Snow globes

Dear Family and Friends!

So i literally feel like I live in a snow globe... there have been clouds soooo thick covering this entire city for a whole week and it SNOWED! it snowed so so so much... well for st. Etienne.  In utah, we all would have been going to school and work but here in Sainte they stopped all buses and trams so we ended up walking everywhere:) oh the joys of being a missionary.  With the weeks I have been having, I was only willing to be out in the cold for so long so we did lots of member work this week which was just what I needed!!! 

Thankfully the worst day of the storm was when we were in Lyon on an exchange with the STL's...which was sooooo great! Last minute I got switched to be with Sister Vidal!  It was awesome because I did an exchange with her my first transfer and she has been one of my heroes ever since! She had a very similar story to mine and Chrystelle's so during lunch she let me cry and vent and then at the end she said... I know eactly how you feel and it SUCKS! haha probably not a great missionary word but it was nice to be with someone who understood.  This exchange was much much needed.  And Beau you will be so proud! We gave a lesson in Spanish because Sister Vidal is Mexican and one of their recent converts speaks spanish.  i actually understood most of it.  We practiced in comp study and language study so i could follow along... it was so great! i am totally learning spanish when i get home so i can understand everything you say.:) So ya that day was fun.  we were so busy and had so many things to do.  It was fun to be with someone who was in charge... haha being in charge of everything all the time is exhausting so it was fun to just follow and be led!

Then we came back to the winter wonderland and spent a lot of time at members houses asking for referrals and practicing the lessons with them.  It was helpful and it was  great to feel the spirit again as I testified of Joseph Smith... he gets me everytime.  We spent most of the afternoon with Sister Cadet and her cute kids because it was such bad weather.  she was like you are not going back out!  So we ported her building. She came along with her cute little girls and sang christmas songs and we made them banana bread:) It was great! It was fun and so great to be with a member.  She is such a wonderful person. I seriously love her and her family.  I will use them as my role models for the rest of my life! so that was really fun!

Then Saturday was Chrystelle's birthday party that she has been planning for over a month and she had invited lots of members to come as well as us.  Even the Elder's investigator she invited... she called me on Friday and told me it was cancelled.  I said oh because of the weather? and she was said no for personal reasons... so i said is everything ok? are you ok Chrystelle? and she said ya ya no worries its just cancelled.  So I had a feeling that wasn't what happened but i said ok let us know if we can do anything for you and she said thanks call you in a couple of days.! ok... then she calls back like 15 minutes later sobbing! and i am like Chrystelle what is wrong? and she says "i lied... my birthday isn't cancelled but my family won't come if you guys are there..."  ouch. i said, "ok. thats ok we won't come then and you can have a good night with your family."  She said "I feel really bad that i lied. You are my friends too and i feel bad.  I want you guys to be able to come too... but my family said if they come and you are there they will leave" ... ouch again. So I said "no worries Chrystelle. we do not want to create a division in your family. have a good night with them and we can celebrate with you another time.  and then i hung up... I am trying so hard to put on a brave face but i just don't understand.  Her family was soooo great at the baptism and they were crying through her whole service.  I don't know what to believe.. the tithing problem, the family problem and or where the problem even started? Chrystelle or her family? I don't know... its heartbreaking.  We passed her last week to just give a spiritual thought and she brought up tithing again and I was like really? Chrystelle, i know you have a problem about tithing. i don't want to talk about that. i want to talk about Jesus... I lost that argument.  I found out this week that because she didn't sign her paper of baptism, she is not even considered a member of the church technically.. but spiritually she kind of is... so ya lots of fun in sainte right now:) haha but its ok we are doing well and we have lots of cool things happening too! 

We have two other investigators named Patricia and Yves and they are super cool! i hope things keep moving along for them! I hope you all have a wonderful week and be EVER so grateful for supportive families:) I know i am!

Love you!

Sister Mod

Peaks and Valleys Nov. 18

<<<<You know it's not been a great week when she doesn't send pics…She's a Mod; we LOVE pictures. Please keep Chrystelle in your prayers; such a bummer that Satan is real. >>>>

•note from the mom•

hello everyone!

I am sure you are all wondering... "What did you do after all your amis got baptized?" haha its a very good question... we worked harder then we did to get them baptized and the Lord blessed us with very promising people! We had some really awesome lessons this week and we had zone conference. It was the "interview tour" so I had my interview with President Roney, which was great! I told him that lately I have been really tired. After training for 4 transfers, I am exhausted!  Training is hard work but it is rewarding.  Then he basically told me that I am weeks away from even more responsibility.. and I said uhh thanks? Literally I said, "Are you trying to kill me of exhaustion? haha I tried to be flattered but I just told him if that happens I am sleeping in the day after transfer calls:)  No I am kidding and I have no idea if he was being serious or not but we will cross that tiring bridge if we get there! So that was fun to meet with him.  I also got to see Sister Stevens too which was wonderful! I love her so much! Every time I see her it's  the best day ever! 

We went for a follow-up lesson with the Chinese girls and we taught them about the temple and Bei cried when we talked about doing the work for the dead.  She was really close to her grandpa and she wants to do his work.  They are incredible! We are working on finding a time to go to the temple and to find names so that we can take them when we go.  I should say "they" go... unfortunately the temple is out of mission boundaries... If they go while i am still here, I am soooooooo asking if i can go!:)  It was a really great lesson!

Our lesson after baptism for Chrystelle did not go nearly as well. Unfortunately she read some anti-mormon junk online and her testimony has been shaken a bit.  It was a really difficult lesson and I left feeling completely hopeless.  It was probably one of the lowest points I have ever felt in my life. We went with Frère Professo, our ward mission leader, and after the lesson he said "well now you have a real taste of how it is to be a member here in France." He wasn't saying it in a mean way but it made me even more sad because its true... If you all are wondering why people say "Oh France... that will be a hard mission!!" It's because these members are very new to the gospel and they are attacked for their beliefs every single day.  I couldn't believe the change I saw in Chrystelle. The whole atmosphere of her home was different.  Darkness just hung in her apartment and through tears I asked her..."Do you feel this? This darkness that is here as you talk about the prophet like that?" By the end of our lesson, I couldn't choke out anything because I was so sad and she wouldn't let me... she kept cutting me off.  But I just bore my simple testimony and said.. Chrystelle you can attack my beliefs all you want and you can tell me that everything isn't "normal" but I can tell you that it won't make any difference for me.  I KNOW this church is true! I know my life is better because of it.  I didn't leave my beautiful family, awesome boyfriend, amazing friends, and my studies that I LOVE if I didn't know without a doubt that this was true.  I will not let you continue to talk about the prophet in this way so we are going to go... and with a prayer, we left.  So I am trying to figure out what we will do now... so if you can pray for me and for her that would be great:) Moral of the story... satan is the worst! and I am starting to think the internet was the worst invention ever haha! 

Other than that, we have an awesome new ami, Patricia, who came to church and she is literally every definition of GOLDEN!! Her boyfriend is going to come with her next time.  She is one of the coolest people I have ever met! The Lord blessed us with really nice people this week because He knew I was down.  Everyone we met was extremely nice to us this week; it was amazing! The members were amazing too! Word travelled fast about Chrystelle and pretty soon every sister in the Relief Society had called and wanted to see if I was ok.  This ward is unreal and they are literally my family.  My family, I will be homesick for this ward family through my whole mission i know it! I love sainte:) 

Anyway sorry for the downer email but just be sooooooo grateful to have grown up in the church around lots of members!!! I know I am! And if you don't fall into that category... I praise you for your faith and example and your diligence!!! Seriously, people like you inspire me to be a better missionary!!!

Have a good week everyone!

Love sister Mod

November 4th Encore!

So I spent most of the week in Lyon with Sister stevens and I am tempted to say it was one of the funnest couple of days of my mission!  I love her so much and president told us that we would for sure be serving together soon so we were both pumped! I love getting blues; they are so full of drive and light and they have so much positive energy! My new companion Soeur Cherry is the best.  She is ready to work hard and she is exactly what I needed at this time! I am excited! She is from Tennessee and is just so nice! I can't believe President asked me to train again.  On the phone I was like... you really trust me with another one but it truly is a very flattering and rewarding experience. 

So we had a crazy weekend trying to see everyone the last couple of days that we finally got back to st. etienne! we had a halloween party on friday night that i literally planned by myself because the elders were at a conference all day and couldn't even come! So stressful but very worth it! the members said they loved it so i will send pictures! Chrystel came with celia and she was soooo happy.  Not her daughter... But Chrystel said this is sooo great! haha i said ya happy halloween!  this is how we do it in america!:)  Anyway that was great and then we taught like 4 or 5 lessons on saturday! CRAZY!! we have 3 baptisms coming up this saturday.... like for sure they are happening... As in clothes have been tried on and food is being prepared and family has been invited... happening! i am dying i could cry! my first one!!! after 5 months of hard work here in st. etienne The Lord let me stay to see the fruits of our labors! i am sooo excited! I met some awesome people last week as well! We are in the process of finding people so that after our baptisms we will still have people to teach.  Pray we find people! other than that i don't have a lot to update because I was barely in my sector! my pictures will explain more! 

Chrystel: we taught her tithing and i was super nervous because she works and is a single mom but we took an awesome member and she was like "oui, pas de soucis" which means ya not a problem i can pay that... show me how to do it tomorrow at church! i said ok cool! 

To Qian and Bei we taught fasting and they said "How many lessons do we have left?  You're going to come by everyday this week to prepare us for baptism right?" i said yes don't worry and then Qian said "ummm sister mod... i can't swim" I said don't worry you won't be swimming:) haha Yes everything is going sooo well! we are having a chinese meal for them after the baptism. It's going to be SO great! stay tuned for the details next week i am so happy i could die! 

Anyway...my spritual thought for this week is this: The missionaries do more than plant seeds... we plant and harvest:) we are fortunate enough to be harvesting this weekend! love you all!

Sister Mod

The B word.. BAPTISM:) November 11

aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!! seriously the best week of my mission!!! 

I can't even describe to you how great it was... i tried to write it in my journal but i couldn't and everytime i talk about it with someone i cry because it was SOOOO GOOD! ahhh one of those things you have to be there to know... so everyone try to find someone to baptize so you can understand my joy:) haha so ya Qian, Bei and Chrystelle were all baptized this weekend and I pretty much just cried through all of the services because i was sooo happy! 

Qian and Bei were first at 10 and their service was in English.  Seeing our members participate the best they could was sooo sweet. After they were baptized we sang I Know My Redeemer Lives because Sister Bowman and I love that song and we woud sing it all the time.  I was really sad she couldn't come and i know she was really sad too.  So when i introduced the song I started crying so A... not a singer and B... crying... bad combo... good thing the spirit was there:) haha 

Chrystelle was next at 11. We started late because the Chinese girls' service went over but it was perfect.. it happened just the way it was supposed to! Chrystelle's sister came and she is soooo great.  She was there for our song and I'm not trying to brag…but really I'm not because it was sooo bad... but our musical number made everyone cry... that song is just so wonderful!!! No matter what language you sing it in! But for Chrystelle, I sat next to her during her service and she held my hand the whole time.  The member that spoke about baptism is like her best friend now and she talked about how she KNEW that she knew Chrystelle in th pre-existance and that they were destined to meet on earth and how the next step is the temple and she knows that she will find someone because she is the definition of charity... which is sooo true! she is the best! oh my gosh the spirit was sooo strong and then it was my turn to give my talk about the holy ghost... i got up there... crying already and read a text Sister Bowman sent for me to read over the pulpit... and was crying so hard I couldn't even read it... haha so embarassing! My talk was VERY short: A... because i wrote it the night before at 10:25 before lights have to be out and B.... because I was too emotional to go on very long.  I explained the Holy Ghost and then just told her how much I loved her! Everyone was crying again! Right before she entered the font we hugged... which is so not a French thing to do and we both cried for like a minute.  I was said "Je vous aime... et vous avez change ma vie" ( I love you and you have changed my life) and she through tears said "no... you changed mine." AHHH i am crying right now! it was the best thing ever! the spirit was so present you could literally taste it.  So i sat on the side crying as she was baptized.  One of the greatest moments of my whole life.  

So anyway there is my week in a nutshell.  We tried to work super hard during the week but we were absorbed my baptism stuff but they were so perfect so it was worth it.  This week we are really trying to find more people to baptize too because this weekend was so good I want every weekend to be like that! BAPTISMS!!! soo good! All the missionaries in our district came too and that was awesome. One of the elders kept my camera all day so he could get all the photos... so nice! Oh it was Tyler Johnson's MTC comp, Elder Peterson! haha he is my zone leader! small world! Anyway if you want to see photos, I've got them:)  I have to go! love you all!

Sister Mod

Just before Chrsytelle was baptized... i look terrible because i have been crying! how cute is her little girl? ahhh Celia is soo cute

before the service started.. they kept their clothes on underneath because they were cold:) haha they weigh like 70 pounds at most!

just before they were baptized! ahhh they are sooo cute

Us singing!!

looking into the font... qian is afraid of water! haha

Nelly!! I love her.

Entering the waters of salvation:). Cheesy but true!!

cute little bei sooo ready!

qian is nervous because of the water!!

Staaaaying and training again!! Oct. 28 2013

hahah sooooo big news for the transfers... I am staying in St. Etienne and I am training a brand new missionary again! I told President Roney on the phone... "Really... your trusting me with another?" I couldn't believe it! I was so sure I was moving! But my little blue, Sister Bowman, is heading to Aix and is with Sister Russell... my first come in this area! I was like you two can just reminice... can't spell that word... about St. Etienne!:) she was really really sad to leave! I said "are you crazy? Aix is beautiful and its warm... stop crying!":) I will cry when i leave st. etienne too! I love it.  And its been sunny and soooo sooo warm and I have received tons of cards and packages from my wonderful family this week so it was great!!

I don't have a lot of time today because I had a lot of emails and a SUPER cool video of my cute boyfriend and amazing roommate…and I may have watched it like 2 or 5 times... who was counting:) anyways love hearing and seeing the people I love. 

So this week... I can't think of anything substantial.. but we teach steadily our amis and that is the greatest thing you could ask for. We found this new girl who is super awesome and its been awhile since we have found someone sincerely interested.  We taught a lot for a couple of weeks but it was a lot of single lessons, no 2nd ones and that is really sad.  I hate when that happens! Our new gal's name is Patricia and she is really cool so pray that she stays interested.  There is a lot of bad media in Europe about Mormons... I am sure Ally, Sister Beck, Elder J can back me up on that one.  So sometimes I feel like my job is just to help people see that we are normal:) not that I am that normal... i am getting sooo awkward... ahhh! but we passed by a member this week that can't come to church because she works. She has to work because her husband died a couple of years ago. Let me just tell you, she is the coolest strongest women I have ever heard! (Remind me to tell you all about her after my mission... She has literally forever changed my life.  When the work gets hard here, I just go visit a really strong member and then I think they are soooo cool I have to keep working to find more people that can help them!!!  I learned this week that everyone lives very very difficult lives.  French people are very private so it takes a long time to get to know them and understand their situation but when I know their full story I just look at them in awe and think... how are you still active?? The church has struggled SO much here in France and then you see these strong members and I think "you are just amazing! how do I be like you?" I have been using the journal Beau sent me and just filling it up with all these lessons I am learning from members and it has really helped me to have a better week the next week.  Just looking at the people around me and thinking... "what can I learn from you" anyways that was that:)

My farewell with Sister Bowman was really good, although she cried haha. She is a very quiet person; very shy and timid.  We are sooooo different but I loved her so so much. I told her before she left that this new start in Aix will be perfect for her and just to go into it guns blazing! I was like "sr bowman... you were meant to be more than living in someone else's shadow... you were meant to be in the spotlight!" We struggled a little bit with that because when we were alone she was soooo funny and cool and great. But then she would get sooo quiet around people and I was like "come on let everyone see what I see!" haha the whole world sees too much of me anway!

We also had stake conference this week which is soooo great because you get to see everyone in our stake which means loads of missionaries! And best part about this whole thing.... SR STEVENS IS MY COMP FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS!!! ahhhh best thing ever! she is training too so we are hanging out in lyon together again until our new blues arrive fresh from the MTC! I hope we serve together; she is my favorite thing about mission life after converting people to the gospel and stuff:) anyways have a good week all and I love you!!

Sister Mod