an american in paris: you can't buy this kind of love.

yesterday was so good. i love sundays in the mission field. wait, i love everything in the mission field. President Poznanski came to our ward and bore his testimony- he told a really cute story about his newly married son and daughter in-law. After settling in to their new house, they went to Ikea to buy a plant to make it more homey. They found a beautiful one and took great care to water it every week. It was so beautiful that they decided to go buy another one. They went back to Ikea and found another one exactly the same as the first. They then realized they were in the artificial plant aisle. :)
He said sometimes missionary work is like that- we feel as if we're watering an artificial plant. we put so much effort into it, then nothing grows. the Lord will never leave us alone with our artificial plants, though. The miracles WILL come! This week has kind of been an "artificial plant" week- we had lots of promising referrals fall through, lots of people not answering their phones anymore, lots of people not home. There was one bright spot of sunshine, though:
hana.

Hana is Taiwanese. Her mom died when she was 11 years old, leaving her dad alone with three daughters. She has been a carefree party-er her whole life- she was into smoking, drinking, pills, you name it. She came to Paris alone for two months of vacation. About a month ago, one month into her trip, she wandered into the church one sunday looking for a place to pray. the chinese elders started teaching her, she quit smoking and drinking, completely changed her life, and was baptized three weeks later! She is so amazing. We have been teaching her the recent convert lessons this week and we LOVE her! It feels like we have known her so much longer than a week. She goes back to Taiwan on Thursday and we are so sad, but it's happy at the same time... she can't wait to bring her papa and her sisters to church. :) She has such a light in her eyes and such a sweet spirit about her- she really has become a completely different person. She always talks about how she was always angry before she found the church. She said getting the gift of the Holy Ghost has made her more "tender". So cute! I love to see how happy the church makes her. She is seriously one of my favorite people i have taught on my mission. She is sweet and guileless and humble. She has embraced the gospel with her whole heart. And her broken english makes her even more lovable!

hana quotes.

"I feel lucky to be mormon woman. Our Father make us beautiful and smart. Smarter than men, but they don't know that."

"I only marry mormon boy."

"I listen to same song over and over today- 'I am a Child of God'. I go to supermarket and I singing and smiling and people think I crazy!"

"I think Alma is a lovely guy."

"You like best salesmen for our Father. But you don't sell cars, you sell God's story. for FREE!"

We had a rendez-vous with her on Friday... we read Alma 29 together. She said, "I want to be angel too. I want to tell everyone!" She is almost giddy with love for the gospel. After our lesson, we gave her her a card I drew for her. she said, "You can't buy this kind of love." It's true. Soeur Smith and I feel pretty lucky to have been able to teach her for a little while.

sending lots of love across the ocean.

soeur williams.