Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Thriller - August 25, 2014



Look at the time... I have none. What a shame... I had such a life changing week!

I was able to go to Lyon and pick up my Bleu. I was able to spend an entire day contacting with two other trainers that were stuck there with nothing else to do either! We made some super crazy goals, and with our spiritual excitement, we went out in the streets of Lyon and had 29 conversations, taught 3 lessons, gave away 2 Book of Mormons, and found 5 potentials for the sisters in Lyon... All in 4 hours. It was a heck of a day. When we put our best foot forward and show our faith in the Lord by working, He will be at our sides. That is for sure.

After a pretty epic unveiling of the Bleus, we received our babies!! I was more than shocked when
the only European sister, a French sister named Soeur Verrieras called out my name and ville. I seriously FREAKED out, haha. Just because I didnt see it coming at all... It was a Thriller y'all. I ran up to hug her and she protected herself and yelled "DOUCEMENT" meaning "SOFTLY", hah. She doesnt speak any English... yikes for me. She is 24 and was baptized in November 2012. Thats when I received my mission call. She is a remarkable person... She has witnessed some pretty terrible things in her life, but the Lord has always lead her. She is an inspiration for me. I love her, and she loves me. Itll be hard, cause Ill be humbled seeing as I will be learning the language, haha, but I am grateful for this opportunity.

We had great lessons with Marie-Pierre, Amandine, Annick, and Camille this week... Our amis are continuing to progress. Soeur Verrieras is a FANTASTIC teacher. I am so impressed with her abilities. Our work will not slow down the least bit :)

I had a really cool experience this week, because my recent convert, Stephen Bottiau, from Angouleme came to visit a friend in our ward, Bérangère! THUS I GOT TO SEE HIM!!! It was so much fun... I'll attach some pictures. 

We also met some SUPER cool potentials this week, and we also had some rough spots. An amis showed up high to our RDV... And then one afternoon the tram randomly stopped and the tram driver came to find us and yelled at us and kicked us off the tram. Not very nice of him... But, c'est la vie. We kept pushing forward through the opposition. I know that opposition means something good is going to happen. I love being a missionary.

Have a wonderful week, and know that we are never alone. Because of our Savior Jesus Christ, we will overcome death. We will live again. Our lives have a purpose. We can find peace and joy and comfort, even in the darkest of moments. Turn to Him. I love Him. I love you. Have a great week.

Avec tout mon amour,

Soeur Beeny





























Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Uh-oh Baby, baby, baby, OOOHHH (J Biebs version) - August 18, 2014



Wow!!! Sorry this email is so late... I find myself in Lyon today. 

My darling Soeur Grunke was transfered today to the black hole we like to call Switzerland, to Neuchatel with a British companion. She will love it, and I will miss her with my whole soul! I will be spending the next few days here in Lyon. I have been called to train a new sister! I'M HAVING A BABY!!!! I don't know who she is... she is literally still in the MTC in Provo, haha. So you and I won't know who she is for a few days time. Pray that my bleu will come to France ready to bring about miracles in the city of Clermont-Ferrand :) and then pray for me to have more patience and to be able to teach with love and kindness. 

So this week was pretty crazy. We had incredible goals and huge dreams to achieve... unfortunately, our ideas came crumbling down as our amis and less actives fell through one by one... we were disappointed by what happened, but we knew that others have their own agency, and we can only do what we can do. Pray that our amis will come through this week :)

But we still had great experiences! We had a fantastic time at President's house last P-Day. Seeing all of the missionaries in P-Day clothes is sooo odd... NORMAL LIFE!! haha, We played volleyball, ate American food, had ping pong tournaments. It was basically just the greatest. Also, the Roney's have the greatest American food storage in the world. 

While in Lyon, we had a fantastic exchange with the Alpes sisters! I was able to be with Soeur DO, whom I lived with in Chambery! It was such a wonderful reunion for us. We had a blast to say the least. We visited the CRAZIEST less active in the world... I was laughing so hard the entire visit. African women are a HOOT! We also had a great opportunity to talk with many of the Lord's children... unfortunately, we met some of the crankiest people... there was one couple that we talked to and they were incredibly open at the beginning of the conversation, but slowly, they began to yell at us and pull out random doctrinal facts and questioning everything. There was literally a point when the man began yelling "FALSE! FALSE!" at us during the contact... It was quite disturbing, and in my heart I wanted to blow up and ask him who he was to question the the doctrine of Christ! But, Soeur DO and I were able to stay calm, and even keep big smiles and be patient. We walked away from them to go to my train, and as we walked away, he yelled "REPENTEZ-VOUS!" meaning "REPENT!!" hahaha, we thought that was our role :) anyway, as I shared this experience with the Lord, I felt an overwhelming impression that we were given this opportunity to learn patience and charity. I am so grateful for all of our trials and the opportunities to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. 

We had so many opportunities to be with members this week... we were invited EVERYWHERE to eat :) We went to a ward BBQ and played some solid rounds of badminton... We visited the Mession family, and they showed us a zucchini from their backyard garden. When they brought it from the kitchen, our mouths dropped to the floor. IT WAS THE SIZE OF A BABY! Honestly, highlight of the week, ha! 

The second greatest part of the week was being able to teach Amandine... We were incredibly worried about teaching her tithing. She has a long hour job and works constantly and the idea of asking her to give up money from her already wavering paycheck made my heart hurt... after realizing that Satan was filling my mind with these fears, we pushed them away and taught her of the blessings of obedience and the love of the Lord. He has given us EVERYTHING, and He only asks for a tiny bit... He will also always bless us infinitely more than we deserve, solely because He loves us eternally. Amandine accepted immediately. She is such an elect. Her only question was "How do I pay then?" Soeur Grunke and I had a celebratory dance, to be brief. She also came to church and cried when she said bye to Soeur Grunke. I think she will truly be baptized the 27th of September. 

The third best experience of the week was receiving transfer calls. After making little jokes about my last name being a little hat, President told me that I would be staying in Clermont and training. I felt like the world stopped turning. My eyes instantly filled with tears of gratitude... the only word I could stammer out was"...Really?..." haha, I am really excited, to say the least. 

This week was kinda rough, but filled with so many tender mercies :) The Lord truly does love His children. He loves us. If we turn to Him, He will bless us with the desires of our hearts, and He will bless us with the trials and opportunities that we need to learn and grow. 

Have a wonderful week, and trust the Lord :) Jesus is the Christ.

Avec tout mon amour,

Soeur Beeny

Monday, August 11, 2014

One Is The Loneliest Number - August 11, 2014





So, last PDay was one of the most magical days of my life... Sœur Grunke and I made our way over to an outer ville called Vichy... Despite the rain, we enjoyed some delicious ice cream, took a little ride on the carousel, and then rode the coolest bike car in the world... The mission is great. And pdays can just add to the lovely memories that I will cherish forever... Today will be a fun Pday as well, because Im in Lyon on an exchange, and we have been invited to go to Présidents house!! WOOHOO! Itll be a joy. We made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies... So itll be fun, even if it is again raining today :) 

We had such a pleasant week!! The mission is focusing on PLAN ACT EXPECT, pertaining to finding the miracles the Lord is willing to place before us if we are diligent, obedient and faitful. It has been such a joy to do this work this week! My joy factor has again broken the lid off the imaginary limit, haha. There is no limit to the joy and happiness of life made possible by the gospel and atonement of Jesus Christ. 

So, we found 4 new amis! So flippin cool. That is a lot for one week! We received a call from a potential we had tried to contact... A guy named Camille texted us and said he would like to meet up with us in the park. We were a bit hesitant, but went to find those miracles. Camille is 18, and a very practicing catholic. His family isn't believing, so he found his faith all on his own! However, he says that he doesn't agree with many of the doctrine taught in the catholic Church... he soaked up every word of the restoration and even asked us for the "blue book". He had a friend in another part of France who is a member and told him some about the Church. What his friend shared stuck in his mind and he asked us questions about baptism and Church services. HE IS SO COOL! See what one example of a righteous member can do? Influence is priceless when used for good. So, we actually had an FHE that night... We invited him. He came! And he brought his brother Quentin!! WOW! Quentin isn't believing, but he still wants to learn more about us. Incredible day.

We were able to teach Sœur Veretout this week. She made us dinner: a mountain of mashed potatoes and then sausage. Sœur Grunke was flingin meat on my plate whenever she had the moment, haha. Our ears were treated with a nice choice of Mormon Tabernacle Choir hymns from her record player. We also watched the Restoration DVD, but her tv was busted... So we watched it on a completely blue screen, haha.... At least it wasn't black and white! 

We had a really incredible day where we taught 3 lessons in the presence, all with members we had never taught with!! We taught our ami Bassi with a very strong sister, Sœur Blateron. We had a really spiritual discussion about the Plan of Salvation. Bassi asked many poignant questions and we were able to testify of the Savior. It was a lovely atmosphere, which was perfect because we needed to pass him to the Elders... We want him to be completely focused on the message, and not on us!! Another member called us the day before to ask us to teach her friend! WOO!! Miracle. Her friends name is Marie-Pierre. She lives in the suburbs of Paris, but she is here for a few weeks for vacation. She wants to investigate the Church. She wants to see us as much as possible so she can truly understand our doctrine; shes searching for the truth... Oh boy, is she in for a treat!! We were able to teach her twice this week, once to get to know her and then another lesson to teach the fullness of the restoration. It astonishes me how many times we can teach the restoration and how every single time, the spirit touches my heart and brings tears to my eyes. I know that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It was made possible through a modern day prophet... How Lucky we are to have this priceless knowledge in these last days! 

Amandine responded with a sounding "Of Course!" when we invited her yet again to set a baptismal date :) She is set to be baptized the 27th of September... It seems a bit far off, but it is the new mission baptism date, and we are looking forward to possibly having 3 that day here in Clermont in our companionship... We had a wonderful lesson with Amandine about fasting and the sacrament. She is so sincere. She even came to Church yesterday, two weeks in a row :) sounds like the beginning of a great habit! Pray for her to accept the law of chastity and the law of tithing, two of the greatest commandments given to bless the lives of the children of our Heavenly Father. 

We were able to visit an adorable Spanish brother who is inactive sadly because he has heart problems and he cannot leave his home... we lost contact with him for some time, but Sœur Grunke was inspired to call him randomly this week and he answered the phone! It was perfect timing, because he had just lost his wife. He was sad, of course, but he was radiating with the light of Christ because of his knowledge of the restored gospel. He knows that he will see his sweetheart again. One is the loneliest number, unless we know that the Lord is always at our side to lift and carry us. We read Mosiah 24 with him... Little tears streamed down my heart as he read touching versus of joy and relief. He gave us warm milk and little Madeleines. What a Christlike man. My heart felt like it was going to BURST as we spoke with him. The greatest part about being a missionary is feeling the unlimited amount of love God has for his children. I love being His missionary.

Armelle as well, accepted to be baptized the 27th of September! She said that we would be the judges if she is prepared or not for that date... Pray for her to come to Church. It is important for our amis to have strong relationships with the members, because missionaries move; members are forever.
Our potential Aymard who had left on vacation returned for a few short days! That gave us the opportunity to turn him into a full blown ami! We taught him the restoration in the park. We were interupted by a group of Young adult women dressed as cats... They gave us cookies and then asked for money, hahah. Its a bachelorette party tradition here in France! Well, sadly we cant give money, but I was just happy that there will be one more couple married in the world! Marriage is truly a commandment from God! Sister missionaries get tagged for this, but I cannot wait to be married in the temple to a worthy man for all eternity! WOO!! Itll be the best :)... Anyway, the lesson with Aymard went great. He told us that he has a lot to reflect on and that he is beginning to question his catholic background. He is a profound person. Pray for him to continue reading the Book of Mormon while he is on vacation so he can know the truth for himself. 

So, thats about my week. We had lots of other fun expériences visiting others, but I'll leave with my testimony that I know with all my heart that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He is our Savior. It is Because of Him that we can find joy in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. Enjoy this beautiful message from LDS.org. 


I love my mission. I love my call. I love France. I love this gospel. I love my Savior. I love you. Have a wonderful week.

Avec tout mon amour,

Sœur Beeny