Week 10...Miracles, temples and radishes

We had such a great conversation with Gabi this week. I told her that she sounded so good and she said it was because she was no longer fighting a battle. She went to the Paris Temple on Wednesday and when she was in there she prayed that she could turn this battle over to the Lord. Until that time she had a constant fight going on inside her between staying in France and her desire to come home. She said that it was a turning point for her and the battle within her was taken away. She knew without a doubt that she would stay in France for the duration. What a needed blessing that feeling of peace was at that time for her. The feelings of discontent were taken away and now her head is in the game. I know that there have been many...probably hundreds of prayers said for this sweet girl and my heart is so full of gratitude both for all those who have emailed her and prayed for her and for a loving Heavenly Father who listens to prayers and sends tender mercies when they are needed most. Here is Gabi's email for the week.  

Bonjour mes amis!!!

So this week was full of awesome experiences and tender mercies!! It was amazing!! So first I want to talk about an awesome experience I had this week! So earlier this week we had a lesson planned but the person said they couldn't make it which was sad but we had a lot to do so now we had time to do it, but we prayed and had the feeling we should go out finding instead of all the things we needed to do. As we were getting ready to leave the apartment my companion told me I was going to be leading. So I had to pick where to go and start more contacts! So we decided to say another prayer and I prayed to know what direction to go and right after the prayer I knew exactly where we needed to go. So we went in that direction and we met 2 people who didn't seem interested but we had a long conversation with them and left them with a pamphlet and our number. As we continued we stopped a couple more people but they weren't interested at all! So we continued walking and there was a man walking by us who looked a little scary and normally we don't fry to stop those people but I felt like I should say hi so I did and he stopped and asked how I was doing. I couldn't believe someone had stopped us!! So I told him I was good and asked how he was and we started a conversation with him and he said he was interested and he'd meet with us this week! It was a miracle! And when we got home we got a call from one of the people we'd left a pamphlet with and he wanted to meet with us! It was another miracle!! We had a goal to find 2 new people to teach that day and we did! It was amazing and I knew the lord had places those people in our path!!

We also had a lot of opportunities to visit some ladies who haven't been able to make it to church because they're too old and sick. We first visited Sœur Bonevera in the hospital and we sang to her and talked with her, she's so amazing! Then we met with Sœur Gerard who is about 90 and she lives alone and she prepared this meal for us and it was a little odd. I'd never eaten radishes like carrots before so that was interesting! And I swear there was something wrong with them because they tasted spicy and weird! I do not recommend eating radishes plain. But she was so sweet and had put a lot of effort into making our meal so I ate the radishes happily! It was nice to visit her!

And finally I got to go to the temple with one of our amis!!! We brought her to the visitors center and she felt the spirit so strong and it was amazing! We asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said she did!! We are currently praying for a date for her baptism and hopefully this week we'll have a date set! It was such a blessing! And it was so amazing to see the spirit work not only for her but for me. The feeling of the temple grounds is amazing. I felt so at peace and so close to my savior. We are so blessed in Utah to have so many temples close by! It took us about 2 hours to get to the temple but it was so worth it! I loved it!

This week was full of miracles and blessings! The final one that I'll talk about is the book of mormon! I started the book of mormon 2 days after I arrived in France and I finished it this week, and wow!! We are so blessed to have it in our lives. I have such a strong testimony of the book of mormon. I know it's true and I know that it contains the fullness of the gospel. I know it is a testimony of Jesus Christ and i know that if we read if everyday we will feel more peace and joy even through our most difficult times.

And finally my favorite quote of the week: “No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, [God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character [to do so]. … He will [always] stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them.” -Jeffery R. Holland tomorrow the lord will do wonders among you.

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! I know the lord is always with us and is helping us along the way!!!

Love, Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures:

1: us with Sœur Gerard

2: us in the hospital visiting Sœur Bonevera (she wanted a picture of us but didn't want to be in it)

3,4,&5: temple with Alodie

6: us waiting at the bus stop for 30 minutes because we ran after our bus and missed it 

Week 9...August 19, 2019 There are tender mercies every day!

Gabi sounded even better this week. She's not out of the woods yet and I can tell it's still a struggle but she is fighting and being so positive. She is smiling, laughing and sounds like my Gabi. I just love this girl so much and I'm so grateful that she is fighting through hard things and is getting stronger every day. Here is her weekly email...

Bonjour mes amis!

Alrighty so this week was great!! 

So let's start off with some stories from this week! I started my very first contact! Which means I went up to a random person on the street and introduced who we were and asked them a question! I started off really great but then the lady cut me off and walked away! Dont worry, I tried again and it went well! Mostly people here are very nice! So I'm not too worried when people dont want to talk to us!

Second story is awesome! So we took an hour and a half train ride to teach a referral we got and after we got all the way there he said he couldn't meet with us. We were a bit discouraged but after a while he messaged back and said he was able to meet again but he was going to bring his friend. We were so excited! A potential new amis! When we got to their home, we taught them the restoration and I recited Joseph Smith's first vision in French! I felt the spirit so so strong. It was amazing. Afterwards they had questions and we answered them and then we went to give them a book of mormon, and we found out they lived far away from each other so we need 2. My companion had only brought one because we had only planned to teach one person, And I had never carried a book of mormon with me because my bag was always too heavy. But that morning as I was packing my back I saw a book of mormon and thought we might need it. I really didn't want to bring it because it wouldn't fit but right before we left the apartment I went back and grabbed it. So we had 2 book of mormons and were able to give one to both our amis! To me this was a miracle. There was no reason for me to bring that book of mormon since we only had one person to teach! But now we have 2 new amis! I'm so so excited!

We had a lot of other lessons that were full of tender mercies as well! Yesterday we taught a man named Mody Tonda, and he's been reading the book of mormon on his own even though French is really hard for him. When we taught him he pointed out the words he didn't know and we were able to explain them, it was so cool to see that he had the faith to continue to read even when it didn't completely make sense to him. I know he's being blessed for his efforts. He's an amazing amis and he's even bringing a friend to our next lesson! 

This week I've been studying a lot about the nature of God and Jesus Christ. I've gone through the Book of Mormon underlining their attributes and qualities and as I've done that I've seen how much they love me. I feel so much closer to my heavenly father. I know he loves me because I understand him better. He's helping me every single day and I actually see his hand in my life. I know God is constantly stretching out his hand to us. He is always there for us. I know I have a father in heaven who loves me and who loves you! In a talk given by Paul H. Dunn he says "you and I cannot give up, no matter what the size of our struggles. We were not meant to be fear-haunted and defeated nobodies. There is something deep in our hearts saying that we belong to something higher. And that something higher is an eternal family." I know I have a heavenly father who is helping me through my struggles. I know he has created us for a divine purpose. I know he hears us and is constantly at our side. I'm so grateful that I have been able to see his hand in my life and in so many others as I've been serving! I know this gospel is true and I know God is with us each day!

I'm so grateful for all the opportunities I've had here to learn grow and teach! I challenge each of you to better your relationship with God and to write down the tender mercies you see everyday! Because there are so many of them! Gods hand is always in our life! I hope you all have an amazing week!! I love you lots!

Love, Sœur Uboldi

Picture 1: me and my amazing companion waiting for an amis

Picture 2: us and the sister training leaders

Week 8...August 12, 2019 France!!

Gabi sounded so much better today when we talked on the phone. I could tell she was still suffering. After she talked to me last week she had a complete meltdown and cried and cried and wanted to come home so bad. And then out of nowhere a calm came over her and she felt at peace. I know and she knows it was a miracle. She has been doing better ever since. What a blessing and answer to so many prayers. Here is her weekly letter...

Bonjour!!

So I've been in France for 2 weeks! My area is a beautiful place called Orlèans and it's awesome! So far everyone here has been nice! No one's spit on me or anything so I'll take that as a plus! 

So I've taught a few lessons and I'm really excited about one of our Amis (friends/investigators) named Alodie! Shes this sweet lady who has cancer but she has such a strong testimony of the book of mormon and she is so nice! We've taught her twice and shes doing awesome, she speaks slightly slower than most French people so occasionally I can understand but not all the time. But she told me my French is getting better! So yesterday we set up a temple visit for the end of August so that she can go to the visitors center and feel the spirit! She has a lot of struggle because her husband is against us coming and she's sick so I'm praying she is able to go because I know it would be so good for her! So she's really been a huge blessing in my life here!

My companion is awesome! Her name is Sœur Fears and she's an amazing amazing cook!! And she's such a good missionary! She's on her last transfer so I'll be getting a new trainer after her which is sad but I'm lucky I get her for as long as I do!!

This week we went to paris 3 times for interviews, zone conference, and new missionary conference! It was a lot of travel because Paris is an hour and 15 minute train ride from me, not counting the metro rides to the meeting house! But it was fun and I got to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while! There are so many people from Kaysville on this mission! 

Anyways, for zone conference Brad Wilcox came and talked to us and he talked about the importance of the gathering of Israel on this side and the other side of the veil. And it was super cool and he said "don't let the world change you when you were born fo change the world" and I loved that so I thought I'd share!!

So to some it all up I love France and the people and especially the food!!! And I love being a missionary even though it's hard sometimes!  But I Know the lord blesses his children, especially during their trials and sometimes our trials are blessings in disguise! I have definitely seen that as I've been here. I know that this is an amazing work and I know this gospel is true and that through it we can overcome all our adversities!! I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!!

Love, Sœur Uboldi

1st picture- the carousel in centre ville

2nd- one of the meals my companion made me!! (She's such a good cook)

3rd- me and some missionary buddies eating our paninis and crepes

4th- a cool picture I took in orléans

Week 7...August 5, 2019

Well, as much as I would love to say that Gabi is doing fantastic and everything is going smoothly, that is not the case. She didn't write a weekly family and friend email. She is really struggling. She is sad, not sleeping well, frustrated, and thinking of 16 more months is really not feeling like a possibility. She has traveled to Paris twice this week. (1 hour 15 min commute from Orleans where she lives) When I talked to her she had just finished talking to the Mission President and was feeling a little better. She could only talk a few minutes because they had to leave and for some reason her data wasn't working. So that was it and I was left to worry until I could hear from her again. Unfortunately she did call back a couple days later. Her mission president told her she could call home every day to get encouragement to stay out because at this point she didn't feel like she was going to. We had a long talk and she was pretty discouraged. When I hung up I felt strongly that we needed combined faith and prayers  going out for Gabi. I reached out to the family and friends and let them know what was going on and asked them to reach out to Gabi with their own experiences to lift her up and encourage her. This is where I feel like Gabi's mission went from us being bystanders to active participants fighting for her from home and as much as this all hurt so much, the flood of love, support, advice and prayers was a miracle in itself. My heart could not be more full of gratitude for everyone who reached out to her and emailed pages and pages of the most amazing stories, encouragement, testimony and love. My testimony was strengthened so much and my heart overflowing with gratitude. I probably emailed her 10 times myself that week, fasted, went to the temple and prayed constantly. As much as I don't want to call this a blessing, because of Gabi's suffering, it has unified, strengthened and brought so much gratitude and love.

She Made it!!! Tuesday July 30, 2019

This was the best feeling to see this picture and get word from the France Mission President that Gabi had arrived safely!

This was the first line of their email and was all I needed to read to start bawling like a baby...(happy bawling) I realize these days that it doesn't take much to strike a sensitive cord in me. :)

"Soeur Uboldi Has arrived!"

"We were thrilled to welcome your daughter to the France, Paris mission today. As you can see, she arrived safely. Thank you for sharing her with us for a year and a half. We look forward to working with her."

So, there is a FB group that people will post in when they take any pictures of Elders or Sisters in the Paris Mission. Some guy who is on the page and was a previous missionary in Paris saw this group of missionaries in the airport heading for Paris. He took a picture and posted it here. So cool!

I also found a couple of other pictures from the FB group. I know this first one is all the arriving missionaries in Paris. Don't know about the other. 

Week 6...July 26, 2019 Speak with the Spirit

Well, no pictures this week. Our conversation with Gabi was very nice. This was our last time talking to her before she headed to France. She was actually very concerned about leaving the MTC and saying goodbye to her new, good friends. She loved the MTC.  She has had so many amazing experiences there. But...onward and upward. Two more days and she will be heading out!

Here is her letter from this week...

Bonjour!!

This is going to be my last email in the MTC!!! Thats crazy to think about! I leave on Monday!! I can't believe it! I have had so many good experiences here and its going to be so hard to leave all of the amazing friends I've made here but I am beyond excited to go serve the people in France (even if they don't understand a word I say)!! 

So this week has been super great and I'll just share a couple things I learned some experiences. 

So this week we had a devotional and it was all about faith and conversion and one thing I got out of it was that our testimonies and our faith aren't stagnant. They are always changing and one thing the speaker said was "The testimony we have today will not be the same as the one we have tomorrow, it will grow or diminish depending on what we do about it." And I loved that! We have to constantly be working on our testimonies, it is something that continues to grow overtime. We all the capacity to grow our faith and beliefs. Everyday we need to be striving to strengthen out testimonies in the lord and in the gospel. The speaker also compared our testimonies to a brick wall. Everyday we can add a brick and we can make our testimony so strong that nothing can break our wall. i think thats amazing, the fact that if we work on our testimonies and continue to add faith our testimonies can become unbreakable. I encourage all of you this week to work on your testimonies each day and help them to grow rather than diminish, i promise you will be so blessed! 

This week I read about Lamoni's wife and in Alma 19:9-10 it talks about her faith. When others thought Lamoni was dead his wife wouldn't believe it and she went to Ammon and asked and he told her that he was with God and that he would rise again the next day, and then he asked her if she believed what he said. i want everyone to think about this for a minute, in this situation what would you say? What would you think? If someone told you something so bizarre and unbelievable. It sounds crazy, and especially for Lamoni's wife who hadn't yet received the gospel. But in verse 9 she says "I have no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless i believe that it shall be according as thou hast said." I want to have as much faith as this amazing woman in the scriptures, I love this story so much! And in verse 10 ammon says "blessed art thou because of they exceeding faith" We will all be blessed for our faith but we need to work for it each day. 

Sorry this has been so long! I'll just end with a quick experience. Earlier this week we had lesson with a woman in France over skype and she didn't speak english. It was really hard for me to understand but there were times when I could pick out certain things she was saying. After she spoke I felt like I should bear my testimony with an experience. I did my best but I knew that my french had been really bad because i had tried to use words I didn't know. After I spoke I apologized for my french and asked her if she understood what i had said and then she said "with the spirit I understood". It was such a testimony to me that I am never the one teaching and that I might not be able to speak french but if I can communicate with the spirit then everything will be ok!! 

I love this gospel and I know it blesses each of us and I know the Lord is always with us!! i love you all so much and I'll talk to you next week from France!!!! Have an amazing week!!

Love, Soeur Uboldi

Week 5...July 19, 2019 Forget yourself and go to work

Well, they say that many blessings come when you have a missionary out. Today was one of those big ones. We all look forward to Fridays around here because we get to talk to Gabi. Gabi spoke a little French and sounded amazing. At one point she asked to just talk to me. She said that a devotional this week and the MTC President's Son in Law was the speaker. He gave an amazing talk and then said that someone in that group has a dad who is struggling with the church and his spirituality. He said he needed that person to know that Heavenly Father is listening to their prayers for a miracle. I could not hold back my tears. I immediately felt like it was a "divine signature" that He never leaves us alone in our trials. I thought about the immediate goodness of God. Sometimes we are allowed to continue for a long time in our trials but He will bare us up and give us the strength to get through them. 

Gabi had a few more individual conversations and then she pulled us all together as a family and gave us a little chastising about how we were not reading the Book of Mormon as we should be. She talked about the blessings that come from reading and told the kids that they need to study it better so they will be prepared to teach others on their missions. Then she asked each of us individually to commit to reading at least a chapter ever day. This girl is already doing good and changing lives. 

Here is Gabi's weekly email...

Bonjour mes amis!!!!!!

Alright this week has been awesome and it has flown by! I can't even believe its P day again! I feel like I've been here for 10 seconds! But i leave in less than two weeks ahhhh!! I am beyond excited but also so nervous!! It's going to be an amazing experience! 

So I'm gonna start off with some funny things that happened this week! So yesterday I got a package from my amazing mama and she sent me cupcakes! sadly when I opened them they were all smashed into a corner but it still tasted good so thats ok!! and as I opened this cupcake box a bee flew right at me and got caught on my shirt! And for those of you who don't know I am a wimp and also allergic to bees! So at this moment I was sure that i was going to die, and I jumped up sooo fast! but this bee was somehow stuck on my shirt and so I started jumping around and hitting my shirt and I'm not being quiet about it either. And I finally get it off and I look around and basically half the MTC was standing there watching me! (it was probably at most 20 people but i exaggerate) haha! Anyways it was funny and everyone got a good laugh out of that! 

Also during our exercise time we had a super fun kickball game! I loved it! We aren't supposed to keep score in our games in the MTC but my team won, just saying! My competitive spirit might have come out just a little bit, but we can blame that on the fact that I have competitive parents and its genetic! Elder Cooley (a friend from high school) played with us too and he might be just as competitive so that was fun to play with him! He leaves the same day I do to Tahiti except he'll have been here for 9 weeks! so thats kinda fun!

Ok now we can focus on the important stuff for the week! Oh man, I have learned so much this week and my love for the Book of Mormon has basically tripled just in the last week and its amazing! I have been reading in the book of mormon in french and english and I've been actually studying them and its amazing! i love it so much! So I encourage all of you to find a love for the scriptures because once you do your life will be so much happier and you will learn so much more!!

So this weeks devotional we had a speaker come and he talked about 10 points that could make us a happy and successful missionary. I'm just going to name a few! One of them was to forget yourself. He brought of the story of president Hinkley on his mission. President Hinckley was having a hard time and he sent a letter to his father basically saying he didn't know why he was there and he was just having a hard time and his father sent a letter back and said he had one suggestion "to forget yourself and go to work" I love that so much. There have been times when I didn't know if I could keep going but this work isn't about me, its about the people in France and its about Gods children. I know that alone i could not do this work but i am not alone and with Christ I will do this work happily because he has brought so much joy into my life and I know that its my job to do everything I can to bring it into other peoples lives. and that brings me to another point: work hard. The speaker told  how when his son came home he told him that he was proud of him and his son said "dad I want you to know I did my best" and thats exactly what us missionaries want to be able to say. i want to work hard and do my best. I don't want to wonder if I could've done more! this work requires all our heart, might, mind and strength and I want to give that! so I've talked a lot so I'm just going to leave you with those two points! but I want you to know that these don't only apply to missionary work. In our lives we always have the choice to forget oursleves and turn outward. This means instead of thinking of ourselves we turn to the Lord and his children and we serve first and we love others first. If we can forget oursleves and love others I know we will be so much happier! I know that if we work hard here on this earth then when we see our heavenly father again we will be able to say "Father i want you to know I did my best" I encourage you to do your best, to love one another, and to serve! service is an important part of happiness! I have seen that here! I love this work so much and I love this gospel! I cannot wait to get to France and start sharing this happiness with everyone else!! i hope you all have an amazing week filled with happiness AND service;)

Love, Soeur Uboldi 

Week 4...July 12, 2019 Loving the Lord and His Work

Yay for pictures!

Gabi and her roommates all wearing pink

Gabi and Soeur Didonato

Gabi, Soeur Ryan and the Elders in their district

The whole district

Here is Gabi's letter for the week...

Bonjour!!!!

Alright its been a crazy awesome week!! The french is coming along nicely(ish) but its definitely a huge improvement from before so we are super pumped about that!! Ah man I love the MTC! the lessons I'm learning and the friends I'm making are sooo cool!! 

So this week we had another lesson with members in french and it went super well! I'm beginning to understand people! Such a blessing!! I love love love this gospel and this language so much! 

So highlight of the week was probably one of our devotionals, Elder Wilford Anderson of the 70 came and spoke to us and he talked to us about how much we love the lord and how we show that love. The way he explained it was really cool. He said that our love for God and his children will motivate us to give everything we have to this work! and he talked to us about our obedience and everything and then he showed us this amazing video of a talk by Elder Holland and there was not one dry eye in MTC. It was amazing and it really hit me hard! Elder Holland talked about the Lord asking Peter "do you love me" three separate times and then the third time he asked Elder Holland interpreted some of what he said and this is just a rough quote of it but I felt like everyone should hear it! Elder Holland said "then Peter why are you here why are we back on this same shore by these same nets having this same conversation. Wasn't it obvious then and isn't it obvious now that if I want fish then I can get fish. What I need Peter are disciples and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me and loves what our father in heaven has commissioned me to do." He goes on to say a lot more and I encourage you all to go find the talk and read it because it hit home. God needs us and he needs us to love him and his gospel with our whole heart and to serve with everything we have. We need to be true disciples of Christ. There are times in our lives when God will ask us "do you love me" and we need to be ready to say "yay Lord, thou knowest I love thee" When the time comes when the lord asks, we need to to be ready to not only say we love him but we need to show it. Faith is an action word and we need to treat it as such! This week I've really learned this and it has made we want to serve more than ever before. I promise if you place your faith in the Lord and love him with all your heart you will be blessed and the Lord will help you with every one of your trials, I know this is true. i have seen the Lord bless me as I have placed all my faith in him and have had action behind my words!

Sorry for that long rant!! I'll make everything else quick!! so sickness has being going around the MTC and sadly I have gotten a little sick but luckly its only a tiny bit and I got it the least out of everyone else so woohoo!! We only have like 2 and a half weeks left in the MTC!!! Thats crazy! i can't even believe time is flying this fast!! i am starting to understand french!! yay!! i'm not sure why I thought speaking another language would be an easy thing, but its not!! it requires sooo much effort and work but yesterday my teacher told us that the gift of tongues cannot happen without struggle and hard work. So if the gift of tongues comes from people struggling i should basically be fluent because I am DEFINITELY struggling but i love it and I've learned to love every aspect of the language even the hard parts. Finding the joy in the things you do makes like so much better!! ok well I hope you all have an amazing week and I love you so much!!!!

Love, Soeur Uboldi

Week 3...July 5, 2019 Miracles and Blessings

Gabi sounds so much better this week! Didn't get any pictures but her phone call was great. She sounds like she is getting more comfortable with the routine and the language classes. Such relief to my heart. Here is her letter to friends and family.

Bonjour!!!

Oh man it has been an awesome week!! Plenty of ups and downs but I have had such a good time here!! So this week we had our first member TRC, which basically means we taught our first lesson in french to people who speak french and are members! And I was sooooooooo nervous and stressed about it. The language has not come easily for me and I haven't been able to catch on as well as some of the others in my district and because of that I was really struggling to understand anyone speaking in french! so basically I was extremely stressed because whenever someone speaks french I never know whats going on, so I had no idea how I was going to communicate, let alone teach a lesson!! But let me tell you, the Lord knows and loves each of us so very much and he knew exactly what i was feeling and what I was going through. Up until about 10 minutes before my lesson I was a big ball of anxiety, but i took a quick moment to say pray and I asked for help. I said I knew that on my own I couldn't do this but with him I knew I could. It was so hard to let go of all of my stress but as soon as i put my confidence in the Lord instead of myself i was filled with relief and I knew that somehow this was going to work. When we walked into our lesson and began talking to these people I was able to understand what they were saying and i was able to respond with my broken french and they understood me!! my companion began to teach and after a second she looked at me for help because she didn't know what else to say. In all of our practices she had always known what to say and she had always taken the lead and right then the only thing that came to my mind was "when in doubt, testify" so that's what I did! It was so simple and small but the spirit was so so strong and I started to cry. It was the most spiritual testimony i had ever said and it was by far the most simple. It was a miracle. I know that during that lesson as I opened my mouth and taught those people, i was not teaching alone. The Lord knows us and is ALWAYS with us.

Sorry for such a long story!! I'll keep the rest of my week brief! So after that lesson the french has actually been coming a lot easier, its definitely still hard but I've been catching on quicker!! Its been awesome! Anyways another story! so yesterday was the 4th of July! So happy 4th to all of you!! I hope you all enjoyed the fireworks and the time spent with family!! So we were lucky enough to be allowed to stay up until 11 to watch the stadium of fire fireworks from our classrooms. I got assigned to a smallish classroom so it was me and my companion and then 2 elders from our district watching it from this room and at first we were all a little sad because we were reminiscing on old memories and on our families but then we started singing songs and one of the elders sang a hymn during the finale and he's such a good singer so that was awesome to hear and we ended up having an awesome time together!! I love my district so much! It was so cool to be with them and to do that together! 

This week has been so cool and I have seen so many miracles happen and I know without a doubt that we are never alone. i have learned so much and my relationship with my Heavenly Father has grown so so much and I know that it will grow even more in the coming months!

I love all of you so much! I hope you all have an AMAZING week!! 

Love, Sister Uboldi 

Week 2...June 28th, 2019

Well, the letter to family and friends was pretty upbeat and happy sounding but when we talked to Gabi today she was struggling. She felt like she just wasn't getting the language and that everyone was picking it up quicker than her. I reminded her that it was not a race...but that is what Gabi does! She Races...and does not usually lose. She felt like she either needed some anxiety meds or some counseling. I told her to definitely go talk to someone and that I thought it was a little early to take medications. I let her know that learning a language is hard for everyone and she is not the only one crying in their pillow. It breaks my hear to hear that she is suffering but I know it will make her stronger. It will increase our prayers and faith on her behalf as well. One thing she was very excited about was that she joined the MTC Choir. She said she has loved it! Also, she got my package with a candy gram and a bunch of other treats to share with her district. 

Bonjour ma famille et amis,

Man this week has been crazy! The second I got here they sent me right to class and I've been crazy busy ever since! My district is awesome and I am so grateful they are here! We are constatnly laughing and making jokes and it really makes everything so much fun. My companion Soeur (sister) Ryan is awesome! We have super opposite personalities but it actually makes it pretty interesting and shes been a huge help! So just some highlights for the week, on Sunday the 12 apostles were here for my devotional and Elder Holland spoke to us. It was AMAZING!! He basically talked about our purpose as a missionary and about the atonement and woah it was so powerful! And I joined the choir!  We sang for the devotional and there were 1,000 of us missionaries singing!! We sang sweet hour of prayer and when Elder Holland spoke he told us that every hour should be a sweet hour of prayer so that was super cool and it was a good reminder that we can always turn to our Heavenly Father no matter what.

Another "highlight" I was able to apply for my VISA!! Finally!!! Me and a few other missionaries woke up at 3:00 a.m. to fly to LA to apply for our visas, it was such a long process and then our flight home got delayed so it was even longer so I got home at 11:00!! but it was actually super cool to be out with a missionary tag on, so many people came and talked to us and it made my day!! So if you ever see a missionary make sure you say hi because its the best feeling! 

Funny story! So In my mission we have a little piece of Belgium and because of that we had to get our blood drawn because they need to check it for a bunch of things or we won't be allowed in Belgium! But they didn't tell us we needed that they just said we needed to go to the doctor so when I got there and they pulled out the need i was freaking out!! Ah i was so scared!! I felt so bad for my companion and the poor nurse. She gave me a teddy bear and I had to hold my companions hand but i was squirming soooo much so I don't know how she actually was able to get my blood but she did and then she gave me a sucker hahaha!! My district laughed at me but I was pretty proud of myself considering I didn't cry!! 

The MTC so far has been great! it definitly hasn't been easy but nothing easy is worth it!! I know that as long as I'm trying my best and working hard the Lord will strengthen me and help me with the language! (fun fact: learning a new language is not as easy as it sounds) 

I love all of you so much and I hope you have a great week!! I know Heavenly Father loves each of you so much and that he is here to comfort and strengthen us all! i encourage all of you to pray and strengthen your relationship with him! I know that it can bless your life sooo much!! I've seen it and I've only been working on it for a week!! You can do this!!!

Love, Soeur Uboldi

Week 1...June 21, 2019 I'm Great!

Our first letter and picture! So Gabi's P-days are on Friday. So technically she has only been there 2 days but when you are counting hours it feels like 2 weeks. So we were beyond excited to talk to Gabi and to get this letter and picture of Gabi with her roommates. She said that she isn't sleeping great but besides that she is doing pretty good. The girl on the right is sister Ryan and that is Gabi's companion. Her friends and family letter is below. 

Hello family!!
So I’ve had some really cool experiences and it’s been awesome! So
I’ve seen a lot of people that I know and that’s been really cool,
it’s nice seeing familiar faces! This mtc is actually super awesome
and I’ve loved loved loved all of my classes and teachers, but I’m
basically in class all day long and if I’m not in class I’m reading
the Book of Mormon or studying French! It’s actually pretty nice and I
like it lots, the only struggle is that during lunch I eat super fast
but my companion eats soooooo so so slow and I’m like a quick person
so it’s tough during meal haha and then I tend to want to walk fast so
it’s hard when she doesn’t but I don’t like to run up stairs and she
does so that’s kinda funny but I’m getting used to it! My brain is on
overdrive right now, it’s so much information in such a short amount
of time and it’s all such good info that I want to remember it all but
it’s hard! Ummmm my companion is from Canada and I asked her if people
really do say “eh” all the time and they do! She doesn’t which is nice
but she uses different language like pardon for excuse me and runners
for shoes and she actually brought maple syrup with her which was soo
funny cuz I couldn’t believe that was actually a thing! So I’m
definitely a little homesick but I’ve held it together pretty good, it
just seems like it’s going by a little slow and it’s hard to think of
18 months because it seems really long to me so right now that’s the
hardest thing. I’m sure I’ll get used to the idea and it’ll start to
seem short but for now it’s seems really long and it kinda makes me
stressed and such but I’ll be fine I can do ittttt! I’ve written in my
journal everyday so ur welcome mom! Ummmm French is hard, had to
memorize all this stuff to meet people and have a long conversation
and we are going to do that today sooo hopefully I do good! Also email
me during the week cuz im sure it’ll help me be less homesick if I
hear for you guys during the week and hear about what’s going on.
Mmmmmm i hope you guys have a good week and I love you and I’ll talk
to u soon!
Love, Sœur Uboldi

Saying Goodbye...MTC June 19, 2019

Well all I can say is that this day came way too fast! I have dreaded and looked forward to it for 19 years. We had our last breakfast at Granny Annies...can't believe we didn't take a picture. We played our last game of badminton, then got ready and headed for provo. The whole way down I kept asking Gabi if it had hit her yet that she was really doing this. She had a big smile on her face..."Nope." "even though you won't see Mason for 3 years?"..."Nope." We went to the Provo temple grounds to take pictures and say our goodbyes. There were families everywhere doing the same thing. Gabi pulled out a bag of stuff and passed out gifts for each of us. What?! She gave each of us a book of Mormon that she had written a special message in and she told us that she had underlined all the same passages in each of them that she had in her own. Oh my goodness that must have taken FOREVER. She also made a book mark for each of us that she had written a quote about the book of Mormon that applied to each of us individually. She also gave each of us a necklace or a key ring. Mine said missionary mom. Kylies was a necklace with the temple because she would be going to the temple next year. Mason and Diegos' said Armor of God and Esteban's said "with faith nothing will be impossible to you." Who is this girl? She is going to do amazing things. We gave hugs, took pictures and loaded back into the car. Ok, my heart felt like it was going to rip right out of my chest. This is not OK!!! We pulled in and they put a pink paper on our windshield so they knew we had a sister missionary. As we pulled into the parking garage there was a darling sister missionary waiting for us and helped us unload our bags. She told us not to worry and that she would be taking care of Gabi. I couldn't even answer her because if I opened my mouth some awful noise would come out. I was trying so hard to keep it together for Gabi and I did. We took a last family picture and gave our last hug and off she went with a big smile on her face. I couldn't hold back anymore and the tears just flowed. It's going to be a long 18 months without my little sidekick. Seriously, how to people do this. OUCH!

Last Temple Session, Setting Apart June 18, 2019

This morning Gabi and I got up at 6:00 and went to the 7:00 session. It was so nice to be there together just the two of us. Gabi has been to the temple so many times since receiving her endowments. I am so proud of her and so happy that she has such a love for this House of God. I am so grateful that we had this last temple time together. As we left we saw a little bench in the garden that neither of us had ever noticed before. We decided to go sit on it and just talk. It was such special, cherished time. I can't believe my baby is leaving tomorrow.

Then tonight we met over at the church to set have Gabi set apart. My parents me us there. First President Harris met with Gabi for a few minutes and then joined us in the conference room. Bishop Sheehan also came. President Harris started by talking to us for a few minutes about how special this is even though there are so many missionaries going from our stake. He asked if Esteban and I had anything we wanted to say and I just told Gabi how proud we are of her and that even though we would miss her so much, there is no where I would rather have her be. Bishop Sheehan talked about the testimony meeting up at girls camp last year and how it turned into a "Gabi" meeting. He said he had never seen anything like it and afterwards everyone hugged Gabi for like 15 minutes. He said that her example does not just reach her family but there would be girls who go on missions because Gabi is going on a mission. He said he knew that without a doubt. It was pretty awesome to hear that. That was only the beginning of my heartstrings being pulled. President Harris invited the brethren into the circle and I have watched Esteban turn down going into a Priesthood circle for 13 years and he stood up and joined. I had to focus so hard to listen to the blessing, which was absolutely amazing, but my mind was spinning trying to comprehend what had just happened. I wish I could have recorded the blessing. Anyways, miracles are already coming from this girl's decision to serve. After the blessing we headed to Red Robin for dinner and listened to church music the whole way because we had an official missionary with us. :)