Week 70 | Lyon, France {Last Week in France}

Bonjour ma famille!

This is a little weird. I am not it has hit me yet, but people tell me this is my last week! I cant describe how i feel! I cant think of leaving this country and these members and these people. I have already cried enough haha and dont want to think about the day that i leave so i am  not going to. But i will be so happy to see all of you again! Dont worry about that!

This past week was a little wild! We saw Sarah on monday and then tuesday we were to see her again, she was 10 minutes late, we were blown away, normally she is 5 minutes early. We called her, no response, that has never happened! We left a message thinking maybe something came up, no call back. We called the next day with the elders phone to see if she was just scared of us, same thing no response. The next day a member called her because she too was worried and no. We dont have her address and have no way to check up on her! We have no idea what is going on and are just praying for a miracle that she is ok and that we will meet her in the streets!

Otherwise Geri is doing soo GOOD! He is so prepared for his baptism, yesterday we and a member were trying on their baptism clothes and he said, " we have the white clothes and the priesthood now all that is missing is the water" haha. He is so cute! We are super excited for him. He has two kids in congo who He is trying to get to france. He wants them to meet the missionaries over there which is so cool!! A member brought his friend Nicolas to church yesterday, he loved it so much and we will be teaching him on tuesday, it is super cool because we had the goal to teach a members friend this transfer and had not had the opportunity to do so just until now! So we are super excited about that!! Miracles are happening!! THis is something that i have really learned on my mission, to look past things that appear to be too hard  or impossible. I have seen too many impossible and hard things happen i can not deny the Lords power. I know it is something real! This work brings me so much joy! I walk out of lessons and cant talk i just have to high five my companion and do a little scream haha, it just makes me so happy to see people changing and see them becoming more happy, there is nothing better! I was reading in the Book Of Mormon and i more fully understood why i am filled with such a great happiness to do this work. 

Alma 29:10"... When i see many of my brethren truly penitent and coming to the Lord their God, then is my  soul filled with joy; then do i remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that He hath heard my prayer; yea, then do i remember HIs merciful arm which He extended towards me."

It is all about our Savior Jesus Christ. Everytime i see someones life changing because they invite the Savior into their life my heart is filled with joy! I get to taste again again the mercy of our Savior has shown unto me. I know that He suffered for our sins our pains our sicknesses our weaknesses, and anything that holds us back from being happy. I have felt the power  of His Atonement and know it is real. I love Him so much and am infinitely grateful for the opportunity to bear testimony of Him this past 18 months. I know that this is only the beginning :) I thank you all for your support, your prayers, letters and all that you have done for me! I love you so much! 

Love Soeur Kupfer

We did service with Sister Le Roux. We fit a mattress, a fold out couch pad, 3 bed spreads, 5 pillows and a bunch of other stuff in her mini van. All the workers told us it would be impossible when they brought the thing to the car so they all walked away. But we did it!!! haha Nothing is impossible until you try try try! 

Found this cd and thought it said halladay... haha nope!

Wall sit competition with antoine!

THis is the dish!

LIttle dearah, a members daughter was learning how to take "selfies" haha

a less active always has this doll on her bed, it is creepy.

Cooking with members and their friends! We showed them how to make banana bread and they sowed us how to make a delicious dish from africa, sooo good i will make it for you!!

Week 69 | Lyon, France

Hello Everybody! Dont worry i will get to email again next week. I got time:)

We have been so blessed this past week it is unbelievable! We taught Sarah a few times, she accepted the Word of Widow, and was just so amazed that Joseph Smith received the revelation of the word of wisdom back in 1833 when the people had no idea about all the negative effects of those bad substances. She shared with us that 1 year ago she stopped smoking because she "felt like it was the right thing do to", how prepared can someone be? She is stopping drinking coffee, she said she is replacing her coffee a day with a  diet coke, haha i was proud of her and bought her a six pack of diet coke! Geri is so solid! He loves President Monson and cant wait ti go to the temple in Switzerland when he is ready. He loved church on sunday, afterwards we ate some cake that we had made with him and a few other members, just for fun! He made some really good friendships with the members. Member are so important in helping people progress and feel confident about their decisions!

This past week we had Zone Conference. It was combined with 4 other zones, so there were over 125 missionaries there! THinking about that fact that is was my last Zone conference made me sick! We got to watch a recording of Elder Ballard who came to Switzerland to talk to the missionaries in our mission. It was so good!! He talked about how we must be ready to teach and testify  to anyone, anywhere about any point of doctrine that we believe. He invited us to focus our studies on the basics of the Gospel, and that by doing this we will become better people and closer to our Heavenly Father and He will be able to better use us to bless the lives of His children. My favorite quote from the conference was " We are only as close to Christ as we invite Him to be to us". It is really up to us to invite Christ into our lives! At the end 9 of us missionaries who are "dying" this transfer bore our testimonies, man it hit me what was happening. I never imagined myself there, my knees were weak and felt like they might give. I wanted to get up and just say "no regrets" and walk down haha, but then i knew i would regret having done that! I love my mission so much! It brings me so much happiness! I love my Savior Jesus Christ, i really know that He is our Savior and that HIs church is on the earth today, in its fulness. We have so many blessings at our fingertips, but like Elder Ballard said it is up to us to "invite" these blessing into our lives!

I love you guys so much! Thanks for all of your support and prayers! Have a great week!! 

Love Sister kupfer!!

Thursday night, around 1030 we got a knock at the door, we were crawling into bed so i about had a heart attack because the 4 months i have been here no one has ever knocked on our door "haha yes we are weird", but no one knocks on missionaries doors! I bravely got up and checked the peep hole, it was our landlord, so we opened the door and apparently there was i leak in the apartments below and she wanted to check if it was coming from our bathroom. SHe pulled a board off the wall and sure enough water was jetting out of a pipe, like a lot haha! She jerry rigged a towel and a trash bag so that the water would run into a bucket for the time being since it was so late. THe problem was, that bucket filled up every 38 minutes to the dot and it was the biggest thing we had in our apartment! haha sooo That means my comp and i took turns waking up every 38 minutes during the night to do and empty the bucket! One time when i woke up it was way flooded so that is where the 10 towels came in!  We did that just until the morning then had to get ready and go to zone conference. We gave our keys to our landlord and they got the wat a little stopped so not it fills up like every 7 hours, a lot better! BUt for the moment, we only have hot water, and it isnt just hot water it is boiling haha! It is hilarious! I plug the bath with a sponge, let the water cool for like 15 minutes then take a bath, it is so funny! THe plumber hasnt come yet, WE NEED ERIK! but hopefully he will come today and figure this thing out! Just our little weekly adventure..... Have a good one folks! i love you!

Got to see some of my favorite people at the Big Zone conference it was the best!!!

Week 68 | Lyon, France

Bonjour Everybody!

The Lord is blessing us so much! Geri came to a lesson last week and right off the bat asked, "why dont you pay tithing here, i have come the past 2 weeks and no one pays tithing?" Before we could answer he said, " i was sitting there at home thinking about it and i though, maybe there is 1 really really really rich man that just pays it for everyone, but then i thought NO! That is unjust, we all need the blessing of paying tithing he can have all of them" haha. We explained that yes we do pay tithing and he was a lot more calm haha! It was the best, he is such a solid man and really really understands and wants to be obedient to all of Gods commandments! He came to church in a suit yesterday and was shining like the sun! He is so excited for his baptism the 27th of September!

We taught Sarah the Gospel, faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. She was having a hard time understanding repentance and the role that Christ plays in repentance (a big concern). We talked about it and testified, the spirit was so strong and I promised her that as she continued to read the Book of Mormon and pray with a sincere heart that she would understand the role that Christ plays. She felt better. The next lesson she came and said she was reading the Book of Mormon last night and that she read the words "Lamb of God", she meditated on those words and it clicked, she said somehow i just understood. It was the Holy Ghost that testified to her of truthfulness, like she said sometimes we dont have the words to explain how we know something is true, but we just know and that is enough. She accepted to be baptized the 27th of September also.

The France Lyon Mission and The Paris mission joined together this past week for a day of finding, we had set the goal to find "1000" new people to teach!  Together all the missionaries in France would pray every half hour starting at 9am to 9pm throughout the day on friday to find new people to teach. We started of the day fixing 2 rdvs, with people before lunch! We were already seeing miracles. We taught some lessons and then in the evening we had about 2 hours left, we offered a kneeling prayer and headed out to finish up! We fixed a 2 more then contacted a young french atheist guy that laughed and said," wow, you are doing that in France, you are brave" and walked away. We laughed because this guy had no  idea the miracles we had seen that day! We ended up fixing 3 more that evening. That is just crazy! Together our missions didnt reach 1000, but we were so blessed and really saw power behind prayer and faith! 

I want to tell you about one more person that we taught this week! She is a student here in lyon from China! Her name is jinyu. We started talking about her religious backround, she told us that when she was younger she believed in something, then when she was in school she was taught that there was no God for 3 years so she stopped believing, then she chose to pray to tress, and now she parys to the sun. She is so innocent, the sweetest person i have ever met!! We taught her about God and how to pray to Him. She thought it was so cool! At the end My companion offered a prayer to Show Jinyou how to pray, then She tried. She started off by saying "Bonjour Pere Celeste", Hello Heavenly Father. It was the Best prayer ever! SO sincere, she was really talking to her Heavenly Father! She taught me a good lesson! 

I feel so blessed to be teaching and meeting these people! I have seen peoples lives change and they are changing mine. I know without a doubt that this Church is True. It is Christs church, it will make us happy and protect us from danger, if we will stay true to His teachings! I love you all so much and thank you for your support! Have a great week!!

Love Sister Kupfer!

Week 67 | Lyon, France

Bonjour everybody!

We got to teach Sarah 3 times this week, still as Golden as last monday! We got to teach her the plan of salvation this past week. She had such good questions and at the end just said,"wow, that is so much" then she stopped and said, " but it is familiar to me, i know it is true". We finished by watching the little clip, "Because of Him", that shows how Christ is essential to the Plan of Salvation. The spirit was tangible! Wow we all had tears in our eyes, she was speechless. It was such a special moment! We will be teaching her in a couple of hours again. Geri is doing great and is preparing good for his baptism the 27th, he loved church yesterday! It is so cool to see people coming unto Christ and seeing their and our lives changed in the process! I have been thinking a lot about all of these miracles that have been happening here, and I know with out a doubt that they are a team effort, we wouldnt be seeing these miracles if it werent for you faith and prayers! Thank you so much!!

I am really having a hard time believing that it is September, wow that is so weird! I am feeling good though, it is hilarious my body is more tired than it was last september haha....but my spirit is ready to fly! I love this work! It really does bring an unexplainable Joy to all those who participate! Whether that is here in france, over there in Uganda, in Cedar City, it is all the same! This truly is Christ church! He has asked us to follow him and i testify that as we try our best to everyday, we will smile love and laugh more than ever before!! I love you guys so much!! Have a great week!

 Love Soeur Kupfer

Zone training in lyon!!

" C C" Represent!  Elder BUrton is from Cedar city, he went to canyon view. He just got into the mission. 

We were out trying to find someone to teach in a big park, the sky was getting really dark, it was getting late and bam it started pouring haha! Drenched!!

Super Cool building! All those things are painted on, cool eh!!? 

Just being weird...

At a really pretty bridge last p day!

Haha got separated from my comp down in the metro at like 850 at night. It was so scary haha, i realized how much of a missionary i am when i was alone for 8 minutes and felt so scared/awkward

Week 66 | Lyon, France

Hello Ma Famille!!

We just got out of a first lesson that was like nothing i have ever had yet! It was the type of first lesson i remember imagining before i came on the mission. Where when we taught the restoration the people were amazed that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and was later shown where to find ancient records that contained the fullness of Christs gospel. The woman we taught is named Sarah, she has about 55 years and we contacted her on the street a couple of days ago. SHe was blown away by what we shared, she was born catholic, but has never believed in it because of all the changes and uncertainty in their doctrine. She is the most prepared person for the restoration that i have ever taught. She was holding the Book of mormon in her hands and just telling us how big of a gift this was to her. She said something along the lines of i know this is possible, i know it could happen, but i have to meditate and read and pray to know if this is really true, exactly what we were going to ask her to do. THe spirit was tangible during the lesson, I love that feeling so much and can feel it again as I think about it. The reality of the Restoration was confirmed again to me, I do not doubt the testimony I have received. I KNow it is true. We will see her again thursday! I cant wait to hear her questions and the feelings she has had. 

Geri is doing great! He loves the BOM and shared a powerful testimony with us about the importance of continuing to nourish our faith, that seeing the missionaries a couple times a week is not enough, but that we continually have to nourish our spirits, just as we nourish our bodies! I love him so much! 

The work really is progressing, we are teaching more than ever and really pushing for opportunities to teach people on the streets. We are seeing miracles from increased faith! We taught one guy Redhoune, the restoration in front of a boulangry the other day, he couldnt take his eyes off the BOM and when we offered it to him he said, " i wanted to ask to have it earlier, but i just wasnt sure if it was your last one or if i could have it". We taught him again at the church and he is so great, so sincere! I am loving my mission so much. The Lord is really blessing us and I couldnt be happier! I Know this is the Lords work, I know this is HIs Church on the earth today! I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! THank you so much for your love and support!

Love Sister Kupfer!

We had dinner with these sisters in the ward on sunday! they are soo great! Last pday we visited a museum, most pictures showed us how true the apostasy really was haha, but this one is just a big one of Jesus Flipping The merchants tables outside the temple!

Week 65 | Lyon, France

Bonjour! 

We got calls and Soeur De Oliveira and I are staying here in Lyon for our 3rd transfer together!! We are both so happy!!! I am a little bit shocked that this is my last transfer here in France, but that only gives me a greater drive to "lay it all out on the field" its the last inning and im not going to mess it up! We have had an amazing week, truly we have been blessed with so many miracles! Last Monday night we started an exchange, i was with a missionary her name is Soeur Grunke (she is german!). We were on our way home around 840 when we started talking to a man named Geri, he is from congo! He was so great and we fixed a rdv with him for a couple days later. Soeur Doe and I taught him a couple times this past week. We taught him the restoration and read with him the Moronis Promise in the Book Of Mormon. When he was finished reading it, he said i know this book is true. He said it is by the power of the Hold Ghost that we can know the truth and the Holy Ghost has testified to me that this is True. He said he would start reading it and accepted a baptismal date for the 27th of September! He came to church on Sunday and loved how centered everything was on the family and how much we learn together, he is so great i love him! Next miracle! We Taught our ami Joy, who is from Nigeria(teaching in English is so weird). She is pregnant and is due the 22nd of september! She was taught by missionaries a little bit in Nice a year ago but lost contact with the church. We taught her the plan of salvation and it touched her so much, she said that in Nice she was working towards baptism and that she is ready to start working towards that again. We set a date for the 25 of October! I love her so much, she is so sweet and has so much faith! We also taught Darwin this week, he had studied up on the church, which can be bad sometimes because there is so much anti mormon literature online, but the spirit was there and his heart was open to the truth! He made some friends with some young adults and we are going to do an activity with them!! The work really is starting to kick off!

Something funny, yesterday we taught gospel principles, the lesson was on honesty and it was great! Then at the end a member who is not completely there stood up, faced the class of about 20 people and started preaching- only problem, she said the "s" word like 10 times! We tried to stop her haha, but she wouldn't! The other missionaries were just dying, covering their faces, no help. Ohhh mannn! The adventures we see at church... Im going to miss the uncertainty haha!

I love you guys so much! I truly know that this is Christ Church, we are not perfect and sometimes we feel like so much is asked of us, or like we are not capable of accomplishing all we are called to do. THose feelings are ok as long as we take that sense of inadequacy and turn towords our Savior. I know His grace is sufficient for each of us! I love Him for His continual aide. I love you all have a great week!!

Love sister kupfer

made peanut butter cookies with a member and her son! the members cousins came over and want to make them with us too! it was a cool little miracle!!

Got to say hi/bye to sister bagley in the gare this morning! i love her so much!!

Week 64 | Lyon, France

Elder Andersen Conference!! June 11 2014 in Nice

This week was interesting haha! Our amis are falling off the face of the earth a little bit, but it is ok we are finding cool new people! THis past Friday we did a Genealogy activity here at the institute in Lyon. We do it once every transfer. All the missionaries here in lyon come together along with some members and we set up activities in the institute and then go up and contact people and invite them to come in and participate!  We are so lucky because one of the bishops here in lyon actually works for Family Search, he has some sweet stuff the family search hasn't even released yet to the public that we got to use! The spirit was so strong as we were all preparing to go out, and and he was testifying to us of Family History work. We went out and just started doing a survey with people about their families. People were sometimes rude to us at first, but when they realized that all we wanted to do was talk about their families, they lit up and were so nice haha! THere was ALWAYS an opportunity to testify and share parts of the Plan of salvation. We met one really cool young guy named darwin. He couldn't come tot he activity right away, but told us maybe he would stop by later. We kept on contacting, and after about 20 minutes we just had the idea to go back to the instituted get a different survey to try. We stopped and werent sure if it was worth it, but decided that if we  had that thought we better just walk back to the institute because maybe there was someone we were supposed to meet along the way. We were walking back and voila! Darwin! He was looking for the institute! We walked back with him and he did all the activities. We asked him how he was feeling as he was filling out a paper about his grandmother and he told us he felt really good and was able to recall memories about his grandmother that he didn't realize he had nearly forgotten! We ended up teaching him right there and have another rdv with him this week! 

Another little miracle, we were leaving a less actives house walking across the street and Soeur Doe tripped over a dead pigeon(they are the nex rats of france) she screams and we start laughing, a man saw and started laughing too. We talked to him and he said "hey take my number i want to come to your church" haha, alright that works! God works in mysterious ways....!!! 

We will be getting transfer calls this friday morning! I have no idea what is going to happen but i will do whatever the Lord needs me to do! I cant believe i am coming up on my last transfer here in France. I love my mission so much and am so grateful for all the ways the Lord has shown me that this is His work, we are all just little instruments in helping Him realize His ultimate goal, in having all of us return unto Him! I love you all! Have a great week!!!

Love Sister Kupfer!