Week 35 (9/30/19): The missionary version of a day at the beach..

Salut tout le monde !
This week was pretty normal. We had some good contacts and good lessons. Nothing too crazy happening at the moment, but lots of good things !

1) we got a referral from some missionaries in Nimes. Apparently they met a guy who lives in our sector. So we texted him and set up a rendez-vous. We had a lesson with him a couple days later, which actually went really well. He was curious about how people saw life so we taught the plan of salvation. At the end he said "how do I get to the celestial kindgom?" So we taught the gospel of jesus christ; faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, and persevering to the end. The entire lesson was on a bench not too far from the beach, so we could see the ocean. Where he lives, the mountains go right up to the ocean, and it's ridiculously pretty. It was funny, because he was just like, "yeah, for me that's normal, but the tourists do seem to find it quite stunning." I got a laugh out of that 😂

2) We've been doing a lot of less active work here recently. And it's going really well! We had 8 less actives come to church yesterday and it was amazing ! It's cool to see so many people making their way back towards God. I love seeing the people become more and more... light? as they realize what they have been missing.

3) We went contacting one day and we stopped a man. He said in French "I'm English. Do you speak English?" Luckily, we do. 😂 So we had a good conversation in English and talked about life and missions and all that fun stuff and we invited him to church ! It was a super fun contact. And less than a minute after that, we were walking and Soeur Flora heard two people in front of us speaking broken English. She spoke louder, so they would hear her speaking English. Sure enough, they turned around, stopped us, and said "where are you from?" We talked to them and they were Nigerian and were speaking pigeon (broken english is so much fun), and we got to have a conversation with them and invite them to church too !

4) the new book of mormon videos are amazing ! We've been using them to teach people and the visual element has been so helpful. It helps them see the book of mormon as a real event and not just scriptures. It's also changed my perspective a bit- I have way more sympathy for Laman and Lemuel. They really were going through hard stuff, and like, I've complained way more about stuff less difficult. Néphi really was next level. 😅

5) we are so excited for conference ! We are making cards to invite anyone and everyone to come watch some so they can be inspired too !

I wanted to invite everyone here to do 2 things this week, because they've made me really happy 😊
1) watch the book of mormon videos that have come out (they release a new one every friday)
2) prepare yourself for conference. Ponder questions, pray, and ask God to give you answers to whatever you're wondering about. Conference is an incredible blessing as we got to listen to people called of God to guide us in our day.

Love you all and have a great week!!!
-Sœur Cate

The sign i'm next to says "bravo, you looked up from your phone." We couldn't resist staging that.

The lake we go running at

Me and Soeur Flora 😊

My companion organizing... all I heard was a crash 😆

The beach across the street from where we taught a lesson

Week 34 (9/23/19):Toulouse and insanity

Hello friends and family!
This week was really crazy because I was in Toulouse for half of it so we had to try and fit all of our regular lessons in Thursday and Friday, it was pretty exciting.

1) we were in Toulouse, surprise ! Haha we had zone conference and exchanges. And our exchanges were super fun ! There was a baptism that we went to with them, which was super uplifting !  Also, it was funny because the TV for bible videos wasn't working so they ended up just playing African gospel music while they got changed and it was so funny because everyone who was there just sang along to that so it was so fun. Missions are so random and amazing. And the buffet afterwards had a mix of french and African food, such was amazing !

2) we've been working more and more with our ami Bruno ! We have taught him almost everything, and we try to read the book of mormon every night with him! Last night we were reading and we finished. He told us he liked what he read but he was going to reread it just to make sure he got all that he could out of it and wow it was just amazing to see this man want to understand the word of God and yeah! Bruno is pretty cool and we are excited for his baptism which we are hoping will happen the 12th october.

3) it has been pouring rain here. Like hard. We had to go to the church the other day to meet the elders for something. As we were walking there the islands in the middle of the roads were flooded and so no matter where you walked you ended up getting water up to your ankle at least. It was... exciting Haha.

4) the other day we were going to a members house. We missed our bus and as we were waiting for the next one, this lady comes up with the cutest baby. My companion, who loves babies, started making faces at her. She started giggling and it's the cutest thing ever. We told the mom her baby was cute and it sparked conversation and we took the same bus, went to the same stop, and walked together for 10 minutes. She told us she would come to church sometime and she has beliefs close to ours ! It was super cool! Like God lined us up missing our bus to meet this lady. It was pretty exciting.

Yeah... not a lot of crazy things happening this week as we were gone for most of it. But I hope yall have a really really good week !
Love yas !
Soeur Cate

My previous companion soeur Roy came back to visit- I've been here in Perpignan that long 😂

Week 33 (9/16/19): Jeanny is coming this is not a drill

Hello everybody !
We had an amazing week this week, I'm so happy to be here in Perpignan !!! I hope president forgets about me and just leaves me here.

1) So we had a couple fun lessons with our ami Bruno, and I keep being amazed with how members are just able to come to our lessons with him, and how each of them has something to add to the conversation that's exactly what he needs. We invited him to be baptized the 5th of October and he said yes ! So we're helping him get ready for that 😁

2) about half way through the week we went contacting. We were walking for like an hour and saw nobody. We finally see someone coming our way and we stop him. He tells us he wants to learn about the word of God. We got his number and later in the week went to his house. He had so many questions we practically ended up teaching a bit of each lesson! Hes gonna take a while to be invited to baptism, but it was just so cool because we contacted for hours and the only person we saw, became an ami!

3) we got a referral from our president. He told us there's a lady in our area who wants the missionaries to come to her house. We ran out there and fixed a rendez-vous with her. Turns out, shes actually baptized in the church, and wants to come back ! We've had 2 lessons with her already and she's had such amazing questions, and she really wants to know more. It's so cool to see her progress already !

4) we went out of our comfort zones. We were at church and a member was telling us how shes been running a lot! We told her we are trying to get into shape too. She told us we could go running with her ! I said "yeah maybe one day haha." She then said, "okay. Tomorrow when I drop my kids of for school, I'll pick you up and we can go running together." So we went on a run with her today at a gorgeous lake! And lo and behold, I enjoyed myself ! Generally I hate running or anything remotely athletic, but my companion has gotten me to work out enough recently that I actually enjoyed myself !

4) One of my favorite miracles this week was actually not a huge miracle, but I'm super grateful for it. We had a lesson this week with a returning member who lives a little further away, so arranging transportation via buses is always exciting. And then the bus didn't come... and it didn't come, and it didn't come. We'd called once to see if they could pick us up, and there was no response. The second time we called, they picked up, and I was in the middle of telling them we couldn't make it, when the bus pulled up ! So we went ! Next challenge- this bus was broken. The bus driver literally had to restart it by jumping out of the bus and pushing a couple buttons under a side panel after each stop. He was such a good sport about it though, what a bro. But anyways, because our original plans were going to get us there 20 minutes early, we were only five minutes late ! Then it turned out that the member was tired that day, so the short and simple lesson we'd felt impressed to make was exactly what she needed. When we left her house, we literally had no idea how we were making it home. Our transport application had stopped working, so we literally had no idea when or if any buses were coming, especially because the bus running was broken, which obviously made it significantly less reliable. But my companion said, "I have faith that one will come within the hour." And I had the thought that we're on God's errand, so He'll line it all up. And a bus came 10 minutes later. Perfect ! And then our connection for the next bus was literally flawless, so we got to do language study at home, instead of out under the sun. It wasn't anything astounding, but sitting there waiting for that first connecting bus- halfway to her house, but unsure if we'd make it- I was feeling really worn down. So I prayed and asked God to help things work out, because I was tired, but I was doing my best. And He made it enough. I know that God can and will do the same thing for all of you, even if His response is just giving you the strength and energy and patience to keep going when the answer is no.

Now we're headed to Toulouse for zone conference and exchanges, so life continues to be crazy, but awesome !
Love y'all !
Soeur Cate

Me on the ground with a baby lizard, because I love those things, and a cool motorcycle 😁

Week 32 (9/9/19): Happy birthday to me!

Salutations everybody !
So best news ever- I'm staying in Perpignan with my companion !!! So we already work and teach together super well, so life is beautiful.

1) We continue to see miracles as we work to meet and teach new people ! We honestly don't understand. It's literally like God is just handing us people and saying "they're ready. Teach them." We just have people wanting to learn more keep popping up. A while ago we got a number from someone in the road, but he wasn't ever available, and it seemed like it wouldn't go anywhere. But yesterday he was actually available, so we set up a meeting. We went and talked and now we have a meeting set up with him every Sunday after church. (The only day he's available.) But it's just so cool that people are so prepared. Another person has come to church four times now, and we just didn't realize that she wasn't a seasonal visiting member !

2) We had district council the 5th of September. You want to know what else was the 5th of September? My birthday ! And I'm so completely oblivious, that Soeur Flora was able to pull off a surprise birthday party for me at the district council lunch with cake and decorations and presents without me ever thinking anything was up. So we had a fun district council and partied it up with this amazing chocolate mousse cake (France has figured out some beautiful things!) and the best French tacos. (Yall need to eat French tacos. They are soooo good.) The senior couple bought me this coloring book with pictures of kittens and quotes about cats in french, which is hilarious, because France has a lot of quotes and sayings about cats. And a few other cute presents too !

3) Also ! Cool little story. We were walking one day to an outer ville. It was an hour walk and we hadn't seen anyone. We were tired and hot and wanted to sleep, when we saw this old lady coming up to us. Usually old French ladies are very set in their way and don't want to talk to us or learn more. But it was the only person we had seen so we decided to contact her anyways. We stopped her and talked for a good while. She ended up telling us her husband died a while ago and she misses him. We gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and invited her to church. She looked at the pamphlet and with this really cute smile said she promised she would come. It was just the cutest thing ever.

I hope you all have an amazing week, best of luck going for those of you going back to school !

Love y'all,
Soeur Cate

Week 31 (9/2/19): 3 new amis, what is going on???

Hello everybody!!!
This week was one of the most miraculous weeks I've had on my mission, it's been insane ! Lotsa wonderful things happened, God is honestly the coolest.

1) HUGE miracle this week ! We went to go visit a less active. It was a 45 minute walk (contacting along the way), in the heat, and we forgot to fill our water bottles. We got to the house to give her a birthday card, but it looks like she moved, and we have no way to contact her. As we were walking back we saw a group of like 5 people. We were both really tired, and contacting groups is kinda stressful, but we decided we'd just contact them, then take a bus home and eat lunch. We started talking to them, and 3 gave us numbers ! One of them texted us 2 days later, got a chapel tour and a book or mormon, came to a baptism the next day, came to church yesterday, and accepted to be baptized the 28th of September ! It was so fast, but he's been incredibly prepared ! And how we had our first lesson was insane, he texted us 2 days after we had contacted him and he said "can I come see your church soon?" "Sure, when?" "In like, 20 minutes." We jumped up and gave him a chapel tour like, 30 minutes later. It was so cool, he said he felt something pulling him when he saw our church, and when he walked in, he immediately asked what the book of mormon is. Now we're working with him towards baptism ! It was just amazing.

2) About 3 weeks ago we contacted a random guy on the street and invited him to be baptized right then and there. He didn't quite understand, and thought we were inviting him to someone else's baptism, because he'd been invited before, but he said he'd come to church. Well he didn't that week. But we saw him two times after that on the street and talked each time! We got his number this week, give him a book of mormon (and taught him the basics of the restoration), and invited him to a baptism that we had Saturday. He came ! Before he was kinda reluctant to come to church, but the baptism was honestly incredible, with some really powerful testimonies, and it touched him. He asked what time church was the next day, then he actually came ! At the end of church I asked him if he wanted to meet with us during the week, and he said yes, so we're seeing him again ! It's crazy to see how God prepares people.

3) So the baptism I keep referencing happened on Saturday, for two adorable little 8 year olds in our ward this week ! They were so cute ! We had taught one the lessons just so he could better understand the gospel (which I think is actually a really cool idea to help kids take it seriously, his parents are awesome) and the other we were really good friends with and go to her house pretty regularly. So being there for their baptism was kind of the best thing ever. The testimonies at the end were super powerful. Both of the mothers testified of the importance of families, and the blessing they are, and one of the grandfathers shared his conversation story, which was really incredible. We had 4 amis there, and the elders had 2, which made it a super successful day for the missionaries ! Thank goodness for awesome members !

4) Recently my companion and I have been saying "God is cool." A lot. We have so many crazy things happen that we know it's not us anymore ! So I've set a goal to start looking for the little blessings and miracles in my life, and then saying gratitude prayers so that I'm more aware of God's hand. This is where I want to offer a challenge you guys out there. When you see something you are thankful for, or something good happens, say "God is cool," or saying a little prayer to recognize how much God helps you. I know you will see more blessings in your lives because of it!

So yeah. We also had another first lesson with yet another amie, and basically, God is amazing, and he's MAJORLY blessing Perpignan. I'm so grateful to be here ! Though fair warning, transfers are next week, so if I don't write... well, you'll know why.

Love you guys!
Soeur Cate

I love the tiny lizards that live all over France, this one is about a big around as a pencil.

Week 30 (8/26/19): Cathedrals and friends and miracles

Hello everybody!

I hope y'all are doing fantastic! We had exchanges this week ! The STLs here are so incredible. Soeur Dítětová of them is from the Czech Republic, and Soeur Shoemaker is from California. For the entire first night I watched Soeur Shoemaker and Soeur Flora sparring and teaching each other wrestling holds, which was hilarious! We all laughed so hard. I went on exchange with Soeur Dítětová, and her commitment to the work and desire help and serve others is incredible. It was kind of crazy, I could really see her receiving revelation for me, because if how in the with the spirit she was. God really does inspire the people he calls, and it really blessed me. I'm so grateful for her, even if all we did was contact, because her conviction shows, and people listen to her!

We had a lesson with the guy from the bus this week ! He has tons of questions, and it is so amazing to see his desire to grow and learn. He said he has been searching for answers in a lot of churches, but he hasn't found any answers. His questions mostly resolve around the plan of salvation (where was I before, why am I on earth, and where am I going.) Honestly, it helps me realize how lucky we are to have grown up with that knowledge and direction. But now we're starting to help him, so we'll see where it goes!

We had a lesson with our recent convert karine ! She is doing so well, and we were able to read the scriptures with her and help her grow her testimony of the power of the book of mormon. We read my favorite chapter with her, Moroni 7, and I'm just so grateful for the clarity and simplicity of the things it teaches.

Then we had a really cool miracle! We were in the church getting ready for a meeting. A man showed up, but being sister missionaries, we can't stay alone in the church with him. So we decided to go outside and wait. My companion started heading out to contact, and I was like "we're going contact for 10 minutes ?" I said yep. We walk outside the gate, go to the first person I see sitting at a bus stop, and invite her to church. She said she couldn't come this week, but she's coming next week and she gave us her number and set up a meeting with us for this week ! How amazing it was to see a small miracle when willing to dedicate even 10 extra minutes to the lord.

I hope y'all have a fabulous week, and don't forget to look for God's hand in your lives, even for just the little miracles!

Love you guys!
Soeur Cate

Our district p day at the cathedral in Béziers!