Date: June 20, 2016
Area: Rouen
Companion: Soeur Bennett
Bonjour à Tous,
There is something special about this ville and about the
missionaries that are serving here right now. The only way that I can describe
it is by saying that we are a family. We are family with our amis, with the
ward, and just all the missionaries are a family. Because Rouen isn't the
biggest ville around and because we teach at the church, we constantly see the
Elders and we have been able to share amis, share mission stories, and just
become a family. So when we received the news the Elder Reiss would be leaving
us for the last transfer of his mission, it was a little somber the rest of the
week. It is good that we found out on Saturday.. haha. We know he will do great
things but it is always hard. I am finding that when you love where you are and
who you serve with it always seems like there is no way that the following
transfer could be better than the last. But somehow it is.
So whatever happens next transfer will be great I am sure. But
as for right now, it is just a little sad.
On a happy note, Sylvie is still just as amazing as always and
she is getting baptized so soon! We had to move it back a little beacuse the font
doesnt heat up. or drain... soooo that could make things more difficult. So in
the mean time we are going to help her overcome this fear of water and we even
got her in a baptismal suit the other day :) This is baby steps if there ever
was such a thing but she is getting there. Slowly, sometimes not very surely,
but she is getting there.
This woman is such a character. It is so funny because everyone
always tells me that I am going to be a clone of Sylvie when I am old. And I am
flattered truly. But then all that anyone ever says about her is that she is an
airhead! What is that supposed to mean! Haha but either way I would be stoked
to be Sylvie one day because she is legit. She even told us this really
hilarious story at lunch on Sunday about how she was in the train station last
week and there was this man playing the piano.. and in the words of Sylvie
Christoff herself...
"The music.. I can't explain it.. the gare was empty and
the music, it just toook me away! So I put down my bags and I danced! There was
no one there either... well, except for those people taking photos!" Oh Sylvie...
She would. But hey, who wouldn't want to be her as an old woman? Once again, my
life was made in that one lunch :)
I don't have a ton of time this week but it was a really cool experience
teaching Sylvie :) She interrupts me all the time and it is so frustrating but
this time she interrupted me and said "Psychologist." I was so
confused, so of course I asked for an explanation. And so she said "You
need to become a psychologist. You seem to always know what thought is in my
head and you always know how to respond to it and say just what I need to hear.
You have to be a psychologist!"
And back story... My whole mission I have had this fear that I
just can't follow the Spirit because sometimes it is really hard for me to hear.
So I try my best, but there have been so many nights when I come home and just
ask, when is it going to get easier to respond to the Spirit? Or sometimes it is,
when is it going to get easier to even hear the Spirit?"
But something that Elder Holland said once came into my head
that very moment. It was this.
“More important than speaking is listening. These people are not lifeless objects disguised as a baptismal statistic. They are
children of God, our brothers and sisters, and they need what we have. Be genuine. Reach out sincerely. Ask these friends what matters
most to them. What do they cherish, and what do they hold dear? And then listen. If the setting is right, you might ask what their fears
are, what they yearn for, or what they feel is missing in their
lives. I promise you that something in what they say will always
highlight a truth of the gospel about which you can bear testimony and about
which you can then offer more. … If we listen with love, we won’t need
to wonder what to say. It will be given to us--by the Spirit and by
our friends."
If we listen with LOVE, we won't need to wonder what to say. It
will be GIVEN to us-- by the SPIRIT and by our FRIENDS.
Sylvie is one of the first amis that I have had where I would literally
do anything to help her. It is an incredible amount of love. And I know that it
is not me that is just good at psychologie, but it is the Spirit, that is able
to speak through us and use us, when we have real love for these people.
Sometimes we don't even recognize it as the Spirit, but that is why we have the
ability to change and grow and become better, and more receptive :) And with
time, we know what the Spirit is, and just how it works through us :) I feel so
blessed to be here with these people :) I am one lucky missionary.
I love you all. I am having fun and I am working hard :)
Soeur
Trotter
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