Week 2 for "the white girl" ... with pictures!

Bonjour, tout le monde! 

Less than a month now until Canada! Quick update on that new sister coming in--she didn't.  I'm way bummed about it.  She was delayed until July, so we won't meet her at all.  But the girl who was going to become her companion this week, who is coming in tomorrow, is now going to be MY companion for the rest of my time in the MTC (probably).  Her name is Sister Foust, she's from here in Utah, she's going to Haiti and learning Haitian so it sounds like she and I won't be able to speak French to each other.  She's moving into the room with me and my current two companions, so I think the four of us will just end up spending most of our time all together. I'm excited for her to get here!  Maybe my district won't make fun of my "whiteness" so much! Doubt it, though.  It happens.

The other district in our zone left yesterday, we're really sad about that (this is looking like it was just a bad week but I promise I'll get to good things!).  It's crazy how much we love and already miss them, we were only together for a week and a half.  But those Elders will all do amazing things in France!

French is amazing, we're all learning so fast.  I cannot imagine a more beautiful language in which to share this Gospel.  My new absolute favorite hymn is one you can only find in the French hymnbook, called "Souviens-toi".  It is so incredibly beautiful.  Please find yourself a French-speaker and a French hymnbook and have them translate it for you.  Or I guess it's probably also on the internet.  But it's more meaningful if you have someone actually explain to you rather than getting an exact translation.  Either way!  Beautiful hymn!  It made me cry a ton. 

And tomorrow we're getting two new districts in our zone, 14 new missionaries! We're going to be the one's who know what we're doing.  Haha.  That's including 5 new sisters, one of whom is Sister Faust.  We're finally going to be able to do something as sister training leaders!

L. Tom Perry's funeral was so sad, it hit me much harder here than it would have if I had been at home.  He was truly an amazing man and an amazing apostle.  Hearing stories about him and reading about his life increased my testimony of prophets, priests, and revelators so much.  

My companions and I have started hard core working out, I'm so sore.  I'm gaining weight as I can actually see my arm muscles getting bigger.  It's kind of creepy.  We just figured that since we have time set aside every day to exercise, might as well make the most of it.  They are very impressed with the endurance of the white girl.  

D. Todd Christopherson came and gave our devotional last Tuesday evening, it was amazing! He said so many things that were inspiring and helpful and, if it's even on the internet, I encourage all prospective missionaries to read/watch it.  He discussed many of the questions he is frequently asked by missionaries. My favorite thing he said was in answer to the question "What should I do when I'm working really hard and not having the success I feel I deserve?  What about when I get discouraged?"  And he said that the answer is absolutely not to quit.  Quitting will never make you feel better when you are doing a hard thing, especially missionary work.  And if you aren't going to quit, then give it 100%.

We had our last lesson with Christophe this week!  We had a really wonderful moment with him when Cruz was explaining the Plan of Salvation and got emotional and then we all cried and invited him to be baptized and he said "Absolutement!" and then after that last lesson he came into our class with his "MTC teacher" tag on, his real name is Brother Sybrowsky.  I'm going to have trust issues for a while.  Nonetheless, we learned so much from teaching him.  I don't know if I'll ever have a lesson again where I don't think back on what I learned in our lessons with Christophe.  Also, he does speak English.  I always ask him not to, though, it's too weird.

I have a testimony of the power of feelings.  The Holy Ghost has the power to influence our moods and our feelings, which is part of what makes Him so powerful.  He is an incredibly strong ally to have, and I don't think I could do this without Him, when there are so many different stresses on my body and on my mind.  Every day I feel calm and confident that I can face the new challenges before me, and I know that is the strength of the Spirit helping me do this important work.  I know that without Him I would be too anxious to cope.

I believe that when God told us the Plan of Salvation, we rejoiced because we would have the opportunity to obtain bodies and return to live with our families and heavenly parents in the celestial kingdom.  I believe that I was particularly joyful because He told me I would have the Gospel in this life.  However, some of my friends came away from that meeting crying because they would not have the Gospel when they came down to Earth.  I promised them, then, that I would be a missionary to them and invite them to come unto Christ.  They are waiting for me to find them.  And that is why I'm here.  

I love the people of Canada so much.  I cannot wait to serve them.  I am relearning the love I had for my fellow man in the premortal life, as part of remembering my divine identity.

Je vous aime! 

Souvenez-vous qui vous êtes!

Avec d'amour,

Soeur Lonas