Oh How Time Flies

Where to begin with from last week?? We had our transfer changes last Wednesday and my district stayed the same because last transfer we had the best stats in our zone, the Paris Sud Zone. I'm still with Soeur Bishop which makes me super happy because I still have a lot to learn here as a bleu. I'm also happy that I'm here in Tours for a little longer! So much progress has happened since I've arrived. Soeur Bishop and I have found some new amies to teach and so far, things are working out so well with them!

Well first off I should explain that Soeur Bishop and I are "training" Bradley. She was the one who was baptized when I first came in (she dabbed in the font) and now we're helping her prepare to do a mini mission with us! So we're technically a trio right now and it's so much fun with her! Bradley has an amazing testimony and she helps us contact, teach, and she even helps me with my French! Next week, she'll be getting an interview with the branch president to get her temple recommend! Once she gets that, Soeur Bishop and I will be able to go to the temple with her and probably get special permission to do baptisms for the dead with her! Hopefully, we'll be able to get her to begin her mini mission within the next two weeks and she's so excited  to have a missionary badge of her own! Bradley is such a blessing to us! So the three of us have been going around Tours finding new people and so far we have three new amies that we teach now!

Our first new ami actually called us from our contact card that we gave a while back. It was a miracle that he called telling us that he was ready to come to church! This happened about two weeks ago I think, he came to church on Fast Sunday of this month. People would go up to the podium and bear their testimonies so this ami decided to go up and speak, but then all of a sudden, he turned to the counselor that was presiding and asked if he could sing a song. So he began to sing and we all were surprised, he had a very nice voice and then he thanked everyone and sat back down. Soeur Bishop and I have had three more lessons with him since then and he loves learning more from us! Our second ami we met was while we were street contacting. We helped him with some groceries and he told us that he began to believe in God when he survived a heart attack. Yesterday, we taught him the Retablissement (Restoration). He was very open about what he had to say and now we set up another rendezvous with him for this week! We found our last new amie while we were porting, meaning that we went knocking on every door hoping that someone would listen to the message of happiness that we have to share. We did that for about an hour we all three of us were able to give out cards, but no one would agree to meet with us again. We all agreed to try one more apartment complex and we had a competition to see who was able to get a door opened and set up a rendezvous with the person. There were 6 rooms to ring. Soeur Bishop goes and rings the first apartment, no response. Bradley goes next and rings the second apartment, no response. I go and ring the third apartment, no response. Soeur Bishop goes again, no response. Bradley was next, again no response. Finally it came to me to ring the last room. I pushed the button and we all waited for a response and got nothing until...we hear the door unlock and a woman steps out. We all eagerly introduce ourselves and tell her about our church and the gospel. She was super interested in the message and wanted to meet with us again! We met with her twice last week, Tuesday and Friday! She is cruising with the lessons and she loves how much thought we put into them and she understands it all! We invited her to come to church and she accepted! The only problem was how to get her there. Here in Tours there's only one church building and a lot of the church members live far away. We had to find a way to get her to come since on Sunday, not all of the buses are running. We called her the night before but no response and we were getting distraught because we so badly wanted her to come with us. Sunday morning comes and still no reply from her. We went to church sad that she wasn't there and then all of a sudden she shows up for the second hour. We were so happy that she came and after church was done, we gave her a tour of the building. The members were so kind to her. She told us that she loved what she felt and she was looking forward to learning more from us. I love my mission!

Spiritual thought:

I came across a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley during my personal study. He said, "Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don't get discouraged. Things will work out." This quote is on my wall where I can look at it each day as I study. I love this quote because it helps me when it comes to learning French. There was a point on my mission where I was really struggling with the language and I was getting frustrated with myself whenever I couldn't understand and speak to people. When I first read that quote, I was determined to set more goals with my French skills. As long as I keep trying and be happy about my progress, things will work out in the end. Everyday I pray to my Heavenly Father to help me with my French skills and I go out and do my best to share the gospel to the best of my abilities. If any of you are having any difficulties in your lives now, I can testify that things will work out in the end with the Lord's help. He invites all of us to pray to Him so the He can help us. As long as we keep trying and be believing, as long as we are happy and not be discouraged, things WILL work out in the end. Je sais que Dieu est toujours present. Je suis reconnaisante d'être une missionnaire ici en France. Grâce à Jésus-Christ nous pouvons vivre avec notre Père encore. Quand nous prions, Dieu nous entend et il répondra. Je suis reconnaisante pour l'Evangile, pour cette église, et pour notre Sauveur Jésus-Christ. Je vous aime tous! Passe une bonne semaine!

-Sœur Hopkinson