Miracle of the week/title explanation :
When we're online teaching we rarely if ever get to meet these people in person during our missions. Honestly, we'll probably never meet them in person at all.
A few weeks ago I talked to a man named K and we figured out that he lives in France, in the general area of the temple! I told him in the conversation that we'd make sure the missionaries got him to the temple, and now he has a baptismal date! I can't tell you much about him but he's from a country that usually doesn't encourage Christianity, which is why he came here to learn more, and he speaks English in lessons.
And last night, at the soirée musicale where all the temple sisters sing three times a week until Christmas, he came with his missionaries! I got to meet him and talk to him and it was so cool!
And when we were leaving and shook hands with everyone, the one thing he said is "WOW, you shake hands like a man! With power!"
Bargain like a man, shake hands like a man, sing like a man (still not over that, Elder Laurie.) I don't know what line defines this. He was cool anyways. I'll just accept my manly handshake and be glad that most of the interaction I have is online or with bisous (cheek kisses) that are a little safer.
The other cool thing from last night is that a few of the elders got to sing with us on some choir numbers. It's been a long time since we had a guy singing with us so it sounded great!
We have a LOT of new people to teach, several we're teaching, and I've just gotten confused enough about online privacy that I'll just tell you the main cool stories or when somebody actually is baptized in our ward. Sorry, everybody.
And now we get a guest email from My Mom, who figured out the reason why our basement was freezing for years and made a really awesome analogy out of it.
Now presenting, "The Parable of the Blocked Vent."
"The parable of the blocked vent...
For years, how long have we lived here? 8 years maybe? The basement has always been so cold. We attributed it partly to the fact that it’s a basement but it was still just so cold. And, of course, so dark, because it has few windows. Well, dad decided enough with the dark and he would hang a light. A cheap fix from Costco. Ugly but it had two big LED bars that would do the job. They had to be hung from the ceiling and I didn’t want them to come crashing down so we needed to check the ceiling structure. I suggested we check inside the vent where we could see the ceiling.
He took out the vent and while the ceiling had some good Sheetrock under the tiles, the vent cover had been saran wrapped shut from behind. For 8 years we have been missing out on half the room heat because who would ever think to check that a heating vent wasn’t invisibly blocked? I’m sure they did it as people moved out and the basement was unused so as to not waste heat. But, we went all those years colder than needed because we didn’t have the whole story.
How many people are you finding who have blocked heat vents and they just don’t know it. They can’t be comfortable and helped and warmed simply because they don’t know their heater vents have been blocked. You might talk to 50 people who feel fine and it’s their choice to turn off their heat but, then there is that family that just didn’t know. They really wanted heat for years and just didn’t understand what the problem was, why they were cold. You get to be the ones to find the blockage, remove it, and share the warmth of the gospel.
What a wonderful message that is! Even if many or most are rejecting the comfort. To those who just don’t know, they are so ready to enjoy the warmth.
Love, Mom"
That's what our friend K decided. He wanted to find the warmth and he asked for help. The missionaries took him to the temple (with members!) and let him see if he wanted that feeling. He does, and he's willing to work and learn to get it. I love working at a visitors center and seeing all these cool things!
And because I'm only at the center half the day and the other half is in the sector... Yes, Paris is doing a great modern re-enactment of "Les Misérables 2," as our Zone Leader described it, and we are in the Paris district, but basically all that means for us is we take the long way to get into our sector and we pay more for toll roads. A few people missed church, which was a shame. For District Meeting we have to drive through the Charles de Gaulle Etoile so we're probably just going to Skype in. That's... Really about it. Gas prices are higher. Our members are really protective of their missionaries and especially the sisters (why its us, I can't tell you. We're 22 and 26, the elders are 18 and 20, and we have a car. Take care of the Elders. Give them a sandwich. They need it.) and our Mission President has been having us come home early if there's a bigger strike planned.
It's a great opportunity to help some people understand why they have a drive to improve the world and to unblock some heat vents, right?
We went finding with "Light the World" this weekend and got four phone numbers in about an hour, which is amazing! People love this idea of just doing good for the sake of doing good!
This week's challenge : Do one of the "Light the World" activities, share it on social media of your choice to encourage others, tag your local missionaries (and me, if you feel like it) and let's help other people get some ideas to #LighttheWorld! This week I'll be making the other sœurs in my apartment some traditional Christmas treats and we've got a Miracle Tree growing in the hallway.
Matthew 5:16! Let your light so shine! Use the internet! Go! But seriously, we have a young woman here who was converted from watching YouTube videos made by a member and then talking to another member over Instagram. She was all taught by the time she met the missionaries. We have these resources to do more than wish we could do something, you never know who is going to see what you do and want a little more warmth in their life. Unblock those hidden heating vents.
And if that wasn't enough cheerleading, we have our AWESOME new youth theme song available in lots of languages! Mom, I'm relying on you to link the video since I don't actually have internet right now and I'm not sure when this will send, but if you have the "Lds Music" application it should be on there and on the main page of LDS.org. It's honestly my favorite youth theme song so far. The theme scripture is "if ye love me, keep my commandements." (insert imaginary the greatest commandment Bible video link here.)
(wish granted, mom found it. And, I LOVE it because it reminds me of when she studied in South Korea. She has some of those cute pictures from the vending machines)
2 Nephi 33:6 says " I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell."
This Christmas season is our chance to" Glory in our Jesus" and to try to love like He loves us. We might have manly handshakes or an 8 year heater block or a roadblock with lawn chairs or all sorts of nonsense that sound like excellent excuses to hide under the bed and say someone else can do it better, but I know how much I love these people I work with and how much I love every single person still getting these emails.
Today is one year since my farewell, three days till one year on the mission, and my departure talk was on service so "we'll go and serve our neighbor with an open heart" (I really do love that song) and we'll be speaking French at home before you know it. I love you all! Have fun and be safe and make good choices and read your scriptures and Light the world! See you soon!
Home ward: #6289
alyssa.amott@myldsmail.net
La Mission Francaise de Paris
Soeur Alyssa Grace Amott
131 Boulevard Carnot
78110 Le Vesinet, France
France has huge customs fees that will be billed to the missionaries if they receive a package listed at a value of more than $15. Please do not send anything by mail with a value of more than this. A package can be upward of $65 extra charged to the missionaries to pick it up from customs.
If you send items from Amazon.UK or Amazon.FR these fees do not apply. The mission home suggests if you would like to send something nice, that rather we can add money onto her personal account and you send a letter or email saying what to use it for.
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