12-4-17

'Tis the season! I can't believe it's already December!

Tuesday was short but fun. We had district meeting in the morning and we talked about how we can share the message of Noël with everyone. We are currently working on 2 things at the same time, Venez et Voyez with the ward (Come and See, a special sacrament meeting where the members will invite their friends and neighbors to discover our church) and Eclairer le Monde with the church (see mormon.org). We are so excited for both events but it's sometimes really hard to juggle both of them! Make sure to check out the new video on mormon.org, it's so beautiful!

Wednesday I went to Paris to attend the temple! At the last minute Soeur Peterson wasn't able to come, so it was a bit of a bittersweet experience, but wonderful anyway. Because of a couple mixups and soeurs getting stranded and then delayed, we were almost late for the session- and it was the last session before the temple closes! Thankfully, with a little jogging in the rain, we made it barely on time. It was SO incredible to return to the temple after spending so much time outside of it, in the world. The Spirit was so strong. And in case you didn't know, the Paris temple is the most beautiful temple I've ever seen.

Thursday we had a conference with half the mission and Elder Sabin! It was really really good. One of my favorite things that he said is that our trials are sometimes like chocolate chip pancakes. We see these funny little black spots in our pancakes and we think we don't want them, but then we find out that they are sweet and wonderful and exactly what we wanted. I think my entire mission has been like that haha :) there have been so many experiences that I've lived that seemed terrifying or difficult before or during, but at the end I've realized that it just made the entire journey sweeter.

Because we were out of our sector so much, on Friday we had 4 lesson set up! Ultimately we taught Meredith and Chatou, then went on splits with the other soeurs. Two of us went to JA soirée with Godrich (a less active JA) and the other two went and had a meeting with our Relief Society president. On the way back Sœur Peterson delayed Sœur Daines on the tram (aka sat on her until the next stop) while Sœur Potter and I sprinted back to prepare a surprise for Sœur Daines' 9 month mark! We put a note on the bedroom door and hid balloons and a present in her bed, and then waited FOREVER for her to go to bed and find them! It was hilarious, she came home and didn't see a surprise and thought we hadn't actually prepared anything and were just pulling her leg :)

On Saturday I saw the biggest miracle! I had been thinking about Thierry (my ami from Mulhouse) a lot recently so I decided to add him on Facebook. He added me back instantly and we messaged back and forth for about 30 mins! He said he's been reading the Book of Mormon and that he wants to go to church but doesn't know where. I gave him the address of the church and the phone number of the missionaries. He said he's going to go next week! I'm so thrilled that he's once again progressing, and hopefully this time he'll make it all the way.

Sunday was beautiful. Fast Sunday was very Christ-centered and so spiritual. I love this Christmas season. One of the testimonies that I loved was by a young man who talked about how everyone says that Christmas is so commercial, etc. He said, "I don't really agree with that. I don't think I know anybody who, at the same time they're buying presents, isn't listening to Christmas carols or baking someone cookies or reading Luke 2 with their family. I think everyone comes closer to Christ during Christmastime."

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sœur Rogers