1-2-17

Hello everyone!! Guess what happened this week! No, go on, guess. What, you don't know? Okay, I'll tell you. IT SNOWED!!! All during studies and into the afternoon, it snowed. Not only did it snow, but it didn't melt afterwards! Instead the little bits of snow on the trees, bushes, grass, cobwebs, etc. frosted over and turned all of Rennes into a winter wonderland for about 2 days!! It was SO beautiful, and although everyone else complained about the cold, it felt so much more normal for me. 

In spite of the fact that this week was REALLY frustrating for missionary work, with everyone on the street home for the holidays and everyone home not really interested in meeting with the missionaries. Every rendez-vous we had this week felt like a special gift, especially the time we spent with Jacqueline this week. We are seeing some amazing progress with her! She has been feeling the Spirit so strongly as we meet with her and as she prays and studies on her own. She is committed to her baptismal date of Jan 14, which is the Saturday before I leave Rennes! I'm so excited for her!!

We also had the most AMAZING lesson with our ami Jackie on New Years Eve. We contacted Jackie last week and talked with her a lot about the Plan of Salvation and what happens after we die, because her dad died when she was young and she has the feeling like he watches over her still. She came to the chapel and we discussed the entire Plan of Salvation, with her posing incredibly thoughtful questions the entire time! She wanted to know if it was possible to do everything right on earth without God's help, if people who are disabled were especially good or especially bad before this life, if the people who are in the Spirit World remember our pre-mortal life and if they can communicate with us. Everything seemed to natural to her and made so much sense to her, and at the end she said, "So it seems like the entire purpose is so that we can become like God." We said... yup, pretty much, that about sums it up. It was the most incredible testimony to me that we knew the Plan of Salvation before we came to earth, and that when we learn it again on the earth, it seems familiar to us because it really is. We gave Jackie a Book of Mormon, and she was really excited to read it!

One of the things that I learned this week was how important it is to keep working all the way to the last minute and beyond. During exchanges this week, Soeur Spencer and I got out of a rendez-vous and walked home with about 20 mins to spare before dinner. Rather than going inside early to get out of the cold, seeing as there was PERSONNE out on the street, we decided to keep going, and to use those last 20 minutes to maybe knock on some doors. We found a residential street and said a prayer, and then decided to walk a little further down the street. We then contacted the only person we saw- a younger, white guy getting out of his car and going home. Without super high expectations, we stopped him and started talking. It took him a moment to warm up, but ultimately he was touched by the Spirit, and we even got his number!

Soeur Piazza and I ran into a similar situation a couple days later. Thursday night after the baptism of an 8 year old boy in our ward, the family was all together to celebrate and invited the missionaries to join. We didn't have anything planned, but our ami (who was sick with a cold) wanted us to come visit her. It was cold outside, we didn't want to get sick again, and the members really wanted us to stay and eat pizza. Right now the choice to go out seems obvious, but in the moment it was one of the hardest choices I've had to make on my mission. But when we finally went out, we were an hour and a half late to visit out ami because we got impression after impression to talk to that girl, to talk to the bus driver, to help that lady carry her things home, etc. We finished the evening with a POWERFUL lesson on the doctrine of Christ and felt happier and more successful than we had all week. 

So because I'm a missionary, I'm going to leave you with a challenge: Dare to do what's right and to act on promptings of the Spirit, even and especially when it's hard. It's a simple New Years resolution, but I know that it's something that will bring you lasting happiness. Thanks to all of you for your love and support. I'll be home in a year! The end of my mission seems so close now, I can't afford to waste a single second!! À bientôt!

Bisous, 

Soeur Rogers

PICTURES!!

. IT SNOWED!!

We went to a New Years Eve party with 3 young married couples, and they played a mean trick on Soeur Piazza- put her arms in Pringles cans so she can't bend them, and thus can't take the Pringles cans off her arms ;)

6. Adorable mugs!!