So, first of all, remember last week when I said we went with that German girl to the temple? Yeah, by temple I meant airport. Ha. I wish we went to the temple though!

I other news, its been a rather good week. Landry finally told us a bunch of his 'soucis' (french word that is better than 'concerns') and we are really rooting for him. The Elders are teaching him now and he has a new baptismal date for the beginning of next year. Go Landry! You can make it! 

Recently, I have been applying the principle of 'fasting with a purpose' as Elder Kearon suggested when he came to visit us...I have a testimony that through fasting and prayer we can come closer to our Savior and receive an increase of charity and love for His children. Try it, its great!

This week we had one of the happiest moments of my mission, streetboarding in the rain for two hours at La Place de la Victoire. Missionaries are weird, I know. (Streetboarding is where the missionaries set up a little area along a street with a board that they put information about the church or scriptures on and then start up conversations with people.)We played the missionary game again this week, this time with the young single adults. The same 'ami de l'eglise' (also, way better than 'investigator') came who was present when we played with the older singles and he gave like 40 names. I've never been much for numbers, people and ideas are much more interesting to me...but think of all of the wonderful souls that number represents! neat neat neat. We also played it with another family in the ward and aftwerwards we PAINTED cards for a little boy in Belgium who is sick at the hospital. (thanks for the note, Govie! I hope you and all the little squirrels are experiencing the joy of creating as well this holiday season :) love you) Tonight we are playing the game with a family who's less active son has been coming to church consistently ever since Elder Andersen came, which is making everyone super happy to see him enjoy more blessings of being obedient.

Carmelle is doing well. I really love her so much and am praying fervently that she can come to a knowledge of the Savior. Christelle, too. Found out Kevin's enitre family is coming from Gabon for the holidays, so we are trying to spiritually gear up for that, too. 

Carmelle came with us to two baptismal services for young single adult women in Lormont and Talence...it was a powerful experience to see these two wonderful daughters of God enter into a covenant with God, with full heart. That was a day I will not soon forget. A Christmas miracle, you should say. There were twelve additional people baptized in our mission last week, among them two families of four. Isn't that great?

Yesterday was the Primary Program. Those are always my favorite meetings. Our Bishop said it best, describing the children as having 'une pureté impressionante' (in english it means 'impressive purity' but in the sense that it makes a big impression on you...not necessarily that you are super impressed...perhaps that makes a marginal amont of sense...) 

I love you a lot, and want you to know that I know the Savior lives. What a special time of year. What a wonderful truth we celebrate. I pray that we may all have a Holy Christmas. That we may fill that special day with holy things, doing what the Savior would do. I hope that you all can feel of the infinite love of God in giving us His Son. I pray that we may all have Christmas miracles, and know that we will if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. I hope that we will 'let Him in' and make place for Him in our hearts and by so doing allow His love to fill the empty spaces with eternal light. 

May all of the sweetest blessings of God be with you.

Soeur Sarah Waldron

Here's a fun thing to study about that I stole from President Murdock. What is the most important phrase ever spoken? (hint...yes, it is in the scriptures. Four times to be exact.) have fun! 

here are some photos!

fun with porte a porte

 neat-o ferris wheel

Happy Christmas!

Its only December 10th, I know (Happy Bday Kyle! And Janene yesterday! And happy half birthday to Waldo and Jay Spenceronious) but I just can't help but start to send my merriest of greetings to you all.

 

It has been a happy week. A bit out of the ordinary! Last week Soeur Bayles and I went to this great antique store on Pday (wish you were there, grandma Judy!) and it was awesome. Among our favorite hidden treasures was the super old Book of Mormon, complete with testimony and picture of a Sister Missionary from way back when. We didn't buy it, but we did put our pass along card in it....hahaha. That is just a miracle waiting to happen!

 

On Tuesday we got to see Kevin's oldest sister and her new baby and two of her other three children. We brought her a picture of Jesus and a family proclamation and some Christmas chocolates. It was good to see her. That same day we taught Cheng about the temple and it was a really incredible teaching experience. It was incredible to witness how the Spirit had quickened his understanding of God and the Plan of Salvation. As we talked about baptisms for the dead and genealogy, he explained to us a bit about how the census works in China. He told us how in every family there is a large scroll filled with names, and every time someone has a baby, the official scroll-writer-person comes and writes the name on the scroll, and he is the only person allowed to write on it. Ancestry is so important to these people! Anyway, he was explaining how his family history can be traced back to some dynasty way far back that I am not adequately informed about to tell you...suffice it to say he could spend like a year straight at the temple and still be doing names from what I understand. And that is just one person! Imagine what it will be like when China opens up to missionary work again! They are so prepared to do the work of salvation. I know that the Lord inspired these people long ago to keep records of their family so that they could partake in the marvelous blessings of the Atonement by proxy work accomplished by their posterity. Just think of how the new reduced age of missionary service is preparing for this country to be opened! Its so exciting.

 

We had a girl in our ward from Germany go back home this week and we took her to the temple. She is sixteen and we got to help her share the gospel with her friend here and she gave her a Book of Mormon in German. She expressed some of her concerns about not being able to answer questions that her friends at school asked her about Latter-day Saint principles. For example, she wondered how to respond to someone who had asked her why we pay tithing. She tried to explain it but they didn't get it. We tried to help her by assisting her in understanding her own testimony of tithing and how it is directly connected with the restoration. We told her that because she knows the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet, she understands that God has restored many laws that were part of His church in ancient times, such as tithing. Often times our friends or others ask us questions about our doctrines, expecting an understanding of sacred things to come by simply explaining it. We live in a fast paced world and are accustomed to attaining information at speeds not known to other generations, and the thing we must remember when answering questions of others is that if they want to really understand what we do on a deeper level, they cannot stop their search superfically, on the surface. Janina's friend's question was not actually 'why would you want to give 10 percent of what you earn to your church?' (a response that can be given in just a few phrases) but actually 'Does God really speak to man today? Has He called a prophet in our day? etc. (a response that can only be attained through personal revelation, which comes with time, and naturally follows consistent patterns of study, prayer, and church attendance.) I was thankful that she asked us that question, it helped me understand this principle a bit more clearly. On the way home from the airport we testified to a woman whose mother passed away three days earlier that her mother is not lost, and that (thanks to the restoration) we know God's plan for us and for our families.

 

We had a surprise trip to Lyon for the following three days. It was the conference formerly known as 'Bleu's Conference' but now we call it 'bring back conference' where all of the new missionaries and their trainers come and we talk about what we've learned and its a really edifying experience. This is my third time going, I went for myself and with Sr. Bicchierri as well, and it was a wonderful time full of tender mercies, and really fun sleepovers with my old friends :) My group is the next group of Sisters that will be returning home, and so I have lots of friends in the mission now, being one of the oldest. It is truly a great sisterhood. I wish I had time to tell you all about the conference and the weekend, it was just such a blessing. We even got to spend a night in MONTPELLIER! I about died I was so happy. When we got to the apartment it was 7:00 at night, and I just wanted to sieze every moment. Sr. Taylor and I (another trainer) left our tired and hungry companions to go and work for the hour and forty-five minutes we could. We talked to everyone, and even worked in taking a picture with my favorite olive tree, and going to the San Francisco bagel store and buying a bunch of american food we didn't need (cherry pop tarts and crunchy jiff peanut butter to be exact....all for the small price of 12 euro. Totally worth it. Merry Christmas to me! :) ) We testified with power and authority, not because we are really cool aweseome missionaries, but because the Holy Ghost was with us. I love Soeur Taylor. I love Montpellier. I loved walking those streets and reminsicing on the wonderful things the Lord has blessed us with.

 

I HAVE SO MUCH I COULD SAY! A very wise member here named Didier Hoiraeu gave us his insights on the Spirit the other day, saying how so often we forget that it is a living being. I think that we often, unintentionally, de-personify the Holy Spirit and think of it as just this force or this thing that sometimes makes us feel good inside and that is really vague and hard to feel. The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead and is a spirit personage. We should try to develop our relationship with the spirit with this in mind. I know that this Christmas season, as we turn ourselves away from materialism and stress, and focus on moderation and love, we will develop a closer relationship with the Comforter. Let us give our lives as a gift to the Savior. Start this week by forgiving someone who doesn't deserve it. You will be free again.

 

I love you.

 

Soeur Waldron

Oh come, all ye faithful

Well, it is officially the Christmas season and what a blessed thing that is!

I am so glad I am here in France. I am so excited to strengthen my relationship with my Savior this Christmas season as I try to learn of Him and be more like Him.

We had an incredibly busy and fun week. Last Pday was spent at the chapel doing one of my familiar favorite things to do....painting scenery for the ward Christmas party!!! I can't even tell you how happy that made me to PAINT! I still remember how! c'est INCROYABLE! It was a fun way to serve the ward, and we are really happy that BOTH Sr. Bayles and I will get to stay and enjoy the Christmas season here in Bordeaux. Unless I get transferred somewhere I have already served, this will be the longest I have stayed in a single place for my whole mission. The people here are so dear to me.

We had another exciting episode in our apartment...this time we were fending off the nasty foe we like to call mold. That stuff can really stink up a tiny apartment! But, nothing a little bleach can't handle. Oh the adventures.

We played the missionary game again this week, this time it was with the older single adults for their family home evening. WE had hesitiated to play because there was a non member there...but he gave us more names than anyone else. ha. He is really cool, his name is nicholas and he wants so much to follow the Savior....he is another one who just showed up all by himself to the church and he is really searching. I know that the Lord will answer his prayers. He will be taught by the Talence Soeurs, but I got to teach him a 'how to begin teaching' lesson 0 kind of a thing on a split, and it was a very sacred experience. What a blessing.

We have been worried about Landry, he seemed to have a question and he finally asked us last night and it turns out he just is really still not sure why he would need to be baptized again. We had a nice conversation on the phone and I assured him that the most important thing he can do is pray to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that this is really the Church of Jesus Christ restored, and that baptism is something important and wonderful and that its important that we are ready and conscient of what we are doing. I know that the Lord will answer his prayers, too.

Leading up to Christmas time, I am studying the Christlike attributes, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and praying fervently to know Him better, and to be more like Him. I know He lives and loves us.

I love you so, I really do. Miracles are happening in this land! We had 12 baptisms in the mission last week! The membership in Europe is going to double, and its because God and His angels are working with us.

Have a wonderful week!

Soeur Waldron

PS can you please pray for Julien? He is trying to decide about going on a mission. love you

Hello my dear ones!

I am so pleased to be writing you this crisp autumn day! The leaves are falling more and more quickly and winter time is here. This week I celebrated my 'One year since I've lived in Europe' day, and so now it has offically been a year since my feet touched American soil. Wierd. It was fun for me to read what I did my first day in Dijon last year....remember me telling you about my first contact with Soeur Madsen? I described it in my journal as a moment when I knew with greater surety, looking into the eyes of this French woman on the street and testifying to her, that we really are children of God. It is a great trial of faith to be a new missionary in a new land and a new language, and I am just thankful for all the Lord has given me, and I am just hoping that Soeur Bayles is having as a great a start to her mission as I did.

 

So, this week was great. Thanks to a bunch of recipes sent by (my Anut) Leigh Anna, we had all kinds of Thanksgiving miracles! The senior couple heros, the Johnstons from Washington, made the entire zone thanksgiving for our meeting on Thursday, with TURKEY and everything, and Soeur Bayles and I made the recipes Anna sent and used them to bring Thanksgiving to a bunch of people who had never had it before. It was really fun. We also got to eat with a family who recently moved here from Idaho.

 

At our zone meeting (in our mission we have a meeting with the zone the week after our conferences to really anchor in our hearts what we learned) we talked about what we learned with Elder Andersen's (of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles) visit, and how we are going to apply it in our work from here on out. Church leaders have the vision of doubling church membership in Europe by 2020 as I understand it, and we know that this is only possible through a lot of faithful missionaries and members, united in prayer and in work. Elder Andersen mentioned in his visit how the restoration requires that there be a righteous people accross the world and that it's an impossible task to bring the gospel to the whole world but we must do it! I think (Lyon France Mission)President Roney would add that things that are impossible for us are completely possible and normal for God and His angels, and so we just need to have faith, do our part, and allow them to work through us to get this done. We know that there are many people who are ready for this gospel message...some of them already know it, and have chosen to live lives without the blessings of the gospel for the moment. Others may have never heared restored truth. As Elder Andersen said we bear wistness of Christ to those who are members and those who are not...its our responsibility, we are His servants.

 

We also know that this is going to be a DELIGHT! Which is probably why President came up with a new mission activity called 'the missionary game' which is basically a game, yes like a board game except there's no board but there is a di, and we play it with members to help them come up with new, fun, simple ways to share the gospel with their friends. What we do is one person rolls the di and whatever number they roll leads us to a sheet of paper with questions. There are six categories of questions, with a number of questions listed in each category, so when we roll a six for example, you ask the first question in category six, and then the next time you roll a six you move on to the next one. bref. Each question starts with 'who do you know that.....' and then the second part is something like 'has recently moved to the area' or 'would make a great seminary teacher' or 'is stressed' or 'likes to play sports' or 'is a great parent' etc. They are great. So you ask the question to the group, and for each name they give they get ten points. After a while, you move to step two, where you all kneel together and say a prayer to bless each of these people individually. Then, we come up with a plan of action...what we can do to get these people connected with the missionaries (invite them to a ward activity, have FHE with the missionaries, give them something on mormon.org and tell them the missionaries' phone number, etc.) and we vote on the ideas, and the winning ideas get ten points each. Voila. I have no idea if that made sense but, it is really a working. We have played it twice, and we recieved 16 member referrals. 16!!!! To give you an idea of how enormous that is, in my mission I think I have recieved less than 16 member referrals in the past year....

 

This is a marvelous work. The success we have here doesn't have anything to do with us, but everything to do with Heavenly Father, and miracles that come from His hand. He lives. He loves us. He knows this work is true, and He knows that it can be done....and He has chosen dorky 18-20 somethings to do it (lets not forget our senior couples too....way to go mom and dad!) and I know that even though we are small and simple tools in His hands, He is using us to accomplish this great work of restoration. I love the gospel. I love repenting. I love seeing others repent. I love loving people and I literally love everyone here so so much. This is the last week of the transfer, and I normally never express a desire to stay or leave, but I would really love to stay for Christmas. I know that the Lord will inspire President with the right thing, though.

 

Thanks be to God for our bounteous blessings which He accords us everyday. I thank Him for His Son, for His gospel, and for my knowledge of it.

 

I love you.

 

Sarah

 

PS Landry is getting baptized December 22! NEAT! I would love it if you could remember him in your prayers

November 19, 2012

Hello :)

It has certainly been a blessed week.It has been interesting and adventuresome to see how the Lord has answered our prayers in all kinds of creative ways.
I have been praying to become more organized. How has this prayer been answered you may ask? Larvae infestation. We were in the middle of companionship inventory when I looked up on the ceiling and found that we had all sorts of little friends that had joined us. YAY! It was honestly hilarious. Disgusting, but really fun. Sr. Bayles and I are now certified larvae slayers, and our apartment is more organized that it ever has been before (creepy crawilies are a great motivator to get things organized.)

Another day we were on our way to a members home when the tram broke down. A flock of us found ourselves accross the street waiting for a special bus to come and take us further down the line. It was great to see how this crowd of people who normally don't converse at all on public transport all suddenly found that they had something in common...they all really wanted the bus to come, and everyone was being suddenly conversational! It was great! I have been on my mission long enough to know that these situations are acutally not inconveniences, but great chances to have a miracle! This time his name was Rodrigue. He is from Benin, but spent a lot of time in Ghana as well and so he chooses to speak with us in English. He came to church for the first time yesterday, and guess who spoke? Our only other ward member from Ghana. Awesome.

Another day we had to go to the prefacture for legality...which was a long day of sitting, but our mongolian ami ends up coming in and we were able to touch bases with him. He's been living in his car and we found out he found a house for him and his wife and two kids and they are moving in this week I believe! Elder Arnold just called to say that they ran into them in town, too, and that they are still really excited to continue meeting with us. Good stuff!

Soeur Bayles and I had some of the most beautiful teaching experiences of my mission this week. We visited a family with less active children on Tuesday, and although most of the kids decided not to join us for the spiritual thought, we were able to teach the parents and their 16 year old who is in a really critical decision making moment...whether she will follow the example of her older siblings and the world, or her parents and continue faithful in the gospel. It was Tuesday, and we reminded them of the words of Elder Kearon to make the conference last past that day, and as we invited them to pray daily that they could be 'the light in the lives of others' as Elder Andersen suggested, there was such a sweet spirit in the room.

Another wonderful experience was on Soeur Bayles' birthday on Thursday. We invited one of our amies and some young adult sisters in the ward to come and eat with us for our lunch hour. Afterward, we proposed to come with our amie to her home for a quick lesson. It ended up that another friend of hers came over, and we taught a serendipitous first lesson to a wonderful French woman who knows many truths about our Heavenly Father and His love for us. We are very excited to continue meeting with Danielle.

So many other good things I could say. We learned a lot about how to work with ward leaders, how to teach together, how to teach with the spirit. Life is good and our faith and our joy is improving daily! Its wonderful!

Our ami Landry who came to conference is doing great! He came to the baptism this weekend and to all of church, and we will be teaching him at the institute tonight. He's so elect its insane!

We have a lot of amis who are struggling to progress. Its a great opportunity for us to put our faith into action and seek the Lord and pray for miracles.

Life is happy. Remember God lives and loves you. Study His gospel and your life changes for the better every day.

Have a good week!

Love Soeur Waldron

Nov. 12, 2012

Hi family!
I took some time to actually read my emails today, rather than just printing
them out for later so this will be a quicky.
I am happy to report to you this week about the very sacred experience which it
was to have an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Neil L Andersen, and also
Elder Kearon of the seventy (he spoke a while back about wearing sandals so as
to not step on scorpions, remember?) and President and Soeur Murdock (I think
she meant the Roney's-her new mission president and his wife. The Murdock's were
there before.) speak to us at the Bordeaux stake conference and our special zone
meeting. Words cannot express how incredible it was and how very much I have
learned. I love that.

Elder Andersen is a lot like Jesus. He smiles a lot, and loves everyone. I have
observed that general authorities have this incredible capacity to love, and I
know that this is because they have worked very hard to obtain the Christlike
attribute of charity...no matter who you are, when you meet them you feel like
they came just for you. That's what it will be like when we meet the Savior
again, I am convinced.

Here are just a few thoughts from the conference. Elder Kearon reminded us that
'it takes a good conference to last past tuesday' and encouraged us to apply
what we learned from this great meeting, by binding ourselves to act and to
change and to make it last and to claim the blessings of strength, courage, and
happiness and joy that can be ours. He echoed the advice given us in Isaiah 58
'is not this the fast I have choses.....to undo the chains that bind' and
exhorted us to mighty prayer and fasting and dedication. He said that if we are
having a hard time, perhaps it is because our prayers have become routine, and
suggested that we fast with a purpose. I got to meet him and speak with him for
a moment, we talked a bit about Danville and he mentioned that when he grows up
he wants to be like Elder Wilson...I agreed. Are they in Mongolia, by the way? I
love them. I am thankful for the love hey've always given our family.
Elder Andersen and his family spoke to us in French, which was a treat! They
love this placem and spoke about their time here with tenderness. They love the
French people, for good reason. France is a wonderful country, he reminded us,
and though it has become very secular there is still the light of Christ. There
are worthy covenant keeping people in this landm and that is not going to stop,
and the adversary cannot and will not stop it despite his unforgiving winds of
apostasy the kingom of God is being restored here every day and all over the
world. Elder Andersen told us 'We are the light in the lives of others,' and so
we must be. How do we obtain this light, by learning about Jesus, applying His
teachings, and keeping our covenants. God is a God of promisesm and He is bound
when we do what He says. Let us keep the commandments. Let us not be
discouraged, but let us partake in the light and Joy of God daily.

I love you!
Sarah

The Gospel Makes Me Happy

Where do I even begin? There are so many beautiful things to say and we just
have so little time! Especially today. But, for good reasons :)

This morning we went to Kevin's home with Sr. David and taught his little
brothers Alvigne and Nelson their first official lesson. YESSSS! It was
seriously so wonderful. They are adorable boys, with great questions. You can
probably imagine it. Sixteen and fourteen year old brothers, right around that
age where we really start making decisions about who we want to be...but of
course, we are too cool to say anything about it outloud, at least at the
beginning.


They were still in bed when we got there so their big sister went and woke them
up...Ha. It was so great. We taught them the first lesson and gave them a
chapter in the Book of Mormon to read (Alma 32) with Kevin before Friday and
some questions about faith to ponder on :) Funfunfun.


As for the rest of the week. Leigh Anna will be happy that I read her email that
I'd printed off on Halloween morning right before studies, so I found out that
the Giants had won the World Series while already wearing orange and black.
WOOOO! I had a little bit of difficulty calming down for companionship
prayer..ha. And, we taught Carmelle at Sr. David's on Halloween and all carved a
pumpkin together! It was their first time! We accidentally chopped off one of
his teeth, which made it a more legitimate experience I think. We named him
Jean.

And of course, Roger's baptism! It was a wonderfully simple and powerful
service. He chose Kevin to perform the ordinance, and that was particularly
special to me. What wonderful miracles we have experienced here in Eysines. What
a beautiful thing it is to see people accept and live the gospel and help others
receive it. Kevin played a really big role in helping Roger choose to be
baptized, as well as many other members. Julien gave the talk about baptism
during the service, and it was so incredible. Roger shared a powerful testimony
the next day in church. He testified of how one never meets the missionaries by
chance and how he knew that the Lord had led us together, and what caused him to
choose to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kevin also bore
his testimony, and Julien blessed the sacrament. Can you believe how blessed we
are? Cheng is still doing great too, really busy with school, but really great:)
Christelle even came to church, two weeks in a row now! Thank you for your
prayers! Keep them coming! :))


We all joined in a special fast together on Sunday with the recent converts and
a bunch of young adults to prepare our hearts for this weekend when Elder Neil
L. Andersen of the quorum of the twelve apostles will come and speak to us. We
fasted together Sunday, and then my companion and I printed off different talks
given by him, a different one for each person to read throughout the week to
help us prepare to hear him at stake conference this weekend. This year they are
celebrating 20 years since the creation of the Bordeaux stake, and seeing as
Elder Andersen was the mission president then (I think at the same time?) it is
really providential that he be there. We are all excited. He will also be having
a special zone conference with the missionaries, so we are double excited.


The gospel is true. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His true
and living church, He directs this work. I am so happy that I still have five
precious months to represent my Savior every single day. I am so happy that you
are doing the same thing, mom and dad., God is a God of miracles, and He is
ready and willing to bless us. Another special thing that happened this last
Sunday was that many of the young men and young women bore their testimonies
about the temple, as they had all been in Madrid all of last week to do temple
baptisms (where baptisms are performed in behalf of those who died without being
baptized for themselves). They have two weeks of vacation at the moment, and as
another member of the ward noted it is really touching to see that they
sacrificed 50 percent of that time to accomplishing the work of the Lord. It was
beautiful to hear these young people bear testimony. In particular, a young
woman who has been less active, who although she was not able to participate in
the baptisms she was touched by the testimonies of her friends and bore a
tear-filled testimony that she had felt the Spirit for the first time in a long
time and how wonderful that was. It was incredible.


I love Lehi's dream in the Book of Mormon (1Nephi chapter 8). I know that we are
not meant to partake of the fruit (partake in the Love of God/make and keep
sacred covenants) only one time, but over and over again. The tree does not run
out of fruit, and we should not stop eating after just one bite! Not only that
but the iron rod which represents the word of God(see 1Nephi chapter 11:
25) doesn't disappear either. Some of us may mistakenly believe that if we have
'fallen into forbidden paths and are lost' that it is game over, no more chance
for you. But it is not true. The Savior beckons to each and every single one of
us to come unto Him, and no matter where you find yourself in Lehi's dream at
the moment, it is not to late for you to come back and eat of the sweet fruit of
the gospel. Even if you are locked up in a hidden chamber of the great and
spacious building, the Savior and His infinite Atonement is mighty to save even
the vilest of sinners and He wants you with Him. He loves you as you are, but He
can make you a better version of you if you give your heart to Him and become
sanctified. (Helaman 3:35) I know this because I have felt it, I have felt the
Savior's redeeming love and the happiness repentance and obedience brings. Feast
upon the words of Christ and trust Him. Forgive others. Forgive yourself. Do
everything you can to allow the Lord to forgive you. Let's all do this together,
every day. And smile.

I love you so.

Love Soeur Waldron :)

October 29th

Dearest family and friends,

What a happy outpouring of love you gave me in your emails last week! Thank you!
I had so many letters to read this week, what a blessing! I didn't get a chance
to personally respond to Doreen Kopf or Janene or Joyce...but I just want you to
know I love you all and that I am thankful to have such strong women of God in
my life. Thanks for your example and your support. I love you!


Last week was a delight! I spent the rest of pday with the Talence Soeurs, who
sacrificed most of their day to help me get the apartment all cleaned up for my
mission daughter! I was so thankful for their help because it was really
important to me that she come into the mission to a nice clean apartment and it
was just so great. We have one of those colored cardboard/foil happy birthday
signs just like the one mom always hangs for us at home, and so we covered the
part that says 'day' with a giant blue smiley face so it said, 'happy birth :)'
hahaha. Mission lingo at its finest.

So anyway, I had a delightful train ride to the other side of France, all by
myself - the Waldron special. I love it! Train rides are great opportunities to
reflect and read and pray and just look at God's creations. Did I tell you that
I stopped through Montpellier? IT WAS SO GREAT! Aime, the second member I ever
met there and one of the most celestial people on this planet, came to the gare
to greet me with the Soeurs that are currently serving there. I was so happy to
see him in his wheelchair at the bottom of the stairs waving. We ate an ice
cream in the park and reminisced. It was so so wonderful. I love that city.
Mussole has already moved back to Africa. I would have loved to have seen him,
but I was just so happy to be there. I also got to speak to one of my old amies,
Dina, on the phone. She is a wonderful lady who is struggling with addiction to
cigarettes and other things, but I love her a lot and remember powerfully
testifying to her and her son about the Savior and the Plan of Salvation made
possible through Him. They are wonderful and she is hoping to be baptized soon.
Prions avec foi!!!

Speaking of old amies.......SHINE WAS BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND!!! BY HER HUSBAND,
ONY!!!!!! ETERNAL FAMILY IN THE MAKING! I wish I could express how incredibly
wonderful and happy this is. I love them. I love Mongolians. I love the gospel
and know that it has changed their lives for ever and it is changing their
country. Wow! Isn't that great? Sr Bicchierri is STILL in Geneva for her sixth
transfer, which I think is great, and she is now with an italian companion...too
fun. Sampson is doing great from what I hear, but Stephane and the Hernandez
family are still needing lots of prayers.

My new companion is an incredible miracle machine! We are having a great time.
It is reminding me of the beginning of my mission. I love her a lot. She and I
are the same age, which I happen to love since I am on the older end of the
sister missionary spectrum at the moment. haha. But really, I am so blessed to
have such a diligent companion who knows why she is here and is determined to do
the work of the Lord.

Roger really needs our prayers this week. He has asked Kevin to baptize him
(cool!) and we are trying to get everything arranged for Saturday. He would like
us to pray for his mother, who is very invested in the Catholic faith and who he
loves very much, that she would be accepting of his choice and that he can be
healed from his troubled mind. He comes from the Ivory Coast, and I am sure he
has lived through things I can't understand, but I know that the grace of Jesus
Christ is powerful unto the delivering us from all things which bind us down,
mentally and physically, and we are excited for the Lord to answer our prayers
with miracles in his life. Lets pray for him to have this experience of
deliverance and to be ready for his baptism this week.


I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love learning it. I love that answers to
the questions of life are given to us through the words of the prophets. I love
that this morning I 'just happened' to be reading Alma 15, and how perfectly
that applies to Rogers needs. I love that prayers of faith, combined with
obedience produce miracles. I love that I have the gospel in my life. It's not
easy to be a deisciple of Christ, but it is so so beautiful. As someone who has
done a bit of creating in her life, and who has had the opportunity to observe
many beautiful creations of others, I know that things of beauty are created
through much effort. So, let's all create a wonderful week by living our
covenants and being happy.

LOVE YOU FOREVER!

Soeur Waldron

Oh and le'ts pray for miracles for Kevins family some more, and for Carmelle and
Christelle.
BISOUSSSSSS

More Purpose in Prayer

I am so delighted to be emailing you again this week! The title of this one corresponds with daddy's. and one of my all time favorite hymns, "More Holiness Give Me."

Can you believe it, I am actually staying in a ville for a third transfer!!!! This is the first time my whole mission that has happened! My beloved Soeur Kohler got on a train this morning to go to Marseilles. Tomorrow I get on a train to go to Lyon and pick up a brand new missionary who I will be training! YAY! I am super excited to train. This is about the time of year that I arrived in the mission field last year. There is a sense of familiarity about the leaves changing and the gray foggy sky. I love this time of year. It just feels right. 

So, for today I get to spend some time with the TALENCE SOEURS! We meet in the same building with our wards, and their ward is the ward that Leigh Anna served in while she was here. Lots of people still remember her and I am excited to spend a little time in their secteur, and hope that I will get to do an exchange there :) There were elders there up until two weeks ago when they switched and went to Lormont. funfunfun.

This week was incredible. I know that the prayers of the Lord's servants on behalf of Kevin's family have been heard and answered! I am infinitely and eternally thankful, and this is only the beginning! His mother is normally at their home in Gabon, and got back into town a little while ago. We finally got to meet with her this week! She asked us for a Book of Mormon and all of the brochures and his older sister Marlyne stayed for the discussion with us. (she has the cutest child in the world named matthis) Anyway, it was incredible. At this point we have now met seven of his brothers and sisters, the only two I still don't know are david and servanne. His little brother Alvigne came to church with us on Sunday and got to witness Kevin be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and Julien as well (i think Cheng would have recieved it as well but there were lots of tram praoblems on Sunday and he ended up having to walk a ways to church in the rain...he is such a champion). Remember the story about the wonderful little 17 year old girl who miraculously found us?! She is now friends with tons of people at church is is just doing so very well and I got to see her twice this week and that was just the greatest of joys. YES!

Mom and dad I am so impressed at your ability to include the precious details of missionary life in your emails. I will try and do a better job! Here are a few things that happened this week.

We were on the tram one day and this man, not of a Christian faith, decided to follow us and talk to us about religion. He had some pretty strong opinions, but we were just calm and listened and only shared our point of view when he asked, nonetheless we stated the truth simply. These situations can often turn another direction if you aren't careful, but in that moment I was just so aware of what I was representing and tried my hardest to just keep it under control, especially so those around us could see that missionaries are tolerant and we love people of other faiths. After he got off of the tram my companion and I just said 'he was nice.' and that's it. I noticed that the woman that had been sitting accross from me the whole time looked rather familiar, and asked her if we had met before. It turns out that we had. I didn't know exactly what to say, she had obviously just overheard the whole exchange, and so I just complimented her cool African necklace. She took it off and gave it to me right then and there. She is the mother of four children, and is from Ivory Coast (like Roger) and lives close to the less active member who teaches me piano once a week (have I told you about her? she is great and from Bulgaria. mom would be proud that on her bday I had my first piano lesson at her house and I can now muscle my way through two hymns....like riding a bike I guess :) she and I also bonded over a song from macedonia that I learned in BYU folk dance...turns out they really do sing it in Macedonia! It is a small world after all!)

That was a long parenthetical bit of information, wasn't it!

Here's my closing thoughts. Like my parents in Washington DC, living in big European cities for the past year has caused me to consider a lot of things that we just aren't confronted with on a day to day basis in suberbia. I am convinced that God lives and He wants us to love eachother. Love changes everything. It really does. I would like to echo the words of so many in General conference that encouraged us to love and cherish eachother. We must rise above fault finding and judgemental behavior and love everyone, for each soul is of infinite worth. We are children of God, we are brothers and sisters, and we need to act that way. I pray that I may have more charity. I pray that we may all share this great love with one another. I pray that the Lord will bless and keep you all this week. I pray that the Lord will bless my dear country and home of America in this time of election and our freedoms may always be protected and that we always be grateful for them. And I pray that you will pray....that we will all pray, with more purpose, that the Lord may grant us the blessings He so desperately wants to give us.

All my love!

Soeur Waldron