Bonjour Ma Famille-
It has been another great week to be a missionary.
I'm sorry, Mary, that you think my letters have become "too spiritual" lately. I thought I'd start this one out with two stories just for you. I hope that they are "approved". I almost killed my companion twice this week. Just to be perfectly clear, that was a hyperbole. An exageration. She was not near death, but she did have allergic reactions. First story... So we were at the store and I was picking up the toilet paper. Trying to be economical, I just got the cheapest one. Who sells scented toilet paper?! I didn't even know that was a thing. One thing is for sure, it is definitely a problem for someone who can't handle anything with scent. Needless to say, we're not using it and have to buy a different kind today. Second story... The next day I got up and was getting a bowl of cereal (again, another seemingly harmless act). We had an unexpected guest in the cabinet. A cockroach. Yes, I am serious. Yes, my life is a joke. This meant that the rest of the morning was spent deep cleaning, sterilizing, and anti-cockroaching the entire apartment. Luckily, I didn't find any more...hopefully it stays that way. Remember what I said about Soeru Fairchild having reactions to the neighbors using chemicals? I had to completely cover the apartment in them. Fortunately, she didn't have that bad of a reaction because she was able to medicate before. There are my two stories this week. I hope that they gave you a good laugh.
I was able to go on an exchange this week and spend a day in Perpignan. It was wonderful. We did tons of contacting, had lessons, and even had a porting miracle. We were planning on stopping by a coordonnée (I don't know the term in English...someone whose contact information they were given while contacting). As it turns out, the person had given them a false address. But, because of this, we got into a random apartment building. So, we ported it. Out of the four doors in the building, we found this awesome girl that they are going to start teaching in a week or two. It was great, porting miracles are rare and to have one in such a small building is amazing.
So I have been doing something kind of cool with all of my time in the apartment this transfer. I've been sending texts out to the members in the ward and our investigators. It's a good way to practice my French and I like still being able to "teach" people even when we don't have a rendez-vous. I send them a scripture and a penser spirituelle (spiritual thought). We've been having great responses to this and even had several members comment on it during testimony meeting yesterday. They talked about how it has been exactly what they have needed and how the sister missionaries are so inspired. I'm glad I can still accomplish things for the Lord while not necessarily doing "typical" missionary work all of the time.
I found something interesting this week in my studies of Doctrine and Convenants. I tend to pick out a lot of patterns when I read and I noticed that the Lord tells us to "harken" a lot in this book of scripture. So, I mapped it out. Turns out that if you take all of the first verses of the first 81 sections of D&C, it mentions the word "harken" (or an equivalent..."listen", "give ear to", etc.) 53 times. I thought this was super interesting. You'd think that if God were directly talking to you, you would be earnestly listening, taking notes, and eagerly awaiting the opportunity to apply His teachings. But, I guess that was not necessarily so then, as He was constantly needing to remind them. It is often the same today. The scriptures, the words of modern prophets, and personal revelation are God's means of communicating to us. We would do well to "harken" to those teachings, warnings, and words of guidance.
In other news, it rained a lot this week. I love the rain. I occasionally have Les Mis songs playing in my head as I walk down wet, cobblestone streets here. Oh, and I finished The Book of Mormon this week. It is true. The church is true. I'm so glad I get to share that as a missionary.
I hope you are all doing great. I can't wait to talk to you this week! I love you so much! Thank you for your support, your love, and your prayers.
Je t'aime,
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