Joyeux Noël ma Famille et mes amis!!
The past week was quite rough, but The Lord has been so good to us. After a very hard week, we received a call from some members in our ward, the Deforge family, inviting us to go caroling with them. I think it was for his cousin if I remember correctly...But she is 93 years old! It was a really fun experience as well as a really funny one because we had to YELL at FULL VOLUME, everything that we said to her because she couldn't hear us otherwise hahaha. We repeated everything at least 3 times so that she could hear us haha. It was great! Singing with the Deforges was the first time I have really felt "at home" here on the mission because everything is so different here and my family is so far away! But it was a real tender mercy of the Lord because even though it might seem insignificant to others, that was such a special moment for me... It reminded me of one of my most treasured family traditions; on Christmas Eve when my family gathers together around the piano and we sing Christmas songs together. It was a truly beautiful evening. The Lord knew how much I needed that. It is so special to receive those little tender mercies of the Lord that remind us just how much we are loved :). Though they might seem small and insignificant to someone else, they mean the world to each of us individually. This was the week of tender mercies. We saw lots of rejection this week and very little success, but the Lord blessed us with so many tender moments that kept us going<3! Tender mercy number one...We had a much needed "day off" last week for a Christmas Zone conference in Paris! I am not sure if I have ever been so excited to see someone as I was to see Soeur Hodgman! My MTC companion :). There is a special bond that you have with the person you start your mission with! I missed her so much! We were both on the verge of tears when we saw each other haha! I felt like we were in a movie, running in slow motion towards each other with that extremely dramatic music playing in the background. haha! Our mission president and his wife gave us the best Christmas gift in the world this year. They secretly gathered letters from all of our parents and then gave the letters to us during zone conference! Just about every single missionary in the room was in tears as they read their parent's letter, including President Babin as he saw how much it meant to each and every one of us! Yes, even I bawled, like a baby, surprise haha. My companion and I were asked to sing at zone conference too which was fun! Even though we were only able to practice with the elders one time beforehand haha, yikes! But I think it went pretty well! On our way back from zone conference we got a call that the train that was supposed to take us to our connecting trains for Angers was canceled because someone jumped in front of it :(...we had no way to get to our other train so we ended up missing it. Luckily after about 2 hours of frantically running through Parisian train stations, we were able to exchange our tickets and make it back to Angers. My companion and I got home so late that night we just crashed in our living room on some blankets, we didn't even bother to tuck ourselves into bed, we were exhausted! haha. I woke up sick the next day so we decided to make some soup to see if we could kick it before it got worse. I loaded up on cayenne pepper and apple cider vinegar, then when I went to put some dried peppers in the soup, the lid came off and about two cups of peppers fell into the soup!! haha! Well, those peppers are precious so I wasn't about the waste them!! Let's just say, our sinuses were definitely cleared that night! Our eyes and noses were running/watering like crazy haha! Good thing we both LOVE spicy food! Sadly...even that soup couldn't stop this bug haha. I was up all night with a fiery fever and a nauseous stomach. To add to the excitement, here in Angers, we only have one companionship of Soeurs... so if one person is sick, you have no one to do exchanges with for lessons...So I bundled up and we headed out! I was still excited to teach Melonie because she was progressing so well and we were going to invite her to be baptized that day! But, we showed up and she was standing at her door with our books and brochures and she gave them to us and told us to leave! We were SO broken hearted! We asked her why and she began to go off on how she "knew" that we were only here on missions because if we didn't serve then we would be disowned by our country...Whaaaaatttt?... *"forced" to live in Paris France for 18 months?! Wo is me!! ;P* ...Well, many things were said after that but it was not a very fun experience to say the least. My companion and I finished strong, though! Well, spiritually...we bore very powerful testimonies to her and the spirit was so powerful! She didn't care to listen, but at least, we gave her the opportunity! Here is the tender mercy that came from that experience...On our way home we met the sweetest girl ever! Her name is Emily and she is from the United States, and she doesn't speak any French because she is here teaching English. She was so kind to us and she was very interested in what we had to say! My favorite part of this miracle is that we happened to have an English Book of Mormon on us that we were able to give her because Melonie gave it back to us! Melonie had one in English and French because she was trying to learn English. We NEVER have them in English!! It was SUCH a miracle/tender mercy! As a child and young adult I never really understood the concept of a tender mercy. I often heard people speak of them in church, at home, and even at school! But, what is it exactly that defines a tender mercy?...Since I have been on my mission I have come to the conclusion that it is like of like the concept of flirting...you can't really define it, but you know it when you see it! haha ;) It is kind of a goofy way to think about it, I know. But, that's exactly what they are! Tender mercies are different for everyone, which makes it hard to define, but we are able to recognize them, by the way, they make us feel the love of our Savior-- that is what makes them so tender :) I hope you all have beautiful celebrations and I pray that we will all remember the reason we celebrate Christmas and truly think of what we can give back to The Lord this year, for he has given us the greatest gift of all, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."-Luke 2:11 Merry Christmas and a Joyeux Noël! Je vous aime! Much Love, Soeur Tracie Wyson p.s. Those of you who have sent letters and emails, they are so special to me! Merci Beaucoup! I love you!
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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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