Finish with a Finnish

Ha... I thought that was clever because my last companion is Finnish and she is really cool. Her name is Sœur Hiltunen and she is small and really fun :) Haha, and we get along great. She has such a wonderful desire to work and be a good missionary so we have seen a lot of success and miracles already! 

Our amis have been making good progress even if it is slow. Not everyone jumps into the font after just a few weeks! Ha, mostly they have all just really opened up to us this week. I think it helps that they have all known me for a really long time now so they feel comfortable really telling me what is in their heart and the real questions they have. It has been a really eye opening week and I feel like I have never loved these people more. 

The fun part of the week is that thursday we went down to Ax-les-Thermes to see our amie Sophie and we walked into her apartment and before we had sat down she said she talked to the bishop about baptizing her on Saturday. In my head I thought she meant she had talked to him ON Saturday about baptizing her but she meant to baptize her THIS Saturday. In less than two days. My head exploded with the millions of things we still had to do to prepare a baptism but we got it together and talked to our leaders and set up the interview. I wasn't sure if she would be ready but I knew she could be. So the next day she came up to Toulouse and had her interview with one of our zone leaders... it was three hours long. That is NOT common. I think at the two hour mark I realized that she probably wasn't getting baptized the next day. 

So we had our fun FHE at the church and all the missionaries waited with us... they came down the stairs and they were both really happy but she said she wanted to move the date back. The elders left and we talked to her bit and she said that our zone leader had really opened the scriptures to her like we did and she wants to be the person that REALLY wants to live the Gospel and the commandments, not just the person that lives them because she has to but doesn't really want to. So it was an incredible experience and she had come to that decision herself. I think that experience will help her to find a deeper testimony. It was sweet because the elders brought her a bunch of cookies and she was really just... happy. Happier than I had seen her in a while. So. All is well :) 

Saturday all our plans AND back-ups fell through (the worst) so we went over to our normal contacting area and within a few minutes... I saw a guy we taught right when I got to Toulouse who had just disappeared. I'm not sure if he was excited to see me or not... but we went and sat down and talked to him and he opened up and told me he has been fighting himself for weeks and weeks to come to church or call us but he didn't because he didn't think God wanted someone who didn't know who he was. So we got to testify of God's love and the important things in life and he agreed to start meeting with us again. I just love this work. Nothing compares to seeing people change and sincerely seek truth and light. 

I love being a missionary :) 

Sr Loder 

TOULOUSEE

That's right everyone, I'm staying in Toulouse for my FIFTH (and one-sixth) transfer. Hahahaha YES I couldn't believe it when President told me. Sr Bridg left for Nice though and my new companion is from Finland :) She is about halfway through her mission but that's all I know. She will come in around five tonight and we'll go from there. Today is day one of my last transfer! I'm ready to tear this place up, it's going to be the best. I can tell already. 

This has been one of the best weeks of my mission! It was really crazy though... we just went and saw lots of members and that almost never happens so we were really happy about it. We went and visited a non-member family for Sr Bridg's birthday and he is a baker... a literal French baker. So he gave us aprons and hats and we made a seven layer cake and an apricot tarte. SO GOOD. 

We just went about talking to people all over and it was good. We just had a million things to do so it got kind of crazy by the end. The members have really started to trust us and have opened up and told us what things they think we can do to help the ward. So when President said I was staying I got really excited to put all of this into action! Plus I will get to be here for Sophie's baptism :) I'm anticipating the best transfer of my mission. 

Wednesday night we got a call from the elders and their 85 year old amie called and told them she wanted to be baptized THAT Saturday. So. We did it! The thing is that she is really old... and has a hard time walking so it was kind of a big effort to get all this planned. So we quickly put it all together and called members and amis to get them there and it turned out to be one of the best services I've ever been to. They got her down into the water and there were two missionaries there to help her... she was so scared but she trusted them a lot. They got her under and brought her up and she just hugged Elder Baty for like five minutes while everyone watching just cried. It was a really special moment. Elder Liechty and I translated an arrangement of Abide With Me into French and sang it and it was really nice and yes... it was a really, really good night. 

As soon as we realized Sr Bridg was leaving we suddenly had three million things to do so we ran around like crazy people for three days. There are a lot of people moving in the mission but it's good. Change is fun! I only say that because I haven't left Toulouse for eight months... yeah. Haha. I love it here! I never want to leave. 

I love you all. Have the most wonderful week :) 

Sr Loder 

Pictures of us as bakers, and then the district after church! 

How Great HE Is

I've spent this week marveling at the greatness of God and His creations. It has been a wonderful week of super hot weather and teaching and fun things all over. We drove down south through the mountains and I was astounded at their beauty... and just after we got home the biggest lightning storm I have ever seen rolled through Toulouse. 

We spent a lot of time this week setting up for our American Night. Our ward is really bad about procrastinating and so all the activities I have seen here have been... really not so great. So they don't organize anything and then the activity is not good and then the next day nobody can figure out why nobody comes to activities! So Sr Bridg and I decided to change that. We put together this activity in two weeks and worked really hard to call every... single person with a phone number that we could find and ask them to bring food to share. Well.

IT WAS AWESOME. 

The first guy that walks in is a less active man. With his non-member wife and daughter. And they had come early to help us set up :) THEY ROCK and are so kind and I absolutely cannot wait to work with them. Slowly the people came in... and kept coming and coming! We had close to 25 amis and non-members, 5 less active families and at least 30 members. We started off by doing some camp songs (while we waited for the late people). Haha, so good. Then we did some minute to win it games (like the cookie sliding down the face game and cutting the flour tower) with some select, classic American music. Hahaha literally everyone loved it. Then we had a GRAND buffet with hamburgers and hot dogs and so much food we didn't know what to do with all of it. 

I spent almost all the food time in the kitchen washing the dishes and telling people what to do. Takes me back to the MTC days. Sr Bridg was outside directing the floor and then all the other missionaries were doing their thing. It was probably one of the most successful activities the ward has ever seen. SO GOOOD. 

Other than that, we have done a lot of traveling. Once you have been in an area so long (and your area is as big as ours) you start making the efforts to travel and visit the less-visited families. Even if that involves hours of trains and buses during the week... it is always worth it :) We went back down to Ax les Thermes and visited our amie with a baptismal date... she rocks! But she pushed it back to the end of September because she will be busy with work and also we still have a lot to teach... it will be good. I love her a lot. 

I LOVE IT HERE and I love being a missionary. Transfer calls are this Friday... now that I have been here over 6 months and my companion is here for a little over 4 months and we have done three transfers together... nobody really knows what will happen. Everyone seems to think I will stay. I guess you all will find out next week :) Stay tuned! 

I love you :) 

SR LODER 

These are some photo highlights from the activity. The cookie game and the Americans :) 

Rainy Days.

My companion and I have been absolutely dying in the heat so we prayed for some rain and let me just tell you... God answers prayers. It is currently mega downpouring haha. We like that though :) 

It has been a really really really good week and we have gotten some quality work done. Our amis are doing great. We taught our two young adult friends the plan of salvation and I forgot my puzzle so I drew it out on the board as we taught it. It really warms a missionary heart to see your ami drawing it out so he can take it home and remember it :) They are doing great and they came to our now weekly family home evening and they loved it a lot. 

This week we went porting in a little town called Cugnaux and this woman slammed the door in our faces. It didn't hurt our feelings too much but she came out later as we were still porting on her street and apologized for slamming the door. It was a really good moment! 

We also had a really good opportunity to talk to some members this week about how they were really feeling about missionary work and the ward and they opened up a lot. That helped us SO MUCH and we also learned that they literally have no idea what they could possibly to do to help the ward. But we, the missionaries, organized a HUGE All American Night and we have tons of members and their friends and our amis coming. We're going to do some games for prizes with some funny music (We Like to Party and Mika, stuff like that:) and a big buffet with hamburgers and hot dogs and all that classic stuff. The ward is really excited about it and so hopefully this can get the ball rolling to show them what activities really should be! 

I think the highlight of this week was yesterday after church. We had a MILLION things to do and we realized we couldn't do it all... but we had to. So we got a member exchange approved and I went and taught lessons while my companion did stuff with the members. I went with a member that got home from her mission about two weeks ago to teach our amie that lives down in Ax-les-Thermes. She feels she had never received an answer and didn't want to more forward until she felt sure... so we get into the lesson and I started asking if she had been reading and praying. She said yes. I asked if it was going well and she said yes. So I asked if she had felt anything... and she said... YES! The peace and joy she had been waiting for. I asked if that was a good thing and she said yes and that she felt ready to take the next step. I asked what that meant for her and she said, baptism :) Then proceeded to fix her own date of August 19 (which is a Tuesday but she is really not available because of work on Saturdays). Literally... I am so happy. She is someone the elders had started teaching but felt better about us working with her. So when they heard she had accepted to be baptized it was basically just a big happy party. I'm really so happy for her... I love her a lot and she really knows how important this is. It is nice to have people that understand this important step of following the Savior. We will be busy trying to finish everything for the 19th! 

Overall... awesome week. I'm happy about it. The rest of the transfer is looking REALLY cool. I love you all lots :)

Sr Loder

Salut!

I'm sorry because I have like 8 minutes to write my e-mail this week... good thing nothing super spectacular happened and I don't need to take lots of time telling you about it :) 

The ward is going really well and we are starting to feel like more of a part of it. Especially as we are making big efforts to work with the members and really just... love them. They are incredible! We were able to do a family home evening with us and some members at the chapel and it was SO FUN and the members liked it... and asked us to do another this week so. We'll do that :)

I have like... two minutes now. We did a lot of contacting in the burning heat but it wasn't so bad. We have met a lot of really cool people and prayed with them. Our amis are progressing like champions and we had zone conference this week! We had interviews and President thought I was hilarious and direct and told me to tell people I love them more. So... I love you all okay? I hope you know that :) 

Sr Bridg and I also performed a nice song called Gethsemane. It was an acapella arrangement of a supposedly new primary song and now our zone is obsessed with it and they have been singing it all week :) It was wonderful. Really really good week but I think this one is looking even better! Look forward to it. 

:) Sr Loder

Ps really sorry about the worst weekly e-mail ever! 

NICE.

This week got kind of crazy but it was easily one of the best and most inspired weeks of my mission. First, the fireworks last week were super cool :) We went with a family to an outer city and it had a movie theme. Super cool. I loved it :) 

The next day we got up and jumped on a train to Nice... and then got there eight hours later whoo! It felt like home walking off the train and outside of the gare. I had been worried that maybe it would be unfamiliar after a year but it wasn't at all. We walked over to the apartment and started planning for the day. The sister I was working with had only been in the area for about a week so she didn't know too much about the members and everything. So... I started calling lots of members to say hi and to see if we could visit them! Of course, the first people I call are... the Brias! The senior couple in Nice haha because I love them so much. It was actually a huge blessing to see them this week because Saturday they left to Corsica.

From the members I learned that my recent convert from last year, Xavier, was no longer active and not only that... had asked the members to stop visiting him. I was so so so sad to hear that and my secret hopes of passing him were dashed. However, I called one of the young adults that I was good friends with and he was like SISTER LODER YOU ARE IN NICE? And I didn't understand his absolute excitement until he explained that his brother and wife had invited Xavier over to have dinner with them the next day. He was like, you have to be there. I had actually already talked to his brother and they said it probably wouldn't be possible for me to visit them because they had friends coming over (they just hadn't mentioned that it was Xavier!). He was like, no. You have to be there. I will call him right now. They were worried that since he had said he didn't want to talk about the church anymore that me coming would have been too much and would have upset him. But they ultimately decided that I should go. 

We went about our exchange (yes, Nice is just as hot as I remember...) and visited some members that insisted they see me. On the way to one I spotted a floral shop... back in the day Sr Bentley and I had made good friends with the florist there, Thierry, and he always gave us discounts on flowers. I decided we should stop in and he remembered me and Sr Bentley and was so touched that even after a year I would think to come and say hello. Isn't missionary work the best thing? I went through the day kind of worried about the rdv with Xavier... I didn't really know what to expect. But when we showed up he was really happy to see me and touched that I remembered so much of his life and plans. He showed me that he still had the picture from his baptism and remembered the song that I sang as well. It was nothing extraordinary. He didn't resolved to be active or come back to church, but he was happy. 

On the way home I was amazed at what God is willing to do to help His children. When I first found out we were going to Nice I really thought that was ridiculous. The tickets are expensive and it will take three days to get there and back. But as soon as I finished that exchange I realized that it doesn't matter... God will send us wherever He needs even if it is complicated and doesn't make sense. He loves us individually and perfectly. I hope Xavier was blessed by that miracle that I was in Nice on the one day he had decided to see some members. I'm also thankful for the sweet members who have not given up on him. 

We got home Thursday night and then Friday morning took yet another train out to a small village called Ax-les-Thermes. There is a picture of it below OH MY it is so beautiful there! It is a tiny village in a mountain valley and I love it so much that I cannot wait to go back :) We taught our amie there and she is wonderful. She has known the church for two years but it was for someone else... so that all didn't work out and he is no longer active. But she still comes. She really wants to know the truth and she is great. The hard thing is that she knows A LOT so it is hard for her to focus on the simple truths. We think she has received her answer but she hasn't seen yet. I love her so so so much. I can't wait to see what is in store for her :) 

THEN we had a dinner and family home evening with our favorite member family and their non-member friends :) IT WAS AWESOME. That family is an incredible missionary family. Their two less-active children were also there so it was just a super cool night of missionary work all over. It went really well. At the end of the night the mom asked me if she could give us their phone number and we could come by soon :) This is what missionary work should be, everyone! Trust the missionaries. They love you and they love your friends too :) 

It has been a great week and we have a lot of really cool stuff coming up this transfer. I love the work :) 

SR LODER 

Bastille Day!

Hello everyone and HAPPY BASTILLE DAY. That is French independance day and it should be fun! President gave all the missionaries permission to be out until midnight to watch the fireworks as long as we are with members the whole time. So tonight we will go down by the river in downtown Toulouse and watch fireworks until midnight... am I a missionary? Haha. 

We finally found some people to start teaching again but they aren't very solid so... we are getting there. We have started traveling out to the surrounding villes to do porting rather than street contacting in the same place I have been street contacting for 6 months. We have a lot of hope for it :) 

This week we were out and there were lots of kids running around and playing as we were knocking on doors. As we came up to one of the doors one of the little boys was like, that's my house! Hold on, I'll get my grandma. So he goes inside and she comes out and we learn... she is Portuguese and does not speak ANY French. She didn't really want to talk to us at first but her grandson was like, Grandma it's for JESUS! You have to! So she did talk to us and we found out she believes in God and loves the Savior and she prayed with us :) Jesus transcends all language barriers. Also, Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said that we needed to be like little children. 

I feel we have finally started to make some progress with our amis who have been really slow progressing. Especially our Indian friend :) He had been on a trip for the last week but came home and we got to talk with him in the park for a while. He is still caught up on science and everything and we explained where our testimonies came from and the many, many experiences we have had... where by some chance it could have been a coincidence but part of faith is believing that those blessings came from God. All of a sudden he was like, HOW CAN I HAVE MORE FAITH? That is probably one of the hardest questions to answer but he is getting there. He has such a desire he just needs to keep going. He opened up a lot about his life experiences and how hard they were for him. Sr Bridg and I just had the most overwhelming feeling of love for him as he told us that he didn't feel like God loved him. I know he is loved by our Heavenly Father. We just have to help him feel that too. Missionary work is the most heart-warming work there is. 

This week will be really good! Haha, we found out that we are doing an exchange with some sisters... in Nice. Yeah, that is a solid 8 hours on a train. So we will leave tomorrow morning and stay for Wednesday and then come back to Toulouse on Thursday night. I will be working with the companionship that has my BLUE in it! Sr Patrick :) Should be fun. Plus I get to see the Brias again. Fun news, they are finishing up their time in Nice but they extended their mission and will be going down to Corsica next week to be the branch president. Man of miracles. I'm really happy I get to see them before I go! 

I love you all very much. I've been studying the recent talks from General Conference and as I have pondered the things taught to us by the apostles and the prophet I have been gaining such a love for certain things. Like the Priesthood and the wonderful elders and men that are worthy of it and are doing their best to serve the Lord. For God's love and the power it has to change hearts and lives. This Gospel is beautiful. Have a wonderful week! 

SR LODER