9/5/2016 1 Comment It Works Wonderfully!Bonjour Mes Êtres Chers !
The other day we found ourselves sitting in McDonald's trying to get some wifi when a few flying arms caught my eye. Sign Language!! I quickly waved my arm and signed a simple hello to the passing group. The 5 of them came to an immediate stop and began signing with me. I explained who I was, where I was from, and how I knew sign language, along with giving a solid tap to my missionary badge and holding out a pass along card. ;) Ironically, they ALSO pulled out a pass along card! I had been teaching the gospel for the past 15 minutes to 5 Deaf Jehovah Witness MISSIONARIES. Hahahaha. We all had a pretty good laugh. We ended up signing for about an hour. They even apologized to us for all the doors that get slammed in our faces as result of people thinking that we are JW's hahaha. Then they told us that the only time they ever have a chance of getting into someone's house is when they are mistaken for Mormons LOL. We got quite the kick out of that. Hey, if that works for them, maybe we will just start answering doors by saying, "Hi! We're Mormon!!" Maybe that will work out better than our current approach. This week we were fed more than I have ever been fed in my entire life. Now that summer vacation is coming to an end, ALL of the members are back and wanting to meet the missionaries. Let's just say, even though this is my month of Charity, I might change it to Honesty because I am getting reeeeaaaaal good at that one... "PLEASE NO MORE!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH BUT I CANT POSSIBLY FIT ANYTHING MORE IN MY STOMACH!(sweating emojis)" It's taken me almost a year to figure that one out. The key is asking if you can take the leftovers home. French people hate leftovers. So they force you to eat them. Unless you offer to take them off their hands! ;) So far it's working out really nicely. Nightly lice checks have become a thing here... Eek... Those little guys have been making their rounds around the mission, they even got to one of the sisters that we live with. Yikes! Needless to say, we have been doing lots of laundry and giving very few hugs hahaha. Luckily they haven't found me yet! (Knock on wood)... Apparently if you put lavender oil around your scalp it repels lice. Sounds like a pretty solid investment. Lately I've been feeling like I am back at BYU. Only I am still a missionary Lol. An enormous group of BYU study abroad students just joined the ward until the end of the year, it's pretty weird seeing so many people I went to high school with here in my mission hahaha. Sometimes as a missionary you feel like you're living in a completely different universe, so seeing people from back home is probably pretty close to what it would be like meeting a time traveler. We also saw an incredible amount of miracles on Sunday! It was fast Sunday and we joined together as a companionship and fasted to be able to set another baptismal date this week. Well, it sure didn't take long for the Lord to answer our prayers! Sunday morning we received several calls saying that there were a group of people waiting for us as the church, yes, group! We got there and turns out we had FOUR different people who had come to church on their own and wanted to be baptized. What!?! They weren't even related! Claire heard about the church through her sister in Africa who had just gotten baptized--Elizabeth was raised in a part member family in England and had been waiting a long time to be baptized, now she is studying law in France-- Muret is the daughter of a member, also living in Africa, who just moved to France and wants to join the church-- and Mairie, a random woman from the street stood up in testimony meeting after only having known about the church for a total of 50 minutes and bore her testimony that she knew everything that was said that day was true and that she wanted to be baptized. What do I have to say to all that?... lots and lots and lots of gratitude prayers, along with... MIRACLES HAPPEN... ESPECIALLY in France!!! Guess What!? Lucile passed her baptismal interview!! Yup! She is getting baptized this Sunday! Woot woot!! We are pretty stoked for her :) she was so cute. She walked out of her interview and we told her that she was ready to be baptized and she threw her arms up in the air and yelled, "WoooooHooooo!!!" It was so cute. Her reaction reminded me of one of my favorite conference talks that was given in the October 2015, only a few days before I left on my mission called, "It Works Wonderfully!" In this beautiful address, President Uchtdorf reminds us to focus on the simplicity that is in Christ and allow his grace to lift and carry us to our "glorious destiny in our Father's presence." He goes on to say that as we do so and someone asks us, "How is being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints working for you?" that we will be able to say with pride, in all humility, and with great joy, "It works wonderfully!" Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all reacted in the same way each week as we have the beautiful opportunity to renew our baptismal covenants by taking the sacrament?... "WooooHoooo!!!!" Or every time we are asked to give a prayer, to share our testimony, to serve our neighbor, to obey our parents, come home before curfew, do the dishes, clean our room?..."WoooHoooo!!!" To add a few of my own words to those of our beloved President Uchtdorf--once we recognize the beauty and the simplicity of the gospel, we allow it to open our eyes to the beauty and the simplicity that lies all around us. Then, we will be able to respond to life, as our sweet Lucile has shown us, by throwing our arms up in the air and shouting, "WooooHoooo!!!" Sending my love from the city of love and MIRACLES! Avec Amour, Sœur Tracie Wyson
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Tu es bénie entre toute les femmes. Tu as été choisie à cet mission et grâce à ton courage, ta foi ton amour à servir les autres, ton témoignage grandit de jour en jour avec persévérance et sagesse. Je témoignage que notre Sauveur Jésus Christ vie et nous aimes.
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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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