Christmas Time in Carcassonne

I can't believe it's already Christmas!! Crazy how time flies. You know, exactly one year from now I will be home. I have mixed feelings about it.. But I have to have the most amazing Christmas every while I'm here on my mission!!

I have a TON to tell you all, as usual. I'll do my best to fit in the most important - and I can tell you the rest on skype in 2 days!! Whoohooo!

Where to start!?

I don't remember if I've ever said anything about Myriam, but I'm going to now! Briefly, she started talking to me while we were in line for the post office a couple weeks ago when I was sending your package. She probably heard my American accent because she asked me if I spoke English. I said yes!! She told me that she was looking for someone to come and speak to her kids in English so that they could learn it from a real native speaker rather than just at school. She told me that she wanted someone who could be a stable job and that she could pay.. I told her that we couldn't be paid but that we would love to do it for free! She seemed hesitant about it but I gave her my number anyway and she said she would think about it. So Tuesday night we get a phone call from a random number... IT'S MYRIAM. She told us that she would love if we could just come over and help her son with his English homework. We of course agreed! She was so grateful for our help and told us that she would love to have us over often to help him! YAY!!! There family is adorable - and the way their house is decorated looks EXACTLY like ours. Its a little scary. They're going to join the church someday for sure. :)

Zone Conference!!! Oh my heck it was so fun and so uplifting. President is such an amazing speaker - he knows how to make the entire room laugh and cry. It's astounding. I love how much he uses the scriptures when he talks to us - he's such a good example for how we should be teaching as well. So their son-in-law was there to speak to all of us (he's a talented speaker as well) and he came up to me afterward and called me by name without looking at my plaque. He said that he tried so hard the night before to memorize missionaries names but had a really hard time remembering them all, but he told me that I was the easiest to remember. Haha! After the conference we packed up all of our packages and prepared to make the 30 minute trek to the gare. When we got to the door we realized it was POURING RAIN. So all of us missionaries walk 30 minutes in the pouring rain with ALL of our packages. That was a great memory haha.

Reunion of the September arrivals (with Pres. Roney photo bomb...)

JEAN PHILLIPE!!! I can't even begin to describe my feelings on Saturday at his baptism. I thought I was going to explode from joy. The service went flawlessly and the Spirit was so strong. Our DMP, Frère Vital was the one to baptize him and when he heard the news that he got to baptize him he told us that this was the best news he had heard all year and that this is the best Christmas present. :) I love Frère Vital!!!!! He gave a talk on the Holy Ghost right after Jean Phillipe was baptized and he started crying (I've never seen him cry my entire time here). He said that when Jean Phillipe got out of the water he told Frère Vital "I want to do what the soeurs are doing. I want to be a missionary too." When I heard this I couldn't help but cry. I wish you all could have heard Jean Phillipe's testimony afterwards. Everything on the mission is worth it when you get to teach someone as changed and converted to the gospel as Jean Phillipe. Soon enough he'll be a missionary too - what could be better!?

Baptism of Jean-Phillipe by Frere Vital

Soeur Reichelt, Jean-Phillipe et Soeur Everett

This is the biggest miracle of the entire week. Last night at about 9 we get a call from Christian. (Remember Christian? The eternal ami of 8 years who comes to church every Sunday, who was going to get baptized a couple transfers ago but dropped us the day before his baptism?) Well he called last night!!!! He laughed a little when I answered and then he said "Are you sitting down?" I said "Yes... what's up?" Then he said "I want to get baptized." WHAT. At first I thought he was just joking around but then he told us that while he was sitting in church he had a strong spiritual confirmation that he needed to get baptized. So we set a date for January 11th!!!! I'



M STOKED!!!!!

Well there are about a million other things that happened, buts its impossible to write it all down in so short time!!! I love you all so much!! I am so excited to skype you!!

JOYEUX NOEL!!!!

Soeur Everett

The mission watch

P.S. I've been thinking a lot about Mary the past few weeks since its almost time for Christmas. This morning I was reading the first 2 chapters of Luke to get in the Christmas spirit and one verse really stuck out to me. Luke 2:19. Mary was so magnificent yet so humble. She was the mother of the Savior but she kept all of her spiritual experiences so close to her. We should follow Mary's example and ponder a little more.

Crazy Week!!

What a week!!!! It is always such a party whenever we get to go to Lyon. The train ride there was like 4 hours long so we had tons of time to relax, have fun, and of course spark some French people. :) I sat next to a really cool girl on the train and she was asking me all sorts of questions about the elders because she speaks English pretty well and she wanted to know what they were talking about haha. The first thing when we got off the train I see Soeur Vidal from a distance screaming and running towards me. She didn't leave my side the entire rest of the day - I love my mommy!
So that night after we all went out to dinner, some of the trainers went back to the STL's apartment. They have about 20 beds there - that place is HUGE. TRIPLE BUNK BEDS. Just imagine that for a second. It was basically a hotel. But since its tradition that the trainers dont see the blues before we get assigned we all hid in a back room of the apartment (the blues had no clue we were even there). It was fun to be up there and see some old friends and make some new ones!! There are so many sisters that I'm dying to get to know better!! But I have time for that later. :)

Soeur Reichelt and I hit the ground running. We contacted some really great people while we were in Lyon (she literally has no fear of contacting, its incredible). On the train ride home we taught the entire first lesson to the man sitting across from us on the train (Gerome). Neither one of us had a copy of the Book of Mormon so we had to search the train asking missionaries if they had one. Finally we found one!! So we get back and tell him all about the Book of Mormon and he is really excited to learn more about our church - he has a big family too! (You're welcome Perpignan elders haha.) Then I noticed the man sitting across the aisle was listening in and I asked if he wanted a Book of Mormon too - he said yes - so we searched again for another copy. The missionaries were like "are you baptizing the whole train or what?" - yes :)

It's been crazy how amazing the work is going since we got back to Carcassonne. I feel like every other person we contact on the street is interested in learning more. (Perks of having a blue.) The work is exploding here I'm so excited to see what this transfer brings!!

Ok a little about my blue! :) I have the most amazing daughter I could ever ask for!!! She is incredible. Soeur Reichelt is from Freiberg, Germany - she speaks English REALLY well and she just started learning French 6 weeks ago...but she learns so fast!! And French people love when people are just starting to learn their language, it makes them feel proud that their language is so hard haha. She is 24 - so a whole lot older than me, but she never makes me feel younger!! She completely respects me as her trainer, which is really nice because its not always like that with such a big age difference!! She is HILARIOUS. We have so much fun together and I love being around her. She is really really confident too! Absolutely no fear. When I first picked her up we were at the metro stop waiting to get on and I told her to go contact a lady standing by herself. She said "Sure, why not." She said bonjour and smiled and then had no clue what the lady said after that haha. I remember when I first got here and I was SO scared to contact people!! But she has no problem!! You should've seen her in Sacrament meeting our first Sunday. Last minute Bishop asked us all to give talks and she wasn't even nervous. She just went up and did it! She never complains, she works really hard, she's really obedient and loving and she just lights up a room. I'm so lucky to have her! I just love my daughter!

3 Generations - Soeurs Vidal, Everett et Reichelt

The other night we had a RDV with Phillipe (Remember him from a few weeks ago? The one who missed his bus twice to talk to us?) We finally had a chance to see him on Friday! We asked him if he had read from the Book of Mormon yet and he said, "I'm so sorry I haven't finished yet. I only read about a third." WHAT. He told us that he feels something different when he reads it and that he really wants to come to church and find out if all of this is true. WHOOO

And of course the Phelipes... they are just the most wonderful family - I love them!!! We decided that we needed to cook dinner for them because they are always having us over and giving us herbal tea haha. So we cooked homemade mac and cheese - except switched the macaroni for potatoes (of course - you all know me). They loved it!! I was laughing so hard that night I thought I was gonna die. Pray for Nice to come to church! She watches her friends kids on Sunday morning and hasn't found a way to get to church. She needs lots of prayers!

Last but not least - JEAN PHILLIPE!!! He is basically the best ami on the face of the earth. The most prepared person I think I've ever taught. there hasn't been one since problem with ANYTHING the entire time I've taught him! We taught law of chastity and tithing and word of wisdom and there were no problems... and he's good to go for his baptism on Saturday! I'm so excited!!

Well family, I am doing so well. I am the happiest I've ever been! Don't forget that its our duty to share the gospel with our friends. Everyone deserves a chance to be as happy as we are.

I love you!

Soeur Everett

Alma 26:35-37

Pure Joy

I honestly feel elated, I'm SO happy!! This has been another INCREDIBLE week. First of all... TRANSFER CALLS!!! The morning of calls we were all freaking out a bit (but that's normal...) President called about 10 minutes later than he did last transfer so I was starting to get a little worried. But eventually our phones rang and we all screamed. Sorry vosine (neighbor). Soeur Mann talked first...then Soeur Caldwell....then me. We didn't tell each other what happened until after I hung up. I have no recollection of my conversation with President because I was so stressed out. But he told me that IM STAYING IN CARCASSONNE AND TRAINING!!!! At first I cried because I was so happy, and then I realized that I had to TRAIN someone and then got really nervous... now I'm not sure how I feel now - all I know is I'm leaving tomorrow to go get my new bleue!!!

Marcos and Soeurs Caldwell, Mann et Everett

WOW so much happened this week, I don't even know where to start!! I'll start with Deborah. Remember Deborah? Her dad is inactive and the rest of her family aren't members, but about 2 months ago Soeur Richardson and I were able to go meet with her and she accepted baptism?? Well, she never came to church after that so the baptismal date passed and we just met with her here and there. The thought occurred to us that we should make her an American dinner! After our dinner we had a lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end I asked her what she thought about baptism. She told us that she really wants to get baptized and asked her how soon she could. We suggested January and she asked if we could do it sooner!! (We can't because she needs to come to church first..) but this is the first time she has been so committed!! We're way excited!!!!!



Le Pere Noel.  Evidence that Santa Claus is Catholic!

Sorry my emails are always all over the place, I just always have so much to tell you and no time to do it!!! PHELIPES. They are just some of my absolute favorite people. I told the other soeurs that they're my best friends I just don't tell them. :) On Saturday we all went to the foire and we had SO MUCH FUN. It was one of my favorite moments of my entire mission. We played bumper cars, ate crepes, we rode the enormous Ferris Wheel that overlooks all of Carcassonne, and just laughed all night! And they invited us over to their house for dinner the next day. They kept teasing me that they were going to make TONS of fish (because I told them once that I don't like fish...) When we got there Sunday night they brought out a lasagna and they told me it was FISH LASAGNA. Of course I ate it anyway... at the end they brought it up again and I said "hey, I don't even like fish and I ate all of that lasagna" and they told me "oh we were kidding its ham!!" WHAT. I'm so gullible...

Soeur Caldwell and I decided that we're officially in a band because we have now performed at TWO venues together. Last night we performed at a Christmas Concert and afterwards bishop told us that he was so proud to call us his own and that everyone he talked to were wanting us to sing more than one song (encore in France??? WHAT'S UP.)

At the faire

One last thing I guess.... JEAN PHILLIPE IS SO GREAT. I feel so lucky that Heavenly Father trusted me to teach him because he is just amazing. We taught him the Word of Wisdom the other day and the whole time he was talking about how great it was that we had this and how important he thought it was to maintain good health to have the Spirit with us. The other day I texted him and asked him if we could meet that Friday and he responded "Of course I'll be there. The gospel is way too important to me!!" Oh and when he talks to us he uses "vous"... hardly any amis catch on to that. Ok I'm done now, he's just awesome!

Carcassonne is just one of my favorite places on earth. I am SO LUCKY to be staying here and I know my bleue is going to love it just as much as me.

Je vous aime!!!
Soeur Everett

Matthew 6:22 - This is my transfer scripture. I found it the other day in personal study and I can't get over how much I love it. Read it carefully. :)

Carcassonne: Une compte de fée

This week was literally UNREAL. I can't even begin to describe all of the miracles we saw. It's been really hard not having Soeur Richardson here, we definitely miss everything she brings and its been amazing to see how much all of our amis and our ward love her. All of the prayers I've heard for her have touched my heart. She really left a mark on Carcassonne, that's for sure. (Also Soeur Richardson - Nice was SUPER excited you Facebook messaged her!! And you should've heard them pray for you...might have shed a tear...)



Soeurs Caldwell, Everett et Mann

Can I just start by saying we had 23 LESSONS THIS WEEK!!!! I could barely believe everything we got done this week and how amidst helping all of our old amis we were STILL able to find new people to teach!! It's been incredible to see the hand of God in our lives.



Thanksgiving!

Let me start with the most miraculous day of my entire mission so far. Everyone take note - Wednesday, November 27th. We woke up in the morning and neither of our phones worked. We had been 100% cut off from everyone. We couldn't confirm appointments, we couldn't set up anything, RIEN!! So we went to the church to use the landline so that we would be able to accept a super important call. But the person hadn't been informed that our phones weren't working so naturally he called us on our cell phones. And somehow... WE GOT THE CALL. And right after we hung up... THE PHONES STOPPED WORKING. And they didn't work for THREE DAYS after that. Miracle????? Yes. (Also our phones not working for 3 days was highly annoying, but we still had 23 lessons, so I guess it worked out fine haha.) Then as we were walking on our way to a rendezvous Soeur Caldwell was like "hey is that Nicolas?" and so I yell "NICOLAS" (thinking back on that I should probably calm down a little when I run into people haha). He told us he had just tried calling us but obviously our phones weren't working. So because we say him we were able to set up a rendezvous for that night! When we showed up to our rendezvous we got to meet our amis sister! She happened to be SUPER interested and said that she wanted to get baptized! (She doesn't live in our secteur normally..but still!!!) But wait, there's more. Rewind to Tuesday night when we are having our "5 month on a mission" party and I go to take a picture and realize THERE IS NO MEMORY CARD. I left it in the internet café... and you know people in France - not the most honest people. We went back to the internet café, we walk in and immediately the man who works there (we're good friends but I don't know his name...maybe I should ask!!) he said "attends" and he goes to look for something and COMES BACK WITH MY SD CARD. I literally almost cried. Then later that night we had an amazing rendezvous with Nicolas (grown men cry when they feel the spirit, its true). At the end of the rendezvous we realized it was 9:26 and we had 4 minutes to get all the way back to our apartment...its' NOT close. So of course we ran. And guess what time it was when we unlocked the front door? 9:30. On the dot.



Nicolas

WOW, that was a really big paragraph, but that day we were just SO grateful to God for everything He had done for us. It was just amazing.

Nadia

Something you'll find amusing: At FHE on Monday we had dinner afterwards cooked by Soeur Martin (as usual). She gave us this SUPER good soup. She told us all to guess what was in it. It was green so obviously we guessed normal things. She and the bishop just kind of looked at each other and kept laughing. Finally they told us what the main ingredient was. None of us knew the word and then their son translated it into English... POISON IVY. I ATE POISON IVY SOUP. Apparently its really good for you? Hahaha....

Wow I wish I had SO much more time to write. We had the most incredible week but I have no time to tell you everything that happened!! Things are just going so well! I couldn't ask for better amis or a better ward. Everyone and everything is just amazing. (Except for our crazy neighbor who yells at us for walking too loudly.. we saw her in the street one day and literally ran to avoid talking to her haha. Maybe we'll make her cookies this week :)

Well family I LOVE YOU!! I pray for you all the time. Thank you for all of your prayers, I can feel them and definitely saw many answered prayers this week. :)

Je vous aime!!!
Soeur Everett

3 Nephi 19:9

Crazy Week! (Week 22)

Well I guess I should start off by catching everyone up. This has just been an insanely crazy week. We had Zone Conference this Wednesday where we all had our chance to talk to President. He comforted all of us (like he always does, he is seriously the best President we could have asked for). The next couple days kind of spiraled down after that. Soeur Richardson was suddenly transferred up to Lyon because of some health issues.  I had been with her for 10 WEEKS and she was being taken out of my life completely unexpectedly!  But I took comfort in knowing that this was the will of the Lord and that in the end, this is what Soeur Richardson needs.

I think it’s about that time to give Soeur Richardson gets a little “ode.”  She is an angel - an absolute angel. She is one of the most selfless people I know. All she ever wanted was to make sure I was happy and that I felt like the best person in the world. She is obsessed with sticky notes and loved leaving them for me in unexpected places for me to happen upon. (This is something I'm definitely going to keep doing.) She is so humble, but she is INCREDIBLE with French - someone tells us the word for something or a way to say something and she doesn't forget it! After ONE time!! It’s really amazing. And she is such a great teacher. She explains the gospel eloquently, yet simply. People can just feel the spirit and God's love when she's around them. I am SO lucky that I had 10 weeks with her. She will be someone that I love forever. Whether or not she stays here on her mission, I know that she changed many people’s lives, including my own.

Alright let’s talk about how Carcasssone is on FIRE right now!!!! Now that we are in a trio we have double the people to teach and double the miracles going on! I can't even believe all of the people we have in our teaching pool!! During weekly planning we planned for 23 lessons and 12 amis at church - it sounds crazy, but it’s COMPLETELY possible with all of the people we have here!

Ok I need to tell you a couple miracles. So since Soeur Richardson left on Saturday night we lost our pianist for the primary program which was the NEXT DAY. Soeur Caldwell and I frantically tried to learn all of the songs (there had to be about 12) in just a couple hours... I don't think the ward realized how big of a deal it was that we had to play. We were extremely worried that we were going to mess up! Especially when this program was so important to so many people! Even though we had barely practiced these songs, somehow we made it through the entire program....without ANY noticeable errors. I just about cried for joy when it was over. At times during the program I didn't even know what I was playing. Literally I could feel God leading my hands. Truly a miracle.

Now for something even better... JEAN PHILLIPE!!! He is just about as elect as they come. He now has a baptismal date for December 19th and every time we see him he talks about how excited he is to get baptized! Wow, I'm just about to cry right now writing about it. I feel so lucky to be able to teach him. He understands everything as if knew it all before. After we taught the plan of salvation, he explained it to our recent convert who didn't quite understand it. He is just wonderful. I just pray that I can stay here another transfer and see him be baptized!! But we'll see where the Lord wants me to go.

Well I guess that’s all I have for this week! I hope you're all healthy and happy. Thanks for all the letters you send me!! I have about 10 letters to write today... but more than likely I won't have time so IM SORRY!! Just know that I really appreciate them even if it takes me a while to get back to you. :)

Love you so much!
Soeur Everett

I think I'm going to go with my favorite scripture for this week - 2 Nephi 2:24. Don't forget to give the missionaries people to teach! :)

Good 'ole Carc

Hi fam!!!

Ooh là là, WHAT A WEEK. It has had plenty of ups and downs, but let's just focus on the ups, eh? :) The work is still on fire here!! Carcassonne is just a ville of miracles, that's for sure!! I just love this little ville. I would be content staying here my entire mission.

So on Friday we had a lesson set up with a potential ami named Jean-Phillipe. In all honesty, I wasn't expecting him to come because tombez-vous (no shows. literally "drop you") are just way too common now-a-days. But HE CAME. We had a wonderful first lesson. The Spirit was just burning in the room and you could tell that he felt it because he accepted everything we said. He thanked us for the free copy of the Book of Mormon and agreed that he would start reading it and that he would be at church on Sunday. Maybe I just need more faith or something, but I wasn't sure if I was expecting him to be at church either. There's just WAY too many people who promise to be there and then don't come!! But HE WAS THERE. Our amazing DMP (ward mission leader), Frère Vital immediately took Jean-Phillipe under his wing and stayed with him all of church. Jean-Phillipe said to me after how much he loved it!! But wait it gets better. So after church Bishop goes up to him and asks him if he could meet with him really quickly. So they go up to his office and have an interview. When they came out Bishop told me that he invited Jean-Phillipe to come to his house for dinner. So all 4 missionaries, Jean François (the other soeurs' recent convert), and Jean Phillipe all went to the Martin's for dinner! It was the most AMAZING day. We had a little Family Home Evening with everyone and on the car ride home (they live about 40 minutes outside of Carcassonne), all of us got to hear the Martin's life story. Including how they were converted to the gospel. I literally wept as Bishop bore his testimony of how the gospel has changed his life and how SURE he is that this is the true church. As we dropped Jean-Phillipe off, Bishop said he hoped to see him again. And Jean-Phillipe said "toujours" (always).  Again... I cried. It was seriously one of the best days of my mission. I am just so grateful that Heavenly Father is trusting Soeur Richardson and I with Jean-Phillipe. He is so prepared for the gospel. About as elect as a person can get.

Wow, everything else from this week dulls in comparison to Jean-Phillipe. But I'll just share one more miracle!! Does everyone remember Nicolas who just out of nowhere moved to Lyon?? Soeur Richardson and I had the impression that we should see how he was doing and if he had gotten in contact with the missionaries up there. When he texted back he told us that he hadn't had time to meet with the missionaries but that he was coming back to Carcassonne this week and would love to meet with us again. Wait, can I just repeat that? HE'S COMING BACK TO CARCASSONNE THIS WEEK AND WANTS TO MEET WITH US AGAIN. I literally jumped up from my chair and screamed. (Sorry neighbors...)

We have a lot of progressing people right now!! Things are just going really really well!! I couldn't be happier with the people that the Lord has trusted us with!! I just hope I am doing everything he expects me to do! Keep all of these people in your prayers!!

Love you SO much family!!

Soeur Everett

Instead of a scripture this week I have a quote. It's from a talk about how to be the best missionary possible, but it applies to everyone. Read it carefully.

"Just give it up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more, than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God."
-Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

Amazing Week!

This past week was SO good!!!! There was just one day that really stuck out from all the rest so I will probably just focus my letter on that one day!! This week President called "M-week" - all week we worked extra hard as a mission and focus on the same things daily. Friday was planned out to be the most hard-working day of all, and I have to say that I could definitely see the miracles that came from working so hard!!!



Homemade chicken noodle soup

Sadly for me and Soeur Richardson, we were on exchange on monster-day, but hey, DOUBLE THE MIRACLES. I was with Soeur Warren - one of the Sister Training Leaders from Montpellier. We worked SO hard. We started off the day with a visit to a member in our ward and contacted the entire way there (Soeur Warren is just about the best contacted I've ever seen). On our way there we got a coordonnée. Then we had lunch at the church with our DMP - SO GOOD (he used to be a chef but then he changed his job to a karate teacher...aka he's an amazinggg cook).

After lunch with Frère Vital we had planned to have a lesson with Nadia (a less active in our ward), when she showed up she had a man with her. She told us she tricked him into coming and that she got him to come into the church building because she said she "needed to use the restroom" hahaha. Oh well, surprise member-present lesson AND new ami!!!! AND our less active is doing missionary work. Ah, what could be better???

Soeur Caldwell

After our lesson with Michel we had a lesson with a pretty new ami, Mireille. In the middle of our lesson.... DEBORAH PONDELA. She is an old engagé that we haven't seen in about 2 weeks and who knew that she was BFFS with Mireille's son and daughter!! WHAT. She was so happy to see us and said that she had been out of town for a long time and that she wanted to see us next week!!

The mists of darkness

Don't worry it keeps getting better. So we walk outside of their apartment and the first person we contacted was super interested. His name is Fabrice!!! He's a practicing Catholic but he said that recently he has had the thought in his mind about why everyone just assumes the Catholic church is the best and that maybe there was something else out there. He said usually he wouldn't have said yes to us, but he had just barely been thinking about it so he thought to himself "why not!" We ended up having a lesson with him at his apartment THAT NIGHT. He was super grateful for the Book of Mormon and said he would definitely start reading it!

And we had a great lesson with the Phelipes... but you all already know the Phelipes are amazing.

Crazy day huh!? I couldn't believe how much the Lord blessed us that day. But he does when we work hard!!

The work is just going SO well here!! Last week for weekly planning I ran out of room in my planner to plan for all the amis we have. Keep us in your prayers!

Que Dieu vous bénisse!!!

Soeur Everett

BONJOUR!!

I have so much to talk about so I'll just get going!!

On Tuesday our ami Romain invited us over to dinner with him and his friends. Since I had never had rabbit before he promised me that he would make it for me for my first time and that he would have all of the missionaries over - he kept his promise!! We had so much fun!! Romain is really cool but he isn't progressing towards baptism at all.. So for now we'll just wait until he shows a little more interest in the gospel rather than just our friendship before meeting with him again! But hey!! He made us a delicious meal!! (Thank goodness he didn't show us the head of the rabbit before we ate it... I don't know if I could have stomached that!)



Romain and his friends

The only thing left was the rabbit head...

Christian update!!!! We had a really really good rendez-vous this week where we just talked about everything that hadn't been communicated well. He told us that he knows that the church is true--if he didn't he wouldn't be coming to church still. He just feels like everyone is putting too much pressure on him to get baptized and he doesn't want to get baptized just so we can have another baptism for our numbers. Thank GOODNESS he brought that up because Soeur Richardson and I could care less how many baptisms we have, we just care about Christian!! We told him that we respected the timing that he wants and that we would let him tell US when he wants to get baptized. The spirit was strong and our friendship is renewed!!! So I'm happy. :) OH and he came to church. :)

Yes, the French celebrate Halloween

Ok time for a little ode to Soeur Caldwell. Even though we are the exact same age in the mission, I don't think I've ever talked to her for longer than 5 minutes. She is SO COOL. She is a design major at BYU and she's 21 so she is practically finished with her undergraduate and she's already accepted to the masters program. She has really high ambitions!! She is so relaxed about everything - I love this about her because I tend to stress out over things, so its really nice to have someone there who just takes things slowly! She is just hilarious - we all DIE laughing when we're with her. I'm so excited to have her here in Carcassonne and get to know her better!!!

Soeur Caldwell

Super huge miracle from this week!!! So about 4 weeks ago I contacted this woman on the street named Mireille. We contact a lot of people who give us their number and then we never hear from them again so I kind of forgot about her since she wouldn't answer our calls! Well one day we decided to call again and she ANSWERED. She gave us her address and we ended up having a rendezvous with her and her kids!! They are practicing Catholic, but are very open to meeting with us and finding out for themselves if what we are sharing is true!! I'm super pumped about them!!

Ok one last thing I guess...there's just so much!! So 2 days ago Soeur Richardson and I were out contacting!! We were passing a bus stop and usually I don't contact people who are sitting there but somehow I ended up contacting this man who was sitting waiting for his bus. I don't even remember deciding to contact him. Anyway we ended up talking to him for about 30 minutes and he missed his bus TWICE to keep talking to us. He told me I had a lot of "heart" :) It was SUCH  good conversation completely led by the spirit!! He really opened up to us and now we will be meeting with him on Wednesday!!! :)


I love you all, thanks for all your support, love, and prayers! I can feel it. :)

Soeur Everett

P.S. Look up Luke 6:2-5 and then go to the Bible Dictionary under "shewbread" - REALLY great studies this morning; hope you like this as much as I do!!

NO LONGER A BLUE

First of all, can I just say how excited Soeur Richardson and I were when we saw the picture of our moms together??? We might have screamed in an internet café... (sorry everyone.) But hey, first things first. IM STAYING IN CARCASSONNE!!!! WITH SOEUR RICHARDSON!!!! We are sooo pumped to keep going. We absolutely love being companions - she is literally the most easy person to get along with in the entire world. She basically has no faults. I just absolutely adore her!! We're going to kill it this transfer, just wait and see!!




(Clockwise) Soeurs Everett, Beeny, Richardson, Mann

I am so sad that Soeur Beeny left us, but I know there are so many people waiting for her in Chambery. Soeur Beeny is just amazing. I can't even begin to describe how much I love her!! We're certain that someday on our missions we will be companions... but until then I'm going to miss her so much!!!!  Soeur Caldwell is Soeur Mann's new companion.  She came into the mission with me.  SHE'S AMAZING!!

Narbonne

This week was FILLED with miracles!!!!! I'll admit last week wasn't the best week in the world, but this week MORE than made up for it!!! I felt like Heavenly Father was putting so many amazing people in my path, letting me know that he doesn't want me to get discouraged, but to keep working hard! And guess what? Hard work ALWAYS brings miracles!!!

I can't even count how many miracles I want to share, so I'm just going to have to write a lot really briefly!!!

First of all, today as we were walking back from the GARE after picking up Soeur Caldwell we ran into CHRISTIAN!!! This is the first time we have talked to him since he decided not to get baptized and he told us that he missed having us over and that he wants to see us this week!!! AH!!!

On Tuesday we had exchanges with the other sisters and I had a chance to work with Soeur Mann - she is just incredible. Together we contacted 226 people and holy cow did we see a ton of success. I think my favorite miracle that we contacted together is named Kilian. He reminds me SO much of Nicolas!!! Another tender mercy from Heavenly Father. He knew how sad I was that I wouldn't be able to teach Nicolas anymore, so he sent me Kilian!!! He is in the army as well and he has had a lot of hard things happen in his life and now he just isn't so sure about God. I told him that God put us in his path for a reason, and that the least he could do was give it a chance. He completely opened up after that. We gave him an overview of the Book of Mormon and he agreed to read it and meet with us!! We're meeting with him tonight, I'm so excited!!!

Next, Max!!! Soeur Richardson and I contacted max a few days ago. He is very curious about religion and told us that everything we were saying to him made sense. We tried to give him a Book of Mormon but he said he didn't feel comfortable taking it before we had met for a little bit (I don't really get that reasoning....). Anyway, so we set up a rendez-vous for a couple days later. I ended up going to this rendez-vous with Soeur Beeny actually. But we went there and waited for him and he didn't show up. After waiting a bit we decided to leave and contact. About 5 minutes into contacting.... WE SEE MAX. He apologized and said he completely forgot but that we could have the rendez-vous right then and there. SO WE DID. We had a wonderful discussion about the Book of Mormon and he told us he would take it and read it! He accepted baptism but said that he needed to read the entire book before he could be baptized. But HEY, I invited someone to baptism in the middle of the street. And he said yes!!

News about the Phelipes!!! Anderson told us that his papers are ALMOST finished!!!! Only about 2 maybe 3 weeks left and they will be able to be baptized!!! IM SO EXCITED!!!! (Soeur Caldwell asked me what the best thing that happened to me on my mission was so far, and I told her the Phelipes - they are my whole life right now, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.)

Ok one other thing. Soeur Richardson has been SOO sick this past week - thank heavens we have angel sisters that live with us and went on exchanges all week so we could all see our amis. But if you could keep her in your prayers, that would be great!! :)

Seriously, this week has been absolutely amazing. I can't wait to see what this next transfer will bring!!!

Love you all so much!!!

Soeur Everett

P.S. John - Marcos is working on his letter to you!!! He is translating it with google translate as he goes... he has been taking english in school so he knows some. Anyway, apparently its a long process, but a return letter is coming soon!!

Carcassonne!! (Week 17)

I greatly fear that my time in Carcassonne will be over after this week... Carcassonne feels like HOME now, I don't want to be taken away!!!! But wherever the Lord wants me, I'll go! I just hope the Lord wants me in Carcassonne for awhile longer. :)

 



Lovely Soeur Mann

This has been quite an interesting week. Just about everything and anything we planned fell through. Even our ami that was supposed to get baptized on Saturday called bishop 2 days before the baptism and said he needed some space for awhile because he felt too pressured. But even though this week has been hard I've seen SO many tender mercies from the Lord. On Tuesday we had 4 member-present lessons scheduled and ALL of them fell through. BUT as we left the chapel we decided we weren't going to be discouraged and we went out and contacted like crazy!!! We did this everytime something fell through this week and because of all of the things that fell through we have been able to find SO many people who have been looking for the truth!! Moral of the story is that God knows whats best!! It's not our fault if people use their agency as long as we did our best! Plus, God knew that all of this would happen, and he knows who he wants us to teach right now and its our job to allign our will with God's! So even though it was a hard week, I still find peace and joy in knowing that I am at hand to do what God wants me to do. :)



Flowers from Nadia (a member of the ward)

Now all of the GREAT things that happened this week!!! President has been encouraging us to go to members houses and practice our missionary lessons for them and have them correct our French. This week we got to go to Dior's house (bishop's daughter) and eat lunch and visit with her and her sister Adhna (I LOVE THEM.) The Martin family is SO cool and so humble about it. Dior is a fashion designer. She used to work for Chanel, but then she decided to move to Australia where she met her husband and she now lives there with her two ADORABLE children. She is staying in Carcassonne for about another month so she is renting a home for the next month (that's where we went for lunch). Adhna is just as cool. She speaks English fluently because she decided to self-immerse herself in English by going to LDSBC right out of high school. Now she speaks without a French accent and sometimes I think she speaks English better than me haha. Anyway, it was SO fun to have lunch over there and teaching them a lesson was SO helpful for our French - we'll definitely be doing that more often!!


Soeurs Mann, Everett et Beeny

I think I've told you in past letters that we teach the Andersons French every week (a less-active family in our ward). This week especially I have seen how much they've progressed since we've started teaching them!! The 16 year old daughter has never learned a word of French before in her life and at our last rendezvous she gave the closing prayer IN FRENCH. I was so proud of her. :))


Jean François, the ami of Soeur Mann and Soeur Beeny

Anyway, things are going really well!!! I know tons fell through this week, but I really am so happy!! There are so many people in Carcassonne just waiting for us to find them and bring them the truth and I feel blessed that I am one of the people that gets to do it!! I can't wait to e-mail you next week about all of the new people that we are going to teach this week!!!

I love you all so much!!! I miss you and pray for you!!

Soeur Everett

P.S. Mosiah 4:9 - so much better in French, but English is good too. :)

Another wonderful week in Carcassonne :)

What a week!!! SO much travelling this week, but it was so much fun!!! First of all I want to reiterate a little bit what I was saying last week, but I absolutely love the sisters in my apartment, they are some of the biggest blessings of my mission right now, they are incredible!

Sensei is the Best DMP (Ward Mission Leader) in the Church

Sensei in his younger days (yes he is a karate teacher)

We got to go to Aix for Zone Conference and it was AMAZING. And.... I got personally invited by President to sit by him during lunch (that makes 3 conferences IN A ROW - yesss). It's always fun to catch up with missionaries that you haven't seen in a while!! Conferences are just the best, so uplifting. The other place we went to this week was Bordeaux!!! We got to see do exchanges with our amazinggg sister training leaders. They are the absolute greatest, I love them!! Exchanges are always so much fun. It's just fun to do something a little out of routine sometimes. :)

Soeur Mann et Soeur Everett

Soeur Everett et Richardson

Ok right now I am in a "hat phase" so if in ever picture I am wearing a hat, don't be too surprised. Also, if anyone wants to send me a hat in the mail, feel free to do so. :)

 

So this week we went over to the Anderson's house (the less-active family from New Zealand who speaks English). We go over once a week to help them learn French and it is seriously so much fun every time!! I absolutely love this family - mostly because they remind me so much of you all. While we were there Sister Anderson invited us to go to a rugby game with them sometime (because Brother Anderson plays for the Carcassonne rugby team) - we asked President for approval and......HE SAID YES!!!!! I'll let you know how fun it was!!!!!

Soeurs Everett et Beeny ("The Look")

Ok now for the MIRACLE!!!!!! About a week ago we contacted this man on the street named Nicolas. He immediately told us he was sorry but he was atheist. BUT I persevered (thank goodness) and I told him that our message was for everyone regardless of their previous religious beliefs. We started teaching him a little bit about the restoration and the plan of salvation (he had a lot of questions) and told us that he would love to meet with us and talk more because he was really curious. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told him he could start to read it. On Wednesday we had a rendezvous with him (which HE called to confirm) and he started off by saying "its been way too long!! sorry I've been super busy." We asked him if he had read any of the Book of Mormon and he said "Yeah but not very much, only to about the end of Nephi." He read 60 PAGES!!! And he came with questions!!!!! We extended a soft baptismal invitation (an invitation without a date) and he agreed!! I'll let you know how things go with him, but he is super great!!

One last thing. I am getting really comfortable with conversational contacting. I can strike up conversations with people at bus stops, on trains, on buses, and its fun!! The other day I asked a girl what the French word was for phone case (by pointing at it and asking "qu'est-ce que c'est?") and from there we had a wonderful conversation about the Book of Mormon!! Being a missionary is one of the most fun things ever, I am absolutely in LOVE with missionary work - it really is fun when you make it fun!!)

Well that's about all the time I have for today to write to you, so I'm going to end it here. I love you and pray for you every day!! Keep sharing the gospel, its your most important job!!

Love,
Soeur Everett

I LOVE MY MISSION!!!

First of all, THANK YOU FOR THE LETTERS EVERYONE. Getting letters as a missionary is SUCH a wonderful feeling, so feel free to keep writing to me!!! :) Also dad, the sheet music??? I almost cried from happiness. And of course right away we had a jam session and sang "Minuit Chretiens" (O Holy Night).  Thank goodness for a companion who plays the piano amazingly, am I right??? But seriously, thanks everyone!!!

This week was AMAZING!!! (As usual.) And of course General Conference made it all the more amazing!! I want to hear all about everyone's favorite talks!! My favorite talk by far was by Elder Richard G. Scott in the Sunday morning session. I felt like it was just for me. :) I can't wait for the Liahona so I can read everything all over again!!!! (Also, I haven't watched Sunday afternoon session yet... maybe there will be something I like more in that one... who knows!)

Sunset from our apartment in Carcassonne

Now for some MIRACLES!!!!! Ok brace yourself for the best miracle ever. So last Wednesday we go over to give Frère Pondela (an inactive member in our ward) a lesson. When we got there he invited his 18 year old daughter to join us. A lesson that we originally planned for Frère Pondela turned into the first lesson for Deborah!!! Everything we said about the church made sense to her. When we talked about modern-day prophets she said "of course that's true." It came to a point in the lesson when I knew we needed to invite her to baptism. I whispered to Soeur Richardson in English that we needed to do it and she told me I could go ahead and do it. All of a sudden the words that we recite every morning were completely erased from my memory so I told Soeur Richardson she had to do it. She invited her to be baptized on November 10th and SHE ACCEPTED. Absolute miracle.

This week is going to be soo much fun. We have a Zone conference in Aix-en-Provence so we will be staying in Montpellier tonight and tomorrow night and spending the day tomorrow out in Aix!!! I'm SO EXCITED!!!! Also we have exchanges with the sister training leaders from Friday to Saturday so we won't be here all that much this week. But I can assure you, miracles are still coming!!!

I just want to dedicate a section of this letter to the amazing sisters I serve with here in Carcassonne. I feel like I don't talk about them nearly enough, so it's about time I express my love!!!

First of all, Soeur Beeny. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. We have been together for about 9 weeks and I've grown really close to her!! She speaks French REALLY well and she is just so enthusiastic about everything! She is really inspiring to me because it seems like she is never down and never out of energy! She is also soo willing to serve us - she always cooks for us and is doing dishes and vacuuming and whatnot all the time. There are so many things I have learned from her and soo many more things I can learn from her as well. She is AMAZING.

Second, Soeur Mann. :)) We haven't spend a whole ton of time together but she has one of the sweetest and most sincere hearts of anyone I have met!! Actually, she reminds me a whole lot of Anna!! She is so incredibly loving and Christlike!!! Whenever anyone needs to talk in the apartment about anything, she is always there to listen and comfort. She definitely has the gift of being able to love people as Christ does.

And of course.... SOEUR RICHARDSON. She is literally an angel sent to me from heaven. I can't even begin to explain how much she means to me and how much I love her!!! She is always looking for ways to make me feel incredibly good about myself. I don't think my self-esteem has ever been higher than it is in this time that I've been with her!! She is so sincere and SO loving. She loves being a missionary and her love of the gospel radiates when she teaches people and invites them to come unto Christ.

Sticky Notes of Encouragement

I AM SO BLESSED to be with these wonderful sisters!!! I'm so glad that I still have these next 3 weeks to live with them and I KNOW that after our missions we will be friends for the rest of our lives. :) Anyway, I know this letter was a little different than usual, but I really wanted to tell you about the wonderful sisters I live with!!

I love you all SO MUCH and I miss you!! Please keep writing me, its soo good to hear from you!!

Love,

Soeur Everett

P.S. Mosiah 2:5-6, 9 I LOVE CONFERENCE.

Soeur Richardson always makes creative titles, but I don't know what to say!!!!!

Wowwww what an amazing week!!!! We have had just so many miraculous things happen that I don't know where to begin!!! (I feel like I say this every week, but that's a good thing, right??)

Soeurs Richardson et Everett

First of all... On Thursday when we were on the train on our way to Montpellier, Soeur Richardson turned to me and said, "Soeur Everett. I woke up in the middle of the night and you were talking in your sleep about I don't even know what. Mostly because it was in French." YES.

Angel Feet

 

I think one of our biggest miracles was Saturday. We made a goal that we were going to contact 150 people that day and when we woke up the next morning we realized that it was pouring rain and that hardly anyone would be out to contact. But of course, we contacted anyway!!!! I was completely shocked at how many people were actually in Centre-Ville to contact, but we talked to so many really cool, really elect people. And so many people were interested to listen to us!! When we had contacted around 145 people we were extremely exhausted (something about contacting for a couple hours straight does that to you...), but of course we had to make it to 150 before coming in. The 147th person we contacted was this lady named Elizabeth. She works for UNICEF here in Carcassonne! As we were talking she mentioned that they were actually looking for volunteers to come and that she would love for us to help!!! I LOVE when we are blessed with service opportunities!! And after she told us about that we asked if maybe we could meet with her and tell her more about the gospel and she said "You know, normally I would say no, but today I'm going to say yes. Why not!" Such a blessing!! It's amazing what Heavenly Father does when we try our hardest to reach our goals.




Are there Hobbits in Carcassonne?

Miracle #2: This week we focused on 3 less actives in our ward: the Anderson family, Claude, and Nadia. While I was leading the opening hymn in Sacrament meeting (my ward chorister talent lives on!!!!!!!) I saw the Anderson family walk in, then Claude, THEN NADIA. I practically started crying in front of everyone. So we had all of our baptismal engagés at church AND all of the less actives we worked with that week!!

Ok now for the spiritual bit. :) I was reading in the Book of Mormon a few days ago and came across a passage of scripture that just hit me so hard. I have read the story of the brother of Jared crossing the sea countless times but I have never seen these scriptures so metaphorically before. (Ether 6:5-10). I just think about how this is like us in life. We have the fullness of the gospel in our lives and we are safely secure in our "barge" that is "tight like unto a dish." When trials come we can know that they will never be too much for us to handle - as verse 7 says, as "they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters." Verse 8 is my favorite verse of this passage. It says that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land. I LOVE THIS. We all have trials in our lives, and sometimes our trials are really really hard. But we can take comfort in knowing that God has a PERFECT plan for us and that the trials or the "winds" will always blow us towards the "promised land" or the Celestial Kingdom. :) I hope I explained this analogy well, but when I read it I just fell in love with it.

I hope you have a wonderful week family!! Keep praying for me and my amis!!

Love you!
Soeur Everett

BLUE FIRE

Oh my HECK I have never been more in love with Carcassonne!!! I have a feeling that this is going to be an extremely miraculous transfer. Soeur Richarson and I have decided to really focus on obedience and diligence, and I know that as we try our hardest to put in our effort, the Lord will make up the rest and bless us with success!!

Alright I can't wait any longer to write the most amazing miracle so that will be first and then I'll write about Soeur Richardson after. :)

Christian is an infinite ami that started meeting with the missionaries 8 years ago and has been faithfully coming to church ever since - however he has always refused to get baptized. He has received all the lessons and knows the church is true, but I think he takes pride in knowing that he is "different" from everyone else in the ward. Last Sunday I went up to him and just started talking to him, eventually he said, "You and your companion should come over and meet with me sometime this week." UHM....OK!!!! Christian hasn't let missionaries come and talk to him for years because he doesn't like how everyone pushes him towards baptism. When we went over on Tuesday, one of the very first things he says is "I've been thinking about baptism." (with no prompting from us) "How about 2033?" We laugh kind of nervously and then he said, "Just kidding, I'm ready for October." After EIGHT YEARS of investigating the church, Christian is finally going to be baptized!!!! And the most amazing thing is that we didn't do ANY pushing! I'm so excited for him!!

Amazing miracle, huh? I couldn't wait to share it. Now I'll talk about my WONDERFUL companion!!! I can tell we are going to do soo well together!! I can't wait to see what the transfer has in store for us!! So here's a little summary of Soeur Richardson. She is from Kaysville, Utah. She plays the piano beautifully (thank heavens because playing the piano in Sacrament Meeting gave me a LOT of anxiety). She also sings alto so we harmonize when we sing hyms - its really fun. :) She is SO kind to me!! She always makes sure to compliment me on things I do well - speaking of which she thinks I'm really good at cooking (I know you are all shocked to hear this). She is also REALLY talented at speaking French. She gave a talk on Sunday and it was SO GOOD. She is so so sooo wonderful. I'M SO LUCKY. Also, I love that she has faith in my high goals - I like to have seemingly impossible goals and let God help us fulfill them. :) Well there are many other things I love about Soeur Richardson, but you'll just have to hear about them as time goes on. :)

Soeurs Richardson et Everett

I want to talk a little bit about BLUE'S CONFERENCE. We got to go to Lyon last weekend for this and it was SO GOOD. I feel inspired to work so hard this transfer because I know that it's possible!!! And I know that the assistants like to call this excitement that I have "blue fire," but I can assure you its NEVER GOING AWAY. I will have "blue fire" my ENTIRE MISSION. It was also really fun to be in Lyon because I got to see my Mom. :) She is a SISTER TRAINING LEADER, I'm so proud of her. :') One of the office elders told me that she put up a fight about which sisters stayed in her apartment the night before blue's conference. He was really confused why it mattered so much who stayed with her, then he looked at the list of sisters, rolled his eyes, and said "Ohhhh I get it. Fine. You can have the Carcassonne sisters." YES. Thank you Soeur Vidal. :)

I read an amazing talk by Elder Holland this week called "Lord, I Believe." While I was reading it, I found my mission motto: "All things are possible to them that believe." I know it sounds cliché, but it's TRUE and I love it!! Keep praying for me and the people in Carcassonne! We need all the prayers we can get so we can keep seeing miracles!!

I love you all so much!!

Soeur Everett

-The scripture for this week is 3 Nephi 15:21-22 - I have found a lot how important it is to people with a Christian background who already believe in the Bible to find that the Book of Mormon really does COMPLIMENT the Bible, it doesn't replace it!! I love these scriptures because it is a wonderful example of how the Book of Mormon is used to clarify passages in the Bible that could be interpreted so many different ways. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown so much on my mission, I have never loved the Book of Mormon more in my life than I do now, and I love that I have this opportunity to share it!! If you don't read the Book of Mormon every day, DO IT. It will bless your life!!

I'M STAYING IN CARCASSONNE!!!

I AM SO HAPPY!!!!! I really really wanted to stay here for another transfer and I'm SO GLAD that this is Heavenly Father's plan for me!!! I am going to KILL IT this transfer in Carcassonne. I can just feel the miracles waiting for me and Soeur Richardson! :) (No I haven't met her yet, she gets to Carcassonne at 5:30!) Soeur Bayles is off to Tarbes and Soeur Beeny is staying here with me!!! She's getting a sister coming from Chambery and my companion is coming from Dijon! We are sooo excited to meet them!!

Weekly planning from my favorite spot in the apartment

Since Soeur Vidal is now not my companion anymore, I want to make a little "Ode to Soeur Vidal." Soeur Vidal is definitely one of the best missionaries I have ever seen (and I'm not just saying that because she's my mom). Everywhere she goes the people LOVE her!! She is so real with everyone, she's not afraid to be bold, but she has such a loving heart and ALWAYS finds opportunities to serve. She was only here for 6 weeks but the ward here loves her so much and they really do trust her! I'm so glad that I got to serve with her so that I could better learn how to gain the trust of members and also our amis! I'm really sad that I only had Soeur Vidal for one transfer but I know she is going to be a phenomenal Sister Training Leader and that she is going to bless the lives of so many sisters. :)

Soeurs Vidal et Everett on train

WATCH OUT LYON. Oh one more thing for Soeur Vidal. We were in Montpellier teaching an ami of the sisters there and Soeur Vidal was SO happy to be there (she served 6 months in Montpellier). After we taught the lesson we got to go streetboarding with all the missionaries that are in Montpellier (there were like 6 equipes there, it was way fun). While we were there I was just contacting people left and right (streetboarding is pretty much my favorite thing to do as a missionary so I get super energized when I get to do it!!) One of the Elders came up to me and said "Wait a second Soeur Everett...you're a blue!?!?" and then he turned to Soeur Vidal and said "Great job Soeur Vidal." HAHA!! So true! The missionary I am now is all thanks to her!!

I really don't remember if I've talked about Kristi before, but a few weeks ago I contacted him on a bus coming back from Limoux. We had a really really good conversation and I talked a lot about the plan of salvation and he absolutely LOVED it!! After he got off the bus, Soeur Vidal turned to me and asked "did you give him our card?" I FORGOT TO GIVE HIM A CARD (super shameful). So on Tuesday we were on exchanges and Soeur Bayles and I were walking through Centreville and she turns to me and says "is that the man you contacted on the bus back from Limoux?" I FREAKED OUT and practically ran after him (haha I'm super embarrassing sometimes), he was really happy to see me and I had my second chance to give him my card!!! I'll let you know what happens with him. :)

Piñata (made by Elders, destroyed by Sister)

Wow we have quite a few miracles this week, but I can just give you one more?? There is this wonderful Brazilian family in our ward - the Bentos. They have been inactive for quite a while because their house is so far away from the church. But Soeur Vidal and I had the idea to call them and see if there was a time when we could get together with them and the Phelipes (the Brazilian family that we teach). We all got together and it was SO GOOD. The Bentos and the Phelipes are now BEST FRIENDS! So now we reactivated a wonderful family AND our amis have really good friends at church!!!! :)))
 

Well family, its been a crazy week and I am sooo excited to see what next week brings with a brand new companion!!! I'll be sure to tell you all about her next week!!! I just have one request! I have really learned the power of prayer since I've been on my mission. Every morning, we pray for all the investigators in our mission that have a baptismal date, its a really cool experience. So I was wondering if during your family prayers at night you could pray for my amis! I can give you their names and what to pray for, and I know I'll see miracles when you are all praying for them by name as well!!

Here's the scripture for this week!! D&C 130:2. I've been thinking a lot about eternal families since being away from you, and what I love about this scripture is that it says that the same family we have here now will be together in eternity, but will be coupled with "eternal glory." How wonderful is that! I love that I know I will be with my family forever one day with eternal glory, and that as a missionary I can help others have this same blessing that I do!

Train station in Perpignan (where mom had her kidney stone in 1989)

I love you all so much!! Keep teaching with the missionaries and giving them people to teach!! :)

Soeur Everett