New Pictures

Hey everyone, we got a great letter from Soeur Fairchild two days ago. The Lord has given an increase on her labors, and many prayers have been answered between Nimes and Montpelier. Samantha may have moved to Montpelier to be with her father, who, last I heard, has a baptismal date, so Notre Soeur had to 'pass the baton' so to speak with her boyfriend. Now the Elders are teaching him, and he's doing well.

Most joyously though, their ami Axel got baptized on Saturday, July 21. Here you go!

On Families

A brief story to share with you all, just before you go tuck yourselves in for bed and prepare to dream dreams of sugar plums and...yeah...okay that's not actually where I was going with this.

Today is Tuesday. We love Tuesdays. Tuesday means we get e-mail from Soeur Fairchild. And she surely puts her skill as a writer to good use when she relates her mission experiences to us every week.

Basically what it comes down to is this: Soeur Fairchild and her companion are teaching a girl named Samantha in Nimes. She lives with her boyfriend and they have a two-year old son, and they like meeting with las missionaires. At the same time, the Zone leaders are meeting with a man in Montpelier who has a baptismal date. Samantha says her dad lives in Montpelier, and that she's headed that way, but she's not sure he'll be too thrilled about the Church.

To make a long story short, the Zone leaders called Notre Soeur to tell her that Samantha came to church in Montpelier...with her father...who is their ami (investigator)...who has a baptismal date.

Just another miracle in the long list of miracles by which our Father in Heaven expresses the divine nature of families. He wants us to be together forever, and He works with those who work with Him to make it happen.

Keep that in mind.

A la prochaine!

avec amour,

Graham

Jamais trop dificile

You're going to love this one.

It's been a little over two weeks since my last post. I'm trying to get better about keeping this more up to date for you ladies and germs that still truck on over to Happy Dramastic Days every now and again, hoping for a tidbit of info on everyone's favorite French sister. This one's juicy; you've just stepped in a big pile of HOLY WOW.

I don't know how else to start this, so I'll just say Soeur Fairchild is now training. One transfer as senior companion is all the experience she needed, or better said, all the experience the Lord thought fit to allow her, before putting her on another 13% incline with a 10,000 pound trailer behind her. Let's give it up for torque, boys and girls.

Normally sister missionaries train in their seventh transfer in Western Europe. It's only Emily's fifth. Based on what her letters say, this is actually a big blessing because it's easy to feel stagnant in the mission once you overcome the basic challenges. At first it was contacts and porting. Then it was speaking and challenging, then committing, then following through and doing all the stuff a great junior companion should do. Once she got that down, the Lord wasted no time in kicking things up a notch and making her a senior. We barely got an idea of what that was like for her through her letters before she got called to train. As if that wasn't good enough, her pending colleague is a native Tahitian, which means Notre Soeur will be speaking all French all the time. (A cure for the "Are My Language Skills Good Enough Blues"). It'll be another week or so before her fille comes in though, so she's working full-time with a member in Nimes, which is helping her prepare to teach and explain things to another missionary in French. It seems stressful, but when you look closer, you see the wisdom of the Lord in preparing her step by step for the challenges he's given to her.

Her example throughout all this is inspiring, that she takes these assignments with humility and willingness, maybe even a little apprehension, but never really doubt or fear. Our prayers are paying off, that is to say, the Lord hears us and blesses her, but always at His discretion. Let us never forget who's calling the shots here, and that we must never cease to pray for all the missionaries in our lives to be able to accept and satisfy the tasks that the Lord has in store for them.

So you know the drill, mes amis. Keep her in your prayers, and check back in a few weeks for the next updates. A la prochaine!

Sincerely,

Graham

Tout l'amour

Graham speaking, we've got a live one today.

Being on the receiving end of mission mail is a beauty I didn't really understand until after my own mission. During that time I gained an appreciation for a lot of truly valuable things...love, the real kind, not that crap you see on Grey's Anatomy, that's one of the things I really learned to understand. It's not something that can be explained; it has to be experienced. Patience and quiet dignity were also things I came to terms with, and while I'm no model citizen, I do know when to shut up and hold on for the ride.

These are things that full-time service teaches us. The more you fully immerse yourself, the more you are molded to fit the Master's needs, like a well-wrought lump of clay. Judging by Emily's most recent letter to her family, she's all the way under, hook, line and sinker. Using my own experience (not that it's flawless, it's just what I know) as a measuring rod, she's only about a hundred miles ahead of where I was at that point in my mission...we really have so much to be proud of in her. Her faith in the Lord and love for others are evident in the way she expresses her love to her family and friends, and especially when she talks about the people she teaches.

Because the letter was somewhat personal, I won't repost the whole thing here. I'll just say that she is such an immense strength to her family, and her letters are more than inspiring and uplifting. You can tell she knows why she's out there and she's acting accordingly, and for me personally it's a beauty to be reading the missionary e-mails and not writing them.

Bottom line, Soeur Emily Fairchild knows and honors her calling, and the people of Talence benefit from that.

Til next time,

Graham

Bonne Annee

Hey everybody, time for another update on our favorite French missionary. Soeur Fairchild sent me a letter yesterday, not too long (as is usually the case with the best ones) and I really get the feeling she's losing herself in the work. Not everybody really gets to that point...a lot get close, and do a fine job in the process. Sometimes it feels like an overnight change, and just like humility, being lost in the work is not something one can recognize (because they're related). One thing she said that hit me especially hard is how much she's growing spiritually every time she shares her testimony with people who don't care. (Raise your hand if you know what that's like...) She doesn't let it discourage her, which is an easy mistake to make. We know she's made of sterner stuff though, so it comes as no surprise.

By no means should we ease up on our prayers for her though, because--as any missionary can attest--it never really gets easy. You never get into a 'rhythm' where you can just stop putting effort into it, and I think she knows that. Once she learns how to overcome one trial, a new one will be presented, always with the object of making her stronger. Her skills with the language have surely increased, and now she can contact and teach well enough. Soon she'll be a senior companion, and then it's a whole different ball game.

She's a different and better person than we knew her as when she left, and we all have great reason to be proud of her. Be sure to send your love if you write, and of course, leave a comment here if you have a question.

Sincerely,

Graham