Cou Cou!

Cou cou!

Ok, I want to start off by saying that I'm sorry to everybody that has written me letters and I haven't written back to yet. We teach so much here in St. Ouen that I just don't have the personal time to write back to people. But I really appreciate it!

Thanks for all of the updates about the new Wards. I like not feeling totally out of the loop.

Dad, how long will your hiking trip last? You should take lots of pictures for me. I bet you'll see some cool things up there. What's your itinerary for getting out there? And what exactly do you have planned? What will you do in a health emergency? How long would it take to get you to a hospital? You should watch lots of Man vs. Wild before you leave.

President and Soeur Poznanski said goodbye to their daughter Marie this week. She flew out to the States a little early to stay with friends. She'll be entering the MTC this Wednesday and will be serving in California.

I found out that two of the YSA (Young Single Adults) from Arras, who put in their papers, got their mission calls. One is going to Houston, Texas and the other in going to Tahiti. Soeur Lai is happy about that!

Last week was EFY (Especially For Youth) here in France and the youth who went bore their testimonies during sacrament meeting. Many of the older ones expressed their desire to serve a mission, including one young woman who was struggling with inactivity up until recently. Evelyn (the woman who randomly showed up at church last week) came back this week and cried during the last testimony by one of the YSA who served as a leader. He told a story about a young man in his group who didn't even know why he was there at the beginning of the week and by the end of the week he told everyone that it was the best week of his life because he learned that the Savior really does love him and that he has a purpose here on earth.

The youth are so strong. I'm only about 6 years old than they are, but I can feel the difference already. The Lord truly is preparing the world for this marvelous work by sending to us people who are more and more prepared to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places.

Another miracle was a family we taught two days ago. We were REALLY late (as in by an hour and a half) and we weren't even sure it was worth it. Especially since we heard that the church their daughter said they belonged to might be a cult. We decided to go anyway and found a wonderful little family from Haiti. Turns out they were taught by the missionaries two years ago and loved what they heard. We don't know why the missionaries stopped teaching them and we can't find a teaching record for them. They already have a Book of Mormon and they read it from time to time! They were so happy to have missionaries back in their home. The mother is very sick and we offered to have the Elders come give a priesthood blessing which they happily accepted with full faith!

We also had a baptism. Technically it's the Elders' ami, but Soeur Callister found him with her old companion and we all kind of taught him at some point. We brought an investigator to the baptism and she really liked what she saw! She wants to come to church again and bring her teenage daughter.

Well, it’s a short letter this week. Have fun in the sun ya'll!

Bethany