So this week was so so cold and exhausting, but we saw so many miracles!!
It's been between 0 and -10 degrees Celsius all week, so needless to say I got some great use out of all my winter gear. We also had a lot of rendezvous fall through, which was disappointing, but we're hanging in there!
Tuesday we had the coolest rendezvous with a less-active family in our branch. The mom is American, the dad is Swiss and they have a young adult daughter, and none of them have come to church for a while, the dad hasn't for years. Anywho, we went and had an excellent meal, played a game, then shared a thought on the Book of Mormon. Elder Maxwell and I bore really simple testimonies, and the Spirit was so strong! It was honestly one of the best rendezvous I've ever had!
Wednesday and Friday we had exchanges with the Renens and Fribourg Elders, which was awesome as usual, but also exhausting. We had plenty of lessons planned with our wonderful amis and members, and all but one were canceled last minute, so we did get some good contacting in and found some sweet new investigators. I also managed to not get frostbite, for which I'm grateful.
Thursday was district meeting! I felt like I at least could use a message on what success really means as a missionary and on focusing on progress and not on disappointments, and it went super well - I love my district! I found a video of myself bearing my testimony in French from my first week so I shared that, then closed with my testimony now, and it honestly made me tear up to see and feel how much of a change Heavenly Father has made in me during my mission.
Sunday was a roller-coaster! One of our amis had promised to come to church, so we waited for forty-five minutes for him at the train station, but he didn't show. So we were super disappointed and went back to the chapel. I was feeling pretty down, and Elder Maxwell nudged me and was like "look who just walked in!" I turned around and it was the family we'd seen on Tuesday! They'd come to church, and loved it! Then they invited us over again for this week! It was a huge reminder that God's in charge and that we're here for a reason!
Then today we had just about the coolest pday ever! We decided to just go out and adventure all day, so we climbed up to the medieval castle by our house and took a bunch of pictures. Then drove up into the Alps and just hiked around for a bit. It was so peaceful and calm and snowy and awesome! After that we passed some roman ruins on the way home, which was also cool. Honestly, this place is a dream! I love my secteur and the work!
Last thought! We started teaching the ten-year old son and also the daughter of one of our less-active families, because they haven't been, but would like to be baptized, and we had the coolest lesson on Sunday! We sat on the floor and taught the plan of salvation, and had them draw out all the steps, then invited them to teach it to their family that week for family home evening. They were shy, but so accepting and trusting, and they learned so quickly! It hit me just how many attributes children share with our Savior. So this week I'm going to strive to incorporate some of those characteristics into my life - patience, virtue, hope. I'm so grateful for this gospel and for our Savior from Whom it stems. It was a tough week but I'm loving life!
Merci!
Elder Suisse
Pics:
Martigny and a bit of the fort we visited today
I couldn't resist
Us having fun with the panorama function on the phone
More mountains!
A random Colosseum we found!
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