Week 10

Jill talks about a hymn in the French hymn book in this letter. I found a video with a recording of it and a translation of the lyrics here.

Souviens-toi, mon enfant
Souviens-toi, mon enfant: Tes parents divins
te serraient dans leurs bras, ce temps ne’st pas loin.
Aujourd’hui, tu es là, présent merveilleux,
ton regard brille encore du reflet des cieux.
Parle-moi, mon enfant, de ces lieux bénis
car pour toi est léger le voile d’oubli.

Souviens-toi, mon enfant des bois, des cités.
Pouvons-nous ici-bas les imaginer?
Et le ciel jusqu’au soir, est-il rose ou gris ?
Le soleil attend-il la neige ou la pluie?
Conte-moi, mon enfant, la couleur des prés
et le chant des oiseaux d’un monde oublié.

Souviens-toi, mon enfant : A l’aube des temps,
nous étions des amis jouant dans le vent.
Puis un jour, dans la joie nous avons choisi
d’accepter du Seigneur le grand plan de vie.
Ce soir-là, mon enfant, nous avons promis
par l’amour, par la foi, d’être réunis.

Remember, My Child
Remember, my child : not long ago,
your divine parents held you in their arms.
Today you are here, marvelously present.
Your gaze still shines with the reflection of heaven.
Talk to me, my child, about that blessed place,
because for you the veil is still thin.

Remember, my child, the forests, the cities.
Can we down here imagine them?
And the night sky, is it rosy or gray?
Is the sun waiting for snow or rain?
Describe to me, my child, the color of the meadows
and the birdsongs of a forgotten world.

Remember, my child: at the dawn of time,
we were friends playing in the wind.
Then one day in joy we chose to accept
the Lord’s grand plan of life.
That night, my child, we promised through love,
and through faith, to be reunited.

 Jill's letter:

I'm super happy to say I'm writing this to you as I eat my lunch that consists of literally just 5 types of cheese and a baguette. La vie (missionaire) est belle :) 

This week was mostly just usually missionary stuff! Teaching lessons and making new friends and sharing good news :) But there were a few things that really stood out! The missionaries did a musical number in sacrament meeting AGAIN but I managed to talk sister Marteeny out of making me do a solo this time. We made the new elder do it! In the end it went so well! We sang a song that's only in the french hymn book. It's called Souviens toi, and it's so beautiful! 

Probably the best part of the week was teaching Ivane! He's nine years old and he's getting ready to by baptized! We gave him a book of Mormon with pictures last week, and when we asked him what he learned, and he practically recited the whole book! We literally let him talk for half an hour and he told us every story in the first half of the book! It's so awesome to get to teach such a smart little guy who loves the gospel so much already :) 

The other highlight of the week was having the main architect of the temple here! He is a super cool man! He's not a member of the church, but since he grew up in the United States, he was very familiar with our church. He talked about how he had one close friend who he hung out with so much that they even went to seminary together! When he was in architectural school, he went to the temple gardens in San Diego once a week to relax and feel refreshed for the week ahead! He definitely knows the power that the temple can have! He talked about how every time a new team came to work on the site, they'd be playing their music and acting like they would on any other site. But after a few weeks of being there, he noticed them being different. He could tell that even before the temple being dedicated, the spirit was there and was having an effect on everyone present. I wish I could put every story he told in this email, but that would make a pretty long one! It's just cool how the temple can bless everyone around it, even without going inside. 

Well that's about it for this week! Can't wait to hear back from you guys!