Your Stunned Silence is Veeeeerrrrry Reassuring

Sister Hutchins, Koyle, Jones, and Howden

     "Give your parents a direct quote from us: Your missionary is amazing. Thank you for sharing them with us." -Sister Miller. "What are you saying?!" -Elder Miller. Hm. Here's a French fact that is along the same lines as the singing bathroom snowman I got for Christmas. Poupée (pronounced poop-ay) is a doll in French. She's really little with abnormally small feet, so our ami Laurent and I both tease her about being small. Only he does it in French and calls her feet doll feet. Then when I want to tease her later, I conveniently forget what exactly the word for doll is. Also "Doo-Doo" is a pet name you would use for a teddy bear or a boyfriend. Because  that's what Laurent's ex used to call him. Gross. 

     This week, I called Frere Picard, a barely reactivated less-active, and fixed a rendez vous. At the end, he asked me Is there anything that you can do for me? I was confused. I said Yesssss? And he said Okay, you can bring me some syrop, because I'm mal au gorge. Okay, Frere Picard, thank you. His health is terrible. He gets better for a few days then gets sick again. He was fine when we met with him on Thursday. We taught him about genealogy and then I asked, so why do we do genealogy? And he said, I have no idea! I've always been really confused about that! Great. We told him about temples and he got really excited to go. As should you. Anyhow, by Sunday, he was sick again. He called me and left a message that said Hello, Sister Hutchins. I am dying. Call me. Okay, drama queen. You have to remember this is a 50 year old man who looks like he's 80 and speaks a little english and has a mustache. Picture that. Turns out he's not really dying. No idea why he called me. I just told him to suck it up. That's also what I said when Soeur Koyle fell down the curb and hit Elder Miller's car with her body. I don''t know how that happened, but it was weird. And funny. She's fine. And very clumsy. 

Christmas Dinner

     We dropped by 'really quick' to see Adidja, an ancien ami. Turns out there is no 'really quick' with her. We were there for hours, wrapping presents and feeding us dinner and we finally had to call the Millers (who live across the street) to come help us escape. We ported two 14-story buildings, according to Elder Miller's suggestion and have a new ami named Sylvie. She has a lot of interesting beliefs. She practices a variety of religions because she thinks they're not all true and they all have good stuff. She grew up Catholic, but most Catholics pray to Mary and she prefers Jesus. Anyhow, she's got a lot of good ideas and questions, and is just lacking a little guidance. We can help. She cried after I said the closing prayer. 

caviar parfaits

     We went to the Landre's house after that for a New Year's Eve party. Woot woot! With them and Sebastian, an ancien ami also. I love the Landre's and their museum house and their love for missionaries and this work. And her willingness to cook for us. Here's what we ate: caviar parfait, fish paté, chestnuts, turkey soup, potatoes (because she wasn't sure we'd like the chestnuts), and ice cream yule log cake. I'll let you decide how good those things taste. I also showed them how to play the whipped cream game, but it didn't work out so well because the whipped cream had been out of the refrigerator for a while.

 

Our Christmas Tree

     Frere Landre, a trained get-away car driver, drove us home. I was cheering the whole time, while everyone in the back was hanging on for dear life. We kept the tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve and Soeur Jones started squirreling open another package. We laughed about it and said we should make it the next internet sensation: planking, coning, squirreling. However, we changed our minds the next day when I started opening things and the envelope layers were already torn, so I got the package fuzz all over without even trying.

      We now have a chocolate table. People gave us chocolate for Christmas, and then people gave us all the chocolate they got for Christmas and didn't want to eat. Does that explain why one of the only english phrases Laurent knows is "I am so fat"? Je blague, mais, je blague pas. We had lunch with the DuCoeurs. They love Sister Jones and I. Our companions are loved too, but they don't really know them yet. But Frere DuCoeur kept kissing our heads and hugging us and calling us his granddaughters and Sister DuCoeur just kept telling us how nice it was to have us over. After that, we went over to the Millers for a refreshing Skype sess. with the family. I always forget what you're all like. Sorry. Also, I forget what my first name is. And what an excellent knitter my grandmother is. Hannah loves that sweater, Mimi. We had dinner again with the Millers and all the hobos that we teach. It was nice and I was really tired. And why was no one in my family surprised to find out that I'm crazy and really bossy? By all accounts, it doesn't make sense. 

     We took Laurent streetboarding with us because he doesn't have anything to do. Not sure if that was the best idea, but we're training him to be a missionary. Whenever something annoys him, he says I'm going to die in five minutes. I will fall to the ground and die in five minutes. Except that I have to wait until I get baptized, get the Holy Ghost, go to the temple, go on a mission, get married in the temple, and raise a beautiful family in the gospel. 'Atta boy. Not sure if it was such a good idea to take him with us though, because he's really protective of Soeur Jones and I because he likes us the best. Anyhow, whenever we contact young guys, he comes over and just stands there and tries to look menacing. Haha. He is really bad at it. But he did testify to a crazy man for us and tell the man that we understand and speak French. People are dumb sometimes. I yell at them when they don't listen to me and so they assume I am not speaking French. JE PARLE FRANCAIS! JE VAIS VOUS TUER! Just kidding. Kind of. 

Sister Jones and Hutchins

     Taught Yves about the Priesthood. Him and Elder Miller get along. Then, I chastised Beatrice who is still being ridiculous. We started Plan du Salut with her, but her questions brought us back to Retab. I told her she has to pray to know that this is true. She told me I don't want to pray about it because then God will push me to become Mormon. I know. And I see no problem with that. Our Zone Conference was cancelled because we couldn't afford to buy tickets. So we crashed a Zone Conference in Lyon, which filled my quota for my weekly Lyon trip and also gave me yet another chance to steal supplies that I need. If Laurent heard me say that, he would say Les dix commandements-vous les connaissez? He's funny. I like amis that joke around with us about commandments. Anyways, I actually had Elder Brady's permission to take all the stuff, so it wasn't really stealing.

Sister Jones and Hutchins

                      The STL's hooked us up with an emergency exchange with the other Chalon soeurs. Really Soeur Jones and I just needed to talk to Laurent because his life stinks and he doesn't trust Soeur Howden yet and can't communicate very well with Soeur Koyle yet. We just needed to have a heart-to-heart with him. He only cried three times. It went well. We also surprised Christian Kuhne with our presence. And we stopped by Soeur Perrin's on the way up to the eighth floor and told her we were going to visit him. She said, Well, I guess I better change out of my nightgown then, huh? Score. It was funny. Because Soeur Jones and I are absolutely ridiculous together. We also matched. And made him think seriously about his life. Sione is back from his wedding in China, so he came to church. After church, he was talking with me and Laurent (which is hard because Laurent speaks French and Sione speaks English). But basically this was the convo: Sione-Is he baptized yet? Me-Nope, January 12. Sione-Good, I like that. (Hand on Laurent's shoulder, pointing to the picture of the temple right next to us) First baptism, then marriage. Temple. Marriage. Got it? He's got it. Sione is great. After church, we sang to practice for when we go to a nursing home and sing today and practically the whole ward came and joined us. We need to start a ward choir. Led by the missionaries, obviously. Then Elder Vira, our district leader called us. I pretended to be Sister Jones and then really gave the phone to Soeur Jones and he thought it was still me. Hehe. He asked both of us to give talks for District Meeting. Sister Jones is talking about being led by the spirit and I will be talking about...missionary work. I told him that was really vague, but he doesn't care. I decided I'm going to take this advantage to work on my leadership and teaching skills and uplift everyone. Also, I beat the point system. Our Zone Leaders decided in the second week that we were going to start using a point system, but never told my companionship about it. Yesterday, they decided that was a bad idea and got rid of it.

Raise the Portcullis!

Soeur Howden and Koyle with Frere Ducoeur

     French Fact: Joyeux Noel! You get two facts today. Because neither of them are really French. First, there are these pieces of money like pennies and double pennies and you can't really use them anywhere. Except we found the one place in all of France-you can use them to buy stamps from these vending machines at the post office. You do have a limit as to how many coins you can use, but it's a pretty high number. I will soon be change free and loaded with stamps. At least three. Second, if you grab a chipmunk's tail, it will shed its skin so it can run away. A French person told me that. You're welcome.

     What a great time of year this is! The excitement is hanging in the air, supported by a really dense fog. Maybe it's because we live across the street from the Christmas Marchet (which is actually like a carnival). Or maybe it's the Christmas music the plays and the lights all over centre ville. Maybe it's just that I'm a missionary. But whatever the reason, my heart or those clues, I stand here on Christmas Eve's Eve, loving the Who's.

Soeur Jones  and Frere Landre's rock collection

He's paid to parachute and throw knives-isn't it great!

      Let me tell you about this week. It was great. Last Monday, I convinced a guy on the street to go to FHE with us and then I took his cigarettes and threw them in the trash. And took the trash and hid it. And made him sit through the whole Christmas Devotional. And he's called like every other day this week. We met with Loic, an ancien ami, with a beautiful family that he loves. He agreed to meet with us again and attributed our meeting to the Spirit and he is so honest with us! We showed Finding Faith in Christ to our Portuguese family and they loved it so much they asked to borrow it! Then we had a delicious dinner appointment with the DuCoeurs and our recent convert Yves! And the whole ward wants to feed us and found out we love potatoes and cereal! (Contrary to Soeur Howden's efforts. She has been trying to tell people we like carrots.) Anyways, we've eaten cereal and potatoes almost daily and have boxes and bags of the two stored at our house. Ahhh yeah. 

     Last Wednesday was Christmas Conference in Lyon where I got to see some of my favorite people again and be inspired by the good words of God through the intermediaries of President Roney, his son-in-law, and President Bennasar, Lyon Stake President. I love them. I helped the nurse carry stuff so that I stay on her good side, otherwise, she'll probably kill me. And we made it back in time to visit the Koster family. They are a Christian family from the Netherlands who use their Bed-and-Breakfast to support their real business-a retreat for troubled Dutch teenagers. They also have a shelf of give-away Bibles in various languages. What?! They are so great. And fed us dinner. Our train was late, and kept getting later, so the Millers came and picked us up. It was only 15 minutes away from Chalon, but I didn't want to wait another hour after curfew to get home. The Millers are the best! 

     In Beaune, we met with Soeur Ziveri and Timothe and showed them the Christmas Devotional. And we found out Ludowic is engaged. Now if only he could get a phone so that we could contact him instead of his aunt who doesn't tell him when we fix rdv's with him. We testified to Lewis of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and he agreed to put in some effort there. We ate dinner at the Landre's and they didn't feed us too much (usually they stuff us like turkeys on Thanksgiving. Or like Americans on Thanksgiving.) And we saw their museum house. He has radioactive cups in his basement and a collection of sword-canes. And other canes, that with which I was called upon to demonstrate. His whole house is just a collection of weapons. Whenever anyone would point something cool out, I'd just say-There's a knife in that. Or Look! A gun! And sure enough... We ported a 14 story building and met a black family that didn't live there. I love all Africans. Beatrice committed to read the Book of Mormon. The DuCoeurs and Laurent put together a meal for Sister Jones' birthday. Obviously including potatoes. Unfortunately, Soeur Jones got sick at Zone Conference and shortly thereafter lost it. She is still down for the count. We had a surprise meal up at the Catagni's when we helped Soeur Miller with her seminary lesson. I taught them how to play the Whipped Cream game. They said do not teach that to Agathe. One time Soeur Koyle said, "You're really weird, you know? Who doesn't like whipped cream?!" Sister Jones and I cracked up because there are so many weirder things she could have chosen. Let me explain how the French use whipped cream: they smother things. Every inch of whatever you are eating must always be covered in whipped cream. So yeah, not my favorite. I like to taste my food instead of sugar air. 

     We sang in church for the Christmas program and Laurent, an ami, read a little script for it. We passed out thank you notes to everyone in the branch. And then we had a surprise dinner at the Chambrion's. They are so lovely. I've kind of been joking around about how we never have time to weekly plan, because things always pop up. So we set aside all Sunday afternoon to weekly plan. Then things popped up. We got enough in that we are set for the week, but karma, man.

Veve la France sunset

 

     Sorry I rushed through that, but what I really want to get to is temples. I love the temple. I love it so much and I can't go. Go to the temple. Whatever efforts it takes. Go. Suck it up princess, put your man pants on and get there. Then glory in the bounteous Spirit and love that is there. There is a difference in members that go to church and pay their tithing and rush through a session now and again and those who actually go consistently to worship at the temples. In "Holding a Name and a Standing", Elder Bednar paraphrases several ex-General Authorities/Stake Presidents and current Temple Presidents saying that if they served in the temple first, they would have focused more on temples during their other callings. Do we focus enough on temples in our lives? In our callings? I will testify to you that as a missionary, it's really not about the baptisms. It's about the temples. We don't want people to stand in the doorway of the celestial kingdom, but to bask in the fullness of its glory, to obtain eternal life, and to bring their families along with them. The temple brings so many blessings if we are faithful to our covenants. For example, it is through covenants that the enabling power of the Atonement is realized. Everything we do on this earth should direct us here. I feel like all my personal study has been culminating in this point and somehow President Roney and I are always on the same page. At Christmas Conference, we learned that our missionary focus will shift towards families. I love families. My family is great. And we're much happier than a lot of the families here. Why? Because we have the gospel. Because we have grown up with the Savior in our lives and the temple in our hearts. We are sealed together forever. Think of this another way: We aren't separated for forever. Isn't that great? Go to the temple. It's a great place. Families need temples. People used to complain that there were always trials when they started building temples, but the Brigham Young said, Bring it on man. Open up the flood gates of hell and let it hit us. It still won't stop the work. And it doesn't. It hasn't and it won't. In the Bible Dictionary, it talks about how God has all characteristics perfectly so that we can rely on Him. I love that. In a world of change and turbulence, it's great to have something sturdy to hang on to, to trust in, to hope for. Oh man, I love this gospel. It's true. You know that, don't you? I guess we're coming up to that time when everyone makes goals for the coming year. Think about this when you make goals. What are the most important things? Make sure temples are on the list. And on everybody else's lists too. That's what it's all about. We want the blessings, but we want everyone else to have them too. 

Blghkstn = "Look at that mysterious figure emerging from the fog!"

     French Fact: Did I tell you that they play Christmas music on all the streets? It's American. Also, the city is rempli (full) of lights and trees and decor. The  city really coordinates this. Good work, guys. They also go on strike all the time. 

     Monday last, we were supposed to go to Lyon and spend the day there waiting for new collegues. Sr Jones and I decided to go rogue. We stayed in Chalon and let our comps get in when they wanted, which was necessary because we had a lot to do. When my temporary comp arrived, Sister Hulmes, we went to the Pataterie. Talk about fine dining. Everything in there is potatoes. No complaints, really. I had my Pata-burger. Aka burger with hash brown type patties instead of buns. Vive la France.

     At FHE that night, the Landres gave us a huge bag of food. Someone has been spreading rumors that we're starving. Or that suddenly the mission cut off our supplies of money, because the ward keeps giving us food. I laughed though, when I saw two giant boxes of cereal. They know me so well.

Burning House Snowflake

     We found the old Christmas tree from last year. We set it up and everyone said it was terrible. Money is no object, but we didn't feel like going to the store to get another one, so we just decorated it and it turned out okay. We spent all week in between activities cutting floucons (snowflakes) and hanging up decorations at the church. I made some really good ones. I'll send you a picture of the best one, or a piece of it. I fondly refer to it as "Burning House". Of course all my snowflakes are themed. I am not creative enough to remember any shapes other than triangles and squares. 

     Turns out Frere Landre really thought I was 24 years old. One day Soeur Jones went around to the whole ward and told everyone that. I showed him my passport, and then he frapped me on the tete for lying to him. Oh well. (hit me on the head.) I also had to cover up my first name. He keeps trying to find out what my name is. He said, that's okay. One day, you'll get really sick and you'll call me to give you a PH blessing. I told Sr Jones if I'm ever sick enough, call up Frere Ducoeur and Elder Miller.

     Tuesday night we went to Lyon and changed the tradition from McDonald's to pizza. All the trainers were there-meaning most of my favorite people. Soeur Swenson, Elder Herring, Soeur Vidal, Soeur Carter, Elder Schneider. They're great. We had a fun night of revelry, contacting the waiters and eating a lot of food. Then I carried some girl's suitcase for about a mile. She kept saying she was strong and could carry it, but I let her carry it for about 5 feet before I was struggling just watching her. Yikes.

      We had a training meeting and breakfast and then we had lunch with all the bleus. I ate with the Roneys and some new Elders. One got a full ride scholarship to play football, another is half black, and another is named Elder Hutchinson. You bet when he opened his assignment, I pretended we were companions. President also laughed at me because Elder Herring and I like to split up the normal segregation. So I sat with a bunch of Elders. I also mentioned the "Assistants to the President's Wife" position. He laughed. We're getting there.

     I got my new comp, Soeur Koyle! She is great. She plays basketball, shooting guard and runs with me every morning. She is just like me when I was bleue. She wants to talk so bad, but the language is coming still. She is so great though. We went home that night. We met with Yves, who is scared of getting the Priesthood. Working on that. Then we met with Soeur Hemy, building troll, who wants us to eat at her house now and help us knit scarves. Score. We met a guy named Jorge and taught him on the street. He's super cool and loves Noel. We streetboarded and met with Joana's family. They promised to read their scriptures every day. They better. We saw Jeanette also. 

     

     So French people think if you don't wear a scarf here, you will die. Except I've never had a problem with it because my comps have always worn scarves and then I'm too scary for them to say anything. But Soeur Koyle actually had several people reprimand her, in French, so not sure how much she understood, for going out scarfless. And Jeanette gave her a bright red, fluffy boa type thing that smells like old lady. She is really excited about that. We took the Landres to see a less active, but he wasn't there. So Frere Landre did what we aren't allowed to do and stuck pass along cards in mailboxes. He has his own stamp, apparently. People in France do what they want as long as they have their hazard lights on. 

     We contacted an old ami that agreed to meet with us and bring his friends. He also said I scare him. I said Good. I expect you to be there at 3 sharp with at least three other people. Et, voila quoi.  Saturday we went over to Steve's and did some painting. He didn't have any rollers and only two brushes which splattered everywhere. Which was okay, because his friend came over and we taught them both a lesson. Turns out his friend was an old ami, Elvis, who we're not supposed to contact because he's just really flirtatious. He kept asking us if we'd ever embraced an homme. I was so surprised, Steve thought I didn't understand and started acting it out. Yikes. We gave them some For the Strength of Youth pamphlets. I also told Elvis that I could beat him at basketball and he was really offended and started going off- I've played with NBA players before and made them sweat. I will give you such a beating you will never forget. After your mission, I will find you and play you in basketball, even if you go to the Netherlands. I've been playing basketball for 32 years! I told him he was really old and cripple and sorry in advance if he fell down and broke his hip. Haha. 

     We finished setting up for the Noel party. It could have been better. We started an hour late because no one showed up. We did our play first because Laurent had to leave. I was chosen to be Jesus Christ in a muslim robe. Soeur DuCoeur told me to stay away from any Mosques. Frere Dougy and Frere Picard did the most ridiculous talent. I wish I had a video. Frere Picard was free stylin' and chicken peckin' on the jazz organ while Frere Dougy marched around in a circle, arms-a-wavin', trying to get people to join him in singing Mrs Robinson, really off tune and off tempo and clashing entirely with the music Frere Picard was playing. We also did a 12 Days of Christmas, French style. I was 12th. And a plunger. Adija, an ami, did a dance while balancing a million hymnals on her head. It was a fun night and Jorge, our ami came and we taught him with President Catagni over dinner. Yves kept lingering. We need to find him some friends besides me. We're going to start teaching him in members' homes so that hopefully will force him to develop a relationship with them. And we got several requests for a dance/karaoke New Years party! I can handle that. Hehe. 

Ask and Ye Shall Recieve

     Last week, the Millers took us to a thrift store called Emmaus. I found an old french BOM and also a sweet Russian type hat. Like that Arab guy I always see and ask for his hat. Also, I have never seen so many fur coats. Obviously, I tried several of them on. I look good in fur. I look good in everything, but especially fur. We went to Dominoes for lunch. It's not the same. I still only like eating cereal for all meals. We saw a less active down in Macon who kind of actually called us. I like the winter because all our amis want to buy us hot chocolate all the time. Then we met with Adam, who is Muslim 'a la base'. He's cool. We had a mangez-vous with our ami, Yves. Turns out he's a Japanese hippy. Talk about interior decor. And he paints. He had a painting on an easel covered up, and I asked what it was. He uncovered it for us and VOILA. A blank canvas with the words "Alma 5:39" painted on it. I think that was the scripture. We ate lots of food and we had to leave before it was even over. We also had a nice chat in between courses about baptism and interviews and whatnot. The other sisters had to teach the lesson because they are our baptismal partners. I was impressed by his dictionary definition answers to all their questions. Wow. Did I teach him any of that? I don't think so. We taught Frere Picard again, a less active, and then we had the members, Soeur DuCoeur drive us home. (We like to ask people for things we don't really need here. It makes people serve us, which helps them love us more.) Then, we got out of the car, and like the good missionaries we are, contacted the first person we saw. He didn't want to talk to us, but he pointed at his friend in his car and said he wanted to know. So we went over to the car and the guy gave us his number and fixed a rendez-vous toute de suite.  Wednesday we missed a train so we contacted. One guy said I already know Jesus Christ. I read the Bible. I know everything there is to know. I just pulled out a BOM and handed it to him.

      We took a later train to Beaune and met with Soeur Ziveri because Ludwic was sick. Turns out her son and his friend did some not-so-good things and she may or may not have turned them in and then revenge might have been taken. That's the drama. We taught Cloe some Word of Wisdom and she agreed to live it. The Ducoeurs surprised the Millers with a pizza dinner.  Thursday, we had a District Meeting in Dijon, taught Sr Kenny and her husband in Arbois, and made it back to Dijon just in time for Soiree de Musique. Essentially four missionaries are just touring and performing at every district. We got to sing a song with them and the Romanian lady I met on exchange in Dijon and her adorable girl ran up to me afterwards so excited to see me. I don't really know why. Apparently, I'm really cool and I made a big impression. Her girl kept hugging me and coiffuring my hair. 

     Yves' baptismal interview went really well and we got calls from President at the same time. Soeur De Oliveira is going to Chambery, near Annecy, my first ville. Soeur Christensen is going to St. Etienne, just outside Lyon. Soeur Jones and I are staying. I'm training a new bleue. Party! Also, Elder Powell and Elder Ardesch are whitewashing in Bordeaux Talence. I am excited for that. Anyone who knows the two of them is. I'm interested to see what that'll be like. Stopped by Soeur Guyon to deliver the Sacrament. Turns out it was Nursing Home Day or something because all the parking lots were rempli. Also I saw a guy on a roof with a flame thrower. Visited Beatrice and took pictures. They really do love me. They love the Spirit. They love the one song I have music to play on the piano. They love my camera. They don't love that I always ask them to be baptized, but I don't care. 

     Met a guy named Didache on the street and I asked him if he wanted to give me his hat. He said no. But he did want to learn about the church. We got his number, fixed a RDV, and then I said, So, Friday, you're going to come to the church, learn more about Jesus Christ, and give me your hat.  He said he would bring me another one and asked what color I wanted. I always ask these things as a joke, but if people are feeling generous, I won't complain. Did some service  Saturday. Anything for a chance to wear pants, really. We were helping someone move. She was really happy for the help and gave us scarves as presents. She is a cute Asian lady who is friends with the Ducoeurs. Then we ate at the Ducoeurs' house quickly. What missionary would pass up free pureed potatoes? Not I, nor Soeur Jones.

     Frere Dougy showed us all around the town-BECAUSE ALL THE LIGHTS ARE LIT! Every street has lights everywhere, there is a train and little wooden Christmas houses set up and running around the Mayor's office, and there are speakers on all the buildings playing music. Christmas in France, man. There's an ice skating rink. There is a spectacle and different events every night. It's like a town-wide carnival. And, right in front of the Catholic Cathedral, there is a fire party. All of these metal, heat run machines are there with creepy music and lots of flames. When we first saw it, Soeur De Oliveira said, The Great and Abominable Church is burning. The day has come.  Yeah, it's weird. We met St. Nicholas, who resembles the Pope, but is a little too friendly. We gave him a BOM. And he's friends with Matthew, Coolest Guy in All Chalon. Frere Dougy fed us dinner and showed us all his articles he's saved about missionaries and the church in Chalon. I picked up a super old BOM he just has sitting on his desk and told him it was really cool because it's super old. He said Keep it. Sweet. So I also have a 1959 English Book of Mormon.

Yves' Baptism

    Saturday night, I was stressing because there was so many things I needed to do for the baptism and for Sr De Oliveira leaving and because I thought Fernando and his family was getting kicked out of the country. Barely slept. I was also really hungry. It all worked out ok. After church, we made pancakes, and all drove up to Dijon for the baptism. Despite the fact that Yves told us he could only get baptized in warm water because of his back problems, he just stepped right into the freezing cold water and did it. He got up to bare his testimony after and started crying about ten seconds in, so he sat back down. 



   


  Then everyone ate our rhombus-shaped chocolate chip cookies. We used a cookie cutter because they all ran together like a giant cake. But they tasted good. The Ducoeurs took us to the Gare and we picked up Cloe and taught her some lessons. Chastity was a fun one, we'll see how that goes. We finished it off with ice cream sundaes at the Millers' and the whip cream game. I did it really well about six times in a row. By then, my arm really hurt from hitting it and so all the ones on film are really bad. Funny, but rough. Also, our Branch President gave us some good referrals this week. It's nice to be trusted. Also, we never have enough time for everything. The to-do lists are never ending here. Especially because for the first 12 weeks you have almost double the amount of studies to do and it takes up a lot of time. Lessons trump studies though, so it rarely happened. Who needs to practice teaching when you can do it in real life? Haha. Je blague, mais je blague pas.

     I love Christmas and am so grateful for the Savior at this time of year. And I will close with a fact about the French. Noel is special. It's all about the memories and it's all about the families. They love their families. Which makes things easier for missionaries. Have a great week. Check out Mosiah 3:3-13. 

Festin en la Parole

Sister Hutchins and Sister Vidal

     French Fact: They don't have Thanksgiving. Don't even really know what it is, other than an American holiday. Canadian Fact: They celebrate it in October and essentially only because Americans celebrate it. I know because we had to give Thanksgiving backgrounds at our FHE this week. Aka Food-Heavy Eating. It was a solid party with lots of food. Two of our engages were there, about six amis of Frere Dougy, and also Matthew, Coolest Guy in Chalon. He's a radio host who speaks a lot of english. We met him streetboarding and I made sure he was contacted because he had a really weird scarf. Apparently it was the best Thanksgiving yet. 

The ending of a Journal

 


   I started a new journal this week. Did I tell you that? I'm sad. I thought this one'd never end. Anyways, we met with the Kennys this week for a mangez-vous. I loved it because they're english and they feed us normal food in normal proportions. And we had a great lesson on the law of chastity and word of wisdom after. They agreed to read the BOM daily and find The Family Proclamation and read it. And Soeur Kenny really wants to go to Yves' baptism. And she prayed to end the lesson! It was so good.

     We were in Lyon a lot this week. We had to get my Canadian companion legal. While our companions were getting chest x-rays, we talked about who would play who in a dream BOM movie cast. I don't remember a lot, but Jack Black would definitely be King Noah. Let me know if you have any ideas on this one. Then we had some extra time, so we stopped by the office. President was there so he and I had a nice chat. I love him. The Office Elders told me there was no way Jingle Bass was getting on the Christmas CD. And Elder Schneider helped me fulfill a challenge given by President Roney in record time. He is so nice and helpful all the time. We came home, ate, and took a train to Beaune so we could surprise visit our engage. That seems to be the only way we can visit him because he doesn't have a phone and for some reason, his aunt is not being very helpful. But he's always really excited to see us. We had a nice lesson and took a train back to Chalon. Then we had Yves and the other sisters and their ami Laurent and Frere Dougy watch Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. Quality. I love this movie. Frere Dougy laughed when they were persecuting young Joseph Smith. It was funny because it was Frere Dougy and he does what he wants. 

Thanksgiving Feast

     We had another Thanksgiving after District Meeting. I honestly felt like that meeting was a conversation between me and Elder Vira. Nobody else would make eye contact or say a ton. Then at the feast, I had all the spots near me claimed. Whether it was my sparkling personality or the fact that I always hoard the bread that drew everyone over there, I'm not sure. We had our last lesson with Yves and he is solid. He wants to obey all the commandments. Then we had three TBVs and fixed some toilets and kicked some smokers out of our elevator. And then we went to Lyon for our exchange. 

     Sister Vidal and I literally ran to everything. I gave a BOM to a guy on a train and then we took all the same buses out an hour away to visit a potential. (He was talking to the drivers the whole time). Turns out the potential is a less active member. Then we rode an hour back to Lyon-meme for a lesson that fell. Then the guy from that morning called and asked us to meet with him. We took Madeline, the member that came for our lesson, and went back out to where this guy lived. We had a lesson zero with him and tried not to count the cockroaches in his home. He said it doesn't bother him-they're just God's creations. Yikes. We wrapped presents for service at Toys R Us for four hours. They wouldn't let us wear our badges, so I just told everyone that I was a missionary for the church and not a member of their organization. In return, they made me wrap all the biggest and oddly shaped presents. Like a chair. Or a truck. Or a dirt bike. N'importe quoi. We hurried to see Pascale! I love her! She moved here from Bellegarde, in my first sector. She is still going strong and was really happy to see me! What a joyous reunion. Then we ate dinner with the Crocq family and their kids loved it when I dragged them across the floor by their legs. Apparently, people don't rough house in France.

Tangerines from the Hobos

     Yesterday, a lady saw that I had a Canada badge on my coat and let us in and fed us cake. Then we told her we were Mormon and she said I have a cousin who is Mormon. We shun him and his family. Great. Later, we saw Steve, our ami, and his friend. His friend told me that I'm really pretty (Light of Christ, duh). But that was the first time Soeur De Oliveira had had that kind of thing happen, so she keeps teasing me and thinks it's hilarious. We had a solid day at church where everyone loved each other and fellowshipped our amis and we had a great lesson. Also we had a break-the-fast meal and we convinced them members to eat our left over sweet potato casserole. They liked it, but I was not such a fan.  On the way home, hobos stopped us and gave us a crate of tangerines. We took them. We'll always take them.

Dougy Week at Roc Cafe

Some things will never change!

     French Fact: I realized last week that I forgot to even write one of these things. So today I have two. Which is significant, because I really am running out of these things. Okay first, on a lot of smaller streets there are these cylinders in the middle of the street to block cars from coming down the wrong way. They are weight-sensored, so when a car comes on the right side of it, it will go down into the ground. That's when you have to run into the middle of the street after the car and stand on it as it comes back up. It's about two and a half feet high and super fun.
     Second: French people love to give directions. Sometimes I take advantage of this and change up my approach a little just to get them to stop and talk for a second. If I look like a lost, scared American they usually stop. And then they realize I'm not of those things, sauf the latter, and they tell me they're pressed. But seriously, people in a hurry, will stop and talk for like 15 minutes if you need directions.

     Monday night we had the goal to give out three BOMs. That was a good idea. There was close to no one on the streets at eight when we finished our FHE. Luckily, I can give out BOMs like I can make a layup. It doesn't take very many tries. This one guy was walking across the street, so I yelled. HEY! We have this book for you! And so he ran across the street to take it. He had a nice dog. We gave him the book and our card and both parties skipped off, much happier for it. Another kid invited us to go to his concerts every Thursday at a bar. Sweet. This week was Frere Dougy week-he is the best. He is an old man with connections, despite his autism or something. Anyways, I love him. He is always trying to get more people at english class for us. He showed us to his friend Madame Mai's house. She is the mother of an ancien ami who moved to Paris. Anyways, she is golden. She said she wasn't believing and listed all of these reasons why. And I was like WE CAN HELP WITH ALL OF THOSE THINGS. Haha. I love the gospel. It solves all problems. Then, we were walking home (and contacting with Frere Dougy obviously) and met a guy named Pie. Also, Frere Dougy already knew about 1/3 of the people we contacted. He's like me, except older and he's lived here longer. Then I thought he was going to take us to meet his mom, but we came into a political convention of sorts. It was funny because we reach the sidewalk and this guy runs out and ushers us all in and says, "I've been waiting for you! Hurry up it's starting! Come on, follow me! I'll show you in and I'll join you in a minute!" That was weird. Oh, Frere Dougy. He knows everyone. We're pretty sure he's secretly a millionaire with a yacht and a mansion somewhere. We left after about five minutes, but it was fun while it lasted. We also saw a German couple we met earlier in there. That was weird. Wednesday, our RDV with Ludwig, our engage, was cancelled. We did meet with Cloe, our other engagee. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ over a hot chocolate. She calls us her mommies and says we're saving her. She's cute. 

AAAhhhwwww!

     Thursday, we went on exchanges with the other soeurs of Chalon. Soeur Christensen and I partied all day. We started out with an arms only dance party to some Christmas music. That is a work out. Have you heard Carol of the Bells/seen me dance ever? Yikes. Later, we finish contacting this lady and this guy is standing there looking like he's waiting for us. So we say hi. Turns out he wanted to sign us up for some card to get a discount on books. We traded him a BOM and a Retab film for Jungle Book, Tangled, and a recipe book. I thought it was a good deal. He kept trying to sell his book store and I kept trying to sell the gospel. He was really intrigued when I pulled out this stuff for him and seemed really interested in getting some BOMs for the store. Hehe. It's a best seller. A Muslim named Yahya pulled over his car and scheduled a RDV with us. I had never met him before and turns out he only really wants to date us, but it's all good. Then we tried to find some new less-actives added to the list. We went to the sketchiest apartments I have seen. Half of the apartments were bricked up, random metal plates were drilled over doorways. The building they were supposedly in had all the mail boxes broken, windows shattered, and doors broken open. There was a cage welded onto the stairwell so you couldn't go all the way up. Floor boards were broken up and wires were sticking out of the wall. Also a leg of a pair of pants was sticking out of these little windows. Anyways, they don't live there. Which is probably a good thing. We saw a really touchy healer with a tiny dog. Soeur Hemy-who hates the missionaries-gave us half a pastry each after we talked to her about her genealogy work. We had THE BEST first lesson ever with Dolait, whose number one priority it is to get baptized (we can help with that). And we met Ibrahim, who speaks ten languages, including the language of Sinegal, which we know a bit. Nangadesh? Mangafille!

Roc Cafe

     Friday we went streetboarding again, this time for genealogy. We were looking for all the people with black coats and jeans. When we saw one, we'd say James Dean! And then attack. Also anyone else that walked by. We met with our ami Beatrice, with who else but Frere Dougy. She is frustrating because she wants all the blessings of being a member of the church, but she is loyal to the Catholic church. Not sure what to do there. Soeur De Oliveira snored really loud one night so I kicked her bed really hard and woke her up. Then I felt bad and decided Jesus wouldn't kick people's beds. I didn't sleep very well that night. The Millers went up to Beaune the next day to bring a new less active some pants that fit him, so we went too and surprised Ludwic with a great lesson. He was really excited. Then we went to Frere Landre's brother's house and saw Michelle Landre. Elder Miller started squawking at her parrot and we all started cracking up. She gave us lots of jam and apples. That night, Frere Dougy met us again to take us to a "Christian Bar". He told us about it at Beatrice's house and she said, What, do you need a baptismal certificate ID to get in? Haha. I love France. Turns out it's really just a cafe with a assembly room in the back. There was a group of Evangelists meeting to sing some songs and whatnot. I felt like Dan Jones or someone, being interrogated by Evangelist ministers. (If you don't know Dan Jones, it's ok, he's only the greatest missionary of this dispensation, according to Preach My Gospel. On second thought, you might want to do some research. He's a great guy.) That was fun. Evangelists are really defensive. The minister's wife was like, I'm not arguing, we respect all religions, now let me tell you, heatedly, why you're wrong. And I was like, Lady, listen for a second and you'll get it. All the people were just staring and shaking their heads at us. The minister, however, he asked a few sincere questions about our beliefs and said, "You believe the same things as us. I just don't get why there's another book!" So I left him with a copy.Sunday, Cloe broght Mahrys, her best friend to church, Soeur Vidal said she thought I'd been in Chalon for 4 transfers (joke's on her, I'm only four transfers in my mission), and I finished my first journal started on my mission. Yikes. On to chapter two.

Le Choc Du Monde

French Fact:

     Last week we went to a castle for P day. This week we will take a nap. Our DL called last night three times, so I couldn't go to bed until 10:30, even though I was ready at 9:30. I told him to hurry up because I wanted to sleep. Then he talked to Soeur De Oliveira and asked if I get up and exercise in the morning or if I just sleep. Please. I make her come outside in the freezing cold sleet so that I can get my thirty minutes of cardio. Honestly. Anyways, so castling was fun. There was a moat and a maze that I found the fastest route in first try. Someone told me the key is to always turn right. Or I read that somewhere. Anyhow, I was really grateful Soeur Miller came with us and she'd already been there before because she warned us not to look at the walls in one room. The tour guide was funny because he thought we didn't speak French. He gave us a script in English of the tour and kept throwing out translations, from "ramparts" to drawbridge and "Solomon" to SolomoN". I chuckled every time. 

    Anyways, we didn't really get to finish our P day because we had to take trains all day to Switzerland. We contacted like hooligans for an hour in Geneve before we found the missionaries. I got to spend the night with my old companion, Soeur Sovaleni. I love her. Another sister, Soeur Heitbrieder commented on how everyone has a picture of me. Soeur Sovaleni (because we were comps), Soeur Vidal (because she asked for it), President Roney (because I hide them in his stuff), their ami (because she asked for it), etc. New goal: send pictures of myself to everyone. I gave one to her right then and promised to send more to all her friends. The next day, we took some trains to Yverdone and met everyone for Zone Conference. I love Zone Conference. I didn't even freak out though. President even commented on how quiet I was. Then of course, I was chosen as a volunteer for everything. It's because I'm a really great missionary. And humble. But I actually didn't mind, because I like the feedback on what I can do better. I also like hearing all the good things I do. Sorry I'm especially prideful right now. It's my diligence week, not my humility week. Just kidding. Kind of. 

     Anyhow, it was a super great meeting on how to really work better with members and amis. I had an interview with President, which are always the best and always takes me away from an hour of the Assistants' presentation. Ooops. They don't mind. They're great. And they gave us three coordonnees that day. We also found out Elder Ardesch is actually 22. There are sometimes missionaries that you can't wait to see what they're like at the end of their missions. He's one. Oh yeah and the Mission Nurse gave us a shot. I don't like shots. The idea of putting a virus into your body just makes me nervous, although I understand how it works. I've never gotten a flu shot before, so why start now? Anyways, so I asked her what I could do for my companions to help their shin splints (because I give those out like Books of Mormon). Then she found out I studied PT for a bit and understand medical terms. Now I have a sinking feeling that she's gonna be vying for me as a companion. But, then again, who isn't? Haha. I just love missionary work. We made a goal to commit one person to baptism each week. This week, we had two first lessons and both accepted! Bam. Make a goal and the Lord will prepare a way. They are both super cool. Ludwic is 30 and his aunt is a member of the church deja. He used to be Catholic and the whole time his aunt was like, "Okay, but we're not going to force him, right?" But he is so open and honest and came to church having read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and felt something in his heart. Wow. Cloe is our other engagee. She is so sweet and innocent and is willing to listen to everything we say. All she wants is an eternal family. And to get answers to her prayers. She has a lot of questions for us, so we sat and talked about it for a while over some hot chocolate. She also knows a lot of english and likes to talk with us in english. I still speak in French, but Soeur De Oliveira likes it. Anyways, they're getting baptized soon. Oh yeah, and we want to set up Cloe with an old ami who surprised us by coming to english class. His name is Allan and he doesn't really like me, but he loves the Millers and knows the BOM is true. Missionary Matchmakers, Hey-Oh. Je blague, mais je blague pas. 

As a Russian Missionary

     We had a lesson with Lewis set up at 6, and another lesson with Yves at 7 with two different members. Lewis showed up late and was rempli with questions, so we went on splits for a bit with the two members so we could teach them both. Yves is easy-he's willing to accept everything and doesn't have too many questions. Lewis is still hung up on the priesthood and has a LOT of questions. So I handled that one. Anyways, so that was exciting. The next day, I went streetboarding for the first time. This means you take out a huge board with a giant question on it or something and you just contact everyone walking by. Oh man. I really was contacting like a hooligan. I love streetboarding. I'm just a six foot tall American with a bright yellow raincoat on, literally running around and pointing and yelling at people, talking to them across the street or in cars or walking by. Yeah, that was a good day. I love contacting people, although the old people are scared of me. I pulled out my Soeur Layton coat this week. It's a huge trench coat. I look like a Russian Missionary when I wear it. All I need are some fur tights. It also weighs about fifty pounds. I feel stronger every time I walk up the stairs. Oh except one time I wore it and for about 30 minutes, every one complained about my French. (French people like to pretend they can't understand so that they don't have to listen). Then I contacted a large group of parents and kids. They weren't interested, but one little girl had an American flag scarf on. I asked her if she liked America. The parents started pulling their kids away, so I tried to explain, I'm not harassing your children, I'm just American, and that's our flag. Then all of the other little children start yelling in English, SHE DOESN'T SPEAK FRENCH! I spluttered for a second before saying, loudly and probably waving my arms around, Je parle francais! They stopped for a second, pointed at the little Dutch girl and said, No, SHE doesn't speak French. Yikes. The dad and I laughed about it for a second and I awkwardly said goodbye. May or may not have scared her to death. But it was funny afterwards. Those Russian Missionaries-so unpredictable. One day, we were walking down the Zupe, where all the Muslims live, to find a less active and coordonnee. Suddenly Cani comes around the corner and sees us and runs towards us, while carrying an armful of glass dishes. [Cani is a sweet kind of Muslim guy with a family and he speaks a lot of english and is always really excited to see us. He pulled his car over so we could teach him. He's also a hotel manager and super classy.] He runs towards us and says Ah! Follow me! My wife keeps seeing that you call me and she wants to kill me! You have to tell her that it's you! I said, We just want to talk about Jesus Christ! He says, I know! But you have to tell her! (We are running down the street as this is happening.) We get to the street in front of his apartment building and he calls his wife and asks her to come to the window. She comes over and so we explain that it's been us calling him and we're missionaries and she just starts laughing. They're a cute family. We need to teach them. Cani was also wearing a pink sweater. Classic. 

Church was good, as per usual. We had 10 investigators. Yves went to PH, Cloe went to YW, the kids went to Primary, and the rest came to Gospel Principles, taught by myself. Here in France, we cater to all languages-French, English, Albanian, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish. And the printer wasn't working, so we couldn't print off the lesson. At least we finally got BOMs in everybody's languages. Then I gave a talk on Jesus Christ (what else?) and the enabling power of the Atonement in Sacrament. I love speaking. Especially when they forget to give you a topic. President Catagni was overjoyed at all our amis (which move church attendance up significantly). And even more so when we told him Yves chose him to baptize him. He danced. Jesus also danced. And so should we all.

Troll in the Building! Thought You Ought to Know.

     French Fact: In celebration of today, this comes straight to you from at least one street sign in every single ville in France. That is, Rue de Onze Novembre. Or Rue Victor Hugo. But, yes, there is always a Rue 11 Novembre in any ville you visit. The date is significant probably because it was the end of the guerre or something like that. I need to brush up on my French history. 

Hungry?

     We now have two amis with dates for baptism and the other equip has an engagee as well. We jokingly told our DMP that we need to find at least two more because we want to have five baptisms on the same day. Well, rumor has spread and apparently it's already set in stone, so we better make it happen! Unfortunately, we just found out that one of our engagees, Claudia, is not married to her boyfriend. That poses a bit of a problem. Yves, however, is doing great and loves meeting with us. Turns out he was married, had two children, and then got divorced five years later. He wants to marry is ex-wife in the temple once she dies and he wants a triple combination set of scriptures. People keep telling him about things before we get a chance to explain anything. But he reads the scriptures for two hours a day and watches the Retab video on repeat, so I won't complain.

     This week was "M Week", the M being an abbreviation for whatever you feel like: Monster, Miracle, Missionary, Mormon, Monkeys, whatever. It's a week where we all study specific things each day and have a goal associated with them that should make us work harder. Unfortunately for our equip, we pretty much work at max capacity, so there isn't a huge margin between our normal work and this. I did, however, enjoy the goals they gave us. Things like give out five BOMs or 15 Retab pamphlets. It did help us to make sure all of our time was used efficiently, especially when we were out of town for district meeting all day. Honestly, I could give out 10 BOMs each day, but I've been reprimanded for that a few times. Not that it really stops me, let's be honest. We also tried something cool. We called members right before we were going out contacting and asked them to pray for us to find someone to give out the books to. I will testify to you that this works. Each time, we quickly found people who were ready to receive them and it really built the faith of the members in us as missionaries. Late that night, we left the house of Jeanette, an old ami whose birthday we celebrated with the Spirit, and we had one book still to give out to accomplish our goal. We called up Frere Landre and asked him to pray for us. Then, our new Zone Leaders tried to call us, but we got disconnected. We started walking home and I finally get a signal on the phone, so I started calling the ZLs, hoping it was nothing grave, when two people walk up. The ZLs answered and I said Hang on! and we contacted the couple and were able to testify to them and place a Book of Mormon into their hands. It was funny because our ZL listened in on the whole contact and it made us look a lot better than we are. The couple was prepared and we couldn't have planned it better. So that was our ZL's first impression of us-set the bar high, I like to say.

 

     

Training her well...

Soeur De Oliveira stepped in poop this week. Didn't even last a week. Good news is, the obedient missionaries that we are, we made sure to get a pastry. (The addendum on the Missionary Handbook states that if you step in poop, you have to get a pastry). We had a Zone Training meeting this week that was super fun. Always. Elder Stanford and Elder Boegearts told us about the "Building Troll", who is normally the janitor, but can also be any grumpy person. Our job is to eradicate all building trolls by turning them into normal people. Great. The Millers fed us lunch. I hope it doesn't seem like the highlights of my week are when I'm fed by the Millers. But I do enjoy it. We had a lesson with Yves at the church and Frere Dougy was walking on the street and saw us and joined in. I don't know how he does it, but this is the second time he's randomly helped us out in a lesson! Then, afterwards, we were talking to Frere Dougy and a guy shows up and starts reading the sign on the door. Of course, I wave to him and motion for him to come in. Turns out he's the first person the other sisters taught here in Chalon! His name is Frederic, but he's read the first two books of Nephi and now prefers to go by his second name, Ismael, because the daughters of Ishmael marry the sons of Lehi. We got his info and made sure he would be at church. Speaking of church. My companion was warned in advance that she would probably be speaking, by Elder Miller, but the other two sisters had to give surprise talks as well. I have one scheduled for next week apparently, don't worry. We also only had 36 people show up since all of the families were sick or something. Six of those people were missionaries. And ten amis. Yes, you read that right. Here in Chalon, our amis bring amis. And none of them speak the same language. Don't worry, the Italian/Albanian/Greek father came up to me after my lesson and told me in broken French that it doesn't matter that we can't communicate because we can feel the truth in our hearts. Amen, brotha. Later we met a guy roller skating and I saw him jump on a bench, so I cheered. (Like almost anything I do, this is to the embarrassment of my companion.) But we got his number and are going to give him a Book of Mormon too. He reminds me of Kevin Rigby. He's very dancey and graceful. And he has crazy hair. And he loves God. And so do I. Have a good week.