Soeur Sarah Hunt France Paris Mission: Here's to not holding anything back...

So this week was a week of finding, exchanges and miracle rendezvous. It wasn't such a crazy week until the end. It was pretty slow. We didn't really see a bunch of people because no one will call us or text us or email us or anything.

I'll just get right to it. We were out contacting and we’re doing our regular thing and we managed to give out two Books and then we came upon this one other lady and we said "We're missionaries..." I see her stop and just glance at our tags and she immediately starts saying frantically, "nonononononono!" As she's waving her hands in the NO THANK YOU gesture. Now as this is happening this man who was walking behind us starts laughing out loud. We turned to him to see what he was laughing about. He stopped once he saw us look at him, and he said, "oh, pardon... I didn't mean to laugh out loud..." then we started laughing too, because it was pretty funny. We kept walking but then we stopped and asked him, "Do you know us?" He said, "yes I do. You're Mormons. You Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses always get that reaction here. You're charming, but no, I don't want to know anything, thanks." We said alright and continued on our way. Entertaining in a way.

So then Wednesday evening came around and we were heading to Luxembourg for our exchanges. I was able to be with Sœur Earl from Nevada. We had the privilege to go to an amis house and chat with this guy named Robert. He's in his 70s and he has a lot of theories. He is very spiritual with a lot of truths, but he just needs to have things put together clearly. At this point in time I've been able to follow where lessons are going, but I still have a hard time following conversations. It takes a lot of my brain to really understand, so I give up half way. But I can tell I'm getting better. I can for sure tell you this. The spirit is real because I don't even need to understand the words being spoken to feel it. I feel the spirit no matter what. I know the lesson is going well when I can feel the spirit and I don't even need to know what's happening. Anyways, we were going to speak with him no longer than 45 minutes but it turned out to be an hour and 45. So after we finished with him I asked Sœur Earl what really happened. She gave a rundown of all his stories because he talks A LOT.

#1 story: he had a near death experience. He's an electrician and one day he fell from the telephone wire and the telephone poll fell on him and he was coughing up blood and it was a bad situation. He said that he heard God's voice but didn’t see him. He told God he could still learn things down here and would like to stay. So God said, "OK if you think so, then you may". So he did, obviously.

#2 story: he was in the attic cleaning it out. He said he heard his grandson’s voice who had died at age 20. His grandson said, hey you know I really like it where I am. I've learned so much in these past few days then I ever could have in my 20 years on earth. I'm happy. Then Robert said, OK then you keep doing what you're doing.

At this point I'm think alright no judgements this probably is something that happened and it's pretty cool. Then here comes the other stories...

#3 story: his granddaughter couldn't find her dog. She was looking all over and couldn't find him. Then Robert said he found the dog just sitting on the couch. He called to his granddaughter but told her not to say anything and to watch him. He said he called to the dog with his mind without saying anything. The dog came to them. He said you just need to connect through the soul. Because everything has a soul.

#4 story: he has this theory that we’re not the only ones in the universe. There are extra-terrestrials that come to earth and transform themselves to look like us. Then they leave them here and they're the ones that do all the shootings and terrorist attacks. Because people don't do bad things!

At this point I'm thinking, OK, he's a crazy old man who just has a lot of theories. At the end of the lesson he pretty much dropped us. He said God can't have a body. God is way too powerful to have a body. But we told him it's not limiting to have a body. It's a good thing. He didn't agree. He said, OK well I have your number I know where your church is I'll call you if I need anything... So he dropped us. But he did say the Book of Mormon did something for him as he was reading a little. He had good feelings. So we pray the Book will change him somehow!

Anyways, moving on, Luxembourg is a very beautiful place and I really enjoy visiting there every once and a while.

Remember the man Victor that Sœur Giles met in Paris when she was finding and I was doing my legality papers at the OFII? Yeah, well, he lives here in Nancy. We had a rendezvous with him on Saturday. I was so, so excited to meet him. Now let me tell you about him. He is a regular SANE dude. Not weird, not crazy! As a matter of fact he's from Africa, has two BEAUTIFUL kids. His son is 2 and his daughter is a month old. His wife is very pretty but we have yet to get to meet her. He doesn't really have a religion, but he loves learning about God. He searches and learns from other religions to decide for himself which is the right one. He has no problem telling you what he things. Doesn't hold anything back. He tells you things straight. I'll give you an example: he said, "Next time, please bring someone who doesn't have a language barrier." Yeah, sorry about that. Moving on. He reads the bible and knows a lot of things. He almost reminds me of dad that way. I'm thinking Victor would really like Jesus the Christ, Our Heritage and all the others... He loves learning and connecting things. He wanted to know what made us different and how we worship The Creator and who is Jesus Christ for us. He doesn't like the pamphlets and also didn't like the fluff. He wanted a real discussion. Boy oh boy was I excited. We talked about the priesthood and he thought that was fascinating. We talked about a lot of other things that he thought were interesting. We laughed and we played with his little boy trying to get to know them and gain their trust. He said he hadn't had the time to start reading the Book of Mormon yet, but he said he knows that he needs to read and pray to understand and know for himself if these things are true. We taught him to pray and he gave a prayer without hesitation. He's willing to meet with us again and we’re going to bring awesome members with us. He also responds to our texts fast! So he's golden!!

Well I have to get going soon, so this next story I gotta make short but you'll get the gist. It's pretty cool.

After church we were starting to do our weekly planning and we decided to check up on Caroline. We hadn't heard from her all week. She responded and told us she wouldn't be able to see us anytime before November. Darn. But then she told us that she could meet with us by Place Stanislas in 5 minutes because they were in town. So we were going to have a rendezvous with her and her husband right then! Her husband was baptized into the church when he was 12 in like 1974 and hasn't been to church for 30 years. He said he remembers the 13 articles of faith. We talked with his wife a lot. She also loves to talk with us. She believes a lot of the same things we do and is willing to learn more! Her husband is willing to remember these things and help his wife too. I know I felt the spirit. We told them that we wanted to say a prayer at the end and after we did so they both were crying. I know they were so happy. We invited them, once they got back from their trip, to a church activity. They said they miss having a community of friends. They're excited and very grateful that they met us.

I can't wait to help these fabulous new people. I hope that we'll be able to help them with the things they need. I hope we can say the right things through the power of God to help them come unto repentance and develop their relationship with the Lord. I want to help them really bad. I hope they give us a chance. I can’t wait to see what happens.

Anyways gotta run, love you all and I thank you for everything.

Love Soeur Sarah