Le Fête dans le français

This week has been full of wonderful stories! I'm still doing the same actions day in and day out, but I have been noticing things more frequently. I know that this is evidence that I am growing closer to God and closer to my purpose. I have also started to notice things that I would not have had the chance to find out about myself if I had not served a mission. One thing that is very clear is that I absolutely love being a sister training leader. Want to know what my assignment is? I'll tell you anyway. The evening they introduced the assignments to my district, the elders being the zone leaders and the sisters being the sister training leaders, they started listing all the responsibilities for the Zone leaders. The list was a full ten minutes long! No joke! After the branch president finished with the now wide eyed elders he turns to us and says, "Sisters, be sympathetic and be an example."...Okay! I can do that!! We still notice if certain things are happening such as not getting to bed on time or not staying as a companionship, we just inform the Elders and they enforce it. Then we hug them. Parce que nous sommes sympathetic. (Got to love the random things that happen when you are learning a language, I didn't mean to write in French it just happened) Having this assignment has made me realize just how wonderful sharing love with others is. In other words I love sharing Charity. I want to become more charitable because I know I really can be. While in the temple I said a small prayer. Asking that I may receive guidance as to how I can grow in charity, how can an imperfect human possibly share God's perfect love? Hours after saying that prayer I taught a wonderful investigator named George. The MTC has volunteers called gold-taggers, they wear a gold tag and new missionaries can come up and practice having a real investigator. these gold taggers are generally newly baptized members who are reverting back to who they were before the gospel. Although some are non-members. George is an elderly man who loves volunteering at local elementary schools teaching children art. Not too long ago he lost his leg up to the knee, due to illness. He is an answer to my prayer. This man has such a beautiful way of sharing the Love of God, he now calls it "doing backflips" due to a story Sister Jeter told. Where ever he goes he touches peoples lives, because not only has his leg been gone for a couple years, but he is walking. And boy does he walk. He shared with us how painful it was to walk with a prosthetic and the very next minute was talking about how so many others have it worse than he. What an amazing example of charity.

We got two sisters from New Caledonia who really only speak French come into our zone. As sister training leaders we got to escort them around the rest of the day, which surprised my companions and I at how much French we actually knew. These sisters are the epitome of a party. They walk up to every other Polynesian person on this campus, being sure to ask where they are from, where they are going etc. Sister Bluker can speak a lot of English actually, but her companion has not been blessed in that way yet. Which makes the moments when she bares her testimony, which happens very often, much more meaningful, she uses the words that she knows to say what she knows is true. When we say "your awesome Sister Selui!" she responds with "we are all awesome! Because we are all children of God. And he loves us."

One last thing before I close, a sister serving in Tahiti has a wonderful phrase that she says very frequently this phrase is "the church is true!" She uses it when she gets really happy "Ah! We are having ice cream tonight! The church is true!" or when she is even feeling sad "I don't have any letters today. The church is true." What a wonderful optimistic expression. A good day becomes better because not only is it good but you have a perfect knowledge that the church is true. A bad day becomes better because sure things may not be going very well but at least the church is true.

So in closing, strive to see the truth in your lives, I'm loving the experience I get to have while on a mission. Just to think I have seventeen more months of this makes me giddy beyond compare. I love you all! Don't forget to write me =D

Je vous aime

Soeur Cummings