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.