Hangin with the Blues! (Update #14)

Bonjour tout le monde!

As per usual, I don't have lot of time, but this week has been SO COOL!

This week, we had "Bounce Back" conference, where all the bleus (new missionaries) and their trainers came back to Lyon for a conference with President and Sister Brown.    That means that our awesome MTC district was reunited and I got to have another sleepover with Soeur Jones.  Sooooooo fun!


Our MTC district re-united at Bleus Conference.


It was so nice to see Sister Jones again!


Crazy there are this many "new" missionaries in the Lyon mission!

Love living in Lyon (close to the mission home), because when all  the other missionaries come for conferences, it's like they're all coming to my home!

It's so cool to see how far everyone has come since the MTC.  Something about spending time with Soeur Jones just reminds me that everything is going to be okay.  Literally love her so much.  It's just so cool to see how we're both struggling with some of the same things and having such similarly funny experiences with French and missionary life, but we're both going to be okay!   Soeur Jones is seriously such an inspiration to me on how to always be improving and working, but also to just live in the moment be present.  She really knows how to just appreciate what's happening in every given moment and that's one of my goals; to enjoy every day, every conversation, every experience of my mission.    Because France is amazing and the French people are even more amazing, my heart is so content to be here amongst these incredible people in this beautiful country.

Miracle:  
On Saturday, one of the other sisters said they met someone on the bus in our sector that knew the missionaries.  We had never heard of him before.  Later that night we got a call from someone asking where stake conference will be the next day because he wants to come.   Unfortunately he got lost and  kept texting us for directions during the conference.   An hour after the conference started, he was still completely lost in Lyon and he was ready to "laissez tomber" (let it drop), for today.    In that moment, I just said a prayer with all the faith I could muster that he would somehow find his way there.   10 minutes later, Cani Rwagasana walks into stake conference!!!



Afterward, we went and talked to him and he told us about how  he had met the missionaries a long time ago, but his spirit "wasn't ready."   He also told us how he is ready to change his life now.    (Cool side note:   A lot of the talks at stake conference were about how the gospel can change us! )    We asked him to start praying that his heart will be ready to receive the truth of our message and he said he would asked for us to pray for him too.    We're meeting with him again tomorrow to start the lessons with him.

Crazy, that in the last seven weeks we've done sooo many hours of finding people to teach through door-to-door and street contacting, talking to hundreds of people in the process, and the ONE who is ready and want to learn more literally came to us.   God definitely works in mysterious way, but it's also pretty clear that His way works better than ours.  So grateful we aren't expected to do this work alone.  I'm just His hands.

Other Miracles:
Luzia and Alexandre came to stake conference! She's been to church two weeks in a row and I really think she's starting to change.   From that first miracle encounter in the elevator six weeks ago, to the strong relationship we have with her today, it's so cool to see that God sees the full picture!   He knows what needs to happen today so that six weeks, six months, six years own the road, something incredible will happen.

Other Happenings: 
The Macedonians:   We had a cool lesson with a group of students from Macedonia (in English) on Sunday!  Then we randomly ran into them in Lyon today on p-day!   So fun!



Cool French experience:   Someone at stake conference gave  talk in Portuguese which was then translated into French.  The juxtaposition between a language where I could understand nothing and then French, where I could understand almost everything, brought tears to my eyes.  I hadn't realized until then just how much I've learned and how much God is clearly helping me in this process.   Just 12 weeks ago, listening to French would have been like listening to the talk in Portuguese and I wouldn't have understood a thing.    And now I can somehow understand.    And I promise you that it has very little to do with me and a whole lot to do with the fact that God is helping me communicate with His children that He called to serve.

Je vous aime!!!   Merci pour tout ce que vous faites et bon continuation!
Love,
Soeur Cami Goold

 

 

 

 

                                  Me and Soeur Kelley with Soeur Jones and Soeur Holmgren.

 

 

 

                                                         Cool wall mural we passed.

Still Kicking Down Doors in Lyon (Update #13)

Bonjour tout le monde!!
This week we received our first transfer calls along with the EXCITING
news that Soeur Kelley and I will be staying together in Lyon (Val de Saône area)!
So exciting. And to express how exciting this is, let me tell you a
little more about Soeur Kelley (something I realize I've totally
neglected to do).

Soeurs Goold and Kelley will stay companions!   

I forget you don't know anything about my life unless I tell you.
Anyway, Soeur Kelley is AMAZING! 

Exactly what I needed in a trainer.

She's sooo laid back and gets along with everyone but also works so
hard. We've really been focusing on building relationships with
members and porting prayerfully and we've seen so many miracles
together. Also have had lots of laughs along the way (usually about me
doing something stupid hahah). Soeur Kelley has such a powerful
testimony and has really learned how to teach simply but with power.
I've already learned so much from her and I'm excited to have another
transfer to keep learning :) She's been on her mission since January
and has had 7 companions in 7 transfers. Yes, you've done the math
correctly, that means I'm the first companion of Soeur Kelley's entire
mission that she has stayed with for more than one transfer. (This
says nothing about me and everything about how easy Soeur Kelley is to
get along with). I can't believe I've been so blessed that my first 2
companions have quickly become lifelong friends.

We've decided that our relationship is like that of a mom and toddler.
She can understand everything I say and often has to translate for me,
just like a toddler speaks in absolute jubberish but somehow their mom
knows exactly what they want. We have a really good system worked out
where we meal plan together, I cook and she does the dishes. Thus far
it's been perfect :)

Cookies she baked for ice cream sandwiches for  Soeur Burton's birthday

So Saturday morning while Soeur Kelley was in the other room the phone
rings with an unknown number. Usually I always let Soeur Kelley answer
but I figured I had no choice so I picked up and said "oui, bonjour?"
Well, turns out the call was for me. It was our bishop asking if I
could give a talk in sacrament meeting...TOMORROW. Of course I had to
say yes. With 9:30 church, one day to prepare, lots of porting to do,
and a 10:30 bedtime, I was a little stressed. Beforehand I just prayed
that God would help me communicate in spite of the language barrier.
That the Holy Ghost would shar my message. Well, my prayer was
answered. My talk may not have been beautiful, but everyone said they
understood perfectly. And as I always say: "si vous pouvez comprendre,
je suis contente."

READ HER TALK HERE.

Some funny Comments on my talk:
- Your French is good but your accent is terrible! You talk with your
mouth instead of your nose. Proceeds to imitate my speaking by widely
opening and closing his mouth. (Old French man visiting from Paris,
his daughter proceeded to tell me that this was a huge compliment
coming from him).

- You sounded like an apostle. (Diogen, YSA, about 20, from the Congo,
baptized about 2 years ago)

- instead of saying we knock on doors I accidentally said we kick down
people's doors the whole time hahahah. One of the members pulled me
aside after and made this very clear. Frapper dans Le port means to
kick down the door, frapper à le port means knock on the door. Good to
know.

Other laughs:
--This week we were out driving to a less active's house when suddenly
someone honks at us. We had no clue why so I said "maybe he was trying
to pass you" except instead I said "maybe he was trying to baptize
you." Didn't even realize what had happened until I looked over and
Soeur Kelley was dying of laughter. Well.... sounds like I'm
officially a missionary ;)

--The same day while porting someone told us the usual "j'ai pas
beaucoup de temps et ça m'intéresse pas de tout" (I don't have time
and I'm not at all interested). We always just smile and tell them:
thank you and have a nice day, except this time I said loud and clear
"aujourd'hui" instead of "au revoir" (I shouted at her "today!"
Instead of "goodbye") hahahah.

--We were at our lesson with Jeremy walking back to the car (he always
likes to walk around when we have lessons) when suddenly our phone
rings. Soeur Kelley takes a couple steps away to answer and Jeremy and
I are just standing there when suddenly I look down and see a HUGE
bright green bug on my leg. I thought it was a praying mantis. It was
just a grasshopper. But I shrieked and started hopping around in
circles and Jeremy was just dying of laughter and Soeur Kelley was
sooo confused on the phone. Then Jeremy killed the bug... I felt a
little bad, but not too bad. Hopefully it goes to bug heaven. (Is bug
heaven a real thing? If it is I hope it's really far away from human
heaven, that would be A LOT of creepy crawly flying insects)

Soeur Kelley, Cam, and Jeremy the bug killer

Cool things:
Porting miracle, we only had an hour to go porting before we wanted to
stop by and visit a member (Soeur Simonet, awesome, forte member.
Reminds me a lot of my mom in her personality and dedication to her
calling. She visit teaches 15 people. 15. Because there are 139 women
on the ward list and only 31 are (mostly) active. She visits 7 every
month and writes handwritten letters to the other 8. Wow. She says
magnifying our callings and loving our neighbors selflessly is how we
show God our gratitude. And man does she live by that statement. Also
Soeur Simonet went to BYU and speaks perfect English. We always speak
French though so she can help me.) anyway, we went porting and really
tried to follow the spirit, one step at a time. We drove to a
neighborhood then felt like we needed to drive to the other side of
the ville, drove there, did a couple laps around the roundabout then
chose the rue to go down. Turned into a little cartier and started
porting. As we started knocking on doors the image of a rue we passed
driving into the neighborhood came into my mind. I told Soeur Kelley I
didn't know why but I wanted to go there... So we did. The first door
we knocked on was a young girl (maybe 17) who has never believed in
God, but was really interested in why we believe. You could tell she
saw something different about us and is looking for something more in
her life. She doesn't want to keep meeting with us now, but she
promised us she would start seeking God through prayer and scriptures.

SK, SG, Ana Sophia, and Soeur Carvalho

#mishspiration
God doesn't always tell us the exact neighborhood or house we need to
go to, but if we let him, he will guide us, one little direction at a
time. Sometimes that means blindly taking the first step so He can
show us the next one. Like the blind man in the New Testament who
hears that Christ is coming and immediately stands up and runs toward
Christ while "Christ stood still in the way." We cannot sit still, we
need to stand up and take those first steps (sometimes blindly) to
meet Christ in the way. And the promise is that if we come to him as
he comes to us, through faith we can be healed.

Je vous aime!!!
Soeur Cami Goold

Saying goodbye to the Sweeney's in the mission office.  They are neighbor's of my grandparents.  

Sacrament Meeting Talk 10/23/2016 (in English and French)

Good morning everyone! I am so grateful for this opportunity to be
with you in this incredible ward and especially to be able to speak to
you today. I admire each of you for your testimonies and faith in
Christ. You inspire me to become a better missionary. My name is Soeur
Goold, I'm from the US (as I'm sure you noticed in my accent),
Washington DC. I have two brothers, two sisters and a dog (I'm the
second oldest). I have been here in France for 6 weeks now and I
absolutely love it. I think you have the most beautiful country in the
world. Also the most delicious bread. And the most beautiful language
(even if I can't really speak it). Please forgive my poor language,
but I pray that the spirit will be here during my talk, despite my
French. In the MTC (place where we go for 6 weeks to learn how to
speak French/ be a missionary before our mission) they throw you right
into teaching Amis de l'eglise. Neither me or my companion spoke any
French so we walked into our first "lesson" with notes of exactly what
we needed to say. As the ami started asking questions our notes
quickly failed us and we were left with nothing but the scriptures,
our limited French vocabulary, and the Holy Ghost. The only thing we
could remember how to say was: "Dieu vous aime." And the only
scripture I knew in French was Josué 1:9 "Ne t'ai Je pas donné cet
ordre? Fortifie-toi et prends courage: ne t'effraie point et ne
t'épouvante point, car le Seigneur, ton Dieu est avec toi dans tout ce
que tu entreprendras." Since that comical experience in the MTC, I've
learned to speak a little bit more French, but the most important
message of the gospel remains the same. That the God of all the
universe is literally our father, and he loves us more than we can
possibly imagine. if you can understand nothing else of my talk, I
hope to leave you with that same simple message that we taught in the
MTC. You are literally a child of God. He knows you perfectly. He has
a plan for you. I can feel His love for you as I look around this room
today. All we have to do to access the power of His love is turn
towards Him in our hearts and minds. Brothers and sisters, Dieu vous
aime.Now, I will attempt to share a story.As missionaries we do a lot
of porting. Sometimes the people we meet are really kind and other
times they are a little less than pleasant. One of these less
enjoyable experiences was a man who responded: "who do you think you
are knocking on people's doors to talk about God? How old are you
anyway? What do you think you know that we don't know? If we want to
go to church we go to the church right there. I know you're American,
but in France we just don't do this." At first I just brushed it off,
but then I really started to think, maybe he asked some valid
questions. what is my purpose here? I am only 19 years old, what do I
know that can help these people? What is my motivation to go knocking
on strangers doors just so that we can talk about God with them? Why
do we knock on hundreds of doors every week in hopes that maybe 1 of
them will listen?  After meditating on these questions for a while I
found my answer in a talk by Elder Jeffrey R Holland. He told a story
of Mother Teresa who worked in a city to combat poverty and serve the
poor. One man confronted her and demanded why she was wasting her
time. He said that statistically speaking, she was accomplishing
absolutely nothing. I will take her response directly from elder
Hollands talk because he can say it much better than me."This
remarkable little woman shot back that her work was about love, not
statistics."Notwithstanding the staggering number beyond her reach,
she said she could keep the commandment to love God and her neighbor
by serving those within her reach with whatever resources she had.
“What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean,” she would say on
another occasion. “But if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be one drop
less [than it is].” "Christianity is obviously not a statistical
endeavor... if there would be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over the ninety and nine who need no repentance, then
apparently God is not overly preoccupied with percentages."I may only
be 19 years old, I certainly do not know everything, I barely even
speak French, and yet, I'm here to simply do the most that I can. I'm
here because I know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is
our savior. That he died on the cross so that we may live again, so
that he could feel everything we feel, so that we don't have to walk
this path of life alone. I'm here because the gospel of Jesus Christ
has changed my life. I may not speak French, our work may just be a
drop in the ocean, but this is a work of love, not statistics.
Whenever I'm feeling small or inadequate I find comfort in the thought
that our entire church, the true church of Jesus Christ, that blesses
so many lives, is on the earth today thanks to the great faith of an
uneducated, 14 year old boy.  By small and simple things are great
things brought to pass.  I love the children's movie the BFG. it the
story of a big friendly giant who blows happy dreams into the windows
of sleeping children at night. There are nine other giants who go out
and snatch children out of their beds and eat them.When a little girl
discovers the BFG and asks what he is going to do, he says: “I be
going dream blowing. It be as good as I can do.”The BFG is living in a
world where he was forced to watch helplessly as nine other giants go
off and ate children. He could do nothing to stop them. But instead of
just watching, he blew dreams, because it was “as good as he could
do.” to combat the evil in the world at the time. We aren't able to
and don't need to fight all the Giants in the world by ourselves, we
just all need to do the most good we can in every moment.The small and
simple things we each do will be different in every stage of life. For
me, sharing the joy of the atonement of Jesus Christ includes a little
more knocking on doors. God doesn't expect us all to dedicate 24/7 to
preaching the gospel, but he does expect us to do what we can in each
stage of life. A mission is not something you do, it is something you
become. In the words of Elder Bednar: Plenty of people go on missions,
but never become missionaries. Becoming a missionary doesn’t mean
serving a full time mission, it means simply doing “the most good you
can” in whatever stage of life you are in. For very few of us, that
means going on full-time missions. But a mission only lasts 2 years.
Our real mission lasts our whole life, our real mission is to "do what
we can," one drop at a time, to share the love and joy we have with
other people.A quote I love is "live your life in such a way that when
people get to know you, they get to know Christ." That is the most we
can do. We can try to live the way Christ would have us live. When we
live joyfully and lovingly, in a little way, we help those around us
better understand the savior. Thank you for your examples to me of how
to live more like the savior. When we visit your homes, when we see
your faces at church each week, I feel the Savior's love in you. I
leave you with my testimony that Jesus Christ lives.

**************************************************

En Francais:
Bonjour à tous! Je suis très reconnaissante d'être là avec vous dans
cette paroisse et spécifiquement pour l'occasion de partager mon
témoignage aujourd'hui. J'admire chacun de vous pour votre grande foi
et vos témoignages de Jésus Christ.
Je m'appelle Soeur Goold, je viens des États Unis à Washington DC
(comme vous pouvez voir dans mon accentJ'ai deux frères et deux sœurs
et un chien. Je suis le deuxième dans ma famille. Ça fait cinq semaine
de puis je suis venue ici et je l'aime. Je pense vous avez le plus
beau pays dans le monde... Et aussi le meilleure pain. S'il vous plaît
pardonnez mon accent, je pris que l'esprit soit ici en dépit de mon
français. Quand j'étais au MTC, on commence à enseigner des amis de
l'église dès qu'on arrive. Ni ma collègue ni moi parlait français. De
tout. Donc, pour notre premier rendez-vous avec un ami on a apporté
des notes avec chaque phrase dont on avait besoin de dire. Lorsque
l'ami commençait à poser des questions on s'est rendue compte que nos
notes ne nous suffisaient pas. On avait que les écritures, l'esprit,
et notre vocabulaire limitée. La seule phrase dont nous pouvions nous
souvenir était: "Dieu vous aime". La seule écriture que je connaissais
était Josué 1:9 "Ne t'ai Je pas donné cet ordre? Fortifie-toi et
prends courage: ne t'effraie point et ne t'épouvante point, car le
Seigneur, ton Dieu est avec toi dans tout ce que tu entreprendras."De
puis cet expérience rigolo, j'ai appris un peu plus de français, mais
le plus important message de l'évangile est toujours le même. Que le
Dieu de tout l'univers est littéralement notre père, et il nous aime
plus que nous pouvions imaginer. Et il est vraiment avec nous
toujours. Si vous pouvez comprendre rien de mon discours, j'espère je
peux vous laisser avec le message simple que j'ai enseigné au MTC.
Vous êtes les enfants de Dieu. Il vous connaît parfaitement. Il a un
plan pour vous. Je peux voir l'amour de Dieu pour chacun de vous.
Frères et sœurs, Dieu vous aime. Maintenant, je vais essayer de
partager un petit histoire. A tant que missionnaires, nous faisons
beaucoup de port à port. Quelques fois les gens que nous rencontrons
sont gentil et quelques fois c'est pas vraiment un plaisir. L'un des
moins agréable expériences était un homme qui a dit: "Pourquoi est-ce
que vous frappez dans les ports pour parler de Dieu? Quel âge avez
vous? Qu'est-ce que vous connaissez que je ne connais pas? Si je veux
aller à l'église, je vais à l'église juste là. Je sais que vous êtes
américain, mais en France nous simplement ne le faisons pas."À la
début je juste l'ignorais, mais après temps j'ai pensé plus de ses
commentaires et j'ai réalisé que peut être il avait raison. Quel est
mon objectif ici? J'ai seulement dix neuf ans, qu'est-ce que je
connais de vie que les gens ici ne connaissent pas? Quel sont mes
motivations pour aller et frapper dans les ports des inconnus?
Pourquoi est-ce que nous frappons dans plus que cent ports chaque
semaine avec l'espoir que juste un va écouter? Quand j'étais en train
de méditer sur ces questions, j'ai trouvé mon réponse dans un discours
d'Elder Holland. Il a partagé l'histoire de Mère Teresa qui
travaillait dans un ville de secours des indigents là. Un homme a lui
confronté et demandé pourquoi est-ce qu'elle continue dans cette perte
de temps? Il a dit que, statistiquement parlant, elle n’accomplissait
absolument rien.Je vais prendre les mots d'Elder Holland d'exprimer
son réponse.Cette petite femme remarquable a rétorqué que son œuvre
était une œuvre d’amour et non de statistiques."En dépit du nombre
incommensurable de gens qui se trouvaient hors de sa portée, elle a
dit qu’elle pouvait obéir au commandement d’aimer Dieu et son prochain
en servant les personnes qui se trouvaient à sa portée, avec les
moyens dont elle disposait. En une autre occasion, elle a dit : « Ce
que nous faisons n’est qu’une goutte d’eau dans l’océan, mais, si nous
ne le faisions pas, l’océan aurait une goutte de moins. » De toute
évidence, le christianisme ne se soucie pas des statistiques. s’il y a
plus de joie dans les cieux pour un seul pécheur qui se repent que
pour quatre-vingt-dix-neuf qui n’ont pas besoin de repentir, c’est
qu’apparemment Dieu ne se préoccupe pas trop des pourcentages."J'aime
le film pour les enfants "le bon gros géant" c'est l'histoire d'un bon
géant qui donne les rêves bons à les enfants chaque nuit. Mais, il y a
aussi neuf géants méchant qui mange les enfants chaque nuit. Une nuit,
une petite fille demande à le géant: "qu'est-ce que vous allez faire"
et il répond, simplement, "je vais partager les rêves. C'est le mieux
je peux faire."Le bon gros géant était dans un monde ou il était forcé
de regarder lorsque neuf géants vont et manger les enfants chaque
nuit. Il ne peut pas les changer, mais chaque nuit, il a partagé les
rêves bons, parce que c'était le mieux chose il a pu faire dans ce
moment là. Nous pouvons pas combattre tout les géants méchants dans le
monde tout seul. Nous avons besoin de faire juste le plus qu'on peut
faire dans chaque moment. Et les choses petits et simple vont être
différent pour chacun de nous. Maintenant, pour moi, la Mission de
partager la joie de l'expiation de Jésus-Christ inclus plus frappant
dans les ports. Mais Dieu ne s'attends pas que nous tous donnons tout
notre temps pour partager l'évangile, il s'attends que nous fassions
tout ce qu'on pourra faire dans chaque situation.Peut être j'ai
seulement dix neuf ans, et je ne connais pas beaucoup, et je ne peut
pas parler français, mais quand même je suis ici à faire le plus que
je peux. Je suis ici parce que je sais que Jésus-Christ est notre
sauver. Qu'il est mort pour nous sur la croix, pour que nous puissions
vivre encore. Afin qu'il puisse ressentir tout ce que nous ressentons.
Pour que nous n'avons pas besoin de marcher le chemin de vie tout
seul. Je suis ici parce que l'évangile de Jésus-Christ a changé ma
vie. Notre œuvre peut être juste une goutte d’eau dans l’océan, mais
c'est un œuvre d'amour et pas des statistiques. Quand je me sens
petit ou insuffisante je trouve le confort dans le pensée que notre
église, le vrai église de Jesus-Christ, est sur la terre aujourd'hui
grâce à la grand foi d'un garçon qui avait seulement quatorze ans, qui
n'avais pas l'éducation. C'est Par des choses petit et simple, que de
grandes choses sont réalisées. Un Mission est pas quelque chose vous
faites, mais c'est quelque chose vous devinez. Dans les mots d'Elder
Bednar: "beaucoup du monde vont en missions, mais ne deviennent jamais
missionnaires." Devenir un missionnaire ne veut pas dire "servir une
Mission," mais devenir un missionnaire est faire le mieux que vous
pouvez dans ce moment là. Un Mission est seulement pendant deux ans.
Notre vrai mission est pendant tout nos vies. C'est de faire le plus
que nous pouvons faire, une goutte d'eau par une goutte d'eau, et
partager la joie et l'amour dont nous avons avec les gens parmi nous.
Un citation j'aime bien est: "vivez votre vie de telle maniere que
quand les gens vous connaissent, ils connaîtront Christ aussi." Ça
c'est le plus qu'on peut faire. Nous pouvons essayer de vivre comme
Jésus-Christ voudrait que nous vivrions. Quand nous vivons avec amour
et avec joie, dans un petit façon, nous aidons les gens parmi nous
connaître le sauver. Merci beaucoup pour votre bon exemples à moi.
Quand je visite vos maisons, quand je vois vos visages à l'église, je
peux vraiment ressentir l'amour de le sauver dans vous. Je vous laisse
avec mon témoignage que Jésus Christ vie. Et grâce à lui on peut
surmonter tout nos épreuves. Grâce à lui nous pouvons trouver le
bonheur en dépit de tout les choses mal parmi nous. Grâce à lui nous
pouvons devenir le personne qui Dieu veut que nous soyons. Comme il
dit dans le doctrine et alliances "demandez et vous recevrez, frappez
et l'on vous ouvrira." Le seul port dont nous avons besoin de frapper
est le port de notre sauver, Jésus-Christ. Je sais que cette église
est l'église de Jesus-Christ. Je dis ces choses au nom de
Jesus-Christ, amen.

Je Suis En France (Update #12)

This week the reality of being in France has really started to sink in and it's so cool. I love this country so much!! The people here are so kind, maybe not as outwardly open as Americans, but when you get them talking they are the kindest, most caring people. It's really neat to see. (And just like everywhere in the world there are the mean ones and the kind ones.  )

So this weeks email is going to be really short because today we had p-day at President and Soeur Brown's house (SO FUN!!)

#mishpiration 

This week I've been thinking a lot about what Hermana Katy Harrison said a couple weeks ago about contacting as if the Savior is
standing beside me:     

"Spiritual thought: I was thinking about the primary song "If the Savior stood beside me" and the part "would I do the things I do, would I say?" In one sense you can think about it as being accountable to the Lord and wanting to make Him proud. If the Savior was walking with us I would talk to every single person on the street becasue the Savior was watching. But I read 2 Nephi 22:2 (Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song;he also has become my salvation) and it made me think of the song as a source of strength. If the Savior was walking with us I wouldn't have any fear of opening my mouth because He would be there to help me. I truly believe the Lord is with His missionaries and we can trust Him and the Spirit to help us in talking to people, in serving them, in extending bold committments, etc. Be not afraid to stand up for what's right or to take big steps. He is your strength and your song and He stands with you!"   Hermana Katy Harrison

Having confidence as if he is there to validate everything I say. It's very applicable as a missionary knocking on a lot of doors, but also applicable in normal life. When we act and speak with the confidence that the Savior is there to back us up (when we're saying things that are worthy of Christ's  help), it becomes easier to be lovingly bold.

Miracle: 

We were porting when we met a practicing Catholic. He told us he didn't understand why we go knocking on people's doors, and that everyone has their own way of worshipping and we should respect that. I opened my mouth and the Holy Ghost put words there. I said something like: "franchement (frankly), we knock on people's doors because we have the knowledge of God, that knowledge has changed our lives, and we know that it can help everyone here." Afterwards Soeur Kelley said my French was better in that moment than ever before. Those weren't my words. I've been praying and studying how I can be lovingly bold, in that moment (and so many others) God answered my prayer. Becoming a lovingly bold missionary is going to take a lot of effort, studying, opening my mouth and going out of my comfort zone, but there is comfort in the fact that God always adds His power to our efforts.

Highlight: 

After church Soeur Kelley and I drove to an outer ville we've been planning on visiting for a couple weeks. On the way I felt like we needed to turn around and head somewhere near home. We were
already half an hour away so I decided to ignore the prompting. We arrive in the ville and start porting. After about 15 minutes Soeur Kelley turns to me and says "I feel like there's somewhere else we need to be right now." We got back in the car and (a little bit guiltily) drove most of the way back home to go porting in the ville I felt like we needed to go to 2 hours earlier. We didn't find a new ami, but we had 5 miracle lessons, one of which really needed to hear about God's plan for us. She didn't want to fix a rendezvous today, but she said she might come to church. I really feel that God sent us
to her. God WANTS to send us where were needed, sometimes I'm just too stubborn to listen. My goal going forward is never to ignore a prompting again, whether it's a real prompting or maybe just a thought in my head. Action is how I will learn how to discern when it's the spirit.

I SAW SOEUR JONES  (my MTC companion) THIS WEEK!!! She had to come up from Nice for legality in Lyon. SUPER FUN. Had a sleepover at the Ecully STLs house all together. I've missed her so much.

"We have both learned so much and realized how different the field was from the MTC. Our testimonies have both deepened so much and we've become more tough. I didn't even realize how much I loved Soeur Goold until I saw her again. She is an amazing person and I am so lucky to have her as my first companion and friend. It was so fun to talk with her because we are both going through very similar situations right now with being new. We talked about feeling so out of french conversations, fear of contacting, both sharing 1 Nephi 11:17 with every ami, how much we love the French people and want so badly to communicate with them, becoming more obedient, etc. Just such a joy to catch up with that lovely girl."      Quote from Soeur Jones on seeing Cami again

Je vous aime beaucoup!!!

Love,
Soeur Cami Goold

Soeurs Bright, Burton, Goold, and Kelley
Have no idea what the faces are for!