January 23, 2012
Best news of the week: Diamondo is doing SO much better! He and Sara are really on the up swing now. YAY!!! We finally got to see them again on Tuesday. So...the drama. Sara decided to go out with her ex fiance. Diamondo said he just felt sick about the idea and did everything he could to talk her out of it. But Sara, having known this guy for eight years was insistent that nothing bad would happen. But unfortunately she was wrong. This guy lost it and started beating her up in public. Sara was screaming for the police, but despite all the people around them, no one did anything more than watch. Finally two teenagers pulled over as they were driving past and got him to stop. She ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. Understandably she was super shaken up. Diamondo was as well of course, but even more than some creep doing that to his daughter, he was majorly bothered by the fact that this guy is a member of the Church. (Diamondo really struggles with hypocrites. Like...a lot.) To make matters worse, he was also the guy that introduced Sara to the church and baptized her. So both of them were struggling a bit to separate their feelings for him and their feelings for the Church.
When Diamondo came to the baptism, he talked to the bishop afterwards and let him know what happened. The bishop then told Sara yesterday at church, that he's talked to the bishop of her ex's ward and they'll be taking care of things.
They seemed to be doing so much better at Church. We had amis' class after sacrament meeting. Diamondo was sitting next to me. It was so cute, every time he answered a question he turned to me and just grinned from ear-to-ear. He even bore his testimony to everyone else in the room of the changing effect the Holy Ghost has had on him. After Church, at Sara's request we took the zone leaders over to their house to give her a blessing. He was just so proud of himself. =) He told the elders about how much he loves cCurch. "At first I was really shy and I wouldn't talk to anyone or share my thoughts. But now, you saw in that class, I answer questions, and I ask questions. Reading, praying and going to church have really changed me, but going to Church especially." To which I responded, "That's why it's so important to go to Church. It makes all the difference." He smiled and said, "I know! (then pointing at Sara) Every week. Okay? Every single week from now on." ha ha I just love Diamondo.
I'm not sure if I've told you about two of our other amis. They are the mother and daughter from Congo. The mother's brother-in-law is a member in London. Well, we saw them for the second time this past week. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. About half way through the rendez-vous, I felt really pushed to talk to them about baptism. So we got very blunt with them and asked them if they wanted it, what they thought of it, etc. I promised them that if they prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was really called of God to restore the gospel, they would have the desire to be baptized. To which Chantall, the mother, said, "I don't need to pray about that. I already have. I know that it's all true." Then her 16 year old daughter said she felt exactly the same way. It was incredible. They do have some concerns as to why they would need to be baptized a second time though. We talked about that for a while, explain how the restoration ties into that. In the end, we just asked them to pray to know if it's something God wants them to do. They are two of the sweetest people I've met out here. They are just happy and loving from the second you meet them. It's incredible to hear their story and see how well God has prepared them for this. =)
Most stressful day of my week...I had an appointment in Lille to renew my French legality on Thursday. Our train was supposed to leave at 12:18 getting me to Lille with about an hour to get to the prefecture. We ate lunch in the gare so that we could be there early -giving us plenty of time to catch the train. (I get really stressed about not missing trains.) We waited and waited and waited for them to announce the platform for our train...but they never did. I asked multiple people if I was just being dumb and couldn't find it (worded in a slightly more tactful manner though ha ha.) Everyone I talked to though, agreed with us. This train was nowhere to be found. Finally I found someone who knew what they were talking about, told us were to go and we took of running. We got to the platform with just enough time to watch the train roll away. Perfect...after a very stressful thirty-or so-minutes of trying to work things out and find another way down to Lille that would get us there in time, along with a 22 euro ticket upgrade: success! =) We made it to Lille with just enough time to meet up with the elders who gave us our metro tickets, and then we walked into the prefecture right at 2:30 (the time of my appointment.) Yay! The worst part is, after all that stress, if I finish my mission in Louise, then my French legality doesn't matter anyway ha ha. Oh well, it keeps the mission office happier. So, at least it's finally out of the way after our having made three serperate trips down there.
I've got to run. Sorry this is a short one. I love you and I'll talk to you soon. =)
Love
~Kim