Week 12: Life is Flying By

I start my second transfer today out of twelve and that is absolutely crazy! Everything is going by so fast and I love it and hate it at the same time! 

Soeur Grant has left to go serve in Anemasse and Soeur Fagg has come to join me from Geneva. This is her first time serving in France and it's super fun already to show her all the strange French things she hasn't experienced! 

She is the second of seven and is British :) And her cousin is now also serving in our ward who is also British so this will be a very fun transfer full of English accents!

This week we did an open house at the institute and it went marvelously:) We always had people from off the street inside watching the Easter videos and eating cookies and just learning more about us which is super duper cool! Since the other equipes in the neighboring zone have all changed we will be in charge of the next open house - which we will be doing for Mother's Day :) I can't believe that Mother's Day is this transfer! It is all crazy :)

I finished the Book of Mormon in Fench with like no time to spare and that was crazy but wonderful and have realized that I don't need to be scared to talk or invite people because the worst that they do is they just say no and move on. 

In the scriptures the only time fear is ever mentioned is when they are talking about having a fear of God or fearing death and I don't need to fear either of those right now so I shouldn't be scared of just talking to strangers!

What happened in the Paris mission is terrible but our ward mission leader showed us a few of the missionaries interviews and they were amazing and their faith is so strong, It is hard to watch because of their bandages, but their testimonies are beautiful. Down here, security is heightened everywhere and we don't take the metros which is a little bit of a pain, but its okay because we are just being protected and cared for :)

This week flew by and not too much happened but at the same time so much happened, I was so sad to say goodbye to Sister Grant this morning, but super excited to stay in Ecully and welcome Sister Fagg :)

Love you all and I hope you have a great week!!

Passez une bonne semaine! :)

Soeur Beatty

On the train to Grenoble for legality. 

Elder Berry burned a hole in his pants playing ping pong. haha.

District Meeting. We made curry.

A tree we made for a Saturday activity at the institute.

This tree display at the institute.

the sisters made easter eggs.

they played the egg game. mikayla crushed it.

Easter Goodies. The sisters were taken good care of by Sister Z.

Easter at with Zs.

Easter at the Zs

with the L kids.

with Josephine.

with Sister Practique.

Lessons

Week 11: I Shook His Hand!

This week has been crazy! I got to shake Elder Christofferson's hand! One sister almost cried he's her absolute favorite and she has read every talk by him it was crazy! It was so surreal but it was wonderful.

We had 12 sisters in our apartment the night before because instead of being spread over four apartments two ended up having problems and so only two (one being ours) were available! It was fun though and I don't think we disturbed the little old lady's around us too much :)

But the conference we had President Brown and Sister Brown talking and Elder and Sister Dyches from the Area presidency and then Elder and Sister Christofferson :) Sister Dyches, Elder and Sister
Christofferson all scraped their talks and we don't know why but I wish we could just find out what they had originally planned on sharing but what they did share was just wonderful.

They left us with a bunch of promises and Elder Christofferson blessed our mission and I can't remember much of what he said because I wanted to write down everything from his blessing because it's insane but wonderful.

My favorite thing Elder Dyches said was that missionary work isn't just to do things its to become, the same goes for members of the church,it's not just checking off the goals and boxes, it's to become more like Christ. Right now we are in the Lord's university and he is helping us and shaping us into who we need to become.

Elder Christofferson was very funny though he started out with the sentence "What can I say when they've read all my talks?!" It was so funny, but he said that when we have the spirit we can trust it to
help us figure out what we need to say. He talked about overcoming our trials and trusting the Lord, and one thing I loved was him pointing out that the devil doesn't like what we are doing so we will face a lot of opposition but we can take comfort in knowing that the more opposition he throws our way the more we are doing right because he really really really wants us to stop. But that the Lord will help us and we will overcome through faith:)

He finished off his talk with a question and answer session which was crazy because he had us raise our hands and he would answer our questions, and he answered about nine of them which was crazy, ranging from gospel topics to just how should we go about something when we face this specific missionary trial. It was so surreal but wonderful, he is so full of love and just wants us to do our best.

That evening he spoke at the stake conference and it was so good! He talked about the love that president monson has for us and talked about how funny president monson was after the last conference and how when everyone was concerned about him falling because his blood pressure dropped he told his secretary "I finished my talk, I don't see what the problem is!" But President Monson does everything he absolutely can, 100% for all of us because he loves so so much which
was just great!

He also talked about Peter a lot from the original 12 and how he feels so inadequate and all of us were just sitting there like no haha but he mentioned how there is a cathedral in Jerusalem where Peter denied Christ 3 times and its called "Cock's Crow" and then he asked how we would like it if there was a monument everywhere we made a mistake and just how awfully funny it is that one of Peter's biggest mistakes is immortalized in a cathedral but how that was before the resurrection
and after the resurrection Peter never once came close to denying Jesus and would do anything because he knew the truth through and through.

This week we didn't get to weekly plan until Wednesday it was just absolutely insane but it's been good. This Saturday we are doing a easter open house at the institute as kind of a finding activity, I
hope it goes really well but I don't know haha the stake president asked us if we could start doing them again like once a month and if we could for Easter and we really want to so we are going to try but we'll see!

This week we also find out about transfer calls so I'm really trying not to stress because I might have a one and done here in Écully and that would just really suck so fingers crossed!

Hope you all have had a good week, Passé une bonne semaine:)

Soeur Beatty

Mikayla loves the wildflowers in France!

with Elder Jensen

Shaking Elder Christofferson's hand

Photos of all the mission engages

The mision

The bleus

with Sister Gore

at stake conference. Elder Christofferson invited all the children up

new dress for Easter

2nd new dress for Easter

President's P Day

Companions xo

Week 10: 187

187 is the number that has been haunting me - for lack of a better word - since I arrived in France.

The week before I arrived in France, President Brown set a goal, to find 187 engagés (people who had committed to baptism) before the Elder Christofferson conference -- which is tomorrow. It has been so so so stressful and in my ward and area and zone, there are very very few progressing amis (investigators).

It was frustrating and terrifying because I didn't really think we could make that goal and I didn't like the idea of forcing people to choose a baptismal date to try and fulfill a number. So that was bad on my part -- in not just trusting and having faith -- but on Saturday, as a zone, we found six engagés who were ready and Sunday we found 4 more!

It was insane! And that was just our zone!

As a mission, in one week, we found almost 100 engagés! President promised that we would find those who were ready and we found them and even more! As of right now we have 249 engagés and that number is the highest it's almost ever been! Normally it's around 80.

This was so hard and super difficult and stressful because missionary work is so much more than just the numbers -- but with this promise I have been able to see that just asking someone to pick a date, while a huge step in the right direction is still special and you can't just ask them willy nilly -- you need to wait until it is the right time. If you mention it and they are not ready, then you need to back off, but a date is just that -- a date.

Picking a date gives some amis a goal to work towards and remind them that they can do this, because for some they need to quit smoking or drinking and if they don't have a date they won't progress because they can always put off stopping until tomorrow. Then, there are others who don't pick a date, who just need to realize that we are friends but we are also trying to show them that God loves them and wants to bless them. Baptism is the first step onto the path filled with even more blessings!

God did not put us on this Earth to suffer as He tests us, He is constantly supporting us and sending us tender mercies and He wants to bless us.

This week was insane, but we did it and I am relieved and scared for the next challenge we are going to have to face, but as one of the zone leaders said at the last training we had, France has had seeds being planted for years -- now it's time to look for and find those opportunities to reap some rewards.

It is such a different mission than I expected but it's such a wonderful thing.

Hopefully I explained how I was feeling, my brain is so scattered -- I don't know what I would do if I didn't have a planner.

This week we had three exchanges, one of which was down in St. Etienne. It was so fun. We taught English class and that was an absolute blast! It was so fun. Because there are so many équipes (companionships) here in Lyon we don't get to help with English class here, but I definitely will in other villes.

This week we also had three miracles from our area book (listings of previous investigators) which was super cool! The first miracle was when we were able to fix a rendezvous with an old ami after we texted her. The second miracle was when we left a voicemail and like five minutes later the lady called back, and even though she moved she missed the missionaries and let us give her information to those sister missionaries near her. The last miracle was when we got in contact with a really old ami who let us email her because she doesn't have a real phone and we are working on setting up a rendezvous soon.

Most of these people were lost in the area book after having gone on vacation and other things, but it was such a huge miracle we were able to find them and from our comfortable couch too, it was all around just wonderful!

I sound lazy! haha

I promise I'm not, but it's super nice to rest sometimes -- we are constantly running to catch a bus, train, metro, or tram! And in the morning we do Mangos with Matthew, Mangos is an acronym that basically says we are "motivated to workout in the mornings" and Matthew is the dude on this fitness app that was approved for us to use. It is hard -- my word -- it is difficult -- the past few days have been push up routines, but we need to keep off the patisseries somehow or else I won't fit my clothes!

Things are pretty good here, and the Elder Christofferson conference tomorrow - it is so exciting,

I love you all and hope you have a good week.

Soeur Beatty :)

The Val de Saône sisters left the girls a little pick me up.

Alone, one goes faster, but together you can go farther.

Lunch.

Carrott graffiti. Haha.

Road signs. Just like home, but Frenchy. On the road to Grenoble.

French Alps.

Grenoble.

Grenoble.

Grenoble.

S. Beatty and S. Grant in Grenoble to do Visa Paperwork.

Tiny car.

Mikayla's new ipad case with a QWERTY keyboard. She was having a tough go with a French keyboard.

Homemade Curry

Funny signs in Saint-Etienne

Saint-Etienne

Sister Tauria on an Exchange in Saint-Etienne

Saint-Etienne

Making lemon bars for the Elder Christofferson Conference

We got a nice note from Sister Z, the ward mission leaders wife. This is her daughter.

The kitchen in the apartment

The kitchen

The front room

Week 9: Carbon Monoxide and Root Beer Floats

This week was so strange I don't know where to begin! 

I'm going to start backwards-ish so forgive me, but this week has ended with us having twice the amount of sisters in our apartment now. woo! Both of whom don't speak English - so after a few very intense rounds of Dobble with Soeur Tauira - who is Tahitian - I now know TONS of animal names in French and made sure to get the names written down so I can remember them! haha :)

Sister Tauira and Sister Vandroux are the sisters from the Val de Soane Ward and they have had a slow carbon monoxide leak - for the past two months - at least! Their detector finally went off on Thursday night when it reached deadly levels!! 

That was no fun for them and after a series of phone calls they ended up spending the night at our apartment and are now here until tomorrow, but maybe longer, depending on when the leak can be fixed. It's all good - because all apartments for missionaries are required to have the detectors since stuff like this isn't fairly common, but not uncommon here. 

Sorry if not all my sentences make a lot of sense. I feel like a little kid and can't figure out which language is which and in what order -- it is severely affecting my English skills!

On Tuesday, Soeur Grant and I and these same Soeurs actually had an exchange which was super fun. I got to have African fried banana benigets which were amazing! 

Our engage N, cancelled everything on us and hasn't replied at all -- so that's where we are at with her. It's really hard to understand, but it'll come around.

I also had my first real French dinner this week, which was absolutely wonderful -  but I got fed so much it was crazy!! We had roast, ratatouille, baguettes, potatoes and tiramisu -- which isn't French, but was wonderful! It was made by this little member in our ward who is about four feet tall named J - she is very tiny and older but just adorable and Spanish. 

During dinner she found out we liked root beer and she found some (one can left!) and gave it to us at church and it was just so amazing and wonderful! We'll be making cookies tonight to bring her as a thank you because she's just the sweetest. 

Root beer is so hard to find here because the French hate it - since it tastes like their version of cough syrup, but since J is Spanish - she loves it and knows how to get it!

The French love cookies. It's really funny, but only small ones and not too many. They also call them little cakes. Literally, any sugary dessert is a little cake. Or even a normal cake, it's all called "cake" -- even if it's not a cake at all! But that's the French! 

Not much else happened this week. We had some more rendezvous fall through, but it's all okay. 

Elder Christofferson comes in a week, which is super duper exciting and it'll be great to hear from him and learn and grow!

The Lord is constantly watching over us and all the small tender mercies he gives are just wonderful. The weather isn't great and is so all over the place -- but we got to see a gorgeous rainbow the other day and had warm weather this morning on our way to shop.

It's easy to be discouraged, but the little things remind us that God is still there and is still proud of us.

Passez une bonne semaine! Because the french say this or something similar no matter where you are or who you're talking to. It means have a good week, but they also say day or night or weekend, and even when you leave a store you say it to the sales clerk, even if you didn't end up buying anything!

Soeur Beatty

African Fried Banana Beingets

Exchange with Soeur Tauira from Tahiti

Homemade banana bread

Cookies for porting. You can open any door with cookies. 

French signs. haha.

Mikayla's patissriie.

They love being out of the MTC and their ability to cook. 

french pastries.

Snow in March.

Sunday Selfies

Root Beer. Nom Nom Nom.

Vietnamese for P Day.