Bonjour à tous!
Highlights of the week! On Tuesday when we had our rendez-vous we were running late so we tried to call Benoitte to let her know, but she wasn't responding so we were afraid she wouldn't be there but headed over anyway. When we got off the metro we passed by the bus stop to see when the bus was coming. We had about a 12 minute wait and thought we might get to her home sooner if we walked quickly. Sitting at the bus stop however was an African woman with her baby and something told me that we should wait for the bus and talk with her. I looked at Soeur Alves and we both said we should wait for the bus. I then turned to the African woman and started talking to her and asked some questions about her baby and then she said, "I know who you are. I'm Gilberte you or your friends came by my house the other week." "What?" I thought to myself trying to remember who Gilberte was, maybe a former investigator that we had tried to visit, or maybe the Elders had passed by. She told us her address and recognized the name of the road, so I told her, "Yes, I think it was us who came by." She then told us that she used to come to the church and even got baptised. It then clicked and I remembered that we had passed by some in-active members the week before but she had told us she was too busy to see and that she would call us. We had left her a note letting her know that we would love to meet her and if she needed anything she could call us. While talking with her at the bus stop we learned that she had been baptised 5 years before but her life got so busy with her kids that she quit coming to church. We invited her to come back and again she said she's too busy right now. I asked her if her life was better when she came to church and she thought about it for a second and said yes. She admitted that when living the principles and commandments life goes better. We haven't had a rendez-vous yet, and she didn't come to church, but she said she for sure wants to see us before I go home. So if she doesn't call us before then we will. ;) and we also left her a happy mother's day card (It was yesterday here in France). I've seen that it makes a difference when we keep in contact with in-active members and show them that we care. When we showed up to Benoitte's it was perfect timing because she had just finished cleaning and put her baby down for a nap and we were able to have a great lesson. I know that the Lord helps us in this work and I'm so grateful that both Soeur Alves and I listened to the spirit and talked with Gilberte. Who knows if she would have been willing to tell us who she was.
On Wednesday we had an amazing Zone conference with Elder and Sister Teixeira who were doing a mission tour. It was mainly focused on faith and finding new investigators which is exactly what I needed. After the first half of the training an Elder gave the prayer and blessing on the food. Elder Teixeira asked him to pray and ask the Lord to help each of us apply the teachings we had learned. Oh my goodness! The spirit was so strong during that prayer. I will never forgot the feeling that came over me. Everyone afterward was full of the spirit. Many of us missionaries sat there for a minute before getting lunch so that we could right about it in our journals/notebooks. Elder Teixeira talked to us to about casting pearls before swine, not that he was calling us swine, but he said that he had pearls for us and he didn't want to share it unless we were willing to listen and then do those things that we learned. He said to keep our minds and hearts open to the spirit so that we would know how to use those pearls. Towards the end he said that he wanted us to leave the conference and act immediately. He said that too often he goes to zone conferences and missionaries linger around afterward and chat and it's so long before the finally leave. He said he was going to stand at the podium and wait until all of us left after the conference. We had two and half hours before our train ride home and some other missionaries wanted to go to Grand Place, but Soeur Alves and I both took this to heart so after we said goodbye to everyone we asked the Brussels missionaries for their phone numbers and the church address. We walked out the door and started to walk to Grand Place but Soeur Alves and I stayed behind the other missionaries and decided to contact people. It's always hard at first, but after the first person it gets easier and easier and it's great to have a companion at your side cheering you on. Most of the people we talked to at first were not at all interested, but then we saw a young African woman (haha, we always go for the Africans because they're always nice and they love talking about Jesus. Don't worry we contact French people too). Her name is Sandra and she wasn't interested at first and said she was in a hurry, but Soeur Alves quickly said, "We just came from a conference and it was amazing and we really want to share this with you." (ha, something that Elder Teixeira said to go ahead and say). Sandra stopped and looked curious. She didn't have much time but we were able to share a quick summary of our message on the restored gospel and we got her number and address! We then talked with another young woman named Melissa (who is African, but from England) and she had already talked to missionaries back home. While talking with her however we learned that she had misunderstood what the Book of Mormon was and we asked if she'd be willing to meet with the missionaries and learn what the book is truly about. She accepted and we were able to get her address and number for both Brussels and London. We may have only gotten two referrals, but we were filled with joy! By the time we got to Grand Place we really weren't that interested to be there. We were more content sharing the gospel with people than sight seeing. We had just enough time to meet up with the other missionaries, get some dinner and get to the train. We were then able to talk with Odile who sat accross from us on the train (this time an older French lady).
We truly find joy in doing the work of the Lord and the gospel brings more happiness than any material possession. We were able to fix a rendez-vous with Aimée. She's a friend of Clever (the V. D'Ascq Elders investigator) who just got baptised on Saturday. She came to show her support for Clever and was very touched during the baptism. I asked her if she would like to learn what Clever had learned and if we could teach her our message. She was happy to fix a rendez-vous!
Bonne semaine! Choisis le bien!
Bisous, Soeur Reeves
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