Week 19 (6/4/19): Tonsillitis and cabin fever

Hey y'all!
So Soeur Roy is no longer dying (yay!), but it was sure a long week. I studied a lot, cleaned a bit, and called some people. And had a major case of cabin fever. I'm such a home buddy at home, but on the mission without YouTube and fantasy novels (and with the most important job in the world waiting for me out there!!!), it's a lot harder to stay inside here.
We had district council this week, which was hilarious. I love learning with other missionaries, and telling funny stories and messing with each other. The picture below is each missionary holding the number of transfers they've been out. What a laugh!
I hadn't ever read Saints before (the church history book), and a member lent me a copy (in French), so I spent some time reading it as a combination language study and like, actual study. I learned a lot of new words, not all of them happy, but like, without it I wouldn't have been in my dictionary as much, and I wouldn't know that sous les verrous is the French way of saying behind bars, which is a super adorable little rhyme.
In all seriousness though, I did some really good studying this week. I was able to draw faith and courage from the examples of all those pioneers. I know that the book of mormon is true, and that testimony really is the foundation of everything I know. I'm so grateful for it, and grateful that the shipment of books we ordered got here (that's the boxes below), so I can start encouraging other people to read it! It's sure made my life better!
Soeur Cate

Week 18 (5/28/19): Attention enfants (ils mordent)

Salut tout le monde!
We had a pretty good week! We had several service opportunities and we visited members and less actives, and taught a few friends- life is good! There was one time where I really wasn't in the mood to contact, but God said to talk to a woman, so I did. She was really nice, and we ended up setting up an appointment for later in the week. And then we had a really cool conversation. We'll see how it goes!
We also have a friend named Karine who's making steady progress towards baptism. She's working on overcoming some stuff (I'm sure she'd appreciate prayers), but her faith just inspires me! I love how when we try to help and serve others, we start seeing them more and more like God sees them. She's really truly the daughter of a king, and it's a privilege to be part of her journey!
Our excitement of the week is that my companion has tonsillitis, so yesterday she slept while I called the nurse and insurance people. Then we went to an emergency room, and there were issues with insurance, and then emergency rooms are always super full on the weekend... long story short, we were there for five and a half hours, until 22h30 at night, when all good missionaries should be in bed (oops). Seeing the doctor took literally less than two minutes. He didn't even run any tests, because she very obviously had tonsillitis, so he just prescribed the antibiotics. We got really lucky- a friend of ours works in the hospital, so she helped things move faster for us, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure God lined that up for us. He's kind of the best!
Southern France is beautiful, life is insane, and if any of you RMs have ideas for how to pass the time while my companion is sick, I'm open to suggestions!
Love y'all!
Soeur Cate

A lovely park we had a picnic and a lesson in

The title of this email, what a gem

Soeur Roy, a member, and me!

The roses my companion and I got for mother's day, which was yesterday in France

Week 17 (5/20/19): Windy days in the paradise of southern France!

So two of the Elder's friends got baptized on Saturday! Angelique is an amazing woman who has such an incredible amount of faith. And her son Paul is already so on the ball, even though he's only 10! It was such a great experience, the members are amazing, there were so many people there! The food afterwards was pretty good too... I love the ward here, they're the greatest!
I was able to introduce myself in church Sunday (because it didn't happen last week), and I was stunned at how well it came out in French. I prayed so hard beforehand. I noticed that it flowed especially well when I was testifying, and I think that's because I've been studying preach my gospel in French so much (because our mission president asked us to). The words come to my lips more easily now, and I know better how to simply state the truths I know. And obviously God helped a lot, that goes without saying.
We're also working with less actives a lot. One woman was sealed in the temple when she was younger, and she raised her children in the church, but she's been less active for a while. We got a rdv with her, and we just talked for a bit, then we mentioned the temple. She was talking about wanting to go in England with her daughter and grandchildren, to do work for her parents, and we were able to share scriptures and personal experiences, and then testify about the blessings of following the commandments and the blessings of the temple- especially going to the temple with family! Now we've challenged her to be worthy to go to the temple by December, which is the 1 year anniversary of her father's death, so they can do her parents' work! We were all glowing with the spirit as we talked about the temple and she's excited to go! It just made me so grateful that this is my job- helping others come unto Christ. It's crazy, my companion Soeur Roy could even go with her! And another member has never been to the temple, but she's British and wants to go in England, so we've literally set up two temple trips this week with members for Soeur Roy after she gets home. Honestly, missionary work is so surreal sometimes, but in a good way.

Soeur Cate

Pictures... just a couple of pretty views of Perpignan, then the mess I make on the floor every day as I do my studies. Lots of colored pencils and pens and books to study!

Week 16 (5/13/19): Well, we're not in Kansas anymore, but the wind is about the same as your average tornado

Hey everyone!
I hope you're doing well, things are amazing here in Perpignan! The streets are lined with palm trees, the ocean is like, less than half an hour away, and the sun is like, always shining. There's also almost always enough wind to practically flap your arms and fly, but hey, everywhere has its quirks!
The ward is honestly so incredible, they take good care of us. I've already met a handful of amis and less actives, and we're all excited for this Saturday, when two of the elders' friends, Angélique and Paul, are getting baptized! It's a very different feel than écully, but I already love it.
I love my new companion Soeur Roy, we've had plenty of laughs already, and I'm looking forward to working with her this transfer! She's from 🇬🇧England🇬🇧, and has the fabulous accent and slightly different vocabulary to go with it. Honestly, we never stop laughing.
I'm really grateful for God's plan. I've been thinking about it a lot this week, and reading over the plan of salvation, and I know God has a plan for every single person. And incomprehensible though that may seem to us, He knows every single one of us perfectly. He cares about us and our challenges and triumphs and hopes and disappointments. He's really there, and He really listens. How blessed we are to be in His care!
I love you all, que la force soit avec vous!
Soeur Cate
P.S. the bishop's cat knew I was allergic, so he used me as a pillow. Go figure, but it was so cute I couldn't protest.

Week 15 (5/6/19): 3 screaming soeurs later, and the spider is dead

Hey y'all!
This week has been crazy, but good. We got transfer calls on Thursday. My entire district was expecting to stay together... and then we didn't. One of my colleagues is going to Montpellier, and one of the Elders is going to Bordeaux. And I'm going to Perpignan! That's as far south as you can go in my mission (without going to Corsica, which you can't do as a sister missionary), so that's exciting! It's right on the border with Spain, how cool is that? I'm actually on the train right now, because a three and a half hour train ride sans wifi is a good time to write emails.
Transfer calls were a shock to all of us (it took a long time to fall asleep that night), but then there were several different times later this week when God unmistakably put us in specific places at specific times so we could talk to specific people. It was such a powerful testimony to me that God knows and loves all of His children, and that He directs His work. And if He's directing me to Perpignan... well, I guess I'm ready to go!
One particular time really struck me. There was an old woman that we saw from a ways off, and we decided to talk to her. It turns out that her son died a few months ago, and most of the rest of her family is gone too. So she's having a really rough time, and we ended up just talking with her for about an hour, and we were able to testify about the plan of salvation, and the potential for families to be together forever. It was a beautiful conversation. The soeurs that will still be in écully are going to see her in a couple days. I hope she keeps listening, the gospel could give her such hope and purpose in her life!
I was studying a few of the Isaiah chapters in 2 Néphi this week, and it honestly was so terrifying and exciting for me! We are living in the latter days! The last days. We are the laborers at the very end, and as President Nelson said in general conference, "time is running out." Whoa. What a privilege to be a missionary now! Reading those chapters just gets me so pumped, like, let's go talk to everyone, we're running out of time!
Have a great week!
Soeur Cate

Week 14 (4/29/19): "French people have like, a spidey sense for when to j walk, so I just follow them"

Wow, so I barely even know what happened this week, but another week is somehow over. I'm still in a trio in écully, but transfers are next week, so who even knows what'll happen. That is a warning that I may not be able to write much though.
So, highlights. The weather was insane. The week started out steamy hot and humid, moved to like, the windiest weather I've seen in my life (so grateful for pants), to frigid and raining. It's been an experience!
We played soccer on Saturday, which was fun. Mostly. I accidentally blocked a goal with my face... and it was one of the elders that actually knows how to play soccer. On the other hand, someone was filming the game, so I have a video of my glorious Scott Sterling moment (if you don't get that reference, YouTube it), so that was exciting!
We spent a lot of time talking to random people this week (I mean, we are missionaries...), and I really had my testimony strengthened of how the spirit works through us. I'm starting to get better at testifying, which has been really cool. It's amazing how simple and powerful a lot of gospel truths are. Even if people don't believe in God, they can still feel the influence of His spirit. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share what I know to be true, and for the confirmations I receive when I share it,  even if people don't always listen.
Today we played basketball, which was super fun, actually. I usually hate basketball, but it was cold enough that I pretty much had to play to stay warm, and then I actually had fun (even though I really don't like shooting. But that's the same in soccer, really, it's just easier to only play defense in soccer).
Then we went to the ruins. It was cold earlier today, but by the time we got there, it was gorgeous. I definitely recommend treking through Roman ruins with your friend groups, specifically the ones that know all the best things to look at. 10/10
Love you all!
Soeur Cate

Week 13 (4/22/19): Happy Easter!

So the life of a missionary continues to be insane. Yesterday we knocked on every single door in a building (somewhere around 50 doors). In like, the fourth door we knocked, there were four girls around our age. Long story short, I taught them about the book of mormon and two of them wanted books. So that was really cool! We also met another guy who wanted to see our chapel, and a cute little old lady who showed us all her paintings and books (with Mozart playing). What a boss way to age.
We had exchanges, and then my companions went to Aix en Province for legal stuff, so I was hanging out with the STLs a lot this week, but they're awesome, so that was fun!
Basically, life is good and crazy, and there are dozens of stories, but no time to write!
Love y'all!
Soeur Cate