Sister Victoria Beeny France Lyon Mission: One Is The Loneliest Number

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.