2/15/2016 0 Comments A Surprise to us all!Happy Valentines Day everyone!
Our Zone made the goal this week for every missionary to really ponder and record the "why"... "Why" are you on a mission? "Why" did God call you to this area? "Why" this companion?... All of which are, in fact, pretty complex questions. I feel very blessed to have experienced numerous miracles this week that helped give answers to many of those "why" questions for me :) It was P-day, we were on the bus headed home when Soeur Curtis noticed a couple, about our age, signing to each other on the bus. It's always exciting to see people signing, though French Sign Language is very different from American Sign Language. Signing ASL to a French Deaf person is a complete shot in the dark; not many of them understand it. I began to wonder if it was worth trying to communicate with them. Not to mention I was feeling a bit inadequate in my sign language already. Then a scripture was brought to my mind and I remembered my fast: Doctrine and Convenants 90:11 "11 For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ." I love that is says the gospel will be taught "through" those who are ordained, but that it is "by the comforter", or the spirit, that they will receive revelation of Jesus Christ. We are simply the instruments in the Lords hands. An instrument alone cannot play a beautiful song, but with the right musician, it can move even the toughest crowds to tears. I know The Lord called me here, not to be a musician, but to be an instrument in his hands. Those Deaf people on the bus deserved to hear the gospel, and if LSF was the only way they could receive it, the Lord would help me learn LSF! I waved to the couple and signed, asking them if they understood American Sign Language. They signed "YES!" I couldn't believe it, I signed it about 3 more times just to clarify that they had actually understood the question hahaha. It was a MIRACLE. Our bus stop was approaching and we had less than a minute. I began signing as fast as my little hands could move, explaining as much about us as possible in the next 30 seconds haha. We practically chucked our pass along card at them as we jumped through the closing bus doors hahaha. To our GREAT surprise, we got a text from them that same night saying that they wanted to learn more!! No more than 45 minutes after we got home! We were SO stoked! In fact, we were so excited, we didn't know what to do except just start jumping, dancing, and hugging each other! Haha! I am overjoyed to announce that we were able to set up a rendez-vous with them for the next day to teach them about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ :) I am even more overjoyed to tell you that the lesson was absolutely incredible. Nicolas and Olivier only know French Sign Language but they understand a little ASL. They are SO different, It truly was like trying to understand a completely different language, even the letters of the alphabet are completely different! So, I would sign in ASL, and they would sign back in LSF. It was a miracle. Even while communicating among 4 different languages, (English, French, ASL, and LSF) the spirit in that room was so incredibly powerful. It was such a beautiful experience as I truly felt the Lord working through me, using my hands as the instrument to share his gospel with his children. It is impossible that I could have gone into that lesson, and with my own knowledge, taught them the gospel. It is only by the hand of the Lord, my musician, that I was able to share the music of the gospel with Nicolas and Celine that night. When Nicolas and Celine showed up, we asked them if they believed in God and they replied "no no no, not at all!" Though, when we asked why they didn't believe, they didn't have a response... Then I signed, "You have a Father in Heaven and he loves you so much." They were so touched, they knew it was true the moment I told them :) I knew they could feel his love. We showed the Restoration video and we read a couple scriptures from the Book of Mormon, then we taught them how to pray. They absolutely loved it. Afterwards, they both asked if they could have their own Book of Mormon, restoration brochure, and restoration video! My companion doesn't understand sign, but, after the lesson, she mentioned the feeling of the spirit in that room and said..."it was awesome!" Haha she's right, it was awesome! The Lord is awesome, his work is awesome! The next morning, we received a text from Celine saying that she had read the brochure we gave her and that she was crying because it was "by interest to [her] heart" :) ... I know that it is by the spirit that we come to know the truth of all things, and it is in the sweet feelings like this that we recognize the Holy Ghost working in us and testifying of truth. If you have been reading my blog, or weekly emails, you all well know that I have many favorite scriptures... Helaman 5:30 is one of them ;) "And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul." A still small voice of perfect mildness, that is the way the Lord speaks to us. Celine and Nicolas came to Soirée familiale on Thursday with the members! It was SO cool! Soirée is something we have every Thursday night with the members where we have a little lesson, eat treats, and play games. We didn't expect them to show up but when we got to the church, they were already there! The elders taught the lesson and I translated. All I can say is...God is so good to us...there is no way I could have pulled that off by myself. The only contribution I made was offering my "Helping hands"! My brain was pretty exhausted by the end of the lesson thinking in French, translating into English, and then to sign language. I spent part of my language study learning French Sign Language. It's bizarre haha. There isn't a single sign that I have found yet that is the same in both languages: with the exception of "Jesus Christ" :) I prefer ASL, it is a lot more practical, the signs are smaller and not so explosive (it's prettier too). LSF uses both hands including your arms for almost every sign haha, good workout! Celine brought her Book of Mormon with her to Soirée and showed us that she had read the ENTIRE introduction all the way through the end of 1 Nephi 1 last night! It was AMAZING! She loves it! We need to start petitioning for the church to open a French sign mission here, there are SO many people to be taught! We taught Celine and Nicolas several more times after that this week and all the lessons were wonderful :) Nicolas came to church on Sunday and I sat up front by the stand and translated the entire meeting! It was incredible, the Lord works miracles. There is so much more to say, but for the sake of time... we are going to move on because there is so much more to be said about this week! :) Transfer day is coming quick! We found out on Saturday where we would be going, or not going, for the next transfer and....drum roll please....I’M STAYING IN ANGERS! I am thrilled to be staying here because I LOVE Angers :) Though, the excitement doesn't end there... Saturday morning my trainer received a call from the mission presidents assistants and if you receive a call the morning of repertoire day, that means you have a "special calling". Well, I thought that was really funny becauseFriday night we had "transfer guesses" and I told Soeur Curtis that she was going to be called as an STL and she refused to believe me! Her face when she picked up the phone was PRICELESS. I couldn't stop laughing. I began mouthing my mom's least favorite phrase, "I told you so ;)" Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I hear "Soeur Wyson?".... My heart hit like a wrecking ball into my stomach hahaha. Yup. That call wasn't for Soeur Curtis. *Insert Sweating emoji* Surprise! Coming this Wednesday, this blue (me) will be receiving a blue of her own! Soeur Curtis will be transferred to a little countryside Ville called Vannes for her last month in the mission and I will be picking up my "baby" in Paris Wednesday morning :) I fasted and prayed for knowledge and peace of mind after receiving the call to be a trainer. I feel truly honored to be trusted with such an incredible responsibility; though, after being in France for only two transfers, I feel far from qualified to train a brand new missionary haha. During my fast, a scripture came into my mind... Proverbs 3:5-6 5-Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6-In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." The answer to my prayers was very simple. The spirit simply told me, "It's okay that you don't know what you're doing, the Lord knows what he is doing. Trust in him." I know that the Lord will always provide a way for us to do the things he asks of us. I truly have a testimony of Nephi's words, (1 Nephi 3:7)... "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." One last update before I say goodbye...we set baptismal dates with both Jacqueline and Manuella! Manuella will be baptized this coming weekend and Jacqueline the end of next month! We are absolutely thrilled for them and it has been such a blessing to see the ways they have grown and their testimonies have blossomed as they exercise faith in the Lord. :) On that note, I love you all and hope you have an awesome week! Love, Soeur Wyson
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Subscribe:
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
|