Soeur Ethington | Week 38

It's a long one this week! 

Tuesday, we had a wonderful lesson with our new friend George. We taught him about Joseph Smith and how we have the Book of Mormon, which are some of my favorite things to teach because the Spirit is always so strong when we testify. George told us that he hasn't prayed for years because he feels like he's been forgotten, but we promised him that he wasn't and that God was with him every moment of hardship and loneliness. He was so touched and it was a truly precious moment. As we left, George handed us a smooshed box of pastries he'd bought us that morning. We were so touched by his kind gesture because we remembered how long it takes him to get to the closest bakery, and it was especially sweet because we could tell it had taken him a lot of effort to get it to us (as the box was all squished). 

Wednesday was incredible. Antonina and Soriana came to the temple for the first time and ended up staying over 8 hours. The best part was when they first arrived that morning because Soriana couldn't contain her excitement as she ran around the gardens. She was so excited to be at the temple, and that was touching to me because it made me think of how many people take the temple for granted. We showed them the temple model and taught them about what happens inside the temple. Antonina had lots of great questions, and she was thrilled to hear that her family could be sealed for eternity in the temple. We finished the tour by watching Le Plan de Dieu, which is a video only found in Visitors' Centers. To top it all off, I saw Soeur Fears and Elder David, my cute friends from the MTC. It was so nice to see them after such a long time apart!

On Thursday, we went to mission conference! Elder and Sister Johnson, from the Area Presidency, visited our mission so all the missionaries gathered together during Wednesday and Thursday to hear them speak. It was a revelatory experience and I left so inspired. My favorite part was when they announced that the Europe area is adding two new "key indicators," which are the numbers we use to measure our progress. The two new key indicators are "less-actives at church" and "less-actives contacted per week." Anyone who has been a missionary will recognize that this is INCREDIBLE news because it means that missionaries will now be able to work more closely with teaching less-active members of the Church and help with their conversion. The Church, especially in Europe, has been struggling with finding solutions to help member retention, and I'm convinced this is the solution. I also spent lots of time with my best friends Soeur Bakly and Elder LaFrance that day, which was amazing. All of that plus a REAL chocolate Costco muffin, and I was in heaven. 

Saturday was a big day because ANTONINA AND SORIANA WERE BAPTIZED!!!!!!! We were overjoyed to see them enter into the waters of baptism. They went through a lot of hard things to get to their baptism, but with the help of the Savior, they were able to be baptized and confirmed.  

The baptism itself was probably the most stressful situation of my mission, as Soriana and Antonina were an hour late to their own baptism. It was a missionary's worst nightmare! As many of you know, there are crazy riots happening in Paris right now and traffic has been killer. This shouldn't have been that big of an issue, except we were actually doing a combined baptism with a little girl named Melissa in our ward. All her friends and family were there on time and were impatiently waiting to start the service, so we worked with Melissa's mom to make things work. 

We also realized at the beginning of the program that the baptizer didn't show up, so we had to scramble and ask our awesome District Leader Elder Daines to baptize them. It ended up being perfect though because Soriana loves him and he was able to calm her nerves a lot before she entered into the water. In the end, everything worked out perfectly and the baptism was a beautiful moment. I'll never forget the moment when Antonina climbed out of the font and embraced her daughter, who had been baptized right before her, and said, "c'est fait, ma fille, c'est fait!" as they sobbed with joy. Soeur Ackroyd and I were crying too as we hugged each other. I felt like my heart was overflowing with joy. 

Another beautiful moment was when Antonina bore a simple yet powerful testimony afterward. There was not a dry eye as she told everyone that she knew that angels were dancing when she was baptized, and that she was dancing in her heart as well. 

This week has been a week of miracles. I am so grateful for this amazing experience I have to be a missionary and help the Lord with His work. I know that we don't deserve any credit for the conversion of these two wonderful women because I know that without God, none of this would have been possible. I thank Him every day for the beautiful things He has in store for me, and for all of us, when we trust in His love. 

Us right before their baptism! 

Antonina and Soriana with Melissa, the little girl who got baptized 

Us with the whole family! 

The baptismal program we spent forever on

 Another one with Antonina and Soriana

 A birthday card we wrote for Elder Woods, our amazing VC director 

Us in front of the temple with Antonina and Soriana and the twins! 

The VC Christmas tree

Selfie with Jesus. Sorry Soeur Ackroyd:)

All of the adorable VC sisters! Together, we speak French, English, German, Russian, and Spanish. Coming soon: I am currently learning Lingala. :)

Soeur Angelique came to the temple for the first time after a lifetime of being in the Church. She wept as she rolled her wheelchair to the base of the statue and placed her hand on the scars in His feet. It was a beautiful and powerful moment so I snapped a picture to remember. 

Us with all the sisters (10 total) who slept over in our tiny 2-man apartment for the mission conference! It was such a blast. 

The banquet tables at mission conference. It was amazing and Sister Fitt made an amazing Christmas dinner for all the missionaries and we were all so honored!

A few months ago, I taught an Indian man named Rajan Babu on mormon.org and helped him get in contact with missionaries. I got this email last week- he is now baptized and his wife, cousin and cousin's wife are all on date to be baptized this month. His children and friends are learning with the missionaries. Miracles start small!!! 

Us with Kristy, an adorable BYU student who has been in our ward for a few months on a study abroad. She leaves on Saturday so we got a picture together after sacrament meeting. We'll miss you, Kristy!