So this week was a little difficult. We have several amis
slipping through the cracks... One thing that French people do, which is very
silly I might add, is they hide when the going gets rough... Instead of coming
right out and saying "I have had enough.", they hide until we cease
to search. It is very hard when amis stop answering phone calls or arent home
when we knock. We wonder if they are through with us, or if they are simply on
vacation or if they lost their phone... We may waste a lot of effort looking
for them, and we came up a little disappointed this week. Please continue to
pray that we will find these amis, or find new amis to be able to continue
teaching this beautiful message of joy.
Luckily, Amandine is still holding out strong. We hope to
see her baptized in a few weeks. And Armand is remaining diligent till the date
this weekend. The 5th of July is going to be a magical day. Our whole mission
has been working obediently, unwaveringly to work towards this date! Please
pray for the ENTIRE France Lyon Mission. We will see miracles as long as we
continue to have faith and show our faith through our prayers and work.
There were many moments of spiritual strength. We had a
lovely district meeting here. I also came to the realization that I had tucked
a letter away that I had written to myself at the end of my MTC experience.
Tears of gratitude for my new missionary fire streamed down my face as I read
the words I had so precisely written for my future self. "Dear Soeur
Beeny, You are here on your mission because you love it. This gospel brings you
more joy than anything else on the planet. You love your fellow man, and you
wanted to share this happiness with anone and everyone. I hope that's what
youve been doing. I hope you havent forgotten what you learned in the MTC. What
is a missionary to me? Well... a missionary is a servant of the Lord. An Angel
sent to answer the prayers and pleadings of the children of God. A missionary
is someone who leaves their family for a short time, to bring families together
for a long time; for eternity. A missionary is willing, obedient, and humble.
Dont Forget. I hope you are a successful missionary. I hope you are a happy
missionary. If not, change it. If so, keep it up. Love the people. Delve deep
into the gospel. Forget yourself and go to work. I hope youre EXACTLY obedient.
I hope you are doing all you can to build up the kingdom. Above all else, I
hope youre repenting and changing daily. We have a lot of faults. We are not
perfect in any way. Keep progressing. We need to progress and continually make
commitments just as our investigators are. Dont forget. I love you. This is the
true gospel. Love, Soeur Beeny"
Well, I need to live up to the expectations I made for
myself. This strength helped me push through the mean glares, the harsh
"No!"s, and the slammed doors with an unwavering smile this week. The
Lord is with us. We can only do what we can do.
Romans 8:35-39 gave me a lot of hope this week as well. I
stumbled upon it, like most other faith motivators... and it really helped me
persevere through the tough moments.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all
the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Nothing can separate us from the love of the Lord. He is
always there. He is constantly present. I have learned to lean on him and to
rely on Him. So never ask yourself "Where is the Love?" like the
silly Black Eyed Peas. Its always there! Just look, and you will live. I
promise the Lord is present.
I love you all with all my heart.
Avec tout mon amour,
Soeur Beeny
No comments:
Post a Comment