Please Pray

Dear tout le monde,

What a great week this has been! I'm trying not to think about the transfer ending because it means I'll most likely have to leave one of our wards either Cannes or Saint-Raphael and I love them both! We'll see on Friday!

Let's see. On Tuesday we had a lesson with a new convert. We visit him each week and he is so great. This week we visited him with a member of the bishopric. We taught about missionary work, service, and enduring to the end. It was a good lesson and he told à couple touching experiences with prayer. But he's great and always so happy and he always makes sure we can have a lesson each week.

On Thursday we had a lesson in English because we visited a Filipino member from Saint-Raphael. Her husband is French and they both speak English. The husband isn't a member, but he had loads of questions in his heavy French accent about our "rules" especially as missionaries. The cool thing was that he is very open about his wife being LDS. So if they go to a restaurant and she doesn't drink alcohol, he'll say "it's because she's Mormon." and then she can answer their friends questions. Or if she doesn't watch his tennis matches on Sunday he'll explain she's at church and then they'll all get about being Mormon later. I thought it was cool how he was an example of being a missionary even though he's not a member! That was in Saint Maxime. They have the most beautiful view from their villa of the harbour! Then we went to Saint Tropez to another member family's house. They live est up in the mountains and we got a little lost for a bit, but eventually we got there. They are a great family.

On Friday the Bishop asked us to visit a member who lives at up in the mountains in Thorenc. He asked us to teach about tithing. The drive was over an hour, but it was beautiful. Just gorgeous. When we got there at first she was a little frustrated that we hadn't made an appointment, but she let us in and we explained we had tried to call, but it turned out we have a false number. We had a nice talk for a bit and then we started the lesson about tithing. Honestly it felt a little funny jumping into tithing on first meeting, but we of course followed what he had asked. At first she agreed with everything she said, and it was very smooth. Then all of the sudden she broke down to tears and talked about how she couldn't give what she didn't have and that she was tired of having trials and said some other very desperate and dramatic things. We were a little taken aback. But I think her sudden change of attitude made it possible for us to testify more powerfully and more specifically to her needs. I'm glad she didn't hide her feelings, but it was a difficult situation. At the end she said she would pay her tithing and thanked us for coming. I think that lesson was one of the times I've felt the Spirit the strongest.

The next day, Saturday, started out kind of disappointing. We stopped by the K's but it turned out they didn't want to hear a lesson. We were very disappointed, but just went on with the day. We've been focusing on setting aside contacting, since we can't get it constantly with the car. So that evening we didn't contacting in the street for a couple hours in Saint-Raphael and had conversations with a few people but not with much success. Then we did porte à porte in the evening and we had a miracle! It was the second door we rang the sonnerie at. We rang and a young man came out. We were both a little surprised because usually they answer over the sonnerie and also it was a young man. But we introduced ourselves and our message and asked if he was believing. He said he is a little mixed on the subject but he was sometimes. Sœur E asked why he believed in those times and he said he just felt someone was there during the hard times. We testified of the Savior and how we don't need to be mixed up; we can know. We gave him a brochure and asked if he would be interested in learning more and he said yes! I was so surprised because I have never gotten to that point in porting before! I didn't know what to say! But luckily Sœur E asked to exchange numbers and asked if we could set up a rendez vous later.

Yesterday was the European mother's day. The talks in Sacrament made me once again so grateful for my mom. She is my greatest, most constant example. I am always inspired by how she puts aside her wants our needs to serve others. She never refused to help me when I needed it. She is hardworking, selfless, sensitive, faithful, studious, loving, creative, and the list goes on. I'm so grateful for her.

This has been a wonderful week. This morning in 4 Nephi I learned about the happy people in the two hundred years after the appearance of the Savior in the Americas. It reminded me of Mosiah 2:41, consider the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments of God. I know that this gospel brings us happiness. That's why our merciful Father in Heaven gives it to us and gives us commandments. To bring us joy.

I love you all!