Bonjour!

This week was highly discouraging. Sister Paine and I have been having a lot of less than fantastic weeks work Wise. It appears as though all of our investigators are either dropping us, ignoring us, or making a bunch of empty promises. We have been trying really hard to apply what Elder Bennett taught and being urgent, obedient, and loving. But in all honesty, it's hard. This past week was just filled with let down after let down. However, before I allow myself to think too negatively, we did have some good things happen to us nontheless. 

 For example, this past Thursday was Thanksgiving. It was my first big Holiday away from home, and it felt nothing like Thanksgiving. Sister Paine and I had a wonderful day planned, but of course, it all fell through. We contacted our relief society president and asked if she knew anyone in the ward who could use some love or service. She came up with a couple of suggestions, and we thought maybe we could heart attack their doors and leave some love. However, it didn't feel like enough. Fortunately for us, it was snowing a ton on Thanksgiving day. We decided we would borrow some shovels from the Church and go do some service for a couple of families in the ward. When Sister Paine and I started to shovel away we instantly felt better about the day. It felt good to be doing something for others, especially because they were unaware of it. One woman saw us and asked if we could shovel her driveway to which we willingly agreed. She was super touched, and said she'd love to visit our Church someday. And then as we shoveled for one of our less actives her neighbor came out and we were able to help and contact her. By the end we had shoveled about 5 driveways and were tired, but felt great! There truly was no better way for us to show our gratitude and appreciation for our Heavenly Father than by serving His children.

MLC was wonderful as always. We were introduced to the new Christmas initiative #LightTheWorld, or #ÉclairezLeMonde in French. It is amazing! It focuses on how Christ was the light of the world, but how we are also the light of the world. They really want to emphasize the importance of service over this next Christmas season, and the video truly does a great job!

Saturday was a wonderful day as well! We had a good amount of lessons. The first one was with one of our less actives who actually forgot we were coming over. It ended up being amazing though because we had a member and our less actives excommunicated mom and non-member boyfriend were there. We were able to share the Christmas initiative with all of them and she really loved the idea of having 25 days of service in December. Following, we were able to see our investigator Ange! She has a baptismal date, but we have not been able to see her the past couple of weeks. She was super happy to see us and we were finally able to teach her the plan of salvation. She loved it and said that she wants to go to the celestial kingdom with her family some day. We showed her the christmas video and she too was touched by the wonderful spirit it brings. 

We saw our investigator Paola who's only 15! We taught her the restoration, and she loved the idea that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. I think she truly relates to him because she is very young, and she too has the question of "Which of these churches is true?". She referred herself online to receive a book of mormon and a bible. She's very smart, and poses a lot of good questions. That night we were able to pass by our less active Serge! We had Sister Scott with us and it was fantastic. He has not been able to be contacted in months. He's always busy, and doesn't have a phone which makes it a bit difficult. However, this night he was home, he was happy to see us, and he even came to church on Sunday! 

Sunday evening we had the opportunity to go to the musical fireside at the stake center. It was a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season. The stake did a fantastic job with all of the musical numbers, and our less active was crying as the spirit truly touched her. I am so excited for all of the wonderful events the stake has in store for this Christmas season including the live nativity, and first presidency Christmas devotional! I love Christmas.

Quote of the week:

"I've never called sisters before...it's really awkward"

Scriptures of the week:

John 8:12

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Matthew 5: 14

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

To watch the video go to:

www.mormon.org

Love,

Sœur Garcia