Soeur Alyssa Trotter: Me and My Baby are Having Babies! (Week #36)

Date: August 1, 2016

Location: Rouen

Companion: Soeur Bennett

Hello All My Favorite People,

This was one crazy week. Lots of crazy surprises and scares and unexpected phone calls :) To start off, I will explain the title of my email this week :)

As the weeks have gone on, I started to get this feeling that I was supposed to stay in Rouen. But I was having trouble knowing if it was me wanting to stay, or actually the feeling that I needed to stay in Rouen :) So it turns out that it was a good idea to trust my wise and inspired mission president, because as time would tell, it was me wanting to stay in Rouen. The Lord has other plans in store for me. Which, at this moment, is a little hard to accept. But I promised Him that I would go where He called me, and now it is my job to keep my end of the deal :)

That is just part of it. We were on a bus the other day with the Elders, headed to a ward picnic. And it was the morning of transfer calls. And I just knew that if I was going to leave, Soeur Bennett was going to train. She is a fantastic missionary. What can I say, I taught her everything she knows ;) haha just kidding. But let's just say it wasn't surprising when we got a phone call in the bus, and they wanted to talk to Soeur Bennett. I started laughing! because I knew it! and because I know that we both saw that coming and training a new missionary is actually really scary! Especially when you are still new! :) But Soeur Bennett is so ready for it and that is the luckiest blue I have met in my life. This is the best ville in France :)

So you could imagine my surprise, when the missionary on the other end of the phone, asked to talk to me again. So I took the phone and before he could talk, I said, "That is so exciting that Soeur Bennett is going to train!" and then he said, "and so are you, if you accept!" WHAT?! again? The craziest part is that I am opening a Soeur companionship in Nancy, which is in the east of France, with a new missionary :) But I am excited and I have absolutely no idea what is waiting for me. No food, no amis, no information whatsoever. But it is really cool that I know that I can trust the Lord and that He will lead me to those who are ready, He will help me to work with these members, and at the same time, He will bless me in my efforts to be a good trainer.

As for right now, I am just really sad. I know that I am going where I am supposed to go, and it feels rights. But right now, I am in this awkward in between phase where I am still in the blessed ville of Rouen with a companion that has become one of my closest friends, and I don't know what is ahead of me. So it is a little hard to feel relaxed :)

Speaking of surprises though, I was sitting in church yesterday, doing my thing, getting ready to open my hymn book, when Soeur Bennett leans over and says, "Hey, Soeur, I think that there are some American tourists here, maybe we should translate for them?" So I turn around, and before I can even focus, I hear, "Hey Lys!' And it was the Andersons! Maggie Anderson came to visit me in Rouen during their trip in France! What a fun, crazy, disorienting surprise! For a second there it was weird to have an overlap in home and mission life but it was fun to get to see them :) It was definitely a surprise and just in time seeing as how I am about to leave!

Along with those tender mercies, we had a ward picnic in the forest, and I got to have some time with my favorite members and friends :) They really have become my family. Some wards are great at helping the missionaries, some are really great at fulfilling their callings, but this might be the first ward, so far at least, where I literally feel like they are my family. They make fun of me, laugh at me, with me, and we share some of the most spiritual experiences together that I've had. I think that of all the things I learned in this city, is how to love people. I just love them! I love Sylvie and Frere Bitanga and Frere Bertrand and Soeur Martel, names which probably don't mean a whole lot to you, but those same people are what is making it so hard to leave. And I guess that is what will give me the incentive to come back ;)

I don't know if you remember me saying it, but at the beginning of my mission, I seriously had a hard time loving this country. I just missed my stars and stripes and seriously contemplated whether or not I would not be able to stop thinking about country music and horses and eagles and Uncle Sam. ;) And it is true that I very well may kiss the ground when i come back. BUT nonetheless, I love this country, and especially Normandy. it is a beautiful place with trees and lots of people who have become my family. What incredible relationships and experiences that only a mission could bring.

I am super grateful to be a missionary and to know the Lord trusts me with His children, and that He gives me the responsibility to find those who need Him. Which is everyone ;) Miracles are real, and people do listen. and the more love I have, the more people listen :) Hey! That is totally why Christ was the perfect missionary :)

I love you all a lot, I am having a lot of fun and I am getting ready to head out! And to keep working hard :)

Soeur Trotter