Soeur Ethington | Week 76 | The end!

Hello everyone! 

This past week has been amazing. We've seen so many miracles, and it's been a perfect wrap-up to my mission. 

Our first miracle was Marlis, a woman who walked into the VC when we were on shift on Thursday. She was given a Temple pass-along card by the Elders, so she decided to come and see the temple! She told us she only had a few minutes to talk, so we went straight to temple model and showed her the Celestial Room. She looked at it and gasped, clutching her hands to her chest, and said, "I don't know what this room is but something is telling me that I need to go inside someday!" We told her that she could and that we can help her prepare. She turned to us with tears in her eyes and said, "okay, now I have the time to listen." 

Since our first meeting on Thursday, we've taught her the first two lessons and she even came to church yesterday! She sat next to us during Sacrament Meeting and kept crying because she was so touched. It was a great reminder that the Spirit during the sacrament is very real and very strong!

She won't stop talking about how excited she is to be baptized. She's quite possibly the most prepared person I've ever met and I am so excited to see what happens with her. 

We also taught Evelyne twice this past week! She's progressing really well and even came to church yesterday. She really loved it too and wants to come back next week. We taught her today and she came with a bunch of great questions about the Atonement of Jesus Christ so we had a really good discussion about how Christ understands us perfectly. 

I think that's one of the most powerful things I've learned as a missionary: Jesus Christ has a perfect love for each one of us. This knowledge has brought me so much joy and continues to do so every day. I'm so grateful for these past 18 months I've served as a missionary for His Church! When I left, I believed that I would be giving Him 18 months of my life, but in fact, He was the one who gave me 18 months. They were filled with joy, tears, laughter, and beautiful experiences that helped me get closer to Him. 

One final thank you to all of you who have helped me along this amazing journey. I would love to see you at my homecoming talk the 8th of September. Send me an email at maya.ethington@gmail.com for the address! 

À bientôt !!!

--Soeur Ethington 

Versailles District 3.0 (Elders Thomas, Hopuu, Duffin, Lundell, South. Sisters Tulieva, Ribeiro, Kleinman, and me. Featuring the STLs)

We went to Hippopotamus not once but TWICE this week.

Me with Antoinette from the St. Ouen ward! It's been over a year since I served there but she still remembered me and ran up to hug me. 

Me and Soeur Kleinman 

I'll miss this.