Week 79 (8/3/20): We assist in geological emmigration

Hello everybody !

It has been a roller coaster of a week (like normal, hahaha), but it's been a good one. I can't believe it'll all be over so soon. For those of you that don't know, I'm flying home next Tuesday. I'll be traveling for 19 and a half hours straight... pray for me 🤣

The older woman we were teaching last week suddenly decided that we were a cult, and she would never talk with us again. We're not really sure where she got that idea, but since she refuses to talk to us, I guess we'll never know. It was initially really hard for me, because I wanted to reason with her, I wanted to have a chance to get her to talk to us. But the spirit guided me towards a different approach - ask of God. So we wrote her a super sweet text telling her that we weren't going to try to convince her of anything, but that we knew that she could always get answers from God. She hasn't responded, but now any time she looks back at our conversations, that's the invitation she'll see. And I hope that someday, in a few months or a few years, she'll give it a shot. I've never felt so at peace about dropping someone though, so I'll just trust God on this one.

Our friend Abel in Ghana finally met the missionaries in his city ! He had been kinda reluctant to meet with them, but he finally accepted to last week, and then he had them with him at his house when we called on Tuesday ! We were so excited to see them, especially when we saw that Abel now has his own physical copy of the book of mormon and several pamphlets to study. We taught him about the word of wisdom, and how God asks us to experiment upon his commandments to see the blessings he is waiting to give us. Abel was laughing, because he'd protested against giving up tea, and he said, "so to know if I should give up tea, I need to give up tea ? Okay, okay ..." He's such a genuine person, and it's a pleasure to know him and work with him. And it's such a blessing to know that he's got good elders taking care of him now.

It's weird being a missionary when you can't stop people and talk to them. But our mission president has asked us to walk around outside still and be visible. So we've been doing that a lot. There's one man that we said hi to 2 days in a row, and he stopped us and asked us if we spoke English. He's from Sierra Leone, so he speaks English ! We had an awesome conversation, got his number and email address, and invited him to church. He came, and even though he didn't understand everything, he liked it. We encouraged the Elders to talk to him (we have to have a woman with us to teach men, which isn't super convenient, so often we'll pass our male friends to them), and they totally bro-ed out, and he says he's definitely coming back next week. By small and simple things (just walking around saying hi to people) are GREAT things brought to pass. On a similar note, my companion has taken to carrying a book of mormon with her everywhere. We were on a bus, and a woman kept staring at it. She got off at the same stop as us, and said she had the same book at home. Apparently she met missionaries... 20 or 30 years ago at english classes. And she asked us a few questions, and then accepted a pamphlet. She didn't want to give us her number, but we gave her ours. So who knows ? Sometimes it's just baby steps, but it matters to God.

Anyways. For our touristy adventures. Yesterday we went on a walk to get videos of nature for a video we want to make, and I took my companion up to this like, natural park area on the top of the city. The sun was going down, and threw sky was stunning, and we were ringed by mountains, honestly, it was heavenly !! We got lots of great pictures and videos, so hopefully we're all set 😅 It was so much fun though !

And today we're headed down to the spanish border. We were going to go earlier this morning, but our train got delayed an hour and a half... sooo now y'all have gotten a long and comprehensive weekly while we wait.

Ok, report back. I know why people retire to the south of France. It's because it's so chuffing beautiful. If you ever get the chance to hike along the french-spanish border (note that we, as good missionaries, stayed on the french side), right next to the sea, take it.

Love you guys !

Sœur Cate

Week 78 (7/27/20): Cathedrals and Miracles

 Hello everybody! 

I hope you all had a great week. Mine was pretty good. We have done a lot of wandering around the city and just being friendly to people because we’re not supposed to stop them because of the virus. We saw a couple of cathedrals that were very different. One of them was small but still in use and the other was one of the larger ones I’ve seen, but because of damage in the past it’s a crumbling ruin. Which, can I just tell you that a crumbling cathedral is a heck of an aesthetic. My companion also introduced me to a Danish store called Flying Tiger that has the cutest, most random stuff ever. So I would definitely recommend wandering downtown in French cities. 

We’ve also been eating well this week. My companion is half Italian so we made homemade gnocchi as taught to her by her Italian grandmother. We ate several other Italian inspired dishes, culminating in our decision to go to an Italian restaurant today and then got gelato for dessert. And life could be a lot worse.

We had an incredible miracle this week where the woman who randomly showed up at church last week made a ton of progress. We met with her during the week and then yesterday on Sunday for a zoom meeting. In the meeting, they had called three women to speak and they all shared awesome messages that related to the lesson we were about to teach. She was so touched by their testimonies and said this didn’t happen in her old church. We had an amazing lesson with her afterwards and she decided she wants to be baptized and when I said I was leaving soon, she said I couldn’t leave and wanted me to come to her baptism. So we did the math and if she gets baptized the day before I go to Lyon, I can be there.

Her case really shows me how much God makes His will known because we didn’t do anything to find her and at age 62 or 72 (it's hard to hear the distinction sometimes when French people are speaking) she was already so prepared. We couldn’t be out finding, so God had her find us.

So anyways, don’t forget to tour your local French villages, they’re all amazing.

Love, Soeur Cate

Week 77 (7/20/20): We tour the south of France

Nah, legit though, we went the two biggest cities in southern France (Lyon and Marseille), and also spent the night in Aix-en-Provence. It was SUCH a fun time, it was so good for us to see everyone and catch up with other missionaries. We literally hadn't seen anyone since march. But since my companion, Sœur DiDonato had to get her Visa renewed, we got to go to Lyon and hang out with everybody !!Then it got extra fun, because my companion's Visa appointment was the same day as our zone conference in Toulouse. So they sent us to the conference in Marseille, and we spent the night in Aix-en-Provence. It was such a fun adventure ! And we were able to talk to so many other sisters, and catch up and share stories and experiences. There really is strength in sharing ❤

We also went and saw an Abbey in this ADORABLE little town called Elne. I think I'll know I succeeded in life when I can retire there. 10/10

I'm running out of p day time 😅, but I wanted to share an awesome miracle we had yesterday. There was a woman who tried to come to church yesterday because she was looking for an evangelist church, but she found us instead. She showed up at 11, so just as the meeting ended, but we were able to sit down and talk for an hour afterwards, and it was such a beautiful discussion ! We gave her a book of mormon, and we'll see her again on Thursday. God really does have a plan for each of us, and he knows where his children are. What an incredible God we work for !

Anyways, I love you all !

Sœur Cate

Week 76: (7/13/20): Le Palais des Rois de Majorque et le Castillet

Hey everybody !
How's it going ? I'm doing pretty well. I'm looking forward to this week, we'll be going to Lyon to get my companion's legal forms done, then we'll go down to Marseille for their zone conference (because the zone conference in Toulouse that we'd usually go to is on the same day we have to be in Lyon), and then we'll spend the night in Aix-en-Provence, then we'll come back. So tune in next week, I'll have visited 2 new areas !! I haven't visited a new area in my mission since... I went to Geneva for the first time ? Yeah, it's been a hot second.

Our friend in Africa is making amazing progress ! He asked what made our church different, so we retaught the Restoration with more detail while really focusing on the authority of the Priesthood that's been restored. He's really thinking about it ! And we set up a rendez-vous with the visitor's center sisters in Paris, so he'll get to see what a modern temple looks like. He's so humble, and has such a profound knowledge of the Bible, honestly, it's a privilege to teach him. What a guy !

Today we decided to be tourists in our own city (not the surrounding cities), so we toured the two castles within walking distance. The Palais des Rois de Majorque is about a ten minute walk from our house. The thing is, the other walls are so thick and tall that you can't see what's inside, so I literally never realized how huge and stunning this castle was. So I never visited it. But today we finally did, and I LOVED it !! It nailed the castle aesthetic, I got a cute coin as a souvenir, and I FINALLY know what's behind those walls. All for 4 dollars.

We also toured the Castillet, aka the symbol of Perpignan. It's this castle right in the middle of centre-ville... centerville ? Downtown ? Right in the middle of the city, and it's got a great view too. And it had a video about its history, and the history of Perpignan as it grew up around it, so that was wildly cool. Or at least like, I, as a history nerd, was loving it.

I really got to thinking about that first castle. It's magnificent. But I always thought it was much smaller, because you can't see over the walls. And I thought that the door we could see from the outside was like, the front door. It is the front door... to the giant complex. It takes you directly to some stairs, which takes you to more stairs, and then more stairs, with progressively better views. I think working with God is like that. A lot of people that we meet as missionaries can't see what he has planned for them. They're outside the walls. And even people inside the walls can get distracted by the fact that flip me, there are a lot of stairs to climb ! But the path he is offering us really does lead to incredible heights and incredible blessings. We just have to trust him and keep climbing ! 😅

Best of luck climbing your personal staircase to eternity,
❤ Sœur Cate

Week 75 (7/6/20): Le moulin à huile d'olive de Millas

Hey everybody !
How's life ? I hope that you're enjoying the summer weather. Perpignan is sunny and windy, in its usual fashion. How much I love this sector ❤

We've had a really good week. The fact that we can visit members and share our testimonies with them is such a blessing. And they strengthen us ! Even though we can't bise them, it's funny how weird that is to me. Like, I'm American, but my instinct now is STILL to faire la bise... have to laugh 😂

We had the INCREDIBLE privilege of setting up a rdv with the Paris temple Sœurs and three older women in our ward. They're all best friends, but while one is a stalwart member (Antonietta), the other two are pretty less active. They agreed to the rdv though, and they were all gathered together at Antonietta's house (because they're all over 60, so it would've been more complicated to meet in person), and it was the CUTEST rdv ! Seeing the model of the temple really seemed to resonate with them, and Antonietta testified so powerfully ! Her husband has passed on, but when she was helping explain the sealing, she said, "I was sealed to my husband years ago. And I'm still sealed !" What a beautiful and optimistic doctrine. 😊

Speaking of the temple, we visited one single sister this week that was just incredible ! Samia is preparing to put her papers in to serve as a temple missionary. She bombarded us with questions about papers and packing and dress code, and shared such a powerful testimony of the importance of the work that goes on in the temple. She's having to leave everything behind, and she's not nearly retirement age. She'll have to find a new job and new apartment when she gets back. There are no guarantees, and she has no family to help her. But she ended with, "but if I end up on the street afterwards, so be it. It's the Lord's will." We have such incredible members.

I love how well I know this ward. Some missionaries have commented, "wow, that's a long time to be in a sector..." but I love going to church and knowing almost every single face, and a little bit of their story. I love having watched the kids grow up a bit, and watched people come back to church, and testimonies grow and develop. This really is God's work !!

Today we decided to go on an adventure again for p day, because it's good for our sanity to see new places. We got a brochure telling us about places to travel last week, and it told us about an olive oil factory that has an exhibit section. It was SO cool ! Olive trees show up all through the scriptures, with a whole bunch of symbolism attached to them (which I studied yesterday, to make today more fun). It was incredible going through their exhibition all about the history of olive trees, what it takes to make them grow, and how to get oil out of them. And then we got to taste different olive oils ! There are apparently several different varieties of olive trees, and you can pick the olives at multiple stages of ripeness, and ferment them to change the flavor. We got one that's kinda spicy, just to have fun with it 😁

Anyways, I imagine that next week my thoughts will be much more out together about everything I learned (they're still processing right now), but one of my favorite things is that this is one of God's favorite trees. It shows up in multiple paraboles, and they were the silent witnesses to the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane. And like. Olive trees. These aren't sky scrapers, or elegant ... they're kinda gnarly. And they take SO. MUCH. WORK. But it made me think. God doesn't care what we look like. He cares what we are, and what we, through his guiding care, can become. He doesn't want a tree that grows fine all by itself. He wants one that needs Him, and relies on Him, and because it does, it produces something beautiful. And flipping delicious, whoa, consider me educated.

Anyways, I hope y'all are doing amazing, talk to you next week !
Sœur Cate

Week 74 (6/29/20): We become crazy cat ladies

Salutations !

This week was glorious, we're finally starting to be able to leave the apartment again, and see people !!

The elders had a baptism on Tuesday, so I helped play the piano (unfortunately I can't play well enough to do 2 hands... so I play the left hand with my right hand), and gave a talk. Demba's story is so incredible. He found the church by chance, then the elders kept in touch with him all through confinement, and now he's been baptized !!

We also went to the bishop's house for dinner, where they made INCREDIBLE Asian food. And we admired their new kitten, who is SOOOOOO cute ! 2 months old...

We had got chocolate at a café with an older member, and honestly, french hot chocolate is to die for. She's such a sweet member, and we were able to discuss the recent proclamation about the restoration. She's such a good friend, I love Lucie.

We also did service at a member's mother's house. They're both fabulously sassy Scottish women, and I was in stitches the whole time ! My favorite quote was when the mother (who is atheist, hates lilies, and has a thick Scottish accent) said, "when I die, I don't care what God I go up see, but if you bury me with lilies, I'll l come back to haunt you." We were DYING 🤣

We had sacrament meeting with masks and limited numbers again, and I gave a talk (second one this week), and helped play the piano (second time this week). Crikey. Like, I LOVE playing piano, but it's nerve wracking in front on an audience. I'm so glad my piano teacher forced us to do recitals all those years, because it all just came flooding back, and I was fine. What a blessing !

Then my companion and I decided we wanted to go on an adventure today, and so we went to Collioure, a beach town about 4 miles from the spanish border. We hiked up to a windmill through a grove of olive trees, got pictures of the seashore, and did a castle tour. It was busy, but SO much fun !

I was thinking about that olive grove today. I've had a lot of down time during this confinement, and I've watched a lot of videos produced by the church. I recently was watching some of the addiction recovery videos, and I was so inspired by their testimonies of the atonement. There is a real power that comes from the sacrifice of Christ. And it doesn't just cleanse us, it helps us grow and change and become someone better. And I know that thanks to the sacrifice he gave for all of us, I am a different person. And I'll keep growing ! Thank goodness for His life and love.

Love y'all ! Stay strong ❤

Sœur Cate

Week 73 (6/22/20): It's the final countdown *off-key kazoo*

Hello everyone !

So last week I dyed my companion's hair, and despite my complete lack of experience, it actually gave her some pretty cute and natural looking highlights. Miracles !!

We got transfer calls, and I will be staying in Perpignan ! For those of you wondering, that means I will spend a total of 7 and a half transfers, or about 10 and a half months in Perpignan total. Thank goodness I absolutely adore it here, or that would start to feel long !! My companion Sœur Pulman is going to Chalon sur Saône, which is on the northern border of the mission.

Also, despite the fact that I've lived in this city for about 8 and a half of those months, I only just finally saw a couple of cathedrals here this past week. I love them ! They're very much different from the style of cathedrals in Lyon or Annecy, but I love Perpignan's style.

Best quote of the week :
"I accidentally signed up for a serious web dating" "how do you accidentally sign up for serious web dating ???" "it all started with the crockpot ..."

Sorry this is short, transfers make life exciting 😅

Love y'all !
Sœur Cate