Elise's mission letters

  Bonjour tout le monde!  Iaorana tatou!  This week was a stressful one so strap in. The subject headline comes from a video call meeting I and a few other missionaries had to attend at 10 PM. This is too late for a meeting. I and all of the attendants were absolutely exhausted. One elder made a really good comment about a problem he has noticed. He kept going and was just about to give the amazing solution when he said "Therefore!" and then his brain gave up and he just sighed and shook his head. Rest in peace Elder    Here are some other highlights:  1. I put an ad for service on a fb group. A woman named Billie responded. She lived a few blocks out of our area, but service is service. We took everything out of her shed and then put everything back in, doing all of this while her giant tortoise slept in the backyard. I only whacked my head walking in and out of the 5 ft tall shed maybe...4? 5 times? Billie was horrified at this Sister missionary who someh...

  Iaorana tout le monde!  The subject line is a quote from the hilarious Hermana Stokes during a game of ultimate Frisbee. Let's just say that some people got hit in the head (or neck if you are one elder) but it was a very wild game. We were met with some fierce opposition this week. Whether it was some bashy lessons, a guy yelling insults out his car window, or a VERY rude man who shall remain nameless (because I don't know his name), the adversary tried really hard to wreck our week in the good old (emphasis on old) Chaffey Ward.  However, Hermana Humphreys and I were pretty unphased. It was crazy to see us leave rude contacts, brush ourselves off, and continue on. At the beginning of her mission, Sister Hatch would have let any one of these experiences fester and ruin her week. This week, the older and hopefully wiser too Sister Hatch and her lovely companion instead felt increased confidence and courage when faced with opposition. We are definitely made equal to the ...

  Bonjour mes amis! Comment ça va? Baguette!  When I received the news that I would be traveling to Tahiti, I started saying prayers that went a little like this:  "If I have to get covid, please make it this week and not in February." Well Brothers and Sisters, friends and family, God answers prayers.  I got covid.  Don't worry, however. I've been fine. I forced myself to take some naps and I don't feel super sick anymore. The combination of ibuprofen, naps, and no-bake cookies is scientifically proven to get you through just about any illness.  Missionary work still goes on even when you are stuck inside, so prepare yourselves for some amazing miracles!  I have been messaging Nancy off and on for several months on Instagram. This week, she wanted to do a video call! We talked about church, praying, and scripture reading. Social media work works!  We also spent a lot of time calling people. We were able to reestablish contact with our friend Gina...

  Iaorana to'u mau hoa maita'i roa! I apologize for an incredibly boring subject headline.  Fish are friends, not food We met our new friend Bruce! On Monday, we had a lesson set up with him, but we had never met him. We didn't have a member coming and needed another adult to follow mission rules.  Some frantic phone calls later, we convinced 2 elders to drop their plans and come to the lesson.  The lesson was SO good! We gave him a tour of the church building and taught the restoration as the elders wandered around behind us.  We also taught Bruce on Friday. He has a very powerful story and testimony of repentance. I love him so much and am so excited to help him come closer to Christ!  Rob and Rich are still on board! There was some drama with Rob and Rich last week, but EVERYTHING HAS BEEN RESOLVED! *phew* The normally quiet Rich was very talkative during our lesson. President Packer once said that a "testimony is to be found in the bearing of it." As Ri...

  Iaorana et bonne année! 2022? That's not a real year... Anyway, I hope you are having a wonderful, fantastic, and maita'i roa week.  I am still in Ontario, but I am now with the lovely Hermana Humphreys! She speaks Spanish but we are only in the English ward. Truly nothing can stop us in this English-Spanish trio.... except for Mandarin speaking families. Our ward no longer has 4 missionaries. It is just us, and because of this change, our area doubled in size. It's been exciting to get to figure out this new side of Ontario.  A quick funny story:  I told Ron, a recent convert, that there would no longer be elders in our ward and that it would just be sisters.  A few hours later, he sent a message into our ward group chat that sounded a bit like this:  "I heard you all left me. I won't forget you." A few minutes later, this random member replied, "Ron I haven't moved. I'm just out of town." Ron ignored this and kept going about how sad he w...