Week 23 (7/8/19): Shredding papers and riding trains

Hello everyone!
This week we had multi zone conference, which was super fun! I really liked seeing a bunch of the missionaries I served with in the past, and being new ones! I'm always inspired by the examples of other missionaries, and the stories of miracles we see in the field.
So we did it. We went through the entire area book and called everyone!!! And there were actually multiple people that we're hoping to start meeting with, so that's good! It's also good because we were supposed to get rid of all the papers, so now it's all online. Yay!
Also, my district leader is British and he's leaving soon. He has some extra money, so he's legit ordering us 20 pounds of chocolate apiece. Truly we are blessed.
Anyways, the work moves forward! We're teaching and working to find people, and yeah. It's a billion degrees, and humidity makes life more exciting, but I'm so grateful for the spirit we feel and the blessings we see.
I hope you all have a great week!
Soeur Cate

Picture- me and my "older sister" in the mission- we had the same trainer!

Week 22 (7/1/19): Heat waves and area book

Salut!
Hey everyone! You might have heard, but this week had record temperatures in France! Yay! So that made everything more exciting (especially because our apartments don't have AC), and I also got a BAD cold. But it honestly was just kind of funny at that point, and we found ways to be productive indoors (going through area book), so it wasn't a big deal.
Then we also had a great time today on p day, and we went to a beach town to see a castle and hike. It was beautiful!!! I tried violette ice cream, it was amazing!
We had such an incredible lesson this week. One of our amis had a really hard week last week, and spiritually she was really struggling. We'd fixed a rendez-vous with her, but we didn't really know how we were going to help her. But for some bizarre reason, we weren't too worried about not having a plan. So we invited her in and just listened and empathized for a few minutes. Then we started teaching. Soeur Flora and I have only known each other for nine days, but we taught like we'd been teaching together for years. I'd share a thought, then start searching for a scripture. And she would carry the conversation exactly where it needed to go, then we'd read a passage of scripture together, discuss, and address more questions. And Soeur Flora testified so... simply. Genuinely. It was exactly what our amie needed. Both of us were receiving revelation for what to say to address our amis' needs, and it was so incredible to see us working as one on a lesson we hadn't been able to plan. The spirit was so present, and the atmosphere was so peaceful, even though our amis' week hadn't been. Her countenance had completely changed by the end of the rendez-vous, and she's really seeing the connection between feeling happy and well centered and coming to church. She left feeling way better. Remember, this entire time, I was pretty sick with a bad cold. I could barely think straight. But that's one of the best lessons I've ever had. God directs this work. And if something needs to happen, He'll make it happen, no matter how sick or inexperienced His missionaries are. He just needs us to be willing.
Love y'all!
Soeur Cate

Week 21 (6/24/19):

Hey everyone!!!
Sorry about last week, travel is exciting and makes p day way more exciting!!!
Wow, we've had a great week! My new colleague is awesome, and she takes tons of pictures and then sends them to me, so y'all will love her!
We're having fun talking to everything from random strangers, inactive members, amis, and members. We're really working on talking to more people, and that's been going well. They keep not showing up (gah), but then there were 120 people at church yesterday, which is HUGE for a French ward, so our faith pays off, even if it's not how we were expecting!
Overall, life is good, and I hope you're all doing well!
Love y'all,
Soeur Cate

Sunset from our balcony

With some members' kids

Traveling

Week 20 (6/10/19): We go vegetarian for a week (it was not my idea)

So we have a friend that's trying to quit smoking. She's also vegetarian. Because she's only smoking 10 a day (which is big for her), my companion offered to have us not eat chocolate for a week (she's crazy...), but the friend said she'd rather have us not eat meat. And my companion is crazy, so she said yes. So we've had some awkward conversations with members about that, and some sad visits at McDonald's and taco places (though the vegetarian taco really wasn't that bad), lots of cheese pizza from members, and yeah, we still have 2 days left. But it's been entertaining, honestly. I have no idea how people live like this (love you Laura).
Other than helping her stop smoking, we had a nice service project this week, which was cool. We were doing hard work, and just playing in the dirt is kinda wonderful when you spend all day every day looking way too presentable. 😂 And the member was Scottish, and her accent is fabulous, so that just made it better.
When I was doing calls last week (with my poor nearly dead companion in bed), one guy responded and wanted to meet with us, so we had a rendez-vous with him. It was actually pretty good! We talked about having a relationship with God, and he agreed to start praying and listening for answers! We're meeting with him later this week, so that's good!
We visited a castle sort of thing here in Perpignan with our district. Lots of weird stuff and funny pictures!
Overall, it's been a good week, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be serving in Perpignan. Life is beautiful!
Love y'all!
Soeur Cate

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!