Bonjour tout le Monde! (roughly translated-hello everyone)
It has been another wonderful week here in Dijon! Everyday I learn so much, and I am realizing more and more just how very blessed I am and how wonderful this opportunity is!
We
had a really busy week, lots of Rendezvous! It was that way last week
too....its kind of weird not to be contacting very much! WE had our ward
Christmas party, and everyone watched It’s A Wonderful Life in French,
hahaha, pretty great. We had a FEAST of delicious French food, and
everyone in the ward is so kind and giving....they teach me so much by
their example. Its not easy to be a member of the Church in France, its
not easy anywhere, but they are so strong because of it.
I
forgot the name of the cheese of the week but here is another fun fact
about France that is grocery related...there are hardly any plastic
grocery bags here it seems, everyone has those trader-joe-like ones.
But! thats not all, there are these little things that look basically
like a laundry bag tied to a little metal frame with wheels on the
bottom. EVERYONE has these little contraptions and it is seriously
hilarious! There will be this super chic French couple walking down the
rue, and what do they have trailing behind them? The gocery contraption.
I even saw an older lady take one off a curb the other day...reminds me
of the rolly backpack days. In all seriousness, its really smart...I
wish I had that to carry all my books in instead of carrying them on my
shoulder all day sometimes. Oh yeah, and I officially have come to the
point that Leigh Anna foretold where you wear things you
promised you never would all for the sake of comfort and practicality,
haha, it is so great to be a missionary.
Lets talk about some of the AMAZING people we are teaching :)
I
liked how in Daddys letter he mentioned some of the things that other
missionaries are experiencing, as far as people\s concepts of religion
and so forth. Many of the younger generations are
'non-croyant'(non-believing) but have never really tried to believe in
God, some of the older French people are Catholic, and most of them
think we are from a sect, and there are a lot of immigrants who are
believing, many are Muslim and many are Christian. But, don’t get me
wrong, there are French natives who believe too, I think you would be
surprised by how many people stop and talk with us and how kind people
are in general. Ok enough about that.
Abraham - a refugee from Nigeria,
who if I had to describe in one word would be grateful. He loves God,
and tells us that practically every other sentence. I wish I could tell
you his whole story, but suffice it to say that he is an inspiration.
The Muslims are persecuting the Christians where he is from, and he is
the only survivor from his family from a recent tragedy. He miraculously
made it to France, and is still going
through a lot as far as paper work and things are concerned. A part
member Nigerian family met him at the gare (train station), and he told
them that he wanted to come to church and that is how we got in contact
with him. He loves Christ, and wants to know Him better so He can defend
His Christianity. It is a beautiful experience to talk with him. We
have scheduled for him to be baptized the 1st, and really hope we can
help him
prepare for that day. I hear many people talk about how they cannot
believe in religion because of all of the wars in the world that have
are tied to religion. Here is a man who watched his family die, who
risked everything for what he believes, and has seen the effects of this
first hand - and I have never heard one ill-willed or selfish word from
his mouth, he has every right to be a victim, but he is a victor,
because he understands that although we have trouble in the world, we
need not fear, Christ has overcome the world. (John 16:33) I am so humbled to know him and to help him build on his beautiful faith in the Savior.
Sonia
- a beautiful girl, nineteen, who we met contacting our first week
here. Her parents are Muslim, but she discovered within herself that she
wants to follow Christ. She is from France, a little town that is a
couple of hours away by train I think, and is just here to go to school
(there is
a college here in Dijon) She is inspiring.
She committed to be baptized the first lesson we taught her, and she has
a desire for truth and a simple faith that is evident in her eyes. She
and Soeur Madsen and I are becoming great friends, and again, I just
feel so blessed to know her. We have set a date for her to be baptized
the first as well, and we hope that will work out great :)
Jerome
- Yes, I am teaching a man who has the same name as my car. DESTINY!
haha, but really, Jerome is great. He is French, grew up going to
Catholic school I believe, but converted to Islam a few months ago. He
is searching for peace in his life, and we have had some great lessons
with him. I am excited to see how things go.
We are still
teaching the Albanian family and hope to get more materials in their
language soon. We taught a cute Buddhist family last night, from
Shri-Lanka, hardly speak
any French but are so cute and want to come to church with us....they
know basically nothing about Christianity, but have been going to a
protestant or Catholic church here I believe, we are hoping to find some
materials in their language too.
Well, that is a very small
sampling of the people we are teaching and experiences we are having. I
want to say that I know I have been called here by God and that He is
aware of me and each of us personally. When President Gordon B. Hinckley
was on his mission, his dad's advice to him was "forget yourself and go
to work" and I can testify to you that is the way to success - lose
yourself in the service of others, always. Repent daily. Pray on your
knees, and thank God for this beautiful world. I am learning more and
more how personally we can have a relationship with Him. I am thankful
that this Christmas Season I can show my love for Christ by wearing His
name above my heart, and inviting others to come
and see for themselves if He really is who He Himself said He was, the
Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer the Light and the Life. Think of Him
when you see Christmas lights this season.
I love you immensely,
and can’t express enough how thankful I am for your support, it
fortifies me and helps me remember the wonderful people who helped me
become who I am today. Thank you for your example!
have a happy week! Love, Soeur Waldron
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