Hope

It rained almost every single day this week!! I thought I had escaped and hadn't worn my big blue coat in over a transfer. Should have listened a few weeks ago when a French lady taught me this cute French rhyme: "Pendant le mois d'avril, il ne faut pas se découvrir un fil." (During the month of April, don't take off a thread of clothing.) Apparently it rains like crazy every April just when you think it's going to be warm forever. It has been a very wet week. This might explain the many water park dreams I had in the past seven days.

 

Last Monday evening which we spent in the pouring rain. :)

 

On a sunnier note, Soeur McOmber is quickly becoming one of my favorite people in the entire world. I say the phrase "You have got to be kidding me" a lot, so this week she taught me the phrase "You have CAT to be KITTEN me." I died from joy. She was officially inducted into the Midnight Soul Searching Club this week. One night after planning we just sat on the ground and dissected life to its uttermost. I absolutely adore her. God is just so kind to me and always gives me exactly who I need for every phase of my mission. God knew I needed Soeur McOmber right now.
 

Soeur McOmber being rebellious. The little rock says "this little green patch of grass is private."

 

We saw a LOT of cats this week. 

It was a great week.

Yep, that cat is totally cross-eyed. 

 

Walking through Rihour and we just happened to see this sign on this little cafe that says
in the 1700s Voltaire came to a production of one of his plays here. What?! Where do I live again?!

 

We were walking through this random part of town and someone had put
this metal image of Don Quixote on this wall.

Monday night we were trudging around in the pouring rain for hours. It's vacation for the next few weeks so all of our amis are out of town. Which means zero RDVs. Which means lots and lots of porting and passing by old amis homes. So that's what we did. In the pouring rain. For hours. After having zero success, we decided we had time for one more door and knocked on the door of some old amis, Isabelle and Sylvain. They answered and when we told them who we were they invited us inside their gorgeous old home! And we spent the most beautiful half hour with this beautiful hippy family as we all talked and sipped our chicorée.. They all gathered around and we talked about the world and sometimes how scary it can all seem. We talked about natural disasters and uncertainty. Then we talked all about HOPE. And Isabelle leaned in and listened so intently. And my heart grew so big and filled with so much love for this family that I felt like it couldn't fit in my chest.

And it reminded me of this scripture which my last companion loved so very much: "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." (Ether 12:4)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is pure hope. Hope that everything we live and suffer isn't for nothing. Hope that it all means something bigger and grander than we can imagine. There is nothing I love more than watching the light go on in someone's eyes when they catch their first glimpse of HOPE. It's beautiful. It's inspiring. I want to do it forever.

xoxo, Soeur Autumn Bradley