Make Your Own Adventure

Elder Carlson!

Ok. Well, to say this week brought some of the most unexpected circumstances I've yet to have on my mission would be appropriate. But it was a really good week anyway, and we saw some cool miracles as we went on multiple exchanges and worked as hard as we could! So we shall start from the very beginning, it the very best place to start.

Elder Caramelli! 

We can start with our exchanges! This week we went on 2 of those, and I was able to be with Elder Carlson for the first, and Elder Caramelli for the second. Elder Carlson was in the moving équipe my first transfer in the office (before it got closed and thrown onto our shoulders haha), so we are already pretty close and it was fun to spend some time with him again! 

We went to an FHE chez la famille Volpicelli, the super cool couple in our ward who love missionary work! We also ate at our bishops house, Évêque Cornetta (we eat there every week), and we did some passbacks and contacting in a little place called Bernex, where it's super tranquille. We got to see some less actives we've been trying to get into contact with, which was great, and I was able to learn a lot from him about diligence and teaching. He's such a stud!

Then I was with Elder Caramelli, he's Tahitian but his dad is Italian, so he's a stud too. We spent the day doing a lot of passes, trying to find all of the less active young adults in our ward so we can help them come back to the fold! We found a couple people, some young, some not so much, but a lot had moved. There was one apartment though, where we were able to get in and when we asked if the man lived there, the woman who answered the door said no, but the spirit prompted us to testify of eternal families and ask if she would like to learn more and she said yes! So we will return this week! Then we got to go to our DMPs house for dinner and it was a lot of fun!

st pattys lunch with the holsingers

In other news, we started teaching formerly Crazy Steve, now Rogers, and he is actually progressing. He understands now the importance of church and priesthood lines and authority and everything he needs to do in order to be baptized (which he really wants to be, but he needs to be ready first). He help set out the books before sacrament Meeting and is even wearing a shirt and tie now. The gospel really does change people!

Then we have Lorrane (and this is where all the weird stuff starts happening). She texted us and told us she didn't want to see us anymore, so we convinced her to have one last rdv. We met her in the park, and she asked if she could say the opening prayer so she did but she prayed so that we knew this was the last time we would see each other. She said she was heartbroken to have to stop seeing us, but she has some things she doesn't want to give up. We testified and answered questions, but she wouldn't be swayed, even though she told us she knows it's true! At one point, I was testifying really hard and started to cry and then she started to cry, but super biblically, that is, like wailing, and I was trying to get intelligible words out and she was like "bleingnsjwldkdh" and then she said she loved me and I stopped the waterworks and gave her a pamphlet and we told her when she's ready she can always come back. She felt the spirit to say the least.

tulips for relief society! 

We had a great rdv with our part member family, whose dad is our ami, Michel. We laughed a ton, talked about prophets and he got to know us. He's super nice and has overcome a lot of trials, but is still going strong! He is almost ready to be baptized and the family is ready to be eternal, so we're excited to see what the future brings!

Then we have Maria, who came to church on Sunday and said she really enjoyed it! Today, we got a very unexpected text from her saying that she likes me... oh my... I feel so... flattered? I just don't know what they see in me!! Luckily, our other amis are either married or guys so I think I'm safe now! Haha

Another weird story, we were waiting for our bus one afternoon and a group of kids walk up to us and start shaking our hands. Well, I thought we were going to get mugged, but they seemed nice enough to us. They started asking us questions like where we were from and what "elder" meant, then they cut to the chase and asked us how much we wanted for it. For what, you might ask? Well, they thought we were drug dealers and they wanted to buy drugs. We quickly explained that we, in fact, are the opposite and we have nothing to sell them but if they wanted something that would make them feel good, we had just the thing. They weren't too interested, and pushed a little more just for good measure and the left.

Personal tour of the UN

We went back to the UN to take down the exhibit, and then Sr. Holsinger (the couple missionary who works there) took us on a super cool tour that you only get if you are "in" with someone! We got to see all of the important rooms, we walked down the secret hallways and the gardens outside and even got to stand at the UN pulpit! Then, since it was St. Patrick's Day, we went to the UN cafeteria and ate with them, Irish Cornish. It was such a cool experience! After that, we delivered tulips to a bunch of relief society sisters in our ward to thank them and celebrate the 175 anniversary of the Relief Society. They were so thankful, and it was fun to make their days!

fun in primary! 

Something that I can take away from this week is that God never intended for life on earth to really flow smoothly, exactly according to each of our personal agendas. No, our loving Heavenly Father sent us here to learn and grow through experiences and trials that may seem pointless, but that shape us, little by little, into the spiritual and physical beings He knows we can become. That's a reason we all have agency, so that we can choose what we do with the trials and setbacks, and when we aren't choosing the right, those in fact, become more difficult to handle. When we strive to choose the right and look at life's experiences, easy or hard, we will feel ourselves changing, and we will eventually be turned completely to God, and what a great direction to be facing.

I love you all! Hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day and que Dieu vous bénisse!

Avec amour,

Elder Hall

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