Summer Heat.

... we got hit hard this week with the heat. Summer is definitely here. I've been praying for clouds and rain and we got a huge storm today so I'm pleased :) President gave us permission to use hats as long as they are tasteful and classy. I'm definitely jumping on that one... my face is so burned. 

Besides the heat, this week was a good one. We made a goal this week to set a specific hour for a miracle every day and... every day it happened. Every. Day. It was too cool! Most days we put it during our contacting time and one day during our miracle hour we had three lessons on the street and found two new amis. Has God ceased to be a God of miracles, NO! Moroni 7:29. We've been putting Elder Andersen's promises to the test and they have not let us down yet :) I actually gave a talk at church yesterday on faith and miracles. It went really well. Sometimes our ward has the tendancy to... not listen during the talks but I was so happy and almost emotional to see them listening intently to my stories of faith and miracles since I have joined the church. It is wonderful to see change in people! 

I'm also happy to tell you that I'm finally legal in the country! I had my rdv with the préfecture this week and they accepted everything and it is all good. They take all my stuff in order to prepare a card, which is like a visa pretty much. But that takes about two months to prepare so during this time I have a temporary legality paper. So... just a few weeks before I go home I'll have to come back to Toulouse (assuming I leave, of course) ... and get my legality. Haha. Okay! 

One of the young adults in the ward got his mission call this week :) He opened it around 9 pm so he called and had us on speaker when he opened it. We had been talking about it forever (it takes a little longer than 10 days for mission calls over here...) and he wanted SO badly to go to America, or at least anywhere not speaking French. Well... he is going to TAHITI! Speaking Tahitian. And it is cool because his mom served there. He's super excited because he gets to go to Provo for language training (Tahitian and English) and he spent a solid 10 minutes asking me about what kind of food they have at the MTC. He's going to be such a cool missionary. He will go to the MTC just ONE WEEK after I get home. Cool. He was writing his acceptance letter yesterday and I was helping him translate it from French. Missions are so cool! 

Unfortunately we had an anti-miracle this week... our friend with a baptismal date decided he didn't want to meet anymore. We realized that it was probably for the better. He just wouldn't accept the spiritual side of what we were teaching him. The lesson was pretty interesting. We were teaching tithing and he understood and when we asked him to live this commandment he said he couldn't because it was impossible until he was making more money. We explained 10 times over that it didn't matter how much you made but that you give of whatever you have... and that it as an act of faith. He said he understood but still said no. Then he went off on his random tangents (we have been teaching him for almost three months and he is... a talker) and we stopped him to explain that he was missing the point. We explained that we aren't just teaching our opinions or good principles, but the truth that comes from God and does not change. He said he would think about it. Late that night he texted us, said he thought about it, and decided it was not possible to pay tithing and thus would prefer not to meet anymore. And then it was over like that. We are hoping he comes to feel the difference in his life without the Gospel... he was meeting with us three times a week, going to family home evening and institute and church and all the activities. We'll see what happens. It is always sad to have someone make the choice to discontinue, but they have the choice. And it happens. 

This week should be good. We have some other wonderful amis and we are excited to work with them :) We are seeing miracles but also praying for more and more each day :) I love you all. Keep an eye our for those tender mercies of the Lord! 

Sr Loder