30 Sept 2013

I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Can you believe that this week is my 6 month/only 1 year left mark?! I can't. Every once in a while I take a second and think "Time is going to go by so fast" and before I know it, it will be three months later and I will be thinking about how fast that three months went! and sure enough that's pretty much what happens.

I haven't gotten to watch the broadcast but I'm gonna see if I can print out the talks and read them. I know I will only get to see 3 sessions of conference cause of the time difference. But Ill be able to get the ensign from the office.

Have you heard that they are broadcasting the Preisthood session this time? cool huh? I've been reading the talks from last preisthood session and they are really good.

I thought of a couple other options for Christmas :D My winter hat/beanie things, oatmeal with flavors (maple brown sugar, apple cinnamon). So far (not that i have been searching too hard), I have only found plain oatmeal here and I have discovered that finding the happy balance of flavors in oatmeal is an art that I am not so talented at it. :)

This week was really good! We found a couple new people to teach and they are really cool!

This Sunday the bishop gave everyone a Book of Mormon and told the parable of the talents and said that he gave everyone a talent and they needed to share it and multiply their talents by prayerfully giving it to someone. I'm excited to see the results from this!

Oh yeah according to Elder Bria (who is all knowing) there is a chance that they might take the sisters out of Nice sometime in the near-ish future. Not because its dangerous here but because they really need to get the Elders a new apartment so if they cant find a new one for us so they can move the elders into ours then they are gonna take us out. But they have asked Elder Bria to help them find us a new apartment so I'm sure they will find a new apartment soon. Elder Bria would not be happy if the sisters leave here so he will no doubt get it all figured out.

Okay gotta go!
Love ya lots!
jusqu’à la fin!

23 Sept 2013

Hey there!

I am doing great as always! Andrea is not quite as on fire as she was before. She is just getting a little lazy. We have a couple other amis that are all just on the edge. They are SO close just a little more effort and they will see the big picture and I know they will love it. Thinking about it its like being the belayer (idk if that is spelled right at all) in rock climbing. As we are on the ground, we can see better than them how close they are to the top. We help to keep them going and we anchor them. I cant really fully describe this analogy Ill think about it some more and send it in a letter so it is a little more clear. I never feel like i have enough time to fully express myself in email but usually I think i get the basics across.

As far as Christmas presents, I figured you would be asking soon So I've come up with some ideas... just send some of the clothes I didn't bring with me even what i sent back in the MTC. (I'm getting kinda tired of the same outfits and since I've been out I've realized a bunch of my clothes I didn't think would work totally would). Some good ole american comfort foods: german chocolate cake and the frosting, funfetti cake, brownie mixes preferably several, peanut butter, things like that. hahaha I think my love for fat kid snacks is showing. Music and audio talks(the more the better). But those are just some thoughts ive had. :D

In case you are wondering France just doesnt do cakes or brownies as well as in the US. And mixes are kinda expensive here hence my craving for these :D

There is a YSA here that just got his mission call to London South he leave i think the 17th of October. Pretty quick huh? He was really wanting to go English speaking so he is super happy.

Read 2 Nephi 24 and 33.

17 Sept 2013 {Transfer #4: Still in Beautiful Nice}

For once nothing happened at all this transfer. No change.

My apt address is:
143 bd de Cessole Nice France 06000

You can goggle earth it and check out the neighborhood if you want. It's not very exciting. haha

Its cool though and I definitely saw within that day that I found out at least one reason that I am still here. One of our investigators was having some problems and Im sure that if me or my companion had been transferred she would stop seeing missionaries all together. But we are still here and it will all work out.
Oh yeah staying with sister howden too so no change at all for me really.

Guess what?! I am sending you something too! Hopefully I will get it all sent today.

I like writing paper letters I tend to be able to say a little more than what I can in an email. Plus getting letters in return is exciting too!

As cool as being a missionary is, I think the true test of my experience here is what I do with it when I come home. So I want you guys to work with the missionaries so that the missionaries know how awesome you guys are and so you can feel some of the joy I feel here in missionary work.

Love ya lots!

Letter from 8 Sept 2013

I'm on a train right now. We just had stake conference in a little town outside of Marseille. It was pretty good, nothing ground breaking or anything. The had a member of the Seventy there. He was pretty cool. They had a special meeting for new members right after where he asked some to bear their testimonies and share their conversion stories. He then asked them to basically pay it forward--to at least try to help on more person find the church. I really liked how he asked it--he told them to pray and just be ready for whatever opportunity presented itself.

I'm sorry I've been so bad at writing back. I've gotten in the habit of reading all my emails and THEN replying. I'll try to change that this week. Maybe if I just read and reply to one at a time, I'll be able to reply more.

We find out what is happening with transfers on Friday. I will tell you my prediction. As much as I absolutely love Nice, I'm feeling like I might be leaving. Either way, if I stay or go, I will be happy.

You said that your missionaries asked Tom to sit in on lessons. That's awesome! I know you guys are super busy, but I hope you will tell your missionaries that they can bring their investigators to your house for FHE or something. You guys are awesome and I know I would love to teach with awesome members like you two. You might be doing that already, but it's just an idea if you haven't already thought of it. Disclaimer though--be prepared for potentially weird experiences but just be calm and let the missionaries handle it. They are there to do the hard work anyways.

Here in Nice there are 4 elders, 3 sisters, and 1 senior couple. So 10 missionaries in 1 ward, but it's a pretty big area so it works out.

I love P-Days! I'm a firm believer that people we talk to on P-days are more likely to be interested because they see that we are normal or at least semi-normal.

I bought new shoes today. I feel bad because they were pretty expensive but they are the only ones I could find that would work for missionary shoes that wouldn't wear out after a week. I plan on making them last for a LONG time.

I love you a lot!
-Soeur Young

9 Sept 2013

First of all, I am so happy that you had that lesson! I was actually going to suggest you guys do that! Having lessons in members homes are THE best! Missionaries are always wanting to teach with strong members. I'm sure you guys were great and were helpful. Keep it up! I think that's one of the best and easiest ways to do missionary work cause they bring people to you and you just bear testimony and be friendly and let them feel the spirit that is already in your home!

Andrea is good. We haven't seen her a whole lot this week. She was going to go on vacation but then it ended up that she got a job interview so she didn't go anywhere. But she got the job which is really good cause she has been looking for a long time! We will see her today though right after I'm done on the computers.

I will tell you my current prediction for transfers...I think I might be leaving here. As much as I love it here, I think its time for a change for me. S Howden keeps joking that I will be training a Fnnish sister. Word has it there are a couple Fnnish sisters coming in this time. Idk whatever happens happens and I will be happy with it. Hopefully if I leave I wont get sent to the other side of the country cause that would be a really long day of traveling. But if that happens I guess you will be getting a pretty long letter.

I love ya lots! Hope you have a great week!

Jusqu'a la fin!

2 Sept 2013

I have been completely stunned by how fast time is going by! Its insane! Tomorrow is my five month mark...crazy! I cant wait till Christmas too!

This week has been really good! It rained on Tuesday, which was fantastic! It was like a special birthday present for me! Our ami Andrea is amazing! She has made a ton of progress in this last week! I can really see how much happier and more at peace she is since we first met her! She decided she wants to get baptized which is so cool I am super excited for her!

We did exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders this week and I learned allot from them! They are fantastic sisters!

I had an interesting experience this week. The other day we were visiting the 85 yr old lady in our ward and she told me that I wasn't being daring enough that I wasn't trying hard enough to speak French. At first I was kinda upset but I've been thinking about it and Sadly I think she is right. I definitely can do better and try harder. I think I have been stuck in a rut for a long time where I am content to do the least amount required of me. I do just enough to be able to say that I am trying but not as much as I know I could do. And Im not talking about just my mission I'm talking about everything for a long time. I honestly cannot think of a single thing I can honestly say I gave 100% of my effort to. Isn't that weird? Well anyways Its just something I realized last night. Something to motivate me to be better.