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