Week 3 - MTC - July 8

Bonjour ma famille, et mes amis!
Well, it has been one crazy week! In the MTC the days seem to be
really long, but the weeks go by way fast, I feel like it was just
P-Day! And since the temple has been closed for two weeks, we have a
lot of time on p-day so prepare for a long letter:) I hope everyone
had a super fun Fourth of July weekend! I loved hearing about the
family up at Park City I missed being with you all! We had our
celebration on Saturday the second. We got out of classes early and
went to a devotional that was called an international celebration of
freedom. It started with missionaries coming in carrying either the
Flag from their home country or the flag from where they are going to
serve. I got very excited both times I red, white and blue:) The
speakers were really good and I realized how incredibly blessed we
are to live in a time and live in a country that is free! I am so
thankful for the freedom that allowed this amazing gospel to be
established! Then we all went out in the parking lot and they let us
*gasp* stay up late! We got to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks and
it was so fun, and mom the glow sticks definitely came in handy:)
It was fast Sunday the next day and I love Sunday's here, it is
great to have extra time to study and end the day with incredible
devotionals. This Sunday's theme was the Book of Mormon, and I am so
thankful for this amazing scripture. If any of you aren't reading my
favorite book PLEASE start, I know that even just reading a verse or
chapter a day will bless you in amazing ways. There is a reason that
we are taught to use the Book of Mormon as much as we can when we
teach because it really does teach us who Christ is and explains how
we can come unto him!
So this week we have two new teachers Soeur Erickson and Frere
Nollat! I really like them, and it's interesting because our teachers
roll play as our progressing investigators. So last week we had taught
Pamela who was Soeur Erickson, but this week she is role playing as
the much quieter and distance Rachelle. It will definitely be more of
a challenge to teach Rachelle but it is so good to understand how to
teach different people. Frere Nollat is role playing as Francois and
me and my collegue are teaching him for the first time tonight. I love
both of my teachers, all of the teachers at the MTC are returned
missionaries Soeur Erickson went to Tahiti and has only been home
three months, and Frere Nollat actually went to DC (KENNA!) but he is
actually from Belgium so it's super cool that we get a native French
speaker as our teacher. The French is really hard, but it really is
coming! During a few lessons this week I have started to have words
come more and more to my mind and am beginning to understand a lot
more! Me and a few of ma Soeurs have made a goal that whenever we have
class time we are only speaking in French, and if we speak English we
mark it on a paper on our desk! PVL (speak your language) really
really helps! On Wednesday we had our first TRC which is where French
speaking members of the church come and are themselves, and we teach
them a short lesson. (It's kind of like a member dinner appointment.)
I really like TRC, but I found that I wasn't really understanding the
stories these members were telling me. As I thought about it after I
realized it was because I was so focused on what I was going to say
next and watching the time on the clock (we only had 20 minutes). I
learned that the Holy Ghost is only going to help me if I really focus
on the person and their needs. So after I have tried to apply that in
my other lessons this week and I have noticed a huge difference, I
don't understand everything but I comprehend so much more! Le don de
langue est tres vraies! (The gift of tongues is so real!) I really do
thank my Heavenly Father everyday for all the of the help he is giving
me, I can feel him guiding me the entire way because this is his work!
I am just striving to be the best servant of the lord that I can be!!
I think one of my favorite moments with my district is when we all
started singing Do You Hear the People Sing? Ha it was hilarious and
we all totally got into it. We end up signing les miz quite a bit ha
they are the best.
I'm still loving my district and awesome Sœurs! We actually had a
little bit of a fiasco on Wednesday, so I really love my companion but
me and Sœur Wilde get a long really well and my companion and Soeur
Schnaus get along really well. It hasn't been any kind of a problem
because usually all four of us are together. But one day something set
off Sœur Schnaus and she was reminded of a difficult thing in her
past. Before I keep going a word on Sœur Schnaus, she is amazing! She
has been a convert for just over a year, and it was very hard for her
to get baptized because her parents were super against it. Actually
the day she got baptized her dad stopped talking to her and hasn't
said anything to her since. Her faith truly is amazing and I am so
thankful I can watch her example. So anyway Sœur Robertson went to
talk to her and they said they would meet us back in class, but when
me and SœurWilde walked in they weren't there! Ahh so it was kind of a
fiasco and we had to leave class and go find them in the room. So we
all had to talk about always staying with our companion, and even
though it was kind of hard it's amazing the way hard situations can
bring people together. After me and Sœur Robertson (ma collegue )
talked I feel so much closer to her! Ha I'm still not very good with
girls but this is very good for me to learn! And then to end the week
I got the best package ever from my wonderful family they sent me
French bread and dipping stuff! AHH I LOVE BREAD! Haha the girls in
our room and some of our other friends definitely had a feast! Thanks
guys!!
Over all it really has been a good week and it has been full of
learning curves, but good learning curves! I have learned a lot how
important faith is, because there is absolutely no way I could ever do
this on my own. I am trying to give everything to my savior and have
the FAITH that he will strengthen me in all the ways that I am weak.
So your frenchie is giving all of you a challenge this week to think
and pray about one way you can strengthen your faith and better follow
Jesus Christ! I love my savior so much and I know he love's all of
you!
Thank you so much for all of your love and support, I feel your
prayers helping me every day!
Je t'aime tout ma coeur!
Sœur Soffe
P.S. This week had some funny moments, and really any funny moment
usually involved me doing something dumb and Sœur Wilde laughing at me
till we both cry. Ha she can just look at me in class and we both
start cracking up!
1. As we passed some people they said hi and everyone responds with
Bonjour (like we always do) except me who says Merci! Haha can't you
see how much I'm learning??
2. When we were doing laundry last week someone moved me and Soeur
Wilde's load of whites into a different machine! We spent like 20
minutes trying to find our laundry. You have to be careful with those
missionaries man;)
3. Apparently for my entire life I have been saying pamphlets
wrong.... I pronounced them as pamplet without an F sound... Yeah my
whole district thought that was pretty funny. (Thanks for telling me
mom and dad;)
4. So i was showering and a bandaid fell off my heel and into the
shower next to me... AHH I felt super bad for the girl that was
showering so I *trying to be sneaky* reached my foot under the side of
the shower and grabbed the bandaid. Here is the really funny part I
was worried it was someone from my room so I slipped my foot of of my
shoe and then grabbed the bandaid. I forgot that my toes are painted
so as I get back into the room Soeur Wilde starts dying laughing and
looks at me and says "did you lose a bandaid?" She just watched the
bandaid flip into her shower and then my foot reach under and grab it.
Ha I have had a lot of funny moments, but I think that's one of the
ways you survive this place ;)



GLOW STICKS WHILE WATCHING FIREWORKS




J'adore my district!!




Ashely got here this week and it was super fun to see her!!









French bread for dayzzz


















We had a lot of fun with mustaches this morning too





Je t'aime Soeur Wilde!