No photos from Bethany this week. Due to the Veteran’s Day holiday in France the Internet Café was closed and the computer they used at the church was slow. But we have attached a scan of a postcard she mailed us of the Chateau that is only a few blocks from her apartment. We also received a touching email from her Mission President telling us how much he appreciated working with Bethany during the past 17 months. And he pointed out all the wonderful qualities she has developed. It made this mom tear up for sure!
Bonne Après Midi! 11 November 2013
Well, it's afternoon here even if it's not where you are, and you don't really say that as a greeting. But I'm running low on greetings here guys!
So, Soeur Bernhardt found out that her visa petition was granted, but we had to spend several hours on the computer filling out more information and then getting on the phone to make the appointment at the American Consulate. She had me do it because she thought it would only be English (I knew it wouldn’t be.) Turns out that everybody I spoke to was French, but I did it anyway.
We set it up for this Wednesday at 7:30 am!! Tuesday we're going to be in Angers until 5pm for Zone Conference and then we take a train to Paris. The Consulate is not far from where I lived in Nanterre so we're going to stay there Tuesday night. If all goes well, Sr. Bernhardt will be on a plane on either Monday or Tuesday next week.
Also, I got some news from my trainer, Sr. Dremeaux (now home from her mission). She's engaged!!! To an Elder who served in our mission too. They had dated before, but it ended several months before both of them started their missions. She told me she didn't care about him anymore, but I knew better. ;) I'm just glad neither of them restarted anything while still on the mission. I just sent her a big email saying "I KNEW IT" over and over again. I'm so excited for her!
And it's cool because Sr. Dremeaux, actually she's Amandine now, worked before her mission in the same town where Sr. Bernhardt grew up, Albi. Sr. Bernhardt and I were able to scream and jump around together when I found out.
So Blois is just the prettiest town you've ever seen. Especially when you see it from across the Loire River. I love seeing it when I'm on the train. When I go to Angers tomorrow I'm going to try to take a video of it. It looks like something out of a Disney movie. Actually, a member just told me today that Chambord was the inspiration for the castle in Sleeping Beauty.
We actually taught lessons last week!!! One was with a very Catholic grandmother who had some really great questions about the Family Proclamation. Another was with a young mother that the other Sisters had found a month earlier. Turns out she wasn't that interested, she said so from the very beginning. We were both going to just say thank you and leave, but something told us to push and find out why she was so hesitant. It's turns it's mostly rooted in Joseph Smith being a prophet and the Book of Mormon. She didn't understand why we needed more from God in our day, when we already had the Bible. We bore testimony about both of them for two lessons in a row and while she still wasn't sure after we left the 2nd time, I was so happy.
The Spirit was strong during both lessons as we testified. I know she felt it, you could see it on her face. She knew that she had to at least make the effort to ask God to know if it was true or not. I realized how much I'm going to miss testifying everyday with my authority as a missionary. I can still testify every day, but I won't be set apart. It is a privilege that it so wonderful and I sometimes took for granted. But I will miss it so much.
Love, Bethany
No comments:
Post a Comment