Week 19...So now I need to learn Spanish?

Another great report from Gabi this week. As I was talking with her, she actually connected with her friend, Ellie, in Brazil and they worked it out that her mom could come over to our house and we held our phones across from each other so the two could talk. We were all crying when they saw each other. They have both bee through a lot the past  4 1/2 mos. and just broke down when they had the chance to see each other. It was really good for them. Gabi seems really happy. She talks about how she is gaining a lot of weight so I sent her a workout program for her and her companion. They are both really sore so it's working...but the key is they need to slow down on all the pastries. Haha. I told her I'd whip her back into shape when she comes home. :) Here is her email for the week. I also added a pic. of Ellie and Gabi's conversation

Bonjour tout le monde !!!

I can't believe its already p day again!! So let's just jump right in! This week a lot of people didn't come to rendezvous and we did a lot of batting! So in France our super tall apartments are called bâtiments and they have one entrance that's always locked but they have a thing for us to call each individual apartment on they outside and talk to them and they can choose to let us in or not. So batting is when we call the people from outside and tell them who we are and they can either hang up or choose to let us in. So anyways we did that a lot this week, for hours and hours and we got rejected a lot! But it was still fun! We just smile and laugh it off! 

We also had a lesson with a man who kinda turned the tables on us and we left him with a book of mormon and he gave us a Quran... it was a weird experience but hopefully he reads the book of mormon and feels of its truth! After that lesson we were doing a lot of phone calls and it was a struggle. I called this person and our information said they spoke english so they answered and I started speaking english and then I realized he wasn't speaking english so I started speaking French and I still didn't understand what this guy was saying to me. So I kept trying to talk to him in french and nothing he was saying made sense and I thought it was because I was horrible at the language! But then my companion who speaks Spanish starts speaking to him in Spanish and turns out he hadn't been speaking french or English! So after that call I called someone else and the person answers and it was in Spanish AGAIN!! And the next was was in Spanish too!! So basically now I need to learn Spanish! Anyways so that was fun!

So this week we had some good rendezvous! The first one was with Marie! Marie is still having a hard time because of her daughters health but I think its really opened up her heart because she even came to church this week all on her own. It's so true that our sorrows open us up to greater happiness. She's been so much more open and willing to learn so she's doing great! Keep praying for her and her desire for baptism!

Then we had a rendezvous with George! We taught him the plan of salvation and he loved it! He loved seeing that there was so much more after death. He understood it all and told us he knew it was true. He has also been reading the book of mormon on his own so that's been amazing! He is so great to teach and has been a huge miracle on my mission! 

Anyways so this week has been good! I love being here and serving the lord! Missions aren't easy but it's been so so worth it to see the happiness that it can bring to others lives! I'm so grateful that I get to help others feel the light of christ in their lives!

I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week!! Go make someone's day better!!!

Love, Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures:

1: we got a Quran 

2: lesson with George!!!!

3: sometimes waking up at 6:30 is worth it

4: after batting for 2 hours and no one being interested!! Woohoo!!

5: walking home after batting another day!

Week 18...That's a wrap on transfer #2!

This morning we talked to Gabi as usual, and as each sibling got ready to head out the door to school she prayed with them. Mason asked that she pray in English but she prayed in French for both Diego and Kylie. It was one of those heart overflowing moments I will never forget. How lucky those siblings are to be able to listen to their big sister in France pray for them before they head to school. Gabi sounded happy, positive, and excited about her up coming rendezvous...especially George. This mission has been such a blessing in more ways than I can count. I am praying for people I don't even know in France and genuinely care about them and hope they feel the happiness the gospel brings. Here is Gabi's email for the week. Oh and I threw on an extra picture because...dang, the food over there!!!

Bonjour toute le monde !!!

This week really flew by! It was so great! We had some amazing rendez-vous with our amis and some of our recent converts! I love the people here in france so much!

First of all, this week we were at home one night for dinner and we get a call from a man named Fabrice and he told us he was a member and he hadn't been to church in over 2 years but he wanted to come back and he still had the missionaries phone number and he just wanted to call us and tell us he was excited to see us at church!! Then right after we hung up the phone with Fabrice we got another call from a woman named Marie and she told us she'd gotten a text from us a few days ago and shes been reading the book of mormon and she wanted to learn more! Ahhhh amazing!!! So we are going to try and set up a rendez-vous for next week!!

This week we had a lot of great rendez-vous!! The first one being with marie! (Different marie than the one I just talked about) marie has had a very very hard week. Her daughter has been having some very serious health issues and its really taken a toll on her. During our lesson we talked to her about how heavenly father delivers us from our trials and how he sees us and knows us. We told her he would help her and that we would keep praying for her. At the end of the lesson she said she wanted to pray and in her prayer she asked for help to be ready for baptism. We hadn't talked about baptism with her for over a month so we couldn't believe it. In the midst of all her struggles she prayed for that. Shes such a sweet woman, I'm praying her burdens will be eased. Please pray for marie and her daughter!!!

Our next rendez-vous was with Ibrahim and Alhassan. They were both baptized about a year ago. They both speak english and are trying to learn french. We taught them about the importance of the temple and invited them to get their reccomends and to do baptisms for the dead. Alhassan hasn't been to the temple yet so we're really hoping to get him there soon! It's always so good to teach those two!

We were able to teach a few more people this week like Sœur Bonavera and a man named Jean Paul but I really want to focus on our lesson with George! He's been reading the book of mormon and has been an amazing person to teach! During our lesson we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was so strong and at the end of the lesson we asked him if he knew these things were true and he told us he knew it was true and he knew God was there for him and that he appeared to Jospeh smith. He said he believed the book of mormon was true and he wanted to continue to learn. After this we felt we should ask him if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized and he said yes! I felt so much love and happiness and I knew I was feeling a small part of what heavenly father felt for George in that moment. It's so amazing to be a part of something so happy and life changing. I feel so blessed and so lucky to be a missionary for this church. I know that this gospel is true and brings enduring happiness! 

This week was amazing and marks 4 months on my mission! Definitely some of the hardest 4 months of my life but also the best for me. I've learned so much and have felt the saviors hand in my life everyday!! I love being a missionary!!! Plus the food in france rocks!!! So  thats a wrap on my 2nd transfer!! I'm officially no longer a new missionary!!! Now all we need is to actually be able to speak the language, butttt that might take a little more time!! 

Anyways I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!! Go out and make someone's day better!

Love Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures!!

1: the district!!!

2: rendez-vous with George and Sœur Javoy

3: visiting the cathedral in Orléans 

4: rendez-vous with Ibrahim, Alhassan, and Sœur Penverne 

5: visiting Sœur Bonevera! (She always takes a picture of us but wont ever let us take one with her!!)

Week 17...Une bonne semaine!!!

So Gabi sounds better each week, which we are thrilled about! Here is her weekly email.

Bonjour mes amis!!!! 

Wow another awesome week!!! So this week started off great with a super fun district p day!! We all met in a city called Chartes and we visited a really cool cathedral and played a lot of card games! It was actually my first time visiting a cathedral which is crazy because I've been here for almost 3 months!! It was a great day! Me and Sœur Popoca ate a lot of fun French food too!!! I definitely need to start running more often!

I also had exchanges this week in Évry. It was really fun to be able to teach one of the other sisters amis and it's always good to see other missionaries!! During our exchange we taught a woman named maurine about the priesthood. She didn't understand why she needed to be baptized twice! But after a really great lesson she understood and said she was willing to be baptized! We asked her to pray about it and the other sœurs will be talking to her more about it next week! It was such a cool experience!

This week we had a lot of people cancel and it was hard because we were Paris for 2 days but we made the most of our time and had some great rendez-vous! 

First we taught Marie. We've recently started using the book of mormon videos to teach her because she really struggles with her memory and they've really been helping! Ever since she received a blessing she's seemed so much happier! It's been such a miracle that she's remembered our lessons and has made it to church a couple times! 

Then we had a lesson with Alodie! We talked to her about prayer and faith in Jesus Christ. We had asked her a few weeks ago to pray about a baptismal date and when we asked her about it at the end of our lesson she said she'd be ready in a few months. Shes such a sweet lady but I think her husband disapproval makes it hard. As we were leaving I asked her if her husband cou'ld join us in our next rendez-vous and she said yes! So pray for her husbands heart to be softened because I know this message can bless both of their lives so much!!

We had a lesson with another ami set but he wasn't able to come. The member who was going to be teaching with us invited us to dinner at her house and we were able to visit with them. As sad as it was that we couldn't meet with our ami, it was so great to get to know our members better! They're so so sweet!!

We were going to have a rendez-vous with George but sadly he had an allergic reaction and was at the doctor, but he's continued to read the book of mormon and message us everyday! We are so so happy for him and his progress and willingness to show his faith! 

It's so important that we all have that same willingness to act in faith! Faith is an action word!!! We have so many opportunities to serve and act everyday! I encourage all of you to take time everyday for the Lord and for the book of mormon. I know the Lord will bless you because of it and you will feel more peace and joy in your life!!

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!!

(Also quick side note: halloween's coming up and no one really celebrates it here but I still love Halloween so send me pictures of your costumes and decorations if you get the chance!!)

Pictures!!!

1: visiting the cathedral in Chartes

2: got to see my cute MTV district again! (Minus sœur Didonoto)

3: we forgot umbrellas and it poured!!! We were 100% soaked!

4: same as picture #1 but just a little more fun

5: district p day playing card games after visiting the cathedral

More Pictures from week 16!

Looked like such a fun P-day so I wanted to share more of the pics Gabi sent!

Week 16..."Broken Jaw not a fat lip"

Another week under our belts! I say our because I have found that this mission thing is one big group effort! :) Gabi sounded so great this week. She had spent her p-day doing some fun things like touring a famous cathedral with her district and playing games. They are having great success with a man named George and feel like he is moving along through their discussions with great interest. Her French is progressing and she says that she is understanding more and more. My heart is so full of gratitude hearing that she is beginning to thrive. It was a rough start but definitely a growing experience for us all. Here is Gabi's email for the week...

Bonjour tout le monde !!

Wow what an amazing week! General conference was amazing! I'm so grateful that we have a prophet on the earth today! 

This week we had another lesson with George! Hes progressing so fast and reading the book of mormon! We taught him about the restoration and how we can recieve answers from our prayers. We can see a difference in him as hes smiling more and thanking his heavenly father for placing us in his lives. He told us that our text message to him was no coincidence! We were able to invite him to general conference and he came! Our members have been so loving towards him and he says that our church is a family and it's so true! Every lesson with George brings me so much more happiness! This really is the most amazing work in the world!

We also had another lesson with marie and we showed her the book of mormon videos to help her remember better! She understood the whole story and we're praying she'll continue to progress!

Sadly a lot of our other lessons that we had planned fell through or people didn't make it. But luckily when those things happen we can go out and look for others! It was a tough week in terms of missionary work but I'm still finding more happiness than I've ever felt! 

And finally General Conference! This was an amazing AMAZING weekend! I loved every minute of every session! (Even the session I watched twice because the first time I watched it in French and i didn't understand most of it!) We were invited to do so many things and offered so many blessings in return! I'm so excited to make these changes and to really center my whole life on jesus christ! This gospel brings more joy than anything else in the world! You may not see it immediately and you may not feel it all the time but if we are faithful in keeping the commandments and being true disciples of jesus christ we will experience enduring joy! I can promise you this is true! I've seen it work in my life and I know it can change yours! Do everything full heartedly in the gospel! One of my favorite talks in conference was by Terence M. Vinson! He was the one who talked about rugby and I loved it! (Shout out to my brother Diego because I've seen him go out and destroy himself playing rugby and football so this talk really resonated with me) and I want to leave you with these slightly modified words of wisdom: it is not our success but our sacrifice that matters to the lord! So go out and get a broken jaw NOT a fat lip!!! 

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! Go make someone's day better!

Love, Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures:

1: we forgot our umbrellas and waited for a rendez-vous in the rain for 30 minutes!

2: we went to ikea and felt like we were back in America!!!

3: our amazing ami George and Sœur Penverne from the ward

4: waiting for our bus

5: district phone call picture