of

snow just last week, really???

Anyways, it was a good week, our engagé is great, he'll get baptised

in october :) and the members here are funny, i really like it. I

disnt realize how much i like small branches

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