BONJOUR!!!

First off all, let us all be full of joy for Moussole, our ami in Montpellier who was baptized as a member of L'église de Jésus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours this weekend. Beautiful. Wow. I just got the news when I opened my emails, and I could not be more happy for him, for he has made a special promise with God, made possible through the Atoning Sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, whose resurrection we remembered with an added amount of awe and reverence this weekend. Isn't that great?!

Joyeuses Pâques! Have you had a wonderful Easter? I hope so. Let’s talk about this week.

This week, we had a new focus on goals. As missionaries, we use numbers to represent some of our goals, but these numbers are only there to help us focus on the PEOPLE they represent, each a beloved spirit child of God the Father. As Soeur Paoli and I spent the week focusing more on our indicateur clés (key indicators...from Preach My Gospel) I found that it was so much easier to focus on my amis and their needs, and it felt like we were so much more effective. It was a great! Last Tuesday was a bit of a blustery day, and we found ourselves sitting on a park bench in downtown Renens as the wind blew the flower petals from the trees every which way. It was a magical moment. That is also where we met a new friend named Abdoulie. His economical situation is worse than probably anyone I've ever met, and he told us he'd like to know how to become Christian, because then maybe he could find peace. It was a humbling encounter that we had with him. He could use our prayers. We ate at the Goyez family's home this weekend, seriously, so delicious every time. She made a salad, and then a risotto au crème...so good. We also cleaned the church with her this week! I liked cleaning the church. I am thankful for the faithful tithe payers that help us construct these sacred edifaces. 

We have another new ami named Yvette. I love her! She is from Africa well, and she has a brother in Quebec who is a member of the Church. We found her a few weeks ago on our way to district meeting. We asked her how her faith in Jesus Christ helps her in her life, and she had nice things to say. IT wasn't until we got to her house for the RDV(rendez-vous) this week that she told us that actually, that day, she had lost the faith. That morning, she decided that she was not going to pray anymore because life was too hard. And then, she met us, two young girls who just want to help people come closer to Christ, and then, she started praying again. Isn't that neat? I love the way the Lord orchestrates this work. These things do not happen by chance! She is looking for a job, an apartment, and is in the middle of a divorce. She could use our prayers. We had another rendez-vous with Florica this week, and I just love her! She's having a hard time with the Book of Mormon, and we fervently testified to her how it has changed our lives. I seriously feel so blessed to have met her. Also! Best thing ever...we went to Segundo and Janeth's, and he came in for the RDV! (yes!) The soccer/obedience lesson was perfect, and I know the Lord blessed us for seeking His Spirit in planning the lesson. At the end, Segundo said (without us even asking) 'ok, I will try and follow the rules with my wife.' YES!!! Haha, that was literally my reaction. He's still gota long way to go, but I know they are going to succeed. I know it! I love them! We had several rattez-vous on Saturday...it was pouring rain and we were out contacting. Ha. The best. As is normally the case, when someone rattez's, there is a miracle. This time it was Holly. She is from Utah, and has been living here as a student. She's been inactive ever since she was 18, and basically, she and I just kind of had a heart to heart. I felt blessed that because of the experiences I have had in my life, God used me to bless this young woman in a special way....isn't it amazing how interconnected and beautifully woven our lives are? Isn't it evident that we are truly all brothers and sisters? Isn't it wonderful that God will do everything He can to help His children come back and enjoy the blessings He has for us? Isn't it wonderful He has given us the opportunity to choose that if we want it? 

And isn't it wonderful that all of this is made possible to us thanks to the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Mom, you know the song Savior Redeemer of my Soul that is the play you went to over the weekend? Could you see if the sheet music exists? Also, I really want a copy of the Love of God. Also, any sheet music that I can sing. Perhaps Come Thou Fount. (English is fine, no worries...if you find stuff in French however, tant mieux!) This week, we met a Muslim man from Heritri who is seriously troubled with the question, 'Why did Jesus come to earth?' He wants to know so badly. It's actually quite inspiring. I know that the answers to his questions are found in the words of the Holy Prophets, and that we can gain a testimony of their truthfulness by reading, praying, and seeking a confirmation from the Holy Spirit. And I mean really seeking, not just sitting idly and waiting. I know that 2 Nephi chapter 9 in the Book of Mormon is a great place to start, and we are looking forward to discussing that with him, and learning continually ourselves.

I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He came to earth in the flesh, and He gave a perfect and infinite Atonement on our behalf. I know that I need His grace every day of my life, and that I have so much more to do to become like Him. I hope that you may all choose to receive His love in your hearts this week. I know that one day we will all be resurrected, that in our bodies we shall see God. The hope of the resurrection is immensely powerful, and I think of this message as I consider our dear friends who are suffering from illness, or the loss of a loved one. Brother Mac, Sister Engstrom, Grandma Judy, and so many others...I am thinking of you. I love you. Mommy, daddy, and Spencer, I love you too. I have a special thought for the four of us that I will either be sending in the mail, or in an email next week. Until then, may the good Lord bless and Keep you. May we be believing. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

All of my love and appreciation,

Soeur Sarah Waldron

April 2nd

I am doing emails a little later than usual today! It has been a good preparation day. In fact this whole week has been wonderful, truly a week of miracles!

For starters...we found Florica!!! Quelle Bénédiction! So basically, wonderful experiences seem to always happen while we are on our way chez la famille Goyez for dinner. they invite us over a lot, and she cooks delicious and nutritious food! She is from Spain and he is from Equador, so we always have really interesting things to eat. Lots of paprika. last week we had fish! I love fish! It reminded me of home. ANYWAYS. So we get on the bus to go to their house, and at the stop just after ours a short lady, maybe around fifty years old or so, gets on the bus. I caught eyes with her for about a half second, and then quickly I realized it was Florica! We both smiled and jumped out of our seats to say bonjour and bissous. My heart was so full of gratitude! I explained to her how her phone number hadn't worked, and how we weren't able to find where she lives. Come to find out, we had been porting the wrong side of the building, and she is often not home at nights because of work...so it was seriously miraculous that we found her on the bus! We met up with her again on Thursday, and had such an amazing rendez-vous. Come to find out she was also deeply touched by our encounter on the sidewalk, and she was just as excited to see us again as we were to see her. She told us all about her life, the struggles she's been through and the things she's over come. As she recounted these stories, she did so with a glow in her eye, without one drop of malice towards anyone or anything, but full of gratitude for the Savior and His grace that has helped her overcome. Wow. Think of the hardest trial you have ever faced, then times it by at least three, and then ask yourself if you could smile and be forgiving. This is Florica. After getting to know each other better, we didn't have much time to talk, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and the pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation and she thanked us immensely, saying 'this is just what I needed, more of the word of God.' When we visited her the next day, she was already in 1 Nephi 5. And mommy, I remember one time when Spencer was on his mission, he said that he knew your prayers had blessed him. I am not sure why, but that was the thought I had when we found Florica, I thought, 'maybe my mom is praying for me right now' :) Thank you, and thank everyone for your prayers. They are heard by our Father in Heaven, and they are answered in small, yet significant miracles here every day. 

So General Conference! I am pretty sure all of the apostles and the Prophet wrote their talks specifically for me. Doesn't it feel that way when we are learning by the Spirit? But seriously, President Monson quoted my two all time most imporant, meaningful scriptures...what are the chances?One of these I believe is Hebrews 12:1-2 in the New Testament I learned so much about what I need to do and change in my life, I like that feeling. I watched it here at the Lausanne Stake center. We watched the two morning sessions live, the saturday afternoon session was broadcast sunday morning, and i still havent seen Sunday afternoon nor the young women's broadcast. I still have much to look forward to, including hearing our friend Elder Wilson! That is neat! Conference was nothing short of a miracle here. Soeur Paoli, my companion, contacted a girl named Andréa while we were street boarding the other day (that's where we bring out a big board with information on it and pictures and what not and invite people to talk more with us) and she ended up coming with her friend Alain. They are both from Benin, Africa. Its not often that people come to conference without any knowledge of the church, but these people really didn't know anything, and so I just encouraged them to pray in their heart that the Holy Ghost would manifest unto them if what they heard was tue. I know for a fact that Alain did that and that he recieved a witness that it was true, and that the Prophets spoke of Christ. Awesome! Sunday afternoon was also a miracle, we met someone on the bus on the way to Lausanne, and she dropped everything she was doing to come with us because she said she just loves Jesus Christ and wanted to spend all the time she could learning of him. NEAT! We had several other people come with us, including Florica, and as we guided them to the chapel Sr. Paoli and I felt like little shepherds with our fold, going to hear the word of God together. It was the best. 

Well, I feel really blessed. I feel really humbled. And I feel compelled to offer my thanks. I am thankful for the consecrated hours spent by church leaders, school teachers, extended family members, friends, whose dedicated service has blessed by life. For the lesson plans you revised, for the food you've provided, for the tears you've dried, for the laughter we've shared. I'm thinking of many of you, who are having birthdays, graduating from school, having a baby, taking care of loved ones, or going through other phases of life. I think of you, and I hope you are experiencing blessings of the Lord in your lives. I love you.

I am thankful for the consecrated hours of a devoted mother, who sang me lullabies as a child, who cheers me on to this day, who makes me feel special and needed, and appreciates beautiful things. Thank you for the sleepless nights helping me with art projects, and for the heartfelt prayers you give on my behalf. I love you, mom.  I am thankful for the consecrated hours of a loving father, who taught me how to ride a bike and built me and Spencer a treehouse, just because he wanted to, and how you helped our neighbor have an opportunity to serve us in the process. I am thankful for the LFD's lessons from dad and for the righteous way you act as a Priesthood holder, for girls camp hikes, for morning jogs. I am grateful that you baptized me. I love you, dad. I am thankful for the consecrated hours of my brother, Jay Spencer Waldron, that he spent in front of a computer screen in Tarapoto, Peru, answering the emails of his heartbroken sister. I am thankful for the hours you spent there walking dusty streets and proclaiming glad tidings of truth, many of which had been kept in a book written by their ancenstors. I am thankful for your example of thoroughness and dedication, and how it is evindenced in your notes in the TALL Spanish book I'm now studying. I am thankful for your advice, for all of the laughter we have shared, and for a giving heart. I love you, Spencer.

I am thankful most of all, and most humbly, for the concecrated hours spent by a loving Savior, in a lonely garden called Gethsemane. I am thankful that He chose to suffer His will to the Father so that we may repent and be free. May we all do this each day. I am thankful that He rose on the third day, and look forward to reverently remembering the power of His resurrection, and the hope of our own, as we celebrate Easter. I love my Savior. He truly is the author and finisher of our faith.

Have a wonderful week!

With love and gratitude, Soeur Sarah

Salut!

This has been a wonderful week here in Renens, Switzerland! Sr. Paoli and I have overcome a lot together, and this week was seriously one of our best, especially the last few days. We recieved transfer calls on Friday, and this is the first transfer since I've been here that nothing has changed! I imagine I will stay here for a while, which I don't mind at all, Renens is great! 

So, this week. We worked a bit in a nearby city called Morges, which is about five minutes away by train. I really love it there, its close to the lake and very homey. Fun fact as well is that Audrey Hepburn is buried not far from there! Anyway, its always fun to work a bit in the surrounding cities. We have been trying to find our friend Florica, the lady from Romania who we met contacting, but her phone number she gave us didn't work and we aren't sure which door is hers in her apartment building, but we hope to find her again soon and continue to share the gospel of Christ with her. We taught more lessons this week than any other week in the transfer, and we have two new people we are teaching. The first one is Bezhad. He is from Iran, and doesn't really have a religious background at all personally, but we have had a couple of interesting conversations and we will see where that goes. The other is named Zacharias, and he is awesome! I contacted him with one of the young women in our ward and the young women's leader while we were doing a missionary activity with them, and we had our first lesson with him this week and he is seriously so awesome. He is from Angola (same country our ami Mussole in Montpellier is from, portuguese speaking country in Africa) and he is very believing and very kind. I can't wait to teach him again! And his girlfriend was there last time two, so potentially two people to teach! Yayyy! 

This week I officially passed the six month mark! So crazy how fast time goes by. We honestly didn't really do any thing special to celebrate, but I was feeling the missionary spirit all day because I was really excited to teach our ami, Segundo. His wife, Janeth, was baptized a little over a year ago I think, and him and their two sons haven't been baptized yet. I love this family. I remember seeing Segundo at church my first week here, and ever since I came I just really feel like one of the reasons I am here is to help this family all accept the marvelous blessings of the gospel in their lives together. I can't remember if I told you about it, but Segundo and I made a little deal together. One of the things he has a hard time with is giving up drinking alcohol, not because he's addicted, just because he likes it. So, i told him that I would give up chocolate for one month if he would not drink for one month, so we could kind of work on this together. So, basically, I think about him every day because there is chocolate everywhere. I have studied and concecrated a lot of thought and energy for this family, and I was really excited to teach them last week. But, when we got to their house, Segundo didn't want to come and listen to the lesson because he was watching soccer. But, we had a lesson with Janeth and their kids anyway, and you know, when I went home that night, I was still just so happy, because I knew I had given my all that day. Sometimes disappointing things happen, and people make choices that you don't understand, but the Lord rewards us with the comfort of His Spirit when we do our best. Besides, we have an awesome lesson plan for a our next rendez-vous that we are working on, and I am not giving up on this family! 

Ok other things. We had district meeting this week, and I was in charge of giving a fifteen minute lesson on 'how to have fun while finding.' I love finding! Seriously, contacting and porte-a-porte can either be miseriable or incredible experiences, and pretty much 99% of this has to do with the missionaries attitude, not whether the people are nice or accept what you have to say. IT was a fun lesson to give, and Bryan Bennett will be happy to know that I used the IDEO brainstorming idea, and we all tried to think of innovative solutions to have better finding experiences. Creativity!

WE also have another new person we are teaching, Daniel, from Nigeria! Its like I'm in Dijon again! He is really nice, and loves the Lord. I love Africans! This week, I also taught Sunday school, our lesson was about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, lesson 12 in Gospel Principles. i remember teaching this lesson at BYU-Idaho four years ago, during a time in my life where I was passing through some difficult challenges, and I remember coming to realize the healing power of the Atonement for myself personally. I love this lesson, and know that the Atonement of Christ is the enabling force that leads this work today. 

Well, there's a littlle taste of my week. There were many other beautiful moments....like our conversation with two old friends on a park bench, who had just regained contact with each other after thirty years. It just felt right to talk to them about the resoration of the gospel with the background of the banjo music, under the shade of the big park trees. Then there's all the magnolia trees that are starting to bloom, and the little purple and yellow flowers in the grass. So many beautiful things. 

The most beautiful thing of all is that Christ lives, and He loves us. He has re-established His church on the earth, and I know that it is led today by a Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I can't wait for General Conference! Let us all prepare our hearts, and with faith, bring the questions of our souls to General Conference, and allow ourselves to recieve answers from the Holy Ghost, as carried by the words of the Latter-day Prophets. Yay!!!! Ok, I love you so. Have a blessed and a beautiful semaine!

Soeur Waldron

Note from Laura: Dear Friends and Family, You can view or listen to the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on television at BYUTV or via the internet atwww.lds.org/general-conference or www.gc.lds.org. There are two sessions Saturday Mar. 31 and two on Sun. April 1, 9-11AM and 1-3PM (PST). The sessions will be available to view even after conference is over. I, like Sarah, am so excited to listen to conference and to hear the testimonies of Jesus Christ and how I can come closer to Him. I always learn things that help me become a better person and that help my family. I know that there is a prophet on the earth today just as there were prophets in Biblical times and that Jesus Christ directs His church through the prophet. You can learn more about what Sarah is teaching and why she is serving by tuning in. Love, Laura

BONJOUR! From a rainy day in Switzerland.

I can't believe it is already the last preparation day of the transfer! They go by faster and faster every time. I equally can't believe that on Wednesday I will have been out on the mission for six months. I can imagine mommy and her little scissors on that day cutting off another inch on the missionary wall, hehe. 

Let's see, what interesting things do I have to tell you this week? Well, we are teaching some new people! Unfortunately, there are some others that we are no longer teaching, but that is kind of how it goes on the mission. We try our best to do what the Lord would have us do, and even though things don't always work out the way we'd like, He helps us learn from our experiences and become more effective missionaries, more understanding teachers, and more loving people. I love having new people to teach! I love being a part of so many people lives from so many different backgrounds, even if it is only for a small moment, and feel immensely blessed to have this priviledge.The Soeurs sister missionaries in Lausanne contacted a French lady on the bus a couple of weeks ago and started teaching her, but it turns out she is in our sector (area) and so we are transitioning to start teaching her. She is wonderful! She is a woman who has lived through a lot of difficulties, and she really just wants to repent and come closer to the Savior. We are teaching her later today. We are still teaching our ami Matthias who we found porting, and this week we are teaching him about the plan of Salvation. woo! I am excited about a couple of other people we found porting and contacting with whom we are going to have rendez-vous this week as well. Speaking of contacting lets tell a story from last week. 

So, we were having a long day. I wasn't feeling well, and we were really tired. We had an awkward amount of time between our next rendez-vous, and weren't sure if we should stop by the apartment for a moment and gather our thoughts or if we should just muscle through. Well, I'm not sure exactly what pushed me to do it, but I decided that before going home I would contact the woman walking towards us. We stopped her and explained that we were missionaries, here to share a message about Jesus Christ. We asked her if she believed in God, and with zeal she responed yes, she did. As we asked her to expound upon her thoughts about Jesus Christ, she recounted to us her story of her life in Romania, and how she had lived through trials so difficult that she was convinced that God did not exist. Miraculously, in a great time of need, she discovered the miracle of the Savior Jesus Christ in her life. I don't remember all of the details of her story, but I do remember how deeply impressed I was by her fervent conviction of the Christ, and how it helped two tired missionaries to remember why we are here, and that it is true - the Atonement of Christ changes lives. 

I took an extra moment to think about the Savior while I was at church on Sunday as we talked about His life in Gospel Principles class. The more I learn about Him and His life, the more I want to change to become like Him. I am so thankful for the challenges I face each day which refine me, humble me, and help me to become more like Him whose Gospel I have come to proclaim.

Well mes amours, that is all for today. Have a wonderful week! I love you. Thank you for your prayers and your love, and for everything you do and are.

LOVE!

Soeur Waldron