Better Late than Never

Hello Everyone,

I recently finished remaking my resume and under the "skills" section I was honest enough not to put "Time Management" on there - better to have a weekly than to not have one!

Well, I have some exciting news to tell you all! Dorcas passed her baptismal interview and will be baptized THIS Saturday!! We are so excited for her and very proud of her, since being baptized and confirmed was her choice and not the choice of anyone else. I have had the privilege to watch her receive a testimony and consequently a conversion to the Gospel and I have seen the difference in her as she has grown in truth and knowledge. She has been blessed with the gift of Charity and is constantly giving to others. It is wonderful to be able to see her enter the waters of baptism and be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Yesterday she called me and asked if I would be willing to baptize her, after a positive response, I thanked her for the honor of having this opportunity. She has a lot of hair on her head, so I will have to make sure it all gets under! We are also going to video chat in my last companion, Elder Lloyd, all the way from Idaho because he played a massive role in helping her progress. We are all very grateful to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. From the first contact with missionaries eighteen years ago to now, the Lord knows how to do his own work and he makes sure that it all works out in the end.

Sunday we had Stake Conference in Lille. A member brought us and one of the people we are teaching to the conference. Gildas, the person we are teaching, recently moved to Amiens and has been progressing very well. He is a student and comes from a small country in West Africa. He was found and taught by other missionaries and remembered a lot about what he had learned. He  is going to pray about when he feels he should be baptized and confirmed. He has now seen General Conference and Stake conference (which had a visiting seventy speak) and has had strong spiritual experiences from both!

The work is moving along! There wasn't really anything incredible this week. We have been doing a lot of finding recently and made goals to get work moving here. The work is very tiring and I am very tired, but I know that the Lord will, and does, multiply my efforts each day.

I recently have started, without being aware of it, to try and find common ground with others and then have normal conversations with others. If the Gospel comes up, it comes up, but so far it has come up basically every time because it is kind of hard to not notice the plaque and the suit. The conversations have had so much more meaning and value to them. I don't simply feel like I am selling the Gospel, I feel like I am trying to be their friend. This new approach has resulted in some very nice conversations! I also have enjoyed smiling and waving at everyone. This can usually end up with you looking like a fool, or you can really make someone's day -  try it yourself!

Love you all, see you next week!

Elder Molinari

Pictures ;)

Elder Ellsworth and I visited the Cathedral and took a few photos during our finding sessions.

also the big building is where we had Stake Conference!

Je sais en qui J'ai mis a Confiance

Hello Everyone,

I am in one of those somber moods that make you reflect on your life and everything going on around you. It is probably because my companion is finishing this week and I will be receiving a new companion and staying in Amiens. My new companion is actually already in my district and is coming from Arras to Amiens, so… that makes things easier!

I have found that change, even though it is a constant in our life, is what makes me reflect the most and wonder about the future. It is in times like this that I... write the best Ha! Really it makes me stress out! I think as a missionary it is very easy to develop anxiety when it comes to big change - I think that can apply to all aspects of life.

My companion receives voice recordings from his mom and the one he received today had a little story in which she ended with her testimony. I realized that only now there have been so many occasions when I heard my parents, friends, or my leaders share their testimony, but I never really had the spiritual ears to listen to the words.

I find it quite remarkable how much good we can share with our words, yet also how much bad. Why is it our minds become fixated on the worse case scenario and immediately, our minds, jump to the island of conclusions? Where is the optimism we seek for and express in our prayers and in our dealings with our fellow man, yet lack when it comes to the changes in our lives?

I believe part of it comes from our life experiences. We are bombarded with negative experiences, which seem to crowd out the good experiences. As we forget the good, then our ears are closed to hearing and our eyes shut to seeing. When we need to remember the good the most, that is when we forget them! Of course, I can not speak for all, but if anyone is as hard on themselves as I am, then you understand what I am trying to say. We let the doubts control our thoughts!

One of my favorite quotes is that “we are what we think.” So, if we think negatively, well then of course we will be negative! If we think positively, then we will be more positive! It sounds too easy to be true, but I challenge you to try it and you will see what positive thinking can do for you.

I have heard beautiful heartfelt and sincere testimonies, I have been a witness to many a miracle, I have heard and been comforted by the quiet whisperings of the Holy Ghost, and I have been healed by my Savior Jesus Christ! I also have a strong conviction of this Gospel. These are the good things that keep me going - to list a few!

Jesus Christ is the source of our hope. He is the source of our joy. He paid the ultimate price for all of us by suffering and ultimately dying for us. As I have “aged” throughout my mission I have been repeatedly brought back to the feet of my savior in a desperate search for peace and rescue. The miraculous part of this all is that He has come for me each time. He has lifted me when I was drowning, He has opened my eyes to see, He has healed me that I may walk, and He has opened my ears to hear. Through my experiences, whether they be hard or easy, I have found peace and comfort in Christ.

I know the promise of our efforts being magnified is true. In the recent months I have grown, I would say exponentially in my spirituality; I truly hunger after the things of the spirit. Oftimes I find myself reading and teaching in a way that does not come from me. The Lord has been good to me as I have tried to do my best. I set standards that are too high for me and I always fall short, but even when I am at my lowest Christ is there to lift me up again. I don’t know how He manages to do it, but I sure am grateful for His help.

He has given me so much and continues to give me so much, the least I can do is to give my meager portion. I know, that He is more than happy to give you just as much, even more!

I really love this work, I really love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I really love Jesus Christ. He, along with his teachings, have changed my life. How can I not be grateful?

I leave with the promise that He can lift you up! When you feel you are not meeting your expectations, when you are scared or unsure about the future, when you have to make a difficult decision, or step out of your comfort zone - He is there to help you. Do not rob yourself of so great a blessing as to be wrapped eternally in His arms. He loves you and wants you to do your best. Keep trying, keep believing, keep working, things always get better with the Lord’s help.

When all is said and done, when you are not sure what the next step forward is, take courage, for Christ has already walked the path you now walk and will guide you forward. He gives us a little light here and a little light there and it can be a little scary, but He will always lead us in the right direction. Truly our eyes and our ears can be opened to the things of the Spirit and we can see beyond the mortal eye.

I will recount a quick history from this week!

We went contacting one night and we had actually finished and were heading to Pizza Hut to buy dinner and go home. While we were walking the Spirit spoke to my soul and told me to go contact a girl across the street who was behind us! I had barely even seen the girl, but upon expressing my desire to Elder Lloyd, we went over and started talking with her.

By all earthly appearances she didn’t look like someone we would talk with! She had blue hair, a cigarette butt in her ear, she was dressed in darker, baggier clothes. You see though, that doesn’t matter! We began talking with her and found her to be a swell girl! We practically gave her the entire restoration and Plan of Salvation on the street! She even agreed to meet with us again and we are now in touch with her!

What I want to highlight from the event though is this - Heavenly Father opened my eyes to see her as who she really is. I saw beyond what was physically in front of me, instead I saw a sweet child of Heavenly Parents, who care for her so deeply and want what is best for her. It was a touching and powerful experience, a witness to me of the love our Heavenly Father has for each of His children.

So remember, that even in the darkest and hardest of times we have a loving Heavenly Father and Mother who care for us deeply. We have an older brother, even Jesus Christ, who pleads for us to come unto Him and be perfected. What a marvelous blessing they are for all of us!

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed my somber words haha. I had a great time listening to conference this weekend - I hope you all did as well.

Make a great week!

I love you all,

Elder Molinari

Hey There...

A really nice dinner we had with a member and the cheese cake!

Hi, Bonjour, Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening! I write to an audience that lives all over the world, so it may be any of these times when you read!

What a week, where can I even begin?!

If you read the letter from last week, I am sure you may be wondering about the family across the street! Well, it went incredibly well!

We went over and shared a great meal with them. They are probably some of the nicest french people I have ever met - who aren’t members - and they were so welcoming. They had that ability to just make you feel like you had been friends for years! We chatted about all sorts of different things and had a great meal. I forget what it was called, but it is cooked beef inside a giant tomato - sounds weird, tastes incredible, 5 stars, would highly recommend.

They have a cute little family, the mother works at a school and the father is a master swim coach. That’s right, he teaches professional swimmers - pretty cool huh? The mother is used to working with kids, so she kindly slowed her speech down and enunciated everything she said, because we probably function at a primary school french level.

By the end of the evening, they had asked all of their kids to go to bed and the father asks us “Who is Mormon?” and so ensues a short Gospel discussion. They didn’t show any interest in meeting with us again, to take the lessons, but we left them with everything they need to succeed. We were able to give them a Book of Mormon, with a hand written testimony in it, with a book of mormon challenge book marked at 3 nephi 11, and we had also snuck a restoration and plan of salvation pamphlet in there as well! So, they have everything they need in order to find out if our message is true!

They told us to stop by before Elder Lloyd leaves, and we are going to stay in touch! We are literally just friends with them and I am fine leaving it like that, we are not here to force people into the Church, we invite, and it is up to them to decide if they are interested or not. My fingers are crossed that one day they will pick up that book and read it!

We went on exchanges with the Arras elders and I had a great time with Elder Ellsworth. He is a comedian and we laughed so much. We had a completely open day, so we went to work talking with people and visiting people who used to be interested in the Gospel. We had a great time and ended by visiting a member family.

We prayed to know where we were needed and ending up going to an area around their church building. We stopped by the church quickly and then headed out and walked by an old man who was working on his fence. I suggested we turn back and chat with him, knowing full well the risk that comes with talking to the person that lives right next to the church and has probably been spoken to by every set of missionaries that has ever been in the area! Well, it turns out this kind man and his wife had listened to missionaries a long time ago, but I don't really think people have passed by very often. We chatted for a solid forty five minutes and it was a great chat. Turns out he had been living in the area before it was even a town and when there were only farm fields surrounding the area - which was over fifty years ago! We just chatted like friends - You know how I love talking with the elderly - and we ended on very good terms. He even said we could come back and help him paint his fence another day. We left him with the Family a Proclamation because we could see how important family was to this man. I took a picture with him :)

Elder Lloyd was sick the rest of the week, so I did some work behind the scenes and was able to set up a few lessons for next week. He is feeling better today and is basically back to 100%.

That’s the week folks, hope it was worth the read. If you want to send me an update on how things are going on your side of the pond, I would love to hear about what is going on - I might even respond to you ;)

Alright, Love you all,

Elder Molinari

Elder Lloyd and I wearing the same outfit with a member named Romaine and also our friend Dorcas!