Monday, December 09, 2013

from the ghetto of belgium to the ghetto of paris

I'M GOING TO PARIS FOR CHRISTMAS!

the transfer email just came through and...i'm leaving Liège and going to st.ouen to serve with soeur francis! so stoked. i've heard that st.ouen is the ghettoest ville in our mission, so that means 2 things: humble people and muslims. yayyyy. 

but it happens to be right in paris, which means that paris p-days are about to HAPPEN. i'm looking forward to that just a little bit.   

i am really sad to leave Liège. these people are just the GREATEST EVER. really. ah, i really wish i had the words to describe to you how much these people mean to me, or how much fun i've had, or how hard i've laughed, or how many crazy things i've seen, or how much spiritual progression i've watched, buttttttttttt I don't, so sorry. 

seriously though, nadine and her golden family are still golden. gigh is still the coolest and most inspiring ami ever, joycely had her interview yesterday to receive her patriarchal blessing, and literally all of our less actives bore their testimonies at church. the spirit is doing some good work on these people. I feel so lucky and extremely blessed to have been here to witness it. i know that Liège is at it's tipping point, and the soeur that is coming here is one lucky duck. 

not only is she getting the best amis but also the best companion EVER. seriously, soeur hilton is just an all around super star. i just adore her guts out, and have learned so much from her. 

y'all missions are the best. the absolute best. i have 0 regrets about deciding to serve, or the mission that i have had. just 100 percent at peace.  

bisous, 
soeur johns  

I think Mormonism is the perfect religion.

can I just tell you...

this was one of the BEST thanksgivings of my life. 

there were so many moments this week where I was filled with so much JOY that i wanted to (did) just scream and jump up and down and do a happy dance. I had so many beautiful confirmations this last week that THIS is exactly where I am supposed to be right now, at this time, and with these people. Our amis are QUALITY. And there is no way they would be progressing this fast without the hand of the Lord himself. 

so y'all know GIGH...well, she had a GREAT time at the young adults weekend in Charleroi and made some solid friends. One of which invited her to be baptized. Gigh told her all of her worries about baptism and not being perfect and sinning again and the whole bit, but this girl just looked at her and said 'I know you are going to do it'. When Gigh was telling us this story, she was just like 'yeah I didn't tell her, but I know I am going to do it too'. AHH. SHE IS SHE IS. We taught her the word of wisdom this week, and she is already living it!! 

and whats more, she didn't show up to institute on Friday for whatever reason and we were pretty bummed, but then one of the members texted us around 9:30 and said that GIGH was there!! She knew that she had missed the lesson, but she just wanted to pop in to see her friends! 

love her. 

also, I'm sure you are dying for an update on our culturally mormon FAMILY. ok, like maybe your not dying for an update because you probably have 1 million and a half sister missionary emails to read, and i'm sure it's hard to keep all of us straight let alone our investigators, but just humor me for a moment. so Peter and Nadine. We were lucky enough to see them again this week. THIS IS MY GOLDEN PRAYED FOR FAMILY. I know it clear as day. Nadine is a PEACH. Honestly, I just feel like I'm sitting down with one of my young women leaders every time we are there. At this moment she is in the process of reading the Book of Mormon, she is doing missionary work on her extended family (and her husband), and she and her husband made a new years resolution to stop drinking, period!! Out of the mouth of Peter, the 'atheist' himself, 'I think Mormonism is the perfect religion'.  

love them. 

Many people have been asking me if it was hard to be away from home for Thanksgiving. And to be one hundred percent honest, not at all. Of course, I ALWAYS miss y'all. But I am taken care of SO WELL here, and I have the best companion, and Thanksgiving was perfect and so much FUN. We got together as a zone in Namur and had a very impressive missionary prepared FEAST, and then we played games. It was so weird, after we ate we were like, 'now we are just supposed to hang out?! What does that even feel like?' We played mafia. hahah. 

after that we went over to the Sheurck family home and had a 2ND feast, that made our missionary prepared efforts look like the minor leagues. It was delicious and missing nothing except black beans and rice. The spirit is SO strong in their home. I want my future home to feel like that. yup; It was the perfect day. 

To make this week even BETTER, I was able to go to Brussels for stake conference and hear from Elder Texiera. He spoke many plain and precious things that cannot be recorded at this time. He is precious, and so inspired. 

Also, we were able to have a sleepover with the Brussels Soeurs aka. Soeur Holmes from my MTC district. Reunion of a lifetime. I love that little thing. 

Well, I love y'all! I am so THANKFUL to have each and every one of you in my life. 

Bisous, 
Soeur Johns