I never know how to start these emails, so… let’s jump right in to it.
I am unreal tired - you wouldn’t know, but I have been staring at my screen for ten minutes trying to figure out something to write and keep getting distracted by all the things flying by my window as we ride this train back into Belgium. Elder Peel and I just spent the day in Paris because I had to do my second year legality. I waited so long at the office to get my legality in France. Imagine going to the DMV, but it’s in a foreign language and they move ten times as slow. I shouldn’t be critical, but facts are facts. We did that and then randomly found some elders in our District who were also doing their legality, so we spent the day with them until our trains came. Felt pretty good to be back in Paris - I know Paris a lot better than I know Belgium, so it was refreshing knowing exactly where I was at all times. I also snagged a French Baguette - bless my soul, so good - and a croissant. French croissants are literally flaky heaven - we are talking make your mouth water good.
Elder Peel and I did a lot this week and, naturally, I do not remember all of it and I do not have my journal to reference. I finished my second journal this week! It would be way easier to type my journal entries or record my thoughts, rants, and feelings in google docs, but I think handwritten journal entries are way cool. Something your kids can read later on. I like to think it makes the experience a little more real for the reader.
I’m going to focus on Saturday because that was the coolest day of the week for us. Oh seeing the word ‘coolest’ totally reminds me that the ice age we were experiencing is finally over and it got up to the 40’s this week! So, on Saturday Elder Peel and I had a few lessons out in Mons, the area where the English speaking branch is. Honestly, all of our work as of recently has been centered there. We were meeting a woman who is American and had invited us back to talk about our church with her. She is a member of the Churches of Christ. This church is actually quite interesting because there is no hierarchy in it and all of their practices come right out of the bible - they are trying to be authentic as they can be. She actually served a mission for this church as well. Her faith is incredibly strong and she is always searching for truth. She is studying Hebrew right now, to be able to read the most authentic version of the bible.
We taught her with Peter, a member in the Mons branch, who teaches Jonathan with us. He is a killer member to have with you - like wow! This lesson was pretty long, so it suffices me to say that we bore testimony very strongly to her about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Peter answered a lot of her questions by simply telling her that if she reads the Book of Mormon, all of her questions will be answered. The spirit was there. We were being really bold with her and it felt really good just to testify. The lesson was all in English, so it made the lesson that much more effective because we could clearly explain our thoughts.
During the lesson I realized how bold our claims really are. I told her too, and she agreed, but it doesn’t matter how bold your claims are if they are true. By the end of the lesson we were all feeling the spirit and she committed to reading the Book of Mormon. I did something I don’t usually do, but felt inspired by the Holy Ghost to say it. I invited her to be baptized when she received her answer that the Book of Mormon is true and that God has restored his Church on the Earth again. She said she wanted to take it one step at a time, but said she would like to be baptized in the proper manner. We are going back this Saturday.
Afterwards we went and visited another member, Brother Thompson. He is the one who gave me the Life cereal :) His wife isn’t a member and is one of the people we teach. She was sleeping when we got there, so Brother Thompson brought us to see if one of his friends was available to receive a lesson from the missionaries. - the friend wasn’t. So, we started our drive back home and Brother Thompson goes “Do you guys want to see the Army base?” We were like, “sure” and we got to go into the military base. It was pretty cool and he even brought us to the Emissary, where you can buy American food! I’m a little ashamed to say it, but I don’t think I have ever been more excited than I was when I walked into that store. It was… a manifestation. I was basically squealing like a little girl at Cake mix. Like, I did not know I could get that excited about food. Brother Thompson got me a few things, which I praised him for.
Then we went and taught his wife! She has been an investigator for a long time and we didn't really know what to do with her, but after praying and talking the matter over, we decided to do a lesson focused on the lost sheep. We used Luke 15, and the bible video of the prodigal son. We read first, and then watched the video. During the video I said a silent prayer to know what to say to Sister Thompson and that I would be as bold as I needed to be. The video ended and I started speaking. Honestly it was the spirit speaking because I was pretty straightforward with my comments and uncharacteristically bold. Nothing I said was harsh, it was just to the point. Brother Thompson was such a help during this lesson because he provided a lot of love to her. The lesson ended well and we challenged her to pray for the desire to read the Book of Mormon.
Then when we got home that night, an investigator asked us over Facebook if we could do a lesson on there. We agreed and taught him a little about the church and the book of Mormon. It turns out this young man, Arthorious, is blind. We are not sure how he got our number, but he referred himself and messages us on Facebook through a microphone that he speaks into and our messages are read back to him. He also speaks English very well, so we were all switching between the two. He used to be catholic and asked us about Mary, homosexuals, and the book of Mormon. We explained our beliefs on them and he requested a French Braille Book of Mormon (we do not know if this exists) and French Audio of the Book of Mormon. He is so nice and it was incredible to talk with him!
Voilà quoi! C'est tout. C'est la fin!
Merci et bonne semaine!
Avec amour,
Elder Molinari
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