Since it's Sunday, I thought I'd tell you a little about my recent visiting teaching experiences. They may give you an idea of what our branch is like, as well as make you count your blessings.
Two weeks ago, my visiting teachers came to visit me. Maria Rodriguez, a Spanish sister who came here as an adolescent (now 36), and Manuela Oliveira, a Portugese sister who just arrived with her husband and two children in December. They are both very strong members. The visit was interesting in the fact that there was no one common language among us. This happens often in our branch though. Maria could speak to me in French, Manuela could speak to me in broken English and they could communicate with each other in Spanish/Portugese. But we could not all speak to each other together! It's interesting here!
Last week I went visiting teaching. My companion is Natasha Jouravlev, a Russian refugee that has been here with her husband and 20 year old son for about 3 years now. They met the church and were baptized shortly after arriving here. She speaks broken French. We went to visit a Mongolian sister and her family. They have been here about 3 years also. I didn't know, but found out that Natasha was actually the one that introduced the gospel to Sister Bayanaa. They were both taking a French class at the time. (Sister Bayanaa speaks French fairly well and Russian too) The Bayanaa family are also refugees. The have a teenage daughter, a 10 year old son and a 1 month old daughter. They just moved closer to town (they were previously living out in the boonies in northern Lux and could not attend church) and now have two rooms. Both the Jouravlevs and Bayanaas live in refugee housing, but not in the same complex. Each family have two rooms to live in, though the rooms are not connected, and the rest of the house is communal - kitchen, bathroom, etc. - that they share with several other families. It's kind of like dormitories. Again, it was an interesting visit for me but for different reasons.
I left the Bayanaa's house in awe of the sacrifices that some people have to make to secure for themselves what we would consider the absolute necessities of life. Sister Bayanaa was a family doctor and Brother Bayanaa was something like a civil engineer before coming here. Now they aren't allowed to work and only have limited rights. It's a difficult situation for the political refugees here.
Anyway, one thing is for certain, the gospel is true no matter where you live or what language you speak. I'm happy to have that testimony.
So next time you go visiting or home teaching, be thankful that you can communicate!! And be thankful for all of your blessings. We really have been blessed abundantly, individually, as families and as a family.
That's my thought for today. Hope you have a happy Sabbath.
Jocelyn