Oct 10, 2016

Bonjour toute la monde!

Our amis still aren't answering our phone calls :( but it is OKAY because we have had tons of miracles this week anyway! One of the major miracles from this week was actually a throwback to last week and our ami Edward. He's back home in Côte d'Ivoire but he called us twice this week- once to ask us a question about the things he was reading in the Book of Mormon, and a second time last night to tell us that he went to church! His son Élisée came to church as well this week. It was quite a sight to see him walk into the chapel flanked by two of the young men his age, who had taken a ton of initiative in inviting him to church and making sure he felt welcomed and had a good experience. They are both preparing to go on a mission, and I can't think of any better preparation for a mission than to take an active role in helping an ami!

Another amazing moment this week was the baptism of Alicia, one of the young women in the ward. She's the foster child of one of the families in the ward, so she's been an honorary member of the ward for about 6 years now. Now that she's 18, she can take the missionary lessons and be baptized! We had most of the ward there to celebrate, and it was a really powerful evening. Her best friend gave a talk on baptism, her foster mother gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, and she bore her testimony at the end! One of the greatest things was that our ami Caroline was able to be there! She's actually from the US, and is here as an exchange student. She's been investigating the church for more than 2 years, and has finally made the decision that she wants to be baptized! She approached us a couple weeks ago and asked if we would help her to get all the way ready. She is the coolest, and has already made a lot of progress both by herself and with other missionaries. We're so glad she was able to come to the baptism!

Wedmesday of this week was Sœur Tasso's birthday! We had 3 separate parties for her. The first one was at about 6:45 in the morning. Sœur George and Sœur Tasso are running buddies, so right after they left in the morning Sœur VanAuker and I cut up a bunch of fruit and arranged it super pretty on a plate with a candle stuck in the middle of the grapefruit :) We also had a card for her that we got all the Rennes missionaries to sign and balloons up on the wall. The second party was after district meeting, the elders brought a raspberry cake with candles, very classy, very traditional. The third party was at the Griffin's for family home evening with the young adults. We had some crepes and played Loup-garou (Werewolf, which is like Mafia). It was really fun, and we had 2 amis there! FHE with the young adults is one of our favorite things to invite our amis to because it's nonthreatening but still helps them make good relationships with people in the ward. We have recently changed it from Monday to Wednesday nights because a lot of French people have a half day on Wednesday. Students get off school at noon and a lot of people get off work early as well. So anyway, happy 20th birthday to Sœur Tasso!

We had a great mangez-vous with the bishop's family this week! We had some classic French crêpes with Nutella, jam and apples. (French people eat at least 6 crepes when they have them for dinner like that). It turns out that the bishop's grandparents were the first members of the church in Rennes, and the first sacrament meeting was held in their living room! It's amazing to me how new and yet how strong the church is here in Rennes. Most of the members here are either converts or their parents/grandparents are converts. They have a lot of faith!

Lastly, a little bit a spiritual boost for your week. We talked with this amazing girl on the street last night who was asking us a lot of sincere questions about how we can know that it's God who's responding to our prayers and giving us little miracles, and not just us convincing ourselves. It was really cool to be able to share with her all the things we've seen God do for us that aren't just us making things up, but could only have happened through the power of heaven. It's sometimes difficult for us to see the tender mercies that God gives us if we don't keep our minds and hearts open for those things. One of my favorite things that we do every night is to take a moment to wrote down all the miracles, little or big, that we saw that day. It really helps me to see how God is in every moment of our lives and in every detail of missionary work. I know that if we take the time to look for those miracles and to say thank you in prayer, it will become easier to find those moments and the Holy Ghost will work stronger in our lives.

Thanks to everyone for all you support and letters! I am loving France so much, and it's getting easier every day to understand and to easily converse with people. I am seeing the hand of God in my life every day. I know that the gospel is true, and I know that this is the Lord's work! Keep me updated with the latest news, photos, whatever. I love you all!

Bisous,
Soeur Rogers