Date: July 18, 2016
Location: Rouen
Companion: Soeur Bennett
Hello Friends!
So for one reason or another, whether it be that we are headed
to Paris on an early train, or teaching a difficult ami who is only free at 8
in the morning, me and Soeur Bennett have not been able to get in our morning
studies. And when there are no morning studies, there is more irritation, less
concentration, less motivation, and the list could go on for a while. So for
everyone's sake, its better for everyone if Soeur Trotter can find an hour or
so to spend some one on one time with her best friend. The scriptures.
So just try to picture Soeur Bennett's face, and mine, when the
other night we planned for the next day, and realized there was nothing scheduled
for 8 in the morning! It was a special moment ;)
So there I am, I sit down, I open to the first page. And lo and behold,
I wasn't getting off that easy. It is never that easy. I was interrupted by a
text, ordering me and Soeur Bennett to "Pack the Books." Which is
basically what happens in the case of a natural disaster, and we have to throw
our life into a backpack and book it to the church as fast as we can. So, me,
being a little overly excited, yell to Soeur Bennett to get going, and my heart
started to beat a little faster, and I realized just how unorganized I am as I
tried to collect what I would need most to survive. Well, I may have forgotten to
read the rest of the text, which included the words "THIS IS A DRILL." Haha But I will say that there is nothing like your
life flashing before your eyes that will get you to move fast. Haha and may I
just say, if a real one ever does happen, you want Soeur Trotter on your side.
That was real efficiency right there, folks. ;) haha
But once again, our studies were... gone... haha can't catch a
break! It is so cool to see how the church has us protected though if something
did happen. :) I definitely feel safe so that is definitely a positive!
As far as miracles this week, there were PLENTY, because the
Lord always blesses those who try, even if we don't always have the words to say,
or the way to say them. We went into Paris this week, and on the train there,
we had to talk to someone, because we promised to God and to ourselves that
every time we got on a train or a metro or a bus, we would try to share the
gospel. And I met this super cute girl that lives in Rouen! And she wants to
meet again! And THEN on the metro on the way to the church I met an adorable
African lady who asked me for my number! That was two people in about ten
minutes, and the miracles just kept going. I am amazed by the amount of people
the Lord is looking out for and leading and guiding.
Paris has kind of a scary reputation. This one member even came
to visit on vacation and said, "I don't know how you missionaries do it here
in Paris. There is no Spirit in these streets, they are so cold, how do you
even have the courage to approach these people?" And while it is true that
I have seen more smiles in my life, it is all about the way you look at it! THINK
ABOUT IT! Because yeah you can look at the dirty, big, busy streets of Paris that
smell like constant Nicotine, but you can also look at the PEOPLE in the
streets, and see that they are just like all of us, and a lot of them aren't
happy, and a lot of them do need something more, and they just don't know how
to find it! and despite popular belier, a whole lot of them listen.
And the ones that do listen have taught me at least, what it
means to love someone. Because I find that all it takes now is five seconds. If
I look at someone for over five seconds, I automatically feel prompted to talk
to them. And I asked myself why it works that way. And I think it is that every
time I look at someone for over five seconds, I see a little part of what Christ
does, and It makes me love them a little bit more than I did before.
So I went to Paris this week, and the people and the crowds and
the tourists are extremely tiring and frustrating. But I felt the Spirit with
multiple people in the street.
On exchange, me and Soeur Weckesser were walking in the gare,
and we saw a poor Muslim woman to the side, asking for money. And we couldn't give
her any. But what a cool experience, to stop to the side, and to talk with this
woman about her and her family, and to pray with her, and to share with her a little
feeling of love, that maybe she hasn't felt in a long time. It was so easy to
do, a little nerve-racking and out of the ordinary, yeah, but I don't think it
is something that I am going to forget any time soon. What an amazing opportunity.
I love this place and these people, and every day I get to spend
my time sharing a little part of what changed me and my life so completely. I
have seen what Christ has made of me already, and I can see my potential. And because
of that, I can see what Christ has planned for all these people. And it is a
lot. He just needs people bold enough to share it.
I love you all so much :) There are so many more cool things
that happened, but Ill have to share after the mission, because I just don't
have time for that anymore :) I knew that would happen one day.
The streets are callin'! Haha I love you and I am working hard
and having lots of fun!
Soeur
Trotter
Another excerpt from Alyssa's companion this week that I thought was funny:
Really cool and weird story! So yesterday, Soeur Trotter and I
were walking to the bus stop after a less than successful night of porting when
I see this lady with orange hair sitting on a bench. The first thought in my
head was, "Hey I should talk to her!" And then, of course, I start
battling myself thinking, "Wait was that a prompting?" Stupid I know?
Then the thought hit me, "She is a daughter of God. What if she needs
it?" So then I stopped Soeur Trotter and was like, "Soeur I think we
need to talk to that lady." Hahaha so we head back and we start talking to
her and she turned out to be super nice! The funniest part though was when we
were telling her that we had found peace in the gospel and how we couldn't keep
the knowledge that we had to ourselves and stuff, she then put her hand on the
grocery bag that was hanging on her arm and said, "This is where I find my
peace." The grocery bag was LOADED with the flower looking herbs that were
slightly questionable... Haha but of course we're soeur missionaries so we were
like, "Wow that's great," hahaha and then we asked her if we could
pray with her. She said yes, and I explained to her that sometimes we cross our
arms when we pray. She started to, and then was like, "Oh wait hold on
I've got a cigarette in my hand!" Hahaha
So then I prayed for this sweet lady, Françoise, and after the
prayer she looked at us and I could tell that she felt something. She thanked
us and then headed off on her way into a weird random field that was nearby...
Haha she was a super random and kind of crazy lady, but Heavenly Father loves
her. It was just so cool that once I thought about her true identity, I knew
that God needed me to talk to her.
