Patience



We are now good friends with the couple on the street who sell crepes everyday....enough said.

I am super happy today.  It has just been one of those weeks. I have had a really amazing week. I have just felt a really good spirit with me all week, and it has really kept me going.

First off, N--. FINALLY we got to see her this week. And I am so so grateful for that. THERE IS NOTHING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT. Sorrry, that sounds like I am yelling. But I was just skipping out of our rdv with her I was so happy. I didn't really tell you, but the rdv we had with her right after her baptism was terrible. Honestly, terrible. We couldn't even teach she was so distracted and literally could not even bring in the spirit, just to wrap it up in a sentence. We have been so worried about her falling after she wasn't able to be baptized.   And this is where I learned my amazing lesson on patience this week!

Well, you all know me. Patience has always been the absolute hardest thing for me. And probably forever will be. And I feel like I am forever learning lessons in patience!
And this situation with N-- really taught me yet another way of how I need to develop more patience. After we had this terrible rdv with her, I was so frustrated. I was SO frustrated that just because of this man in her life that she doesn't even want there, that she couldn't be baptized. And I was just so mad at the rules. And just really angry with the timing of it all, I felt like she was falling and there was nothing we could do.

But then we had this amazing discussion with her this week. And she really finally just explained to us everything, and her whole situation. And now I understand everything. She has this whole complicated situation with her work that honestly would be way too hard to even explain. But now I completely understand why she has been so stressed and has seemed so distant. She is not falling AT ALL. Anything but that. She is the same amazing and faithful N-- I know and love. She is currently in England visiting her friend, who is a member! She was so cute. She was like "We are sad because we planned on going to the temple and I won't be able to, but we are still going to go look at it! And we will have family home evenings together and everything!" It was so cute. And then as we were walking out she just said something that just made me SO happy I almost couldn't contain it. We told her transfer calls are this week and we aren't sure what is going to happen so we would let you know (hey just so you know..transfer calls are this week) And she was sad at the fact that one of us might leave, but then as we were leaving she was like "Oh well! We have the rest of our lives to know each other. And me and S-- are going to visit you in America!" And then she looked at me and she was like "And we can visit you in Salt Lake! And go to the temple!"

Um. Yeah. The idea of going to the Salt Lake Temple with N-- someday just makes me feel so happy beyond words.

I realized through the whole experience with her how impatient I was being.  I was not having faith in God's timing. He knows exactly what He is doing. And I just need to have a lot more faith in that.That was just a simple example of one of the many happy moments I have had this week :)

Co-- is doing awesome. He has already read 12 chapters in the Book of Mormon. And downloaded it on his phone. And bought a scripture case. He is so awesome. It has been fun teaching him.

Also those nights when we have an absolute PERFECT rdv with these inactives we are trying to get to like us. There is nothing better than literally cracking up with people playing card games.

Gosh. My life is so wonderful. I am sorry this just feels like a mess of a letter, but I just really want you to know how happy I am. I wish I could take the time to just explain to you all of those perfect amazing miracles I have the oppoortunity to witness everyday.
I am literally amazed at how blessed I am.

I read a really amazing talk by Neal A Maxwell this week. Entitled Patience. (surprised?) And it is amazing! Changed my outlook on so many things. (link to that talk: http://www.lds.org/ensign/1980/10/patience)

Something he said that has been on my thoughts, is he talked about time. And how time is not something that is natural to us. He said that we are beings that belong to eternity, not to time. That is why we always have to have watches and clocks. Because it is not in our being. Cool, huh? Which means that there is no reason we just stress about time and being impatient for the future. Because in the whole scheme of things...time is literally nothing. I don't know how much that will help you, but just something that really helped me this week.

I love you!!
And since time is literally nothing...I will see you soon :)

Love,

Soeur Magleby

The Lord's Wind

Contacting in front of the Mairie! Finally got some pictures of me contacting. Not the best, but thought you would enjoy it.

 

Hello my beautiful loved ones! :)

Well. It has been a really fun week. Also a really hard one.
 

For a quick update on N--, we have not been able to see her much this week. She has been out of her mind busy with work. But it has been really sad because she is letting her work kind of overtake her life and has forgotten what importance the Gospel has in her life. I have no doubt that she is going to be baptized, but it won't be here in Limoges. Her work is making her have to move, most likely to Bordeaux. So that is good news that it isn't too far! When she does get baptized, hopefully I won't be too far away so I was still get to know what is going on with her. It is a little sad though. I just had so much hope and was so excited to see her get baptized. All I know is that this girl is going to do amazing things one day, because she is facing so much opposition. But I know that whatever happens will be what is supposed to happen!

This week we decided to do another one of those contact 1,000 people. It was really fun. It really gave me the opportunity just to work and not think about all these things that could be distracting me. Work is always the cure. For everything. And I always feel so much better about life when I just put myself into the work as much as I can. Also, it is  exhausting. I  wish you could see my companion and me when we wake up in the morning. It is a really funny sight. But contacting that many people in a week always leads to miracles and also really funny experiences.
 

We will start with miracles. Co--! He is from Romania. He is 22 years old. He is awesome. He needs the Gospel in his life. One of those guys with a really sad family history. We have already taught him twice, and his whole disposition has already changed. It is so fun to see. Also we found a random Romanian Book of Mormon in our apartment...that was a miracle. His face completely lit up when we gave it to him. Talking to him in Sacrament meeting yesterday and he was so cute and telling me he just couldn't describe what he was feeling and somehow he just feels SO happy, a kind of happiness he can't even describe. And he just feels like he had been lacking something, and now he has it.
 

Yup. That is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does for you.

That is one of my favorite things about the mission. Whether I get to see it through to the end or not, Heavenly Father blesses me so much that I get to see so many people find the truth. And have them recongize it is the truth, even if they don't exactly see that yet.

That, more than anything, builds my testimony like crazy.

Okay, funniest moment of the week. As you know, we are focused on families. So I literally run after every stroller that I see. So, I see a family. With a stroller. I walk up to them and contact them. They just give me this weird look for a minute, and tell me that sorry they don't speak French very well. So as I am just telling them that c'est pas grave and am leaving my card with them, these two very official men walk up and ask for all their passports. Even though they weren't in uniform, I knew they were cops. So I am still awkwardly standing there, and the lady just looks at me and smiles and says thank you and takes the card, and I just slowly and awkwardly back away from the situation..and then I end up seeing them straight up arrest this guy and take him away in a police car. Hahaha. It was one of the weirdest experiences. Also hilarious. I contacted a guy as he was getting arrested. Soo, there is that. I decided I wanted to start writing you more funny experiences in the life as a missionary. Because there are soo many.
 

Honestly, the past few weeks have been a little interesting for me. I just feel like every day I am having to drag myself out of the apartment, and having to conciously put my feet in front of the other. It has just been weird because I have never been someone who lets NOT working as hard as I can be an option. But I have really had to push myself these last couple weeks. We have just been having a lot of opposition, and I guess that is what has been getting me a little bit down. But honestly..I have learned SO much this transfer. Especially through these trials. I feel like I am a different missionary than I was even a couple weeks ago. So even in the midst of afflicition when it is often hard to keep the faith, I always have trust in my Heavenly Father that He knows exactly what He is doing. He is the one with the plan. And I have so much faith that as long as I do my best, I will be rewarded beyond my comprehension. It is so hard to always remember that. But as long as we turn to our Heavenly Father instead of away from Him..we will always be blessed. Always. I know that now.
 

I invite you all to look up a talk. It is called The Lord's Wind by John. H Groberg. Really old talk. But our bishops wife gave it to us because she knew we were going through a hard time. It is one of the best talks I have ever read. (Editor's note:  here's a link to that talk http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1993/10/the-lords-wind?lang=eng)
 

Sometimes we pray as hard as we can and don't understand why when we have been praying so hard that the Lord isn't just throwing miracles at us.  It is because he is giving us opportunities to grow. To come closer to Him.  To be His wind.

I am so grateful for the opporunity to be His literal servant. It blows me away everyday.  No matter what the trials, I know when we stay faithful, we will always come out on top.
 

I love you!

Bisous!

Love,
Soeur Magleby

Rollercoaster ride

An awkward I don't know what to do with my hands photo that I took at the museum we went to today!

Random photo to get you a taste of the museum

Well, this email is definitely not what I expected it was going to be for this week. This weekend did not go quite as planned.

Our sweet N-- didn't get to enter the waters of baptism this weekend. Friday afternoon we had her baptismal interview with our district leader. It wasn't until this moment where we learned that she is not officially divorced from her husband yet. And her husband does not approve of her getting baptized and won't give her consent. And, church rule, one has to have consent from a spouse in order to be baptized.

It was the second time I walked out of her apartment bawling. But this time it was not the kind of bawling I like to happen. I have never felt so broken. We just sat there with N-- after it happened and just cried together. She was so upset. She has been waiting for this moment her entire life. And now she told us she just felt like she was never going to be able to come inside to the true church.

It was one of the hardest moments I have yet experienced on the mission.

But.
The amazing person that N-- is.
She has taught me so much.

When she first found out..she was really upset. Really sad. Really angry and frustrated.

So then the Elders gave her a blessing, and then left. And in those 5 minutes we walked out of her apartment and then came back, her entire disposition had changed. In just a few minutes after this had all happened, she realized what lesson Heavenly Father is trying to teach her through this experience. And she said she felt peace. She felt really good. We left her apartment that day, and she was smiling and full of the Spirit.

Not to say that all of a sudden this wasn't a hard experience for her. She is really struggling right now. Having to figure out everything with her divorce is really hard. But seriously, as soon as it happened she realized what it was Heavenly Father needed her to learn with this experience.

I am not quite as amazing as she is, so it didn't work quite like that for me. This week I have felt pretty broken inside. It has taken a lot out of me just to get out and do regular missionary work. But this experience has taught me so much. It woke me up a bit.

I had one of those moments this weekend where I literally just felt like I couldn't take another step forward. I had no energy to move forward. No will power. No desire. I simply felt like I couldn't take one more step. I couldn't talk to one more person.

But somehow, I did. And then at the end of the night, I got on my knees, and I talked with my father in Heaven. And I told Him I couldn't do it without Him. I literally couldn't. And I needed his help.

And He has helped me.

I have become a lot closer to my Savior throught this experience. If I am learning anything as a missionary, it is the power that the Atonement can give me. And the power of prayer. I know that may sound a bit repetitive, I have said that multiple times in my letters, but this weekend has taught me so much. At those moments where we feel like we can't go on. We literally just want to sit down and cry. He is there. He is always there.

And it is not always easy to feel that. But that is why we have these experiences. To learn and to grow. This week I really realized how much I have changed from the person I was before my mission. And I realized how much more happy I am with who I am now.

I have so long to go. A lifetime to learn. But there was this moment I had this weekend after all this stuff with N-- happend, and I just felt so selfish and frustrated. And I just had to take a second to look at myself in the mirror. I just sat there and looked at myself. And looked at whose name I was wearing, right next to my own. And I really got this overwhelming feeling of how incredibly BLESSED I am to be a missionary right now. No matter how hard it is. I know one day I will be able to look back and realize why things happened the way they do.

Sorry this is not THE most uplifting letter in the world. But, I could never send you a letter home full of negativty. Because even in the negative moments..the light is never too far away.

As I have said a billion times before..thank you for your prayers. They carry me.
I love you my dear family. I think of you always. I am so grateful for everything you do for me.

I will see you soon!

Love,
Soeur Magleby

Enfin

Typical French missionary moment. Broken umbrella and baguette in hand.
Ya know, the usual.

Me and Soeur C!

Hello my darling loved ones!

Sorry to have to make you wait an extra day. I hope you were able to make it through. Haha. Zone Conference was awesome though! I always love them, ESPECIALLY when it is the interview tour. (They happen every other transfer) It was really funny though, throughout the past couple weeks I have been writing down in my planner all the questions that have been coming into my head that I wanted to ask President Roney. We only get so many interviews with him while we are here, so I always want to be super prepared for all of them. But it was really funny because as I did that..through studying, prayer, and my awesome companion, I answered all my own questions! So we just had a really simple interview this time around. I just pretty much told him how on top of the world happy I am with my life right now. I think he just knows he doesn't have to worry about me. Which is good. But, I learned a lot from Zone Conference and it was a really great day.

This week has been an amazing one. As it always is, with N-- in it :)  We taught her all the commandments this week. In three rdv's. And it was not even hard. I am not even kidding you... it is like I literally can't teach her. She just ends up teaching me every time! The funniest moment was with the word of wisdom. That was my ONLY concern with her, is that she drank coffee. But I am not joking you, the minute she heard that coffee was against the word of wisdom she literally said "Well, alright, no more coffee!" And that was that. She didn't even question it. And then things like she has literally been living the law of chastity her entire life...it is just ridiculous. And it is so wonderful.

I have had so many moments of pure joy this week. My life right now is just super revolved around her. I literally like am never thinking about anything else. I love it.  She had us over for dinner on Saturday night as we taught her the last lesson. And it was just one of those moments where I felt so much PURE joy. I just can't even explain it. It was just this feeling where there was literally no where else in the world I would rather be at that moment. Just sitting around the table, all of us laughing so hard at adorable little Soren, drinking our infusion tea (that she had just bought ;) I just looked around myself and realized how amazingly happy I was in that moment.

Soren. Such a punk. Haha us two just chillen in the back. He is my favorite little kid in the world.

 

N--'s word of the week this week has been "Enfin" which just means, at last. She keeps saying it all the time. She just said that is the best way she can describe how she feels right now. Enfin. At last. At last she has found the happiness she has looking for, for her entire life.

My favorite moment of this week by far was definitely Sunday. Testimony meeting. I was sitting by N--, and the bishop told her to make sure she knew that she could still bear her testimony even if she wasn't a member. So as soon as the first person went, she turned to me and said she wanted to go but she was kind of scared and asked if I would go with her. So, we did! Her testimony was incredible. I was just standing up there next to her and looking at everyone's faces, and I swear there was not one person who wasn't smiling. She just bore her simple testimony about how she KNOWS this is the church reestablished on the earth and that she is so, so happy that she has finally found her home. It was incredible.

Baptism this Saturday. I feel like I am a little kid and I am just about jumping off the walls I am so excited. I am just so humbled to be apart of this work. I am so happy right now. I wouldn't trade any of this for the world. No matter how tired I am. Or how many times I break my dang umbrella. Or how frustrated I get with the language. Or how inadequate I feel.

I am learning so much everyday. This is my favorite transfer so far. I literally just feel on top of the world.

I am just filled with so much love! For this city. For this country. For my amis. For the members. For the people I pass on the street everyday. For my companion. For YOU.
And most importantly, for my Heavenly Father and for my Savior.

Thank you all for your prayers! They help me make it through!
I love you all, I can't wait to talk to you next week!

Love,

Soeur Magleby