In the field#11

Bonjour a tous! Well this week was crazy but incredible! we have seen lots of miracles! I will start with those! After district meeting, the elders and us had a train layover for 1.5 hours so we decided to have a little scavenger hunt. Some of the things consisted of having a lesson, 2 phone numbers, picture of a cathedral, etc...so we went to work! We talked to lots of people and handed out some pass along cards and then we saw a family and we both felt like we should teach them. so we literally ran after them and chase them across the street. haha we normally dont do that so dont worry. but we talked to them and turns out that one of the daughters and met with the missionaries a few years back! So we talked with her and her mom and her sister and taught a lesson on the road and prayed with them. We set an appointment to teach again the following week but turns out that they are in another area so we passed them. but still awesome! and then we got back from the train into Arras and the first lady we talked to was great! her name is Pezi. She is a french lady and the first thing she tells us is that everyone thinks she is crazy...we are like ok...why is that?? and she says, "Because i think families will be forever. I know i will have a second life and see my husband again." We just smiled and said," Madame, you are not crazy. that is actually God's plan for us." we then continued to to teach part of the plan of salvation and prayed with her in the road right there. it was incredible! we will teach her again in september when she gets back from vacations. And another miracle! Soeur covington and I couldn't figure out what we needed to do and where we needed to go one day. We both had very seperate ideas so we decided to pray to know. We then felt guided to another area that was not thought of before. We walked over to that area and met a woman named Marie-christine. She told us she use to meet with the Jehovah's witnesses but stopped because she didn't agree with everything. She strongly believes in God and Jesus Christ and wants to know more. We taught a bit about the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to start reading. And then we prayed with her in the road. When we finished the prayer we looked at her and she was crying!!! It was very powerful. We were suppose to meet with her sunday but she got sick but she wanted to talk. She had started reading the Book of Mormon and had questions for us. We ended up teaching a lesson wiht her on the phone and prayed with her and everything on the phone. She is so ready! We will see her again on wednesday! Pray for my investigators please!!! They need your prayers! :)

   The baptism was incredible! I was able to do an exchange with soeur mckay and that was great! I learned lots of great things from her! She is a wonderful missionary! And then we went to the baptism on saturday. I was more than ecstatic to see soeur thibault and even more happy to see Doris. She was glowing! When she came up out of the water she had the biggest smile on her face and literally clapped her hands with joy! The water was freezing (haha the hot water doesn't really work there) and i asked her how she felt. she said,"I am so cold but i feel so warm. I am so happy!" I literally felt joy that day! I couldn't help but cry. She is the reason I am doing what I am doing. There really is no greater joy than helping people find that path to eternal life. I know there are others out here just like her too! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and the joy it brings! Even though being a missionary is difficult, I LOVE IT! I love you all! 

Love Soeur Finneran

In the field #10

Bonjour!!! Well I don't have a whole ton of time to write today but I would like to share two miracles that we had this week. The first is this...We received a contact from the church headquarters for a couple who had been taught missionary lessons 30 years ago. So we went...we talked to them and they told us they are no longer interested...but they were nice about it! :) And no the miracle is not that they were nice! haha the miracles is that they told us to knock all the doors on their road because there are lots of believing people. That night we didn't have the time so we started walking home and then someone drives by and stops! we approach the car and we see that it is an inactive family that we have been trying to get a hold of but couldn't! she invited us over to eat with their family the next day. We went over the next day early to go and do some contacting in her area. While we were contacting i had the impression that we needed to go and finish knocking doors on the same road we were one the night before. we get to the first door and we tell the woman that we are there to pray with her. She was shocked and let us in! We taught the entire first lesson and gave her a book of mormon! she told us she is always searching for more truth and told us she will read and pray. She is on vacations right now but we will meet with her again in august! Her name is corinne and she is incredible! She has a very strong relationship with Jesus Christ! So anways it was just a testimony to me that there is always a reason for everything! BUT you have to keep your head up and keep going! There was a quote i was reminded of this week. it is "The Lord cannot steer a parked car." Sometimes when we don't know what to do...we just have to go and then the Lord will guide us. Don't be afraid to act! Don't be afraid to open your mouth!

   The second miracle! Doris' baptism is actually on the 20th now for sure! I called the assistants and asked if i could go to Bruxelles for this...they contemplated and talked with president and they said that they decided that I can go but it is an exception just for this one time! But also that I had to pay my own way. I looked at the prices to get me and my comp there and it ended up being 170 euros... I couldn't do it. It was too much money and too much time to just spend less than a day somewhere. So I prayed that maybe i could find another way to go. 3 hours later I get a call from Soeur Anna McKay (who happens to be my Sister Training Leader) and she tells me that we will both be going to Bruxelles this weekend to do an exchange with her and her companion! I was more than ecstatic! This allows me first of all to do an exchange with Soeur Mckay, but also to go to the baptism! I am so grateful that the Lord is always so aware of us! He wants to be involved in every aspect and He will be if we let Him. I will give you more details next week on the baptism! I love you all! 

Love Soeur Finneran

In the field#9

Bonjour a tous! Well the updates in Arras! Nothing too exciting has happened this week but I do have a miracle I would like to share! So we were walking down the road and met a woman and just started talking to her. She told us we could come over. So we went over and taught a bit with just her. It was a good lesson and then she invited us to come over again to speak to her husband too! So we went over on saturday and taught the two of them and stayed for  a good 1.5 hours and just talked and got to know their backgrounds and told them why we were there (we were also with an awesome member and that helped a ton!) and then we taught a bit about the plan of salvation. Eric (the husband) had lots of questions and comments. He is from Peru and actually knows lots about the Church so that was good. Overall it was great. They even invited us over again next saturday without us asking! I know that they will be baptized someday! Someday soon I hope! They are so ready and prepared for the gospel but they really just need that confirmation. We asked them to come to church but eric told us that they like to consecrate sunday's as their family day and they spend the whole day together as a family without distractions. Please pray for them that they will soften their hearts to the idea of coming to church and also just pray for Marie and Eric in general. That they will come to a knowledge of the truth and be converted. You would seriously love them. they are so great! 

   Other than that we just did a lot of contacting and trying to find people to teach through the area book. But today was fun! We will able to go the museum in Lens with a member friend (elizabeth). part of the museum consists of things from the Louvre. And then we went to a french restaurant afterwards to eat called Le Pataterie. It was great! Well I love you all!

Love Soeur Finneran

In the field #8

 Bonjour!!! Well life is good here in Arras! Its worlds different than Bruxelles! haha its the frenchiest little french town and i love it! barely anyone speaks english. we also have all the little country towns surrounding Arras too. Just picture the most beautiful french countryside that everyone dreams about...yeah thats where I am serving. Its beautiful and everyone is really nice! The work is a little slow here so please send up some prayers for the people in Arras!  And also the ward here is incredible! they are so unified and excited to work with us! I know we will see miracles here.

   My new companion is Sister Covington! I was actually in the MTC with her. Of course the whole "language" aspect was a bit of a worry but its working out. Last week when we were on the train some french guy was talking to us about the train tickets and everything and i am so use to just letting soeur thibault just answer....but she wasn't there. and soeur covington's trainer wasn't there either. so i looked at her and she looked at me and thats when i realized...i HAVE to know what people are saying to me. So we stumbled our way through that conversation and we decided that we will only speak in french with each other. Soeur covington and i have not spoken english together. its a great blessing to have a companion who truly wants to be here and who has the same goals as me. I have seen my french even just this past week improve like crazy! Its surprised other people and it has even surprised me! I know that it is the gift of tongues and because of the Lord that i have been blessed with this.

   We haven't taught a whole lot of lessons this week. But one cool experience we had together! It was about 830 at night and i knew that we couldn't return to the house but we had literally done everything else we had planned and back up planned. we stood in the empty street for a moment and thought about what we could do...we decided that we should just go and try to find people. so miraculously this asian woman comes walking down the street! so we ran up to her and started talking. Turns out she speaks english and not french...only time that has happened haha. Soeur covington was shocked because she hadn't heard anyone speak enlgish here for the 3 months she's been here. but anyways! we started talking and she was on vacation and she lives in finland at the moment. She grew up not believing in God but she was open. She said she had tried praying a couple times and that she always felt good when she did that. We then explained the Holy Ghost, the nature of God and Jesus Christ. We taught the restoration and first vision and about the book of mormon all there on the street! we found out that she has three friends that are mormon and she has a book of mormon in chinese. We committed her to ponder about what we have said and to pray to God that night and ask if he's there. We then prayed with her on the road. It was truly incredible! IT was a 40 minute lesson too. legit. And when we left it was because we had to go, not her. she actually didn't want us to leave. Sadly she was going to Paris for the next two days but we gave her info to go to the church there. There are truly miracles everyday!

   Doris is getting bapised this friday! I am very excited for her! Sadly I will not be able to go since i am too far. She has been prepared and she is ready to be baptised thats for sure!

   Well I love you all! Do work!

Love Soeur Finneran

In the field #7

Bonjour mes amis! Well all is well here in Strombeek! This past week we had a few activities with the ward and that was nice. We went to an activity with the young men and young women and we actually had 3 non members show up so that was good! They really enjoyed themselves and got to know the people in the ward. They definitely feel more comfortable now with the people in the ward. And then we also stake conference with all the wards in beglium. It was crazy how many people were there! Its great to see how many member there truly are in Belgium! We had a few investigators show up with us and really had a good time! Doris is getting very excited for her baptism and really got along with the members from our ward! She also is making plans to move to Chicago next year. So I will be able to go visit her after the mission because she will not be too far. We also did belgium legality this week so I was able to see all the missionaries from the MTC. Its always an uplifting experience to be able to talk to those I am serving with.

Well the news is is that I will be going to Arras. Its an area in Paris Nord! My companion will be Soeur Covington who was in the MTC with me. I will keep you posted!

Love you!

Love Soeur FInneran

P.s. Congrats Ashlyn on getting married soon! Love you!

In the field#6

  BONJOUR!!! :) Comment ca va tout le monde!?  Well things are great here in Belgium! Transfers will be here next week so I might leave but more than likely I will stay here. But I can't imagine them leaving me and Soeur Thibault together. Which rips my heart out a little bit because she truly has become one of my greatest friends. But I will try not to think about being seperated from her. 

   BUT!!! DORIS IS GETTING BAPTISED!! :) The woman I wrote about last week...she has accepted to be baptised on the 6 of July! We are so excited! We taught her a few times this week and explained more about the restoration and the need for that and then we asked her to be baptised and she said yes! she told us she has been praying and waiting 3 years for us to bring her this message. She truly has been so prepared to receive the gospel. Its just such a testimony that no matter where you are in the world, the Lord is preparing people to accept His gospel. What a wonderful thing this is! :) I love Doris to pieces!  And all my other invetigators too! 

    Another story...This past two days we have not been able to get to our appointments on time. Supposedly twice a year they have these great big yard sales in the streets for like 2 days so thats what was happening. THe bus' weren't working sometimes and it was just crazy. But it ended up being perfect because evertime that happened our investigators told us that it was a good thing we were late because they wouldn't have been able to talk to us really if we would have showed up on time. The Lord knows exactly what needs to happen and He makes it happen! :) And also He places people always in our paths that we need to talk to. Yesterday when we were on a bus (finally after waiting for like 25 minutes) we walked on and stood next these two other people. The guy looks at us and is like.
"OH! Hey!!! OH hi missionaries! Hows it going!?" (in english - welcome to Belgium). He then began to tell us that he is Belge but had been in new york for the past 5 months and met with the missionaries there. He said that he loves the missionaries and is so grateful for their efforts. He said that it truly has made a difference in his life and he has been able to find God again and he is so much happier than he was before. He will be traveling lots for the next year or so but we encouraged him to continue to learn about the church and promised him blessings. And he was also with this girl from Spain. She was so awesome! She told us that at this moment she is living in belgium but really has lost her way spiritually. She even started crying a bit on the bus. We told her we would love to share our message with her and she accepted gladly and gave us her address and phone number. We are really excited to get to know her better! And then we got off the bus and parted ways and walked into the wrong direction and walked into a big group of kind of sketchy men...haha whoops but then we kept walking and this guy (in english again) stops us and says, "HEY! Where are you from!?" We told him U.S. and Canada and then he started asking us if we were there to teach him about relgiion and help him get back to church and stuff. He also asked if everybody was invited to church. we said of course and gave him the Elders phone number. :) 

  The lesson honestly that i learned really strongly I think this week is to not judge a book by its cover. There are people all around us who are in need of the gospel and who have their own struggles, but if we are judgmental we will never be able to help them. 

   I love this gospel and this work! Its not easy but it never was meant to be easy. Salvation truly doesn't come easy. It wasn't easy for Jesus Christ, and as His representative right now, I know that it will not be easy for me. But all in all, there are miracles everyday that help me to see the big picture and it truly, in the end, is all worth it. Every single second. So make it count!  :) I love you all!

Love Soeur Finneran

P.S. ALISON NIXON! If you could please give your email to my sister... I would LOVE to hear whats happening in your life! And also JEANETTE!!! Seriously gurl what are you doing!? Get out of your little BYUI bubble and send me a quick note! OK much Love! :)

In the field #5

Bonjour mes amis! Well the sun is finally shining here in Belgium! I heard from Kendal last week and she said that it was so hot in germany and i was really confused because I looked out the window and it was pouring rain here and really cold! I heard yesterday from the Finnish family in the ward that Finland is actually 20 degrees warmer than in Belgium...Its an odd place here...but I love it! :) But today I actually didn't have to wear a coat! And for that I am super grateful! :)

First things first! The work...This week has been difficult with lessons because people sometimes cancel on us or just not show up to lessons. C'est la vie. BUT we met this one woman named Emma! She is from Camaroon and a little bit older. We walking down the street and decided to talk to her. She said it was ok for us to come over the following day! So we met with just barely on Saturday and we talked about the Restoration. She thought it was very interesting and she was really open to the idea of God's true church being restored in its fullness. We left her with a pamphlet to read. So Soeur Thibault accidentally left her scarf at her appartment so the following day (yesterday) we went over to get her scarf and we thought, why not teach a little something something. So she was super happy to see us and she told she studied the entire pamphlet. She had questions for us about Adam and a few other questions that we were able to help her understand. She was happy with our answers and said she will pray more about it. We gave her a book of mormon and she said she would start reading it for the lesson that we have with her today! She also said that she will for sure come with us to church next week! :) She told us that normally she just takes the metro home but she felt instead on friday to take the trams and buses. She then told us that that is why she was able to meet us and that we were all suppose to meet each other! :) :) :) And then we asked her to give a closing prayer and in her prayer she mentioned how she knows that we knew our Father in Heaven before we were here on this earth. Guess what we are teaching tonight...? Thats right plan of salvation! HECK YES! :) We will also commit her to being baptised! We are more than thrilled to have the incredible opportunity to teach her! She is the definition of a golden investigator!

Funny story... So we were walking around finding people to talk to and these three guys come up to us and ask us for directions. They were defs italian. Its funny how you can here accents no matter what language it is. They actually all spoke english better so we talked to them for a bit. One lives in New York and actually saw the play the Book of Mormon so we talked to him a bit about that. We also gave them a mormon.org card and tell them to read the actual book because its even better than the play. haha but they actually did invite to go clubbing with them that night too...three times. We also told them more than three times that we are missionaries and we are here to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. haha but overall they were pretty nice! Sometimes i wonder why missionaries get hit on so much...We wear long skirts and modes blouses, etc...and we get hit on all the time. Everyone loves them a good missionary I guess! :) haha

Well I love you all and good luck with everything you got going on! OH and seriously...go teach with the missionaries! Hardest thing in my life is trying to convince members to come teach with us! Don't be one of the difficult members! I promise that you make such a huge contribution to missionary work! My scripture for the week. "Be still, and know that I am God." Take a moment to be still this week. You won't regret it! Bisous!

Love Soeur Finneran