Je vous aime

Hey mom and dad!

I am in Lyon in the mission office at the moment...I may or may not have already spent quite a bit of time sorting my luggage and all of my treasures :)

I can't believe it has come! I am super excited to come home and see you. I feel blessed beyond measure to have been called to serve the Lord in such a choice land, among such faithful people. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that the Savior lives. He is the way to happiness and peace. Its hard for me to imagine not being a missionary. I am going to be the most awkward person alive. I am so thankful SO SO thankful to be coming and serving with you for a few days because I know that will allow me to have a more gradual transistion.....THANK YOU! I love you so. I cant wait to see you and give you some very big bisous on the cheek!!!

A last thought. Today when I woke up this morning, I felt all anxious.....I just was so overwhelmed! I said a prayer of gratitude. It helped. I thank the Lord for His wonderous mercies and for this beautiful mission! you could try it if you need some comfort

I am also thankful for your prayers!!!!!! last week we had some opposition, but we also had lots and lots of treasured experiences! I KNOW that your prayers blessed the lives of people here in France! We even had 71 people at sacrament meeting!!!!! The other nine used their agency to stay home, but that is ok because soon there is going to be a hundred people at church in Dijon! With God all things are possible :)

I trust in the Lord and know He keeps His promises. I love France. I also love America and will see you there tomorrow :)

Soeur Waldron

God Is Good

Hello my dear ones!

I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll just go for it since
the librarian is going to kick us out in like 20 minutes.

The Lord is blessing this land, and we are seeing miracles. Things
only possible with God and His angels working at our side have
happened this week, and this is happening in Dijon, but more than that
across the whole mission. The Lord is hastening the work and
preparing these wards to receive more amis, more people reactivated,
and more converts, and yes, more missionaries. I don't remember if I
told you but the number of missionaries in the France Lyon mission is
increasing rapidly!! Its also pretty obvious that the Lord is
preparing Dijon specifically by helping us increase our teaching pool
and by allowing us to do in 3 weeks what we should in 6...this week we
found 12 new amis!!!! Three of those were coordonées from Abraham. 5
of them were people I taught here before but had lost contact with the
missionaries. the others were miraculously put in our path. The
success we have had is not something I boast of, but I feel to share
it with you because it is evidence of the glory of God.

The most sacred part of last week was when about 20 minutes into
sacrament meeting Abraham walked in. Raphael and his wife Joy and I
made a spot for him in between us and I shook his cold whethered
hand...evidence that his journey to the church that day included a lot
of walking...he doesn't exactly live next door. Raphael convinced him
to go up and bear his testimony, which I had the privilege of
translating. I wish I could explain to you all of the details!! Its
just all too wonderful!!

I got letters from my dear sisters harline and madsen...I think of
them like every day!! the rules changed and I can't email them back so
I hope you will forward to them my love. They were such a huge part of
my mission and I am happy to be here in Dijon carrying on the legacy
for one more precious week!!!!!! And then continuing the legacy with
YOU mom and dad in your lovely mission of Washington DC!!! I WILL SEE
YOU NEXT WEEK FOR REALS!!!

Rest assured that this is going to be the best week of all time in Dijon. Our
goal is to have 80 people at sacrament meeting......we are praying for
it. We are working for it. I woul LOVE it if you prayed with us for
that every day. (there were 45 last week...so this is going to take
some major powers from heaven....but things that are miracles for us
are normal for God and His angels) And also lets pray for Abraham. I
talked to Sonia on the phone by the way...she is still not ready, but
she appreciated the call and I was happy to have that moment of
closure. the Albanian family is doing well...they have some legal
document worries but we are happy to be teaching them again!!!

What can I say? God loves us; He sent us His Son. He restored His
church to the earth so that He could keep His promises and so that we
could help Him do that as we make special promises, covenants, and
keep them. I love the Savior. I love how it feels to teach in His name
with the Spirit. I am not a perfect missionary, but I have learned so
much and I will be forever grateful for this blessed part of my life
in this blessed land. God does keep His priomises; He loves us; He
does not forget about us; There is no trial or doubt or fear that we
cannot overcome with Him; Come to Him.

I might be able to write again next Monday but I might not...so just
in case...I love you!! I love my mission!!!! I will see you soon!!!!
HOORAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!

I love you

Soeur Waldron

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress

The hymn How Firm a Foundation is running through my head today. We had a wonderful week. I seriously love Dijon and am so impressed with how much this ward works with the missionaries and how far they have come since I was here at the end of 2011. The combined efforts of many consecrated missionaries and members working together is taking effect and I feel so honored to have another opportunity to serve among these French soldats. The bishop has been seriously going after the less actives. He works a ton, and the Elders were telling us how he sacrificed a bunch of his much earned vacation time to go out and visit these people. Well, it paid off. On Sunday, a man who hasn't been to church in 30 years came for church...and from what he told the Elders, he is making efforts to come back for good. His wife is a saint; she drove me to church my first sunday in France up the huge hill we normally walk. It was beautiful to see her with her husband AND her less active daughter and her grandkids...who lit up when they saw grandpa at church.  A celestial sight. There was another less active family who came to church to bless their baby and we are visiting all these people next week. We are working a ton with another less active family as well, and I just know that the Lord is answering our united prayers of faith with blessings upon these people. by the way members are proposing themselves to come teaching with us.

We are finding lots (including people from when I was here who were since lost), we are smiling lots, we are working lots.

So far we found again the Albanian family I used to teach, and we have a RDV with Abraham, and Giselle who I worked with a ton last year came to church. We are seeing miracles daily. I love love love it here and am so thankful for your prayers. We taught this one person for the first time this week Still no luck with Sonia...but it will happen if the Lord wills it so. I just pray that the Lord may use me as an instrument in His hands to accomplish His will among His precious children here.

There is snow here and it is pretty :)

I know that this is the work of the Lord and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.

LOVE YOU!

Soeur Waldron

That's right, I am back in DIJON!!!!!!!

I am amazed at how perfectly the Lord directs His work. It is a delight to be here in the place I began for the last few weeks of this blessed mission: I don’t think I have ever been more motivated to take advantage of this precious time the Lord has given me!

If you remember back to the early emails, you will remember Sonya. She is lovely, but something happened right before we left for Montpellier and she just stopped talking to us. I remember being so heartbroken. So, the first thing I do upon arriving last night? Whip out the area book and find her teaching record....as well as all of our other old amis :) Sr. Madsen’s distinctive handwriting makes it easy to find our records haha. Sonya lives like right behind us, and today we have already gone over to ring the doorbell twice....(each time I feel super nervous like I am asking a boy to prom or something) but I believe she has school during the day. I remember joking with Sr Madsen about coming back here to end my mission and finding her again and here I am!!!! so much nervous excitement! It’s great!

It still hasn’t really occurred to me that I won’t be going back to Bordeaux....seven months is long enough to call a place home. My last week was wonderful, and it was kind of a weird tender mercy but I was really sick with a cold and that helped me not be so sad because I was just all congested and out of it haha so I just enjoyed my last precious moments with all those people I love and then spent many hours on trains. I SAW SR BICCHIERRI AT THE GARE!!!!!!!!!!!! She is all grown up and training now. I about died of joy when I saw her beautiful face...that sister changed my life. Missions are so great!!!

We also had that all day of finding::::thanks for your prayers!!! we enjoyed a special spirit that day. We are having so many miracles in this land!!! so last year the average number of ppl at Sacrament meeting was like 85 or 90 I would guess.....and last week we were 120!!!!!! our mission goal is to increase attendance by 1000 ppl by remotivating a less active person and finding a person who will be likely baptized one day per companionship per transfer. we can do it! I love this city because it forces you to create something out of nothing and really put your faith to the test. These next weeks are gonna be awesome

I know the gospel is true and that the Savior lives!

LOVE YOU!!!! Hooorrrah for Israel!!!!!

Soeur Waldron

How great shall be your joy

This last weeked was one of the greatest of my mission. We had interviews with President Roney and it was a joyful and wonderful day of instruction!

Carmelle, my dear friend, was baptized by Roger, who you met on Skype and who was baptized in November, by Kevin who was baptized in September! Roger and Carmelle both gave wonderful talks in church on Sunday and it was just a celestial sacrament meeting. Everyone was glowing!

Carmelle's story is such a miracle, and its all connected with the power of the Book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus Christ. In his talk Roger humbly remarked how even though he didn't even know this book existed until last spetember, he knows it is true. He proceeded to testify of all of the other scriptures and bear solemn and fervent testimony.

This Wednesday the Paris and Lyon missions are consecrating the ENTIRE day to finding activities. We are really excited for all the miracles that will happen. We are all praying together every 1/2 hour and we are just going to sweep the house and find the little pieces of silver.

Luke 15:8-10

8 ¶Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

I know that as we increase our faith in the Savior and consecrate our lives to Him and His work that we can and will have eternal life, together as a family.

  

I love you. 

Sarah

Resolve

My dearest family,

I love you so much! I am so grateful for you.

Time is going quickly. This morning I read the talk by President Uchtdorf from the last General Conference. In it he spoke about the greatest regrets people had as they neared the end of their lives. I changed the following thought to fit my circumstance. 'Being so close to that final day of [your mission] often gives clarity to thought and provides insight and perspective.' As I look back at my mission, I am filled with all kinds of emotions. I sometimes think of things I would change, but I also I think of miraculous moments! I think of the great privilege it has been and how quickly it has gone by. I rejoice to know that I still have a little over a month of precious time here in France.

I know that the only way we can feel relief from guilt and shame, and the pain that comes from sin is through repentance. We talk a lot about this as missionaries. The other day I was on the tram, and a lovely French woman with a big smile explained, in response to our proposed invitation to learn more about the Savior, that she didn't need to adhere to a religion to be a good person, and talked a bit about the admirable things she does. This might remind you of other tram experiences I may have related. I congratulated her for her goodness. Then, I testified about the need of a Savior. Even though we all do good things we also make lots of mistakes, and we need repent. The ONLY way we can do that is by living Christ's gospel. Heavenly Father is happy when we do good things, but we have the potential to be so much more. Being a Christian is not just about becoming a good person, its about becoming perfect. He's the only one who did that in mortality, and we are certainly can't do it without Him. I know that what President Uchtdorf said is true, "It is my testimony that many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today. If we have sinned or made mistakes—if we have made choices that we now regret—there is the precious gift of Christ’s Atonement, through which we can be forgiven. We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and remove the burden of our sins. His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart,and a determination to do better and especially to become better."

Its been a month or so sincewe set our new years resolutions. Lets all revisit them this week, and revise them if need be, and then lets resolve to do them! If there is something I know it is that this life is for us to have joy. I have seen a lot of people experience real joy by embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ during my mission. One of them is Carmelle. She fills with light and love when she shares her testimony. The promises she will make this week will allow her to maintain this joy forever if she keeps them. Isn't that great? Lets all pray that she may be able to overcome any obstacles that come her way this week and that her baptism may be a day of peace. :)

I do love the Lord and His gospel. I am thankful to be here and I am thankful for you!

Love Soeur Waldron

Testimony

HELLO ONE AND ALL!
Today it is the fault of the silly french computer keyboards that my email is short.
We had a wonderful week. I feel super close to the Lord and I know He loves me and is helping me repent and improve and bring about miracles in mylife and in the lives of others.
Carmelle is getting baptized on the 9th. HALLELUJAH! She has been my ami since my 2nd transfer here so Septmber, and she is a miracle. She needs our prayers. I wish I could tell youallthe wonderous blessings we have had.
I know that God lives. I have a testimony that keeping His commandments is the only way to a life of peace. I know that the commandments are not super popular, and its hard to keep them because EVERYONE sins around us. Its incredible! Its kind of shocking. And when I consider that the Savior suffered for all of that, I am rendered incapable to comprehend the extend of His love and mercy. I know that we can be forgiven of sin. Its not super easy, but it feels super good. I know that the word of wisdom is important for our day. I know that the law of chastity is essential for the family to be protected and living it is a vital part of qualifying to enjoy loving relationships in the eternities. Its so important.
Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.
Anyway, I love you and I love the gospel I am happy to be a missionary France is great and I am staying warm-ish :-]
BISOUS!
Soeur Waldron

Our Father in Heaven is a God of miracles. If I could, I would tell you all of the incredible tender mercies he has accorded us this week, but this little note will have to suffice.
My new companion's name is Soeur Kofoed. She is from Bountiful, UT, and loves to sing and to talk to people and to meed new people and make them smile and tell them about the Savior. I feel spoiled getting to spend ANOTHER transfer in one of the most coveted villes in the mission with such a wonderful companion. We have a lot of fun and  see lots of miracles, and she is helping me become a better person. LIFE IS GOOD!
We have witnessed so many miracles with Carmelle, it is so wonderful and so sacred to see it all unfold. We spend a lot of time with her, she even comes to RDV's with us from time to time. The members adore her and she is so happy she can hardly go five minutes without saying 'je suis trop contente!' (I am too happy) or telling us another reason why she is grateful or another blessing she has recognized from the hand of the Lord. Her life is a miracle and she recognizes the tiniest things as blessings from heaven. Its incredible to see the mighty change she is going through, and its because she reads the Book of Mormon, prays, comes to church, and acts in faith. She has been through so much to get to this point. Wow. I can't wait for her baptism, and I am sure it will happen really soon.
We had a new ami last week that was a referral from a WONDERFUL member. We were all a little sad to hear that he had gotten into anti-mormon material online, and his hopeful view of the restored gospel was dissuaded by the evil philosophies of men. It was a special moment this morning to counsel this good member and congratulate her for her goodness and to remind her that nothing can stop the work of the Lord and that the power of His Spirit is far greater than the intillect of men. I know that if our friend will choose to pray, and to seek God through the Holy Scriptures and worship, He will have the spiritual experiences he needs to keep the faith in a world of confusion.
What can I tell you in a few moment's time?
I love you. I love the gospel. I know that in our darkest moments, the light of the love of God can shine even brighter and fill our sould with goodness. I know that I am nothing without the Savior. I can't do anything good without Him. May we all keep our eyes ever fixed upon Him.
Love!Soeur Waldron

MIRACLES!

My beautiful family and friends,

 

First of all, thank you mom for the letters!!!!!! It has been such a treat to hear from you like every day pretty much! I AM SO THANKFUL!

 

I just want you to know how much I love you and how much I love the Lord and I love being a missionary. It is a wonderful blessing. It is also a wonderful blessing that I GET TO STAY IN BORDEAUX! I love this place. I am surrounded by some of my dearest friends and so much beauty. I love it here and am happy to stay a fifth transfer!

 

Here is a bit about my week.What a blessed week we had. Maybe the best since I have been in BDX! I am SOOOO happy to be staying. So happy. I feel like it is a super huge gift with a bow on top. This is going to be the best transfer of all time! Et en plus, my dear Soeur Bayles is going to get to work with another one of my favorite missionaries Sister Taylor, and I am so happy for them...even if I will miss her tons. (she went to toulouse and my new collegue is soeur kofoed)

2 of our 3 new amis from last week were found thanks to members! And they just sort of fell in our laps! One of them is the boyfriend of a young adult in the ward, and he's like 'yeah I think I'll be coming to church every week....' we thought that would be a great idea. The other one is an ancient ami from like two years ago, but another one of our stalwart young adult members really sparked him (mission lingo....don't worry about it....it means she was really nice and helped him feel the love of God.) and he came to church for the first time, felt the Spirit in Sacrament Meeting as the speakers taught us about the Sacrament, the Atonement, and baptism....we asked him if he wanted all that for himself, he said yes, and we set a baptismal date with him right after.

Remember how I said it would take a MIRACLE for Carmelle to keep her date for the 26th? Well, guess what happened....

The spark started to ignite just a little before Christmas when we made a deal with her that if she read 3 nephi 11 every day for a week we would give her a Book of Mormon in English to help her practice her language skills. She did it, and ended by having a 'click' and realizing how amazing it is that the Nephites learned the same doctrine that was taught in the Bible and realized how that couldn't not be true. She went for holiday and it took a little while to get the fire burning again after, but now its going stronger than ever. As we read with her from the Book of Mormon in our RDV's, the Spirit comes in and teaches her incredible truths. She started to recognize answers to her prayers, and gets all giddy and happy talking about how it makes her feel to believe in God, and how she knows He understands her. She came with us to several RDV's as kind of a third companion over the course of a couple of days, we even did morning studies with her at the church and that day not only did she share her testimony of God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ with a less active, she invited her to come to church with us on Sunday. She is so incredible, and I know that as we continue to fast and pray and work she will be ready to make covenants with God. This is so fun! Our other ami (also a referral from a member) who wasn't progressing before and then started coming to church as a direct result of the missionary game that the Elder's played with the family, said a prayer in church on Sunday and we had one of our best rdv's with him yet last week. :)

PLEASE PRAY FOR CARMELLE AND SIMON AND THOMAS AND MARC AND KEVIN's FAMILY THIS WEEK! And my new comp :)

Yesterday the ward clerk came up to us saying that we beat last year's Sacrament Meeting attendance record already! The Lord is really hastening His work and I am just super happy to be here.

Have the best week ever!

Love you! Be happy it is super fun. If you don't feel it, rely on the Atonement and all of your guilt can truly go away. :)

Soeur Waldron

Trust in the Lord

My dear family, 

Today I spent a lot of time just reading emails. I needed that, and I thank you all for your love and kindness. I thank you all for the cards and the candies and the emails and all the little things you sent me that made my Christmas cheery and bright. I feel very blessed indeed.

We had a very lovely Christmas. All of the members made a fuss over us and we were spoiled silly. We celebrated at least four and a half times between dinners and zone conference and all of that jazz. It was wonderful. President gave us all aprons that say 'France Lyon Mission' and we signed them, super fun. We had Christmas eve at a Tahitian family's home....I don't know if you've every been hosted by someone from the South Pacific....suffice it to say that we didn't have an appetite for like three days later since we ate our body weight in seafood. I discovered lots of rubbery crustaceans that I didn't know existed and so that was an adventure. I also had my first oyster! Not that bad. Yes we had foie gras, fish eggs, raw salmon, and escargot. The full Christmas experience (lets not forget the buche de noel!) It was fun and the next day we were again treated like princesses by loving members. We had many opportunities to speak about the Savior and testify of Him in word in deed. When we went to Toulouse for the conference, we went in a group of like 30 to a town square and watched a Christmas glow come into the eyes of passers by as they remembered, even if for but a moment, their Savior. It was grand.

When I was serving in Geneva, there was a man who we taught by the name of David. Maybe you remember him. He was living on the street, and was not enjoying the blessings of repentance which he desperately wanted. He didn't speak or read English (or French) very well, but he feasted upon the Book of Mormon and the Spirit of God enlightened His understanding. One day we came to a lesson, and he was excited to tell us what he had learned from his reading. He stumbled somehow upon Alma 23, in which a wicked and war-hungry people experience a mighty change of heart and bury all of their weapons of war to never raise a sword again. David liked the part when, after burying their weapons, they take upon themselves a new name, and by so doing are no longer defined by the name of their wicked past. He expressed the same desire. Before his baptism, we stopped calling him by 'David' which was what he was known by on the street, and he went by his middle name instead, 'Sampson.' Like these people of old, he buried his weapons and took upon himself a new name. What's more, when he was baptized, he witnessed that he was willing to take upon himself the name of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sampson's story is a miracle. It happened because he chose to follow the example of Jesus Christ, repent of his sins, and follow all of the commandments. This new year, may we all take a quiet moment and reflect upon the weapons of war that we shall bury with 2012. Starting tomorrow, our every day lives will never again take the name of '2012' but we will start anew, with a new year bearing a new name. May we prayerfully consider the covenants that we have made with the Savior and seek His help in keeping them, in making them, and in becoming them.

All of my love and prayers,

Soeur Waldron

Fear not, for behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy!

The Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price are Holy Scriptures which contain the word of God. On four special occasions in Holy Writ, God the Father is quoted directly, and on each of these special occasions He testifies of His beloved Son. On three of these four occasions, Heavenly Father's testimony of Jesus is followed with the simple instruction 'Hear (ye) Him!' (Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, 3 Nephi 11:7, and Joseph Smith History 1:17)

We learn from the scriptures that God's work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39) I like the way that our friend Delphine explained it in our RDV last night when we asked her 'What is God's goal?' to which she said, 'that we join Him again.' 

Reason and spiritual conviction lead me to believe that when The Almighty God speaks to us, everything He says must directly assist in helping Him accomplish His goal, or, our Eternal Happiness. So, the simple wonderful truth is that Christ is the Son of God, and by 'hearing Him' or learning of His teachings and applying them in our lives, we become heirs of the kingdom of God. (Romans 8:16-17)

Today is a special day. It is a day when we remember the Divine Son of God and His holy birth. I hope that this Christmas, we will all follow the advice of our dear prophet and 'Come to Bethlehem in Spirit' and offer to the Savior the gift of obedience. Perhaps for some of us, the resolve to follow the Savior has diminished with time or age or failure. This could even lead some to wonder if their goals are still the same as God's (eternal life with Him) or if they will just settle for something less, because its easier, and less of a risk. Well, even when we find our desires are no longer in line with the Lord's, the Savior's Atonement is great enough to cover that. Through Him we can become new creatures....our desires, our thoughts, and our very selves become more and more like Him as we learn His ways and follow them. Preach My Gospel chapter 3, 6, and 3 Nephi chapters 11-27, and 2 Nephi 32 will provide you with knowledge about the Savior and what He taught. If you read it, pray about it, and strive to become that message, you will feel the Atonement work in your life and you will feel the great joy of conversion and want to follow the Savior.

Oh come let us adore Him.

Christmas is a time for family, and I would love to sit together and reminisce with you all. I thank you for your goodness and your love. Here's a few memories. 

I remember many Christmas's listening to the voices of people I love reading from Luke 2, and staring in wonder and hand made nativity sets, painted carefully by the hands of my great grandmother. I remember Swedish Pancakes and that suspicious but delicious cornpuff concoction at Grandma Judy's. I remember Spencer and I sleeping in Uncle Bradley's room and anxiously awaiting morning...I always thought that the wind coming through the fireplace was ghosts...it was probably the Marly brothers in a Muppet Christmas Carol. I was always pleased to find that Santa's footprints were on the fireplace, and amazed that he found me all the way out in casper! I remember Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma Waldron's. She always had a lovely tree, and I remember one year listening to my new aaron carter CDin the basement over and over on my new CD walkman. I loved that basement! I remember Christmas on 1098 north Bedford road, and how Spencer woke me up with excitement. We exchanged presents in his room...I made him a super nintendo pout of cardboard boxes because I knew he really wanted a nintendo and wanted to make sure he did. He gave me a little yellow dinosaur, 'cera' from the Land before time, she was my favorite character. I remember recieving my beautiful kitten Cuddles Figaro Waldron. We all have good memories with the cat. I am praying for her, thanks to all that have taken care of her...even though she didn't always express her gratitude in a very 'cuddly' fashion. 

I love you all so much! 

Soeur Sarah Waldron