Week 65 (4/4/27/20): Avez-vous pensé à rentrer dans les ordres ?

Hello everybody !
You'll all be happy to hear that I haven't killed the rose bush yet, and I've had tons of fun moving it back and forth between the back room and front room every day, so it gets plenty of sunlight. I've decided to name the rose Eponine. Because she's such a fabulous tragic character in Les Mis, doomed to an unhappy ending, much like plants in a missionary apartment. Because she'll probably end up dead after I leave... which is tragic, but what can you do ? Just because something isn't going to last doesn't mean it's not beautiful.

We have enjoyed finding and posting quotes, and Sœur Pulman painted one so it looked cute. And it spread pretty well, considering we didn't boost it ! So we'll mess around with that more in the future. It's cool to think of random people where never met being touched by something we post.

We also started talking to two new people this week, that we met on the last post we boosted. We called both of them this week, and we had some great starting conversations. One of them is catholic, and before he knew that I wasn't catholic (while we were still chatting online), he asked me if I'd considered being a nun. I joked to my companion, "actually, that's my day job." But all joking aside, he's a really cute old man who loves discussing religion and the bible, so it was really fun. Other than the fact that he has a really hard accent and talks super fast. But I know I can't get mad, because my international mtc district would always say I was the hardest to understand because I talk so fast, so now I'm just getting a taste of my own medicine 😅. It's just extra language study !

It's weird how much this whole quarantine lifestyle still feels bizarre, and yet how normal it's becoming. I think by the time it finally feels normal, we'll be heading outside again, but I feel like life just tends to be like that 😂

Love you tons !
Sœur Cate

A member is learning to do fishing knots 

Proof that i have not yet killed my rosebush

Week 64 (4/20/20): What to name a tiny rose bush

Hey everybody !!
I'm enjoying being in Perpignan, it's so much fun to call members and remember working with them before. We did a lot of calls this week, and it's beautiful to feel the spirit as we share messages of peace with them. And being encouraged by them in return. 😊
Work with amis comes and goes, but that's true when we're out of confinement too ! I'm not seeing a ton of success right now, but I figure we'll just keep trying a bunch of different things, and God will help us do His will. 😂
This week I worked on studying discipline, because let's be honest, it's very easy to let discipline slip in a quarantine. 😅 It made a huge difference in my week ! I wasted a lot less time, and my studies became a lot better (I'd been a little less serious with them recently, because I was having trouble staying motivated), and I saw soooo many blessings ! I really immersed myself in my study of Isaiah, and even though I'm probably only understanding a thousandth part of what's there, it's POWERFUL. And having the time to ponder afterwards while cleaning has just been such a cool blessing. I love the wide view Isaiah gives. Humans have such a short term perspective, but I feel like Isaiah helps me understand God's perspective a little bit more. He's such a loving God. A wise God. A thoughtful God. An organized, methodical God. A patient, merciful God. Who wants to see us become the best that we can be. It's actually calmed my anxiety a bit too, because when I start to get an inkling of just how much He knows, and how well planned out this entire earth's history is, I worry less. It's SO much bigger than me and my influence. I'm a grain of sand in a universe of beaches. I can't mess this up. All I have to do- all that's expected of me- is to work hard to glorify my God and follow the commandments with the highest degree of obedience that I'm capable of. And push to be better. The big stuff, the world trends, plagues, international obstacles and pieces I don't see fitting together ? That's not my problem. God's got it all under control.
That's about all... OH ! I bought a tiny rose bush !!! It makes me very happy. I still need to come up with an overly pretentious french name for it. Stay tuned. It's the little things 😁
Love you guys !
Sœur Cate

Week 62 (4/6/20): 🦎 Lizards and conference, I'm a happy girl!

Hey everybody !!
How about that conference ? I had so much fun listening to it from my apartment, it's the first time I've listened to everything in english on my mission ! And I really like English when I'm listening to something for a while. I loved hearing about the temples announced in Dubai and Shanghai, it's incredible to see the Lord opening doors for more and more people to have access to learn more about this incredible gospel. We really do live in the last days that prophets saw and dreamed about. They're real, we're here ! What a blessing for us to see prophecies fulfilled.

Speaking of prophecies, I've had a lot of fun studying Isaiah. I asked God for some direction, something to use my time well, and God said to study Isaiah. Because I have some time to devote to study, it's actually been really fun. Between the french and english translations of the bible, the commentary in the book of mormon and the doctrine and covenants, and the seminary and institute manuals, I have plenty of places to start 😁

Ok, my weird fun thing of the week: I love lizards. And I found a stretch of a road while we were out walking, with all these little lizards sunbathing !! So we were walking along, and we'd hear them darting off into the brush, and sometimes I could see them, and it made me really happy. Sometimes you just have to take joy in the little things. 😂

Love you tons !
Sœur Cate

Week 61 (3/30/20): Mises à jour de notre petite appartement

Hello everybody !

So it's been almost two weeks of confinement now, however there was a change made to rules about going outside that gives us permission to leave the apartment for one hour every day to get some fresh air. Such a huge blessing !! Unfortunately, we have to stay within a kilometer of our house. Which is not very far. So we'll get very familiar with that surrounding kilometer. I'm glad we have a park though. Honestly, that's gonna save my sanity. My companion and I went and had a photoshoot there, just to distract ourselves and break up the monotony, which was refreshing.

In other news... there isn't really other news. People keep asking me how we do missionary work in a quarantine, and I'm just like, buddy, I'm asking myself the same question. We do a lot of calls to members and less actives, to check in on them and discuss whatever they've been studying (or to share a spiritual thought). And we call our friends as often as they're available. We study a LOT, and message people on Facebook. And ideally I should be posting more, but that just feels unnatural for me. But I'm working on it !

We did join in on the worldwide fast yesterday, which was pretty cool. It's incredible to think of the power of all of us putting our faith together all over the world. And there is real, genuine power that comes with that many people turning towards God together. Even in times of trial, there are still incredible people doing wonderful things. And ima just choose to focus on that 😂😅

Thanks to everyone that's been sending me emails, it seriously means THE WORLD to a quarantined missionary ! And take care of yourselves. Until next time, this is your favorite religieuse cloîtrée, signing off.

❤ Sœur Cate

Week 60 (3/23/20): Confinement week 1 report

Hello everybody !
So I feel bad. I lied accidentally. Because we found out we'd be confined right after p day ended. So I've been inside all week. But I didn't know, I swear ! But all the same, we've had some cool blessings.

My companion and I have been calling lots of people, active members and less actives, to encourage people and to check if all the numbers are still good. And I'm working on creating an updated maps.me for Perpignan, which will be super useful. And we're learning how to use Facebook for missionary work, which is good, because that's a skill we'll be able to use for the rest of our lives.

We've also played some fun games. I made a makeshift chess game (behold, the coins versus the miscellaneous objects), the Sœur here right before me left behind some knitting, and a fair amount of yarn, so that's been fun too. And we've studied. A lot.

It's been a good week to reflect. It's crazy how when everything else is uncertain, God is still so certain. This pandemic wasn't a surprise for Him, like, He knows everything. And He promises us that if we keep the promises we make with Him, He'll take care of everything else. And it's that faith that's keeping me sane right now, even though I'm getting ready to spend another week straight in an apartment. But we've been so blessed. At least last week we got to leave to go to a pharmacy, which most missionaries didn't get to do, and we have a big, long, beautiful balcony that allows us to get some good sun and fresh air. So we'll make it. 😁

I hope all of y'all are holding up alright out there ! Say some prayers, and use the extra time to study, because the world could use some extra faith and light right now. Thanks for being that for me 😊

Love you guys !
Sœur Cate

Week 59 (3/16/20): Coronavirus - it's the end of the world as we know it...

Just thought I'd make that the title so you could read that word for the thousandth time today.
So. Updates. All missionaries with respiratory problems have been sent home. My companion in Annecy went home, and we closed the area. We went to Lyon and stayed in this giant apartment with a bunch of other missionary équipés (companionships) with a companion going home, and we were kind of in limbo from Friday night to Saturday morning. Our mission president called us, and told me I'd be going back to Perpignan. Which made me SOOOO happy !! It was actually one of my first thoughts when I heard that one of the Perpignan soeurs was going home - there's a slot open in Perpignan !!! It's been so surreal being back and seeing members and places that I loved so much. Going back to the same apartment has been so weird, especially because I have the other bed, the other dresser, and the other desk 😂. That'll take me a bit to adjust to, but that's honestly just fine with me, I'm just overjoyed to be here !
So, you're probably wondering about our restrictions. WE ARE NOT QUARANTINED. Not angry, just because if I don't put it in caps, someone will miss it and ask 😅🤣
I can go outside, but to respect others in this crazy pandemic, we've been asked not to stop people on the street, or to knock doors. So we mostly go out to buy groceries and get fresh air. It's pretty chill. We'll see what happens 😁
I'm doing really well though. Like, I'm just having the same adventure the whole world is having right now. It's a fun solidarity. And I have baguettes. So I'll be just fine 😎

A fun little miracle from earlier this week: (still in Annecy)
We just had the coolest miracle !!
So both Soeur Gagon and Soeur Dixon said we should contact the Romanian missionaries after they met Maria, a member who speaks Romanian. I figure, if they both felt that, why not ? Let's go for it.
We texted the number, and they gave us the number for a SUPER sister companionship. There were some hiccups with planning (I accidentally texted the Elders instead, oops), and then Maria got home half an hour late. But they got permission to use data, so they were still able to call and did a beautiful restoration lesson for her, and Nicole, who stayed to listen.
I loved it for so many reasons ! I have never seen Maria so happy ! She was laughing and talking and responding to questions, and just SO HAPPY !! And they were so cute, an older sister who was really impressively fluent, and a younger sister. And the older one helped the younger one with her parts of the lesson, she just encouraged her along, and believed in her, and gave her a word or two when she needed it, SUCH cute sisters ! With such a light to them, such joy 😊. Maria could not stop smiling !
It really strengthened my testimony of what we do. We really are part of a worldwide missionary force. We're not alone. There are other missionaries out there doing the same thing we're doing, fighting for the same great cause. And God really has prepared a way forward for every single person. He knows about Maria, and how she feels lonely here in France, so He inspired my companions to feel the need to contact the Romanian missionaries, so she could have that beautiful experience with them tonight. Truly we serve a great God. 🙏

Keep looking for the miracles, and remember that however much it may surprise us, Corona virus wasn't a shock for God. He's got a plan !
Love y'all, don't forget to wash your hands, and stock up on toilet paper !
Sœur Cate

Week 58 (3/9/20): Geneva, chocolate, and some salty little ducks

Salutations from Annecy !

It's been a good week 😁

We went to Geneva for zone conference ! I love going to Geneva for multiple reasons- seeing other missionaries, buying swiss chocolate, sleeping on the bus for an hour and a half each way... it's a good gig, and that's before you factor in the spiritual side ! We had a really cool zone conference about making sure we invite people to do something every time we meet with them, because it means they're more likely to put the things we teach them into action, which lets them have their own experience and their own testimony of the truth. Definitely a cool thing to discuss !

Then we had exchanges on Friday. I went with Sœur Clark, and we talked to a bunch of people around the lake. We also taught the family we found recently. Honestly, it was such a cool lesson. We thought we'd be continuing to answer their questions about the restoration, but they actually had a bunch of questions that were more focused on the plan of salvation. Luckily, my STL companion has some cute handmade cutouts that help explain the plan of salvation, and it ended up being a really deep conversation. The father really wants to know the truth, so he took a picture of the whole plan laid out, nearly snatched the pamphlet out of my hand with enthusiasm, and wrote down all the extra scriptures were talked about. It's such a blessing to teach someone that really wants to know the truth. And they're such... a family ? I don't even know how to capture it in words, but they laugh and tease and share jokes and have friendly competitions just the way a family does, but in such a loving way. It's beautiful to see a family that's built on the love of God and His gospel, it gives them such a strong foundation. I love them so much !

Today was lovely 😊, we toured the prison museum (my new companion hadn't seen it yet), looked at another lovely cathedral together, and ended up wandering in these wildly picturesque little gardens and streets around it, that I didn't even know existed. And then we bought chocolate and ate it by the lake. We were visited by two adorable ducks, who were a little salty that we wouldn't feed them, but I didn't want them to get sick, and I wanted all the chocolate for myself. Duh. Never did I know that ducks could give such dirty looks.

I've really enjoyed the video Hear Him that President Nelson released recently. His focus on personal revelation and a personal relationship with God. I know that God wants each of us to hear him for ourselves, and I invite you all (remember zone conference 😎) to find a way to reach out to Him. I know if you listen closer, you really can have a more personal relationship with Him. And it's worth the work !

Love you guys tons- and try not to offend any ducks !

Sœur Cate