Oct 31, 2016

Bonjour à tous!
Just a couple pieces of news for this week! It seems like so long ago, but transfers were this week! Sœur VanAuker and Elder Kelley are off to their respective new villes. Elder Dame has arrived, and Sœur Romney is the new soeur in our apartment! We are already having a great time getting to know her :) Although we've been seeing a lot of progress with our amis this week, there's not a lot to report this week. We got to see Carrie, Celine and Magali this week, as well as a bunch of new amis, and had really solid lessons with all of them. We also had some really awesome time contacting this week, and met some really awesome new amis!

Our ami Alice came to church yesterday! We had been worried we would have to drop her because she wasn't keeping her commitments to read the Book of Mormon and she had told us specifically that she wasn't interested in becoming a member of our church, just in continuing to talk about God with her. She had promised us, however, that she would come to church. Yesterday during the opening song she showed up, dressed to the nines! She really enjoyed sacrament meeting, but she LOVED Sunday school! Our DMP was teaching and asked for questions first, and she jumped right in and asked about the reason why we always say our church is true and why we want her to get baptized again. So we all (including the teacher, the elders, the other people in the class, and even the elders ami!)  taught together the Restoration of the gospel, and the difference between our church and other churches. She was super happy and in her element because we answered all her questions and used the Bible a lot :) She told us afterwards that she really enjoyed it and that she'd like to come back. Having amis at church is one of the hardest things for us, but it's so worth it when they do come!

The biggest miracles we saw this week were last night. Sœur Tasso and I were on the metro when we saw that we had missed a call from the other sœurs, so we couldn't call them back right away. We had an hour to go contacting before dinner and were trying to decide where to go. Right before we go Republique, we made a split-second decision to run and take the bus that was leaving in 1 minute to go contacting a little north of our apartment. We made it to the bus just in time, and then called the soeurs back. Sœur George picked up and told us that she and Sœur Romney were on their way to the hospital because Sœur Romney all of a sudden got super sick- shaky, numb, and super nauseous. We realized immediately that that choice had been made with the guidance of the Spirit because we were able to get home immediately, pick up things that they needed, and then get a ride with the Griffins (senior couple) to the hospital. France being what it is, it took forever for anything happen at the hospital, and the other sœurs got home really late. We're still not sure what happened, but Sœur Romney is feeling a lot better and they're going to continue to do tests to find out what happened. The other inspiration that was related to last night was that our district leader had given us 3 or 4 separate formations over the last transfer of what to do in case of an emergency- what to say and in what order when you call 112 (the French equivalent of 991). Sœur George was able to keep her head and give them all the information they needed.

I know that the Lord always wants to guide us and keep us safe. We just need to be open to His help in actively listening to the Spirit. He will give us the materials that we need to succeed is we trust in Him. One of the things I've been thinking about this week is a talk by Elder Uchtdorf in the last General Conference. He talks about the parable of the Good Shepherd:

"God is fully aware of those who are lost—and that He will find them, that He will reach out to them, and that He will rescue them.
If that is so, what must the sheep do to qualify for this divine help?
Does the sheep need to know how to use a complicated sextant to calculate its coordinates? Does it need to be able to use a GPS to define its position? Does it have to have the expertise to create an app that will call for help? Does the sheep need endorsements by a sponsor before the Good Shepherd will come to the rescue?
No. Certainly not! The sheep is worthy of divine rescue simply because it is loved by the Good Shepherd.
To me, the parable of the lost sheep is one of the most hopeful passages in all of scripture.
Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us. He knows and loves you."

Thanks to everyone for your letters and support! Have a fabulous week and a great Halloween!

Bisous,
Sœur Rogers