Transfer One is DONE

[Last one for today is the email I got today. So I am ALL caught up. Which is good.]

Holy Cow! I can't believe I have been gone for three months already! These past 8 weeks have gone by crazy fast, but it has been fun this week to look back at all the progress I have made in these short weeks. My French has improved a ton, I have pretty much conquered my fear of the cell phone, and I have really fallen in love with missionary work and the people in Liège! Also, Wednesday, I will no longer be the youngest Bleu in Liège, because we will be getting a new Soeur and a new Elder! Yay for new Bleus!

This week has been a good one. We had an FHE at a member’s house, where we set missionary goals with three member families. I also discovered that the son of the family whose house we were at was in the same ward as me in Rexburg last fall, so that was weird. The Mormon world is so small! We were sitting and talking about missionary work, and all of the sudden, it hit me why he looked familiar. We totally saw each other at least once a week for a semester, haha!

Tuesday, we had district meeting in Bruxelles with all the zones there to celebrate with a pizza a party the accomplishment of finding 101 new amis as a zone this transfer. I heard my first dying testimony because Elder Jones goes home this week. So sad! He has been in Liège for the last 6 months and now he goes home this Thursday. After we had our meeting, we were enjoying our pizza when I learned that I would be attempting my first flan suck. You put a little cup on flan on you plate, and then somehow you are supposed to suck it up and swallow it all in one motion... Let’s just say, that I did not do very well. I kind of got flan everywhere. It didn't all fit in my mouth. Maybe next time it will go better...

Elder Buxton preparing to flan suck.

Wednesday and Thursday were normal days; we had some good lessons. One was with an old amie we found in the area book. She hasn't been taught since 2009, but she accepted an appointment with us. The rendez-vous was awesome! The first thing she asked us was, “Is it possible to grow my faith?” We were like, Ba...oui!! And then, she asked us “How!” And we were like WE CAN HELP YOU!! So, at the end of the rendez-vous, we gave her Alma 32 to read, the chapter that was literally created to help us missionaries out. It's so funny how at one moment in someone's life they are not prepared for the gospel, but six years later something has changed, and they realize there is something missing. We are super excited to see her again this week!

Friday, we went to Paris!!! We caught a train to Bruxelles at 6:30 in the morning, and then another train from Bruxelles to Paris at 8:15 and got to Paris at 10! The Soeur conference was AWESOME! And it was all in French, but the cool thing is that since I have been learning French in Belgium where the accent in TERRIBLE, I can understand French-French because it is so clean and beautiful. It was awesome! They talked about security and all that fun stuff, and the all the STLs did mini lessons on health, unity, and coming closer to our Savior, and then we had lunch. After lunch, Soeur Babin talked about how we are all daughters of God, and then President Babin talked about stress and something else that I can't remember off the top of my head... One of my favorite parts by far though was seeing Soeur Ulrich and Higgins again! We literally talked and talked and talked and talked!!! It's also funny that we have been apart longer than we have been together now, but we are still best friends and inseparable!

The Soeurs and their transfer numbers.

Saturday I don't remember super well...and I don't have my old planner to tell be what happened...the repatoire came out, no changes for me and soeur clawson, but soeur Proudfoot will be training in her 3rd transfer (a scary pattern that has started in Liège), and Soeur Hogan is off to Orlean which is smack dab in the middle of France.

Sunday, we had an amie that we have been trying to get the church for the past month finally come!! And, one of our less actives got up and bore her testimony. It was so awesome to see their progress! Testimony meeting in Liège is super awesome, the two that I have been a part of have had no pauses, great testimonies, and we have gone over a tiny bit. It's super cool, especially because it's a branche. I also, broke away from Soeur Clawson for the first time to set up rendez-vous!

Waiting for the bus crammed on someone's porch.

I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!!!!

And to finish, the picture is of my district and everyone's transfer numbers!

[And that’s it. I’m tired guys, and I apologize for always being tired. I would apologize for my life if it would help, but it wouldn’t. It would just make you all uncomfortable.

As always, have an excellent week. I hope I can see you next week. We’ll see if it becomes two.]

Bonjour Tous

Bonjour tous le monde!

It was so exciting to hear about everyone's traffic problems this week hahaha I hope you all have better travels this week. You all weren't alone when it comes to traffic issues, you can take some comfort in that. I think, it was two days ago—something like that—and we woke up to snow just dumping! It had been snowing for a while, and three hours later, after studies, it hadn't stopped. We noticed the buses were just sitting at the stop outside our apartment, they hadn't moved in a while. So, we called the elders to try and figure out what was going on. Turns out, the buses were on strike, so we had to walk to all our rendez-vous in the snow. Luckily, Soeur Clawson and I weren't going far that day, but the other soeurs had an hour long walk to a rendez-vous. Ouch!

This week has actually been really good. I've been really happy, and I feel like I have made some progress in my language study. I have gotten to the point where I can pretty much read the Book of Mormon in French sans problem, but I'm still fighting with remembering words. I have been trying to expand my vocabulary more; I just have found out that I am NOT good at memorizing. I am starting to get more comfortable with having conversations now, and I am not wanting to hide in a corner when the phone rings and I have it, so that's good.

I was humbled yet again this week. We went and visited Marie Servait again this week. I know I talk about this lady a lot, but I really love her. For a quick refresher; she is eighty-seven years old, she is super short, hard of hearing, she is less-active but has been in church 3 of the 4 last Sundays, and her nonmember husband passed away about two months ago.

So, we were talking to her yesterday, and we pulled out our Book of Mormon to leave her with a spiritual message, but she says that it's Sunday and you can't study on Sunday! We told her that we just wanted to share a little scripture with her, and that's it. She insisted that that would be studying haha but she said that we could read from le Liahona (she LOVES the Liahone), so we gave in, she pulled out a story and said it was her favorite and she wanted to read it to us. We agreed that would be awesome, so she begins to read. The message was Il y a toujours un moment pour la priere (There is always a moment for prayer) She read a couple paragraphs and looked up and in her blunt and wise voice said, <<C'est vrai ça>> Then, she went on to talk about how during WWII her parents and her and her sister had to bike from Belgium to the west of France one night to avoid the German attacks. They were going and at one point they needed to hide from the airplanes searching overhead, so they ran into a field and ducked down. They prayed over and over that they would be safe and the Germans wouldn't find them. They were kept safe, the air searchers didn't see them and the ground soldiers didn't see them. She said that she can never doubt prayer and she can never doubt God. She was young when all this happened, but she said that at 87 years old, she still sees the explosions, the death, and feels the fear of that time in her life. She told us from that moment she decided that she was Mormon, and she was going to stay Mormon! Her sister fell away from the church and her husband never joined, but she still has one of the strongest testimonies I have ever heard. Since we have been meeting with her she has been back to church and she has been finding hope again, the loss of her husband was really hard on her. BUT she told us yesterday that at the end of the year, she is going to be sealed to her husband in the Franckfurt temple! That news pretty much brought me to tears! I seriously love this lady more than words can describe! I will definitely be getting a picture with her eventually!

We also saw this week our other less active that we have been working with, Laurance. When we first met her she was really lonely and sad, this week she was beaming! She came to church for the first time in a long time two weeks ago, and then when we met with her this past week she told us that we were heaven sent. She is gaining hope, and I love it because I know it's not me or Soeur Clawson; IT'S THE SPIRIT!!! We have committed her to reading the Book of Mormon everyday and keeping a study journal. We hope to keep her feeling this way and progress back to being active.

We also got two new amies this week. There have so many little miracles here in Liège! It's so awesome. One of my goals for this week is to start falling in love with the work. The last thing I want to happen is to get caught up in the routine and not enjoy doing everything. I have been waking up full of energy and more excited these past couple days, so I think I'm making progress. I just really don't want to waste the Lord's time, so I'm really working on that. I know that as we do all we can and strive to our best, the atonement really does make up the rest. No one is perfect, we all have weaknesses, but we can be made strong through the atonement.

Also, I'm going to Paris this week!! We are having a Soeur conference with all the Soeurs in the whole mission, so I get to see Soeur Ulrich and Soeur Higgins!! I'm SOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Je vous aime! J'espère que vous passez une bonne semaine!

[I know I could Google translate that French… but we’ve basically surpassed my little bit of knowledge, and I don’t trust Google translate. So there you go.

Also, here’s my dear sister with her new camera taking a selfie.]

Still Alive in Liege

[Eh at least you guys are getting some posts. I mean, over on my own family blog, we haven’t touched it in like… probably almost a year. Maybe not. Yeah, I stink. But here’s Caytee, and from what I remember, she doesn’t stink.]

Don't worry! I'm safe here in Liège. Friday night with the Vervier incident was a little sketchy... The Soeurs in the other branche were actually riding the train through Verviers when all that went down. President Babin has just asked us to be careful and to remember that we are being watched over. They've stepped up the amount of police around so that's good. We've also been asked to avoid certain quartiers and just be smart about what we are doing and where we are going each day. I wish I could remember the talk or the quote for that matter, but Elder Holland said something once about how if the veil were to be lifted from our eyes, we would see a ton of angels that have been watching over us. It's a good thing to remember. You all know that most of the time I am a worrier, but I want you all to know that I feel safe. Soeur Clawson and I are working hard to plan with guidance from the spirit chaque jour to know that our plans are what Heavenly Father wants us to do and that these are the plans that will keep us safe. We also haven't been doing our less-active hunting at night :)

In other news, I had my first exchange this week. I was in Bruxelles this past Tuesday with Soeur Nielson. It was fun! We had two really good lessons, and two lessons in the street. I learned that I know more French than I think I do (a lesson that I keep having to learn). I'm really bad about doubting myself, and my ability to speak French. I talked to Soeur Neilson about my impatience with myself and how it frustrates me that I can talk perfectly fine with someone on the bus one minute (like have a normal 30 minute conversation in French) and then the next minute, in a lesson or something feel like I don't remember anything! She told me that Heavenly Father gives you the French you need when you need it. Trust Him and rely on Him and study really, really hard. So that's what I keep telling myself. Soeur Nielson had me share and explain my favorite scripture in one of our lessons. I was super nervous because I didn't know this lady at all, and I didn't want to mess up, but I shared it (Alma 36:3) and then I explained why I liked it and was able to respond sans problem when she made a comment. Honestly, I feel myself learning quickly, I just forget sometimes that I'm only human. I just want to be perfect and that's not possible!!

Funny Story Time! So, my train home from Bruxelles, I had to take by myself. Tuesday was after district meeting so I went to Bruxelles with the Strombaak Elders. So, I got on the train and was like...this is super weird...I WAS ALL ALONE! Literally the strangest sensation as a missionary. So, I had a really good hour long language study, and then I arrived home in Liège. As soon as I got home, we ran back the apartment so I could drop my things, and then we had a rendez-vous in Herstal (about a 40 minute bus ride). We were already running late, but we got down and were about the start heading for the bus stop, and then we look outside. It is literally DUMPING ice/rain/snow/thundering, and it was windy. Running through that was painful! But we have to, so we run to the bus, jump on and that takes us to the main bus stop in town. We get there, and find the transfer stop, and we wait for our bus. Finally, it comes. A ton of people rush the doors, as normal. Soeur Clawson gets on right before me, and then I am like midstep about to get on when the driver slams the door shut and drives away. I literally just stood there with my mouth hanging open for like a minute. Then, I ask a lady to borrow her cell phone. She pulls on this brick from the 18th century that she doesn't know how to work, I don't know how to work it. I was like ahhhh what to I do?! So then, this man lets me use his phone (he does everything he can to keep me from seeing the immodest woman that is the background of his phone) and then I start to call Soeur Clawson when I see her running up the street. She got off at the first stop and just ran back. So yeah, twice in one day I was a lonely missionary. It was so strange. We ended up being an hour late to the rendez-vous, but c'est la vie.

We've been working with the two less-active old ladies, Soeur Walmag and Soeur Servait. When we first started meeting with them, they were rather sad and not reading their Book of Mormon or anything. Souer Servait has been coming to church for the last three weeks and yesterday, when we met with her she said that she just started the Libre de Mormon this past week. We were like really?! That's so awesome! We then asked her where she was in her reading. She again said that she had just started, but then she pulls out her book, turns to her bookmark and she said <<quatorze>> She read 14 chapters this week! She has really started to progress and she has been so much happier! Her husband passed away about 2 months ago, and he was a nonmember, we are planning on talking to her about having his temple work done soon. Soeur Walmag has also started reading le Livre de Mormon this past week. She became inactive because of an injury, so she hasn't been able to leave her house. She just got her back brace off this week though, so she should be able to return soon! She is super excited and has a goal of going to the temple this year! These ladies make me so happy!

Saturday, we did a zone wide fast. It was called fasting for finding. We have a goal of finding 101 new amis for the transfer which ends in two weeks. We are super close, but decided that the extra effort would really help. So, we fasted! And we had success! While doing some less active hunting, Soeur Clawson and I decided that we were going to talk to every lady that passed by (we aren't allowed to contact men). We stopped this one girl about 16 or 17, and we asked her if she was believing, and she said she was Christian (a miracle in and of itself) and we said that so were we and she like freaked out! She was like no way! We would say something we believed, and she would immediately agree! It was awesome! We got her contact information and hopefully we will meet with her this week again! We also taught another lady in the street, and got a couple good bus contacts. FASTING WORKS. Don't doubt the power of a good fast.

Serving a mission has been the hardest and best thing I have ever done, and I have only been gone two and a half months or quel'que chose comme ça. Everyday this is something I wish I was better at, but every day I get a litter better at something. It really is the biggest roller coaster of emotions I have ever felt. On days when I hit my lows, I don't feel like anything can make me feel worse. But, on days when I have my highs, I feel the happiest I have ever been. I'm learning to be a stronger person. To make the big decisions. I'm learning what it means to a disciple of Christ. I'm learning French! Yesterday, in church. I was sitting listening to the Relief Society lesson, and all of the sudden it hit me...they're speaking French! Haha, it's funny how that happens. All those years of learning French in high school and college, I never thought I would actually understand it, and now here I am almost three months into my mission and I forget sometimes that it's a different language. And then they say something that I don't understand, and I'm pulled back into reality hahaha

Holy poop, I almost forgot! Today, the senior couple here Elder and Soeur Redd, took me and Soeur Clawson around the Liège country side. We saw a couple châteaus, a really cool church and cemetery, and we also went to a WWII American Cemetery. Everything was awesome, but the WWII was probably my favorite. I ended up crying quite a bit, but it was a great reminder of where I am. Beligum was a battlefield. At this cemetery, there were about 4,500 Americans buried, and 500 names of lost soldiers. It was so humbling and a really neat experience. I wish I had had more time there!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all. bisous!!! :)

[Caytee lost her camera this week; therefore there are no pictures, unfortunately. I do apologize for not posting for a while, and one day, my apologies will lead to true repentance, and I’ll get better at posting my sister’s missionary stories.

For those who have been waiting, I’ll go ahead and post all three emails I’ve got today. Enjoy!]