WHAT'S GOING ON MY FRIENDS!
Well everyone... It turns out that I'm leaving France. It's been a good 11 months, but it's time to move on because... *drum roll please* I'M GOING TO BELGIUM! Yeah!! I know absolutely nothing about my new town. It is called Neville and we have a car which means it is way small, which is so nice because big cities take too long to figure out. Frankly I am way excited because I'm finally leaving Paris - long story, not getting into it - but I am out! On the flip side it really stinks because elder Johnson and I are total homies and we found some super cool investigators this week and progressed with Gaelle so much! I was thinking yesterday how everything seems really good for us right now, then I got that feeling when everything is going well it's time to move and sure enough. Elder Johnson is also leaving, he is heading up to Cherbourg, which is in my old district. I'm optimistic about the future and what it holds with my new, transfer three, companion. On to the next adventure.
We had the opportunity to see Gaelle this week and give her a chapel tour with a member, brother Franco. It was a really great lesson. We have taught her the Restoration and plan of salvation, so everything we explained about the chapel made sense. Gaelle is highly intelligent and remembers everything she is taught. I told her to listen well in our first lesson and she has. Brother Franco did a great job of explaining everything and the spirit was there! The chapel tour was a fantastic way to reinforce everything that has been taught and we were able to talk about genealogy and temple work as well. Brother Franco bore his testimony at the end and asked Gaelle if she loved her children. She Said yes - of course and then he asked her, then why wouldn't you want to be a family for eternity, not just or short time in earth. She agreed and then he bore testimony how he had rediscovered the fullness of the gospel (he was inactive for a very long time.) He told her that although he knew, and the missionaries knew all of this was true, it didn't matter because she had to find out for herself. She agreed. I closed us with a prayer and when I finished everyone opened their eyes and Gaelle's were a little bloodshot. What a powerful experience. For most of our lessons with Gaelle, she has seemed very distant and a little wary, but after this lesson she invited us to her home because she wants us to meet her whole family. Unfortunately that will not be possible, but I hope she will continue to progress and find the truth she is searching for.
We also did another church tour with a new investigator who came up to elder Johnson on the tram. He really liked what he saw and is interested in learning more. We did the tour with a convert of less than two years, Patrick, and he had a really good time teaching with us. Working with members is sooo important!!! Members, ask the missionaries if you can teach with them, they will forever love you! You will have a great time as well. We also taught a self referral we received on Sunday, and she seemed super awesome and interested to learn more. She had a lot of questions about doctrine and was very interested in ours. I shared the first vision with her and the spirit was there - so awesome!
Elder Johnson and I had a good P day today. We went and saw the arc de triomphe, the Louvre, and had lunch with his old seminary teacher who works and lives in The heart of Paris. He took us to an authentic French restaurant and it was wayyyy good! I had Lapin, which is rabbit, and great pasta. Then I had a crème brûlée, sooo good. We had a great last day in Paris, really going to miss Elder Johnson. I totally met a family from upstate New York too! The dad was wearing University of Buffalo clothes and a Bills sweatshirt, I walked up and was like "eyy you're from upstate New York, my debit card has the bills on it!" We had a nice little chat, their son is going to school at the university of Buffalo. They asked why I was in France and I said for my mission, they were like "oh that's super cool, how long are you here?" And I says "two years."
"...TWO YEARS!? How long have you been here already?" "One year." "Wow, a whole year left." I guess for Mormons the two years is just like brushing the dust off your shoulder, but for everyone else two years is two years! That was fun.We had the opportunity to see Gaelle this week and give her a chapel tour with a member, brother Franco. It was a really great lesson. We have taught her the Restoration and plan of salvation, so everything we explained about the chapel made sense. Gaelle is highly intelligent and remembers everything she is taught. I told her to listen well in our first lesson and she has. Brother Franco did a great job of explaining everything and the spirit was there! The chapel tour was a fantastic way to reinforce everything that has been taught and we were able to talk about genealogy and temple work as well. Brother Franco bore his testimony at the end and asked Gaelle if she loved her children. She Said yes - of course and then he asked her, then why wouldn't you want to be a family for eternity, not just or short time in earth. She agreed and then he bore testimony how he had rediscovered the fullness of the gospel (he was inactive for a very long time.) He told her that although he knew, and the missionaries knew all of this was true, it didn't matter because she had to find out for herself. She agreed. I closed us with a prayer and when I finished everyone opened their eyes and Gaelle's were a little bloodshot. What a powerful experience. For most of our lessons with Gaelle, she has seemed very distant and a little wary, but after this lesson she invited us to her home because she wants us to meet her whole family. Unfortunately that will not be possible, but I hope she will continue to progress and find the truth she is searching for.
We also did another church tour with a new investigator who came up to elder Johnson on the tram. He really liked what he saw and is interested in learning more. We did the tour with a convert of less than two years, Patrick, and he had a really good time teaching with us. Working with members is sooo important!!! Members, ask the missionaries if you can teach with them, they will forever love you! You will have a great time as well. We also taught a self referral we received on Sunday, and she seemed super awesome and interested to learn more. She had a lot of questions about doctrine and was very interested in ours. I shared the first vision with her and the spirit was there - so awesome!
Elder Johnson and I had a good P day today. We went and saw the arc de triomphe, the Louvre, and had lunch with his old seminary teacher who works and lives in The heart of Paris. He took us to an authentic French restaurant and it was wayyyy good! I had Lapin, which is rabbit, and great pasta. Then I had a crème brûlée, sooo good. We had a great last day in Paris, really going to miss Elder Johnson. I totally met a family from upstate New York too! The dad was wearing University of Buffalo clothes and a Bills sweatshirt, I walked up and was like "eyy you're from upstate New York, my debit card has the bills on it!" We had a nice little chat, their son is going to school at the university of Buffalo. They asked why I was in France and I said for my mission, they were like "oh that's super cool, how long are you here?" And I says "two years."
I was going to write something demand inspiring, but I completely forgot what I wanted to write, so instead, I'll tell you that I completed my first ever sudoku in my life this week and then another one and with the help of Elder Hidalgo, an expert sudoku. So far on my mission I have learned how to juggle and do sudoku, two things I thought were impossible - I am satisfied.
Alright see you all next week from Belgium!
Elda Molinari
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