Sister Marielle Larsen from the 5th Ward has been serving in the France Lyon Mission for a little over 15 months. Her mother Anne shares some of her stories.
"Her mission covers the southern part of France and all of the French-speaking part of Switzerland, which is where I grew up. She served for 6 months in CH (short for Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for Switzerland) where she got to see her relatives, and is now in Lyon, France.
"While in Switzerland, she taught a lady from India named S. S. had passed by the chapel and asked the sisters if they could tell her more about Jesus. They started teaching her and became close. One day she confided in them that she felt very lonely and depressed because she was far away from home, her husband worked a lot and she didn’t know anyone in CH or speak any French. Marielle said:
Most days that we meet with her, she is bubbly and full of light and curiosity to learn more about Jesus Christ. This week, however, we had a really serious meeting with her. She was talking about how she has been full of anxiety recently and her head aches and she just can't stop feeling stressed. I testified of the power of prayer and of the comfort of the Holy Spirit. She said she has tried and she prays all the time, but she can't stop the anxiety. She expressed her despair because she has no one to share these things with but us, and she doesn't want to burden us. My companion and I were pretty lost. We had a rendezvous with a potential investigator so we had to leave, but we said we would come back.
Earlier that morning, before the meeting with S., we had missed our train. So I told my companion that we would take the bus, even though it would take longer. We got on the bus and a girl named T. sat down next to us with a beautiful scarf. I complimented her on it, but she didn't understand and replied in English. I excitedly started a conversation with her and it turned out she was from India and was looking for an apartment in town. We got off the bus before getting her number and I hoped we would see her again.
WELL, guess who we saw on our way back to S.’s house? T.! I practically ran after her and we got her number. As we were walking to S.'s home, a thought clicked in my head that Heavenly Father had totally put T. on our path so she could be friends with S.! We put them in contact with each other and T. is going to move into their apartment. Miracle! God loves S. and He loves us!
"Another experience that I want to share is the story of M. who is a 45-year-old man from Togo, Africa. I quote Marielle:
M. has gone through some really tough things that he does not tell us about. He has no family left. One day he passed by the chapel and saw the sign saying The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The phrase Latter-Day Saints just kept running through his head, so he went to church one Sunday. This was the beginning of him learning about the Gospel.
He seemed to be very enthusiastic at first, but did not make any progress for a while. So one day, we taught one lesson where we really focused on the fact that God has commanded us to read the scriptures and that it's only in reading each day that we can come to understand them and gain a testimony. He committed to do it each day. We met with him 3 times this week and on Friday. He said that something had happened to him that had brought him a lot of joy. The night before, he had dreamed that he was dressed all in white. Then he woke up, got on his knees, and prayed to know what his dream meant. Immediately after he fell asleep and had another dream. It was a man telling him 'to leave the darkness.' He said that when he woke up, he wasn't sure what to think, so he opened the Book of Mormon and read a scripture that filled him with joy and he had been feeling joy all day. The change in him was so clear. He understands things we haven't even taught him or discussed. The Spirit is definitely a better teacher than I am. It's so cool to see the change that comes about in us when we apply the Gospel and follow the commandments of Christ in our lives.
"Marielle was transferred and M. was baptized shortly after.
"In her emails, Marielle often describes how grateful she is for her mission. She says:
The best part of my mission is just being really close to Heavenly Father and the Spirit and feeling Him really near.
One thing that I feel like I am really learning on my mission is how the Lord truly does refine us in ways that we might not understand fully in the moment, but that in the process, he heals us above and beyond our expectations. It really fascinated me to learn about the skeletal system in my anatomy and physiology class at school. We learned about how our bones' cells are constantly breaking themselves down and building new bone behind. Thus, our bones continually renew the material there and we grow bigger and stronger. That's how conversion is. God doesn't just build over the old material and hope that the good things stick. That wouldn't work. He breaks us down and lets us feel around in the dark for a bit until we realize that we need His help. Then, with His help, we become 'new creatures' and our hearts are changed. He fills us in abundance. It's astounding and miraculous. He's so merciful and I can feel how my love for my Saviour has changed and deepened as I have had to lean on Him and put everything in His hands because I just. can't. do. it. alone. It's not possible. I can't do it without His love and His wisdom and I definitely can't do it without the Spirit.
The mission is really nothing at all like I imagined. I think I imagined us going door to door and being rejected all of the time and then finally one day having a huge miracle. It's not at all like that. Really, the thing we do the most is just serve people while testifying of Jesus Christ and of His Gospel. We try to show people Heavenly Father's love at all times, and I adore that. There's nothing as fulfilling as seeing the light in someone's eyes when they realize they're not alone with their problems, that they're not alone in this world. I love it. I love being a missionary and I love being here.
"I will just add that I have personally felt an added portion of the Spirit enter our home after Marielle was set apart as a missionary and I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings peace, comfort and joy into our life and I am thankful that Marielle can share it with others, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen"
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