Bonjour à tous! I don't have much time, but I'll let you know real quick how the first week of the white-wash here in Annemasse went. One word: tiring. haha. But honestly, it was really great, and I like it here a lot. It's beatiful being tucked up in here in the Swiss Alps. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the Sound of Music or something. But we sure did have a full week! We had a lot of opposition to be honest. White-washes are never easy, but we had some added factors. It has been raining literally all week, we've gotten onto wrong trains, ended up in wrong villes, we don't know anyone here, we've gotten lost several times (luckily my comp is great with a map), had a LOT of rdvs fall through, had a lot of people not want to talk to us or let us in their homes, etc. It may sound like I'm just complaining, but I promise this has a point. It doesn't sound much different from the typical grind off missionary work, but added all together into one straight week made it a bit exhausting. Well, you know how in the scriptures it says that we have to endure to the end, and then we'll have the reward? And how we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith? Well, it's true! On many of these days where literally one thing after another went wrong, we were blessed to see some really cool miracles right at the end there. For example, we were walking to this awesome rdv we had planned, when we get a call that they had to cancel. So, we try our back-up plan, and they weren't home. At this point it's the end of the day, rainy, cold, and we only have about 30 minutes until we can go home. Pretty tempting to just go back...But, we decided to port (knock doors) instead. We go to door after door, and no one wants to talk, and they think we're crazy for being out there in the dark in the rain. But I liked it actually because it left a distinct impression that they'll never forget. haha. But anyways, we go do one last door. Well, this sweet mother of 2 lets us in. She tells us we have 3 minutes. Well...45 minutes later, this lady exchanges phone numbers with us. We did the project elijah approach with her, got her talking about her family, and then she lets it out that she lost a son and her mother. Immediately we could feel the presence of thoset two angels standing there with us testifying. This lady who said once we first got in that she "couldn't understand why a loving God would let such awful things happen" by the end of the lesson was saying maybe it is possible that trials are tests, meant to help us turn closer to God. It was just so incredible to see the power of having the spirit and ministering angels with us. That's just one little example, but there were many others. Almost every day this week after everything had gone wrong, some little miracle happened right at the end of the day that just made me realize that everything happens for a reason. In the moment we may think everything is going wrong, but really, God just works in mysterious ways. He has everything happen in His way, according to His timing, so that we will be in the right places at the right times, to meet those of His children who need us and are ready for us. He wants us to trust Him and keep perservering with trust and faith in Him, no matter how hard it may seem, and then we see a witness as to why we had to endure that moment. But that always comes after. :) I hope you all have a splendid week. Go make the world a better place! Love, Soeur Shields
|
map
Archives
November 2015
|