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"

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