To one and all,
When I first started the mission, I was told that it's normal to stay two or three transfers in a ville. Staying four gives you bragging rights, but staying five or more gives you the coveted title of "Mr. (name of the ville)."
So voilà :) I'm staying a fifth transfer in Grenoble! At the end of this transfer it'll be about 7 months total that I've been here. 鏖长老 has departed into a faraway land of wonder known to all the world as Marseille, one of the most dangerous cities in Europe. Needless to say, it was his dream ville. Hashtag no fear.
So what about my new comp? Truth is, I don't know who it is yet. I'm training again! I'm sitting in the Lyon young adult center right now, after sitting at the gare all day and helping put heavy suitcases on trains, take them off trains, and eating at Burger King ;) There aren't a lot of blues coming in, just five Elders and one Sœur. Nice cozy little group.
Saying goodbye to Elder Alvarenga was weird, we've spent the last five and a half months together. It was time to change though, we both knew it. This past week was cool, the Grenoble sœurs had a baptism! It's a woman who's been taking the lessons for about six months and is the friend of a member family. Member work works! :) it was a really good baptism, some other amis came to see how it worked and they interacted well with members and Elder Abney sang as always. He, by the way, left to St. Raphaël today. I was in Grenoble before he arrived and I'm staying when he leaves. Weird.
When I first started the mission, I was told that it's normal to stay two or three transfers in a ville. Staying four gives you bragging rights, but staying five or more gives you the coveted title of "Mr. (name of the ville)."
So voilà :) I'm staying a fifth transfer in Grenoble! At the end of this transfer it'll be about 7 months total that I've been here. 鏖长老 has departed into a faraway land of wonder known to all the world as Marseille, one of the most dangerous cities in Europe. Needless to say, it was his dream ville. Hashtag no fear.
So what about my new comp? Truth is, I don't know who it is yet. I'm training again! I'm sitting in the Lyon young adult center right now, after sitting at the gare all day and helping put heavy suitcases on trains, take them off trains, and eating at Burger King ;) There aren't a lot of blues coming in, just five Elders and one Sœur. Nice cozy little group.
Saying goodbye to Elder Alvarenga was weird, we've spent the last five and a half months together. It was time to change though, we both knew it. This past week was cool, the Grenoble sœurs had a baptism! It's a woman who's been taking the lessons for about six months and is the friend of a member family. Member work works! :) it was a really good baptism, some other amis came to see how it worked and they interacted well with members and Elder Abney sang as always. He, by the way, left to St. Raphaël today. I was in Grenoble before he arrived and I'm staying when he leaves. Weird.
Something I've learned a lot out here (that I'm always trying to apply to myself) is the important of constant effort. Yeah sometimes a lot of force is useful, but most often I think slight pressure over a longer period of time brings the change you want! I'll give you some examples: teaching Chinese amis! You can't just force someone to believe in God. It comes little by little, over a period of months or years, as you point out times that God manifests himself in our lives. Through simple, sincere prayer and regular scripture study, subtle feelings or just snippets of thoughts (which come from the Holy Spirit) eventually all snowball into a solid testimony.
Example number two: we have a recently reactivated member in Grenoble who has been in a rough situation for a really long time. We've been working with them for a little while, and sometimes this member is really happy about coming back and is full of hope! Other times they'll shy away and express negative feelings that don't come from God. Still, we've never given up and we've prayed a lot that God will help this member solve their problems. Today I found out this person's life just went through a major development that will allow their spiritual progress to skyrocket! We didn't do a single big, important, grandiose thing, but through just little things God worked a miracle :) Never give up! Even if you think nothing is changing, keep it up and you'll see the light :)
江长老
Our reaction to transfer calls
We walked a recent convert's dog
This adorable French-Mexican baby was eating Elder Graff's plaque :)
Homemade poutine!
Poisson cru! With Heiva from Bora Bora
Example number two: we have a recently reactivated member in Grenoble who has been in a rough situation for a really long time. We've been working with them for a little while, and sometimes this member is really happy about coming back and is full of hope! Other times they'll shy away and express negative feelings that don't come from God. Still, we've never given up and we've prayed a lot that God will help this member solve their problems. Today I found out this person's life just went through a major development that will allow their spiritual progress to skyrocket! We didn't do a single big, important, grandiose thing, but through just little things God worked a miracle :) Never give up! Even if you think nothing is changing, keep it up and you'll see the light :)
江长老
Our reaction to transfer calls
We walked a recent convert's dog
This adorable French-Mexican baby was eating Elder Graff's plaque :)
Homemade poutine!
Poisson cru! With Heiva from Bora Bora
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