Week 23...Small and simple acts of service

Well Gabi seemed good today. She was a little bugged that her shoe broke and that she had to buy new ones. I told her to get good ones this time. Those were only a couple months old at most! So she grabbed some Dr Martens and I assured her they would last the duration of her mission and probabaly life. I know one person who wore through the sole of a Dr. Martens and it was her dad on his mission. :) Besides that everything seemed to be going great. One more week till transfers so we will see what happens. 

Bonjour tout le monde !

So this week flew by and I don't remember a lot of the things that happened but luckily I've got my journal! 

So this week was really hard because of the fact that most of our rendez-vous fell through. We had a lot of plans and things kept getting pushed back or changed and in the end a lot of people didn't show up. But this opened up some time for finding and contacting! 

We were able to talk to some new people and it was awesome! We got a few numbers and have a couple rendez-vous set up for this week so I'm pretty excited! 

This week we had 3 rendez-vous scheduled for alodie. The first day we came and she wasn't there so we rescheduled for the next day, then the next day we came and we got there early so we were calling some people to make some new plans and we just got the feeling to go to her apartment early and as we walked there we saw her walking out of her apartment. She was carrying a bunch of recycling bags and was on her way out to go run some errands. She told us to come back the next day but because we were there early we were able to help her with her bags and the next day she was there for our rendez-vous and it went well! I know heavenly father gives us ways to help others and to show we care for them, even if it's just helping to carry their recycling. It was a miracle to me that heavenly father really is in the details of our lives and is giving us the chance to serve. This week I really learned about the small but meaningful things. Sometimes the small things are what matter most and what can change someone's day. 

I invite all of you to go out and serve someone each day this week! Whether it be a smile or a text message. When we share the light of christ with others through the small and simple things the lord expands our efforts! I'm so grateful to be here and to be able to serve! 

I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving filled with family and turkey!! 

Love, Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures!

1: district p day at the Orléans cathedral 

2: me and Sœur Popoca at our favorite fountain

3: finding!

4: fun photo at the church 

5: my boots died just in time for winter but that's ok!!!

Week 22...Trust in God

I love this week's letter. I love that Gabi had those really difficult weeks and she can now see them as a strength and blessing in her life. This week Gabi was very busy and didn't have a lot of time to talk so it was short and sweet. Some of my favorite pictures came this week. I added a few of them in addition to the ones she sent the group. THE LAST ONE IS ESPECIALLY MY FAVORITE!

Bonjour tout le monde,

This letter might be a little short because I don't have the most time! 

This week we had a rendez-vous with Marie AND she came to church again all by herself! I've seen her grow so much since I first got here! I love seeing heavenly father change peoples lives, including mine! 

This week we weren't able to meet with George because he's been at the doctor so often with his leg and everything, but he sent us a message asking for us to give him chapters in the book of mormon to read and on Saturday we called him to check up on how everything was going. That phone call was one of the highlights of my week. We called to share a scripture with him and as we were about to share it he told us to wait so he could find the right page in his book of mormon, then HE read it for us. It was alma 38:5. I found this scripture early on in my mission during a really hard week. Its helped me to get through some tough days and has helped me to grow my testimony. It says "and now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day." I know that faith is the first step to getting through our struggles. The second we show our heavenly father that we are willing to put our trust in him he opens up the flood gates. I have never felt more love and comfort than I have on my mission. Those few tough weeks I had were difficult but they were also the refiners fire for me. I know I needed those tough experiences for me to be able to be the best missionary I can be! I know I'm not there yet but I know that with faith in the Lord and in His plan for me and for the people in France that miracles will happen. George has been a huge miracle and when we shared this scripture and these thoughts with him he expressed how he knew this was all true and he was so thankful that he had met us and that Heavenly Father has given him this. The gospel came at the perfect time for him. He's had difficult times in his life but with the gospel he has the tools to get through it and he knows he's not alone! I've loved sharing the happiness that we have with him! I've seen his testimony grow and have seen how happy the gospel has made him through his trials. I know that the gospel does that for each one of us! I am so beyond grateful to be here serving these people! It's so true that even when we struggle on a mission we still feel consistent and resilient happiness!

So in honor of the Thanksgiving season I invite all of you to find what makes you most happy and share it with someone else! I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week! Thank you for all your support!

Love, Sœur Uboldi

Pictures!!!

1: leaving zone conference 

2: I got to see cute Sœur Henderson at zone conference!

3: me and Sœur Packer! (Shes become my missionary mom!)

4: me and Sœur Popoca talking to everyone at zone conference!

5: sitting on the bus!

Week 21...Spicy Rice

Well, another cold week in France. Gabi is continuing to grow through the different challenges she is experiencing. She is keeping up her positive attitude and is loving this chance to serve. Here is her letter from this week. I added a few extra pictures that I loved, especially the one with Gabi and sweet sister Packer. I will always be grateful to that dear lady. 

Bonjour tout le monde !!!

This week was freezing!!! But it flew by! I still can't believe we're in November! 

This week was great! We definitely had some struggles but we also saw the spirit working miracles and helping us every step of the way! 

In Tuesday we had interviews in Paris so that's always super fun! It takes up a lot of our day but we were able to see our district and that was great! On Wednesday we had a rendezvous with Diaby. He is Muslim and after telling us he was planning on staying in his religion he gave us a HUGE bag of food. He's super nice, sadly he just wasn't interested in our message.

This week we were also able to visit Sœur Girard who is in the hospital. She's 86 years old and lives alone so when she got surgery there haven't been a lot of people who visit her. We were able to share a message with her and say a prayer together. She's such a cute women, pray that she starts to feel better soon!

We were also able to teach Marie again! She's loves the book of mormon videos but we didn't see a lot of progress this week! We're hoping for next week! 

We weren't able to meet with George this week because he's been having some medical problems but he's been reading the book of mormon and Hopes to meet with us on Saturday! 

Yesterday we had dinner at the Neveu's and it was awesome! Raja, a recent convert, lives with these awesome members and he made us some rice that he used to eat in Pacastan. Before we ate Sœur Neveu told me it was very spicy so shed made me something else in case because she knew I was very sensitive to spice. But not wanting to be rude I told her I could eat the spicy rice. I took my first bite and my mouth was on FIRE!! It was by far the spiciest thing I've ever eaten in my life! Luckily after Sœur Neveu tried the rice and realized it was way too spicy for her too she gave us all something else to eat. Raja and Sœur Popoca were the only ones who ate the rice! So that was super fun!

I've had so many awesome experiences here in France and I'm so excited to keep learning and growing! I love this gospel so much and I know that it's true! I hope you all have a great week! Go make someone's day better!! 

Love, Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures!

1: my first waffle in France and it was POURING

2: waiting on the bus

3: after visiting Sœur Girard in the hospital we got some hot chocolate!

4: my waffle 

5: we made some cute sister missionary ornament/doll things!!

Week 20...Cold showers build character!

Week 20! What an awesome, exciting number to hit! I also got this app that tells how many days Gabi has served and her percentage finished. I will put a picture below. We just hit 25% this week! Gabi sounded great this week. She has been showering with no hot water all week and I expected to hear a lot of complaining but she just brushed it off and said "oh well" I wanted to say, "Who are you and what have you done with my daughter." I love that she is growing and getting stronger every day that she is out. 

Here is her letter from this week

Bonjour Mes Amis !!!

Time is flying! I can't believe its November! Did October even happen?!? 

So we started this week off on the right note when me and my companion were trying to turn on our heaters and in the process broke our water heater! So this week we've had no heat or hot water and it's been freezing! But it's ok because cold showers build character! 

I hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! Halloween isn't the biggest deal here in France but me and my companion did our best to "dress up". We decided to be princess and the pauper with our pink skirt and blue skirt! We also had a bunch of halloween candy that my grandma and mom sent me! So we celebrated pretty good! 

This week was another tough week with rendez-vous. We got canceled on so many times! So we went batting for hours and hours in the rain! And it rocked! We layered up our clothes and went out in the freezing weather and worked hard! A couple people told us to leave our phone number in their mailbox so hopefully we'll get a call from them one of these days! 

This week we had some awesome rendez-vous as well! The first one was with George! One of the members in our ward Sœur Penverne invited us, George, and 3 recent converts Ibrahim, Alhassan, and Mohammed over for dinner and a lesson. It was super fun to spend time with all of them! We taught about prayer, scripture study, and the sabbath day. It was so great to hear all of them bear their testimonies. And then George bore his testimony! He said he knew how important it was to go to church on Sunday because there was no other time when we could partake of the sacrament. He said he knew prayer was for everyday of the week but we needed to be at church on Sunday to worship. It was amazing to see his progression! After our lesson George's leg stiffened up and he could barely walk. He was in so much pain. He was able to receive a priesthood blessing and he told the Sœur Penverne he knew the power of the priesthood was real even if he wasn't automatically healed. Sadly George's problem with his leg has really been making life hard for him though. He's been to the doctor multiple times and wasn't able to make it to church because of it. So prayers for his health and ability to come to church and rendez-vous would be amazing! 

Then we had a lesson with Marie and we asked her what she thought her next step was. She said she wanted to understand the scriptures better and then baptism. Her whole attitude has changed and its been so awesome to watch. She came to church again all on her own and I was so happy! She seems to be progressing well. I've seen her happier the last few weeks and have heard her talk more about baptism than before! So keep her in your prayers!

This week I saw a lot of miracles and saw the hand of the Lord in a lot of things. My testimony of this gospel grows more and more everyday! I'm so grateful I get to go out and serve and share the good news of the gospel! 

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

Love, Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures!!!

1: waiting for the bus

2: halloween at the penvernes

3: batting in the freezing cold

4: batting in the cold round 2

5: princess and the pauper "costumes"