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.