The Hutchinator, District Leader

No, I'm not the district leader. But that's what President and the assistants texted out as a joke. I laughed.

What a week. I love training, but the first week is always rough. Especially if you live far away from Lyon. Here's the down low. I went up to Lyon first thing Monday morning. I had pday in Lyon with Sœur Jenson and we bought a new strap for my Watch and a supply of cereal I could survive on for a few days. Also a coing. (French fact! This is a fruit. It grows here. People make Jelly with it.) Anyhow, it wasn't ripe, so the one bite I had was less than satisfying. That night I went to FHE with the JAs at Institute. I saw a lot of my favorite people. Including Sœur Luthi, who has now passed beyond the grave, may she rest in peace. Jokes, she's in Cali.

Tuesday, we went to the office to grab some supplies we'd bring back to our sectors and then the fiasco started. Several dying missionaries were prevented from boarding planes, whether due to plane strikes or lack of French legality (I still don't have mine, so here's praying). And all the new missionaries were stuck in London for several hours as well. Luckily, I  know the sector a bit. We helped out in the office doing as much as we could. 

We went to visit an ami in the hospital and did some contacting and area book cleaning for the sisters there. I hate being out of my sector for longer than necessary.

Traditionally, the STLs try to keep the trainers and blues out of contact for as long as possible. I kind of do what I want. So when they finally got in to Lyon, I said hi and told them stories and introduced myself and stuff. We went to breakfast together. I sat with the Elders, another tradition. Then we had a trainer's meeting. Which felt kind of repetitive after every trainer in that room had already asked me for advice. We ate lunch together. Then, the assistants asked for volunteers to help so I volunteered. Also Elder Joyce. I ended up teaching the blues how to teach because both they and the assistants were so tired that it was terrible. We had some fun with it. And somehow I ended up having to go to President's house. Where I then played petanque and volleyball with Elder Joyce, the office Elder's and all the new missionaries. Then I made some other trainers come get me so I could have a companion and leave and we went and ate dinner with Pascale Stefani. I like her. She is a good human. She was baptized when I started in Annecy and moved to Lyon.

The next day we had our conference where we got our companions. Did I mention I have two daughters and a niece also training? Literally the mother of all missionaries. Gross. 

As per usual, I cheered as loud as I could. President loves it. He says it teaches them that missions are fun right off the bat. I got to sit with him at lunch. Everyone else wanted to sit with me too, but I have favorites. 

My new daughter is named Sœur Staples. She hails from Virginia. When we were finally done, we ate dinner at the office and then did some contacting.

I was then able to see all the second transfer blues come in for blues conference. So I got to see Sœur Caldwell. Nice. 

Finally, we took our train back to Cannes. Met with a couple members. Went to a few general conference sessions. Tried to weekly plan, but it took a really long time and we're not done because I have to explain a lot more than usual. But hey. We're hitting the ground running and by running I mean sprinting. Hope you are too. Love.