Last Monday, we had another not-really Pday. Meaning, we studied, wrote emails, and then did work. We didn't even have time to buy food or do laundry. We did go to Macon and visit with a less active, Samuel Berthier in his new apartment. He keeps saying he feels it's time for a change and so we keep trying to give him ideas :) Also, he says every now and again he flips open the Book of Mormon to a random page and picks a verse to find inspiration. Well I printed him off a talk and he skimmed through it and said it reminded him of his Book of Mormon reading because just skimming through it, he already found something super helpful. Yeahhhh, Spirit.
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| wise men |
Then, thanks to Soeur Howden's knowledge of obscure holidays, we dressed up as the wise men (Rois Mages) and went over to the Landre's house. Soeur Landre has been having a rough time lately because she doesn't really have a filter and now her daughter-in-law is upset with her. But we cheered her right up and we got rid of some gifted incense in one shot, so I felt good about it. Frere Landre, famed get-away-car driver, drove us to the church in five minutes and we had FHE. We introduced them all to the game of Pictionary. They didn't really understand it, because I pulled out words like "Macon", "Chalon", and "Resistance". The worst. We ended in a tie. Then we had Gallet de Rois, which is one of those cakes with something hidden inside and whoever finds it is the king.
We randomly passed by Claudia, our Romanian ex-engagee, this week and she read in her BOM! The problem is that she still doesn't really understand, but we read with her and it's a lot better and she says it makes complete sense. We recieved several calls from amis and members this week saying not to go to a certain area of town called the Zupe. Then we actually took their advice. Hence, I am still alive.
We went up to Beaune to visit Soeur Ziveri. It is her New Year's Resolution to come to church every week and she said she will accomplish that by not doing anything and waiting for me to find her rides. Hm. She has a new dog named Elvis, which really is not surprising. She loves Elvis Presley. But she already has too many animals in her house. It's a zoo where all the animals roam free. It's terrible. Nobody wants to be stroked by a cat tail in the face in the middle of saying a prayer. Nobody.
I pulled a Mary Poppins this week by turning contacting into a game. Now, Soeur Koyle actually thinks this game exists and everyone knows about it. Not true. I made it up. It's called: Contact ALL the People. You walk down the street and contact all the people. She likes this game. She doesn't know we actually play it every day. I'm so tricky.
I also had a brilliant idea for decorations for our Karaoke party on Saturday. I was thinking of what we could put on the walls and here's what I thought of: iTunes. Feel it? Like those brightly colored people that dance in their ads. Except the people are just us and they don't move because they're made of paper.
We had a district meeting in Dijon which was seriously improved compared to the past. I know how to get there and so we actually met the Elders on the tram. Then Elder Vira got on the wrong bus and Elder Holding just let it happen. We kind of had to follow because they had the keys to the church, so we couldn't get in anyways. Then, Laurent was supposed to have a baptismal interview and Elder Vira took the wrong train. He used to have a companion that would stop him from getting on the wrong transportation, but Elder Holding just follows him and lets him make mistakes. Elder Vira kind of just gets on the first train he sees. Don't do that. Don't be that guy. Nobody will like you. And you will spend a lot of extra money that is SACRED. Thanks.
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| me and Cloe |
Anyways, Soeur Jones was stressing out, as per usual with missionaries before baptisms. We kind of all just run around like chickens with our heads cut off. And then Soeur Howden falls down the stairs. Yikes. After a lot of freaking out, we got permission for Elder Miller to just do the interview. Afterwards, Laurent called me to tell us how it went and said It went well. I passed. Elder Miller said if I persevere, I might, hopefully, probably, be somewhat happy someday. Well duh. You will for sure. Sometimes, Laurent is funny and says I will die in five minutes. And then we tell him NO! You don't have the right! You need to be baptized, confirmed, go through the temple, serve a mission, get married in the temple, have a large family, grow them in the gospel and then once they all move out and you have grandchildren, you can die.
We went to Tournus to do some service for the Koster family, who has the shelf of give-away Bibles. We painted some shutters (which people actually use in France) and walked their dogs for them. I walked the big one and thought to myself, Self, you should just walk this giant dog every morning for exercise-you'll run the whole time and get a good arm workout from holding the leash. Joke's on me, missionaries can't keep pets. Found out Soeur Koyle burnt her house down twice.
Then we had a lesson with Lewis, who also read the Book of Mormon for us. We had a good lesson after we repaired damage from the beginning when Soeur DuCoeur started explaining that he was black because his ancestors were wicked. French people, ai yi yi. He understands the gospel a lot better. Unfortunately, next lesson, I'm probably going to have to straight up tell him the priest who baptized him didn't have authority. That'll be interesting and really hard. I think he knows, but is really resistant to the idea.
Saturday, we had a Young Adult activity at Agathe's house. And by that, I mean the missionaries, Agathe, and Laurent. We all ate lunch and looked at mission photos and listened to conversion stories. We had a spiritual thought and played Wacky Sixes. I loved it. Get this, family. Apparently it can only be bought in UT. We also had them trace themselves on bright paper for us for the Karaoke night. We came back and made a BUNCH of cookies and prepared for Sunday.
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| Laurent's baptism |
Baptism days are rough. Always. There's so much to bring and do. And of course, we were doing everything at church. Teaching RS, teaching Gospel Principles, doing a 20 minute Sacrament program. Narrated by myself. That was really good because it helped the members to really feel the spirit, got Beatrice to come to church, and gave me a chance to say I don't care if you've read the BOM a thousand times, read it again and do Moroni's promise. I like those times. Everyone came up to me afterwards and told me it was great. Thank you, Spirit of the Lord. Cloe was also there. After church, we got everything ready and went up to the baptism. I was in charge of making sure Laurent arrived sans probleme. Also, Frere DuCoeur came and hugged me and said I was like his daughter and then told me all about how grateful he is that Laurent is living with them right now and that they hug all the time. Cute. Anyways, so we brought Cloe and Soeur Koyle and I up with Laurent. I distracted him from freaking out by helping him sing "Baptism" and "Les Anges dans nos Compagnons", his favorite songs. Also telling ridiculous stories and showing him my translation of Here Comes the Oxcart into French. We got to Dijon and freaked out some more and waited for everyone else to get there. Eventually we started and it went well. Laurent and an 8 year old, Lea were baptized together. The talk on baptism was done by her apostate and less-active mother and was really good for her. The other talk was by Soeur Jones (I got kicked off the program when the Osmonts said they wanted Lea to be baptized the same day). We sang Baptism for him. They were baptized and life is good. Cloe said she would be less stressed at her baptism and I said I won't. It was really good and exhausting. Plus the fact I haven't had a decent P day in a while. On the way home, Laurent conveniently missed the stop to Beaune to drop Cloe off. So he dropped us and Soeur Feuvrier off in Chalon and drove Cloe home all by himself. Hehe. Plan du Salut, anyone?
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