"So we prayed and picked a random building…and the fourth door we knocked was her's." 2/10/14

Bonjour Ma Famille,

Bordeaux 

Isn't being a missionary the best?  Awesome week that all started with zone conference.  Two highlights (not necessarily the spiritual ones...) First, President started his presentation by showing us Super Bowl commercials (I'm not really sure if that would be a good highlight, but I really enjoyed it).  Isn't President Roney the best?  Second, his quote of the conference... We were talking about love and how it is important to love all of the people on the street and he explained, "If you're really having a hard time loving the French people, just remind yourself that they gave us the Statue of Liberty, and that was very nice of them."  Voila, a peek into zone conference.

Other than that, we saw so many miracles this week, let me share a few...

Sister Hulme and Sister Stevens

On Monday, we decided to spend some of our P-day with this family in the ward.  They've been through a lot this last year, including losing their dad, and we thought they were in need of some love.  So, we went shopping with the mom and her 14 year old daughter, Lauralie.  In one of the stores, the salesman remarked that Lauralie was speaking English (because she had been practicing with us).  Immediately she turned the conversation into a moment to share the gospel.  The contact ended with her leaving him with our card and a Book of Mormon.  She did the entire thing, I'm not sure that we said anything.  It was really incredible and she was so touched.  She couldn't stop talking about how amazing the experience was for the rest of the night.  She wants to serve a mission.  God knew that she needed that moment.

We had contacted a young mom with her son about a week ago and had set up a rendez-vous for this week.  The problem was, she wanted to meet at her house and we didn't exactly have her address.  When we had originally talked to her, she pointed to the building across from the bus stop.  So, we gave it a try.  But when we got there, to our horror (I use this word not to be dramatic, but to show how terribly disturbing this was to someone who is directionally challenged), there were about ten huge buildings with at least seven entrances for each.  And, on top of that, we didn't have her last name so we couldn't find it on the lists.  And, she didn't answer the phone.  We didn't lose all hope, but the chances of us finding her were seeming really slim and the rendez-vous was to start ten minutes later.  So, we prayed and picked a random building to port.  And, naturally, someone showed up that minute to let us in and the fourth door that we knocked was her's.  We were early, the lesson went great, and we will be seeing Stella again this week.

Former Companion, Sister Pagano

Isn't it the best moment in the world when your new amie has an incredible time her first day at church?  Dominique, the grandma we ported into last week, came to church, became very best friends with the sister we've been teaching with, and cried.  She kepted saying things like, "I feel so good here", "I never want to leave", "If I'm crying, it's because I'm happy."  Such an incredible experience.

Darling Lancelot Kids

Member missionary work... Soeur Lancelot, this awesome sister in the ward, really felt like she needed to do more missionary work.  She mustered up all of the courage that she had and called her best friend in the world, asking if she could stop by with us.  Unfortunately, her friend wasn't available, but she worked with us anyway.  She came with us and ported every door in her neighborhood.  It was such a touching experience.  She was so scared and embarrassed, but she did it.  Every single person said no, it was really sad.  But, I was still so impressed with her courage and desire to share the gospel.  If only every member could be like her.  Could you imagine?  Afterwards we stayed out porting for a few more hours in the hail and freezing weather.  No success for us either but it was still a great learning experience for me and showed me the person I want to be after my mission.  We spent the rest of the night with Soeur Lancelot's adorable family.

Soeur Teruhia, the less active Tahitian lady, came to church again!  Another miracle happened with her because of this Tahitian lady in the ward, Soeur Velma.  She is a super strong member but lives so far away she has to stay with people on Saturday nights because there are no trains early enough Sunday.  Soeur Teruhia volunteered to have her stay with her every Saturday and they can go to church together on Sundays!

Oh, and we have a new ami, Mikael, that accepted a baptismal date this week.

Sorry, I feel like these have gotten rather long lately, I just want to share everything.  I love my companion, our ward, our amis, our sector, and all of the incredible sisters that I've been serving and doing exchanges with.  I love you all too, have a great week!

Je vous aime,

Soeur Alisa Hulme

At the Airport

Pau