"THIS IS MY FRIEND, WHAT IS YOUR NAME AGAIN?"

Dear everyone,

this week was great! over the past few weeks things have been really discouraging in gatineau. everything was falling through, and no one was reliable. we had appointments cancel, members cancel, dinner appointments cancel, it was very hard. at the end of many days sister garcia and i found ourselves with 2 hours or so to knock. and our knocking wasn`t very fruitful. it seemed as though everything was going wrong. we were trying to share the christmas message and no one wanted to listen, and it was cold and dark. but we prayed really hard, maybe harder and more often than i ever had before, and we were blessed.  

just when we thought we couldn`t handle it any more, we saw miracles rolling in. on friday, we received a text from a referral the elders had given us maybe 6 weeks ago. we had tried to contact her then but she wasn`t interested. friday, she texted us asking if we were the girls who wanted to talk to her about Jesus, and that she was new and feeling alone and wanted to meet. we scheduled a lesson for that day. we had a lesson with a returning less-active, and asked if she would like to come with us to our lesson right after and she did! we went to meet our potential, debora, and it was a great lesson. she is 19 from cote d`ivoire. she is catholic, and our member we brought had converted to the church from being catholic. she was able to really connect with debora. debora has very strong faith, and is willing to learn more! 

also on friday night we received 2 referrals from the english elders, other elders set up a lesson for us next week with a potential investigator, and the elders in our ward set up a lesson for us with a family who live in our area for us to go to! 

saturday, we had some extra time, so we decided to try and stop by one of our investigators, Arnold. we had knocked on his neighbors`doors before, but the one who opened the door, Martha, said just to talk to her the next time we see Arnold. Arnold wasn`t there, but we heard kids laughing in Martha`s apartment, so we knocked, and she was home. we were able to share the Christmas video with her, and it was awesome! the spirit was so strong, and we were able to turn it into a little lesson. when we left we could see that she was uplifted and happier, and more willing to meet with us again. looking back, it is cool to see how we needed to meet Arnold so we could find Martha. 

saturday night we had our ward Christmas party, and our investigator Suze and her 3 boys came! they all loved it! the ward was so welcoming and inviting, and she was so happy! it was a really break through moment for her. 

another miracle from the ward christmas party was that the grand-daughter of one of our members came with her boyfriend and 2 daughters. the granddaughter had been baptized, but they had not been going to church and they went to the ward christmas party wondering if the missionaries were going to talk to them. we went around and introduced ourselves to everyone we didn`t know, and the next day the grandma in our ward told us how happy they were we had talked to them and that we can come to her house and teach the whole family! 

i also have a new friend in the ward named isabel. she is 5 and every time she sees me, "hey! it`s you! do you remember me?" at the christmas party, she took my hand and told me she wanted to show me to her friends. she went up to sister scott (who is our senior missionary in the ward) and said, "this is my friend, what is your name again? sister paine!" 

there are really too many miracles to mention, but i am so grateful. i know that Heavenly Father blesses every righteous effort. and when we don`t think we can go on any more, we can. He will strengthen us and He will carry us. He wants to help us. i love D&C 7:1 which reads, "And the Lord said unto me: John, my beloved, what desirest thou? For if you shall ask what you will, it shall be granted unto you." when we have righteous desires and we work hard and obedient, the Lord will bless us in His due time with the things He knows we need. 

this week we have also seen the blessings of service! the Christmas initiative, #ÉclairezLeMonde (or Light the World) encourages us to do acts of service every day and they can be really little things! but sister garcia and i have found our days to be happier and brighter as we try to help those around us. 

i love you all!

love,

soeur paine

pictures:

1. sister garcia and i went on exchanges this week and so we accidentally wore the same shirt 

2. suze and her family minus her youngest son who is 2 and hates smiling (it is true and the funniest thing ever. no matter how hard you try to make him smile, he never does. even if he is having fun.)

3. christmas presents we helped the baker`s wrap

4. how sister garcia and i feel during calls with the zone leaders and district leaders on monday mornings.