Bonjour Mes Amis!
This week brought so much light into my life. so much happened, and so many spiritual experiences took place. First of all, on Tuesday (we had to take care of some unfortunate travel details regarding Belgium. That country has really asked for it. In order to enter into the country, you have to give yet ANOTHER blood sample and stool sample... yeah, YEAH. So our whole district got called into the health center. When it was my turn for the blood draw they pricked at my arm and said yup we're sending you to the clinic, you've got small veins, so that was nice, leaving the MTC. The fresh air was well worth the pain of that needle. AS FOR the stool sample, that's another story. Sooo, basically we had all day to take care of it, and I COULD NOT GO. It was the absolute worst. I did NOT deserve that, lol but we found out we had an hour left before the clinic closed, so I was in a panic, finally my comp and I said a prayer.... haha.. low and behold I was blessed and all was well. lol). That night, we had our devotional. my colleague and I decided we wanted to join the Choir, we were performing the song was called Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer. Oh my goodness, let me say this loud and clear, that song is heaven sent ya'll. sooooo powerful. I loved it.
Anyways for the devotional, we had Elder and Sister Renlund, they both had BEAUTIFUL profound messages for us, one of which being Faith without Works is dead. If we want to succeed it is ESSENTIAL that we have faith in ourselves. I've learned while being here that you will not progress if you are just working as hard as you can to get the job done. Faith is required to provide DIRECTION, guidance, and overall comfort during times of stress and disorganization. it’s true. try that out this week.
Wednesday was a wild time!!! We went to San Francisco!! MOM your favorite!!! We had to meet with the French Consulate to prove we were missionaries; it was so crazy. Okay to start, we woke up at 2:30 am for our flight, come to find out that we were 1 1/2 hours early so we all know how I was doing. (not a morning person). Anyways, we got to the airport and I GINGER SHOTS so naturally I dropped some coin (5 $$) on a 2 oz. vile lol... it was so worth it. Got on the plane, met some cool flight attendants, and entered into HUMIDITY!!! Finally, haha. everyone was giving me grief over the stickiness of the air but I loved it. Once we got off the BART (train) we were immediately immersed into the city. You guys it was like a movie, I kept running into people, back to back talking with people from all over the world. it was awesome. While walking to a place called Super Duper Burger (yes I did get one) we met two men from Montreal and spoke French with them, they quickly ran off though because clearly we were beaming with tourism. lol we looked like goobers. but anyways, once we got our food, the burger place started playing Anderson Peak and Chalka Kahn and I just about died... started dancing for sure. Afterwards we went into a CVS and witnessed a ROBBERY take place it was nuts. I just wanted some postcards?? All was well though, the woman said this happens every week, ugh I felt bad.
We continued touring around the lights and talking with fun people up until we had to get back on our flight home around 3:30 (flight was at 5). When we arrived at the airport, a man approached me and asked if there were Elders with us, I said yes, and he asked if he could have a blessing!! He was a member, who threw out his back and needed immediate help. It was surreal you guys, our Elders performed a blessing in a chapel in the airport. So Inspiring, so in sync with the Lords timing.
As we approached our gate, we look to see our flight was delayed 4 HOURS. So we played 20 questions in French. Soeur Fears and I went to grab some sushi and this 22-year-old waved at me from afar; come to find he was a missionary returning home from Leeds, England!! We told him to come sit with us and he kept saying funky stuff like cheerio and right on, with an accent of course.
We also met a man named Lawrence from Northern England; we had the most peculiar conversation. He explained how he was similar to that woman from the movie 'Lucy'. He said that he hasn't slept in 4 days and how he spent most of his time doing intense body weight-yoga. Fun times. Anyways, he opened his heart out to us about some trials he had in his life, and we ended the night with a spiritual discussion. It was well worth the delay.
So that was Wednesday haha. I'm sorry for the lengthy email. But I had to share this with you guys because honestly who else would I tell?
Oh and I forgot to mention, one man on the street offered to trade acid for Elder Christiansen's shoes and tie. Not going to lie it was a close call on our part. Pretty convincing trade.
Yesterday, my colleague and I had one of the most amazing experiences by far, here at the MTC. We have been teaching lessons with an investigator, Mélanie- btw this girl does not speak a lick of English so hand gestures were a must- she's really into the church and every lesson she seems to understand. But she always asks okay, well how does this apply to me!! Tonight was different, our lesson was on le Plan de Salute (the plan of salvation), she just got married, so we approached the plan with an emphasis on eternal families. Parfait non? Anyways, we read scripture, shared the importance of this plan that God presented to us in the preterrestre vie (premortal life), and applied it to building up your own family, ultimately being able to live with them for all eternity. She got super quiet as soon as we mentioned how it would affect hers, we asked if she was alright and she said it would be difficult with her family and started to tear up. I had a prompting to bear my testimony about how the plan has blessed my life and how it WILL bless hers, the spirit was guiding me through the entire lesson, French was just flowing out it was unreal, and she understood!! It brought tears to our eyes, and she felt a peace. Afterwards, soeur larsen asked if she wanted to be baptized and she said yes! (Eventually lol, she said not today but soon) We helped her say her first prayer and honestly, the French language enhances everything Because the spirit was all around us. It was amazing. I knew I had a love for people but my heart feels fully invested in Mélanie' s happiness, it's absolutely incredible was the gospel brings.
Because of the plan de Salute, I have witnessed miracles in my family. I have been able to see them progress in small, profound ways, and very large ways. Life will continue to be hard, but the thing is, is that when we progress in his plan, it unifies our families, and collectively we grow into disciples of Christ.
I know this Gospel to be true. I know I can do hard things because of it. I love you all and thanks for the support.
Soeur Dunkley
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