Lyon 8:3 It was really hard to remember what week I was on...

This week was interesting, we discovered on if the funniest church

videos I have ever seen. "Joseph the man" it's on the church history

set of 3 dvd's. "These are the hands that touched the hands that

touched the hands..." It's really funny, look for it, watch it, you

won't be disappointed :)

So the reason we discovered the video is because Soeur Castagno has

been sick and so we had some days and afternoons in the apartment. It

was good though because I got to serve her which is my favourite!! So

we watched some movies, I read some things, she got some rest and has

been doing better.

So, here is a little miracle for this week. Our engagé Jean Luc is so

cool! We had a lesson with him and our dmp (ward mission leader) and

we taught about the temple and how the temple is a blessing through

the story of Lehi's vision in the Book of Mormon, it went really well

and it was cool because our dmp, frère Girard, said, after we told him

the subject that it was perfect because he brought a little picture of

the temple to give to him! The lesson went well and at the end we

talked about how Lehi wanted his whole family to be able to have all

the joy that he had from the fruit, and we talked about genealogy and

being able to do baptisms for the dead for his ancestors who did not

have the chance to learn of Christ and follow him. He was wonderfully

shocked! He couldn't believe it, he was so happy, and I swear he was

tearing up, it was awesome! There was a baptism the next day in

another ward and he came and he loved it! And so here's another cool

thing, so after the program was finished the stake president said a

few words and guess what story he told!! Yes! Lehi's vision! It was

super cool! Before he started talking he said, "now I'm going to talk

about a story you all know" and I thought, nope, not Jean Luc, and

then he started talking Lehi's vision and I thought, YES!!!! He knows

this!!! After we talked to him and he said that he was super excited

because he knew the story, and then he said, "that's how I know I'm

making the right choice, God is leading." It was super awesome, and so

many people talked to him and he's friends with other missionaries. It

was sweet! Also, he brought a friend to church on Sunday! We weren't

there, sick, but still, super cool!

Okay, here's a funny story. So we planned a surprise for the office

senior couples. We decided to decorate the office all Christmassy as a

surprise; we were hoping to bring a little more holiday cheer into the

office. So Saturday after the baptism we go with the other sisters to

decorate. We had gotten keys to the office and snuck in. About 15

minutes in guess what happened. The door started to get unlocked!! I

see Soeur Castagno run the other way, so I dive under a desk,

literally dive and almost pull my skirt off because it isn't easy to

dive in a skirt,  but while we are doing this, no one came in, the

door opened but no one came in so the other sisters didn't notice and

we're really confused, "sister Christensen why are you under a

desk??!!" And then 2 seconds later she realizes and says, "oh is some

one here??" And then they dive under with me right before we hear

voices... But don't worry, it was only the assistants! They were a

little less surprised than we expected, you know, seeing 3 sisters

crawl out from under a desk... But it was funny. So we continue

decorating, it's looking good, when guess what sound we heard again.!

Yes, once again the door opens, we dive again under the desks, my

skirt almost gets pulled off again! And this time the sweeneys walked

in :( obviously they knew something was up, we were almost done

everything. And then he sees the other soeurs... "Les soeurs se

cachent." It was funny. And still fun even though it wasn't a perfect

surprise.

Also, we went out for dinner with president and sister brown!!! I love

them, we have a picture but I need sister brown to email it to me. We

went to the 'hippopotamus', president and me and my comp got fish. It

was really really good:)

Oh and we sang at the baptism...

Lyon 8:2

So another week. What have I done? Hmmmmm... My brain has stopped

working and I can't think of anything. Probably because white washing

is hard and we still have no idea about anything here, and he have a

list of errands that we have to do that just keeps getting bigger, so

kind of not a lot has happened. But, still we've seen some super cool

things. Let me start off with Jean-luc. So basically he is the coolest

person ever, our zone leaders contacted a friend of his and Jean Luc

came to the rdv. He ended up being super interested and came to the

thanksgiving activity we did. He came to church with us the next day

and loved the Amis class lesson on obedience, and it just so happened

that it was the fifth Sunday, so we had a combined relief society

priesthood lesson. Guess what is was on... Becoming spiritually self

reliant. I'm pretty sure he started falling asleep and the whole time

all we could think of was, why today, he probably is hating this and

doesn't even think we are a church because all we are doing is talking

about some weird booklet that the church made to help everyone become

"autonome" but when the lesson finished and we were all going to leave

Jean Luc leans over and says, can I have one of those booklets and he

ended up loving it! So he came again this last week and it just so

happens that he lives in our sector so we get to teach him and he is

so cool. The elders fixed a baptismal date and as we were doing a

lesson we asked about it, and we asked if he had prayed about Joseph

smith and the Book of Mormon, and he said almost like I was stupid for

asking that he had and that was why he was there, he knows it is true.

So cool. So that's awesome and we are super excited.

So another week. What have I done? Hmmmmm... My brain has stopped

working and I can't think of anything. Probably because white washing

is hard and we still have no idea about anything here, and he have a

list of errands that we have to do that just keeps getting bigger, so

kind of not a lot has happened. But, still we've seen some super cool

things. Let me start off with Jean-luc. So basically he is the coolest

person ever, our zone leaders contacted a friend of his and Jean Luc

came to the rdv. He ended up being super interested and came to the

thanksgiving activity we did. He came to church with us the next day

and loved the Amis class lesson on obedience, and it just so happened

that it was the fifth Sunday, so we had a combined relief society

priesthood lesson. Guess what is was on... Becoming spiritually self

reliant. I'm pretty sure he started falling asleep and the whole time

all we could think of was, why today, he probably is hating this and

doesn't even think we are a church because all we are doing is talking

about some weird booklet that the church made to help everyone become

"autonome" but when the lesson finished and we were all going to leave

Jean Luc leans over and says, can I have one of those booklets and he

ended up loving it! So he came again this last week and it just so

happens that he lives in our sector so we get to teach him and he is

so cool. The elders fixed a baptismal date and as we were doing a

lesson we asked about it, and we asked if he had prayed about Joseph

smith and the Book of Mormon, and he said almost like I was stupid for

asking that he had and that was why he was there, he knows it is true.

So cool. So that's awesome and we are super excited.

That's the coolest greatest thing of the week, but also this week we

did some service! It was so fun! So Sister Brown wants videos of all

the missionaries doing a service activity, and so we had planned a

free hot chocolate Christmas thing. And it actually went really well.

The beginning was rough, really really rough. We thought it would be

cute to sing carols and hand out hot chocolate and show people the new

Christmas video, so we all are standing ready, we start singing, and

it was so so so horrible. It was probably the most awkward thing to

happen so far on my mission. Basically no one stopped and we didn't

even finish the song because we all started laughing because it was

just that bad. So we remade the game plan, and started just contacting

people like normal and giving out hot chocolate and that worked really

well, and we were able to talk to a lot of people. And it made us all

happy :) then for a second service thing we did, the recent convert

here, moved to the Czech Republic a week after his confirmation, and

his wife stayed here to continue studying. So since they were both

waaaay to busy to see us getting everything ready, we decided to make

them dinner, we did a lasagna and salad and a little dessert. And then

 the sweeney's took us over. But basically that was such a miracle too

because we could not get a hold of yilbert all day, neither could the

sweeney's and so we just went hoping he would be there with his wife

who we haven't met yet, and while we were stopped at a red light Soeur

Sweeney looks over and says, look, it's yilbert! He was on a bike

stopped right next to the car! So we pulled over were able to talk and

he said he was going to pick up his wife from school and then would

meet us at their house. So we were able to see them, his wife is so

cute and she told us how sad she was he was leaving and she said when

she finishes exams she will have us over :) so that was great.

That's the coolest greatest thing of the week, but also this week we

did some service! It was so fun! So Sister Brown wants videos of all

the missionaries doing a service activity, and so we had planned a

free hot chocolate Christmas thing. And it actually went really well.

The beginning was rough, really really rough. We thought it would be

cute to sing carols and hand out hot chocolate and show people the new

Christmas video, so we all are standing ready, we start singing, and

it was so so so horrible. It was probably the most awkward thing to

happen so far on my mission. Basically no one stopped and we didn't

even finish the song because we all started laughing because it was

just that bad. So we remade the game plan, and started just contacting

people like normal and giving out hot chocolate and that worked really

well, and we were able to talk to a lot of people. And it made us all

happy :) then for a second service thing we did, the recent convert

here, moved to the Czech Republic a week after his confirmation, and

his wife stayed here to continue studying. So since they were both

waaaay to busy to see us getting everything ready, we decided to make

them dinner, we did a lasagna and salad and a little dessert. And then

 the sweeney's took us over. But basically that was such a miracle too

because we could not get a hold of yilbert all day, neither could the

sweeney's and so we just went hoping he would be there with his wife

who we haven't met yet, and while we were stopped at a red light Soeur

Sweeney looks over and says, look, it's yilbert! He was on a bike

stopped right next to the car! So we pulled over were able to talk and

he said he was going to pick up his wife from school and then would

meet us at their house. So we were able to see them, his wife is so

cute and she told us how sad she was he was leaving and she said when

she finishes exams she will have us over :) so that was great.

(no subject)

Went out for lunch with the other sister :) soooo good and so fun. I

love Lyon :)

So this week not a ton happened, we did a thanksgiving dinner with

other missionaries and Amis. And I have no more time but I love you

all.

I got the letters from auntie Wendy. And thank you!

I love you all!

Poitiers 7:6

So, got calls and guess what, I'm now serving in Lyon!! I'm an stl
with Soeur Castagno!!!!!!!!! I love her and I'm really excited because
our apartment is where all the new missionaries come and stay when
they first get in, and all the sisters that are finishing their
missions come to our apartment too, so its a busy place. But I'm
excited to be in Lyon for Christmas :)

So this week Zoé or Ying Zhou got baptised!! It was so so so
beautiful. Not many members could come, but there were enough and it
was the best day of my life!! She was so nervous but so excited and
she had written out her testimony and got some help from elder Leon
(Chinese) but when she went up to do it she said she didn't even use
it, she just spoke from her heart and I just cried and she was crying
and the spirt was so strong. In her testimony she said that growing up
in China she would see the Buddhists who were very hypocritical and
not actually very good people, so she never liked religion and she
never cared about going. But then she moved to France, and school was
hard and French was hard, so school was even harder and she just was
not happy. Nothing made her happy, and then one day her neighbour
invited her to a church activity, and she came, and then she came to
church and then she said she couldn't wait to come back because for
the first time since moving to France she felt happy. And so we taught
her and she learned how to pray and started reading the scriptures
etc. She said how honoured she feels to be able to follow God and
Jesus Christ. She said how when she thinks about her future she isn't
worried anymore and the hard things, she can just let them go because
she know God will help her. Ahhh, she is so cute. The one hitch was
that the water was cold... No idea why, and so she was actually almost
shaking of cold, but then when she came out of the water she
immediately cried out, "je me sens bien!" It was cute! In the car on
the way home she said how good she felt and she kept touching her
heart because she had no other way of expressing her feelings.

Saying good bye was really hard. But it's okay because her and
Anastasia said I can go to China after the mission, or they will come
to Canada, so it's okay.

So that was the big thing from this week. Seriously, so cool.

So leaving Poitiers, I didn't do any packing until Sunday... Because
we had the baptism and church was busy and all these things, so I
basically just prayed and prayed and some how I was able to get the
suitcases closed. There was a slight panic at the end when I opened
the drier and saw my clothes in it, but it was okay because there
wasn't that much and I was able to stuff it all in my carry on bag
thing. It was weird leaving because I was the only sister traveling
with a big group of elders and then, just me and an elder ended up on
the train together. So that was weird, but the voyage was good, no
problems, so it was nice, just long.

So ya, crazy stuff, I'm kind of nervous to be in such a big city, and
not really knowing what I'm doing... But it's okay. :) like one of our
Amis told me, Christ is my compass, so I'll never get lost."

I love you all, this week feels likes it's going to be pretty crazy :)

Love you!!

Envoyé de mon iPad