I Believe in Christ, So Come What May
ma famille,how you doin? I'm embarrassed I forgot the "are" in that sentence, but it was funny so I'm leaving it. Just sounds gangsta. Anyway. so....I'm STAYING in Grenoble!!!!! I'm KILLIN SOEUR ADDIS!!!!! and this means that I get to go up to Lyon to drop her off and see my MOM!!!!! mom being soeur BERTOLIO!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS GOD LOVES ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I love soeur addis, so I'm soooo freakin stoked to be with her for another transfer!!!! this is the first time that I've stayed with a companion longer than a transfer since my trainer!!!! Crazy, huh? Its like I'm a really bad comp or something!... lol. nah jk..? but really, its crazy. soeur bertolio for my first 3, then soeur raney for 1, then soeur marker for 1 (she just died!! she's going home tomorrow!! so sad!), then soeur bicchierri for 1, now soeur addis and our second transfer!!! I am seriously so happy. Since friday I've been like, neither of us have to pack! we get to do everything we wanted to this transfer! its not all just words!!!!!! lol. I got a little emotional; I mean come on, switching companions practically every month since the end of october can mess with ya. lol. but yeah! and now we seriously DO have to do everything we planned, because soeur addis is going HOME after me! so if she doesnt go into a catholic cathedral with me, she would have NEVER gone into one in France or Suisse!! (yeah..i dont know how she hasnt! but it will happen). And her wanting to speak as much french as possible her last transfer? that has to happen, too. lots of things to live up to. Gotta make her have a ridiculously incredible last transfer, spirit-filled and all!!! lots of miracles waiting to happen, lots of things to focus on that dont have to do with home, and lots of fun times!!!!!!! so stoked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and we have already had a miracle today!!! first day of the transfer!!!! so last week we told vaber we have to see him 3 times a week at least, and hes like, i dont know if i can do that, im really busy working and blahblahblah, then we were like, fine, 2 rdv, and the third time we see you is at church. and he agreed. so he came to sacrament yesterday (its the last hour of church here in france), and then he texted us after (cause he ran out to catch his bus after church cause it only comes every 30 min on sunday) and asked if we could see him monday and wednesday mornings! So today we met with him, and we HAD planned on teaching him about the sabbath day because he has only come to all 3 hours once or twice since the missionaries began teaching him in the fall. so we planned the lesson, but we werent sure if we would go through with it. so we taught with a member, Aina (who has an 'i'm a mormon' video!!! she goes by aina, ps. http://bcove.me/gu1j0bo4 or http://mormon.org/reine) and and her son, jared (he's 2 so he didnt really help us teach..ha) and vaber asked me to pray and so I began praying and I just began giving thanks for the restoration and for living prophets and just all this stuff from the first lesson, it was super weird, and at the end of the prayer I was like, wait why did I just pray for all that? we're teaching sabbath day..? then soeur addis was like, we were planning on teaching you about the sabbath day, but I really feel as though we need to teach you about the restoration. and so we taught him the first lesson again, and really tried to clarify for him why our church is different then other churches. SUCH a testimony builder testifying of the Book of Mormon and the way that it works together with the Bible and not just testifying, but PROVING it through the scriptures!! Oh my goodness it was-out-of-CON-TROL!!! So I have been studying the Bible a lot since I began serving, trying to read it from beginning to end (new testament but also trying to read about dispensations and such in the old testament) and I can totally see how it has helped me in teaching! Not only just learning the stories, but knowing what our Savior was trying to teach and how those same principles are taught in the Book of Mormon! So he was saying these things about how hes not sure if he believes in religion, but in Ephesians it says one God, one baptism! I told him that. And it just works so well together!! To prove this through scripture, I shared John 10:16 corresponding with 3 Nephi 15:21, so we read this but also read the rest of the chapter in 3 Nephi, then the first 3 verses of chapter 16 and asked him what that meant to him, and he said that it said that Jesus Christ visited everyone, not just the people in Jérusalem, but the people in the americas and the people in africa and other places, and we were like, YES! Our Heavenly Father loves ALL of His children so He had His son visit them! then he asked where that was, if it was all from "our" Bible, and I was like, les deux! and he gave me a smirk, like, you got me, and I testified that they were there to work ensemble (together), that its not "our" Bible, but the Book of Mormon, which is ANOTHER testament of Jesus Christ, not "the Bible", and that they testify of each other! And then soeur addis began testifying and he asked if she was a convert and she was born into the church (like me!) then he was like, well you were born into the church, blahblah and being rude! and then I got all defensive of my companion and her testimony(!) and stopped him and told him that it doesnt matter if we were born into the church, but that we each personally recieved an answer of the Book of Mormon being the word of God, and that we can explain the teachings of the gospel and show him scriptures, but we cant convince him, and that he has to pray and ask for himself and we committed him to read the Book of Mormon daily (he had only been reading the Bible and a little bit of Doctrine and Covenants) and to read that day Moroni 10 and after reading to really pray and ask our Heavenly Father if this book is true. So he agreed and we shook on it, and yeah. it was kind of intense. I had to control myself a lot. Missions teach you patience. Lots and lots of patience. haha. so! He texted us about 4 hours later when we were at our apartments just chillin (pday and the grocery store is CLOSED because its a holiday. "the day after easter" holiday. not even kidding. and half of them are athiest. Thats france for ya), but he texted and said that he prayed and asked if the Book of Mormon was true, He got the answer that it was! And we replied, good! what does that mean? and he said, that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the church is true. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dont think I could end on a better note. His baptismal date is set for the 28 of April and he has been free of smoking since last monday. Thanks, dad. :) But he really needs your prayers to stay faithful and to really be a great example to his wife and family. He doesnt need permission from his wife, we called president and asked, but we would all still like her to be okay with it. Yesterday for easter so MANY members gave us chocolate!!!! like we have so much chocolate at home, its kind of crazy. so we basically got easter baskets. lol. and we bought lindt bunnies for each other sat and hid them for each other during lunch after church, so taht was really fun too. during our gospel principles class we watched "finding faith in Christ", and I seriously want to watch that every Easter. its such a great way to really think about Christ. Anyway! we found a brazilian who speaks anglais! hollah!!! and our bishop is so freakin cool!!!!!!!! he has such a missionary spirit!!!!!! okay, love yall, gotta jet!!!!! the
church is so true!!
love always,
devaneaux
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