So fun fact. We are actually over two branches. Liège 1 and Liège 2. They meet in the same building which was actually built on what was supposed to be the site for the Liège temple, so it is HUGE. Our building is THREE stories and the sacrament meeting room has PEWS! We even have a stage and an institute room and a huge field out back for fun and games. Such a blessing. Soeur Foster and I had talks yesterday in Liège 2, yeah welcome to town, right? They went really well and the Belge can understand my accent wayyy better than the French. Bonus.
Why aren't the branches just made into one big ward?? Well that is the question of the century, I guess. Some sort of big drama went down a couple of years back and there was so much contention that they had to split the branches. The members of each one really do not associate with each other. Also, we have about 50-60 members in each one, but our ward lists are about 400 people long each. The drama that happened caused A LOT of people to leave the church. It really is SO sad. That is something that has been a really stark contrast between here in Liège and Vannes. The members here have a bit of a different feel. There is a LOT of divorce here and a lot of back-story BUT I can't help but love them still. The Belge are SO nice. I just want to bless their lives and help them mend all of this. Big task at hand.
It's super weird going to 2 sacrament meetings, 2 DMB meetings, and all of that, but I think it will be really fun.
Right now we have 4 amis period, which is a little bit different from the 18 we had in Vannes. BUT these ami's here are REALLY progressing. Soeur Foster is very much "if they are not progressing we drop them and find new people to teach". I think that is just how you have to be in big cities like this because there are SO many people who we could be seeing, but so little time to see them. We will see. :)
But yes our ami's are awesome. Joyce is a lady from England who speaks perfect English. She is really progressing in her testimony. She has been baptized a lot in her life, so she is taking it slow because she wants this to be the last time. Patricia is a friend of one of the members who has been coming to church for the past 6 weeks. We will be teaching her at a members house tonight. Annie is a lady Soeur Foster and Wade met on the day before I got here. We taught her the first lesson on Friday and it went really really well. She is protestant, but interested in learning more. And we teach the cutest Italian couple who is friends with a member.
I have no doubt we will find more people to teach. It's actually really funny. We met 3 people in the same day who all told us they would meet with us on September 3rd. So randomly that day is ALL booked up already. Hahaha. God has a sense of humor, I know it.
Soeur Foster. This girl. She's the coolest. The question is really WHAT HASN'T SHE DONE. She is a certified sky-diver and has jumped 56 times, certified yoga instructor, extreme rock-climber, snowboarder, wake boarder, plans on joining the peace core after this, wants to be a cop and work for the FBI, and more that I am sure I am forgetting or don't know about yet. Oh and she is the hipster twin of Blake Lively. and a KILLA missionary. Let's be honest, all of this took a couple of hits at my pride for the first couple of days. I really didn't know how to take her because everything I've ever accomplished in my life she has done, but like a 10920 times cooler version of it. Hahah. But honestly I got over it really quick and we are starting to become great friends. I'm just going to have to get used to living in the perpetual state of inadequacy for the next 6 weeks. Hey that's life right? I just need to get over myself. Maybe that is the lesson I am supposed to learn here. Haha. We work really well as missionaries together and we like all of the same music and hippie food and she has insomnia, so we get to work out for an hour in the mornings instead of 30 minutes because it helps her be more exhausted. We'll be a good team. Liège is about to be on fire.
Speaking of things on fire. My blow dryer blew-up yesterday. Literally looked down the tube and there were blue flames. So i'm going Simba all-natural for the next little bit. All is well.
What else is there to say?? Oh.The FOOD HERE is SO GOOD. Seriously. I am in LOVE with everything I have put in my mouth so far. And since we are over 2 branches we get fed a LOT. I've already eaten frites twice. Yep. They are the best in the world. I can totally second that. Also, our DMB in Liège 2 is remodeling his house so we get to go out there and do service for him every Saturday morning. I dry walled this week. NBD.
I'm sure there are a million things I am forgetting because this week has been so overwhelming and new. Just know that I am happy. I am healthy. And I have a LOT of work to do here. Pray for us, k?
I love you all so much. Big shout out to KENZ. Je t'aime ma Soeur. You will do great at BYU. Wish I was there to see it.
Avec tout mon coeur,
Soeur Johns
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| View from our 10th floor apartment! |
