Soeur Hurd in Lyon: It's November!

Bonjour famille!

This week we had 2 blitzes in our sector and they were so fun! The
first was with the sisters in Geneva, Srs Yaka Yake and Wilsher. I was
with Soster Wilsher, who is from England and she is so cool! She's one
of those super chill people that makes everyone feel comfortable I'm
her presence. She's a great missionary and knows why she's here on a
mission. We had some really great rdvs together and went porting for
an hour on a beautiful fall day. It was nice because even though only
one person opened their door to talk to us, we got to talk a lot and
get to know each other.

Our second blitz was with the St. Etienne sisters, Srs Frandsen and
Skalka. I was with Sister Frandsen, who I did an exchange with once in
Cannes. She's so sweet and so patient. Our exchange in Cannes was
porting and contacting all day in the heat, because that's all we ever
did in Cannes, and she was such a trooper. This time we actually had
rdvs to attend, thank goodness haha. And she knew the people we were
seeing because she previously served in Val de Saône, which is the
area right next to us. We taught nelly the word of wisdom together and
helped her fix a calendar for when she'll stop drinking coffee.

Saturday we had a Halloween party for our amis and members. We had no
idea it was going to be so huge. It was great! We had tons of yummy
food that all the missionaries brought and some moms had gone crazy
sending Halloween decorations to their kids so we used that to
decorate the institute. Because it involved all the Lyon missionaries
and four different wards, it was sooo crowded. But it was fun. We did
a spiritual thought at the end about doing work for the dead (see what
we did there?) aka learning about our ancestors through family
history. We also talked about eternal families and temples. It ended
up going pretty well. Afterwards, the son of one of our recent
converts said he was really touched by a video we showed and he was
reading all the institute posters and timelines put up around the
classroom. He was so glad he came, and said that his whole day was
planned out except for this block of time for a couple hours, and then
saw the invitation for our party which worked out perfectly. We have
to start teaching him! He really is one of those lights whose spirit
yearns to come into Christ but doesn't know it yet.

For Halloween I dressed up as Allison. It's easy, because I just had
to wear all black and chunky jewelry and lipstick and make my hair
classy. I even found these kitten heels that were totally what she
would wear. Pretty much everyone guessed who I was. She opted out of
dressing up as me when she realized she would have to wear much less
classy clothes. Mom clothes, even. Well I don't think I'm thattt bad.
Ça va, je m'en fiche pour l'instant.

This week we also had our district meeting and it was really great. We
talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and why it is so essential for
our work. As we were talking, I was just filled with the spirit and
reminded of the power of this sacred book. I remembered all these
times in my life when the Book of Mormon helped me through hard times,
when it spoke to my soul and answered my questions, when I gained
greater insight pertaining to gospel principles. I know that the Book
of Mormon is a true book. I know that it was written by prophets of
the Lord, who knew Him and testified of Him. Everything about the Book
of Mormon points to the fact that Jesus is the Christ, that He came
into the world to do the will of his Father, to save all mankind from
this mortal life and redeem all who will come into Him from their
sins. I know that anyone that reads it with a sincere heart will come
closer to God than by reading any other book. This book was truly
written for our day! Mormon and Moroni continued to add their writings
to it, knowing that they would hide them to be brought forth at a
later day centuries later. Who else was going to read it but us? No
one! This book speaks to every person that lives on the earth now. I
love the Book of Mormon and I am continually uplifted by studying it
everyday.

Read the Book of Mormon! If it is not a part of your daily study, make
it a part of your study. There is a power that will come into your
life the second you start to read it sincerely.

Je vous aime beaucoup!

Sœur Melissa Hurd