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 

Week 15...Miracles come after faith

Gabi sounded 150% better this week. We have all been praying for a miracle for Gabi to pull through this and be able to stick to it. Of course it will still be a hard road ahead of her every day but I do feel like she turned a corner and is finding joy in the work and in life in general. I saw a real Gabi smile this week and it made my heart turn to mush. First, because I want her to be happy and thrive but second because I know that Heavenly Father is aware of us and what we are going through. I know He will strengthen us and when needed, humble us. This has been a very humbling time for me as I have pleaded on my knees with my Heavenly Father for His help. I have seen His hand in all this and watched an amazing transformation in myself, Gabi and many others who are pleading on Gabi's behalf. What a blessing this mission is already turning out to be for all of us. And yes, the hard is a blessing. It takes us to our knees and forces us to lean on our Heavenly Father when we realize we are nothing without Him. So as hard as it has been I wouldn't change anything. My heart has been filled to the brim with the overwhelming love I have felt from family and friends during this difficult challenge. It has made me more grateful for everyone around me and has increased my faith of the power of combined faith and prayers. Thank you everyone who has prayed, emailed, consoled both Gabi and I, and lifted us up when we were so down. I love you all a thousand times more than I did before. :)

Here is Gabi's email to family and friends...

Bonjour tout le monde !

I haven't written an email in a while! But it's been crazy so I'll just tell you about this week! We were in Paris 3 times this week! For interviews and different conferences so we were on trains for basically our whole week! And because we were so busy all week we had to stack lessons on Saturday. And normally when we have this many lessons someone doesn't show up or people cancel. We get canceled on a lot! But, nobody canceled and we had 4 awesome rendez-vous! 

One was with Marie and we had a great lesson with her, she has a really hard time remembering things because she was in an accident. She has a lot of hard things in her life so we thought we'd have a member give her a blessing during our lesson. This member listened to everything going on in her life and he was awesome! He told her he'd visit her often and basically just gave her a friend in the church which was so awesome! 

Then we had 2 more rendez-vous with Alodie and one with a girl named sarah! They were both great, sadly sarah isn't too interested in the church but she asked us if we could help teach her English so now we have an English class set up each week! We talked to Alodie about prophets and she agreed to come to general conference! So pray for her to have the strength and the faith to come! 

Then we had a rendez-vous with a man named George. We had never met George before but we found his contact on our phone and messaged him and he said he wanted to meet with us! He'd never actually met with the missionaries before so we were excited. We went into the lesson planning on teaching him about the restoration but then we listened to him and he told us he'd had a lot of struggles. He had just received his citizenship a couple years before and he'd been a refugee before that. He'd been trying to get papers so that he could bring his family here. His whole family is back in Africa and he hasn't seen them in years. He told us how hard it's been for him and my companion told him she knew God had a plan for him and that he was going to be ok and that he'd see he family again. I felt so much love for this man and all I wanted to do was share the happiness of the gospel and be able to communicate with him but i knew I didn't have the ability to say everything wanted. So I prayed while my companion spoke and when she finished I opened my mouth and I honestly couldn't tell you everything I said because it wasn't me. I'd never spoken French like that before. I know it was the spirit working with me. I knew I didn't have the ability to speak but I knew that God did. During our lesson George began to cry and he told us that he was so grateful he'd met us and that he could feel our love and empathy for him! He told us he wanted to read the book of mormon and come to church! The next day at church we had 3 amis come! That hasn't happened my whole time here! We'd been lucky if one came but this was just a miracle! They all met people and put ward and wanted to meet with us again! 

I know the lord puts people in our paths! I know he loves us and that he sees us! I really needed to change my perspective this week and at the beginning of the week I decided to have faith and go out and be happy about everything. In ether 12:18 it says and neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until they first believe in the son of God (I did that from memory so it might be a little off) and I believe that's true! I've seen God work with me and my companion and as we've had faith and believed kn miracles and worked for them! I'm so grateful for this gospel and the happiness and joy it brings into our lives! I'm so grateful I get to share that with others! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Love, Sœur Uboldi 

Pictures 

1: passing out invitations to church

2: my district at zone conference 

3: I went to the Louvre (the outside)

4: us waiting in the rain for an ami who never came but that's ok!!!! We still smiled!

5: making 5,000 cookies for our ward!!!

Week 13...Rough Week

Gabi didn't send out a letter this week to the group. She is really struggling with a lot of things and is to the point where she thinks she wants to come home rather than stick it out. Our hearts are aching and prayers are focused. Praying for a miracle to bless our sweet girl.