5/30/2016 0 Comments A Little "Vacation"Rule #1- ALWAYS double (and triple) check the platform number before getting on a train...
I'm sure you're all getting bored of all my train stories but this one definitely blows the others out of the water. I will say this, if our mission President hasn't yet questioned his decision in calling sister Clements and I as STLS, I'm sure he is probably questioning it now hahaha. Tuesday night Sister Clements and I got on the wrong train on our way to Brussels for zone conference and we ended up getting stranded somewhere in the Netherlands. It all started with an emergency train ride to Belgium. My companion and I stopped at the train station to grab tickets for a zone conference when we found out there was going to be a strike and that there would be no trains going to Belgium that day. Thus, we had to sprint home, pack our bags, and jump on a train to Brussels that same night. We made it safely to Brussels where we had a connecting train to Liege. Unfortunately, we only had a matter of minutes to make the change between one train to the next. We sprinted to the platform barely making it in time to jump on the train. We took the train for a few hours before we realized how unusually long it was taking us to get to Belgium. Not to mention everything was in some crazy language that neither of us knew. I made a joke to Soeur Clements about us accidentally taking the wrong train and ending up in Germany or something. She wasn't too happy about that but it ended up being a good thing because it pushed us to ask someone hahaha. Thankfully, the only other man in the car happened to speak some English. We asked him how much longer until Liege and he looked at us shockingly and then said... "If you're planning on taking this train to Liege you've got a looooonnnnnggg trip ahead of you. You are going in the complete opposite direction!" Our hearts dropped... At this point I knew we had two options, laugh or cry. I looked at Soeur Clements and said, "We're not in Kansas anymore toto!" She didn't think it was quite as funny as I did but I sure got a good laugh! It was definitely a "Come what may and love it" moment :). The nice man drew us a map and showed us where we were in comparison to liege (nowhere close) then he told us that at the next stop we needed to jump off immediately and get on another train to a city named Bruge in Belgium, then, from there we could hopefully find a train to Liege. The stop came, we jumped off and ran up to the platform man to ask where the train to Bruge was. He pointed and yelled that it leaves in two minutes. Here we go again... We sprinted with our luggage to the train and somehow made it (Miracles happen). We met a really sweet Dutch young man on the train who happened to speak English and he let us use his phone to call our mission president. At this time, it was about 10:30pm. While Soeur Clements talked to President I was able to talk to this young man about the Book of Mormon and why we were there to begin with so that was a really cool experience :) President was funny, he just said, "Well, Ummmm, I think the best thing to do is just go back to Liege!" Hahahaha oh president... Why didn't I think of that!? ;) When we got to Bruge, the sweet kid bought us tickets for the next train because our credit cards didn't work up there. We were so so so grateful to have met him. We ended up leaving him with a Book of Mormon and our emails so that he could write to us if he ever had any questions or anything. He actually did email me to make sure we made it safely, that was really nice :) Our train to Liege got to Bruge around 12:30 and then we arrived in Liege around 2:30am. We got off the train not knowing where we were going to sleep for the night or how we were going to get there since no buses run that late. Luckily, when we got off we were greeted by the sweet mission couple serving in Liege (Few times have I ever been so excited to see someone hahaha) We managed to get a couple hours of sleep that night before presenting our formation to all missionaries at zone conference that same morning hahaha. So, moral of the story.... ALWAYS double (and triple) check the platform number before getting on a train! ... Oh, and In case you're curious, the Netherlands is beautiful... and very cold ;) The next day we took another train back to Lille to give our formation a second time at another zone conference. Then, we had exchanges on Friday with our Soeurs from St. Quentin. We have been all over the place lately. But, our presentation and exchanges both went really well! The past few days have been rough trying to get out of bed because when you lose sleep on the mission... You never get it back. We are very grateful to have made it to P-Day :) Saturday we got to spend some time with my sister Natali and her husband! They were passing through Paris and decided to take a quick train up to Lille for a few hours to visit. It was so enjoyable having them here and being able to show them around a little bit :) Plus, I got to eat at a real restaurant for the first time in 8 months, it was the best! I'm sick today so I don't want to stare at this screen too long. But, I always like to share a quick spiritual thought before wrapping up my emails :) We gave a formation to the missionaries about how to present the Book of Mormon and we kicked off the formation by calling two volunteers to run and pass a baton, explaining that "the pass off" is the most important part of the race because it determines how the next runner is going to finish the race. We related the passing of the baton to the passing off the Book of Mormon. Like the presentation of the baton, the way we present and pass off the Book of Mormon determines the way our investigators, friends, family members, and/or neighbors will finish the race. Though we had many important points, one of my favorites was "Soyez Inspirer" or "Be Inspired". At the beginning of my mission my mission president encouraged us to contact with 3 inspired phrases that have been prepared and ready to use. Then, keep a prayer in your heart to know what the person needs in the moment you stop them. Expanding on this inspired idea, we encouraged the missionaries to study the Book of Mormon and find 3 inspired scriptures, one for each inspired contacting phrase, that they would be able to use in various teaching situations. In doing so, they would be able to introduce the Book of Mormon immediately and go straight into teaching our special message of the Restoration. "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men (D&C 11:21)." To close with words much more powerful than my own, "Now we not only need to say more about the Book of Mormon, but we need to do more with it. Why? The Lord answers: ‘That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom. We have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our missionaries are not as effective unless they are [teaching] with it. Social, ethical, cultural, or educational converts will not survive under the heat of the day unless their taproots go down to the fullness of the gospel which the Book of Mormon contains. Some of us may not live long enough to see the day when the Book of Mormon floods the earth and when the Lord lifts His condemnation. But, God willing, I intend to spend all my remaining days in that glorious effort." --President Benson Amen! Moi Aussi! (Me too) Love, "The Wysonator" ... (The name I have been given here in the mission since being called STL hahaha)
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Tracie WysonI feel very honored to have had the opportunity to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the France, Paris Mission. Archives
April 2017
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