Life isn't all pastries and baguettes

Bonjour y'all

Okay so this week I started driving so pray for me and my companion s'il vous plaît HA the French don't even put the street lights in front of you, they're always in random inconspicuous places so it's terrifying. Also everything is roundabouts so like a hundred cars are flying around in tiny circles and we just have to cut off everyone if we want to make it to our destination in time. Literally all the drivers here can get away with anything as long as they have their hazards on. Semi-trucks can literally just do n'importe quoi (randomness) and stop in the middle of their freeway as long as their hazards are on. France smh

THIS WEEK okay this was one of my favorite days. We have a bunch of invitations for a thing called Venez et Voyez (come and see) which is a meeting at church and this month's is centered on the family. So from 9 to 9 on Thursday we handed out over a hundred invitations for it and just talked to people about why their families are important to them. It was the longest day and I came home blistered and exhausted but I loved sharing a message that's so important to me. After that we decided to reward ourselves with a pastry for dinner. Unfortunately, every Pâtisserie within a mile radius was closed (first world problems). I've never seen anyone so sad as the man I saw standing in front of the closed Pâtisserie. He just looked at the closed sign for like 30 seconds and just said "tristesse" (sadness) and walked away HA.

These are the invitations we handed out to tout le monde

One song I've had in my head a lot this week (because my companion is constantly singing it) is Lead Kindly Light. Yesterday we were singing it and just realized how relevant it is for us right now.

"Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom; Lead thou me on. The night is dark, and I am far from home; Lead thou me on. Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see. The distant scene—one step enough for me."

Life is not always "encircling gloom" but it's definitely overwhelming sometimes. God gives us lots of things that we might not feel capable of handling. There have been things on my mission, and even before my mission, that have brought me to my knees. But the thing that is so important to remember is that there is always somebody with their hand reached out to us, who is willing to lead us. I am so, so far from home and I am constantly being humbled by this work. But I know that God's hand is always extended to us and he is willing to lead us through whatever we encounter. I know that if we take one step at a time and let God lead us in faith, we can have the strength to support whatever trials we are going through.