Exchange with Souer Siley. Fourvière in the background.
Fall is in the air here in the south of France! The leaves are
starting to turn yellow. It is getting colder in the morning and
darker earlier in the evening. It rained this week. I even got to wear tights one day. There is something so refreshing about change. I love seasons. I think seasons are one of the biggest gifts God has given me. It feels so good to have the weather cool down and not have it be sweaty hot at night.
With the weather getting colder and trees changing color- I have been having crazy flashbacks of when I was serving in Nice. Pretty weird to think that about a year ago, I arrived in France and began this crazy, hard, life changing, beautifuljourney.
This week was better than last week. Not for any particular reason. But I feel as if Heavenly Father has blessed me with a boost of support and love. I can feel prayers from people back home carrying me along. Angels too. I can't point out any crazy manifestations that God showed his love for me this week. I just felt it. I had the opportunity to fast on Sunday. I am grateful that we can fast. Before the meeting began, I felt tired and hungry and weak from a long week
of missionary work. But as people got up to bear their testimony, I literally felt full of spiritual strength. President Brown gave a powerful, simple testimony about the plan of happiness Heavenly Father created for us and the reality of eternal families. I have a testimony that we need to be spiritually fed. It is amazing how much better I felt after going to church.
As missionaries, we do spiritual things all day. But even we need to go to church every week, take the sacrament, and be spiritually fed. Sunday we had a really cool miracle! Sunday afternoon, Lucie, a recent convert texted us and said she was coming to the chapel later that day and was going to bring 2 friends. (Recent converts are AWESOME at missionary work). She brought her family friends ( a dad and his son). We gave them a chapel tour and then taught them about the restored gospel. From the outside, I never would have guessed they would be so interested in the church.They were both very
open and had a lot of questions and I have to say it was because they were humble. Humble people are the best to teach.
Coming on a mission has helped me see a glimpse of why Heavenly Father asks us to be humble. We are so much more teachable when we are humble. We are more
dependent on Christ and his strength rather than our own. Joseph asked what he should wear to church. You know someone is serious about coming to church when they ask what they should wear. I can't wait to keep teaching them!
I am so grateful for our living prophet, Thomas S. Monson and for the inspired leaders of our church. This week I was able to read some talks from general conference and I felt so uplifted and inspired. I know that modern revelation is real. I know that God loves us today just as much as he loved his people in the past. Thomas S. Monson is the true prophet who leads and guides this church through God. They
are not perfect people. And boy am I grateful for that. They make me feel like it is okay to be a human who isn't perfect. But I do know that they do their best. And I do know they are called from God. That they are humble men who love God and love us. I know the priesthood is real. Holding the priesthood is an opportunity to serve. I am grateful for all the blessings I have received from my dad who worthily
exercises his priesthood as well as President Brown and many others.
If you don't have a testimony of the leaders of our church, start with finding a testimony of God. Create that relationship with Heavenly Father again and you will realize that they are truly called of Him.
Love love love, Abby
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