https://www.mormon.org/
Sorry for skipping last week, it got a little busy!
(mom edit: by a little busy, she means that protests are shutting down their routes, having to pay tolls now, etc. Their new area means a 45 minute drive each way at least from their apartment. She emailed for a second last week. They put a Book of Mormon on the dashboard of their car so when cars are being stopped by the protesters to talk and be questioned, they have never been stopped. Prayers of safety are always appreciated)
Okay, the first exciting thing this week is that a family of four that I met online was just baptized! I want to say more than that, but confidentiality. Suffice it to say that it was miracles on repeat and they were referred by a returning member, so you never know what is going to make a difference.
I realized I talk about field work and the ward a lot, but not so often about all the online missionary work we do. I've taught over twice as many people and contacted more online than in person, which is why we do online teaching, and this week we got to send two people to missionaries in our mission in France.
Even more exciting for me is that I got to send 3 people in the last few weeks to my brother's mission, and to Spanish speaking missionaries! Hermana Ilizarbe is working a lot with missionaries and members in Venezuela and Nicaragua where there aren't many missionaries right now, so that's also been really cool.
The second big adventure is that we had a multi-zone conference where the whole mission came to the Versailles chapel over two separate days. We don't fit into one building otherwise. President and Sister Johnson of the area presidency spoke to us, along with President Sorensen, and it was amazing! We're testing out some new things in our mission, like putting more of a focus on returning members and helping them return. With the baptism experience and that lesson in the same week I can see the importance.
As part of this conference, all the missionaries had to stay somewhere, so for a few exciting days straight we had 8-10 people in our apartment. It was a little cozy. We covered the whole living room floor with mattresses and made a great big pan of bread pudding for breakfast. I made sure to wash my hair a day early since I knew that was the last chance I'd be getting in a while.
The best part of the whole thing is that every missionary in our entire mission, including Luxembourg and Belgium, got to spend some time in the Visitors' Center! President Johnson and President Sorensen's new objectif is for us to fix two baptismal dates: The day they're baptized themselves, and the day they come to the temple and baptized their ancestors. If Luxembourg can get their amis here, anybody can. (By the way, go Luxembourg sisters/members!)
Mantes la Jolie is still an adventure, we've done a whole lot of driving and meeting new people. Last week we met and started teaching a family of 5, drove into the Normandy region to visit an elderly couple who can't get to church anymore, saw a five generation family of rats (hope they've recorded that!) and set a baptismal date for a member's granddaughter. We also had a whole bunch of 8 year-olds get baptized in a row and I've gotten much better at fist-bumps.
Starting tomorrow night we're going to have a thrice-weekly musical performance at the Visitors' Center presented by the Sisters, some members, some of our amis, and whatever Elders couldn't find a good excuse, so wish us all luck. My favorite song that I'm not singing but get to listen to is "O Come, Emmanuel" and there is a version on Mormon Channel (they'll change that eventually) that I can share with you! (Sorry, fellow missionaries)
And for a missionary challenge, this is my other favorite Christmas video: https://www.lds.org/media-
As most of you know, Light the World has started! This week we're looking for a way to light the whole world, and that can seem big, but what can you do? We're all inviting someone to come to church on the 23rd of December (Right, y'all?) so we can get into that spirit now by serving somebody. I'll make a facebook post highlighting some of the Christian service examples that I've seen, and I challenge you to do the same! Do service yourself, and share one of your examples with someone! It doesn't have to be big. Hold a door, carry a box, talk to a baby, wash dishes, sew a button (thanks, Soeur Munier!) and just love people. Christ talked to toddlers too, not just to his apostles. And accept love and service yourself, because sometimes letting people serve you helps them more than you'd know. (Thank you, sisters who keep eating my cooking.)
I love you all, read your scriptures and have an awesome week!
Burrito filling in a crepe is not a good thing. In case anyone wondered. But, jalapeno was cool.
hair!
Look up "Charles de Gaulle etoile" sometime
A bakery we visit every other week in the Normandy region that has a really wonderful little dog and heavy fog banks.
Our Congolese ami got us bags to carry scriptures on the street when we go finding
Introducing the Soeurs to corncakes!
Roquefort, a lot better than it looks
The family were spending Christmas Eve with gave us advent calendars. They were baptized this last spring and said "we got them for our daughters but then realized we have two other daughters..."
apparently this is the trend now
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