How I Learned to Love Stepping Down

This week was actually the hardest week of my mission. Scratch that. My life. I feel as though I say that too often, but alas, life always seems to find ways to one-up my past experiences haha.

Snow has already started to fall down in buckets here. Occasionally we get a break, but then there's always that beloved slosh that you have to walk in everywhere. This Georgia girl is still adapting. That time in Utah didn't prepare me well enough for this!!!

Cool miracle: I got to teach my first lesson in SPANISH. Sœur Cerdhé wanted to meet up with a lady she had taught and was baptized in Geneva while we were there for a conference, so we went, we taught, and now I have a new favorite human being!! She's a little 4'9" Peruvian with the strongest faith I've ever seen. She's been living in Switzerland for medical treatment (she has cancer) and she hasn't seen her husband for 8 years. She is the most incredible person. I can't express it any more deeper than that.

Update on our family: They've got DATES. Baptismal ones. And we're excited. Really, really excited :)

Ana Luz and Us

Me and Sœur Cerdhé

FACTS I LEARNED:

• Algeria produces some beautiful people. Good grief.

• Romanian chocolate cake = new Klondike bar?

• If you give an Italian woman the Book of Mormon, chances are she'll want to cook you lunch.

• If you give an American missionary with pride issues practically raw meat still gushing red juice for lunch, chances are her experienced Mexican companion will diagnose the both of you with parasites weeks later.

• If you give an inexperienced American missionary parasite medication, chances are her body will react as though she has cholera. At one in the morning. And at four. And for the next two days after that.

Despite this week being filled with EXTREME physical and spiritual opposition, we know that we're scaring the livin' daylights out of the adversary. How do we know this? Our last rendez-vous with the Rupa family was the most spirit-driven, most successful, and most eye-opening lesson I've ever had. We asked the grandmother if she had started to read the Book of Mormon, she flipped open to Chapter 16 in the first book and said she reads it every second she gets (we had given it to her three days beforehand). When we started to explain the plan of salvation, she began to cry (well, sob) and kept repeating over and over that this is true. All of it is true. She accepted a date for three weeks later to get baptized, along with all her daughters and daughter-in-laws.

There was one thing I noticed that I let myself do differently in this lesson. I stopped trying to think of everything I needed to say beforehand, like what they tell you not to do in the MTC. Just lean on the Spirit. God took control of that entire lesson, and now we can help this beautiful family take the necessary steps toward Him. I love my calling. Just so you know. There isn't another feeling that compares to having God work through you to help others feel that same peace. Swallowing pride and stepping down. Who would have thought that those MTC teachers were right??

I love you. I pray for you. If there was anything I could want more this Christmas season, it would be your prayers for this family. They've already started to get a wave of opposition. Thank you. Your prayers make all the difference.

Sœur Green

Counting Blessings...

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans out there. I decided to share just un petit peu of my gratitude and the blessings I see every day to feel that holiday spirit despite being on the other side of the Atlantic. I hope it is a good day for all of you!!

First off, I'm thankful for my calling and every experience that it has given me. Everyone in my family, ward, and group of friends that have made this possible for me holds a special place in my heart and always will. I hope you reap every blessing that God gives you. You are generous and loving people.

I must share my thanks for all of those we teach, especially our new BIG family that harbors so much hope and faith despite their crippling trials.

I am so thankful to be a part of something this genuine and lasting. I have never felt so accomplished and ready to take on whatever comes. There have been so many people that have impacted me so greatly and provided me with such a valuable perspective, it's impossible to say that God didn't have a hand in making these things happen.

In brief, I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who gives me a life that I clearly don't deserve. I am thankful for His patience with my shortcomings. I am thankful for His hand that has pulled me up when I've found myself sinking.

Thank you so much for who you are and your desire to be great people. Don't ever lose that fire. Your worth is immeasurable. I love you. Take care. Walk off all that turkey so you can enjoy Christmas :)

Sœur Green

Some pictures to make you happy:

How I Learned to Love Measuring My Own Progression

Miracle week has arrived. Today, we had a lesson with the cutest family who has just started coming to our branch in Annecy. Before that, we had a miracle lesson in the train station while we were waiting for our train to get to their house. The man was an ex-Muslim from Guinea and was PREPARED to meet us. He took a Book of Mormon and wants to see us again. 

After our lesson with our member family, we tried to visit a less-active church member who we found out moved away because his name isn't on the building sonnerie. So, we prayed, got the feeling we should start walking south, and not coincidently, we knocked on the door of a family from Romania who let us right in and let us start teaching all 20 of them that were crammed in there, haha. I could cry, I'm so happy. Nothing is more rewarding than teaching families the gospel. They were so open and told us to come by this Friday with a Romanian Book of Mormon. 

I want to thank you all for your prayers and support. This is what you are helping make happen. I could probably list off so many more things, but the internet cafe closes in 10 minutes and I'm trying to type on this crazy French keyboard as fast as I can.

FACTS I LEARNED:

• Putting off your emails until the evening is a stupid idea.

• Professional Ping Pong tournaments are INTENSE. Our investigator invited us to one of his matches and I seriously was sweating the entire time. You can't even keep your eye on the ball, you have to follow the player's movements!

• If you combine mine and Soeur Cerdhé's names in Spanish, we're Hermanas Cerdhé and Verde. Yeah. Basically, we're Spanish superheroes here to baptize the world.

• My calling is the coolest experience ever and I so badly want to get an extension......

I must admit that recently I've discovered yet another flaw that spots my moral complexion. Up until not long ago, I had trouble comparing myself to the performance of other missionaries. In short, I was comparing my weaknesses to their strengths. Yeah. I know. When I write it out bluntly, I see how stupid it is. But really, when you are serving with a companion that has literally every positive trait in the book, how else are you supposed to feel?? I've conscientiously had to monitor my thoughts and stop thinking every negative thing I think about myself. It truly does impact my performance and ability to show my love for others. It's been a lesson in humility for me. I've never leaned so hard on prayer. Progress is only accurately measured in relation to you and your past self. If you are like me, MEMORIZE THAT. Believe me, it will make you so much happier. 

I love you all. I want you all to know that. I pray for you and for your happiness. You are definitely a contributor to mine. Bonne semaine!!

Hermana Verde

How I Learned to Love Just Being a Friend

Un Petit Message

So, this has been the start of Miracle Week. Our investigator who dropped off the face of the earth (aka left for Switzerland without giving us a heads up or a call) FINALLY CALLED US THIS MORNING! Also, our two other investigators are doing fairly well. We still feel like we need to find someone new, however, in order to reach our goal of baptizing someone in the month of November. Lots of praying and hard work is being dedicated to this goal. I've finally been able to trump my fear of making calls to strangers, so we've been keeping the phone in our hands from morning until evening, sending off texts and making calls whenever we can. It's going to happen. I can feel it in my bones.

FACTS I LEARNED:

• Legitimate Mexican tortillas are fairly simple to make (and consume.....in large amounts). 

• There are French people that think Dora the explorer is a French show. Are you kidding me??? If it was French, Dora would be from friggin' Spain, not MEXICO. C'mon people. This is where my American patriotism starts to flare up. :)

• Unfortunately, the genders for nouns in Spanish are NOT the same in French. That just made my life about a thousand times harder, but I'm still determined comme même. Esta bien todavia.

I tried to take the Frenchiest photo ever. Success?

My companion is such a great example to me. She has taught me so much already, especially the importance of just being nice to people. It was hard for me to understand why she'd just have random conversations with people and not even tell them who we were or what our message is. She just focuses on making their day better. 

And I love that. Sometimes I get caught up in the daily goals of having lessons and contacting a certain amount of people, that I forget that I'm actually working with people, not numbers. It's a great reminder and one that I need often apparently, haha. Sœur Cerdhé is such a great example of charity and I hope that many people can appreciate her efforts to be a light to the world rather than a burden.

In honor of my last companion, Ua here vau ia oe. It's "I love you" in Tahitian. And yeah, I mean that sincerely. Have a wonderful week and stay tuned for more miracles.

Hermana Verde

P.S. More pics...

My next best friend in Geneva, his name... Bond... James Bond

One of my favorite towns when it's not raining like an apocalypse. Faverges.