Week 14

Bonjour ma famille!

First I want to say happy late Birthday to Greg and Brittany (sorry I missed you!), Julie, Audrey (I can't believe you're in Young Women now how exciting!) and Jessica yesterday!  I also wanted to thank everyone who has sent me letters: family members, friends, members from the Orange Crest ward and anyone else, thank you!  It is always so fun to get a letter, sorry I haven't written many people back, there just isn't enough time as a missionary.  It goes by too fast, I feel like I'll never accomplish all that I want to while I'm here because of that, but I'll do my best.  Thank you Carrie, Brian, Caden, McKenna, Tanner, and Clara for the easter package!  That was so much fun to get and even though I LOVE the French chocolate and food it's funny how you start to crave American food when you haven't had it in a while so that candy was perfect ;) although my face hasn't gotten any thinner, but that's okay. 
Congratulations to Jenny and Mike!  You're new little baby boy Samuel Thomas Reeves is adorable!  He looks like Megan to me, at least from the pictures I saw.  I'm very happy for you!  Mom it's been great to hear all that's been going on in the Riverside mission I especially loved the story about President Plocher flying his helicopter right over the mission home!  That's hilarious!  I loved hearing the story about Amalie the French foreign exchange student who lived with the Dyers.  It makes me realize that there are a lot of prepared people like her here in France I just have to look for them, otherwise I will never find them. 
Well, this last week was really great!  We didn't teach as many lessons as we have in the past, but we got 4 new phone numbers!  One lady is named Ernestina from Ghana who speaks English.  I told her about the church and the said she had never heard about it.  She then asked where it was and I said here in Versailles.  She also asked if it is in English, I told her it is in French, but we translate into English so she got very excited!  I hope we can get her to come.  We had a less active come to church last week and two more are supposed to come this week!  We left our apartment at 7 am last week to go and meet Martha and go to church with her just to make sure she would come and she did! 
On Monday evening we had dinner au chez famille Doby and took Sonia with us.  She is an inactive member who actually attends an Evangelical church now.  It was awesome though because Soeur Doby taught her in young women and was able to ask Sonia a bunch of questions and there was a lot that we found out that we didn't know before.  We are going to re-teach her all of the missionary lessons that investigators usually have before baptism and we hope we can help her regain her tetstimony.  She's really a great girl there is just a lot that she doesn't know or at least has forgotten about the restored gospel. 
We had exchanges on Tuesday.  Soeur Murray and I went up to Valeniennes (it's in Northern France) and Soeur Didier came down to Versailles with Soeur Woodruff.  It was such a good exchange!  Soeur Rowley is probably the best examle I have seen as far as following the promptings of the Holy Ghost and contacting everyone in her path and she always prays for the Lord's help.  We taught a family who has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time and we had planned to talk about tithing, but when we got there and as we talked with them all of us felt the strongest impression to talk about prayer and the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith.  At the end of the lesson the dad looked at Soeur Murray and I and said, "It's not an accident that these sisters met with us the one day they were here in Valenciennes."  The spirit was very strong and it was such a great lesson.  (By the way, the mom thought I was Parisien because of my accent!  She was surprised when I said I was American.  I was very excited, that means my French is getting better, at least my prononciation.  Their accents on the other hand were so hard to understand.  The Northern French have very different accents than Parisiens.)  We then taught a young man from Togo.  He had met with the missionaries a long time ago, so we were asking him what he remembered and what he had been taught.  He pretty much taught us as he shared his testimony and a basic summary of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I then asked him if he had a desire to be baptized.  He looked at us with a confused look on his face and then explained to us that he had been baptized! he just hasn't been to church in a long time and hadn't been able to find it since coming to France and wanted the missionaries to help him start coming back to church.  We apologized for having misunderstood and explained that we are still learning French.  He understood and he's very excited to start going back to church and meet other young adults. 
On Thursday we were going to pass by a few amis but we missed the bus and a huge storm was coming in so we decided to stay in Versailles and we took a different bus toward Marguerite's home, but then we accidentally got off at the wrong stop.  We had said a prayer telling Heavenly Father what we had planned to do but if we were supposed to do talk to someone else to please let us know where to go.  When we got off at that stop we all looked around and felt like we should go porting down that street.  At the first house the man wasn't interested, but at the second house we talked to a young man from Marseilles who was here visiting his parents.  He said he was non-believing, but that it was because he's never really thought about God before, but we invited him to meet with missionaries in Marseilles and when we asked if we could have his number he said "Of course!"  At the third house the woman wasn't interested so we kept walking and we a woman walked past us so then I ran to catch up with her.  We talked for a little bit, but she is from Romania so she didn't understand much and she told us she had just left her daughter's house but had to hurry and catch the train.  I realized we had walked past her daughter's house and I had seen her talking with her daugher.  We then turned around and weren't sure which house it was but we kept walking and then we came up to one where I felt like we should stop.  Soeur Murray and Soeur Woodruff saw some play toys in the back yard so they said it was a good guess.  We rang the door bell and it was her!  Her name is Mariana.  She was very sweet and has a little girl (maybe more children).  We told her about the importance of our message and how much it can bless her family and we have a set rendez-vous on Wednesday!  I'm so excited!
We stopped by Julia and Rui's last night.  We still had a plate that had given to us with some cake so we went to return it.  I felt kind of awkward at first, not knowing how they would react or if they would let us share a message.  It was actually only Rui, but thank goodness for threesomes because we got to go in!  We talked to him about the importance of prayer and scripture study and how important it is to not just read our scriptures but study them and really ponder about what we have read and studied.  It went really well and you could tell by the end of the lesson there was a light in his eyes.  Maybe now he really will feel the difference when we aren't there.  He told us that their stopping the lessons wasn't permanent and he even mentioned that he wants to pray in English at our next lesson.  So I hope they will call soon asking us to come back.
Well, I must go now, but I love you all!

Bisous, Soeur Reeves

P.S. Soeur Murray has a new companion, so there are now two Versailles equipes.  Her name is Soeur Moraga.  She is actually a senior sister, but her companion doesn't come until August.  We really like her!  She is from St. George and was a French teacher and served a mission in Tahiti when she was a 21.

Week 13

Salut!

Guess what?! Michelle attended the baptism last Sunday and when she walked in she said to Soeur Woodruff and I, "I'm thinking about getting baptized, but what do I need to do?" We looked at each other both excited and told her she needs to keep meeting with us and as long as she believes our message is true and keeps the commandments she can be baptized. We also explained that she will have to be interviewed and then she got all nervous but after she watched the baptism of those four young adults she was really touched. She noticed how happy they were and that one of them started crying and she said, "This really is something important." Sadly Julia and Rui weren't able to make it to the baptism because they had a car problem and the train that goes through our area is shut down for the next 3 weeks! Travel has been ridiculous this week, but we've been able to contact people on the trains and buses.
On Monday we set a baptismal date with Michelle! She's getting baptized on the 25th of June here in Versailles and she hasn't drunk any coffee this week! All by her own choice! We told her she could just start by drinking less and less every day and she said she would try it but when we talked to her next she hadn't drunk any at all! She usually goes to clubs on the weekends with her friends (our next lesson is going to be on the gift of the Holy Ghost and standing in Holy Places ;) and she said she wanted to reward herself for not drinking coffee by getting a malibu (Rum with orange juice and coconut). I started laughing and when she looked at me she said, "What? They're really good! And I've been doing really well at not drinking coffee." We explained that it doesn't help you keep the Word of Wisdom by breaking it at the same time. Earlier in the lesson she herself had said that our bodies are a gift from God and we really should take care of them; so, I reminded her of what she had said and she said it wasn't fair that I was using her words against her, but I told her she knows what the right thing to do is. We told her if she felt tempted to get one to call us. When she said the closing prayer in our lesson she thanked Heavenly Father for helping her not drink coffee and then she said, "I really want a Malibu, but I know I shouldn't drink one so I will get orange juice instead and I will call the sisters." She is so awesome! When there is a will there is a way and when we keep the commandments of God he blesses us and won't let us be tempted above that which we are able to bear.
Yesterday we had leadership training with all of the missionaries (that we usually do multi-zone conferences with) instead of just the leaders. It was the best training I have ever been to and I'm sure all of the missionaries. President Staheli shared from Mosiah 26:37-39
37 And it came to pass that Alma did regulate all the affairs of the church; and they began again to have peace and to prosper exceedingly in the affairs of the church, walking circumspectly before God, receiving many, and baptizing many.
38 And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God.
39 And they did admonish their brethren; and they were also admonished, every one by the word of God, according to his sins, or to the sins which he had committed, being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things.

He also shared from Elder Christofferson's talk at general conference, "As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten." Of course the training yesterday was about being exactly obedient and not doing little things that we know we shouldn't. When we are obedient we are promised blessings, "I, the Lord, ambound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." We stay worthy of the Holy Ghost and when we have the Holy Ghost our testimonies are stronger and he can touch others hearts when we share them. President Staheli promised us if we do what we know we are supposed to, because we gave our ward when we signed our acceptance letters for our missions, we will have success. Our baptisms have been a lot lower than last year, but I too know that if all of the missionaries always do their best we will find those whom the Lord has prepared for us.

I love you all!

Bisous, Soeur Valerie Reeves

More Versailles Photos

King Louis XIV

The Enormous Gardens!

Chariot Statue

Marie Antoinette's Village

"Marie Antoinette's get away, we didn't have our visas that day nor much time, so we just saw it from the outside" - Soeur Reeves

A lake in the Gardens

View of the Chateau from the Gardens. (Pemberly anyone?)

Week 12

Bonjour ma famille!

Well this has been a good, busy and trying to get better week again.  I'm all better now but this time Soeur Murray cought the cold, let's just hope Soeur Woodruff doesn't get it next. 
On Monday we had dinner and family night with the Pelous family in our ward and our new ami Fred!  He came to church and we were able to invite him to join us for dinner with a member family.  It makes a big difference if you're able to integrate them immediately.  He told frere Pelous that he drives to work every day but the one day he didn't was the day that he ran into us in the park!  Definitely not a coincidence!  Soeur Pelous has actually not been baptized yet, so when Fred found out he of course asked her why.  She wasn't able to give a very solid answer but I'm glad he brought it up and hopefully she will think about it more.  That's been our topic at the past few lessons that we've had with her but I think we'll focus on some different subjects for the next few weeks. 
Last week we taught Michelle about prayer and that Heavenly Father really does answer prayers and if she prays about the Book of Mormon she can know for herself if it is true.  We called her a few days later and she was busy at the moment but before she hung up she told Soeur Murray, "Guess what? I prayed and it works! It's like magic!"  She's so sweet and she's really trying to understand the scriptures and gain a relationship with God because she was agnostic before.  We talked with her over the phone today and she was headed into Paris.  We shared some scriptures with her and then she said, "I want to pray before I go out tonight."  Of course we were happy to let her pray because we were actually going to ask her if we could say a prayer before hanging up.  Her prayer was so sweet and simple and it was like a real conversation.  She was truly letting Heavenly Father know how she felt and the desires of her heart and thanked him for specific things that had happened the past couple of days.  After she finished she asked if it was okay or if it had been too long.  We told her it was perfect and she could keep it as long or short as she wanted.  It was a real mind opener for me.  Most of the time when I pray I repeat a lot of the same phrases and then it's like a check list as I pray about certain things.  I need to make mine more like a conversation, because it is and Heavenly Father is truly our father and wants to know how we are feeling.
On Wednesday we taught our last lesson to Julia and Ruis (at least according to them).  I was heart broken.  The hard part about being a missionary is that our amis have their agency.  That must be how Heavenly Father feels when we do something wrong.  In a way wishing we hadn't been given our agency, but knowing it's for our good and hopefully someday we will return to him .  It's just hard because they have know idea how many blessings are in store for them!  The gospel isn't about having to keep a whole bunch of commandments; it's about the blessings we receive from keeping those commandments.  And every commandment we keep draws us closer to the spirit.  So we talked with them about the gift of the Holy Ghost.  I guess I should tell you how it all happened.  We got into their home and before we started the lesson they told us they had to be honest and that they had decided to stop taking the lessons from us.  We were all just silent and looked at them in shock.  They said it was nothing against us or against the church, but that right now it was too much and Julia described it as being suffocating.  We had been calling them every day to remind them to read their scriptures, but that was something Julia asked us to do herself so they can't blame us for that one.  I asked them if they had prayed about their decision.  They said yes and that they felt like it was the right thing to do; however when Ruis said the opening prayer and Julia said the closing prayer they bloth prayed for forgiveness about their decision, so that didn't make any sense to us.  They told us they have been reading and praying every day and will continue to do so and then maybe when they're done with the Book of Mormon they will call us.  Soeur Murray then asked them if they believe the Book of Mormon is true and they said Yes, so it still didn't make any sense to us because we've committed them to baptism multiple times and they were never willing to fix a date, and yet they say it's true.  She then asked them what they're going to do when they're done reading the Book of Mormon and they said they'll probably get baptized.  It was a hard lesson, I don't think I've every prayed so hard for the power of the Holy Ghost to tell us what to do.  We had been planning on teaching them about the gift of the Holy Ghost and we decided to still do it.  We explained that that's why they need to get baptized and we talked about all of the different roles the Holy Ghost plays as our constant companion.  He's a comforter, counselor, he warns us, guides us, and prompts us and influences us.  We all just bore our testimonies to them as we read from the scriptures and shared experiences.  I then told them how hard we had been praying to help them and know what to teach them and how badly we wanted them to have these blessings.  I watched the look on Ruis's face and I could tell that he knew it was true; he then said thank you.
We're going to have dinner with them tonight and they're going to attend a baptism with us tomorrow.  I hope this will help them change their minds.  Or maybe they do need a break from us and then they will see the difference in the lives and miss that feeling they had when we taught them or when they came to church.
I was able to go to Brussels yesterday with Soeur Murray and about 12 other missionaries who were also getting their legality.  It was a fast, but busy trip as we were runnning a little late, but I got to see Soeur Larsen and Soeur Judd while I was there!  And I have now met all of the sisters in the mission!
We should also be getting a few more students to attend our English class this next week.  Just different young adults that we have talked to while on the train.  (we have only had one student ever since I got here :-/ )  I hope they come and hopefully we will be able to start teaching them the gospel lessons as well! 
I love you all!
Bisous,

Soeur Valerie Reeves

Le Chateau de Versailles

A picture of the front

Louis XIV's own Chapel inside the Castle

Gallery of War pictures 

Picture with "colleagues" Soeur Murray and Soeur Woodruff

Soeur Reeves in the Hall of Mirrors

Soeur Murray and Elder Frandsen (Valerie's district leader from the MTC)

Valerie got to see Soeur Judd and Soeur Larsen at the Gare (train station) When she went to Brussels for legality.

Week 11

I love you all! It was great talking on the phone with Mom, Dad, Allyson, Ryan, and Eric. We tried to do conference call with videos but it slowed the signal down so we just listened to each other. But it was good!
Congratulations Jessica and Reid with your new baby Max! That's such a cute name and he looks just like Lyla! Congratulations to Linsday, I had no idea she was getting married!
Mom told me to start printing emails so this way I can just use my time to send a group email to all of you and reply to anything you may have mentioned in your emails.
Just a quick miracle story for this week. We met Fred, a single African man, in the park when we were contacting and we set up a rendez-vous for the very next day at the same time. We had the rendez-vous and it was awesome! He has started to read the Book of Mormon and is coming to church tomorrow and then we are having dinner with him and a member family on Monday! I'm so glad we were able to scoop him right up (if that's a term ;) by teaching him immediately and already starting to have him get to know members. Sadly he doesn't live in our area so we will have to pass him to the Elder's in St. Ouen, but I'm glad we had a part in planting and watering a seed and then hopefully we can see the fruit come forth and go to his baptism!
I know the Lord puts people in our path when we put forth the effort and show him that we care and want to help in his work.

Love, Soeur Reeves

3rd Transfer Photos

The Apartment

Valerie said that kids are always playing outside on Wednesdays and the weekend.  (Which makes sense, most schools get out early in the middle of the week, but have school until about 5 pm the rest of the week)  Soeur Murray and Soeur Woodruff are up ahead.  Soeur Reeves loves how peaceful it is here. 

The Mission Home

Scenery while proselytizing. 

Contacting in Paris:  Soeur Reeves liked that this park was called Square du Temple since she served in Temple Square in SLC.

More beautiful scenery