This week was so great. I love Lyon. I am such a beach bum and I
adored being in the Côte d'Azur when I was in Cannes, but I feel like
the fall/countryside/mountain life thing we got going on here in this
end of the mission is truly my happy side. Maybe it's just cause fall
is in the air and Soeur Wallace and I can't think about anything but
pumpkin and Christmas. We found Christmas lights while cleaning our
apartment this morning, and all we've been listening to is MoTab
Christmas for the past two weeks soooo maybe we're getting a little
ahead of ourselves? Nah.
But I just love it here. We went to Geneva this weekend for an
exchange and it was lovely! It was my first time ever in Switzerland
and the train ride there was so nice. It was also my first exchange as
an STL and it was really weird....I remember looking up to my STLs
when I was in the mission and looking at how they did everything. They
always seemed perfectly confident and capable of every aspect of being
a missionary. All of these things came to my mind as I was with Sister
Descoubes planning for that day and she kept asking for advice and I
was just like ahhhhh dang it. Inadequacy. But actually the exchange
was AMAZING. Sister Descoubes taught me so much and she is such an
INCREDIBLE missionary. She talks with everyone and is such a light to
everyone around her. So delightful! We went contacting for about an
hour and we had some really cool lessons with people. Twice someone
contacted us because they saw that we were praying and wanted to ask
why. Sister Descoubes kept saying "miracles happen on exchanges" and
it's totally true! But it's only true because when you have faith in
it, you make it happen with the Lord's help. We also had an amazing
lesson with this less active who we passed at the end of the day, and
when she first opened the door she was stone cold. We kept talking a
little and eventually she let us in and opened up about a lot of
things and thirty minutes later we're laughing and crying like old
friends. It was amazing.
I was sad to leave Geneva but as we came back to Lyon I actually felt
like I was coming home. I just love it so much! The past week as I've
been here I reflected back on my time in other villes. I really feel
like I was in Cannes to learn some good lessons for and to improve
myself, but as I came to Lyon I felt like I was always meant to serve
here. Like this is where I was always supposed to be and now it's time
to take everything I learned in Cannes and use it to serve the people
here. I really hope to stay here a while.
Sister Wallace and I eat super healthily together, which is amazing,
but then this weekend we wanted to make homemade Reese's for Soeur
brown cause it's her birthday and she and President live in our
sector. So we had peanut butter and chocolate in the house and it was
bad news. We created these little treats we call devil's playground
because we felt sinfully gluttonous eating so many. We ate like 7
each. Basically stack homemade Reese's, peanut butter pâte, banana,
and cinnamon sugar and you got it. Eating salads everyday is great and
all until you get until the end of the week and then you eat your
weight in sugar. Unfortunately other French people found out about the
Reese's and now everyone wants us to bring them to their homes this
week.
Yesterday we had a really cool lesson with a recent convert and her
nonmember family. Her husband has cancer and so elders gave him a
blessing of health, and the teenager kids were present. The spirit was
so strong during the lesson and we know the kids felt something.
Afterwards as we talked about the gospel and tried to help them
recognize these feelings as the spirit, it seemed like we were looking
at two future missionaries. For a second, I could imagine these two
youth four years from now sharing the things they knew to be true and
testifying about truths they had learned and felt in their home. Who
knows whether or not the rest of the family will join the church, but
it's incredible to imagine the potential that each of us as children
of Heavenly Father have. If we could only see what he intends for each
of us to become, the world would change. It is changing! The Lord is
truly hastening His work on the earth. I feel like is week I've been
able to take a step back and look at the grand picture and see things
as they really are.
Challenge this week is to prayerfully reflect on what God intends for
you to become. Write down your thoughts and set goals.
Je vous aime beaucoup!
Sœur Melissa Hurd
Walked out of the apartment one morning and saw this...
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