Soeur Hosking says that phrase "what is our lives?!" all the time so I thought it was only appropriate to use as a headline. Sometimes we are just so flabbergasted by how ridiculously blessed we are we just have to shout WHAT IS OUR LIVES?!
This week was lovely as usual. Serving with Soeur Hosking is always such an adventure. I absolutely adore her!
On Wednesday we went back to Bruxelles for my legality and on the train ride back we might a girl from Serbia! Her name is Ana and we are basically best friends because we spent like THREE hours on a train together because it broke down halfway through our journey. we chatted with her a little bit in French right as she sat down but the conversation died and she pulled out a newspaper so Soeur Hosking and I started talking about gauffres and chocolate in English (it was lunchtime) and then Ana gets up and says in English, "will you watch my bags" and goes to the bathroom! Sr Hosking and I just stare at each other in shock then quickly go back through our conversation to make sure we didnt say anything embarrassing. When she came back we got to know each other and she is headed to Holland to study politics, so we had a few conversations about the US government and Serbia and then she asked us what we are doing in Belgium. Then we had a delightful conversation about God and His restored Church. We gave her a brochure and helped her with her bags onto her next train. It was so fun to meet her and I hope we get to see her again someday! I am sure she will meet the missionaries in Holland and get baptized!
Later that day we went to see another amie but when we showed up she wasnt there. Her friend Mattieu opened the door and saw our tags and said that Rachel had told him all about us. So he started asking a lot of questions and we left him with a Book of Mormon and a Retab brochure. He then gave us his number to give to the Elders. Best frudge ever.
On Thursday we saw Enza again. I absolutely adore her. She went on and on about how beautiful we are and that we are her angels. So cute. She also mentioned that when we are there her pain isnt quite as bad. The power of the Holy Ghost!! Then we talked about prayer and the love of God again. She is getting there. I never realized what an incredible blessing it is to know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to pray to Him and talk with Him. Enza is having a hard time trusting the idea that God actually loves her. I feel so blessed to have grown up with the knowledge! and so blessed to be able to help Enza realize that God is waiting for her and that He loves her more than she could comprehend. Being a missionary is the best experience. I spend all my days sharing God's love. In Belgium. With Soeur Hosking. And we eat waffles, Belgian chocolate and Frites. And we see miracles every single day!! So spoiled.
So later we went by to see Valerie but she wasnt there. We called her and she said she was at a friend's hous. So we call Laticia to see if we can come early and she says, "Sure! I am here with Valerie(our other ami) and Joycely (a member)" I got off the phone and we were SO confused. But, sure enough, they were all there. It was an interesting lesson. We were for sure very thrown off by it all. But hey, we got to see them all and they are all friends! So that night we went to see a less active who lives pretty far away. We are the last ones on the bus and in the middle of no where the bus driver tells us to get off. We say we are going to Vise and he just points in a direction and says "It's that way" So confused we get off and start walking. We soon find ourselves in this ghetto carnival and decided to call in back up. We call the Elders and ask them to locate us on the map and point us in the right direction. Never fear, we found a bus that took us all the way there; It was quite the adventure. But lets be real, when is it not an adventure.
Friday we played therapist. AKA we went to visit some less actives. They have such hard lives and we try our very best every time we go to bring them a little happiness and hope. The first one we saw was Soeur Walmag, she is really old and so sweet but she has a hard time seeing the happy things in her life despite the bad. So we talked about gratitude and shared Uchtdorf's talk. She ended up listing blessing after blessing in her life and by the time we left she was all smiles.
Later we went to see Laurence and she refused to see the good in her life and would only look at the bad. She is telling us how if she didn't have all these people who cared about her and she died alone in her house no one would know. We had tried so long to reason with her but she would not listen. Eventually she looked at Soeur Hosking and goes "What if I died here? What happens then? Huh?" Soeur Hosking responded with, "Well, then you would be with God." I laughed out loud in the lesson. Yet, somehow the woman still really likes us... Friday we were laughing so hard at everything and anything. I know that the Lord knew we would need help dealing with all those sad people so He gave us irrational joy. Heavenly Father is so great and knows just what we need!
Saturday was Samedi sports so Soeur Hosking and I pretty much battled it out on the soccer field seeing as we couldnt really touch anyone else. We left with a few bruises and my pride was a little dented. She had gotten the best of me and scored the winning goal...next week will be a different story though for sure.
Later that night we had a Retablissment Smackdown with Christelle. She has been meeting with the missionaries forever but is still super into her church. So being as she is leaving for the states we laid it all out on the table. She was a little taken aback, but by the end she even stayed for our Branch Missionary meeting so she could ride home on the bus with us. She is a gem. Also she is moving to Colorado for a year! So she will be attending our church over there.
Sunday was exhausting. We do splits each week so we can each attend our branches and it just wipes us out. But the Spirit is always there to give us strength! So that was our week. Full of miracles and adventures and happiness. I have learned here in Liege that happiness is a conscious choice not an automatic response. I can wake up everyday and smell the cigarette smoke and see the empty mailbox and the scary drunk men or I can wake up and go running in my favorite park and eat waffles and see miracles! haha happiness is the design of my existence. and I plan on living life to the fullest. especially my mission. Because the time is so short and so precious and I want to cherish every moment that Heavenly Father gives me. As President Uchtdorf says,
"There will always be things to complain about—things that don’t seem to go quite right. You can spend your days feeling sad, alone, misunderstood, or unwanted. But that isn’t the journey you had hoped for, and it’s not the journey Heavenly Father sent you to take. Remember, you are truly a child of God! Yes, the road has bumps and detours and even some hazards. But don’t focus on them. Look for the happiness your Father in Heaven has prepared for you in every step of your journey. Happiness is the destination, but it’s also the path. “Peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” is what He promises. That is why He commands us to “be of good cheer”
alors. look for the happiness that Heavenly Father sent you here to have :)
love always soeur hawkes
No comments:
Post a Comment