Bonjour toute la monde! Wow, what a week! We have seen so many miracles this week and had so many adventures, I'm so excited to tell you all about them!
But first, the all-important progress update! It's always Sundays when I can see the biggest improvement in my language when we get the opportunity to speak with members. This week was freaky but also amazing because I gave a 10 mins talk- in French! I talked about how we can be ready to have missionary experiences and to share the gospel in day-to-day life. I had it mostly written out, but I found that in the moment I barely needed to look at my notes! It was a huge success for me personally, and everyone assured me afterwards that the French was easily understandable :) So, hooray for the gift of tongues!
One of the big things from this week that I'd been looking forward to a lot was going to Paris for OFII, which is basically a medical examination that you have to do to get legality here. It sounds like not a lot of fun, and in fact it wasn't terribly, but the fun part was that I got to see all my old MTC friends again! Well, at least the ones in the Paris mission whose names came before S in the alphabet... sorry Sœur Schnaus. The best part was that because we had to be there early in the morning, there wasn't enough time to take a train that day, so we stayed the night in Versailles with Sœur Neistadt and her trainer, Sœur Hodgman! It was SO much fun!
We were also able to see a ton of progress with our amis this week and meet some really amazing new ones! I'll share stories of 3 people vite fait. The first person is Alice. We were able to see her on Thursday and we read together in 3 Nephi 11, which talks about Christ coming to the people in the Americas and teaching them about himself and about how to baptize. It was really cool because she thinks very deeply about the scriptures when she reads, so we took a lot of time to read and to discuss and explain. It was also really cool how she reacted to the explanation of baptism- how it must be done by immersion, using the proper words and proper authority. We're so pumped to teach the Restoration next visit!
We also met this amazing African woman named Jennyfer. The meeting in itself was a miracle- we were on the bus on the way to République (the main bus station in town) so that we could change buses to go home. Sœur Tasso had a feeling that she needed to talk to this woman, but only got out a couple pleasant sentences before the bus stopped and we all got off. This woman had a massive caddy with groceries and heavy bottles of water in it, and when she pulled it off the bus, the plastic wheel snapped! Sœur Tasso immediately jumped in and helped her carry the caddy to her bus. She just so happened to be taking the same bus and going to the same stop as us! We got off the bus with her and helped her carry her groceries to her apartment, all the time talking to her about her life and her religious background, etc. We got her number and prayed with her in the elevator of her building, and set up a rendez-vous for later in the week!
She is the most amazing woman I've ever met. She's in kind of a rough spot right now because she just barely moved from Congo (Kinshasa) and is alone in France with no papers, no work, and a 16 month old son. But she has so much faith in God, that He will provide for her and her needs. She was just baptized recently in another church because she felt like she was ready to make that important commitment with God. We were able to share with her the Book of Mormon, and she's so excited to start reading it and find out what God tells her about it. She's already so sensitive to the Spirit and the will of God, and she inspires me with her amazing faith!
Another incredible person we were able to get to know this week was a man named Edward. He's from Côte d'Ivoire, and he's actually only here for a couple weeks to help his son get situated to go to university here in Rennes. We met him last Sunday evening on a bench just outside the park, talked a lot with him and gave him a Book of Mormon. By the time we met with him again on Thursday, he had read the chapter we gave him (3 Nephi 11) and both of the pamphlets (the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation) that we put in all the copies of the Book of Mormon that we give out. He had so many questions, and was super excited to read more!
The major miracle with him happened Saturday night. We went out contacting and ended up talking with a very mean and closed-off man for a long time. We both came away from that encounter feeling really discouraged, so we took some time to sit on a bench, read the scriptures and say a prayer. One of the things I asked for specifically in the prayer was to help us to continue to feel the Holy Ghost and to see miracles. We got up and left the park, and who did we see walking around the corner? Edward! He was carrying a box of pain au chocolat, and he gave us each a pastry and told us about how he had been reading in the Book of Mormon and how much he loved it. He also told us how amazing we were, how it's sometimes really hard to try to talk to people who aren't interested but that we were doing great work! I just about cried- he has no idea how much of a miracle for me he was in that moment! Quite literally a messenger from God, telling me how much He loves me and is proud of me and the work I am doing.
We got to see Edward and his son at church on Sunday, and they had a great time! They felt really welcomed by the ward, and Edward really loved Amis class- he was super engaged by the lesson and even took notes! We're having a family home evening with him and his son at a member's house tonight, but then he leaves for Paris tomorrow morning to head back to Côte d'Ivoire. The missionaries there are getting an amazing new investigator!
The last thing to share is our P-day adventure from today. We went to St. Malo! It was so beautiful with the little ville, and we spent over an hour at the beach, collecting shells and dipping our feet in the water. It was a beautiful day to be out too- just warm enough to be pleasant, even with the wind, but never uncomfortably hot. The sand was nice and warm, and the ocean was actually really warm as well! It was a fabulous day, even if it did cut out a little of our email time ;)
Well, I think that's about it! I love you all, and thanks so much for all your support and letters! A tout à l'heure!
Sœur Rogers
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