Funny dinner

Hey everybody!

Not much to say about this week....we worked hard and are hoping to see those blessings soon. We taught Patrick a couple of times and are hoping to have his baptism either this weekend or next, depending on when we can schedule the interview. I'm so excited for him!! I really can't wait for him to have the blessings that come from being a member...it'll be wonderful :)

This week we also met with Raymond again, and he is just so wonderful. We're going to see him again tomorrow, and we soft committed him for baptism last week, so we're hoping to commit him for an actual solid date tomorrow when we see him. We'll see though. He might not think he's ready for that yet, so we'll just have to help him understand that setting a date doesn't mean you're signing your life away; it really is just a way to show your faith and show our Father in Heaven that your ready to receive answers. He did tell us last week though that hopefully this Sunday (he couldn't come yesterday because he had to work) that he'll be at church and he'll probably try to bring his daughter and her children as well so he's not there by himself. I'm excited! It'll be so great :)

Other than that this week we spent a bit of time up in Quebec working with the elders and working with members. We had a big Relief Society party on Saturday where we watched the Emma Smith movie. They don't have it in French though so we watched it in English which I'm sure was a little tough for some of the members up here, but Soeur Cottrell and I enjoyed it! Oh, and it was pretty funny during the actual dinner part of the party; I am the messiest eater. We had pasta, and I could not get the pasta to stay on the fork, and one time it flipped off and landed on the table, so I was going to discreatly pick it up and put it back on my plate, but of course S. Laflamme (a member sitting near me) saw me and pointed it out. Then for dessert we had cake and mixed fruit, and S. Torres (RS president) had handed me a cup full of fruit. I was eating it and S. Gelina (a member who I LOVE in the ward here) was sitting across from me and started to say what a clever idea that was, but in the middle of her sentence, I somehow flipped a piece of fruit out of the cup, it hit me on the cheek and then fell to the floor. The whole table started laughing; it was pretty funny.

Oh, and then Soeur Ouellet...I just love her. She is a woman in the ward here who's a little bit crazy. We laugh so much when we're with her. But it was so funny; so after the dinner they decided that they were going to give us some of the leftovers and so S. Garcia started putting a bunch into this ziploc bag and then S. Ouellet was standing there and she said “Oh I'd like some of that” and goes to take the bag. S. Garcia said “Oh that's for the Sister missionaries” and S. Ouellet said “oh, there's more” and took the bag and left. It's so funny. I just love her. So it's been a fun week :) I love being a missionary! Hope all is well for you! I love you all tons and miss you like crazy!

Love, Sister Nicole Lindsey

Here are some of the group pictures from the ice hotel a couple of weeks back...this is the chapel they had there. From left to right: Elder Cummings, S. Pearson, El. Williams, E. Zaldivar, E. Magre, E. Spillman, me, E. Pearson.

Pictures

1. During our photo scavenger hunt: Make a peace sign with an old woman
2. My team for our photo scavenger hunt!
3. the mourners at Sister Pearson's funeral
4. Sister Pearson at her funeral
5. Sister Cottrell and I in Vieux Quebec at night :)
6. Elder Zaldivar at the ice hotel
7. me and Sister Pearson, relaxing on our ice chairs at the ice hotel
8. my elders :) Elder Williams, Elder Zaldivar, Elder Magre, and Elder Pearson
9. Sister Pearson and I in one of the rooms at the ice hotel
10. Sister Cottrell and I with Patrick :) I love him!
11. Sister Pearson and I at the ice hotel
12. Our district before entering the ice hotel...Sister Pearson, me, Elder Pearson, Elder Williams, Elder Magre, and Elder Zaldivar

"Après tout ce qui été dit, le devoir le plus grand et le plus important est de prêcher l'Évangile." - Joseph Smith

Hey Everybody!

This week was a crazy week...there was so much going on! Best news of the week: Patrick set a baptismal date! I am SO excited for him. So we've been teaching him for the past week and he called us one day and said that his girlfriend was going to be there the next day, so not to do another law of chastity kind of lesson (if you remember, the day we planned to do chastity he had invited 2 friends with him, and it did not go over very well) so we told him we'd review the first discussion. We got there the next day and not only was his girlfriend there, but also his twin brother, their friend Crystal, and another friend. The lesson went well, but I'm not sure they're all that serious about learning more. It was still pretty exciting though. Then, the best part, was at the end, I wasn't quite sure how to ask him for another rendez-vous with all his friends right there, so I just didn't say anything, and then he asked “So when do we get to see you again? Monday evening maybe?” So we set up something for tonight. He was also at church yesterday (a little late; he'd forgotten about dailylight savings time) and that went so well! I was talking to him after Sunday School and he asked “So...when is my baptism?” And I told him we had 2 more commandments that we wanted to teach him with just him and then he could be baptized after that, so maybe not this saturday, but the one after, and he was just thrilled about that. He went to Priesthood and volunteered the information to Elder Williams and then Elder Grinton later thought he would help push him towards baptism a bit and asked “So when are you getting baptized?” and Patrick said “in two weeks.” He's so excited about it and he really knows it's all true and he wants so much for his girlfriend to believe it to. I just love him :) Only problem: we still have to teach Sabbath day and Tithing, and I don't think Sabbath Day will be a problem, but Tithing could be a HUGE issue. Especially since we found out yesterday that he really wants to marry his girlfriend and they've been talking about it a lot, but he has to pay a dowry for her of $5,000, so it might be a little hard for him to pay tithing while he's trying to save money for that. I don't know how that will turn out...we'll just pray a lot and really try to bring the spirit in to the lesson when we teach that one. I think it'll be ok though...he knows the church is true and LOVES the Book of Mormon. It'll work out.

Also this week: we had zone conference! That was a lot of fun. I just love President and Sister McKinnon :) Sister McKinnon talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and Bible prophets and how their revelations all intertwined (especially those around 600 BC – Lehi's time) and then had us each write a verse to Follow the Prophet and sing them in front of the group. So fun. Then President McKinnon touched on a lot of different things that were all just what I needed to hear. It really was such a great conference. The weeks with zone conference and interviews are probably my favorite weeks out of the transfer. I don't get quite as much finding in on those weeks, but they're definitely more spiritually uplifting.

We also had our fireside last night and that was not as successful as I was hoping it would be. It really needed another 2 weeks of preparation and organization, but it went all right. It could've been so powerful had it worked out how we had pictured it, but it was still good and the Spirit was definitely there. The title was “Le Christ Vivant” (the Living Christ) and we went through the text of the “The Living Christ” with breaks here and there throughout it. We had Elder Magre doing the narration and we had 3 recent converts bear testimony throughout it (well, 2 recent convert and a life-long member...the other recent convert cancelled the day of) one about the Book of Mormon, one of how a knowledge of the Gospel had blessed their lives, and one I think about the Savior. We also had a congregational hymn (I Stand All Amazed) and a special musical presentation on the Restoration. It's a great idea for a fireside...I really enjoyed it.

Other than that, I can't think of anything really exciting that happened this week. It was a fun week filled with lots of work, and I'm excited for this week...we have more planned and hopefully will be able to get out and go finding more. I'm excited for it! I hope all is going well at home and you're all having a wonderful time. Love you all!

Love, Sister Nicole Lindsey

Life as a "mom"...

Hey everyone!

So this was my first week training, and it's been a bit rough, but good. Being the senior companion is A LOT more work than I was expecting it to be! But the elders have been wonderful and I have an incredible companion, so between them and the help of the members, it's been going well.

We went to the ice hotel on Monday, and that was fantastic. It was SO impressive what they do with ice and snow here. It was pretty warm, so there were parts that were a bit melty, but it was still really neat to see. Ramouski elders also came up with us, so there was a group of 8 missionaries, and that's always fun :) Then Tuesday was an adventure. Sister Pearson left early Tuesday morning and that was SO sad to see her driving away in the bus...I really miss her; she is just incredible. But she came back with her family to visit on Saturday and Sunday and we went out to dinner with them and had a wonderful time. Her parents were so nice and it was fun to sit and talk with her and find out all about her dying testimony meeting and dying party and everything like that :) It seems like forever away before I come back home, but then when I think about it, I've already been out for almost a third of my mission. There's not that much more time left....so crazy.

But anyways, so I stayed the day with Soeur Pelletier, the sister in the senior missionary couple, and she is so sweet. She has a very difficult accent to understand, so that made the day a bit interesting, but it turned out all right. Then we went and picked up my greenie! her name is Soeur Cottrell and she's from Alpine, Utah, but has lived all over the place. She's a professional harpist (plays for weddings and other concerts and things) and has 4 younger siblings. She's a convert....everyone in her immediate family have been members her whole life, but I guess she didn't live with her family for awhile and didn't get baptized until she was a teenager, so she does have a strong testimony of the gospel and can really relate to the investigators, which is a good thing. It has been a bit difficult, however, since I only speak a little bit of French and she doesn't speak ANY French at all, so sometimes it's a struggle to understand what's going on, but we've done pretty well so far :)

And the week missionary work-wise was pretty good...I'm still getting used to having to make all the decisions and Soeur Cottrell really doesn't know anything that's going on, which is to be expected, so we're working it out together. But we did get some finding in. And we FINALLY got ahold of Patrick and had a lesson with him that went really well. He doesn't quite understand what's going on though...he knows that baptism is a commandment and it's a good thing and he LOVES what we're teaching him, but we found out in the lesson we just had with him that he doesn't fully understand what baptism implies. He thought he had to live the commandments until he got baptized and then afterwards he could do whatever he wanted, to he said he still wanted to get baptized this Saturday, but then Soeur Belanger (our wonderful member who comes to most of the appointments with us) reminded him that when he gets baptized, he's making a commitment to come to church every Sunday from then on and we told him again that he had to keep the commandments AFTER he was baptized too, and he decided that, in that case, he was going to postpone his baptism until he could figure out exactly how to obey the commandments and really feel comfortable in living all of them. So it's a good thing; we really want him to be comfortable with the idea of being baptized and living the commandments so that he can keep them his whole life, not just for another week. We're meeting with him again tonight and we're going to watch Finding Faith in Christ and talk a bit about how faith does lead us to action but we really need to trust in the Lord and know that He'll help us to obey the commandments he's given us, or something like that. We'll see. I hope it goes well....

Oh, and the other day, it was so wonderful! So our next door neighbor/landlord, Frere Caron, is just incredible. His wife and his 4 children (only one of which lives at home) are all less active, but he is completely stalwart. So about 2 weeks ago he gave us a paper with a question his wife had had concerning a part of the Plan of Salvation and returning and living with God again. We found an answer and he invited us over this past Friday to talk about it. When we got there, his wife's brother and sister-in-law (both nonmembers) were there as well, and we sat and visited with them a bit, and then started to share the answer that we had found. We then moved on to prayer and how we can always ask God for answers and often He'll answer them in the scriptures or through other people, and her brother asked how I could have such faith in that, and so I gave a few examples and bore my testimony about the importance of prayer and then Frere Caron did the same. It was SUCH a great lesson. The next day we saw Frere Caron and he thanked us again for the lesson and said that his brother-in-law had been really touched by the lesson and really impressed by the things that we had said, so he's going to invite us over again the next time that they're over there for another quick lesson :) It was so exciting!

Then we also met this man, Roger. He's a bit odd, but really intersted in what we have to say. We taught him a first lesson and he loved it (I think...I really don't understand ANYTHING he says since his accent is so strong, so I usually just nod my head when he talks and pray that he's agreeing with what I say and then keep talking) and said he'd start reading the Book of Mormon immediately. he couldn't come to church this week, but he'd definitely be here next week. We're teaching him again tomorrow, so we'll see what happens! :)

Other than that, the week has been pretyy standard...nothing too out of the ordinary. The elders came up with a game for us to play while knocking doors, so starting tomorrow we're going to be playing "rejection bingo". they made us a bingo board with different numbers corresponding to all the different ways that people accept/reject our message, and whoever gets bingo first, wins. I'm pretty excited about it :) Oh, and it's zone conference this week which is always fun, and we're having our The Living Christ fireside this Sunday...I'll let you know how it goes next week! Love you all!

Love, Sister Nicole Lindsey

"As surely as this is the work of the Lord, there will be opposition. There will be those, perhaps not a few, who with the sophistry of beguiling words and clever design will spread doubt and seek to undermine the foundation on which this cause is established. They will have their brief day in the sun. they may have for a brief season the plaudits of the doubters and the skeptics and the critics. But they will fade and be forgotten as have their kind in the past." - General Conference, April 1994

And the moment you`ve all been waiting for....transfer calls :)

Hello everybody!

This week has been CRAZY...there has been so much to do! We tried to focus just on the work, but it was a bit difficult with Sister Pearson already knowing that she`s leaving and having to organize everything for that and for her tour around Quebec when her parents come to pick her up. But at least it`s given us a bit of time to make sure that I have copies of all her pros helps and anything else I might need from her. So...transfer calls came on Saturday night and they have a tradition up here in Quebec of having all the companionships in the city get together and have a little "party" of sorts while we wait for the transfer call and that way the Assistants only have to call one person and just talk to everyone at the same time. So we were sitting at the Institute on Saturday night with Elder Zaldivar and Elder Magre waiting for the zone leaders to show up and I got a call from Prseident McKinnon. He started off by saying that they were transferring my companion (such a shock :) ) and that I had every right to be nervous for transfers (I guess Sister Pearson or someone told him I was slightly concerned...i don't remember mentioning it in interviews) because the rumors were right...I'm training. There are 4 sisters coming in this transfer so I don't know which one I'm getting yet, but only one of them spoke French before the MTC and she's going Spanish speaking. So it will be interesting...I haven't even been out 6 months yet and I'm training already! In a completely French area where I don't understand the accent AT ALL with someone who only knows MTC French. It will be interesting, that's for sure. But I'm excited...there are always miracles when a greenie is in the area, and there are going to be 4 in our zone next transfer (one elder, the girl I'm training, one girl who came last transfer, and then Sister Orozco's taking on another greenie) so our zone is going to be AMAZING! I'm excited for that :) And I'll let you know all about my new companion next week after I meet her.

But as for the rest of last week....it was really fun! For p-day last Monday we didn't do too much...we wanted to go to the Ice Hotel, but then the elders decided they didn't have money to go last week so instead we're going today since it's the new month and we have more money. I'm excited for it :) Instead, we watched the Emma Smith movie...it was good to see her side of it, but I didn't really like it that much...the Joseph Smith one is definitely better. But there are some really cute scenes in it that you don't see in the Joseph Smith movie. So that was fun :) We also taught Robin on Tuesday and that went well...we're hopefully going to see him again tomorrow. We also taught Patrick twice AND he came to church! it was SO exciting to have him there finally and the lessons were perfect for him...it was wonderful :) I just hope things work out this week...We taught him Word of Wisdom which he was great with...he LOVED the blessings from it. Then on Friday we taught him Law of Chastity and THAT was an interesting lesson. We had planned it all out and really needed to teach it to him since he was planning on getting baptized like this week (I think that's since changed, but we haven't really discussed it with him yet...) so we go to the lesson and he'd invited 2 other friends to come and sit in....not the ideal first lesson. But both friends are meeting with us again next Friday, and Patrick said he'd live both WOW and Law of Chastity, so that was exciting :) But then yesterday at church he started to tell Sister Pearson something about changing his baptism since he didn't realize he'd actually have to LIVE that law before he got baptized...so we're meeting with him again this afternoon and we'll see what happens. He has to get baptized though...he knows it's true, he LOVES the Book of Mormon, and he is ready...he just needs to have the faith and know that God will give him the strength he needs to live through any trial. So it'll turn out :)

Oh, and I think the highlight of this week was definitely our district study on Wednesday. So for background real quick: each night our district leader (Elder Zaldivar) calls us and asks us how our day went and some other questions and about a week ago he started asking random questions like what our favorite food is and favorite color is and if we could be any thing what would it be and things like that. So we gave him the asnwers, not thinking anything of it. Then on Sunday they asked us about funeral potatoes and we were a bit confused, and then on Monday they explained that they were doing a big transfer party on Saturday as a surprise for the zone leaders and it was supposed to be a surprise for us, but they weren't creative enough so they needed our help in deciding what to do. So we gave them some ideas and that it was really neat that they had decided to come and ask for our help :) THEN on Wednesday we show up for district study (a little bit late...it took a little while to do our make-up :) ) and we walk in to the institute and elder Magre is there with his hair parted and everything and in a 3 piece suit with a black tie and he told us we were doing the study in the chapel. So we walk in and Elder Pearson is handing out programs to the funeral of Sister Pearson (when a missionary goes home, it's termed as "dying" for anyone who didn't know) and the senior couple was there, everyone was in black with black ties, there were roses at the front and a picture of Sister Pearson, and it was done SO well! They had an obituary and everyone was pretending to cry and we each went up and said some of our thoughts about Sister Pearson and then they ended with a DVD they had made of pictures representing Sister Pearson's "mission life". It was amazing; I'll have to send pictures sometime. they did such a good job with it! And it was really funny because in the obituary, they used every single one of the random questions they had asked us the week before...it was incredible. We had such a great time :)

Then our transfer party was really fun too...We took our dinner break at 7 and went up there and met up with the elders. Elder Magre had the idea that each of us should bring 3 random things from our apartments and we'd all put them on a table, divide into teams, and pick 3 things and make a game out of it and then we'd each play each others games. So we split into 2 teams (seniors vs. juniors, like always). My team was me, elder Magre, and Elder Williams and we had 8 boxes of those valentine's day conversation hearts (Sister Pearson had gotten a package that morning from her mom with those in there and we couldn't eat them all ourselves), a typewriter, a bag of beach toys, and a half-deflated beach ball. So we made up this game that was a mix of skittles bowling (where each color heart has a different thing attached to it, ie: use your head, on your knees, eyes closed, etc) and kickball, but instead of bases, you had to run to a beach toy that contained candy hearts, pick a heart and read it, another team mate would type that on the typewriter, and the other team would try and tag the person out with the ball, but once you were holding the ball you couldn't move and since it was mostly deflated, you could barely throw it. Then whoever had the most hearts typed at the end won. it was pretty fun. the other team had this competition where you had to put finger puppets on the hands of a team member, tie a paintbrush to their head using string, use an ab slide to go down and dip your paintbrush in the paint and then write your initials on a piece of paper. Each team member had to do it and they timed us against their team. it was pretty fun as well :) We had SUCH a great time.

So all in all it was a wonderful week :) Finding suffered slightly which means that my greenie and I will have to work a little harder this next week, but it'll turn out well. I hope all is going well with each of you! Love you all tons!!

Love, Sister Lindsey

PS: CONGRATULATIONS on your baptism THEO!!! I'm SO excited for you :)