We have barely been in our sector this week! Between interviews, zone conference, and Soeurs Conference, we have spent a lot of time on trains. Soeur Hacker got a taste of the insane amount of traveling we do as missionaries, and I took some lovely naps :)
So, like I said, we had interviews and zone conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. My last interview with President and Soeur Babin were wonderful, and they definitely took more time with us than they have in the past. Soeur Hacker and I were supposed to start our interviews around 4:30, so by the time 5 rolled around and neither of us had started, I knew we had missed our train. By the time 6 rolled around and I was still waiting around to speak with President, I knew we has missed our second train. As we finished our interview President asked me when our train was supposed to leave and I told him, "oh, in about 5 minutes." He then turned to Soeur Babin and said, "Chèrie, we made them miss their train!" Soeur Babin replied calmly, "No, *you* made them miss their train!" Ah I'm going to miss them so much!!
Zone conference was also amazing! We had an incredible formation by the Woods couple (who are in charge of the temple visitors center) about the different functionalities of the visitors center. Because we live way too far from Paris to actually use the visitors center, we discussed how we can create a visitors center experience in our home wards and branches. We also had formations by the Babins about how we can make finding a spiritual experience for the people we meet.
The highlight of my week was definitely the Soeurs Conference on Saturday! All the sisters in the mission (62 young soeurs and several senior missionaries) met together in Paris. The title of the conference was "Portez le Flambeau" or "Carry the Flame" and we talked about having the faith to see miracles, making unclear choices, having faith in the Lord's timing, how we can make a difference in our role as women, and a lot of other inspiring topics. We heard from two of my favorite soeurs, Soeur Schnaus and Soeur Piazza, and from the Babins. But the most incredible moment was when we found out that we had an unexpected visitor- so unexpected, even the visitor didn't know she was going to meet us. Sister Elaine S. Dalton, previous Young Womens General President, was visiting France and was able to come and see us! I have so much admiration for her and it was literally a dream come true to hear her speak to us, to meet her face to face, and to speak with her. Wow. Wow. I really don't have anything else to say.
Because of our surprise visitor and a couple other things going longer than expected, the conference went about an hour over and a lot of soeurs were in danger of missing their trains. We ultimately had to make a mad dash for our train after just barely missing the metro that would get us there in time. We arrived at Montparnasse with 9 minutes before our train- but we had to get from the metro 4 all the way up to our train, a trip that usually takes 15-20 mins! I don't think I've run so fast for so long in my life! We did make our train, but we had to get on first class and then walk the entire length of the train gasping for air as it left the station. We promptly collapsed in our seats and fell asleep ;)
Sundays in Nantes are so much fun, but so exhausting! This is the most social ward I have ever been in, with people staying after church for 1.5-2 hours just to socialize! To make it even better (read:even worse for an introverted soeur), we had a piano concert in the evening, and we had amis coming, so we had to go. Cue another 1.5 hours of socializing. In French. After 3 hours of church and chatting before, after, and in between. I was pretty darn tired by the end of all that! But I do love these members. They are so kind and friendly, and patient with Soeur Hacker!
Well, I think that's about it! Thanks all for your love and support, and hope you have a great week! Bisous!
Soeur Rogers
1. Made a pit stop in Redon and saw the town hall and the cathedral
2. Zone conference
3. I got to see all my old comps at Soeurs Conference! Then I snagged a pic with all except Soeur Liard (she had to leave to catch her train) left to right: Piazza, Neistadt, Tasso, Rogers, Hacker, Kitchen, and Bowman
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