10/3/2016 1 Comment Happy October Everyone!First off, I can't tell you how lucky you are that you get to watch all the 4 sessions of conference LIVE!! Because of the time change, we watch the Saturday sessions on Sunday and then people just read the Sunday sessions when they come out in the Ensign the first of the month. So feel free to send us your awesome notes and quotes from the Sunday sessions! :D
I loved how each talk focused on the plain and precious truths of the gospel. Specifically focusing on the message of a loving Heavenly Father, The Restoration, The Book of Mormon, and the power of prayer. I was especially touched by the talk given by W. Mark Bassett about how we are so busy trying to understand the "sealed portions" that we ignore the beautiful, plain and precious truths that have been unfolded for our joy and our benefit. After hearing this, one of our investigators turned and said to us, "Now I get it." In previous lessons, she had explained to us many worries concerning things that she didn't fully understand because it wasn't, "Logic". My first question was, well, what is "Logic"? Is it something defined by God or by man? And how could we help her to understand the difference between the Logic of man from that of the Lord?... I loved Elder Bassett’s response to this question, "Faith and trust in the Lord requires us to accept that his knowledge is greater than ours." When we have faith in Christ and we put our trust in the Lord, we are able to say, "I do not know the meaning of all things, Nor do I need to." Well, I'm sorry for the super duper short email this week. We decided this morning that for my birthday P-day we were going to party at the Paris zoo so we did that instead of writing emails haha. But I will make up for it next week!! I love you!!! :) Love, Soeur Wyson
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9/26/2016 0 Comments Happy Fall Y'all!Woosh! It's already Fall again!? I feel like I got to Paris and someone clicked the fast forward button on my life, these past weeks went by like a whirl wind. Sometimes I feel like we are just running around like chickens with their heads cut off because of how fast paced things are here hahaha. Probably because that's what we look like! Haha. I am absolutely loving it here in Paris! We have seen so many amazing miracles, and the Lord just keeps on blessing us. This week’s many miracles included a follow up with our bus driver Jean Michel! This guy could not be more cool. We were able to teach him twice this week! Once on the bus, and another time at home with his family. They are amazing. He even read all the materials we gave him in advance and came with questions already prepared both times. My favorite lesson with him had to have been when he told us that he had work all week and wasn't going to be able to come meet up with us... So what did we do? We got on his bus at the terminus and rode with him ALLLLL the way to the end! Which gave us 1 whole hour of solid teaching time! :) It was so cool, we even had several fellow bus riders join in on the lesson as we taught. One cute little Nun came up and said to us (pointing at our badges) "Hey!! I'm a sister too!!!" Hahaha sooo cute!! Tuesday night one of our recent converts invited us to come and play ping-pong next to the Eiffel Tower with him and his non-member friends. Which led to us teaching all of them the gospel, while playing them in ping-pong next to one of the World's most famous monuments, no biggy. The amount of people we talk to in a day is unimaginable; the amount of people we pass in a day, even more so! Recently, Gilbs (Soeur Gilbert) and I made a goal to never allow ourselves to miss an opportunity to teach. We have been doing pretty dang well! Almost every day, Gilbs and I walk to a nearby retirement home to visit a recently baptized member. Each time, as we walk through the hallway, we turn to wave at an old woman who is always found sitting alone in the exact same place in her room. Well, we can't miss any opportunity to teach! So, we decided it was about time! ;) At first Marie-Annette was super unimpressed with us, and not super joyful. It didn't take us long to realize that she had very little confidence in herself. She just kept telling us how ugly and disgusting she was and that she "wasn't like this before". It made my heart ache listening to a daughter of God speak so poorly of herself. When we realized that there was only one person who could convince her of her beauty, we asked if we could pray for her. In the prayer, I simply asked God to help Marie-Annette to know that she was beautiful and one of his daughters. By the end of the prayer, she was wiping tears from her eyes and kissing our faces all over (literally)! Sometimes it's difficult for us to see our divine nature, but our Heavenly Father can and will always help us to see it if we ask him to :). On our way back from Marie-Annette's, we saw a homeless woman living in a little wooden shack on the side of the road. We see lots and lots of homeless people here, but the moment we passed this woman I felt prompted to turn around and go talk to her. With no money to offer her, I reached into my bag and pulled out a Book of Mormon. Then I looked at her and said, "I have no money to give you, but I would like to offer you the thing of very most value to me." She then reached out, took the book, and ran her hands down the pages. Then, she hugs the open book up to her heart and starts sobbing, thanking the Lord for having remembered her and given her such a special gift. That moment had to have been one of the most tender and humbling experiences of my life. For my favorite laugh of the week, I thought y'all would enjoy this little excerpt from Gilbs' Journal Entry haha: "Funny story of the week;) Soeur Wyson got proposed to. Haha! The bus was so crowded that we decided to just walk the rest of the way to the church. About halfway there we hear a man scream and then running footsteps behind us. He asks us if there is any way he could convince our church to let him take us out, and we obviously said no. Apparently he didn't really get the point because then he looks at Soeur Wyson and says, "Look... I saw you walking down the street and I thought to myself... That woman would make the perfect mother for my dear children"... What!? Hahahaha. Then he launches into the story about how he saw a vision of Soeur Wyson and him married in a cute little country house with a dog and lots of children HAHAHA. We got a pretty good laugh, especially me. Soeur Wyson was flattered but definitely a little (a lot) weirded out hahahaha. But we invited him to church!.... I mean... Never say never, right!?" This week I was called to be the new ward translator. I don't know why they trust me with so much power hahaha. I say that because along with being the ward translator, I have also taken it upon myself to be the ward "filterer" hahaha. The other day I was translating for relief society when a woman began bearing a very far-from-doctrinal testimony to our investigators. Soooo, let's just say my translation of her testimony was very "interpreted" haha. I was enjoying the extra time she gave me to teach The Gospel of Jesus Christ ;) The other day I was looking for a way to contact the young man sitting across from me, because I mean, obviously I couldn't tell him I liked his outfit. That might be taken the wrong way haha. I thought for a minute and this is what I came up with..."Are you French?" Hahahaha. DUH. He actually thought it was pretty funny and even agreed to come to institute next week ;)! After several hours of transit contacting, my stomach was beginning to get verrrryyy motion sick. We jumped off the bus and I prayed that the Lord would calm my stomach so that we could finish out the day strong. Just then, a little elderly lady calls out to us from the side of the road. We rushed over to her to see what we could do to help her. She explained to us that she was having difficulty with her legs and needed someone to walk her to her bus. Holding her tight on both sides, my companion and I walked her about 4 blocks to her bus stop. It was so simple and yet she was completely convinced that we were angels. No, just missionaries :) Then she smiled and said, "Well it's too bad I am Buddhist, otherwise you could teach me!!" ... Hey! We still can! ;) We will be going on a picnic with our new friend soon :). While we were walking home I realized as well that The Lord had answered my prayer; I had completely forgotten about my nausea and we were able to finish the day out strong before heading home for bed :). Well, that's a wrap for today!! I wish we had more time to share all the miracles we have been having. There are just so many! I actually had to go buy a little book that I now carry around with me everywhere--dedicated to taking note of all of the miracles and funny things that happen through the day. I titled it, "Miracles Happen...Even in France!" ;). Haha. They really do! Love, Sœur Wyson Salut! Comment allez-vous mes amis!?
Got my adorable new companion this week, Soeur Gilbert!! We were both pretty stoked about transfer calls since we have been petitioning to serve together ever since last Christmas when we met at zone conference haha :) Then, while we were on exchanges a few weeks ago, we jokingly said, "See ya next transfer ;)!" (Indicating that she was going to be called Paris STL). So we both about died when transfer calls came in, so funny! She called me about 5 seconds after and screamed, "WE'RE GOING TO GET SIX PACKS!!" Hahahaha. Yeah!! Bring on the Holiday season!! We kicked off our efforts by running to the Eiffel Tower the other night for our dinner hour, it was definitely the most exciting run I have ever been on, we got to run right under the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower! Last week Soeur Weckesser and I saw some incredible miracles that I didn't have the chance to share last week, so I wanted to do a little flashback before getting into too much detail about this week. :) The entire district was several hours late for a finding day in St. Ouen because of problems with the metro. Giving us no more than 30 minutes to actually go out finding. We said a prayer before splitting our ways. The prayer finishes, I look at Soeur Weckesser and say, "QUICK! RUN!!" and we took of sprinting down the street. Then she yells, "HARD LEFT HARD LEFT!" We hit the turn pretty fast, it was getting a little intense. But luckily we had run just fast enough to catch an elderly woman and her grown son the moment before they got into their car to leave. Noticing the 5 big dogs in the back of her car, we jumped straight into sharing what we knew about the creation of the world (including animals). Josiane and Patrick were so touched by the story. They quickly became very interested and loaded with questions, as they had never before studied religion. We ended up talking to them for an entire hour and teaching the entire Plan of Salvation as well as introducing the Book of Mormon, giving them a chapter to read, and inviting them to attend church the next day! Which conveniently happened to be located on their exact same street. After our conversation, Josiane looks up with tears in her eyes and says..."You two have been the perfect Birthday present, thank you." It was her birthday! Of course we gave her a big kiss on the cheek and sang happy birthday to her right there in the road :). Soeur Gilbert and I had one of the most interesting weeks of my mission thus far hahaha. So much ridiculousness, and so many miracles! Our first day began by scrambling around trying to get all the missionaries to their newly designated areas, which was followed by a perplexing riddle... We came home to an open window, shattered safety glass all over our apartment, no missing plates/ bowls/ lamps/ Windows/ or other shatter-able glass objects, and nothing stolen? Pretty weird way to start off the transfer haha. We ended up having to cancel most of our rendezvous while president and a few others arrived to investigate the scene. Later that day we were walking to our rendezvous with Lucile when a man started following us very closely behind, spitting on our feet with every step we took saying, "Good Mormon Girls. Good girls." I tried to be Christlike, but those were my brand new boots...so I may have given him a little less than “Christ-like” Stink eye. Our second lesson with our new ami Claire was absolutely incredible. For those of you who didn't get to read Claire's story in my recent posts, Claire would really like to be baptized but her cousin (who she lives with) told her that if she continues to study with us then she will be living on the street. Then she took her Book of Mormon and phone away to make sure she had no way of doing so. So, we didn't hear from Claire for over a week. Until a few days ago when Soeur Gilbert and I were doing weekly planning and as I told her about our investigators I had a very strong prompting to text Claire and ask her if she wanted to go out to dinner with us that weekend. Almost immediately, she texted back and said, "No. I can't. But I would really like to learn the gospel with you. Can I please meet you at your church tomorrow?" We definitely did the happy dance when we got that text. We went into the lesson prepared to teach the restoration and ended up being lead to the story of Alma the younger instead (Mosiah 27). Before reading the chapter together, we talked about the power that God has to soften even the hardest of hearts. Then we asked her if she believed that God could soften the heart of her cousin. Hesitantly, she replied with... "I don't know... She is really hard." Well, for those of you who aren't familiar with the story of Alma... Alma was the son of the prophet, who, unlike his father, did not follow the ways of the Lord. In fact, he even went out with his friends, seeking to destroy the church. As you can imagine, his father, friends, family, and others were heartbroken because of their acts. So, they decided to join together in fasting and prayer for him. Inquiring of the Lord to use His power to change the heart of Alma. In the crowning event of this story, an angel of the Lord appears to Alma and his friends and says; "...Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people...Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith (Mosiah 27:13-14)." At that moment, the angel warned Alma to go his way and "seek to destroy the church no more", causing Alma to fall to the Earth in astonishment. In the end, Alma awakes and immediately begins testified ting of the power and love of the Lord. We looked again at Claire as her eyes glistened with tears. Then we asked the question again, this time using the story of Alma, "Claire... If the Lord can soften the heart of Alma, who was seeking to destroy the church, do you believe that he has the power to soften the heart of your cousin and provide a way for you to be baptized?" Without a moment of hesitation, she smiled and began nodding her head quickly as she said with surety, "Yes. Yes. I know he can." Following the example of the people in the story of Alma the Younger, the three of us decided to join in fasting and prayer with great faith that her cousin's heart will be softened, and that she will allow Claire to be baptized. After our lesson with Claire, we walked our usual route to the metro at Chatelet. Until a strange prompting came to both of us to turn around and take the bus instead. Even though we were steps away from the metro, we turned around and walked all the way back to the bus and took it instead. Minutes after catching the bus, we received a panicked call from the zone leaders. Who sighed in great relief to discover that we had taken the bus. After news from the mission president, they were calling to confirm that we were not included in the hostages that were being held in the Chatelet metro station at that moment. I know The Lord is aware of us and our safety, and he has promised to protect us as we listen and heed the promptings of the spirit the moment they are given to us. To add that miracle, we even invited our Bus Driver to be baptized on our way home and he scheduled a time for us to come and teach him and his family the following week :). Wow, what a week! I wish I could just continue to write all of the incredible miracles we saw this week but that would be a ridiculously long email/novel. I might just have to write a real one after my mission. I think I'll call it... "Miracles Happen...even in FRANCE!" :) I love you!! Keep searching for miracles wherever you are! Beaucoup d'amour, Soeur Wyson Family! Friends!
Apologies in advanced for the scrambled email. My fingers are moving as fast as possible to get this email done in the small amount of time that I have today. Since entering into the mission field I have become very familiar with a common member misconception: "missionary" also stands for.... professional piano player, singer, music director, chef, athlete, AND...Zumba instructor?!? Hahahaha. Yup... Betcha didn't see that one coming! Or maybe you did, but I sure didn't! The Relief Society had been talking up this Zumba event since long before I arrived in Paris. So, we thought it would be a great idea to invite all of our Amis! Awkwardly, everyone showed up to find that they had prepared everything, EXCEPT a Zumba teacher... But hey, it's okay! Because missionaries can do everything! ;) right? Not sure if what I taught them would even be classified as dance, but we sure had fun! With an interesting mélange of country line dancing, hip hop routines, EFY dances, the cha cha, and free styling, we were able to whip out some pretty sick moves ;)! OH YEAH! LUCILE GOT BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED THIS WEEK!!! It all started at 6:30 am, anxiously preparing for the big day. It was a classic French morning, in the words of Soeur Weckesser, "Miserable to the French but to two missionaries wearing matching outfits strutting down the streets of Paris, it was the most beautiful morning!" Church was great! Saying goodbye to the members was bittersweet for Soeur Weckesser (who will be leaving me to spend her last 6 weeks in LUXEMBOURG) but the anticipation of the baptism was keeping us both pretty occupied! After church ended all chaos broke loose. Members were scrambling everywhere trying to say goodbye and exchange emails. Finally we broke free and left in a hurry seeing as we only had about 40 minutes to get to another chapel (our chapel doesn't have a baptismal font), get Lucile and her husband in baptismal clothes, and set up the decorations. Oh boy... After making it about 1/2 mile away from the church we all stopped dead in our tracks... "WHERE IS LUCILE!?"...Hahahaha we had absolutely no idea where she was! 30 minutes before her Baptism was about to take place, our cute little senile baptizee went missing... (Face palm). Emergency member splits were assigned and everyone set out to find Lucile, haha! The idea of Lucile wandering completely lost around Paris was enough to make anyone sick. Luckily, less than 20 min later, she was found sitting quietly and patiently in a chair just outside the bishop’s office... Hahaha our mission leader found her and said, "what the?! Lucile! What are you doing?! You have a baptism in 30 minutes!!!" Apparently the cute little gal thought she needed to have an interview with the bishop. Lol. Soeur Weckesser took Brother Akoutey (Lucile's husband) to the other chapel to find him clothes and start preparing him for the baptism while I escorted Lucile to the chapel. A bit of info about Brother Akoutey...He baptized his daughter 2 years ago and he had to do it 5 times because she was never fully submerged. So he was pretty tense about the baptism. So we decided to talk to him on the metro to calm him down a bit. Then we were filled with horror when he says, "Of course, I'm ready! This time I plan on holding her under for 5 seconds." The thought of Brother Akoutey drowning his wife on the day of her baptism was too much to bear. "NO NO NO NO!! 1 second is PLENTY!!" (Insert sweating emoji). Thanks to much help from above, everything was ready in time! Even Lucile was all nicely dressed and we led her into the chapel holding her hand (so she wouldn't fall down) she looked like an angel all dressed in white! She even sounded like one as she let out a HUGE belch just as she was about to enter into the chapel... Hahaha! We did not see that one coming. Oh man, we love her so much. Time for the actual baptism... Brother Akoutey managed to get into the font without falling, then Lucile, phew! They spent about 5 minutes trying to help Brother Akoutey position Lucile. Lucile ended up being the one holding Brother Akoutey to baptize him.... Haha, Nice try Lucile! Then after the position had been perfected by multiple priesthood holders, he was ready to say the prayer. The poor guy was probably so nervous. He had forgotten how to start the prayer, so they wrote it down for him, then out of nowhere, Lucile starts to say the baptismal prayer! Haha! We all held our breath with Lucile as she plugged her nose and was lowered into the water. Meanwhile it sounded almost like there was a fan group watching because everyone began yelling unanimously, ohh, ohh OHH! as we realized just how serious he was about the 5 second thing after all...so in the midst of all the panicking and, "it's all good! It's good it's good!!!!!"...Lucile was just under water, eyes shut, nose plugged and as happy as could be! The priesthood holders on either side of the font reached over and down to help him pull Lucile out of the water. At this point we ran into the change rooms so we could greet her at the font with a towel. Just as we got to the steps, she was looking up at the mirror hanging overhead and simply looked at herself, completely unaware of the commotion around her. She was smiling so big and looked as if she were staring directly at an angel. We helped her out of the font and we asked her how it was (This is why we love Lucile so much) She said, "It was, perfect!!!" She then giggled and entered into the changing room, haha! Then Brother Akoutey said, " I told you I had promised to hold her under for 5 seconds!" He is a man of his word! We were so relieved that it all went well! The baptism was so awesome! Definitely the most entertaining and unpredictable baptism I have ever attended! Well I am running out of emailing time so I am going to have to push some of this week’s excitement over to next week’s email... But I just wanted to share one last miracle before finishing up :)... This Sunday we were sitting in church when I had a strong prompting to run outside... Super strange because it was right in the middle of sacrament meeting. But, I jumped up and ran out anyways! I found myself momentarily confused and alone before spotting a family of four who had accidentally wandered their way into the church courtyard. I spontaneously invited them to come check out the church and they looked at me like I was a complete weirdo and then thought for a few minutes and said... "Hm. Okay. Maybe a couple minutes." They ended up staying for the entire meeting and they loved it! So now we are teaching a new family of four!!! :) This week we had SIX investigators at church! Miracles happen... Even in France! Love you all!! Xoxo- Soeur Wyson 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 Bonjour à tous !
Man, I can't believe it is already Monday! This week wasn't a very eventful one. We mostly just did a lot of exchanges, as usual :). Though we did have quite the exchange miracle on Tuesday! As well as about a million other weird experiences hahahaha. So basically this email will be dedicated to Tuesday. Tuesday I had an appointment with the physical therapist, which was inconveniently placed smack in the middle of exchanges. But that's okay, we enthusiastically took the challenge to find a new investigator while doing physical therapy! ;) Of course every time you are in a hurry to get somewhere, the metro comes to an abrupt stop and a fight breaks out between a bunch of scary shirtless men. Which delayed our arrival to the hospital by about 30 minutes. Placing us at the check-in desk at just the perfect moment to meet an adorable little old lady named Marie :) Marie was also trying to make her way to physical therapy but had gotten a little lost along the way. We were able to help her find her way by inviting her to walk and talk with us. :) She excitedly grabbed my hand and she held it so tight the WHOLE way hahaha. It was adorable. For the next 30 minutes she couldn't stop telling us how nice Canadians are. Even after repeating about 50 times that Soeur Larsen and I were actually American hahahaha. Then she would say, "Oh oh right, Americans!"... Then, less than a few minutes later each time she would start asking us questions about life in Canada hahahaha. Eventually we just went with it :) Before leaving, Marie grabbed my companion's hand and put something in it before forcing her fingers closed and insisting that it was her gift to us...TWENTY EUROS! What!? There was no way we were about to take twenty euros from an old lady! We tried to give it back at least the equivalent, 20 times, but she refused to take it and kept forcing it back at us telling us to go buy ourselves lots of cookies and candy and cake hahahaha. She then told us, "when French people give you a gift, you are obligated to accept it." She then grabbed my hand, shoved the bill back into it and said," I bet you didn't expect the French people to be that nice!" Hahahahaha. She was right! We laughed so hard! She was sassy! We were so sad when we had to say goodbye to our new little friend... Luckily, we only had to say goodbye for a week! Soeur Weckesser and I will be going to her house for dinner this coming Sunday :) Speaking of cookies, candy, and cake...All of my 40 day fasts up to this point have been focused on spiritual health. Well, now that I am pumped full of positivity from my 40 day happy fast, I'm ready to get physically healthy!! Woot woot! :D 40 days without sugar! I am so pumped. So far I have made it 3 whole days. Which is easily the longest I have gone since getting to France hahaha. First thing in the morning (On Tuesday) we got on a bus, which is fairly normal. Until we found ourselves about 1 meter away from a man who starting twitching dramatically when we got on. In France, especially Paris, you see weird things like that all the time. So we didn't think much of it. Until I started getting weird feelings. It almost looked like he was having a fist fight or like he was trying to battle something... It was strange. Then, he whipped around and stopped right in front of my companion and yells saying that she was the devil, very loudly and multiple times...Then he continued his way making sure to let everyone on the bus know we were the devil...We decided to get off the bus. Probably a smart decision. One of the funniest lessons we had this week was with Lucile, who REALLY wants to be baptized. She is sooooo adorable hahaha. Lucile is really old and has a bit of a memory problem. Which makes for some really fun lessons because you just never know what kind of response you are going to get! Haha :) Also on Tuesday, I went over with another sister during exchanges and we were teaching about modern day prophets. We started off by asking if she knew who our prophet is today and she excitedly yells, "Toma!" (Thomas) hahahaha. We were so proud! Yes! It is Toma! After talking about prophets for about 20 minutes, we were sure she was ready for the final question! "Lucile, do you believe that President Thomas S. Monson is the true prophet of God?" Then, she looks up at us smiling from ear to ear and says..."No!" It took every serious bone in my body to keep myself from bursting out into laughter. It was like one of those moments when a little kid comes up and tells you something bad they did, but they are just too dang cute you can't help but laugh haha. Then I just said...Ummm... Okay... I think we need to start the lesson over... LOL. So we taught the WHOLE lesson over again hahaha. Turns out the full name just threw her off a little bit, she was sure about Toma, just wasn't positive about Thomas ;). As you can see, this week was quite the adventure haha! But that's mission life and I LOVE IT !! :) I can't even begin to explain the beautiful change I have felt and seen as I fasted from negativity these past 40 days. Choosing to be happy really is easy! Even on the difficult days, when I felt like choosing to be happy was impossible, I chose to SING! Which of course inevitably made me happy every time :) So choose to be happy! And when you can't choose to be happy, choose to sing! :) (or whatever else makes you happy :) Have a wonderful week!! Love, Sister Wyson 8/22/2016 0 Comments "Man, I love the Gospel!"Hey hey hey!
Our ward mission leader got off of his mission less than a month ago and is preparing to go on his first date in over two years. So of course he comes to my companion and I for dating advice. Hahahaha. I couldn't stop laughing. A return missionary asking two missionaries for dating advice... What's wrong with this picture? Well, we did what any missionary would do... Took down his number and passed the referral to someone a little more qualified hahaha. This week we taught the Restoration to a guy in a clown suit, that was one of the strangest things I have ever done hahaha. We were just minding our own business and snapping a few pictures during our lunch break when suddenly a clown man pops up out of nowhere and starts dancing with me (don't worry, we got it on camera). We were a little freaked out but it was pretty funny. Before leaving, he held out his hand for money and so we gave him a pass along card. He was very confused, he probably stared at us for about 45 seconds before we realized he was actually interested haha! So yeah, we have a new ami, and he is a clown. Lately I have really been looking for ways to work my brain. So, I made a goal these past couple weeks to do everything I normally do with my right hand, with my left! Including writing, makeup, brushing my teeth, etc. it's been so cool! It really tests your concentration haha. Not to mention your patience! While on Exchanges, Sœur Jackson and I decided to step off the the side of the road and say a quick prayer to help us know where to start finding. After all 5 of our rendezvous being canceled, we were looking at a looonnng day of nothing but street contacting haha. Immediately after the prayer we both looked up at each other, puzzled at the answer we had both received--The visitors center. We actually never go to the visit center because it is currently run by the Elders for security reasons. Without delay, we headed over to the Visitors center to check things out. When we got there, the Elders, as usual, were taking their shift running the center. They also happened to be in the middle of the lesson so we didn't hang around. Before leaving, we decided to stop inside the church really quickly and check our referrals. Realizing the door to the church was locked, we turned back to the visitors center to grab the key. The Elders were still occupied with their lesson when we turned the corner and noticed a stranger standing in the visitor center, reading the church Proclamation to the Family. Seeing as the Elders were in the middle of a lesson, they had not yet had the opportunity to greet this man. Of course Sœur Jackson and I had no problem taking over ;). Henry is a young married Protestant French man who noticed some missionaries on the metro no earlier than that same morning. Curious, as he was getting off the metro, he asked if they had a card to give him. Pleasantly surprised, the elders began digging through their bags for a pass along card which they quickly placed in his hand as the metro doors closed. I imagine that as those doors closed, those elders probably did what any of us missionaries would do. Pray! Pray that he would be the diamond in the rough that actually calls the number on the card. During Henry's voyage home, he stared at the information on the card. Then, spontaneously turns around and gets back on the metro that leads directly to the church visitor center. We were able to teach Henry the entire Restoration that day as well as give him a Book of Mormon. His eyes lit up as we read together and testified of the things we knew to be true. By the end of the lesson, I felt the spirit so profoundly that I could hardly remain standing hahaha. I just wanted to lay down on the floor and say... "Man, I love the Gospel!" Well, I actually did do that. But I waited until the visitor center was empty ;) Hahaha. Man, I love the Gospel!!! To add to the awesomeness of that miracle...the moment we walked outside of the visitors center, we found ANOTHER new ami!! What!? Two in one! I love finding new friends :) After closing our 24 hour exchange with Luxembourg, we had 30 minutes give or take to get ourselves pumped for our next 24 hour exchange with Nancy. This week we had to give our formation in Zone Conference along with THREE back to back 24 hour exchanges. It was insane! Exchanges take a lot out of you but they sure bring in lots of miracles as well! One of my favorite exchange miracles this week was when we got free drinks and fancy discount meals just for looking cute ;). I was out with Sœur Jackson and we were getting ready to head home for lunch when a little old French man yells out from his restaurant to us and says, "WOW!!! Beautiful Girls!!! You know what, free drinks, on me for the beautiful girls!" We laughed and politely thanked him for the kind offer, but told him we actually don't drink. Then he turns around and yells at his employee and says, "Two free orange juices for the lovely ladies!" Hahaha. Okay, we're convinced. He ended up giving us a super awesome deal and we got the entire meal-- drinks, entree, main dish, and dessert-- all for 15 euros! They weren't cheap dishes either! So we celebrated Sœur Jacksons 6 month mark by enjoying my sister Natali's very favorite French dish, "Confit de Canard" along with a nice fruit salad and some French onion soup. Sadly, not all French people are as nice as that old man. Sunday we arrived at church to find graffiti across the outside wall telling us to "go back to [our] country" and some other mean stuff. It's interesting the ways in which Satan is using his followers to attack the church, as the scriptures said he would. What he doesn't realize is that his attacks are nothing but testimony builders :) As we realize the purpose behind them, we understand that Satan wants nothing but for all of us to live like him--in misery. His efforts cannot and will not shake us if we recognize his plan of attack and rely on the Lord to protect us. For this reason, I love the story of Alma. For those of you who aren't familiar with this story. It is one from the Book of Mormon about a young man, who is the son of the prophet, Alma, after whom he was named. Though Alma did not always follow the righteous steps of his father. In fact, he even went out with his friends seeking to destroy the church! It is a sad beginning to the story as we read about his actions "giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them" (Mosiah 27:9). But there is much we can take away from this scripture. I imagine that Alma must have had moments of guilt. It's something that comes naturally with sin. When we make mistakes, we feel guilt, which can push us to repent, if we let it. Or, we can try to hide our guilt, by continuing in iniquity. Sadly, if we do not choose to turn to The Lord, we are, as alma did, "giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over [us]." His efforts cannot and will not shake us if we do not give him the chance. As we follow the teachings of the prophets and put our trust in the Lord, he will protect us. And we will not be blind to Satan's plan of attack. "And because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them...and thus doth The Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him (Mosiah 29:20)." Man, I love the Gospel!! I feel honored to be here sharing it with everyone. I miss you all and I'm praying for you every single day. Keep searching for miracles, because miracles happen... Even in France!! ;) BISOUS BISOUS Xoxo- Sœur Wyson 8/15/2016 0 Comments Hiccups and Spiders...Ciao family and Friends!
After having written an extremely juicy and intricate weekly email, my iPad flipped out and deleted all of my notes and data from the past month, including my weekly... So positivity is a little “less-easy” today than usual haha, But hey, It's okay! Still positive! (Eye twitch) Sadly, I don't have time to rewrite everything because we don't actually get a P-day today. Instead, we will be spending the day on a train! Woot woot! :D So that will be quite the adventure! :) With that, I apologize for my "weak-sauce" email this week -- as my little brother would say haha. With an outstanding variety of underground transportation, namely RERs and Metros, there is little need for buses. Though one day on our way home from the chapel, we decided to switch things up a bit and hit up the bus. Typically, as a missionary, the moment you get on a bus you begin looking for people to talk to. Though rarely is it ever the actual bus driver haha. Jean'-Michel is our bus driver :) A little background story about Jean-Michel... Several weeks ago my companion was running late for a RDV when she had a sudden urge to buy ice cream. She didn't even want ice cream. But, she bought it anyways haha. When she saw her bus leaving the stop without her and her companion, they began running and waving their arms rapidly, with hopes of stopping the advancing bus. The bus stopped. That never happens. They were so grateful that they gave the bus driver the ice cream that they had not yet had a chance to eat, along with a Book of Mormon. Moral of the story... Ice cream is ALWAYS a good idea ;) ... Hahaha okay that's not quite it, because the story doesn't end there! Weeks later, Soeur Weckesser and I jumped on the bus and to our great surprise, it was the same bus driver! We ended up staying on the bus for about 45 minutes talking to him about the church as he drove his course. He had even been reading the Book of Mormon that they had given him, with his family! We also had the chance to meet his family, who happened to be on the bus that day as well. It was incredible. We will be teaching Jean Michel and his family for the first time this Friday! :) There is nothing more annoying than the hiccups when you are trying to testify. Especially when you're trying to speak another language. Between your accent and your spontaneous outbursts of breath, no one can take you seriously. We were sitting in a lesson with Lucile, who is preparing to be baptized the 28th of this month, when the hiccups hit me like no other. I couldn't say a single sentence without hiccupping. Clearly I wasn't the only one who was getting annoyed because within the first 5 minutes of our lesson, Vanessa (25-year-old daughter) tells me that all you need to do to get rid of the hiccups is to take your fist and jab it into your sternum. Yikes! She kept trying to show me on herself what I needed to do but I did not think it was a very good idea hahaha. I was just imagining the worst case scenarios. Finally, she tells me I need to not be a baby about it, she gets up and comes over to me to do it herself! EEK! I threw my arms out to block it and then instantly, my hiccups stopped. Hahahaha. She literally scared the hiccups right out of me!! Lol. My companion couldn't stop laughing. I was a little traumatized. I try hard to be positive. But there is little happiness found in a shattered iPad screen. Luckily, The Lord always gives us reason to be positive about everything, even broken screens. We sat and waited for the iPad techs to give me a bid on fixing my screen when one of them looks at my badge and says, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints... What do you teach?" Giving me the perfect opportunity to teach the entire Restoration to the IPad technicians. Hahaha, so cool! Everything happens for a reason right? When I came back to pick up my iPad we made a little exchange, they gave me my iPad, and I gave them a Book of Mormon... Most expensive Book of Mormon I have ever given! (150 euros later). We were out on exchanges the other day when one of the sisters began to cry. In my goofy attempt to cheer her up, I lunged at a pigeon and gobbled. I scared the little guy so badly that it leaped and pooped right in front of my shoe. It was a close call. Too close. But it definitely cheered her up!!! This wouldn't be a real Soeur Wyson email if it didn't include a spider story. Our apartment is pretty old and very French (which is awesome). But, the only problem that the creaky old wooden floor panels present is...with pretty decent sized gaps between the boards, they make for a perfect home for our little spider friends. Only... They are not so little. Lots and lots of 'em! We're talking borderline tarantulas living beneath our feet. Needless to say we have been faced with several near death experiences throughout the week. All the movement and changes must be summoning them from their hiding places... So the four of us have been living arachnophobia, some more than others. So my companion and I, being the jokesters that we are, decided to take advantage of the situation and we put a huge plastic spider in the other sisters’ lamp Hahahaha. It looked SO real!!!! I even freaked myself out a little bit. Anyways, later on that day we got the funniest voice mail either of us have ever received in all our years of living. They were absolutely terrified when they saw the spider Hahaha. They took several videos when they found it while they tried to build up the courage to kill it. It took them 30 minutes of screaming, crying, and panicking before they realized it was fake! LOL. We came home to a "you're dead to us" note on the door with a picture of a spider drawn on it. We laughed for a solid while. In fact, the four of us are all still laughing! Though my companion and I are a little on edge about what's coming for us but it's part of the fun hahahaha. One of our companionship goals this week was to strive to have charity and to serve those around us in every way we could. As volunteer missionaries, we ourselves have nothing to give in terms of money or foods. But there are so many other ways we can serve :) One idea my companion and I came up with was, Origami! Paper is cheap and origami dragons can make ANYONE smile!! The other day we were walking out of the metro when we saw a woman holding a sign asking for help. She seemed so incredibly sad. We only made it about half way out of the metropolitan before stopping and pulling out a piece of paper. Then we went back and presented the woman with a little origami bird and a smile :) It was so sweet to see the change in that woman's face that was made by a simple little origami bird :). Again, I'm sorry for the very lame and random email. But on the bright side, at least you know that mission life is keeping me on my toes!! ;) I love you all!!! Love, Sœur Wyson 8/8/2016 0 Comments There's No Place Like Paris!I’m sure you're all anxious to hear all about life as a Parisian; all I can say is...this place is making my "choose to be happy" goal a little TOO easy! How can anyone be anything but ecstatic to be living in such a beautiful historic place!? Friday morning I was woken up abruptly to an alarm clock at 4 am after a horrible nightmare, startled to the point of throwing my arm, launching my iPad off the top bunk, and shattering the screen on the floor. I also had a head cold. Then I sat up and looked out the window and just laughed. Because how can I complain about anything when I am living and serving as a missionary in the center of the most dreamed-about city in the world?
I began my adventure here in Paris as an escort for transfer day! It was actually super hilarious because I had no idea where I was going since this is my first time actually using the metro system in Paris hahaha. And yet, every single tourist we passed was stopping to ask if I could help them find their way. Seeing as I didn't even know where I was going, my phrase of the day became, "No clue! But I can ask someone in French for you! :)" haha. I have never translated so much in my entire life, it was awesome! To break the ice, day one, The Weckster (Soeur Weckesser) and I were making some yummy omelettes when I began cutting the onions. HOLY SMOKES!! Those babies were FRESH! I sobbed/laughed for about 15 minutes until my mascara covered my face, chin, and neck, forming a perfect mascara beard. My new companion Soeur Weckesser is as awesome as I told you all she would be ;) Miracles are flying out the wazoo. We even set a baptismal date with an ami the very first day! It was amazing! Soeur Weckesser wasn't actually there for it because she got sick and so I went on a last minute exchange. It was kind of funny because I had absolutely NO idea who the ami was or what Soeur Weckesser had planned to teach her because I had only been in Paris for a total of about 3 hours at this point, haha! It was quite the adventure! It's something I like to call "flying by the [spirit] of your pants" hahaha. It's when you're not really sure what your doing so you just rely 100% on the spirit ;) it's works great! Before going in, we decided to pray about a baptismal date to keep in mind, just in case :) We ended up teaching about the enabling power of the atonement and she said, "Well, I understand what he did for me. I have faith now, I didn't before. But I am just not sure what he wants me to do with it."...You better believe I whipped out 2 Nephi 31 faster than you could say "Miracle!" "...He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do (2 Nephi 31:12)" I love the clarity and simplicity of the Lord's answer as he exhorts us to follow his example. As we read together from the scripture, Sarah's eyes lit up brilliantly. Then she looked at us as said, "I understand." In that perfect moment, we invited her to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God, and to prepare herself to be baptized on the 16th of October. After a moment of silence, we were excited to hear her joyful response, "Block the date!" :) On the way home from our rendezvous with Sarah we were sitting on a metro next to this cute Asian woman named Angsulin holding a Snoopy bag. So American, I had to say something! Though it was a bit awkward because she didn't speak French and so she tried to respond to me in some other language before discovering that our mutual language was English haha. Turns out she just moved here from Thailand! I told her that one of my best friends lived there for two years and I have never seen someone get SO excited! She suddenly wanted to know EVERYTHING! It gave me to the perfect moment to bring up the reason he was there ;) (which very conveniently happened to be the same reason I am in France!) It was the coolest thing, it was like she instantly just adopted us as her best friends :) We have a rendezvous with our new friend Angsulin and one of our Thai members this coming week! Our second day in Paris we set a second baptismal date! We were teaching a sweet old lady named Lucile. She is the mother of one of our recent converts here in Paris. It was such a sweet lesson, and the spirit was so strong. We didn't even need to ask her, she just told us she wanted to be baptized! You can only imagine how happy her family was-- How happy we ALL were! Even moving to Paris hasn't broken the spider plague... The other day we we waiting at a bus stop when a spider flew out of nowhere right into my throat! I immediately started coughing and spitting but it was too late... Mmmm! Protein! That was a great bonding moment for my new companion and I. Friday we had mission council. My very first mission council that didn't consist of waking up at 4 am to take a train into Paris--this is the life! ;) After mission council we planned with the different Zone Leaders of our zones before heading off to a rendezvous with a young family in our ward to top off the day :) Which leads us into Saturday morning when we actually did wake up at 4 am to take a train to Strasbourg for another training meeting haha. Strasbourg is one of the most "envied" cities in our mission because it's right next to Germany and is absolutely beautiful. There are no sisters in Strasbourg yet though so we lucked out getting to visit! Even though we got there at 11, had a meeting, and then left at 1 haha. We got back home around 5, just in time to go to another meeting with the Zone Leaders and District Leaders here in Paris haha. It's been a busy week!! The best part is, it's just the beginning! ;) Soeur Weckesser and I were having a really hard time focusing during planning and we made a joke about how we needed those Blinder glasses that they use for horses to keep them from getting distracted hahahah. We laughed so hard, then we made them! Lol. The highlight of my week was going to church and sitting in the exact spot where 5 years ago, I truly discovered my personal testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After having spent the summer living in France with a family of non-member friends, I found myself longing to feel the spirit that I had missed during that summer. With the closest LDS church being more than 3 hours away, I had no way of attending. During this time, I was able to see the ways that my life was affected when the church wasn't a part of it. Though sometimes not going to church gave me much more time to visit castles and the other wonders of France, something very important was missing from my life. It took me more than half of the summer to figure out that those peaceful feelings I had been missing so much were the feelings that come from the spirit. At the end of the summer I had the opportunity to travel to Paris to attend church before heading home. Amongst the numberless phenomenal cites to see in Paris, the church was the most magical. I remember fasting and praying before going to church with a single intent... To feel the spirit again. I have NEVER been so excited to give up food for 24 hours in my entire life. We got to church nearly an hour early because I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to miss ANYTHING. Sacrament meeting started and suddenly I realized... No... It's not possible... everything was in French!? Of course everything was in French... I was in France. It came as quite the shock to me because I had been living with a family that spoke perfect English the entire summer. I wanted to cry. How could I feel the spirit when I couldn't understand a single word that was being said? Everything was in French, and I didn't speak a word. I wanted to cry. But instead, I began to pray. In that moment, I heard these simple words, "Listen." I bowed my head, closed my eyes, and listened. As much as I would love to say I received the gift of tongues and understood everything that was said... I didn't. It was definitely still in French haha. But, I learned something much more important. The spirt got stronger and stronger the better I listened and I realized in that moment that, even though the languages change all over the world, the spirit does not. The spirit always testifies of truth. That is why it is by the spirit that we are able to gain a testimony of the Gospel. Ever since that day my testimony has done nothing but flourish. I know it wasn't easy for my parents to let me go to France by myself at the age of 15 but I can't express my gratitude to them for trusting the Lord enough to let me go and have that experience. I love the gospel. I know with my whole heart that it's true. The cherry on top--Now I am here in the exact place I found my testimony, helping others find theirs :) I even had the opportunity to share this story with the ward here yesterday in Fast and testimony meeting, in French :). It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I am so grateful to be here, I am so grateful for this gospel, and I am so grateful for the infinite love that our Heavenly Father has for each one of his children. I love you all. Love, Sœur Tracie Laina Wyson 8/1/2016 0 Comments Packing Up Again!Happy August Everyone!!
Well everyone, transfer calls have officially been made. As certain as I was that I would be staying in V-D'Ascq... Looks like I will be spending my birthday in PARIS!! I'm pretty stoked. I will continue to serve as an STL over the Paris and Nancy zones. My companion is none other than the famous Soeur Weckesser!! I have had my fingers crossed tightly that I would have the chance to serve with her before she "died." I cut it close but I made it into her last two transfers! :) I am sad to leave Lille after only twelve weeks but I am excited to see what miracles are waiting in Paris :) I am also really, really stoked because the Paris STLS run the Churches visitors center in Paris!! But I have to admit, the best part of it all was when the ward planned a big "going home" dinner for me after my "farewell talk" in church and then realized I was only half way through my mission hahahaha. So cute, and too funny! I am sure going to miss this ward! Between exchanges in Liege, Zone activity, our zone formation, transfer calls, finding day, AND packing my suitcases, Sœur Corneta and I haven't even had a moment to sit down until today haha. With that, I don't have much time to write an elaborate group email because we still have tooonnnnsss to do. I will try to fit in as many miracles as I can, but I'm going to have to be a little less creative in my email organization this week. :) Laurence's Miracle: A little Flash to the past-- We found an ami named Laurence a couple weeks ago in our area book and decided to give her a call. She went CRAZY on us for about 35 minutes about how "NOT-interested" she was. A simple "No" would have sufficed, hah. After several times of trying to politely say goodbye, my thumb was getting closer and closer to the end button. Then, the spirit reminded me of the power of prayer... I tried one last time to interrupt, "Laurence, we understand you don't want to meet with us...But, we would like to leave you with one last prayer as a reminder of where you can always turn for peace." Confused, but touched by the offer, she said yes and listened closely to the prayer. When it was finished, she was silent for about 3 minutes. We kept checking the phone to see if she had hung up on us. Then, she says humbly... "I'm sorry. I won't be here this week, but how about you come over next Tuesday?" A goal I have made for this new transfer is to focus on being bold in inviting people to be baptized. Soeur Corneta and I were given this topic for our first Zone formation together. But, in order to effectively teach it, we needed to do it! As we were praying for inspiration, Laurence came to mind. We were going to see her for the first time the next day and as soon as we finished praying I looked at Soeur Corneta and said, "We are going to invite Laurence to be baptized tomorrow morning!!" I was so excited I could hardly sleep. The next day we had our first lesson with Laurence and the spirit there was outstanding! By the end of the lesson all three of us were in tears and hugging each other (and French people don't hug!)... We were bold! We were direct!...SHE SAID YES! A Follow up Miracle--Sammy! This weekend one of Sammy's friends came to visit from Iran and we all had the opportunity to go out for dinner and a missionary lesson, Woot woot! During dinner we were able to teach Sammy's friend our special message of the Restoration that we are here to share. As we taught, her eyes just lit up and she says..."That is absolutely the most beautiful thing I have ever heard." We now have THREE skype investigators in Iran!! There are SO many people who are ready to hear the gospel! A Change of Heart--Yahma Saturday we got together with the other missionaries here and several members to do a little finding together. We started by setting up our "Meet the Mormons" posters dead center of the "Grand Place" here in Lille. The goal is that the people see the posters and contact us. It usually works out pretty nicely because the ones who stop are usually people who are interested in what we have to say... Usually... Other times you have people like Yahma who just come up to yell at you and tell you that you're completely wrong and going to Hell. After listening to that for about 20 minutes, the "Wyson" in me had finally had enough... If only he knew what he had just unleashed... I threw my hand up, Palm facing him and said something along the lines of... “That's enough. For the past 20 minutes you have been launching questions at me. Questions to which I have the answers to, and yet, you refuse to give me even a moment to respond. If you're here to receive answers, be quiet and listen. If you're here simply to argue with me, I'm not interested. We have people waiting for us who would like their questions to be answered so please excuse us, we need to go. But, if you sincerely would like answers, you can come to our church tomorrow morning at 9:30 am. But if you come, you are coming because you have a sincere desire to learn and you are coming with an open heart ready to listen.” Then I wrote down the church address and handed it to him. He stared at me, shocked for a moment (I don't think he expected that to come out of the little Mormon girl in a pink dress standing in front of him)... Then, he says..."I will be there tomorrow." Without saying anything, I reached out my hand to him to "shake on it." He shook my hand and I said simply, "à demain" (at tomorrow). The next day, I stood up in church to give my farewell address. Then, to my surprise, Yahma walked in, waved discretely, and sat down on the back row. He stayed for the full three hours and was so incredibly touched by the spirit. The ward even presented him with his very first Book of Mormon during Sunday school and he could hardly catch his breath he was so so SOOO happy. He made a promise then and there that he was going to read it and pray about it to know if he needs to be baptized. I couldn't believe the change that was made it his heart. I just wanted to get up and dance I was so excited! Later on, everyone was asking him what is was that made him decide to come yesterday and all he could come up with was... "I don't actually know... I guess she convinced me. Have you ever tried to argue with her? It's impossible. She's too good. *looks at me* Have you ever thought about doing Sales? Or Law?" Hahaha. It made me laugh. Though hopefully he will soon realize that I'm not the convincing one but that it is only by the spirit that we are able to speak with such conviction. "And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them not.(1 Nephi 10:22)" "...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)." This past month of focusing on the Christlike attribute "Faith in Jesus Christ" has been absolutely incredible. The miracles that come flooding in when you act on the faith you have in Jesus Christ are outstanding. I can't believe it is already time to add in, "Hope!" This month I will be focusing on having Hope, the second Christlike attribute. :) "Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. The scriptures often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the assurance that you will inherit eternal life in the celestial kingdom.” (Preach my Gospel) With that, I HOPE you all have a wonderful week full of faith, hope, and miracles! :) Je vous aime beaucoup ! Bisous, Sœur Wyson 7/25/2016 1 Comment Even When You're Old...Hellloooo Mes être chers !
I'm getting to that point in the mission where everyone amuses themselves by constantly reminding me that I am "getting old". The elders make it a joke with all the sisters because the closer we get to the end, the deeper we fall into denial. I am still telling everyone I meet that I have been in France for "about 5 months" hahaha. Soeur Clements, being at the end of her mission, was totally fine with it. However, my new companion has started calling me out on it... So, I just want to say...Miracles STILL happen!... Even when you're "old"! (Which, for the record, I am not old. I have plenty of time). Yesterday after church we were on our way home to eat lunch when suddenly I got hit with this incredibly strong prompting to visit an inactive member in our ward named Sophie. I have only met Sophie one time since being in Villeneuve D'Ascq and I have never been to her house. But, I looked up her number and gave her a call...no response. I gave her another call. Again, no response. Being a missionary, I normally wouldn't find someone ignoring my call very strange haha. But, this time it just felt weird. She doesn't have any family so we decided it would be best to just try and pass by her address. When we got to her house there was no response. We rang a few more times before coming to the conclusion that she wasn't home. I remembered the first time we met her, she told us she had been fighting cancer for years. Then, I looked at my companion and said... "We need to go to the hospital." We walked for close to an hour to the hospital because there are very few buses that run on Sunday's. When we got there, we gave the front desk Sophie's Name. There was no one by that name in the hospital. Remembering that she went by another name, we tried again. This time asking her to search only the last name. Without saying much, she looked at the computer and wrote down a room number on a piece of paper and gave it to us. We took the elevator to the top floor and wandered the halls until we found room 5030. I knocked a few times, no reply, then Soeur Corneta knocked, no reply. Eventually we decided to just open the door. We opened the door and there she was, lying in bed connected to all kinds of machines and covered from head to toe in dark bruises. We quickly made our way to her bedside. A sweet smile made its way onto her face as she realized who we were. Then, puzzled, she looked at us and asked... How did you know I was here?... We responded simply by smiling and pulling out our iPads to share a sweet video with her. We testified of how much her Heavenly Father loves her and that he wants her to know he is aware of her. He eyes filled with tears as she nodded her head and said... "I know". I've gotten really sensitive on my mission when I tell people how much their Heavenly Father loves them. I can just feel his powerful love for each of them so strongly. Thus, Sophie was not the only one with tears in her eyes. It's one of the greatest blessings to me as a missionary. The blessing to be able to look at people as individual children of God, with individual lives, trials, gifts, and bodies, and be filled with love for them. A love so pure and so powerful that you know it comes directly from Heavenly Father. We will be visiting his sweet daughter Sophie again tonight to read a story from the Book of Mormon to her, and bring some yummy cookies too :) On our way home from Sophie's we were sitting in the metro when we noticed a woman smiling enormously at us. We leaned forward to open our mouths but she contracted us before we could even say anything haha. She just yells, "Are you the church at pont-de-bois Villeneuve D'Ascq!? I've been there once!!" Carrying the majority of the conversation, she began to go on telling us how cool she thought our church was because it was so "Today" (Referring to prophets and modern revelation). Haha, so cool! She continued to explain how she came to know God existed and that she doesn't think he would want his church to be "stuck in the past" because the world changes and there are different issues now than there were in the beginning. My companion and I basically just smiled, giggled, and nodded the entire time because she was too excited to find us to actually let us say anything haha. But that's okay, we were perfectly fine with everything she was saying!! Then she said some magical words... "I would love to learn more and meet other members of your church!!"... Without hesitation, I whipped out my planner and said, "We will be eating dinner with a member family on Wednesday, are you free around 7?" She was thrilled! We are really looking forward to Wednesday night :) Soeur Corneta and I have been joking a lot lately about our interesting relationship. Because, even though we are companions, we hardly ever serve together because we are always on exchanges with other sisters. So, by the end of the day when we have finished exchanges, we simply have no energy left for each other hahaha. Instead, we just fall into bed and go right to sleep. So, we decided that we were going to make an extra effort to spend some "quality time" together this week by doing exercises together every night before bed. We've been doing pretty dang good!... Minus the fact that Soeur Corneta was eating chocolate cake while we were doing sit-ups... That may or may not defeat the purpose...But it's definitely given us something to laugh about! Haha :) Speaking of exchanges... I don't want to make this email much longer but I will try to sneak in a few short versions of the exchange miracles we saw this week! Arras Exchange: It was getting late and we only had an hour left before we had to be home. It takes about 30 minutes to get into our sector so we were not sure what to do. So, we decided to do some Trajet contacting! (Bus, tram, metro). Soeur Beach and I jumped on the metro and rode it for about 45 minutes while we talked to EVERYONE! We ended up teaching 8 lessons and finding several new Amis without even leaving the metro once! To make the experience even cooler, two beautiful little girls about 12-13 years old followed us off the metro to ask about our religion and we were able to teach them that they were children of God. Their eyes lit up and they said, "we never knew that before" with the biggest smiles ever! We gave them our cards and they both kissed us on the cheeks to thank us before getting back on the metro. Brussels Exchange: My companion searched for an hour to find the address of an ami before calling me and asking if maybe I could go try and find it. I called up the ami to let her know we were going to be late and asked which metro to take. When she replied with, "there are only trams here" I suddenly understood why my companion couldn't find her address haha. We asked where she lived and she said, "NICE. And I am getting really annoyed because every time I call the missionaries, they can never find my house and so they don't show up!" Hmmm... I see your problem... Hahaha. Well, we were able to trade her for the number of the missionaries in Nice ;) Hopefully this time it will be a little easier for them to find her address haha :) The final miracle I would like to share with you today is simple but hit very close to my heart. For those of you who were at my Farewell, you know the story of my Grandpa who passed away before I was born. For those of you who weren't... Go read my very first blog post and then come back :). It was our last 30 minutes of exchanges and Soeur Mattson and I were walking home when we passed a young couple. We weren't in our sector anymore so normally we wouldn't have contacted those we passed during that time. But, when they passed, my heart began to pound and so I immediately turned around and stopped them. They threw their hands up and waved me away saying they weren't interested. Well, little did they know... They were interested, because this is eternal salvation we are talking about, and who isn't interested in that?! I felt prompted to share the story of my grandpa with them so I jogged up to them again and said... "Actually, I'm here to share a story with you about my grandpa"... They looked at me with wrinkled eyebrows... Of course they were confused why some random girl on the street wanted to tell them a story about her grandpa haha. I was a little confused too! But, without wasting any time or giving them a moment to respond, I began to tell them the story from the beginning about how my grandpa found the church which then changed the entire course of his life, as well as the lives of his future family. As I told the story, the woman's eyes glistened with tears. Their hearts had been completely changed. I then invited them to act, as my grandpa did, and start searching for answers and searching for the truth. We left them with a prayer and they even invited us to come teach them again :). This week was wonderful. I could truly write a book each P-day, simply made up of all the miracles we see every single week. Sadly, my time is limited. But, miracles still happen :)... Even when you're "old" ;) Have a wonderful week everyone and keep choosing to be happy! It works! Love, Sœur Wyson 7/18/2016 0 Comments All Corners of the Earth...Hey Family!!
This week flew by. We had two exchanges back to back and every day was just completely booked. It was so cool! I love sharing the gospel. I wake up in the morning so giddy every single day just to be a missionary. Even on the days I'm dead haha. This week I have been in an EXTRA happy mood. The other missionaries I serve with found it funny because they said they didn't know I could get any more "smiley" than I already always was haha. I recently started a new 40 day fast and the theme of my fast is "Choose to be Happy!" So, for the next 40 days I will be fasting from unhappiness, negativity, sensitivity, anger... Anything that keeps me from being positive! It is very similar to my first 40 day fast of the year when I fasted from negative thoughts or speech. But, I've found that you can never work it too much! It's been absolutely incredible how happy I have felt by just saying out loud every morning, "Je suis trop heureuse aujourd'hui et je ne sais pas pourquoi!!" Translation: "I am SO happy today and I don't know why!!" It's actually become quite a joke in the apartment because they can always guess what the first thing that comes out of my mouth is going to be. Sometimes I even say it a few times just to convince myself haha. But it always works! :) Something I have learned on the mission is just how to laugh. No matter what happens, you can always find something to laugh about. Even if it's just laughing at how crappy the situation is! "As we look for humor, seek for the eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and draw near to our Heavenly Father, we can endure hardship and trial. We can say, as did my mother, “Come what may, and love it.”- Elder Wirthlin I have really made this a goal of my mission that I also hope to carry with me through the rest of my life. Recently I was on exchanges with a sister and it was really hot and humid outside so we wore our very very lightest clothes. Then, all our rendezvous canceled on us, there was no one who would listen to us, and we were super lost (Getting lost seems to be becoming a fairly normal part of our agenda). She looked at me and I just knew what she was thinking..."how could we be so unlucky?" Just then... BOOM! The wind comes in, the temperature drops like crazy, and it starts POURING! Hahaha we were drenched!! At this point we were soaking wet, freezing, lost, and no one would let us inside. Well, there was only one thing to do in a moment like this. ;) I started laughing and singing my own little parody of the primary song "Pioneer Children" Hahaha. Confused for a minute, she just stared at me, then she laughed and joined in! In fact, we couldn't stop laughing! We were actually bummed when the sun came back because we were so enjoying our crappy situation hahaha. We ended up seeing so many miracles that day! I am actually going to have to transfer the majority of them to my next email so that this doesn't become more of a novel than it already is. I need to have time to share my FAVORITE miracle!!! This week we experienced probably the most beautiful miracle I have ever experienced in my entire life. The miracles seem to be getting more and more miraculous the longer I stay on my mission. At this rate I don't know how they are going to get me to leave this place when my time rolls around haha. I am getting quite attached. Because my emails are posted on my blog, all names in the following story have been changed to insure the safety of our Amis. Last week we had a second rendezvous fixed with Sammy but sadly, she got really sick and wasn't able to make it. Very concerned, we prayed for her and then decided to give her another quick call to see if we could get ahold of her. She picked up! Turns out, she had been in the hospital all night :( As she spoke you could just hear that she really wasn't doing well. But, I was so touched because even though she was sick and in the hospital, the only thing she asked us to do was to pray for her husband who was going through a "sad time". It was such an example to me of what it means to have Charity. Even during her time of pain and suffering, she was searching for ways to lighten the burdens of others. That night while I was praying for Sammy and her husband Nicola, I remembered Sammy asking if there were missionaries in Iran who could teach her husband. In that moment, a series of images came into my mind. I saw my companion and I sitting with Sammy in front of a computer screen as we taught the missionary lessons. As the image became more clear I realized that we weren't just teaching Sammy but that we were also skyping with her husband. The spirit filled my heart with warmth. I couldn't wait to present the idea to Sammy in our rendezvous the next day. The next day we had a finding day in Valenciennes and we went out on splits with the members to do some contacting and we saw SO many miracles. For the first 5 hours I went with an adorable member named Sophie and we taught 17 member present lessons and found 3 new Amis. It was so amazing. Then, on the train home, after seeing ALL those miracles... I just got hit by this awful grey cloud. I didn't understand why I was feeling so sad but suddenly I just felt like crying. I held it in as I reached for my scriptures. I began to read and pray and recite my "Je suis heureuse" over and over again until I eventually got so exhausted that I fell asleep. When we arrived back home I woke up feeling a lot better. Even though I wasn't feeling "top", I knew I had to find the strength to push through because those clouds always come right before a big miracle! Sure enough, Satan had good reason to be scared of us going to our rendezvous with Sammy! We headed straight to Sammy's house from the train station. She had spent the day preparing a traditional Iranian meal and had it all waiting for us. When we got there she had the tables all set with beautiful dishes and yummy Iranian food! But, my favorite part was walking in and Hearing Sammy say, "So, I hope it's okay. I told my husband more about you and he asked if you would be okay if we skyped him after dinner so he could be part of the lesson and prayer too." You can only imagine how thrilled I was to hear that. OF COURSE WE CAN SKYPE HIM!! The lesson was in English so I actually ended up teaching the whole thing. It was such a special experience for me to be able to teach the Plan of Salvation in English for the first time. But it was even more special to see the glow in Nicola and Sammy's eyes as they just absorbed every single word that left my mouth. The spirit was so powerful as we taught about God's plan for the eternal happiness of each of his children. We read in the Book of Mormon together about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, then, my companion with the little English she speaks says, "Is this something you want to have forever?" Without hesitation, Nicola replied with a strong "Yes". We went on to read the next verse when the people are invited to follow Christ's example and enter into the waters of baptism. Then we asked if they would also follow this example. Again, with no more than a small pause to process the question, they said, "Yes". The joy and gratitude that I was filled with in that moment from head to toe was indescribable. I found myself sitting with my companion in front of a computer, teaching someone in Iran; a part of the world where if you convert from the Islam to Christianity, the government orders for you to be killed. Yet, despite the danger, they continue pray and read the Book of Mormon because they know it is truly the Lord's Church here on the Earth, and they will do anything and everything to follow him. I remembered the words of the scriptures that tell us there will come a day when the gospel will be preached, "in all the world for a witness unto all nations (Mat. 24:14)." That time is now. Through the blessing of the Internet, and other technology, the message of the restored gospel is being spread to millions of people all over the world. My wish is that we will use these wonderful inventions to fulfill the Lord's commandment and to preach the gospel to every creature and prepare the way of The Lord for his second coming. "For, verily, the sound must go forth from this place into all the world, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth--the gospel must be preached unto every creature, with signs following them that believe. (D&C 58:64)" I love you and wish you all a wonderful week, keep searching for miracles because they happen... Even CHEZ VOUS!! (Even where you are!) Avec Amour, Sœur Wyson 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 HAPPY 4th OF JULY EVERYONE!!!
Oh my goodness y'all are so lucky to be in America for my favorite day of the entire year and one of my all time favorite holidays. Soeur Witham and I are the only Americans in our apartment and I'm pretty sure our companions now think Americans are the craziest people ever hahahah. They really just happened to get stuck with the two most patriotic sisters in the entire mission, woo hoo!! It's actually been pretty sad realizing that we weren't going to be able to celebrate our favorite holiday but yesterday we had the sweetest little tender mercy... We were greeting everyone at the doors to the chapel when a cute new young American couple who just moved from Utah came up to Soeur Witham and I and invited us to come over to their house to join them for their 4th of July BBQ !!! We were so excited we almost cried. It was just a sweet little reminder of how much the Lord cares about us and wants us to be happy. Even when it is just something silly like not missing out on a 4th of July BBQ :) We are starting to see a direct correlation between us going to Belgium and bad things happening haha. Whether it be taking the wrong train, sending our bag to Germany, or getting lost, we always manage to experience some kind of adventure! ;) Tuesday we went to Belgium... Our rendezvous was set for noon, but when 2 o'clock rolled around and we still weren't there, I'm sure they were beginning to wonder what had happened! Normally, the simple solution would be to give us a call. Well, inconveniently, our French phone doesn't work in Belgium... So we were on our own haha. Though we are never completely alone :) Yup, we took a tour of Belgium this week! Not really, but we might as well have after getting lost and hiking up and down the steep Belgian roads for over two hours trying to find a recent convert's house Lol. Between the humid heat, cramps in our legs, blisters on our feet, and our growling stomachs, we both did more than our fair share of whining. Lucky for us, The Lord always pulls through and takes care of us :) even after having to listen to all of our whiny prayers haha. Although we were two hours late, we did eventually make it safely to our rendezvous ! About 30 minutes before we arrived, my companion and I began to wonder if we should just turn around and go back. After saying another desperate prayer, we made the executive decision to tough it out for 15 more minutes. Then, if we didn't find her house, we would go home. During that next 15 minutes we found the street we needed to be on. It was such a miracle! Though, we wondered... Why did the Lord allow us to wonder for so long? There must have been a reason the Lord wanted us to be two hours late. After the lesson, we paused outside the door to thank the Lord for helping us find our way. Then, we asked him to help us to find the miracle that he needed us to be there two hours late for. As we made our down the street I noticed a familiar park. I wasn't sure if I have actually ever seen the park before but something about it just seemed to be calling out to us. So, we followed the park. Within minutes, we were stopped by the voice of a woman calling out to us--curious to know who we were and what we were doing in the neighborhood. As we got talking about the gospel and why we were here she looked us in the eyes and said, "I don't know why, but today after I dropped my kids off at school I just decided to stop here for a while and sit down instead of going straight home like I do every day..." As we testified of the simple truths of the gospel you could just see in her eyes that she knew it was true. At the end of our discussion, we exchanged numbers and Delphine picked up her stuff and left with us...as if she had received all that she had been waiting for. When we pray for and prepare ourselves to find miracles, The Lord places in our paths His children who are being prepared to receive the restored gospel. Sometimes finding those children requires an extra two hours of walking.... But miracles happen, even in BELGIUM ;)! Knowing that there must be opposition in all things, it was normal for me to wake up with an awful pain surrounding my hip and lower back the next day haha. I thought little of it as I just figured it was sore from our little expedition the previous day. I didn't even begin to question it until that night when my companion and I were on our way home for the night. I made it about two steps out of the metro before the tears hit me and I realized it wasn't just a sore hip. After a quick trip to the doctor he told me I "walk way too much". I couldn't help but laugh. I am currently on a 5 day drugged bed rest to allow the tendinitis in my hip to heal. I wasn't too happy to hear that. But, the Lord has since let me know that he has allowed me these 5 days of rest to build the strength and energy that he needs me to have to tackle the coming 9 months of my mission. :) This experience made me think of a citation used in a Conference talk given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Through all mortal opposition, we have God’s assurance that He will “consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain” (2 Nephi 2:2)." Whether it be tendinitis or helplessly wondering the streets of Belgium... I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord, that sometimes come to us in the form of affliction, that allow us grow toward what our Heavenly Father would have us become. Je vous aime tous! #PROUDTOBEANAMERICAN #ANDAMISSIONARY Love, Sœur Wyson 🇺🇸 6/27/2016 1 Comment Mormons RapSalut Mes Être Chers !
After now having been in an apartment with not one but TWO francophones who speak no English, it feels as though French has become my first language. Haha! I laugh, but seriously, trying to write this entire email in English has been one of the most mentally exhausting things I have done in a while! Every thought, emotion, joke, expression, or word that comes into my head now comes very first in French. Even the very first words that come out of my mouth in the morning are French. It is a weird feeling when speaking your native language starts feeling unnatural. My new Companion's name is Soeur Corneta and she is from Geneva Switzerland ! I ADORE her. We never stop laughing or having fun. It's going to be a great transfer! We are both coming up our our halfway marks here pretty soon so we will get to celebrate together ;) She is a couple weeks ahead of me because she only spent one week in the MTC--due to the fact that she already speaks French--But we are basically the same "age" in the mission :) Soeur Witham (other Sister in our apartment) got called to be a trainer and her Blue is from Lyon, France. She also only speaks French. So basically, Soeur Witham and I will be francophones in no time! ;) It's been great fun! The other day Soeur Witham was having a rough day. So, Soeur Corneta and I, being the jokesters that we are, wrote "HAHA, GOTCHA! ;)" on a banana and hid it under her pillow. The plan was that when she went to put her hands under her pillow that night, she would grab the banana and be like, "What the?" Hahahaha. We thought we were pretty funny. Although, it was really awkward because turns out... Witham sleeps on her back... We all got a good laugh out of that one. #Fail The Irish are swarming our streets for the Eurocup. For those of you who don't know what that is... Imagine the Super Bowl, in France, then change it to soccer, multiply it by 7 continents, and add a wwwwhhhhoooollleeee ton of Beer. They are seriously everywhere. I am not sure how I feel about it. I have never seen so much beer in my entire life... I don't know how it is even possible that they are still up and moving with that much alcohol in their system! Last week was the Russians. They didn't drink near as much, but on the other hand, we weren't allowed to go into town because they were a lot more violent hahaha. To add to the worldliness of all of that, the other day Soeur Corneta and I were trying to get home but all of the roads were blocked off by police teams as a bunch of nudists and male strippers paraded down the streets dancing and blasting music. Needless to say, we took the scenic route home. Don't worry, when I say scenic, I am talking about the park, not the parade hahaha. On a more pleasant note, Sœur Corneta and I were sitting in the metro the other day and we decided to try and make up a goofy little missionary Rap. While taking turns attempting to beatbox as the other tried to rap, we actually got a lot of positive vibes from our fellow metro riders! This man across from us even jumped in on it which gave another person the courage to jump in from the other corner of the metro! We rapped the entire missionary objective with those guys ;) They thought we were pretty cool. We got the whole metro groovin'! It was such a goofy little thing but it really helped soften the hearts of those people towards us as they realized that missionaries are normal people and not the robots that they expect us to be. Mormons know how to have fun too! ;) On an even better note, I would love to share a sweet miracle that we had this week. I will also share a little bit in French for a few of my French friends that also wanted to read it. Soeur Corneta and I were in the metro and sitting right in front of us was a veiled Muslim woman and her son. We saw that she had been staring at our plaques for quite a while, so, we started talking with her. It's always a bit awkward when you catch someone plaque checking you and call them out on it hahaha. But hey, it works! ;) We had a long discussion about the differences between our believes until we pulled out the Book of Mormon and began to testify of Christ. As we testified that he was truly to son of God, she started to cry. Then she said, "I am Muslim, but, when I listen to a Christian speak of the Christ, I just feel that it is true." The metro was filled with the spirit. Her name was Samia and she accepted a Book of Mormon and the invitation to come to church on Sunday! She is a single mother of 5 kids and she is wonderful. Immediately after talking together she turned to her sons and said, "we are going to go to this church on Sunday!" It was incredible. Tout d'abord j'aimerais vous raconter un miracle que nous avons eu cette semaine. Nous étions dans le métro et en face de nous il y avait une femme musulmane avec son fils. Je voyais qu'elle regardais ma plaque longtemps alors j'ai commencée a lui parler. Nous avons eu une longue discussion sur nos différence jusqu'à que je partage le livre de mormon et que je témoigne du Christ et que réellement je sais que c'est le fils de Dieu. A ce moment la elle a pleurée.. Elle a dit: " je suis musulman, mais, quand j'entends une chrétienne parlée du Christ je sens que c'est vrai" Ce métro est devenu un lieu remplis d'esprit. Elle s'appelle Samia elle a acceptée le livre de mormon et (elle est venue a l'église) ce dimanche. Elle est mère célibataire avec 5 enfants. Elle est merveilleuse. Samia showed up at church yesterday. It was the most incredible miracle. We were sitting in Church when our phone went off. I have no idea how it went off because it was on silent, we even checked! But somehow it ring anyway. Normally, if something like that happens, we'd just hit ignore and pretend it didn't happen. But, for some reason I looked at the random number on the screen and felt it was urgent. I jumped up and ran out of the room in order to catch it in time. It was Samia! She had been searching for our church all morning but just couldn't seem to find it. We were able to help direct her and when she got here the ward was SO excited. It's really hard to get investigators to church here so we consider ourselves extremely lucky if we can manage to get even one person to come. This week we had SEVEN investigators show up at church! I have never seen so many happy faces as the members watched them just keep flooding in. It was such a miracle. Miracles happen!... Even in France ;) Another sweet little miracle that just really touched our hearts the other day was when I got to save a little baby kitten from a tree. I have absolutely no idea how it got all the way up there but it was trying so hard to get down and the poor little thing just kept slipping and getting scared haha. I wasn't sure what to do when we saw the little guy. We couldn't very well climb the tree in our Sunday Best. So, I walked up and stood at the base of the tree with my arms extended as far out and up as I could get them. He stared at me in the eyes for a minute and then finally decided he could trust me haha. He started to climb down little by little, inching himself closer and closer to me. Then, when he got to the point where he couldn't inch anymore and I couldn't reach any higher, he looked at me straight in the eyes as if to say, "Are you going to catch me?" I guess my eyes answered "yes" because at that moment he crouched down and leaped right into my arms! I have never been a fan of cats, in fact, I'm allergic to cats. But, this was such a sweet miracle because it made me think about our Savior, and how we are all a little bit like this little kitten. As I stood at the base of that tree, waiting for the kitten to come to me so that I could help him down, there were several moments when he began to slip and I quickly repositioned myself under his little body, ready to catch him if he fell. As we went through this process, I began visualizing myself in the place of this kitten...Only it was The Lord who was standing at the base of my tree with his arms extended out to me, inviting me to take that leap of faith so that he could save me. "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me." (3 Nephi 9:14) This scripture now has new meaning to me as I will forever remember that little kitten who trusted me enough to take that leap of faith and taught me the lesson of a lifetime. À la prochaine, Bisous Bisous ! Je vous aime tous ! Xoxo- Sœur Wyson |
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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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