Cou cou toute le Monde!
I hope all is well with everyone!! Wow, okay so this week passed by
freakishly fast and I'm trying to remember everything we did. The days
seriously start to mesh together when you're doing missionary work:)
and I love it! I will try and recount all that has happened.
Donc, last Monday for Pday we did emails ensemble at the Redds
apartment...that was fun. I love them! After that we went to a
cathedral right by our apartment. And I ate gauffre with chocolate
bars on the inside:) yummy! Then we came back and had a nap. It's
funny coming here after Paris. I'm so used to running around metros
and RERs trying to see something, and here it's relaxed. Big
adjustment, but fun. And afterwards we were able to do a lot of
contacting and we were able to pray with a lady named Sarah. It was
really awesome!
Tuesday, we actually had a conference in Brussels where we were able
to hear from Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson and Linda K. Burton and Elder
Kearon. It was super great!!! All in English, which was super
different from what we're used to....but it was seriously so good!
They talked all about self conversion and how Christ is the way to
find happiness in this life. President Babin also spoke and he focused
mainly on two things. 1) The overall mission goal...which is when it
comes time to leave the mission, we want to be able to say that we
have truly converted ourselves to the Lord. And... 2) What is the true
definition of success? He talked about finding happiness in life of
what we are doing now. I loved it!! It really made me think of how
blessed I have been with the villes and the companions that I have
been given. And not just that, but everything that the Heavenly Father
has given me in my life. And one way that I can show my love for Him
back is to be happy and grateful in what I am called to do. Not every
day on my mission has been fun. There are definitely moments where I
question how I got myself here, but I am so grateful for the tough
moments because it has shown me how strong I am and we need to have
the learning days to recognize the really good days. There is so much
to be grateful for! Grateful in any circumstance like Pres. Uchtforf
says:) ...
'"We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our
problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much
of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God
that there is rain?
Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are
pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of
faith we look beyond our present-day challenges. Being grateful in our
circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God
and hope for things we may not see but which are true. By being
grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not
my will, but thine, be done." True gratitude is an expression of hope
and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always
understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will."'
I am so grateful for that! Haha!!
Well...this email is turning out kind of long sorry! I just wanted to
end by sharing a funny experience that we had the other day. So, we
have this ami here named Sandra. She's from Africa, and super nice.
She's got four kids...with the coolest names; Harmony, Gloria, Divine,
Prosper:) haha! It's super funny when she yells their names when she's
mad...you can't really take it seriously:) Anyways, so we were there
at her apartment the other day...teaching her a lesson and we were
just wrapping up by sharing the short video called 'Because He Lives'
with her...and her kids were everywhere. Seriously everywhere! They
could not hold still. There were three other random kids that were
there too, I don't know where they came from. But anyways, it was just
crazy! (Oh I forgot to mention that she had just fed her kids dinner
too...rice and big chicken wing things...) so, we were sitting there
and right at this part where Christ walks amongst the people...and at
the exact moment where it shows His face, Sandra's son Divine tried
running away from her with his chicken wing in his mouth and without
taking her eyes off the iPad screen she yelled, "DIVINE...DONT YOU
DARE MOVE OR I BEAT YOU!" And he stopped right in the doorway of the
room with his cheek full of the chicken wing and just fell on the
ground and laid there. Haha! Oh my gosh, I can't even do it justice.
It was the most hilarious thing ever! You had to be there...I kept
looking over at Soeur Hansen, trying to stay composed but I just lost
it. It's a really good video though, if you ever get a minute...you
should watch it! Haha, well...that's about it. I hope you all have a
great week. Remember to be happy and be grateful! I love you all!!!
XOXOXOXOXOOXO
Bisous,
Soeur Nelson