The Phantom of the Opera is here

May 19, 2014

Here's something cool about France-a lot of the Gares (train stations) have pianos in them. People just randomly come and play the piano. This morning, when we were helping people transfer, we had pro Elder Durante tickling the ivories and Soeur Beeny belting out some hymns. People cried. 

In other news, we have two amis who are scheduled for baptism right now. Sonia is so wonderful, but is facing a lot of opposition between failing exams and her husband in the hospital. It's just rough. Alain knows the BOM is true and is just having a lot of doubts about himself. He knows it's a serious commitment and really wants to be ready. It doesn't really help that his cousin told him that it's normal to wait 20 years before being baptized. Hey! Who are the representatives of Jesus Christ here? He knows he is ready though. 

Note. A lot of you may have heard that Jeffrey R. himself came to my home stake a bit ago. But do you also know that I used to be companions with his niece? We had planned it out really nicely so that Uncle Jeff would hand dad (his hangout bud for the weekend) a photo of myself. Then everyone would be baffled and it would be hilarious. Well for some reason, it didn't work out. I'm going to have to check the behind the scenes details and get back to you. Bummer. 

Last Monday we met a kid named Xavier for the first time. He is cool. And is it a coincidence that he works in LASIC eye surgery and that morning, my glasses broke? I think not. And also I think there's a mouse in our wall. Speaking of signs from the heavens, I think I need to reprendre Spanish. I stopped in Bayonne and taught ladies from Colombia and Venezuela. Later, I met an old man named Papi who speaks Spanish. (He's also 90 years old and I don't think I'd be able to understand him if he was speaking English.) Then I found a Spanish pamphlet in my desk. And I met a friend of a member who speaks and teaches Spanish. The time has come, the walrus said. 

I also went to Pau. It was cool and immediately brought to mind the scripture that says A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Because it literally is on a hill. There is a free cable car thing that transports you up there from the Gare. I spent a lovely day with Soeur Bagley. She is wonderful. And while my apartment may or may not have mice, theirs has spiders 'with legs so big you could pick your teeth with them'. We met with a nice Albanian family with adorable kids. Then we met with their ami Barbara. She is a teenager and she finished all they way up to Mosiah after a week of being taught. She knows it's all true. After she taught us the restoration of the gospel, I turned to Soeur Bagley and said why is this girl not baptized yet? We gave her a date and she literally jumped into Soeur Bagley's arms. I was surprised at her reflexes in fact. The other cool thing is that Barbara is studying in Pau, but she goes home to Bordeaux for the weekends. Thus, I too will have a chance to teach her and she will come to church in Bordeaux. Her mom right now is a bit opposed, but I think she's just shocked that it's so fast. It's sadly funny that the biggest opposition our amis have is family problems. All we want is eternal happiness and infinite togetherness for them! Is that too much to ask? 

Another interesting worldwide dilemma is the loss of emphasis on the family in society. For example, we met a Raelian couple this week. Part of their belief system is "freedom of sex" where they specifically do not get married, but change sex partners from time to time. It's much the same as what a lot of the world thinks, but I was shocked that this is part of a religion. Think of the impact that must have on their children! The values upon which society is built-the family, chastity, work, etc- are literally being torn out from underneath us. Do people really think they can tear out the foundation without having pieces of plaster fall on them? It's terribly sad and terribly silly. I'm glad we have leaders today in the church that provide the anchor, that maintain the foundation, and keep us from falling apart or drifting into perilous waters. But I digress.

Albeit the Raelians are a strange group. For those who don't know, here is a short summary of their beliefs: "All life on Earth had been scientifically created in laboratories by people from space....They will officially return very soon, along with the Great Prophets of old;;;who are being kept alive on their planet thanks to cloning, the secret of eternal life." Glad, once more, that I'm a Mormon.

Speaking of prophets, seers, and revelators, Neil L himself is making a personal appearance to our mission in Nice in a couple weeks. We are preparing by reading all of his talks. Ever. 

We had a sweet concert at church this week put on by the family DeFranchi (all professional musicians) and their friends from the Bordeaux opera. I quickly became friends with the opera singer David Ortega. I saw him walking around and stroking his beard and I knew he was cool. The concert was also really good. Normally, it's not really my thing. But I enjoyed it. And there's a group called On Va Sortir for all people new to the area, they sign up for activities and all go as a group. Pretty cool. They're all older and single, so I think it is also a dating thing. Anyways Ortega and Sr Baquedano's spanish ami sat next to us during the buffet afterwards. So we chatted in Spanish. They made fun of me for my terrible accent and extraordinary limited vocabulary. But at least I mostly understood what they were saying. We had a jolly time. Little does Ortega know, I already want to set him up with the pianist. (And the whole family agrees. Solid). You too. Have a solid week.