Week Three: A Snail on a Speedboat

Sister Swenson and Sister Hutchins

Anyone who hasn't been on a mission needs to go. This is seriously the best time of my life. Last Monday for P day, we found out the sack lunch line didn't open until like an hour after our lunch started (we have the earliest meal times) and you have to wear skirts to eat at the regular cafeteria. You know me. Pulled a skirt over my shorts and put a button down shirt over my t shirt and walked right in. My district thought it was hilarious. Heaven knows why. They should know me well enough by now. 

We were visited by Craig Zwick this week as a whole MTC and Elder Hamilton (I think) came to visit our district personally. Like most visitors we get, he was very impressed with our French skills. Our teachers are awesome and are trying to get through it as fast as possible so then we can have practice sorting everything out and using it. I think we only have one tense left to learn or something. I told my Branch President the language is coming along like a snail on a speedboat. At the time, I was too tired to think about what that meant, but retrospectively I think the Spirit must have been directing my thoughts because it actually makes sense. Now President Mangum thinks I'm wise. Haha. Well, joke's on him! Anyways, so think of the MTC/Spirit as the boat and the snail as me. Which is also funny because I'm going to France where they eat snails. But I digress. Here's me chugging along, doing what I can, and I get on that speedboat and BONJOUR! CE DE QUAFF! I don't know how to spell that, but apparently that's the equivelant of 'that's amazing'. I decided if total immersion is the way to go for baptism, it's a good method for learning a language too.

Our first investigetor, Christophe, aka Brother Maines, another MTC teacher came back to visit our class and help us out during additional study time. We laughed about our poor French in our first lesson (the second day here!) and asked him what he thought. He said we got a lot nicer as we learned more French because at first we could only command him to read or pray or whatever. And also instead of asking him if we could come back for another visit, I asked him on a date. Woopse. But he said yes-to the date and baptism. And our lessons are so good and I love to teach! It's all Sister Swenson can do to keep up with me. We make a lesson plan and can just change it and talk about what our investigators need and the spirit is there and it's wonderful. 

We did have a lesson earlier in the week with Francis that was difficult. As Aaron said in his letter, lessons over an hour long are less than productive. It was rough because he started asking all these questions that weren't easy to answer in English, let alone French, and Sister Swenson has a hard time understanding so she just spaced out the whole lesson and didn't really help at all. It was all me. And it was rough. I think she's scared of him, because she talks a lot in our lessons with Eloise, but rarely with Francis. The next lesson with Francis was amazing, but she still didn't really help me out at all. During companionship inventory we discussed how she needs to talk more, so it's been better since then.

Another thing we talked about during inventory was not talking to me after 10:30 because I need my sleep. Sometimes she'll whisper Good Night or something. But one night at like 11:30 she asked if I was okay. I grunted at her and said good night. And I couldn't get  back to sleep for hours so I was really tired. Turns out she thought my snoring sounds like crying. Go figure. Sometimes Sister Swenson says weird things to me, like she's trying to figure me out. Once she told me she thinks I'm secretly stylish and don't want anyone to know. For anyone thinking this-I'm decently stylish and too lazy to get dressed. Glad we got that figured out.

 The Sister Training Leaders in our room were moving out this week, so we had a sleepover and put a bunch of mattresses on the floor. Don't worry-it was an obedient sleepover. But we had fast Sunday the next day and we always have the latest dinner time on Sundays, so we were supposed to fast for 26 hours-which is against the missionary handbook. They say that obedience brings blessings and exact obedience brings miracles. So to be exactly obedient, we ate lots of snacks at our sleepover to avoid fasting for over 24 hours. Take that, Satan, you clown. We also had a lightsaber fight, but they're sending me the pictures once the get to Vanuatu. The MTC does 6am workout classes for sisters and one of them is kickboxing, which sounded kind of fun. I might be more inclined to go if we didn't have the earliest breakfast time here. Since the STL's were leaving, I agreed to do that kickboxing class once with them. Bad idea. Less kickingboxing and more jumping and I had jump roped the day before and my calves were burning. Also lot's of marching in place, which makes me feel like a pansy. I need to actually go somewhere. And, funny story, Lauren's friend, Sister Beagles came to the MTC this week and is in my zone!

Elder Leavitt in our district is so funny. He's this spazzy 18 year old kid headed to Congo and says the funniest things. This week's winner was, "I bought these shoes with 1/2 inch tread so that when I'm walking through the mud in the African jungles, my shoes won't even notice." Later in the week, Elder Herring, our DL, tried to shove a whole piece of pizza in his mouth and had to have the heimlich. Yikes. That may or may not explain why we have a new DL. I may or may not have told this next story. Frere Smith spent six months of his mission illegally living in Switzerland. His Mission President has a nasally monotone voice and would tell him, "Elder Smith. The Church is very wealthy. If you go to jail, we will bail you out. The Kingdom of God has no boundaries." For our devotional last night, Ted Gibbons gave us an account of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith from the perspective of Williard Richards. I learned a lot and I felt like Dad would've appreciated it since he has a secret crush on JS. But, let's be honest, who doesn't? That guy is the bomb. Anyways, so Williard is telling us about one of the times JS and about 14 other men are taken to prison and the bail is set at $500 a piece-which is 2.5x the legal limit, and they were prepared and paid it immediately. At this point, Sister Huckstep leans over and says, "The Church is very wealthy

Where have all the elders gone?

. If you go to jail we will bail you out. The Kindgom of God has no boundaries." Elder Johnson called our district to repentance this week-saying that we have been decreasing in our efficiency and work ethic. And I very much agree because this is something Sister Swenson and I talk about often. According to Elder Johnson, however, we're the example to look to for diligence, but don't let him fool you. There are always improvements to be made and we need a LOT of work before we can handle THAT responsibility.

Our next lessons are about prayer and Enos and then the Plan of Salvation and 2 Nephi 2. Great Chapters. Also, I recommend reading Jesus the Christ. The spirit is strong, the work is progressing, and the French is coming. Also, I am the master memorizer of le Livre de Mormon. Booyah.