I Feel My Savior’s Love

Bonjour tout le monde!

Here I am on my first preparation day in Switzerland! Its nice because here there are several computers at theLausanne chapel (our chapel is in Renens, but its is right next to Lausanne which is a bigger city and there are two equipes (companionships) there as well. We live with the sister equipe at our apartment in Renens, and there is also an equipe of Elders in Lausanne. This is a new experience for me because Soeur Paoli and I are the only missionaries in our ward and there were seven in Montpellierand six in Dijon.

Ok so Switzerland! I am truly having a unique missionary experience, aren't I? It has been taking some getting used to when I contact people to remember that I am not inFrance anymore, and although there are certain things that are similar, it is certainly a different country! First of all, there are people from EVERYWHERE! Seriously,Switzerland is the melting pot of the world. In one week, I have encountered people who speak Slovakian, German, Swiss German, English, Creole, Hindi, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Turkish, Spanish, Italian, and I'm sure there are tons more. There were scriptures in 4 different languages in our gospel principles class on Sunday! Speaking of languages, I will now answer the ever popular question 'How is sister Waldron's French??' I'm sorry I've kind of left you in the dark on this one, I never really know what to say because I don't know it seems prideful or something but the French is coming a long great. I know that the Lord has blessed me, at least to some degree, with the gift of tongues, and it is literally amazing to look back at how much French I knew five months ago compared to today. I can understand more than I can speak, but that is normal I think, and I am often the recipient of kind words from others about my French abilities. I have A LOT more to learn, sometimes I feel like I use the same words over and over, but I know that I am already improving a ton, seeing as I have to speak in French all day with my companion. Also, pretty much everyone in the ward speaks Spanish...ok not everyone but there are a lot of people from South America here...even from Peru! Spencer will be happy to know that one of them knows Los Olivos in Lima!

Its been a very interesting new start this week, a change of culture, a change of companions, just a lot of change. Change is good, although I must admit I miss Montpellier at times. I realized that I had an address to give Soeur Madsen for someone that lives in Sete, and so this was a great excuse to call her haha. And oh what glorious news she had for me! Mussole has decided to be baptized the 10th of March (it was the third, then the 17th, and then I guess he settled on a happy medium) Also, the last lesson Sr Madsen and I taught together (Sr Lemire was on a split with someone else) was with a young man named Ivan. It was probably the best lesson we have ever taught together, or at least a really good one. Anyway, I guess they have had another rendezvous with him since, and he came to church, and he has set the date to be baptized the same day as Mussole! BEAUTIFUL! Oh man, what joy it brings me to know that good things are happening in that beautiful place inSouthern France! And what hope it gives me too because right now things are kind of slow here in Renens, but I just remember how things started out in Montpellier and I know there is that same potential here. Bring it on!

Yes, it is cold, but you really can't predict the weather much, yesterday it snowed, rained, and was sunshiney. There are winds coming from Sibera or something and its been all over Europe...I honestly don't really know, all I know is that we are out there rain or shine and that it is a normal occurance to lose feeling in my extremities. Ha. Don't worry though, I am ok! Really! I am well taken care of, and all is good.

Mommy, the flower was from a weed near a bus stop. Ha. Isn't it pretty?

Well, I need to go and do some more work in the Lord's Vineyard. Thank your for your love and support. Thank you for praying for us and our amis (keep praying for Mussole! and also our ami Ana, and Tonino, and just everyone, ha!)

Alright, I need to go. Have a wonderful week, ok?

Also! I am sending a flash drive of pictures tomorrow. Sorry its taken forever!

I know that God lives, He is our Father in Heaven and He loves us exactly as we are. He wants us to be happy, and to return and live with Him again. That is why He sent His Only Begotten Son to atone for us, and to provide us the way.

Lets all have a happy week!

  

Soeur Waldron

Je suis bleu non plus!

Welp, I am in Renens, Switzerland! Surprise! We got transfer calls last Wednesday, and wouldn't you know it, I was transferred again! I spent most of today traveling, and got to my apartment probably about one hour ago. All is well, and I am excited for this new chapter of the mission. My new companion's name is Soeur Paoli, and she is from Nancy, France! She and I are going to have a great time together, I just know it! 

As for my last week in Montpellier....it was SUPER! A great way to end my last week in that wonderful place in Southern France. Tuesday I went to Bourg en Bress again to finish up my legalities...oh la la it was quite the day. Basically I spent most of the day on trains going from Montpellier to Lyon to Bourg en Bresse and even a little village outside of Lyon (...ok that last one was an accident, I may or may not have gotten on the wrong transfer train...ha, but I gave someone a Book of Mormon who I met there, so that's good) But, needless to say...all is well now with the French legality stuff...and now I live in Switzerland.

I got to teach our ami Dina for one last time, we talked about Jesus Christ and also a little bit of church history. We taught several other lessons and that is always a good feeling to have a full week, especially after having so much time without people to teach, it is a blessing that by the time I left things were really starting to get rolling!

We did an exchange last week with the Soeurs in Perpignon, and a sister named Soeur Vanhulst came and worked with Soeur Lemire and I in Montpellier for the day while Soeur Madsen went down there. It was a good experience for a lot of reasons, and it really helped me to have the confidence that I could do it when I received the transfer call because Soeur Vanhulst and Soeur Lemire are both Francophone...so I knew I could at least make it one day just speaking French, and that I can actually survive as a missionary without Soeur Madsen...haha. It’s true, she taught me a great deal and I will miss her.

A couple of highlights of the week and then I better go. We went and visited a family in the ward in a place called Sete, which is a little seaside town outside of Montpellier...we ate sea food and saw the sea. WONDERFUL! We taught Mussole one last time all together...it was hardest for me to say goodbye to him, he is a wonderful person and I am so excited for him to continue to grow in the gospel. He is planning to be baptized the 17th of March! So I am still praying for him, and for our other amis too. On Sunday, we had a big 'coin de feu' (fireside meeting) that we spent a lot of time planning, and it was a great success! We had a potluck and watched videos about Christ, had a few testimonies, and all of the missionaries (there were seven of us in the ward) sang I Know that My Redeemer Lives to the tune of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. It was incredible...so many good things have happened in the ward and I just left feeling that I had really given it my all, even though it was hard at times. I will truly miss the people there, and will doubtless think of them and all that they taught me often. 

We ate at with the DeBarcellos family last night, and today our ami Sarah from Trinidad came to say goodbye to me at the Gare (train station), which was a true blessing. A perfect ending to a great transfer. 

So, now I am here in Switzerland. I am excited to learn and serve more. I am thankful for this unique opportunity I have had to already serve in three different places, and that the Lord has entrusted me to help Him in His great work on the earth today. I want you to know that I am so thankful to be here, and that I know that Jesus is the Christ. Indeed, I owe everything to Him and His sacrifice for me, and I know that He has provided the way for each of us to find joy in this life and in the life to come. 

I love you all! A bientot!

Love, Soeur Waldron

HELLO!

Ho hum, where to begin? It’s been a great week. GREAT! very, very busy. This is a good thing. We taught a lot of amis{people they have contacted}, members, and part-member families, and were privileged to have some very edifying experiences! I'll recount a few of them. 

At church last Sunday (by the way in the seminary anniversary broadcast you guys watched I am 99.9 percent certain that our paroisse{parish or what we call a ward} in Montpellier is in it, as well as a young woman named Morgan, who is adorable and sat by me at church two weeks ago. neat!) and a member came up to us and said 'why haven't you come and visited us yet? There are young women in my family, you need to come over!' This is a kind of question missionaries love to hear. This family has been through A LOT to get from Africa to France...they have waited four years to be all together, and now all six of them are together in a one room apartment. We shared a message about prayer with them that night, and it was beautiful to hear them testify how they knew that prayer is what allowed them to be together. 

We are teaching a woman named Dina, who has been meeting with the missionaries for quite a while. Her son has been sick for a long time and she is content because he is no longer in the hospital. Both of them have lived through trials that I can not imagine. We taught them about how through His Atoning sacrifice and resurrection, Jesus Christ provided a way for us to return and live with God and our families forever. Because He understands us perfectly. It was one of the most powerful teaching experiences I have had so far. When we asked her son what it meant to him to have a Savior he said, 'It means a lot, it means I have a best friend.' I liked that. 

We met a man at the bus stop last monday named Rene. We started talking with Him about God, and after a couple of minutes he told us that his mother had passed away just 10 days earlier. He told us he didn't feel ready to talk about it quite yet, so we gave him our card and told him we'd pray for him. He called us from a payphone two days later, and we arranged a time to talk. We taught him that he could see his mother again someday, and helped him remember how to pray. 

We are teaching another man named Mussole, he is from Angola, which is a Portuguese speaking country inAfrica. He is awesome. There is a Frere {Brother} in our ward, Frere DeBarcellos (from Brazil), whose family we have gotten to know really well. He came with us to teach Mussole last week (I might add, that he was having a hard time finding the bus stop, and it was the greatest sight I have ever seen to see this 50something year old man triumphantly running toward us in his white tennis shoes was a sight to see. There are few things more inspiring to me than these simple, honest acts...like a fellow church member running to help the missionaries teach someone about God) Mussole came to church on Sunday, and he said he wants to come back every week! We told him that would be great. He has lots of tests in school this week, will you please keep him in your prayers? and Dina as well?

We visited Aime a couple of times this week, who of course thought it fit to buy us two huge grocery bags of food and cook us a giant pot of rice. We didn't have much we needed to buy for groceries this week.

We had a ratte-vous (when someone doesn't show up) and met a woman named Lawrence who was in our path on the way home. She wiped the nutella off of her face and swallowed a huge chunk of crepe as we asked her about her belief in God. She tearfully told us that she had just recovered from a huge stroke, the kind that causes most to die or at least be handicapped, and it was her first day to go out of the house by herself. She told us that she knew that she had a mission to fulfill and how she wonders why she has been so blessed, why she was provided this second chance. We gave her a brochure, and scheduled a rendezvous with her which we had at her house earlier today, with her husband too. We had a wonderful conversation, and talked about many important truths. We testified that we had found the answers to life's questions by reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and applying the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. 

Well, there is a little taste of the goings on here in Montpellier. Aren't I blessed to be here? Isn't it wonderful that God allows us to help us in His work, to serve his children quietly, one by one. 

Thank you to Sister Curtis, the Littlejohn’s, Anna, and Brock and Judy for the emails!

Brother Cardiff - you and your family are in my prayers, I received word from many and I am glad to hear all is well now. You are loved by many!

This week is transfers, and I have honestly no idea if I will stay or not. Whatever the case may be, we are going to make it the best week ever. :)

I know that God lives and that He loves us and our families, and provided us a way to have the fullest happiness possible in this life and in the life to come, and that is through the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ - faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End (which includes the wonderful temple!) Christ's grace is sufficient for us all. 

Let's all have a happy week!

Love Soeur Waldron

Because I have been given much I too must Give

Comment ca va? J'espere que vous avez passez une merveilleuse semaine
et que aujourd'hui vous etes rempli avec la joie :)

This last week was long! Not in a bad way at all, it’s just that
looking back to last Monday I feel like it was a Month ago! We have
done SO much!

Last week I went to the prefacture in bourg-en-bresse, which
is about an hour from Lyon, to do some legality. All went well,
until the part where I was supposed to have my actual passport with
me, not just my photocopy. Ha. I know you are surprised! But, be not
afraid, I DO have my carte de sejours, I just have to go back to
bourg-en-bresse. Which will be great because I get to spend another
day with the Duley's! They are couple missionaries, and I had a
sleepover at their apartment...the best. I felt like I was at a grandma's

house. They are wonderful examples of faith, and it
was great to spend a day learning from their example.

On the train ride home, I took a moment to just be. I think the
hardest part of being a missionary for me is the mental effort...and
sometimes you just need a moment on a train, with a beautiful sunset,
to just kind of soak it all in. I took a moment to read your letters I
had printed - and daddy, last week your letter was a real answer to my
prayers. It led me also to read the talk 'Waiting upon the Lord' and
I was very much blessed by that. Thank you. You don't know it, but
each week when I hear from you its like Christmas day, your words are
comforting to me and they help me in the difficult moments. I love you
so much. As a missionary, you think about families, you look for
families, you strive to help families come closer by coming closer to
Christ. I have a testimony that God sent us to the earth in families
for a specific reason, and I know that our family is special, and He
is aware of our every need. Sometimes I wish I had known and
understood growing up what I know and understand now about the family
now, I think I would have been a better sister and daughter in certain
ways. Thank you for your love and patience with me throughout all, and
for the goodness that you three bring into my life! I know that
because of the Atonement of Christ our family can overcome anything,
and we can indeed live together forever.

I love the Book of Mormon! I am really developing my personal
relationship with that marvelous book! I am in the middle of Alma in
English, and in the Middle of 1 Nephi in French...so I have the Sons
of Mosiah and Lehi's dream on the brain still. The scriptures are the
best!

Well, here's a little bit about the week: We have 7 amis now!!! What a
blessing it is to have people to teach. I have never had a very
positive relationship with numbers, and that is one aspect of
missionary work that is not my favorite, but, de tout facon, it is
great that we more than doubled our amis :) It is a privilege to be
part of the Lord's work, and to have such great companions who are
outstanding teachers! The names of our amis are Quincy, Rose, Sarah (a
different one, but keep praying for the other one!), Bacar, Laticia,
Dina, and Mussole. They are from all over, and all have such different
stories! But, I know the gospel of Jesus Christ can bless each of
their lives. We also had some beautiful experiences contacting this
week, and I am just so thankful to be here!

I haven't said fun things about France lately, so here are a couple of
things. People here say happy new year for like the first three weeks
of january, its great! There is a holiday to celebrate when the wise
men came to visit Jesus, and there is a tradition to eat 'Les
Gallettes de Rois' which are basically a delicious pastry of different
sorts, but they bake a little ceramic nativity figurine (or sometimes
other themes) inside. Whoever gets the piece with the ceramic is
crowned the king (and i think they are supposed to buy gifts for their
family) I am the proud owner of a donkey, and a little clown man. Yes!
Other things...today we visited a family who lives a little outside of
town. They have chickens and we got to chase one that got out, ha.
Their house was built in 1860 and it is like a museum inside
everything is so old! I felt like I was in the secret garden or
something! (and spence, they have a whole upstairs part of their house
that they don't even use! It makes me want to explore it like at
grandma larue's :) )

Ok, well that is enough fun for now. I know Christ lives and that He
loves us. Have a beautiful week!

Love, Soeur Waldron