Serving the World

birthday party for Soeur Burton!

Hello from Geneva! I'm super excited to tell you all about this past week. It was the first week of the transfer and it started things off so well! We taught a lot, we ate a lot, and we did a service project for the whole world (on peut dire... 😉)!

So we had RDVs with a new person almost every day this week! It started with Maria, then we met with a man named Edward, who is from Iran but lived in London for a while. He is Jewish and our rdv was actually kind of interesting because he liked to talk a lot so he would go off on random spiritual things he's learned throughout his life of being Muslim then Christian then Jewish. Well we thought it went pretty well, but alas, we talked to him on Saturday night to invite him to church and he told us he had a dream about cutting an electrical wire and interpreted it as he should stay with the Jews, sooo.... Also, we contacted and met with this family, and when we showed up, it was a bunch of women from Brazil with all their kids haha... one of them was baptized in Brazil and is less active, another is our new ami, and the less actives sister is very skeptical of us. Then the ami, Vanessa, made her teenage son listen and he looked so miserable hahaha They quizzed us about temples and stuff, but we were able to testify of the blessings that they bring to families, and that they can know for themselves if they read the Book of Mormon and pray. En plus, I learned a little Portuguese, and they gave us a lot of food after!

elder Pesnell and I in the Swiss mountains

I don't remember if I told you about the Italian that showed up to church randomly last week as he was walking by to learn more about what we believe in our church... well we taught him and he came to church this week! He said that it was interesting, and he liked the songs because he's a professional singer and he sang so well! Also, Crazy Steve (Roger) came to church, and, although he is still so crazy, he is very, very slowly progressing to a point where we can kind of teach him. Hahaha

We also went with the Spanish elders to a mangez-vous and, because I speak fluent Spanish now, I was the life of the party! "Yo soy muchos guapos", "Yo tengo el dono de polo" and other such phrases spouted from my mouth for an hour haha... when I get home I'll speak 12 languages!! We also got a call from our ami, Ali, and he was like "hey, if you come clean my house I'll give you Chinese food" so we went to his house and I mopped all of his floors... that was definitely a first.

setting up at the UN

And about the service project we did... so one of the couples who is assigned to the U.N. asked Elder Pesnell and I if we could come help set up an exhibit for them. So we met them at the gate and went through security and got a special pass, then we walked through the campus to a building where we would be doing the project. We had about 15 minutes so we got to explore the building, we saw a big conference like the ones you imagine with the plaques of all the different countries, and art that was donated by countries all over the world. Also, it was Mother Tongue day, so everyone was dressed up in the traditional dress of their respective countries, so all the women looked like Disney princesses and all the men looked like spies haha. 

But we started, and what we did was set up the exhibit with all the big posters, arranged them, moved heavy things and made it all look good. The exhibit was on human rights around the world, and one of those human rights is the right to worship whomever, whenever, and wherever we may. That's why it's so important for the church to have good relations with all of the worlds countries, because in order for the gospel to be spread everywhere, the countries need to understand that it is a basic human right. It was a lot of fun, we worked with people from all over the world in helping these world leaders see and understand fundamental rights of all the children of God here on earth. It reminded me of the children's primary song that says, "We are children holding hands around the world, like an army, with the gospel flag unfurled. We are led by its light and we love truth and right, we are building the Kingdom of God." I testify that we are all truly Heavenly Fathers sons and daughters and that in seeking to bring others to this knowledge, whether it's by mopping their floors, inviting them to church, or educating them on the value of each human soul, we can see and feel His love.

chez la famille Fidalgo!

Also, they sell little smoothies with little knitted bonnets at the store by our house and, oh we love them so.

Have a great week!

Avec amour,

Elder Hall

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