Salut salut,
As many of you may have notice I updated my profile on Facebook! I don't remember if I mentioned in any of these emails that our mission is authorized to use Facebook now. Well... WE ARE! I haven't really used it at all yet and still need to start posting, etc. But before I release an official post on my page, I will say that we are not allowed to use the Messenger Application and if you want to write to me, it will still have to by e-mail. I will be posting spiritual thoughts, quotes, talks, videos, etc. So if this is something you are also interested in reading then you can Friend me on Facebook and enjoy whatever I post! I am on my only Facebook account, which is Nicholas Molinari. My posts will be most likely be in French, but don't worry! Facebook will automatically translate for you.
As far as this week goes, we did more than last week! Let me look back...
On Tuesday I woke up with some terrible stomach pains (yeah, again.) and wasn't allowed to leave the apartment, so nothing really happened that day! I only ate a bowl of rice that day, which was not nearly as filling as other food, but that's ok I was being spiritually fed all day! I did receive a blessing of healing that morning and I was impressed by the words. Elder Seymour performed the sealing of the oil and told me I would recover and then mentioned how Heavenly Father wanted me to relax and stop worrying about not having enough time to change and grow. That I need to realize I still have a lot of time left for me to learn and gain the experiences I need to grow and become the person He needs me to be. I was very comforted by that blessing, especially since I had not mentioned my concerns over that subject to anyone. A small testament that God knows his children and gives us the Fatherly comfort and counsel we all need.
Wednesday was better and we were able to go visit a woman name Lea and her husband. We taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel and we were able to answer many of their questions that they had about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Lea's Husband had a specific concern about whether we were a cult or not, since we are called "Mormons," yet we profess to be of Christ. A friend of their family, who is also a member, was there and in much better French than Elder Shenkal and I had, explained that Mormon is basically a nickname. We are in fact called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we are the only true Church on the earth. We are not a cult - at all, we "talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our Children may know to what source the may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26 It's in the Book of Mormon, check it out some time if you don't know what that is.) After we made clear that we are in fact a church, we continued with the restoration and used the Joseph Smith video to explain the Prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith. As we were watching I was sitting there listening and the spirit overwhelmed me and I felt this complete peace, to the point where my emotions almost overcame me. After the video ended I stopped having worries about my French and began to testify and the words flowed from my mouth. It was a powerful moment for me, as I truly saw the scripture come to pass that says "seek not to declare my words, but first seek to obtain my word and then shall your tongue be loosed..." (Doctrine and Covenants 11:21, also scripture, check that one out too!)
I'll just briefly go over the other three teaching appointments we had this week! I have failed to mention that we have three baptismal dates. Two are for October 28th and one is in December!
We met with Buki and Rejoice, who have recently been reactivated and they have a little 9 year old daughter who is prepared for baptism. I'm not sure if this is the way it's done in America, but we teach all of the missionary lessons to anyone who is over the age of 8 and they can choose to be baptized. So she has chosen to be baptized and she is one of those baptismal dates. Her Parents are super nice people and it was amazing to go over to their house and discuss the importance of Baptism and keeping our covenants after baptism with them.
We also visited our investigator, Colette, who is also planning on entering the waters of baptism on the 28th of October. She is an older woman, who is engaged to a member and because of him has been investigating the church. Her fiance lives in America and recently had emergency Heart Surgery, so we decided the best message for her would be to talk about trials and not to worry if you put your trust in the Lord. We shared the talk by Elder Holland, a member of the Quorum of the twelve apostles, "Tomorrow the Lord Will do Wonders Among You." She was very touched and the meeting went very well. Unfortunately her alarm didn't go off on this past Sunday and she missed church, but here's to next week!
Our last meeting this week was with another investigator, Happy. Going into the lesson we were planning on giving her a lesson on the Word of Wisdom, but she expressed concerns about work and the stress from that, and so we completely scrapped the lesson plan and followed the spirit. She showed us that she is in Ether right now, in the Book of Mormon, and I mentioned a scripture I really like in Ether. From that scripture we followed the spirit and spoke about putting our trust in the Lord during our hard times. Unfortunately she has to work on some Sundays, so we had to move her baptismal date to December, I am glad that I will be able to teach her more throughout the coming weeks and really get to know her.
Many good things throughout the week, but as always it was faced with many trials as well. Missions are difficult in a way that is hard to describe, but I think, the positives outweigh the negatives.
Best Regards,
Elder Molinari
P.S. Elder Shenkal and I went to the doctor and got me a prescription for some meds (I'm fine, don't worry) and then we bought Steak N' Shake. IT WAS SO GOOD! Don't get me wrong French Food is super good, but American food is super good too and their Steak burger tasted just like an american burger. Also got a HUGE milkshake, was way good!
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