cast not away therefore your confidence.

bonjour from blois!

 

on wednesday, we had a rendez-vous with Clément. I don't know if I've talked about him yet, but he is awesome. He has been dating a member for two years and they just got married in August. He's been coming to church for most of those two years, but he isn't baptized yet. He knows the church is true, but he's the afraid-of-commitment type. He comes to church every week in a suit, white shirt, and tie. The first  time we saw him, we thought he was a member! And he doesn't look French at all. He's big and tall like a football player. He's sweet.

Anyway, Soeur Larsen and I have had him on our minds constantly, trying to figure out what we can do and say to help him get baptized. We came up with lots of illustrations of his situation. Our favorite: it's like he's at a feast, but he won't eat because he doesn't want to have to do the dishes. This man needs to be a member! We prayed a LOT before our rendez-vous with him. As I was doing my personal studies that day, I thought about the moment I decided to go on a mission. My mom looked at me and said, "Cast not away therefore your confidence." those words rang through my mind as I sat at my desk. I immediately opened my bible and flipped to the scripture. this is what I found:

 

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

 

It was perfect for Clément! We had him read those verses during the rendez-vous and they hit him really hard. We both testified about doing the will of the Lord, even when we're scared or feel inadequate. We were bold and upfront and told him to think about a date he would like to fix for his baptism, and we would talk about it the next rendez-vous. He agreed. We're going to see him again on Wednesday!

 

We spent the day in Paris on Thursday; it was so lovely to be back. We had a fantastic training by Elder and Sister Gonzàlez. They were so cute and happy! It was weird to hear a training in English. He talked about the promise that was made to the members of the church in Europe that if we have a concentrated effort between members and missionaries, we can DOUBLE the membership here! We're so excited about that. That would just be amazing. It made us want to work that much harder! And yes, it was terrifying to play the hardest piano piece I've ever played in front of a general authority. But, I survived :)

 

Yesterday evening, we were walking home from a member's house. We started talking to an old woman who was standing on the sidewalk in front of her house. She was adorable. She told us she had been living in her house since 1946, back when that part of Blois was all fields. She showed us her house and her crazy detailed cross stitching she did when she was younger. We tried talking to her about church, but I don't think she understood. It was so fun to talk to someone who had been living in Blois for 70 years!

 

As we were leaving her house, we came across a dirt path that cut across a field. We decided to take the shortcut. As we were walking across the field with the rolling hills and forests spread out before us, and the sun setting on the horizon, casting a warm glow on the yellow leaves, I turned to Soeur Larsen and said, "shouldn't we be wearing empire-waist dresses right now?" we talked about whether Mr. Bingley would be at the ball until we got to the end of the pathway. It's nice to have a companion who will talk in british accents with me. Anyway. Moral of the story: I adore the French countryside.

 

and.

i adore my mission.

 

amour,

 

little mish.

i adore blois!

cute Soeur Larsen and i...

we love being together again!