Week 47 (12/23/19): Another week in paradise

Bonjour tout le monde !

We had exchanges this week, which was pretty fun . We contacted a bunch of people and bought delicious pâtisseries, so I really can't complain ! Then the next day we went up to Geneva for the Christmas conference, which was so much fun ! We prepared a bunch of food all together and laughed and talked and caught up. And then ate a bunch. European chocolates are rapidly becoming my favorite weakness. There was actually a really cool moment for me when we had a cute little secret Santa, and the sister who got my name handed me a little package. It had a purple bracelet with a sea turtle charm on it. And my family has a story about baby sea turtles, how they have to fight through a hard shell, dig their way up though the sand, cross a long beach exposed to multiple predators, and then into waves they have no idea how to swim though. But they're made for it. And we're the same. We're made to do hard things and overcome trials, and become bigger and stronger because of it. That's God's plan. And it's not something she could possibly know about me (nor that my nickname in college was Violet, and it was a purple bracelet). It's kinda crazy how God lines up little blessings like that. I very much felt loved and cared for by my heavenly father, and I know He knows us personally.

In other news, we were contacting in a hailstorm, which is a new fabulous thing I can add to then cross off of my mission bucket list.

Today we went to a christmas market for p day, which was a pretty magical experience. Basically, imagine being outside with a bunch of adorable little booths selling everything from mousse to wood worked things to soap to leather notebooks and purses. Christmas music is playing, the air is filled with smells of hot chocolate, apple cider, tartiflette, pretzels, and more other delicious things than I can list. The buildings behind the shops are old European style, with a cathedral every block or so. And then when we walked back to the bus stop afterwards, we passed a lake and canal with swans and a double rainbow. If any of you want to shoot a movie, I have found your set.

I wanted to quickly echo the thought I mentioned earlier that God knows us. In this christmas season, I appreciate him that much more, because He really did make this entire plan for us. He knows all of our strengths and weaknesses, and has designed a way for us to have the experiences we need to to become like Him. He sent His son Jesus Christ to give us a way to make mistakes, but still be able to return to live with Him again. I know God lives, and that He loves us perfectly. I hope you all are able to feel a bit of that spirit this special week !

Love you ALL, and Joyeux Noël !!!

Sœur Cate

There's even a double rainbow!

Week 45 (12/9/19): I'M LIVING IN A ROMAN CITY, WHAT ???

Hello everybody !

So we had transfers this week and I got a new companion - Soeur Gagon ! We went to go pick her up in Lyon (about two hours away from Annecy), and then got stuck in wild traffic on the way back. We got to Annecy at about 20h20, and the local buses stop at 20h, so we started calling members. Most unfortunately, no one was available that last minute, so we walked home 45 minutes with broken luggage. I have a new appreciation for the Egyptians who dragged stones up ramps to build the pyramids. That must have been an experience.

Nerd alert.
My companion and I did a cathedral and castle run today, and we managed to hit 2 cathedrals and a castle. The castle has been turned into a museum, which is full of archaeological stuff. Did you know that Annecy was an ancient Roman city ? Now you do. And all those weird Roman names for places ? It's because there were actually Roman baths and temples and forums there. They had a map that showed where the ancient city lines up with the modern city, and it's so cool ! Consider me educated ! I love history so much, which made today an absolute joy, because I was literally learning about the Roman history (starting circa 25 AD, from what I could understand) in a 13th and 14th century castle. I'm writing this from a window seat in a castle ballroom, which is every bit as picturesque and magical as it sounds. And the best part ? The view from the castle showed us several more cool looking buildings, so p day next week also promises to be full of adventure 😁🇫🇷

Overall, this week has been really good ! We've taught a couple of lessons, seen a few members, had a couple of service opportunities (my favorite was helping the primary kids make Christmas cookies, because they needed extra adults there to help them), and eaten a stack of crêpes with some very kind members. I really can't complain !

Thanks for all your messages, and I'm sorry I don't always respond !
Love you tons !
Soeur Cate

Week 46 (12/16/19): *blows giant raspberry against chapel floor*

HELLO EVERYBODY !!
For that title, i'm just gonna say that sacrament meeting yesterday was hilarious, and some kids are lawless in the most entertaining way possible.

So it's been a great week ! It has rained a bit, but that's just kind of life in Annecy. I'm just glad I have boots now !

We have a member family that is doing improvements on their house, so we painted a room. I'd never painted a ceiling before, so that was an experience, but the end result looked really nice ! I was slightly covered in paint though, so it's a good thing we had some time to clean up afterwards. I really enjoy having service projects to do, it's a fun way to get to know the members and follow the savior's example of helping others

We went to see la Visitation. I'm not gonna lie, half the motivation to visit it was because she saw my ladybug nativity that I got at the gift shop there, and decided she needed one. She's obviously right, everyone needs one.

We had our christmas party this saturday, and it was awesome to see how many families came out, and how many friends came to it ! It was fun to see everyone eating together, playing games, and watching the primary's shadow puppet show (which included a soundtrack made up with songs from random movies, including les mis and star wars, which just made it better !). And there was an older member of our branch whose wife wasn't able to come because she was sick (which we didn't know beforehand), but my companion had gotten the prompting from the spirit to bring the soup leftover from our lunch. So she put it in a cute jar and put a card on it- still not knowing who for- and then it ended up being the perfect present for him ! You never know how the spirit is going to use you, so don't be afraid to follow a prompting, even if it seems a little weird.

We also went cookie caroling yesterday. Sœur Gagon made cookies (I washed the dishes, so I helped too), and then delivered them to a member in a retirement home, a less active member, a sick member, and then a family we were eating dinner with. It's so cool to see the joy that christmas songs bring, there's a spirit that comes with them that just lights people up ! I was grateful to be able to bring that light 😊

Anyways, sorry this is short, but i'm out of time ! Love you all !
Sœur Cate

Week 42 (11/18/19): HALF THE WEEK IN SWITZERLAND

Hello everybody!
It's been a lovely week ! We spent like half of it in Geneva (which is still somewhat surreal for me, because like, GENEVA, but ya know) for zone conference, exchanges, and stake conference, so there's not much news from Annecy this week, but I promise we're still working here too 😜

Zone conference was so cool ! I had decided at the beginning of last week that I wanted to study joy, and then they had a whole presentation about joy at our conference ! One of my favorite points was taken from 1 Néphi 11: 21-23, where Néphi is learning about the tree of life. He states that the love of God is "the most desirable above all things." The angel adds, "Yea, and the most joyous to the soul." True joy comes from understanding God's love. We won't understand His love or be able to receive all the blessings He wants to give us if we aren't trying to follow Him and grow closer to Him. The gospel really is designed to help us be happy.
Right after conference we had an exchange with the STLs, which was SUPER fun. Soeur Worden and I didn't have any rendez-vous, so we just went out and talked to strangers about Jésus for 4 hours (I feel like that kind of sums up missionary work). We just got to wander around Geneva, it was so great ! We were both feeling pretty fearless, so we talked to a BUNCH of people, and ended up getting 8 new numbers, 3 future rendez-vous fixed with a few of those people, we got cursed at by a homeless guy, and one of the numbers was from a naked guy (gotta love going door to door in France), but luckily he was hiding behind the door. Missions are so insane 😂
Then we had stake conference yesterday, which was amazing ! The final speaker was really inspiring. He talked about a lighthouse built off the coast of Scotland where the sea is really rough. To build it, they took 2 years to build the first meter and a half (the foundation), and then 2 more years to build the next 33 meters. He talked about the importance of having a strong foundation in Christ- believing in Him, trusting Him, learning who He is and following His example. He encouraged all of us to strengthen our foundations- to get to know Christ better- and I wanted to pass that challenge along to you. Whether it's praying, or listening for answers after your prayers, or reading scriptures, or pondering them, I know there is a real power available to us when we are rooted in Christ.
I love y'all, and hope you have freaking awesome weeks - especially for you guys still in school, trying to survive the final round of tests and projects before Thanksgiving break 😅
Until next week!
Soeur Cate

Pictures of my district at zone conference
BEAUTIFUL GIANT OLD BRIDGE IN THE SNOW, WHAT AN AESTHETIC
This isn't even my picture, but my companion rode a tram on exchange that was entirely pink, and I felt like it was important.

Week 44 (12/2/19): A lovely not transferred week 😊

Hey everybody !
Guess what ? I'm staying- no moving for me this transfer. I'm so excited to stay in Annecy ! I mean, I wasn't really expecting either me or my companion to leave, but it's nice to know 😊

1) So this is one of my favorite miracle from this week. We had a friend that was all but dropped. Like, he spent the entire first lesson hitting on me, so we were like, just kinda going through the motions to show God we tried. But this week's lesson was amazing ! He didn't hit on us at all, he'd read in the book of Mormon and had a bunch of questions, he'd brought the book along and everything, and was pointing out specific lines he didn't understand. And he actually listened to the answers and discussed them with us ! It ended up being such a great lesson, we were completely taken by surprise !

2) Another favorite miracle ! We went to Lyon to get my Visa extended (good news, I'm legal ! 😁), and literally ten minutes after we arrived in Lyon, we ran into Wonder, a recent convert from Écully, the first area I served in ! It was so great to see him ! Like, we were in a city with millions of people, but God lined it up so we'd run into each other, because he knew it'd make both our nights ! 😊

3) We also met with our favorite ami Stephane, and we taught the 10 commandments and he's like, totally adding deep thoughts to the lesson and testifying along with us, and sharing his personal experiences and testimony about God. And he had a super important presentation coming up for school, and we were like, "maybe you should get a blessing" and he was like, "ah yeah, I got one of those on Sunday." While we were in a meeting, some members had started talking with him and another ami, and then they both got blessings ! Go members !!!

4) I had the coolest experience with a goal this week ! I decided to write down any little revelations I received. And can I just testify, when you let God know that you're interested and invested in communicating, He responds !!! I've been directed more closely than I've ever been in my life, which has been a huge blessing. I know God is there, and that He listens and responds to us. If you want to start having more revelation in your life, don't hesitate to start writing down the little things you already feel, and then asking for more ! There's also a really good talk about receiving revelation by Russel M. Nelson in the April 2018 general conference, so if you're looking for answers, it's got some !

I love y'all, and hope you have AMAZING weeks!
Love,
Soeur Cate

Me and Wonder

My cute companion with delicious pretzels

The decorations in Bonlieu, a cultural center in Annecy

My companion did my makeup, WHOA

Week 43 (11/25/19): Dark matter and antimatter and multi dimensional gravity oh my!

Hey everybody !

1) Today was a district p day, so we went to Geneva ! We visited the CERN museum, which tried to teach us about particle accelerators, properties of protons and electrons, dark matter, antimatter, and more stuff I can't remember. My brain was like, in shock, because it's been a while since I thought intensively about stuff like that, but it was a lot of fun ! And I did learn / remember some stuff.

2) Also, here is your cultural education for the day. The senior couple taught us about a Swiss holiday- heck, not even Swiss, like, Genevan- called Escalade (which is like, the action of climbing, in this case, ladders). Apparently in the 1600s, the city was attacked by the French to try to force them to be catholic, but a woman making soup on the city wall dumped it out on some of those soldiers climbing ladders, and then the alarm was sounded and the city was saved. To celebrate this, they have candy shaped like vegetables that they put inside a chocolate cauldron, which is then smashed while they all say death to tyrants. I love Switzerland. The vegetable shaped candy is called marzipan / massepain (languages depend), and the cauldron is marmite. You can use that as a conversation topic at Thanksgiving if there's a lull in the conversation or you're tired of talking current politics and would like to discuss 16th century Genevan politics instead.

3) A fun moment this week was when we contacted around the lake in the evening because we got to a rdv half an hour early. The scenery of the lake in the evening with mist and snow on the mountains, and swans (one of which flew past us) was kinda unbeatable. The water was like, a clear turquoise close to us, then a bit deeper blue further or, then the close mountains were blue, and the far ones were purple. So that was pretty magnificent ! And the high we got from talking to people about what matters most, even if most people didn't want to talk much, got us really well set up for a lesson. Just a pretty, picturesque moment 😊

4) This week we worked really hard on calling the numbers in our phone's contacts - people that have been interested in the gospel in the past. We were almost done one evening, and we had every intention of finishing calling all the numbers... but then one guy talked for like, an hour and a half. The first half hour was good, I fit 4 scriptures into the discussion, and he's interested in meeting with us. He just also wanted to talk a lot. 35 minutes into our dinner hour, Soeur Grindstaff rang the doorbell to give us an out 🤣 ... we small talked a bit too well at the beginning 😅

5) We had some really good lessons with our friend Stephane, and he's making some really cool progress ! He brought a friend to one rendez-vous, and we were able to teach him some too. I don't know how much he'll accept it, but he learned and got invited to be baptized, right along with Stephane ! Stephane prayed for the first time in one of our lessons (he didn't feel comfortable up until now), and it was so cool to hear him talking to God for himself. He's asking with such sincerity that I'm sure he'll get answers soon (and he's already starting to !). It was so cool, he told us that if he missed his first bus, he usually just didn't come to church, because with Sunday bus schedules he'd be really late. We told him if he missed a bus, there's a member that drives us, and could probably drive him. He missed the bus yesterday, but we'd checked our phone right before he texted, and then we were greeting people. So we found our right before church started. We apologized and told him to come late anyways. I got the distinct prompting that it was okay, everything was going according to God's plan. We didn't see him until the end of church, when he walked out of priesthood (the men's class for the second hour of church). It was REALLY good, apparently the teacher invited them to share their experiences, and it was a super well planned and well executed lesson. He stayed afterwards talking to other amis and members while we were in a missionary coordination meeting. He's starting to feel at home, which is AWESOME!!! So that was our favorite miracle this week- his journey.

I hope all of you have great weeks, and sorry this email was a bit all over the place !
❤ Soeur Cate

Week 41 (11/11/19): ☀️THERE IS A SUN HERE AFTER ALL

Hello everyone !
Oh my gosh, we just sprinted a half hour walk in about 15 minutes to catch a train, there was definitely divine intervention. Pro tip, there are very seldom buses on holidays in France, which requires either more planning or lots of sprinting. I would advise the former, but unfortunately I do a lot of the latter. This is a do as I say, not as I do moment.
It was a really good week ! I don't have a ton of time to write, but I'll hit a few highlights:
1) some of our friends took us out to eat Mexican tacos, which was the first time I've had Mexican food in 9 months. But it was super good ! And the Mexicans running the place spoke English, which made the conversation entertaining because one of our two friends spoke English, and the other didn't. The one who didn't is European, and his complete intolerance for any spice whatsoever was hilarious.
2) I contacted a man who initially wasn't interested in talking to us, claiming he was more of a scientist. I said, "my whole family too ! They love astronomy and physics and stuff." Lo and behold, he was an astronomy fanatic, so we had a highly scientific conversation in French. Not vocabulary I ever planned on needing, but it ended up being really fun, and he asked if he could meet with us again, so that was cool !
3) It finally stopped raining. It rained all day every day for the first 2 and a half weeks that I was here, but this week we finally got a couple sunny days ! And suddenly I understand why everyone freaks out about how stunning Annecy is, because it's amazing. And a member took us to a store that's a little further away (hard for us to reach with buses), so I was able to buy some ankle rain boots, which are cute, comfortable, and will finally keep my socks dry.
4) we had a beautiful lesson with one of our amis this week, where we just read 2 Néphi 31, and used it to teach the Gospel of Jésus-Christ. And honestly, it's such simple doctrine, but it's SO POWERFUL. And the spirit was so present, testifying of the truth and helping him understand it- because he was open, and really wanted to understand ! At the end, he summed it all up in his own words, and I was stunned at how well he'd grasped it- not just the intellectual aspect of it, but the real spirit of what it means. I know that gospel is true, and that it's open to all of us- freely offered, though the price paid was more than we can imagine. I encourage all of you to look for ways to accept that gift more fully in your lives. I know it will bless you !
Thanks for all your emails, and sorry I didn't respond much this week, we were exploring the lake and a couple nearby castles ! But hopefully I'll be back on the job next week.
Love you guys !
Soeur Cate