Danielle's Mission in France: Prison Break

Great miracles are happening here in Clermont. We've been having a lot of anti-miracles, but we all know that with anti-miracles comes a learning experience and then something so friggin awesome you can't even type it in words. We've got some new friends we're teaching and two of them are progressing like crazy. See below for details.

FACTS I LEARNED:

I have lost the ability to type on an American keyboard. I'm typing this like a two year-old right now.

Finnish Fact of the week: Angry Birds originates from Finland. You're welcome.

Finnish word of the week: kiitos (kee-toos). Translation: thank you.

I am going to be sharing three stories this week because I can't choose just ONE.

1. We were passing by an older member of our ward here whose wife is in the hospital suffers from all kinds of problems. He's been really lonely, so we thought it'd make him feel better if we paid him a visit. We were simply standing in his doorway singing him hymns and talking about his life when this woman comes up behind us and says, "You don't have the right to be in this apartment building." ...to which we replied, "We're visiting a friend. He's a member of our church.'' ....to which she then contorted, ''Well, explain that to the police when they get here. I already called them five minutes ago." Okay. Since when was it illegal to make old lonely people happy?!?! With that, we left him with a prayer and then booked it the heck out of there.

2. We had just finished having a lesson in an apartment building (where it was legal to be there) and as we were going down the stairs, Sœur Hiltunen turns to me and says, "We have to go knock on the door across the way.'' So we did. And now we are teaching an awesome person.

3. The other day was ridiculous. All four of the lessons we had planned with people fell through within two hours through text messages. I woke up to a bunch of messages on our phone telling us they couldn't make it or weren't interested. So, plan b: walk in the rain and wind all day talking to people on the street who weren't interested either. Around five o'clock, I thought Sœur Hiltunen was going to murder me. We were so tired and had been rejected all day long. We hadn't eaten or sat down for hours. AND THEN WE MEET CHRISTINE. She is an older woman who lost her husband not too long ago and was on her way home with some groceries in her hands. We stopped her and asked her if we could help and then started talking for a long time about religion. She said she had no faith whatsoever (surprise) but that she's still searching. We told her, "Well lucky for you, that's why we're here." She opened right up to us and invited us over for dinner and hot chocolate.......um, WIN???? We sang her hymns until dinner was ready and at the end of the evening, she teared up and said, "thank you for bringing light into my home. I've been sad for years. Will you please come back?"

Church is true. That's all I can tell you after the experiences I had this week. I love you all. Thank you for being wonderful. A la prochaine!

Sœur Green