How I Learned to Love Letting Go

Dixème semaine (Week Ten)

Great news, toute le monde!!

Remember the amazing Brazilian family I told you about? The ones who can't get married? Well, it just so happens that there is a Brazilian returned missionary in our ward who has become really great friends with Nice and they just talk on Facebook all the time because they stay home while their husbands work and neither of them speak very good French. 

Out of nowhere, we got a phone call from her one evening after a hard day of contacting/getting the finger and she told us how she had just gotten off the phone with Nice. She had told her everything about her marriage situation and why they can't get baptized. Our member friend told her that she has had several friends who were in the military and had the same problem but knew of a way to get married. So, naturally, she passed her a couple of her friends' numbers and the search for a way has begun. THIS IS AFTER WEEKS OF PRAYING. Guys, seriously. The church is so true, it's not even funny.

FACTS I LEARNED: 

• Our freezer puts all our food in a cryogenic sleep. I have probably digested several rocks while living in Carcassonne.

• Our bishop was a hippie who had hair all the way down to his butt and camped at Woodstock back in the 60s.... I love him....

• I have a disease. If I spend to much time in the sun, I get these little brown dots all over my cheeks and I look like a cheetah. I have a fatal case of Caucasianitis and there is no cure to be found in present time. 

• Literally, all of our investigators know about my racism against white people (without me telling them). They were telling me the other day after a lesson that after the mission, I am going to travel the world, marry a Tahitian and do the hauka all day. For all we know, they could be right.

So, humility is a trait that I have been trying to work on lately. Surprisingly, someone as incredibly awesome and spiritual as me is struggling with it. One of the things I've learned that help me align my personality more with Christ's is to just let the bad things thrown at you just roll off your back. It has been incredibly difficult trying to place God's opinion of me higher than everyone else's. 

If I honestly do my best in what I feel I am supposed to do, I believe wholeheartedly that it doesn't matter what the sweaty, angry, sun-burned tourist is yelling at me while I'm walking to the grocery store. Understanding the purpose of this life and having the perspective that our experiences don't end at the grave truly motivates people to put their will into God's hands and try to bring joy into the lives of others. I've seen it in many cultures, and I've seen it in all ages. 

Let God do His thing and trust Him that He's going to catch you before you hit the ground. In shorter terms, humble yourselves. I already know that I'll be working on this for the rest of my life, but I can sincerely promise you that you will see a change in your life and in the lives of those around you, if you start to center your efforts with an eternal perspective and let go of the tedious and worthless opinions that weigh you down.

As always, I love you. I send you much love from the south of France. Que tenga un buen dia!!!

Sœur Green