7/11/2016 1 Comment Brussels or Baptism?Salut!!
My companion and I were getting ready to catch a train to Brussels when I suddenly looked at her, blue faced, and sprinted to the nearest trashcan. We were supposed to go to Brussels together to help some of our sisters find people to teach. But... Seeing as I couldn't last longer than a few minutes without throwing up, we realized someone was going to have to go in my place. We made a last minute decision to do a double exchange and Soeur Witham was nominated to go in my place while I stayed in Lille with her Blue. I was sooo bummed out; we had been looking forward to this finding weekend in Brussels ever since the beginning of the transfer. After they left, I climbed back into bed and just started praying--frustrated with the situation and the amount of things that have been arriving lately. Though, I have seen enough miracles to know that the greatest miracles often come during the moments when they are least expected. So, I did my best to put on a happy face and trust in The Lord; he is very organized and his timing is always perfect :) We still had a rendezvous that day to go to but we figured one sit down lesson was better than contacting all day long in Brussels. Though, being with a brand new missionary of only a few weeks, I knew I would probably be teaching the entire lesson... Which made me a little nervous because I just wasn't feeling well at all. We left almost immediately for the rendezvous and my head was just turning. While we were in the bus Soeur Piazza looked at me and just said... We can cancel this rendezvous if you're too sick, it's not a big deal!... But, for some reason, it just didn't feel right to cancel it. The family we were going to teach speaks an interesting mix of Spanish and French. So, we met up with the member who speaks Spanish and could help us translate things that needed translating. When we got to the stop by their house, I suddenly felt prompted to teach The Gospel of Jesus Christ and invite their 9-year-old daughter to be baptized. I stopped abruptly and asked my companions it would be alright if we changed the lesson really quick before we went inside. They just looked at me and said "Nous vous suivons!" (We follow you!) haha. I had never even met this family before. The family was a little confused to have a different missionary than usual but as we began the lesson they just seemed to get closer and closer as their interest grew. The spirit filled the room. At the end of the lesson, I looked at their daughter and shared with her the story of my own baptism. Then, invited her to be baptized on October 1st :) She was just beaming as she answered with a solid, "BIEN SÛR!" (of course!!) Then she looks at her mom and says..."That means we need to go to bed early Saturday because then you won't have any excuses to not take me to church on Sunday!!" Natasha, at only 9 years old, will be the first in her family to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. :) She is incredible. Only 9 and she is the example for her entire family in praying, daily scripture study, getting the family to church, and following the example of Jesus Christ. We left the rendezvous filled with so much joy, knowing that there had been a reason for this last minute exchange. I would trade Brussels for a baptismal date any day!! ;) Another AMAZING miracle we had this week... Saturday we had a lesson with a woman named Samansa, a referral from the elders in another city. She is from Iran and is currently waiting and praying for her husband to be able to get his visa so that he can meet her in France. We were actually teaching the Restoration in English for her and for some reason I just couldn't speak English! I was spitting out French words all over the place and kept looking to my Francophone companion to help me out in my native language... I felt so dumb. Somehow I managed to stutter out the first vision with a strange combination of French and English words. Then, my companion looks at Samansa and just says, "How do you feel?" Her reply..."I just feel...*then she starts crying*... Better than I have felt in my entire life." As we sat and listened to her bear testimony to us of all the things we had just taught, I felt very humbled as I realized...There is no such thing as "butchering the lesson" when the spirit is truly there. It really didn't matter what I said; whether it be French, English, or a strange mix of the two, the spirit still testifies of truth. Friday we had a ridiculous amount of opposition in getting to a certain rendezvous that we almost got to the point of just wanting to call and reschedule. But, we decided that there must be a reason Satan didn't want us getting to this rendezvous. So we kept pushing through! We actually happened to show up at the same moment as she did. She opened the door for us and we walked in with our lesson all ready to go. To both of our surprise, we saw two other young girls, who also happened to be missionaries. Only they were Evangelist missionaries, who ALSO had a lesson ready to go...hmmm... Well this is awkward... Christelle (our ami) ran to catch a phone call and while she was talking, everyone just kind of stared at each other. I am sure they were just as confused as we were. This story turned out really cool because, despite our differences, we ended up teaching the lesson TOGETHER! We taught about forgiveness and repentance. At the end of the lesson, the two missionaries left with us! They asked what the difference was between our churches; we walked and talked about the Book of Mormon and ended up giving one to both of them. They even asked if we could exchange numbers so that they could learn more :) This week has been an incredible testimony to me of the perfectness of the Lord's Timing. Everything he does is done in wisdom. Which reminds me of a scripture I love in 2 Nephi 2:24:)... "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things." It's easy to lose faith when facing opposition, but it's just as easy and important to remind yourself of the miracles that are waiting just around the corner. As we listen to and faithfully follow the promptings of the spirit, we will accomplish the things the Lord wants us to accomplish. À Bientôt Mes Amis ! Avec Amour, Sœur Wyson
1 Comment
Laurie Bowes
7/13/2016 10:39:23 pm
Love your blog, Traci. You have an incredible spirit and you are doing incredible things. Keep on keep on :)
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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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