My Family is Happier Than Yours

Hungry me in front of a church

   

     Facts Francais: People like scooters here. I'm not talking about moped scooter bikes, although they like those too. I'm talking like Razor kick-start scooters. I'm talking grown men in suits and pointy shoes, women in dresses and high heels just kickin' along the cobblestone sidewalk. I'd send a picture if they weren't so darn fast. And if I wasn't incapacitated laughing at these grown adults scooter-ing to work every morning. 

     My mind is still in the process of becoming organized. As some guy once said, "You're studying right if you don't have enough time to study." True story. I have all these projects I want to do, topics I want to study, and no time to do it because I care more about my investigators. But I finally finished one this week, which was really nice. Check that one off the list that is growing daily. I wish I had more time to study, and more time to contact, and more time to teach, and more time to travel to other villes. All of it is just so good. Every single part. The rejection, the tombez-vous, it's all good. I love missionary work. 

Jumanji Mosquito

     

     Speaking of rejection, last P day we went to Macon. We've been once before and it seemed like a good ville. Only 40 minutes away, 3 members live there, and a bunch of old ami's we can pass by again. We did some porting there and in literally every building someone came out to tell us we can't just ring doorbells-it's interdit. Mains. If you were wondering, 'interdit' means not allowed. It means you better get lost fast, because I got the cops on speed dial. It means cranky old ladies and owners of the establishment standing on the doorstep, calling security, and staring us down until we turn the corner at the end of the block. Although, I strongly feel that Macon is not ready for us to be there, those people could really use some joy in their lives. 

     Coming home this week, we stopped a lady that I never recognize at first, but as soon as I start talking to her, I realize who it is. She gets upset and says, "Aah. Why do you always stop me! Every time I walk down the street you stop me! I've been stopped by you eleven times now! Why me!" (Of course, she doesn't always say eleven times, but that's the most recent count. And she's pretty accurate.) I told her she has a light. And also it's a sign she should probably listen to our message. She still said no, but she was actually smiling this time, so I'll count it. We also had a bomb lesson with our DMP and a new ami, Beatrice. She's cool. She's Evangelist and has a couple kids. I love teaching with members also. I've heard Frere Landre can get a little crazy, but he was

Preaching Gospel!

so helpful. We had Zone Training this week. I love all meetings. They are a hassle and require a pause in missionary work, but you always come away feeling so good. Loved it. I also had an exchange with the Sister Training Leaders. Soeur Carter and I were running around and contacting and teaching like mad men. We met a guy, Benoit, who is the Championaire of Lutte for France, and also said he was praying to meet messengers of God that morning. I love when that happens. I figure, if you just keep running around and doing what you're supposed to be doing and talking to everyone, you'll be ready when the miracles are there. As long as you're moving the Spirit can push you in a direction. It's a lot harder if you're not moving-static friction and all that. Here's the goal of the week, that  stems from a boy scout motto or something. Leave every person better than you found them. Plan out miracles to share, compliments to give, and questions to ask, if you have to. (I really have to. My brain doesn't work fast enough), As President says, we got "Cool Power". Show them you care and make them want to be better missionaries and members and people by emphasizing what is important to you. 

Singing in the Rain

     Factoid Francaise: French people don't shrug their shoulders. If they don't know the answer, they kind of purse their lips together and blow a raspberry. You have to see it, really. And you have to remain alert so that you don't crack up when people do that. 

Chalon Building

     Chalon sur Saone is now the home of four sister missionaries and a senior couple. If nothing else, we provide support to the branch president and the branch who are hanging on by a string. The few strong members have a lot to do, a few people just come to church, some live too far away to be able to help out too much, and a lot are inactive. For now. We had a lot of tombez-vous this week. But I feel like whenever that happens, we meet new people that we set up rendez-vous with. So hopefully this next week goes according to plan. We did have a guy, Romain, who I don't remember contacting, call us out of the blue and ask to meet with us that day. Miracle! He even brought a friend! So we had a first lesson with him and his friend. It was short because they may or may not have been drunk. Despite that, I did feel like he had some legitimate interest to learn, so we set up another meeting next week and guess what the topic will be? Word of Wisdom. Speaking of which, we met with the Kennys again this week and Brother Kenny (a non-member), told us he used to smoke. A lot. However, he was able to overcome his addiction in under a week. Want to know the cure for smoking? Bronchitis. 

     We also visited Macon this week. That is a small ville near the edge of our sector. We have an ami who apparently lives there that we need to see. We didn't find him, but we did get drenched. Imagine standing in a shower, fully dressed, for about four hours. I honestly don't know how much umbrellas would have helped at that point. When we got back to the train station, I dumped about a liter of water out of my shoes. I love those shoes. They let all kinds of things in-water, rocks, probably a rabid squirrel if they had the chance-but they don't let anything out! Once it's in there, it's stuck for good. Actually I finally wore through the bottoms this week. Obviously I just put insoles in and am wearing them right now. I have other shoes, but I want to make sure I get the full usage out of these ones. As you can expect, my collegue and I have colds. I'm better at pretending I'm healthy than she is. 

Macon Building

The other day I shared Grampy's "This is Good" story. All other missionaries now refer to it as the "Cannibal Story". I liked the other title better. I also saw an apartment with a mirror for a ceiling. That was sweet. Too bad the Mexican maid wouldn't let us in. I'm sure if the old lady who owned the apt could hear us, we'd have a baptismal date set. There's a guy we see quite often here. He's an older man and he sits by the park with his friend and drinks energy drinks. Soeur Packard calls him my "Drinking Buddy". He has a Book of Mormon, but hasn't found the time to read it. He's too busy sitting at the park. Drinking his energy drink. So I go up to him every time we see him and ask if he's read yet. Yesterday, I walked up to him and he says, Ohhhhh no! Not you! Haha. I figure if I keep talking to him, he'll eventually get annoyed and read it, if only to get me to quit annoying him. 

Oh yeah and our two amis with baptismal dates for this week want to break up with us. One has a back surgery he's really worried about and the other has concerns about the baptismal interview questions. I guess neither understands everything well enough to be baptized anyways. That's the hard thing about moving to new areas is that you don't fully know what they understand. So we're working with them still. 

Toujours in my reading of Jesus the Christ (Cough. Although that was probably a real cough, you should read this book), I learned more about the trial of Jesus. I have always felt bad for Pilot. He keeps trying to do what's right and he knows Jesus is innocent and can recognize something of his importance. However, he is threatened by his past and doesn't have the moral courage to do what is right. He simple allows the Jews to crucify Jesus. It is so important to remain firm in a world of shifting values. The values of the church have never changed, but the values of the world are slowly creeping down the rungs of the ladder of wickedness. Don't allow yourself to be only a "sophisticated neutral" in the battle, like Pilot when he allowed other men to kill an innocent man. Stand up for what you know is right in this world. As Tad R. would say, Men and women of integrity are in high demand, but in short supply. Oh la la. If only everyone lived what they confess to believe, perhaps we would not have such unhappiness and immorality as there is today. Handle it. 

Qu'est-ce que votre glace preferee?

Castle with moat and maze

     French Fact # 221: French weddings are crazy. The good ones, anyways. So turns out, you get married and then you have this dinner with everyone you ever knew at like 4 in the afternoon. You chat and it's kind of a buffet, like take what you want and stand around chatting kind of deal. At 7, there will be a several course sit-down dinner. Between each course, there are activities and games that you play. This goes on for a while, eventually ending with the last course at 6am -traditionally onion soup. Then you've got a little time (rest up, folks!) before the wedding breakfast at 9am, a ridiculous BBQ that ends at 4. En fin, after 24 hours of feasting and chatting and games, you're free! Congratulations. If you can move, feel free to waddle over to your bed and collapse for the next few days. 

With Frere Dougie who keeps asking to take us to a basketball game--guess who got permission!

     This week, I was graced with the privilege to work with one of Lyon's finest, Sister Bicchierri, our Italian Sister Training Leader. She is awesome. I have never learned so much. She is really great at contacting and has a reputation of stopping cars to talk to people. Her contacting is great though, because she really hooks them in with a good question or comment or something. For example, what is your favorite ice cream? No matter the answer, we have a message for you that will make you happier than when you eat your favorite ice cream. C'est vrai. I was also introduced to this idea of calls. She said plan in an hour a day to just call people. Call all of your amis. Call the members and chat. Remind them that we're here, make them feel good, and don't ask them for anything. They're nicer and more willing to help you out. I also got some Russian, Italian, and Mongolian testimonies from her. I just have to memorize them now and then I'll be in for sure with all the foreigners.  Speaking of which, we met a lady who isn't interested in the gospel (yet), but she said she'd call me and teach me some Serbian. Another lady agreed to call and tell me if the milk from the dispenser is better than store bought. I eagerly await those calls. We also met an old Muslim guy who was not interested, but he did do a little dance for us. I love all the French! They are so ridiculous. We did find people who are really interested as well. 

Couch tissue box-complete with cushions-Yikes!

     As suspected, we discovered there will indeed be another set of sister missionaries in Chalon. Which means we really have to figure out the bus system. It's rough without a computer, because unlike Annecy, we don't have all the nifty little hand outs that show exactly when and where the buses go. The buses we do know about only travel just outside of the ville, but there is a secret bus line we will soon be infiltrating. Je suis une espione, after all. Sister Packard and I are resting here and continuing with all of our investigators. Hopefully we'll be able to see some baptisms soon. We have some dates set, so hopefully they work out! Also, our district is being pink-washed! We will have 10 Sisters and 2 Elders. Obviously I'm really excited because sisters are my favorite. Haha. I think President thinks I can have a good influence on them or something. There are a lot more sisters who are struggling than I realized. We're all very isolated here. We really know nothing about anyone other than our companions. As the Assistants told me, it's all a big secret, a mission. Anyhow, we super cleaned our apartment to make room, throwing out at least a trash can full of old food from the Dooley's-the senior couple that used to live there. We also killed numberless concourses of moths, with more being added to the death toll every day. There will be no mercy. We also found a blender! Ask me if we have had smoothies at least once a day. Yes. Yes, we have. 

   

In other news, I got to see President Roney yesterday. Whenever I get to see him, my body gets a rush of adrenaline and I get the jitters. I just get so excited I don't know what to do. He told me to go find amis. So we went contacting for half an hour, trying to invite people to the stake conference at Lyon. It was a great meeting. The number one message was that we need to be converted to the gospel and not the church! A lot of members of our branch in particular needed to hear this. People hold grudges and are just really weird about a lot of things. And we also wanted our amis to hear it too, since we do have a lot of weird people in the branch. They have to know it's the gospel that's important. And so do you, I suppose. People are unreliable and silly and have their little ticks, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect. President Roney spoke and asked his wife to stand up as a "petite vacance pour vos yeux". (Little vacation for your eyes). He's a funny guy. We also heard from Elder Teixeica, of the Seventy. Among other things, he told us the story of a bird who would fly every day and work really hard all day to find food. One day, he saw a man with a box, and figured it'd be easier to get food from him. So he asked and the man agreed to give him food, in exchange for a feather. Hesitantly, he agreed, and painfully plucked it out. As you can imagine, this continued to occur day after day, until, VOILA! No more feathers and the man capture the bird and probably ate him for dinner. C'est la vie. I would have eaten him, not gonna lie. The point of the story was that we can't start giving out our feathers. The more we give out, the easier it is to give. Set your standards, stand your ground, and don't give in even once. There is a great quote that says something like it is easier to keep your standards 100% of the time than 99%. You can't make exceptions for extenuating circumstances-LIFE is an extenuating circumstance. There you have it straight from France. By the way, I had to Google translate this, because I forgot English. Just kidding. Kind of. 

Adventure Before Dimensia

Soeur Hutchins at the Wishing Well

     Fun French Fact: They have to feed you. Learned this the hard way. Last night, we had an appointment with the Ducoeurs to just share a quick message, build their faith, and ask for some referrals. Of course, we had to have several courses of food before we could get to that point. Don't worry-the onion soup, tomatoes, melon, cheese, hot chocolate, and all the bread were delicious. 

Nun at Hotel Dieu

     This week was so boss. I feel like I say that every week, but I'm really not kidding when I tell people I'm "livin' the dream". This missionary work is good stuff! Last P Day, we actually went with the Millers and did some touristing at some old hospital thing called Hotel Dieu. It was pretty cool, but I was just itching to contact people inside of there. Also, I'm not really into the tours of old things. Show me the castle, show me the moat, let me try on a suit of armor and have a sword fight. I did reward myself for the good behavior by buying an action figure at the end. How could I not? It also worked really well for a prop for our FHE lesson that night on the "Armor of God". We also dressed our DMP up in some "armor" as well. Although, from what I hear, you might be able to find a suit of armor at his house. This is the DMP, Frere Londre, who built a swimming pool in his backyard so we could baptize people easier. What a champ. 

     We've amped up the standard for contacting around here. At least our District Leader has caught on, but nobody else gets to see our numbers until today, so hopefully they'll figure it out too. It's so nice to have a ville with a lot of people in it. Mind you, I still contact a lot of the same people twice, but at least we get a lot more new people too. Of course, when your contacting numbers are really high, that also means the number of times you get rejected each day is really high too. Soeur Packard even got spit at this week! I love it. Sometimes late at night, I see large groups of men and tell Soeur Packard, don't worry, we don't have to talk to them. And then I forget or something and I invite them to learn more about Jesus Christ anyhow. It's like an instinct at this point. I talked to a lady this week and briefly testified of the happiness the gospel can bring and she said, Well you're plenty happy! And then walked away. I also contacted a couple of TJ's (Jehovah's WItnesses) this week. They started getting into it, ready to Bible Bash with us, and then I was like Woah! We're not here to argue with you!  They were so confused. They asked, Well, why did you want to talk to us then? Haha. Just to invite you to church. They were not ready for that one. I decided we need to befriend them, as long as they've infiltrated Chalon. At least they're bringing people closer to Christ. We also met this cool guy, Eric, who is a street sweeper. He gave us his number and took a card and then we forgot who he was! But we saw him two days later, three times in the same day! He was so excited to see us and kept verifying where church was and when. Turns out he couldn't go, because he was working until3am the night before, but he really wanted to!

Armor of God-French Style

     We had a District Meeting this week. Our District Leader, Elder Kunzler has been calling us every night to follow up on goals from Zone Conference. He knows how I feel about that. I only answer when Sr Packard is in the bathroom or something. But I guess, once, his companion Elder Powell talked to me, got scared because I sounded mad, and switched to Elder Kunzler halfway through, without me noticing. Honestly though, at that point, I am so exhausted I don't care who it is, I just want it to go quickly so I can get to bed a little early. They thought it was really funny, so they've been doing it all week to Soeur Packard. Except we know when it's Elder Powell because he never laughs. 

   

Wood Nymph Nelly, Soeur Stevens and Soeur Hutchins

     Thierry, our ami with a baptismal date for the end of the month, is so great. I love him! We had some awesome, spirit-filled lessons this week. About repentance-how could they not be? And he is opening up with us and talking more, so that's really good. Also, let the record stand that I cried in my first lesson. Yikes. I also ate ridiculously spicy Dijon mustard that was expired. It was so spicy, it gave me a headache after every bite and I had to wait for it to cool down before I could continue eating it. Last time I try to make a sandwich with THAT. I scowl at it every time I open the fridge. I finally threw it away today though. I also went on an exchange with the the soeurs in Ecully, aka, a sub-ville of Lyon. It was fun. We had lunch with a wood nymph named Nelly. She's not really a wood nymph, but she sure looks like one! She is a super spiritual bus driver that asked for her records to be removed after she got offended about something and wanted to make contact with the missionaries again! Yay! Later, some Albani kids asked if they could be taught French at the English class the sisters teach. I told Soeur Stevens she better find them and have them write me some good testimony phrases in Albani! She better, or as the office elders say, I'll crush her head. They're silly. But really. So far, I have Spanish, Portuguese, and German testimonies, so if anyone knows any other languages, send me some good testimonies! Also a pronunciation guide...Oh and we met with the Kenny's. She's a less active member and he's not a member, but they're both awesome and love rugby and traveling. And their life's motto is Adventure Before Dimensia. Voila. Have a good week. 

Go, Go, Gadget...Book of Mormon!

Chalon Cathedral

       





      Fun French Fact: Sometimes people laugh while they inhale. It's small, but weird the first few times you hear it. Not everyone does it. Mostly women. But there you have it. 

     I don't know exactly how to express what I'm feeling in a letter. Oh. La. La. I love France. I love missions. I love this gospel. I love Jesus Christ. I love President Roney. I love Sister Packard. If you thought I was crazy before, you haven't seen anything yet. I do not have enough room in body to contain such immense wealths of joy. 

Swiss Scenery 8.2013

  First of all, in Chalon, it's been a little chilly and rainy, so I finally had the opportunity to pull out my Inspector Gadget coat. I love that coat. It's got lots of pockets. One for my planner and pen. One for French cards. One for German. Etc. And I protect my Books of Mormon from the water in the folds of the coat itself. You should see the surprised looks on people's faces when I whip that thing out. What is that?! Oh, only the word of God. We are seriously contacting fiends. We talk to everyone.                                                                                                                               

  The contacting numbers for our whole zone have doubled since I've been here. Honestly, you can't selectively contact! You don't know who's ready! So, naturally, you talk to everyone. I love it. And we have been reaping the blessings as well. Although people aren't as willing to commit to a RDV here, we've met several who have met the missionaries before and want to again and our amis Thierry and Cyrille have baptismal dates for the 28th septembre. We are also blessed to have the Millers here, the couple in Chalon. They are great. It's so nice having them because we're both fairly new, and they have real relationships with our amis. It's wonderful. And I still need to learn how to teach better, and so they are a good example of that.     

Swiss Scenery 8.2013

     Okay let me tell you about my favorite day of the week. We had a Zone Conference with interviews. I love these things so much. We start out with President Roney teaching us that we need to call people to repentance more often (see why we get along??), and then we had Soeur Roney tell us how to not be stressed. Which, at the moment, is not something I am at all worried about. Then our Zone Leaders, Elder Olivier and Elder Han (most Christlike person ever) gave us some training. We practiced teaching simply. It was fun. I love being with old missionaries because then I think okay, there's hope yet. I can communicate well enough, and understand reasonably well, but I want a real French accent and to be able to just go with it, you know? French really is a beautiful language. Then we had a delicious four course lunch. The sisters always have to go and sit down and start eating first. So obviously, they sit by other sisters. Then the tables end up ridiculously segregated. Yikes. So, as per usual, I sat on the other end of the tables, so I could chill with the Elders. The Millers thought that was funny. But I got to chill with my fellow brethren in the Lord and so I was happy. No worries, with Elders. 

Sister Hutchins' feet

     Then I got to have my interview with President. I literally skipped in there, I was so excited. I had a list of questions for him, as I have been studying all the rules we have to follow. Did you know there is a rule to brush your teeth after every meal and right before you leave the house and to floss before bed? Yeah, that's real. I did get permission to put my hands in my pockets, sweep the floor only when it's dirty, and change all the voice mails to my voice. Forty-eight minutes later, I rejoined the rest of the group for the words of the Assistants. Haha. They kept making references to me as the enforcer. Like, and if you feel really tired, you better keep going or Soeur Hutchins will crush your head. They're funny. Elder Emal pegged me as crazy our first Zone Conference. This mission could use a little more ridiculosity! That's why I'm here, I guess. President told me that Soeur Packard said in her interview, You know, I did an exchange with Soeur Hutchins before, but being her companion is...different. It's fun! Well, as Elder Anderson said, this isn't missionary work, it's missionary fun! Also work. But fun work. And I had three other people tell me I was crazy for various reasons. One of them described me as a hurricane. So take that for what you will, build up your food storage, but I'm coming. And this is my new Zone, who have all met each other before and I've literally only met my current companion. So they were really lucky to make my acquaintance. And as you can see, I am still the most humble person here. 

     Here's another funny experience. Walking to church, this young guy on a bike whizzes past and yells Bonjour, les Soeurs! We were so stunned and confused we didn't even say anything back. Not that he really would have heard because he was really booking it. But later, during weekly planning, we texted an ami, Allan, that neither of us has met, and who planned a RDV with the Millers last week, but didn't show. Anyhow, Allan texts us back and says Hey I said Hi to you this morning and you didn't say hi back. You aren't very nice, so I don't want to meet with you. Have a good mission and thanks anyways. Apparently he's got a pretty dry sense of humor, which I can level with. So I start just being ridiculous. Anyhow, it ends up with me telling him he better come to english class and does he remember where the church is? And he responds (in english): Are you kidding sister! Do you know how big Chalon is! Of course I remember where the church is! I'm not stupid. I've been there many times! And then before I can respond, again in english: Ok that's enough for today. Thx. Have a good night. What? Haha. So I called him a punk and told him to have a good night. Turns out, he called the Millers to find out what a punk was! We were laughing so hard! Maybe it doesn't seem as funny to you. Okay. Awkward. But hopefully he comes to class this week. The Millers say he's really cool and he looks up For the Strength of Youth and other things in his spare time. So I'm psyched. My DL says that's a little unorthodox, but hey! Whatever works! Like I said, ridiculosity. Oh man. I love this gospel. And I love sharing it. And I forgot to remind President about my extension in our interview. Guess we'll have to have another one! 

Some Amis