How blessed are we?!

hello dearest family!!!

Sounds like things are as crazy as ever! I’m sorry that I havent been responding to everyone as promptly as I should. honestly its super stressful because there is NO time. But, I will try to do better because I love hearing from you all.

So, I’m not entirely sure how this will work out, but I decided to write this week about the TOP 10 things that happened this week that just would ONLY ever happen in France....hehe.

1. I saw a super old lady (I swear she had to be 90) carrying a scooter--yes we are talking razor scooter--on the metro. I was thinking a cane fit the picture better, but whatev

2. I accidentally told someone I was a nun. (in my defense, who would have thought that 'religieuse' meant anything other than a tasty pattisserie or a religious person?)

3. I realized I have no idea how to teach a language. yeah...english class was a bit rough.

4. I have found it hilarious that I get asked out on like more dates as a missionary than I did in real-life! haha. this weeks top offers were salsa dancing, coffee, and indian food. The salsa dancing one was the best, because he like walked past us and then came back and started talking to us and I was like, sweet--someone saw our nametags and is interested in what we're doing!!!! not so much. He was super hard to understand because he’s Haitian, but as he was trying to explain what he wanted, his friend actually did see our nametags and was like 'oh look, they’re with Jesus. And then the friend like patted him on the head, turned him around to walk away and was like 'oh you silly boy.' So funny. France is also the only place I know where people actually stop you on the streets to tell you 'vous etes belle'. Entertaining for sure, but mostly creepy and awkward to respond to!

5. I have discovered that there are many more misconceptions about the Fall of adam and eve than I ever realized. For example, one lesson we taught, the husband was like, "oh really? cuz I read a story that said there wasnt really fruit or anything, but that they 'ont fait l'amour' and thats why they were kicked out.'" This was from the same dude that said he read an article from some eastern european country that did a scientific study digging towards earth's core, put a camera down and said they had found hell because they heard terrible screaming. We expressed that that was certainly interesting! Oh, but the best Adam and Eve this week was the fight that ensued during Relief Society. hehe. If you aren’t aware--sunday school and relief society/priesthood are much more entertaining in france than in the states....I’ve seen many a heated 'discussion.' What started it all was that a sister said, yeah but even if they hadn’t partaken of the fruit, God would have just figured out a different way to send us to earth." Oh, can I express how grateful I was to sit on the back row and watch the wave of squirming that rolled through the room and the hands that flew into the air?! so great.

6. I love that you just never know what to expect. We were meeting Chanchan to go contacting with her, and she was telling us how she had lost all this weight and I said something like, "yeah, I need to be careful because the food here is so good and I don’t want to gain weight", and she goes, "well how much do you weigh?". I didnt know in kilos, so (this is the best) she turns around, goes into her bathroom, and emerges with a scale in hand. She then told me to take off my coat and get on it. Of course, I obeyed, but I was just laughing so hard. French woman taking things into her own hands!

7. I came to realize that the kids in our ward are out of control! I’m not really bothered by it, because its more 'homey', but it is certainly interesting to see a child running around the pulpit in the middle of someones talk and everyones just okay with it. I was a little relieved to note, that when said child proceeded over to the piano and started banging on it--again, were talking middle of sacrament meeting--that someone promptly returned the child to its parent!

8. I spotted Spock's twin sister. not joking. Had to be related.

9. I went running, in paris, in the spring, IN THE RAIN!!! Does it get much better? Well, my companion could probably list a whole host of things that would have been much better, but I thought it was awesome. We were smelling the roses along the way!

10. But, this is the real miracle of the week!!!! We are so excited about Leiney. She had been super flaky and canceled at the last minute a few times, but it was a lesson to us that sometimes you have to be patient, because we are absolutely amazed with her. She is a Rwandan survivor. Her husband had apparently passed away before, but the rest of her family--we're talking parents, siblings, and THREE sons were all killed during the genocide. Yeah, I had tears streaming down my face before we even said the prayer, as we listened to her story! Talk about someone who needed to hear about the plan of salvation and eternal families! She loved the lesson because she said it answered the questions that her other churches never had. She said she wanted us to teach her the other lessons because she wants to be baptized and go to the temple, and is praying to know a baptismal date this week!!! I am so excited for her and am so grateful to know that Heavenly Fathers plan really provides happiness and hope in this life, and such joy in the life to come! How blessed are we?!

Well, my time is short, but I love you all and am grateful for your support and prayers. They are more appreciated than you know. This week has definitely been more rough, but things are good and I’m grateful for the small, every day, tender mercies of our Heavenly Father.

Tara--i needed you here when we had pesto spaghetti ;) and hope school is going well. johnny—I’m still waiting to see these hairy tough dude pics. hehe matthew-- i still can’t believe you are 14!!!crazy! joshy man--thanks so so so much for the card! I put it in my journal cuz it was so perfect! thank so much dude. halle baby-- your play-dough star and paintings were SOOOOO good. I absolutely loved them! thank you so so much! I can’t wait to get pics of your gymnastics meet!

I love you all and miss you!
love, jordan