On thursday we had a conference in Paris with Elder Gary Sabin. He talked about a lot of good things. One in particular was his celestial steps! He identified 8 points that are key to understand. They are 1. true doctrine 2. our true identity 3. plan of salvation 4. Agency 5. The atonement of Christ 6. Our desires 7. Service 8. Eternal life. He testified that as we focus on what truly matters and let all the little things go, we will be able to have peace in life which is a clear conscience. That is the Savior's gift to the world, He promises us peace. And I got to see my trainer Sœur Warr before she goes home in just a few weeks!
On Saturday Raphaël was baptized!! He looked so happy and he told us he felt way more calm than before. His whole family ended up coming, none of them are members. They were all so kind and supportive. His mom even played a musical number on the piano during the service. Not too many members came but the elders that taught him were able to come back for it, Raphaël was very happy about that!
On Sunday we got a call from a member family in the ward inviting us to come over that night because they had someone that wanted to meet us! I assumed it was a friend or neighbor but when we got there it turned out it was their 22 year old less active son! Recently his life has been difficult and he feels like something is missing. He is not sure about everything about the gospel but he knows that it is good, there are only good things that come from it. He had spent time talking with his parents that morning and decided it would be good for him to take the missionary lessons to learn again the foundation of our beliefs. We had prepared a few scriptures before hand based on a lesson for someone else but as we started talking , Soeur Hunt and I realized that what we had prepared was exactly what he wanted to talk and learn about. We started just by explaining the role of Jesus Christ and why he is so important, what he can do for us. And then he was able to learn about the restoration. He didn't remember too much, he looked at the picture of the visit vision in the pamphlet and didn't recognize who the 2 people in white were but as he read the account in Joseph's words, he flipped over the page and realized who they were! Because God loves us he doesn't leave us alone, he provides the way to come back.
Moments like this make being a missionary so worth it. I don't think it was a coincidence that the very day Raphaël became a member of the church was the very same day Brian decided it was time to come back. There is so much potential for them to learn together and support each other as they keep going.
Doctrine and Covenants "10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth"
Sœur Giles
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Letter to Mom and Dad
So to answer questions, the city looks so good. There is a ginormous tree in place stanislas and there are lights strung in between buildings. I love it! Except that it does rain or snow pretty much everyday. Crazy! My very first white Christmas. In our apartment there are 2 trees set up, a little one that Soeur Hunt's mom sent and another one that we just found in the apartment. We have one strand of lights on the window sill. We don't have a stake wide mission class. Probably mostly because our stake is huge and takes multiple hours to cross by car. Luxembourg is in the stake. That is where the stake president lives. But that class sounds so helpful! Missionaries who come out knowing the doctrine are so powerful right from the beginning. Hold up, they are having another baby?!? Another boy?!? How old is the baby that they just had? Less than 9 months!
The baptism went very smooth. He already had everything planned so We didn't do much. Just showed up! Sadly our investigators were all busy, it was a holiday called saint Nicholas and so the whole world was out partying. There was a parade as well. Just the two main families in the ward came to the baptism and just one other member. So the turn out a little smaller than expected but the most important part was that his own family was there. It was so awesome to see him baptized and confirmed. Soeur Hunt cried!
So normally we don't go contacting when it is dark, normally it gets dark around 5h30 so that kinda sticks but Saturday we went after the baptism around 7h30 because there was just so many people out. We did a little split with the other soeurs so I was with soeur bell. We talked to quite a few people, not too many were interested but we gave out a book of Mormon. Towards the end we stop a lady with a little boy and we talk for a little, she does believe but she is so busy. She is a single mom and has 3 kids and works almost every day. She wasnt very interested so we say goodbye. Immediately as she walked away, I said to soeur bell "now that was a woman that needs the gospel". We keep walking on the street and decide to turn around and next thing we know we see that same woman crossing the street coming towards us. She stops and starts saying how if 2 young girls from the United States stopped her to talk about God then it must be a sign. She asks if we have a card and we try to ask for her number again but still says no and says she will call. Hasn't called yet but it was so cool because she felt something! She felt that it was important, important enough to go out of her way and find us again. Her next contact with missionaries, she will accept for sure. Her name was Rachel and her kids were Sam, Marie, and Tom. Who knows maybe she will walk into church next week!
That is so exciting about the Merril family!!! Goooo member missionaries! Those are the best kind :) it's so cool that Clay gets to be a fellowshipper for Keith.
Those bartschi girls are so cute! Those blankets look so cozy mom. And I heard you are in an a cappella group now dad? That's pretty sweet. Did you sing tenor or bass?
Sounds like life is busy and is just getting busier! You'd think that with only 1 kid at home, itd be a simple life but it sounds like your times is being used to serve others and there is no words to explain how much that means to those you are serving. I for one am a recipient of all the good you do. Thank you so much!!!
Love you tons and tons!
Sœur Giles
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