Hello dearest family!!
So, am i gathering correctly that Jamaica might be another "slice of heaven?" (not to exceed the heavenness of the convent of course....) How's the rest of the gang doin?! Is Halle the only one ready for school to start? (who is your French teacher going to be this year hals?) and OMG Matthew!!! I just realized this morning that you are going to be a freshman!!!!! oh my gosh!!!! did you have mom help you pick out your first day outfit? Joshy man, who is your teacher going to be? Johnny bravo--what classes are you taking? and nice job with that dubs win! Tara dear--I don't know how you have survived the summer; you are seriously a trooper. side note--i finished your letter and im putting it in the mail TODAY. Ok, also, I'm dying to know what the new family theme is, so someone needs to get on that STAT!
Anyway, this last week has been a crazy blur! Monday night we had FHE at Soeur Nikiema's house again, and remember how I told you I cleaned out the front closet? Well, while sifting through the "stuff," I found this photo album that looked like something she would like (she loves pictures and has pack rat tendencies--especially when it comes to missionary relics), so i thought "hey, why not?! she'll love it." So, we get to her house and I give it to her and she's all excited, and then adds, "Hmmm. That's so bizarre. I gave a book exactly like this one to one of the sisters a few years ago." Oops. Live and learn right?!
Tuesday we set a baptismal date with Antoine. He is seriously one of the most humble people I have ever met and is going to be such a solid member! We went into the rendez-vous with a date in mind, which he accepted wholeheartedly, but then was like, "or even sooner if you want!" I am way excited for him!!
And we got a text from Malala inviting us to come over and talk to her and her family about what we do as missionaries. I forgot to tell you this story, but way back at the fete des voisins, I was talking to one of our neighbors and found out they liked singing and music. So, I told her I played the piano and she was like, "you two should come over and play the piano and sing with the family." I said that would be great, but we didn't make definite plans that night. Then we ran into her a couple weeks ago on the street and I brought it up and she was super excited and we set a night. So, she and her family are from Madagascar and they are awesome--an adorable family! And it turns out that lots of the well-known hymns in madagascar are ones that are also in our hymnbook. So, we played and sang hymns for a while, and had a good time. But that night, we couldn't really figure out how to tactfully bring up the small detail that we wanted to teach and baptize them. So the next day we took a treat and a thank you card over and said that we had a short message and movie that we wanted to share with them about why we are here as missionaries for our church, so to let us know if we could come over some time to watch it with them. And Tuesday we got a text from the Mom asking what night we could come over?!!! Interesting how many different ways you can do "finding." And who knows how it'll turn out, but I'm excited to see, rather hear!
And then Wednesday, at 7:10 a.m., I moved to Paris Lilas!! You would seriously die if you saw where our apartment is. We are right down the street from the Bastille and live on this super chic upper-middle-class-hang-out type street. We ran around Victor Hugo's house the other morning. But, my two favorite runs so far have been down to Nation and to Notre Dame. Of course these runs are kickin my behind, but not gonna lie--it's pretty sweet running along the Seine down to Notre Dame! It might take a couple weeks to work up to the Champs-Elysees run, but I'm definitely lookin forward to it. AND, as if the location wasn't good enough, the shower head actually squirts in a uniform direction. (I had almost forgotten that those existed.) And my companion, Sister England, is awesome! Seriously--what more could you ask for?!
I'll be honest, neither one of us is very clear about what our area boundaries actually are, but essentially we cover half of Paris and a little more of the northeastish border. (yeah, that is sounding a little vague...maybe we should ask around about that. haha.) At the moment we don't really have any investigators, but it's gonna be a good transfer. We're going to work hard, smart and just going to expect miracles! And they are already happening! Yesterday a member showed up to church with a friend, Helene Beatrice, who she introduced to us by saying, "This is my friend. She wants to be taught and baptized." Well.....pleased to meet you Helene!! And, there are other good things happening. I've been saying I wanted to step up my contacting skills anyway, so heck--pretty good time to practice!
Oh, and I had my first kiss in a while. His name is Olivier. He's four. We were over teaching the family (they are less-active at the moment), and at the end I guess he was leaning over to give me a bisous on the cheek, but I wasn't paying attention and turned my head and he got me right on the lips. It was absolutely hilarious because he sat there rubbing his lips off for like two minutes afterwards! Needless to say, I've been warmly welcomed into the ward! It is kind of weird getting to know a new ward, but Sister England knows the ins-and-outs (this is her fourth transfer here), so I've got it easy.
Anyway, life is great. Sure love being a missionary and am sure grateful for such an awesome family. (Side note Dad: i'll be honest--I have no idea what the word 'tome' means. Germane you have hammered in enough times, but this must be a new favorite word. Mind enlightening me? Still eating cereal at 930 pm sharp every night?!) Sorry, I don't have time to write more, but it's Paris P-day, so sisters are coming in to meet us at Les Invalides for a picnic and to see the Army (WWII) Museum. Love you!!! Miss you!!!! Hope you have a great week!
Love you lots and lots,
Jordan
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
That Just Happened!
What up gang?!!!!
How are you all doin?!! I'm gonna go out on a limb and venture that the Jamaican sun isn't treatin ya too badly! I hope you are profiting (as they say here--"profitez du soleil"), because if anyone deserved a vacation it was you two!!! goodness. Well, the verdict is in--I'm heading to Paris Lilas to serve with Sister England!! It's kinda the north-east paris area, I believe. I am excited to get to work there. But, for now I am still way excited about what is goin down in St. Ouen!
I was going to tell this one at the end, but it's just too great to wait. So, last week we got onto a bus and this man asked if we were Mormon, so we started talking. (I'll be honest, the salutation 'are you mormon' does not always end as well as this one did. haha) Turned out, he knew the church really well, because his brother is a big church leader in the Congo and he, Antoine, had been in contact with missionaries (im assuming missionaries, but i'm not quite sure to be honest) in Nogent and Mantes-la-Jolie years ago. Anyway, we exchanged information, but he just said he'd come to church and didn't want to fix a rdv. He said he didn't know if he could come that Sunday, but would come by. So he didn't come that first Sunday, but then we ran into him on the bus again (he lives just a few stops away from us), and he was like k i'm coming for sure this week, and of course, I'm like "ok great!," while really thinking, "yeah.....if i had a nickel for every time i've heard that....." k i totally fit the 'oh ye of little faith' category--so should have been struck down!
Fast forward a few days and we're doing an hour of spiritual finding in Neuilly and we contact this guy named Etienne. He seemed interested, but was very insistent on 'petit a petit,' so he wasn't keen on giving us his number. But, we invited him to pray about the things we talked about, invited him to church, and left him with a card with our number and the address to the church. Well, yeah, you can imagine how humbled I felt when both Antoine and Etienne came walking into church at 9 am Sunday morning!!!! They stayed for all three hours, received a warm welcome from the members, and really had a good experience. (And the fact that there was more than one mention of baptisms for the dead didn't seem to bother either of them!!)
After church we had a short rdv with antoine and he was like, "I'll be honest I have had worldly success (he's a cardiologist)--money, houses, cars, etc.....but none of that brought me happiness. I felt like I built my house on the sand and then the winds came and everything just fell to pieces." (I guess his wife kind of took advantage of him, so he has recently gone through a divorce.) He said that he is now taking some time to get some perspective, sort out his priorities, and he is grateful to get to try again. This time he is going to build on the rock, putting God first. And he wants to see things all the way through with the church this time, because he knows it's good. So, he's praying about it, and we're going to set a baptismal date with him on Tuesday!
Another lady randomly showed up to check out our church, because she was mad at her pastor (uh......), but long story short, I don't think we'll be seeing her again. But, the Miracle of 2010 is alive and well in St. Ouen! The elders have two baptismal dates (one of them is moving to paris lilas' area though soon) and we have two more as well. Certainly it has nothing to do with us, but it is definitely rewarding to just get to be part of the team. After church and our meetings, Sister Bellini and I walked out of the building and were like, "That Just Happened!!!" (John i totally thought of you when i said it.) Seriously, it was awesome!
In other news, Tina is doing well, but she'll be en vacances for the next couple weeks. We saw her the night before she left and the lesson went great. I said a quick good-bye, but it still kinda felt like one of those dagger-to-the-heart, with a quarter turn, experiences. But, hey gotta know the pain to know the joy right?!
Oh, a funny contact this week--I ran up and stopped this guy, introduced ourselves, and then he just took off and started in like we had been in the middle of a conversation. He is an inventor, and totally of the "absent minded professor" type. He was spouting off about divine numbers and number combinations (mostly 3s and 9s--ie dieu, jesus christ, saint esprit), and also about how he was working on a gas fuel source so we would no longer have to use petroleum....? Anyway, the conversation ended shortly after he was like, "ya know, I think I'm gonna start my own church." And I'm totally not exaggerating when i say that there was hardly a breath between the sentence discussing petroleum and the one discussing recruiting members for his new church. And then he went off mumbling about something else. Oh, just too good!!
Best Public Transportation moment of the week had to have been on the metro. I saw this guy start doing the high-priest-falling-asleep-in-church nod, and then all of a sudden he had a particularly violent nod and cracked his head on the window. He gave it a pretty good thump too. I couldn't help but smile at him a little. But, let's be real, whenever I do embarrassing things like that I'm always at least somewhat glad that someone else got to enjoy it with me! haha.
Well, sorry, kinda boring, but this week has just been a whirlwind and I can't remember many details. Oh--we did do our big transfer cleaning this week, and I took the camping motto (leave it better than you found it) to heart when it came to the front closet and the bookshelf. 6 garbage bags, 2 loads to the dumpster, and about 5 loads of laundry later, we have nicely organized sheets in the front closet, without any unnecessary-been-sitting-in-there-for-years-and-years stuff!! So, if nothing else, at least I left that legacy in St.Ouen!! hehe. Anyway, I sure love you and miss you!!!! Hope you're adventurin up the last few couple weeks of summer vacation and hope you remember that I'm always prayin for you!!
Love you lots and lots,
Jordan
pss i can't really send you my talk. haha 1. i don't exactly have handy access to a little pink netbook that i can pull out of my purse, so it's hand-written, and 2. im not sure that it would do you much good anyway, being that it is in French. sorry!!
pps also, im not doin so great without stephanie these days. somehow i think my stuff is expanding!!
ppss---if you ever see Andrew, tell him I met the elder he trained!! he's doin great; he's the new greffier (one of the bureau elders)
ps4 i sent home two big envelopes with some of my letters. just keep them safe, please!
ps5 tell paige congrats!!!!! seriously so exciting! (and mike too. I guess he did play an important role after all....)
ps6 liz--thanks so much for the e-mail. laughed so hard. oh, the classic memories of the cafe rio tin and the spider nightmare!!!!
ps7--rebs--i still need your address!!!!
also, matthew--how exactly did you kill this super venomous rattlesnake before you skinned it? how is your knee? love you.
john--how did kalamazoo turn out? I hope you're bein smart. have you been eatin much ice cream lately?! love you. (and i think it's cheating to send the same letter more than once!!! hehe. you and joshy!!!)
side note, you probably know this already and may have already finished the book of mormon. But, just fyi, the first interview with your branch president in the MTC, he asks if you have read the book of mormon all the way through and if you have a testimony of it. so you have been warned!!
halle and josh love you guys
tara, i promise i started a letter to you today!! but who the heck is will scarlet??????!!!!!!!!
How are you all doin?!! I'm gonna go out on a limb and venture that the Jamaican sun isn't treatin ya too badly! I hope you are profiting (as they say here--"profitez du soleil"), because if anyone deserved a vacation it was you two!!! goodness. Well, the verdict is in--I'm heading to Paris Lilas to serve with Sister England!! It's kinda the north-east paris area, I believe. I am excited to get to work there. But, for now I am still way excited about what is goin down in St. Ouen!
I was going to tell this one at the end, but it's just too great to wait. So, last week we got onto a bus and this man asked if we were Mormon, so we started talking. (I'll be honest, the salutation 'are you mormon' does not always end as well as this one did. haha) Turned out, he knew the church really well, because his brother is a big church leader in the Congo and he, Antoine, had been in contact with missionaries (im assuming missionaries, but i'm not quite sure to be honest) in Nogent and Mantes-la-Jolie years ago. Anyway, we exchanged information, but he just said he'd come to church and didn't want to fix a rdv. He said he didn't know if he could come that Sunday, but would come by. So he didn't come that first Sunday, but then we ran into him on the bus again (he lives just a few stops away from us), and he was like k i'm coming for sure this week, and of course, I'm like "ok great!," while really thinking, "yeah.....if i had a nickel for every time i've heard that....." k i totally fit the 'oh ye of little faith' category--so should have been struck down!
Fast forward a few days and we're doing an hour of spiritual finding in Neuilly and we contact this guy named Etienne. He seemed interested, but was very insistent on 'petit a petit,' so he wasn't keen on giving us his number. But, we invited him to pray about the things we talked about, invited him to church, and left him with a card with our number and the address to the church. Well, yeah, you can imagine how humbled I felt when both Antoine and Etienne came walking into church at 9 am Sunday morning!!!! They stayed for all three hours, received a warm welcome from the members, and really had a good experience. (And the fact that there was more than one mention of baptisms for the dead didn't seem to bother either of them!!)
After church we had a short rdv with antoine and he was like, "I'll be honest I have had worldly success (he's a cardiologist)--money, houses, cars, etc.....but none of that brought me happiness. I felt like I built my house on the sand and then the winds came and everything just fell to pieces." (I guess his wife kind of took advantage of him, so he has recently gone through a divorce.) He said that he is now taking some time to get some perspective, sort out his priorities, and he is grateful to get to try again. This time he is going to build on the rock, putting God first. And he wants to see things all the way through with the church this time, because he knows it's good. So, he's praying about it, and we're going to set a baptismal date with him on Tuesday!
Another lady randomly showed up to check out our church, because she was mad at her pastor (uh......), but long story short, I don't think we'll be seeing her again. But, the Miracle of 2010 is alive and well in St. Ouen! The elders have two baptismal dates (one of them is moving to paris lilas' area though soon) and we have two more as well. Certainly it has nothing to do with us, but it is definitely rewarding to just get to be part of the team. After church and our meetings, Sister Bellini and I walked out of the building and were like, "That Just Happened!!!" (John i totally thought of you when i said it.) Seriously, it was awesome!
In other news, Tina is doing well, but she'll be en vacances for the next couple weeks. We saw her the night before she left and the lesson went great. I said a quick good-bye, but it still kinda felt like one of those dagger-to-the-heart, with a quarter turn, experiences. But, hey gotta know the pain to know the joy right?!
Oh, a funny contact this week--I ran up and stopped this guy, introduced ourselves, and then he just took off and started in like we had been in the middle of a conversation. He is an inventor, and totally of the "absent minded professor" type. He was spouting off about divine numbers and number combinations (mostly 3s and 9s--ie dieu, jesus christ, saint esprit), and also about how he was working on a gas fuel source so we would no longer have to use petroleum....? Anyway, the conversation ended shortly after he was like, "ya know, I think I'm gonna start my own church." And I'm totally not exaggerating when i say that there was hardly a breath between the sentence discussing petroleum and the one discussing recruiting members for his new church. And then he went off mumbling about something else. Oh, just too good!!
Best Public Transportation moment of the week had to have been on the metro. I saw this guy start doing the high-priest-falling-asleep-in-church nod, and then all of a sudden he had a particularly violent nod and cracked his head on the window. He gave it a pretty good thump too. I couldn't help but smile at him a little. But, let's be real, whenever I do embarrassing things like that I'm always at least somewhat glad that someone else got to enjoy it with me! haha.
Well, sorry, kinda boring, but this week has just been a whirlwind and I can't remember many details. Oh--we did do our big transfer cleaning this week, and I took the camping motto (leave it better than you found it) to heart when it came to the front closet and the bookshelf. 6 garbage bags, 2 loads to the dumpster, and about 5 loads of laundry later, we have nicely organized sheets in the front closet, without any unnecessary-been-sitting-in-there-for-years-and-years stuff!! So, if nothing else, at least I left that legacy in St.Ouen!! hehe. Anyway, I sure love you and miss you!!!! Hope you're adventurin up the last few couple weeks of summer vacation and hope you remember that I'm always prayin for you!!
Love you lots and lots,
Jordan
pss i can't really send you my talk. haha 1. i don't exactly have handy access to a little pink netbook that i can pull out of my purse, so it's hand-written, and 2. im not sure that it would do you much good anyway, being that it is in French. sorry!!
pps also, im not doin so great without stephanie these days. somehow i think my stuff is expanding!!
ppss---if you ever see Andrew, tell him I met the elder he trained!! he's doin great; he's the new greffier (one of the bureau elders)
ps4 i sent home two big envelopes with some of my letters. just keep them safe, please!
ps5 tell paige congrats!!!!! seriously so exciting! (and mike too. I guess he did play an important role after all....)
ps6 liz--thanks so much for the e-mail. laughed so hard. oh, the classic memories of the cafe rio tin and the spider nightmare!!!!
ps7--rebs--i still need your address!!!!
also, matthew--how exactly did you kill this super venomous rattlesnake before you skinned it? how is your knee? love you.
john--how did kalamazoo turn out? I hope you're bein smart. have you been eatin much ice cream lately?! love you. (and i think it's cheating to send the same letter more than once!!! hehe. you and joshy!!!)
side note, you probably know this already and may have already finished the book of mormon. But, just fyi, the first interview with your branch president in the MTC, he asks if you have read the book of mormon all the way through and if you have a testimony of it. so you have been warned!!
halle and josh love you guys
tara, i promise i started a letter to you today!! but who the heck is will scarlet??????!!!!!!!!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Just Like Laundry!
hello hello gang!!!
How are ya doin?!!! I can't believe how many different places you have been this summer. The amount of packing and unpacking and laundry and re-packing alone sounds kind of exhausting! But that is absolutely HILARIOUS about zack and keaton in michigan!!!!!! laughed out loud for like 5 straight minutes, not joking. I'm SOOO glad Dad capitalized on that opportunity. And yup next week is transfer week, so you probably shouldn't send anything else here. Unless something totally surprising happens, I should be the one transferred.) I love hearing what's going on at home!!
Anyway, the other day Sister Bellini and I were walking somewhere and I saw a super cute family or something and I said, "oh it's just like laundry!" That was, apparently, the first thing that came into my head that adequately illustrated how seeing that adorable family made me happy. Sister Bellini just laughed, because she was already well acquainted with my love, or weakness i guess, for the smell of laundry. I know that whenever we pass roses or a restaurant cooking chicken, she has to pause for 5 seconds to take savor the moment. And she knows that whenever we pass a laundromat, I have to take advantage of the moment! (We are seriously a well-oiled machine these days. Like I said, four and a half months together will do that to you!) She insists that I'll be one of those pregnant people who craves detergent or something, but I don't care--I am a firm believer that "dryer sheet" is the best scent in the world! (closely followed by a newly bleach-cleaned bathroom, of course) So, for me, passing a laundromat is just like one of those simple pleasures that make life so GREAT!! With that said, I thought I would catch you up on some of the things that have happened the last couple weeks that have been "Just Like Laundry."
1. Tina asking if we could serve non-alcoholic beer at her baptism. I'm not gonna lie, I usually try to maintain some semblance of the whole "dignity of your calling" thing, but when she said that, I just about ended up on the floor laughing!
2. One evening, Sister Bellini and I are looking up addresses for the next day in our banlieu, and she goes, "Hey how close do we live to Avenue Georges Clemenceau?" To which I tried to respond with a straight face, "Well....we live on Avenue Georges Clemenceau...so....pretty close." Considering we have lived on Avenue Georges Clemenceau for about the last 3 months, it's probably a good thing I'm usually the one who navigates!! Can't help but love her
3. Having an investigator with three children, whose names are (and i am not joking) as follows: Precious, Happiness, and Blessing. Precious is the boy, in case you were wondering.
4. another laundry moment was having a woman contact US on a bus because she is our fellow "sister in christ" and wanted to exchange cards (which means that she did in fact have a card). Gotta love african evangelists! But hey, this one said she'd be interested in hearing our message at least, so you never know!
5. Managing to hold my own in District Around-the-World-Ping-Pong. J&M are you proud?! Nyloned-feet add an extra slippage element to running around the table, let me tell ya, but hey, just makes it more fun!
6. Seeing the primary answers work a miracle in someone's life is definitely like laundry. We had been working with Yrina (young adult less-active) for a while, but can I just say how great it feels not to be needed anymore?! From that first rendezvous, she almost seems like a completely different person. She has let go of a lot of hate and heavy stuff and let the Atonement work on her, and she just seems so much lighter and happier. It was a testimony to me that the we learn the "primary answers" for a reason! Scriptures, prayer, coming to church, and studying the simple doctrines are powerful tools that we have!
This last week we had kind of an enduring to the end lesson and then talked about Moroni's Title of Liberty and the things in our own lives that are worth fighting for. One of the things she said she wanted to fight for was the right to be married in the temple. She says she knows it'll take time and work and preparation, but now she knows that she doesn't want to settle for anything less. My heart was absolutely full!!! I am so happy for her and so impressed with how hard she has worked and how far she has come. (I just feel so spoiled to get to know such great people!)
7. Having Tina show up to church not scantily clad!! (k, i had a chat with her about it before, but still with her you just NEVER know!!) And on top of that, fast and testimony meeting was amazing! The spirit was so strong and it was one of those moments when you sit back and are just so proud to be a member of the Church and surrounded by such stalwart saints! That was like a double dryer sheet day.
8. Going up to greet the 100-yr-old Sister in our ward as she walked into church and having her say, "Well, I forgot my glasses and my hearing aids. So, I can't see you or hear you, but darn it I'm here," just made me grin. (K and I'm not exaggerating about the one hundred thing, this darling stubborn old lady was born in 1910!!)
9. Doing exchanges in Belgium again this week was great! Soeur Bagwell and I had a lot of fun porting this adorable street out in the suburbs of liege. Mom--you would have died!!
10. Going up to ask a blind man if he needs help and having him be like, "yeah, do you have any cigarettes?" I'll be honest--so annoying! But the irony of it was certainly deserving of a laundry moment. We had our hands full, including lugging a suitcase up a huge staircase in Saint Lazare, but we saw this blind man walking around bumping into people, so I was like, well he looks like he could use some help. So, we walk back to where he was and ask if he needs help finding a train and turns out he was going around bumping into people, on purpose, in order to ask for cigarettes. so lame!!!
11. Another laundry moment had to have been the overwhelming relief that came when i was walking to sit back down after giving my first Sacrament talk in French. You know how I feel about talks in general, so I'm sure you can imagine how pleased I was when the "little service" I readily accepted from the bishopric member was to give a talk on Sunday. ugh, so glad that is done!! But, hey I'm counting my blessings because Elder Perez was asked to do one in a couple weeks on "les Reserves"..... ie Food Storage. haha, so he may be francophone, but still!!!
12. Ok and the last laundry moment of the week was definitely showing up to Tina's apartment and having her present us with gifts from the Angel boutique that included angel incense, a copy of the page in her book describing each of our guardian angels, and an illustration of the angel talisman of power!! I promise we have been sticking to the simple lessons and she knows the first 3 lessons and the big commandments inside and out, but somehow she has still had this obsession with angels lately. She then proceeded to tell us that we could burn the incense while we prayed to invoke the power of our guardian angels.
We said thank you and that our next lesson would be a review of the doctrine of prayer (to include a clarification on who exactly it is that we pray to)!! It's just Tina. You just love her and are so frustrated by her all at the same time! Only frustrated because you get all ready to give her a "talking to" and then she pulls out a super sincere and profound testimony of Joseph Smith or something and instead you're like, "hey can i hug you?!" She is doing great though, and we are so proud of the changes she is making in her life. Honestly there are just too many laundry moments with her to even begin to illustrate how awesome she is. I am very blessed to have been able to get to know her and see her progress towards baptism!! so so lucky!
Anyway, family, life is great and full of lots of laundry!! I don't know a whole lot, but I do know that I am so lucky to get to share my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ every day, because it is truly the way to be happy. I'm sure grateful for you guys!! I don't know how you're keeping up with everything going on over there, but I love hearing about it. Hope you have a great week!!
Love you lots and lots,
Jordan
p.s. you know what's ironic--as much as I love the smell of laundry, it is still definitely not my favorite chore
pss to MOM: cant believe you got shingles. what the heck? are you still in pain?!! that sounded terrible. no more stressing!!!! hilarious about kirk. And poor kate!
and side note: mom,what you said at the end of your e-mail letter last week made me think of the grey's anatomy when christina tells meredith that she is "her person" (because she had put her number as the emergency contact when she was going to the hospital). As funny as the context is, the scence is actually super cute cuz it's the first time christina ever says anything like sentimental or even close to disclosing feelings. But, I have decided that you are "my person!" So you can either be flattered that should the need for me to be in the hospital ever arise, you'd be the first on the emergency contact list, OR you can just know that I love you lots and am grateful to have the relationship that we do. Take it either way!! but, miss you mommy dearest. try not to swallow a bee in san antonio.
ps3 last week for pday we went to sacre coeur and then followed that up with a nice pop up at the moulin rouge. the irony of their close proximity is just too good.
How are ya doin?!!! I can't believe how many different places you have been this summer. The amount of packing and unpacking and laundry and re-packing alone sounds kind of exhausting! But that is absolutely HILARIOUS about zack and keaton in michigan!!!!!! laughed out loud for like 5 straight minutes, not joking. I'm SOOO glad Dad capitalized on that opportunity. And yup next week is transfer week, so you probably shouldn't send anything else here. Unless something totally surprising happens, I should be the one transferred.) I love hearing what's going on at home!!
Anyway, the other day Sister Bellini and I were walking somewhere and I saw a super cute family or something and I said, "oh it's just like laundry!" That was, apparently, the first thing that came into my head that adequately illustrated how seeing that adorable family made me happy. Sister Bellini just laughed, because she was already well acquainted with my love, or weakness i guess, for the smell of laundry. I know that whenever we pass roses or a restaurant cooking chicken, she has to pause for 5 seconds to take savor the moment. And she knows that whenever we pass a laundromat, I have to take advantage of the moment! (We are seriously a well-oiled machine these days. Like I said, four and a half months together will do that to you!) She insists that I'll be one of those pregnant people who craves detergent or something, but I don't care--I am a firm believer that "dryer sheet" is the best scent in the world! (closely followed by a newly bleach-cleaned bathroom, of course) So, for me, passing a laundromat is just like one of those simple pleasures that make life so GREAT!! With that said, I thought I would catch you up on some of the things that have happened the last couple weeks that have been "Just Like Laundry."
1. Tina asking if we could serve non-alcoholic beer at her baptism. I'm not gonna lie, I usually try to maintain some semblance of the whole "dignity of your calling" thing, but when she said that, I just about ended up on the floor laughing!
2. One evening, Sister Bellini and I are looking up addresses for the next day in our banlieu, and she goes, "Hey how close do we live to Avenue Georges Clemenceau?" To which I tried to respond with a straight face, "Well....we live on Avenue Georges Clemenceau...so....pretty close." Considering we have lived on Avenue Georges Clemenceau for about the last 3 months, it's probably a good thing I'm usually the one who navigates!! Can't help but love her
3. Having an investigator with three children, whose names are (and i am not joking) as follows: Precious, Happiness, and Blessing. Precious is the boy, in case you were wondering.
4. another laundry moment was having a woman contact US on a bus because she is our fellow "sister in christ" and wanted to exchange cards (which means that she did in fact have a card). Gotta love african evangelists! But hey, this one said she'd be interested in hearing our message at least, so you never know!
5. Managing to hold my own in District Around-the-World-Ping-Pong. J&M are you proud?! Nyloned-feet add an extra slippage element to running around the table, let me tell ya, but hey, just makes it more fun!
6. Seeing the primary answers work a miracle in someone's life is definitely like laundry. We had been working with Yrina (young adult less-active) for a while, but can I just say how great it feels not to be needed anymore?! From that first rendezvous, she almost seems like a completely different person. She has let go of a lot of hate and heavy stuff and let the Atonement work on her, and she just seems so much lighter and happier. It was a testimony to me that the we learn the "primary answers" for a reason! Scriptures, prayer, coming to church, and studying the simple doctrines are powerful tools that we have!
This last week we had kind of an enduring to the end lesson and then talked about Moroni's Title of Liberty and the things in our own lives that are worth fighting for. One of the things she said she wanted to fight for was the right to be married in the temple. She says she knows it'll take time and work and preparation, but now she knows that she doesn't want to settle for anything less. My heart was absolutely full!!! I am so happy for her and so impressed with how hard she has worked and how far she has come. (I just feel so spoiled to get to know such great people!)
7. Having Tina show up to church not scantily clad!! (k, i had a chat with her about it before, but still with her you just NEVER know!!) And on top of that, fast and testimony meeting was amazing! The spirit was so strong and it was one of those moments when you sit back and are just so proud to be a member of the Church and surrounded by such stalwart saints! That was like a double dryer sheet day.
8. Going up to greet the 100-yr-old Sister in our ward as she walked into church and having her say, "Well, I forgot my glasses and my hearing aids. So, I can't see you or hear you, but darn it I'm here," just made me grin. (K and I'm not exaggerating about the one hundred thing, this darling stubborn old lady was born in 1910!!)
9. Doing exchanges in Belgium again this week was great! Soeur Bagwell and I had a lot of fun porting this adorable street out in the suburbs of liege. Mom--you would have died!!
10. Going up to ask a blind man if he needs help and having him be like, "yeah, do you have any cigarettes?" I'll be honest--so annoying! But the irony of it was certainly deserving of a laundry moment. We had our hands full, including lugging a suitcase up a huge staircase in Saint Lazare, but we saw this blind man walking around bumping into people, so I was like, well he looks like he could use some help. So, we walk back to where he was and ask if he needs help finding a train and turns out he was going around bumping into people, on purpose, in order to ask for cigarettes. so lame!!!
11. Another laundry moment had to have been the overwhelming relief that came when i was walking to sit back down after giving my first Sacrament talk in French. You know how I feel about talks in general, so I'm sure you can imagine how pleased I was when the "little service" I readily accepted from the bishopric member was to give a talk on Sunday. ugh, so glad that is done!! But, hey I'm counting my blessings because Elder Perez was asked to do one in a couple weeks on "les Reserves"..... ie Food Storage. haha, so he may be francophone, but still!!!
12. Ok and the last laundry moment of the week was definitely showing up to Tina's apartment and having her present us with gifts from the Angel boutique that included angel incense, a copy of the page in her book describing each of our guardian angels, and an illustration of the angel talisman of power!! I promise we have been sticking to the simple lessons and she knows the first 3 lessons and the big commandments inside and out, but somehow she has still had this obsession with angels lately. She then proceeded to tell us that we could burn the incense while we prayed to invoke the power of our guardian angels.
We said thank you and that our next lesson would be a review of the doctrine of prayer (to include a clarification on who exactly it is that we pray to)!! It's just Tina. You just love her and are so frustrated by her all at the same time! Only frustrated because you get all ready to give her a "talking to" and then she pulls out a super sincere and profound testimony of Joseph Smith or something and instead you're like, "hey can i hug you?!" She is doing great though, and we are so proud of the changes she is making in her life. Honestly there are just too many laundry moments with her to even begin to illustrate how awesome she is. I am very blessed to have been able to get to know her and see her progress towards baptism!! so so lucky!
Anyway, family, life is great and full of lots of laundry!! I don't know a whole lot, but I do know that I am so lucky to get to share my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ every day, because it is truly the way to be happy. I'm sure grateful for you guys!! I don't know how you're keeping up with everything going on over there, but I love hearing about it. Hope you have a great week!!
Love you lots and lots,
Jordan
p.s. you know what's ironic--as much as I love the smell of laundry, it is still definitely not my favorite chore
pss to MOM: cant believe you got shingles. what the heck? are you still in pain?!! that sounded terrible. no more stressing!!!! hilarious about kirk. And poor kate!
and side note: mom,what you said at the end of your e-mail letter last week made me think of the grey's anatomy when christina tells meredith that she is "her person" (because she had put her number as the emergency contact when she was going to the hospital). As funny as the context is, the scence is actually super cute cuz it's the first time christina ever says anything like sentimental or even close to disclosing feelings. But, I have decided that you are "my person!" So you can either be flattered that should the need for me to be in the hospital ever arise, you'd be the first on the emergency contact list, OR you can just know that I love you lots and am grateful to have the relationship that we do. Take it either way!! but, miss you mommy dearest. try not to swallow a bee in san antonio.
ps3 last week for pday we went to sacre coeur and then followed that up with a nice pop up at the moulin rouge. the irony of their close proximity is just too good.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Great Things!
What's up gang?!!!! Actually I think you are all probably sleeping at Lake Powell as I write this.....so I sure hope you have some good boy scout adventures planned for the week!!
So, I'll just be straight up about it--the numbers were not doing so great last week.... BUT, some great things happened and next week is looking great!!! So, all in all, life is just great. (And now I promise I'm done with that word...)
A couple GREAT things of the week:
1. Tina set a baptismal date!!! September 14th. yeah, we found out that it's a Tuesday, so not exactly the ideal--don't worry about it. haha. (It's kinda a long story why that date is important.) Was not something we expected to do with her that night, because she had canceled on us a couple times, but you don't say shhhhh to the spirit! First of all, we show up to her apartment and walk in and I swear it was a completely different place from the last time. Like before, you kinda had to clamber around piles of "stuff" (really the word "crap" is much more descriptive, but much less becoming), could hardly find a place to sit, and I don't know the last time she had thrown out anything. She had apparently spent the last 4 days cleaning and organizing and the place looked awesome!! So, it might not be a key indicator that we report, but in my opinion, the scriptures don't say that a "house of order is a house of God" for no reason!!
And this was an indicator to me that she is ready and willing to make changes in her life--that she is ready to get things in order. So, hopefully now that her apartment is much more conducive to the spirit, she can start making some good spiritual changes as well. Anyway, so I think I explained how Tina has a very unique personality--she is one of a kind and you can't help but love her. She is very, very bright, makes connections very quickly (like right after we talked about the First Vision, she was like, "so they gave Joseph the priesthood and called him to be a prophet?".....haha yup. my heart just about burst with pride!), she asks questions if she doesn't understand, is super blunt and honest, does this hilarious lip biting thing, and is tough, but also very sweet, and the most adorably quirky person ever. Example that kinda illustrates Tina--we followed up on her Book of Mormon reading and praying, and asked her what she thought and felt, and she goes "I think it's another Testament of Jesus Christ. Like it says." The end. Super matter of fact. That's just how it is. We kinda chuckled and were like well, yup!!! You're right! So, enough rambling. Gist of the story is that we love Tina and are excited for her to progress!! (We will also be tackling the Word of Wisdom this week with promised blessings, a trash bag, and the stop-smoking program essentials (juice, vitamin C, etc) in hand. Should be fun!!) (side note: she came to a baptism with us the other day (8 year-old in ward) @ church wearing these pink booty shorts & a white tube top! Haha)
2. Public buses are very well-equipped with super heavy-duty windshield wipers. It really is a great thing; I for one certainly feel safer knowing that our safety on transport will not be compromised because of congregated water on the bus windshield. However, it is also a different kind of a great experience when it is like practically a monsoon outside, so you are skillfully maneuvering and timing your movement from the cover of the bus stop to the bus, but meanwhile forget that the bus is equipped with these heavy-duty-safety-promoting windshield wipers that have like a 5 ft splash (and an ability to fling off an incredible amount of water at a time). I'm sure you already put it together, that yes, I did make the mistake of standing in direct shot of this 5 ft splash. It is one, though, I plan on never making again, as I'm fairly certain I looked like I had tripped and fallen INTO a fountain afterwards. So yup.....that was great.
3. So for our last rendezvous with that family from Haiti, we wanted to help them really get into the Book of Mormon. So, we took turns reading verses from a chapter, and when 8-yr-old Andrew started reading, the spirit just filled the room. He was so proud to get to take his turn and was trying so hard to say everything just right (he really does read very well, but it's still super cute to hear like the french version of hooked on phonics). It was adorable and such a good way to start the lesson!! Of course, shortly later a little mayhem and havoc followed in spurts (giggling girls and little boys pretending to be preachers.....). But hey, you roll with it, and I thought it was great!
4. I was also greatly humbled this week. I need to take back my complaining attitude about France in last week's e-mail (that said I didn't always like living here), because let me just paint a quick pic of our P-day. (because of some circumstances we had to do most of it last Saturday, and are just doing e-mails today.) K, well started with groceries, and that's somewhat less than exciting (but always somewhat amusing that despite the fact that we go to the same place every week, they still struggle at first with our foreign credit cards). But, then we went to the musee Marmottan Monet. Saw some water lilies, impression: sunrise, and then randomly a temp exhibit with modern art and lots of Jackson Pollock--always cool. So, we saw some good stuff. And then we sat down on a bench in this park just outside the museum to finish letters for a few minutes. So, we are sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree. There are greek goddess marble statues placed around the park, little boys playing soccer a little ways off, little girls playing with sand toys, people taking naps in the sun on the grass, pony rides going on on the other side, a carousel with little kids squealing nearby, and a marionette stage a little ways down the path that winds through the park. I exaggerate not. So yeah.....I have no right to complain. Paris is awesome!! hehe.
5. We saw our favorite line L dancing fiddler again. Yeah, I really wish I had time to give a detailed account of his public transportation performances, because they are priceless. Really, more than just a great experience!! French people usually do the whole stoic think pretty well, but I love looking around about 3/4 of the way through this dude's "thing", because there are so many hilarious expressions and people attempting to stifle laughter. And least it’s a great bonding experience for us fellow passengers to share together.
Well, I had some other stories I was going to share, but we gotta run. Sorry I'm such a rambler!! Being a missionary is awesome. I love you guys!! I want to hear all about Lake Powell! catch a lizard for me! sure hope you didnt forget the boat registrations, granted that would be breaking tradition! hehe
love, jordo
ps by the way, I was fine last week when you left. I was glad that we went straight to a rendezvous right after we said goodbye, so I didn’t have any time to let things get emotional. It might not be the healthiest way to deal with things, but I realized I have like boxes (or bubbles if that computes better for you). I have my “mission-life box” and my “home & real life box.” And normally they don’t really cross. Anyway, point is when I turned and walked away from you guys, I took a deep breath, brushed back the welling tears, shoved you guys all back into the other box & headed to the rendezvous; so I think I handled it fine. Maybe not super healthy, but hey – whatever gets the job done! So, no – I haven’t been distracted or anything over the visit!
Pss good news, apparently French is sinking in along the way, because I guess when I hear Sister Bellini up puttering around in the middle of the night, I speak to her in French. Mind you, I am not conscious of any of these conversations even taking place.
Halle – I loved the fireworks you drew!
Joshy man – That was a pretty impressive Ferris wheel you drew! Hope you have your lizard scampering feet ready for Powell.
Matthew – I thought your tennis sock tan line was pretty impressive, even if mom didn’t think it was important enough to talk about in person, haha
John – Promise you’ll follow the don’t do stupid things rule! They talk about that rule a lot in the MTC (I’m serious ha), but I think it really applies to life in general…a good moral code
Tara – yeah, kinda stinks you weren’t here last week! But hang in there with your life of servitude.
So, I'll just be straight up about it--the numbers were not doing so great last week.... BUT, some great things happened and next week is looking great!!! So, all in all, life is just great. (And now I promise I'm done with that word...)
A couple GREAT things of the week:
1. Tina set a baptismal date!!! September 14th. yeah, we found out that it's a Tuesday, so not exactly the ideal--don't worry about it. haha. (It's kinda a long story why that date is important.) Was not something we expected to do with her that night, because she had canceled on us a couple times, but you don't say shhhhh to the spirit! First of all, we show up to her apartment and walk in and I swear it was a completely different place from the last time. Like before, you kinda had to clamber around piles of "stuff" (really the word "crap" is much more descriptive, but much less becoming), could hardly find a place to sit, and I don't know the last time she had thrown out anything. She had apparently spent the last 4 days cleaning and organizing and the place looked awesome!! So, it might not be a key indicator that we report, but in my opinion, the scriptures don't say that a "house of order is a house of God" for no reason!!
And this was an indicator to me that she is ready and willing to make changes in her life--that she is ready to get things in order. So, hopefully now that her apartment is much more conducive to the spirit, she can start making some good spiritual changes as well. Anyway, so I think I explained how Tina has a very unique personality--she is one of a kind and you can't help but love her. She is very, very bright, makes connections very quickly (like right after we talked about the First Vision, she was like, "so they gave Joseph the priesthood and called him to be a prophet?".....haha yup. my heart just about burst with pride!), she asks questions if she doesn't understand, is super blunt and honest, does this hilarious lip biting thing, and is tough, but also very sweet, and the most adorably quirky person ever. Example that kinda illustrates Tina--we followed up on her Book of Mormon reading and praying, and asked her what she thought and felt, and she goes "I think it's another Testament of Jesus Christ. Like it says." The end. Super matter of fact. That's just how it is. We kinda chuckled and were like well, yup!!! You're right! So, enough rambling. Gist of the story is that we love Tina and are excited for her to progress!! (We will also be tackling the Word of Wisdom this week with promised blessings, a trash bag, and the stop-smoking program essentials (juice, vitamin C, etc) in hand. Should be fun!!) (side note: she came to a baptism with us the other day (8 year-old in ward) @ church wearing these pink booty shorts & a white tube top! Haha)
2. Public buses are very well-equipped with super heavy-duty windshield wipers. It really is a great thing; I for one certainly feel safer knowing that our safety on transport will not be compromised because of congregated water on the bus windshield. However, it is also a different kind of a great experience when it is like practically a monsoon outside, so you are skillfully maneuvering and timing your movement from the cover of the bus stop to the bus, but meanwhile forget that the bus is equipped with these heavy-duty-safety-promoting windshield wipers that have like a 5 ft splash (and an ability to fling off an incredible amount of water at a time). I'm sure you already put it together, that yes, I did make the mistake of standing in direct shot of this 5 ft splash. It is one, though, I plan on never making again, as I'm fairly certain I looked like I had tripped and fallen INTO a fountain afterwards. So yup.....that was great.
3. So for our last rendezvous with that family from Haiti, we wanted to help them really get into the Book of Mormon. So, we took turns reading verses from a chapter, and when 8-yr-old Andrew started reading, the spirit just filled the room. He was so proud to get to take his turn and was trying so hard to say everything just right (he really does read very well, but it's still super cute to hear like the french version of hooked on phonics). It was adorable and such a good way to start the lesson!! Of course, shortly later a little mayhem and havoc followed in spurts (giggling girls and little boys pretending to be preachers.....). But hey, you roll with it, and I thought it was great!
4. I was also greatly humbled this week. I need to take back my complaining attitude about France in last week's e-mail (that said I didn't always like living here), because let me just paint a quick pic of our P-day. (because of some circumstances we had to do most of it last Saturday, and are just doing e-mails today.) K, well started with groceries, and that's somewhat less than exciting (but always somewhat amusing that despite the fact that we go to the same place every week, they still struggle at first with our foreign credit cards). But, then we went to the musee Marmottan Monet. Saw some water lilies, impression: sunrise, and then randomly a temp exhibit with modern art and lots of Jackson Pollock--always cool. So, we saw some good stuff. And then we sat down on a bench in this park just outside the museum to finish letters for a few minutes. So, we are sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree. There are greek goddess marble statues placed around the park, little boys playing soccer a little ways off, little girls playing with sand toys, people taking naps in the sun on the grass, pony rides going on on the other side, a carousel with little kids squealing nearby, and a marionette stage a little ways down the path that winds through the park. I exaggerate not. So yeah.....I have no right to complain. Paris is awesome!! hehe.
5. We saw our favorite line L dancing fiddler again. Yeah, I really wish I had time to give a detailed account of his public transportation performances, because they are priceless. Really, more than just a great experience!! French people usually do the whole stoic think pretty well, but I love looking around about 3/4 of the way through this dude's "thing", because there are so many hilarious expressions and people attempting to stifle laughter. And least it’s a great bonding experience for us fellow passengers to share together.
Well, I had some other stories I was going to share, but we gotta run. Sorry I'm such a rambler!! Being a missionary is awesome. I love you guys!! I want to hear all about Lake Powell! catch a lizard for me! sure hope you didnt forget the boat registrations, granted that would be breaking tradition! hehe
love, jordo
ps by the way, I was fine last week when you left. I was glad that we went straight to a rendezvous right after we said goodbye, so I didn’t have any time to let things get emotional. It might not be the healthiest way to deal with things, but I realized I have like boxes (or bubbles if that computes better for you). I have my “mission-life box” and my “home & real life box.” And normally they don’t really cross. Anyway, point is when I turned and walked away from you guys, I took a deep breath, brushed back the welling tears, shoved you guys all back into the other box & headed to the rendezvous; so I think I handled it fine. Maybe not super healthy, but hey – whatever gets the job done! So, no – I haven’t been distracted or anything over the visit!
Pss good news, apparently French is sinking in along the way, because I guess when I hear Sister Bellini up puttering around in the middle of the night, I speak to her in French. Mind you, I am not conscious of any of these conversations even taking place.
Halle – I loved the fireworks you drew!
Joshy man – That was a pretty impressive Ferris wheel you drew! Hope you have your lizard scampering feet ready for Powell.
Matthew – I thought your tennis sock tan line was pretty impressive, even if mom didn’t think it was important enough to talk about in person, haha
John – Promise you’ll follow the don’t do stupid things rule! They talk about that rule a lot in the MTC (I’m serious ha), but I think it really applies to life in general…a good moral code
Tara – yeah, kinda stinks you weren’t here last week! But hang in there with your life of servitude.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Miracles!
Well, hello family dearest!!!!
I know it's only been a week, but I miss you already! I'm glad everyone made it home safely, even if it's just to be welcomed back to tennis camp craziness. But, how was Italy? Did the guys and boys love it? Speaking of.....can I just say that I loved, loved, loved the package?! I am so spoiled!!! I don't know how you and Nana thought of everything, but it was perfect. Thank you so much!!!!
So.....I'm a missionary....in France. How in the world did that happen?! Seriously, I know it's been like 5 months, but sometimes I still wake up and am shocked to look out the kitchen window and see very French looking apartment buildings all smooshed together. (Another quick reminder is when men get on their scooters and chase after us down the sidewalk yelling in French--those situations tend to jog my memory a bit! but hey--at least we don't get chased by dogs down the street!) And then I think man, it's a miracle I havent been the demise of the mission one area at a time!! Seriously, like who am I to be entrusted with such an important job? But, then I remember that it's not such a miracle, because it's not us who do much at all. The Lord gets it all done. And that is a testimony to be that it must all be true--if the Lord can use kids from Provo to get the work done, then man, there's just no doubt in my mind! hehe. These last couple weeks have been full of some tears and heartbreak, but so many, many more miracles.
Our first miracle was with Parfaite. She's been taught very slowly for a few months now, and was always good at keeping commitments (mostly I think because her cousin was just baptized into our church and she was curious), but just wasn't really what you would call progressing, because she wasn't willing to come to church (it conflicted with her church meetings) and stuff. For some reason, we felt like it was a good idea to watch Finding Faith in Christ with her this week. Which we did, and then testified that the Atonement is real, that Christ is our Savior, and that he has again established HIS church on earth, etc, etc.... The Spirit present in that little family room was overwhelming. And when we knelt together to pray at the end, it was the first time she actually asked Heavenly Father about the things we had taught. (So.... it might have, sort of, kinda still been in a round-about-evangelical way, but she did ask!!!! haha.)
And it was the first time she committed to be baptized when she knew these things were true!!! K. I realize that might not seem like a whole lot, but hey, I was there the first time she was invited to be baptized (months ago) and I tell you what--that isn't an experience I'll forget anytime soon!! (in case that left some question--her answer was a very, very rock solid, unquestionable NO.) The spirit can wear anyone down! hehe. jk, but really, I am so grateful for the Spirit that testifies of truth so much stronger than I ever could. Ya know, I might not always love living in France, and I might not really like French men, and I might mostly hate public transportation (man that sounds like debby downer), but I will NEVER, ever, ever get sick of bearing my testimony of Jesus Christ. And bearing testimony brings the spirit, and the spirit brings miracles!!!! And seriously--who doesn't love miracles?!!!
Then came some heartbreak. Opposition in all things right? Well, I know I've told you about Virginie before. She was one of the first investigators I met and she is great. I absolutely love this woman. She prays, reads the scriptures, tries to do what's right, tries to help people around her, wants to be a mom and have a family, so much faith--just a really genuinely good person. Which, makes the whole heartache thing sting even more. ugh. Long story short--this week, the last part of our RDV consisted of Sister Bellini explaining sweetly, but firmly that Virginie does not in fact have the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, nor is she a prophetess. She wasn't very pleased. And then, after I exchanged a glance with Sister Bellini and I knew we were both feeling the same thing, I was left the honors of giving "the talk." Which in missionary speak translates to telling her that we love her, that she's always welcome at church, that we'll be there to answer questions and teach her again WHEN she is ready to progress. At the end of that lesson, it was just made clear that she isn't really searching for answers or even asking questions. She's just not ready right now, and if we continued to see her, we'd be straying from our purpose. oh man--dagger to the heart!!! It was still a good lesson, but as soon as the door closed behind her, I just burst into tears. haha. I know, I'm such a girl, but I just couldn't help it! But, I can still hope that she'll get it (or at the very least, someone will smack her over the head with it :)) eventually.
But, of course, miracles are never far away! The next afternoon we got a call from the elders out in Angers (I dont even know where that is) saying that someone named Tina called them and wanted to see missionaries and they thought she lived in our area. So we give her a call and are like "so, are you interested in seeing missionaries?" yup. "When are you available?" 1900. "oh!!! you mean like tonight? haha. ok." Needless to say, that doesn't happen very often. So we go meet her and probably within the first 30 seconds of sitting in her apartment, she says that she thinks she has a problem--that she thinks she is possessed. "well....okay....so exactly what makes you say that?" (just a sidenote--when she said that i suddenly felt like 2 years old trying to fix a very, very big problem) Anyway, don't worry--she's not really possessed, nor is she crazy. Turns out that she has a hard time sleeping because she has been having bad nightmares and can't get these terrible images out of her mind (she saw some kinda traumatizing things when she was little).
She had been taught by missionaries like 8 years ago, and somehow had the idea to call them to get help. She definitely turned to the right place if she needs spiritual healing--gospel of Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and the priesthood are powerful. And she is so earnest and sincere in her desire to learn, despite being kind of an interesting character. it was funny, the first time we asked her to pray about the Book of Mormon, she was like, "No".....long pause where missionaries are like well, awesome, that's one we haven't heard......followed by, "I trust you." so adorable!!! we explained how she needed to pray and know for herself, but it was seriously so cute!! And she received a blessing from one of the members in the ward and it was funny because she was so worried about getting her name right, "well, is it a problem if I have two last names? because I changed one of them at the prefecture.....well which one should I use? I only have one first name though, is that okay?" Oh, you just can't help but love this one. Miracles are everywhere I tell ya!!!
And just cuz it's too awesome of a story not to share--we had testimony meeting yesterday (it didnt get done the week before because of the bishopric being re-organized) for Sacrament, and this one lady gets up and starts talking about how there are false friends in church who lead you to perdition. yup. oh she said it. And then continues (oh yes, it gets even better) by saying that as members of the church we get the Holy Ghost that gives us the right to judge people "like God." Just to set the mood better, she also has kinda shadowy eyes, opens them super wide at very precise moments, has a crackly old voice, and was slightly swaying behind the pulpit. I was just waiting for the moroccas to break out to start the "tribal ritual dance welcoming the devils among us to perdition" to start. Was a little disappointed, actually, when it didn't happen...but yeah, never a dull moment!! (and ever so grateful I wasn't the bishop who got to get up at the end and be like, "So just to clarify....we get the Holy Ghost...." He handled it tactfully, but still funny.)
Best public transportation experience of the week: some dude asked me for a drink of my water. I'm fairly certain the first words out of my mouth were, "wait, seriously?" Once I ascertained that he was, in deed, quite serious about the request, I just opted to give the water bottle to him.
Best English class quote of the week: Elder Cutler likes to start out the class by having everyone introduce themselves and answer a random question. The question this week was, "if you opened a restaurant, what would it be called?" I think by far the best answer was this one guy, in all seriousness, saying that his restaurant would be "heavenly Father's Italian McDonalds Restaurant." I think everyone could find something to their taste there, wouldnt you agree?!
Well, I'm gonna try to find time to write you later, because it is Sister Powers' birthday and I think the sisters are having lunch in paris together and then we have an early RDV scheduled. But Ill try!!!! Love you guys lots and lots!!!! Miss you!!! Can't wait to get the pics! Hope you have a good week!
love, jordo
nana--i seriously loved the package!!! i have already used some of the CTR rings!!! and I love your e-mails!! i print them and read them all week. thank you so much. love you so much!!!
I know it's only been a week, but I miss you already! I'm glad everyone made it home safely, even if it's just to be welcomed back to tennis camp craziness. But, how was Italy? Did the guys and boys love it? Speaking of.....can I just say that I loved, loved, loved the package?! I am so spoiled!!! I don't know how you and Nana thought of everything, but it was perfect. Thank you so much!!!!
So.....I'm a missionary....in France. How in the world did that happen?! Seriously, I know it's been like 5 months, but sometimes I still wake up and am shocked to look out the kitchen window and see very French looking apartment buildings all smooshed together. (Another quick reminder is when men get on their scooters and chase after us down the sidewalk yelling in French--those situations tend to jog my memory a bit! but hey--at least we don't get chased by dogs down the street!) And then I think man, it's a miracle I havent been the demise of the mission one area at a time!! Seriously, like who am I to be entrusted with such an important job? But, then I remember that it's not such a miracle, because it's not us who do much at all. The Lord gets it all done. And that is a testimony to be that it must all be true--if the Lord can use kids from Provo to get the work done, then man, there's just no doubt in my mind! hehe. These last couple weeks have been full of some tears and heartbreak, but so many, many more miracles.
Our first miracle was with Parfaite. She's been taught very slowly for a few months now, and was always good at keeping commitments (mostly I think because her cousin was just baptized into our church and she was curious), but just wasn't really what you would call progressing, because she wasn't willing to come to church (it conflicted with her church meetings) and stuff. For some reason, we felt like it was a good idea to watch Finding Faith in Christ with her this week. Which we did, and then testified that the Atonement is real, that Christ is our Savior, and that he has again established HIS church on earth, etc, etc.... The Spirit present in that little family room was overwhelming. And when we knelt together to pray at the end, it was the first time she actually asked Heavenly Father about the things we had taught. (So.... it might have, sort of, kinda still been in a round-about-evangelical way, but she did ask!!!! haha.)
And it was the first time she committed to be baptized when she knew these things were true!!! K. I realize that might not seem like a whole lot, but hey, I was there the first time she was invited to be baptized (months ago) and I tell you what--that isn't an experience I'll forget anytime soon!! (in case that left some question--her answer was a very, very rock solid, unquestionable NO.) The spirit can wear anyone down! hehe. jk, but really, I am so grateful for the Spirit that testifies of truth so much stronger than I ever could. Ya know, I might not always love living in France, and I might not really like French men, and I might mostly hate public transportation (man that sounds like debby downer), but I will NEVER, ever, ever get sick of bearing my testimony of Jesus Christ. And bearing testimony brings the spirit, and the spirit brings miracles!!!! And seriously--who doesn't love miracles?!!!
Then came some heartbreak. Opposition in all things right? Well, I know I've told you about Virginie before. She was one of the first investigators I met and she is great. I absolutely love this woman. She prays, reads the scriptures, tries to do what's right, tries to help people around her, wants to be a mom and have a family, so much faith--just a really genuinely good person. Which, makes the whole heartache thing sting even more. ugh. Long story short--this week, the last part of our RDV consisted of Sister Bellini explaining sweetly, but firmly that Virginie does not in fact have the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, nor is she a prophetess. She wasn't very pleased. And then, after I exchanged a glance with Sister Bellini and I knew we were both feeling the same thing, I was left the honors of giving "the talk." Which in missionary speak translates to telling her that we love her, that she's always welcome at church, that we'll be there to answer questions and teach her again WHEN she is ready to progress. At the end of that lesson, it was just made clear that she isn't really searching for answers or even asking questions. She's just not ready right now, and if we continued to see her, we'd be straying from our purpose. oh man--dagger to the heart!!! It was still a good lesson, but as soon as the door closed behind her, I just burst into tears. haha. I know, I'm such a girl, but I just couldn't help it! But, I can still hope that she'll get it (or at the very least, someone will smack her over the head with it :)) eventually.
But, of course, miracles are never far away! The next afternoon we got a call from the elders out in Angers (I dont even know where that is) saying that someone named Tina called them and wanted to see missionaries and they thought she lived in our area. So we give her a call and are like "so, are you interested in seeing missionaries?" yup. "When are you available?" 1900. "oh!!! you mean like tonight? haha. ok." Needless to say, that doesn't happen very often. So we go meet her and probably within the first 30 seconds of sitting in her apartment, she says that she thinks she has a problem--that she thinks she is possessed. "well....okay....so exactly what makes you say that?" (just a sidenote--when she said that i suddenly felt like 2 years old trying to fix a very, very big problem) Anyway, don't worry--she's not really possessed, nor is she crazy. Turns out that she has a hard time sleeping because she has been having bad nightmares and can't get these terrible images out of her mind (she saw some kinda traumatizing things when she was little).
She had been taught by missionaries like 8 years ago, and somehow had the idea to call them to get help. She definitely turned to the right place if she needs spiritual healing--gospel of Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and the priesthood are powerful. And she is so earnest and sincere in her desire to learn, despite being kind of an interesting character. it was funny, the first time we asked her to pray about the Book of Mormon, she was like, "No".....long pause where missionaries are like well, awesome, that's one we haven't heard......followed by, "I trust you." so adorable!!! we explained how she needed to pray and know for herself, but it was seriously so cute!! And she received a blessing from one of the members in the ward and it was funny because she was so worried about getting her name right, "well, is it a problem if I have two last names? because I changed one of them at the prefecture.....well which one should I use? I only have one first name though, is that okay?" Oh, you just can't help but love this one. Miracles are everywhere I tell ya!!!
And just cuz it's too awesome of a story not to share--we had testimony meeting yesterday (it didnt get done the week before because of the bishopric being re-organized) for Sacrament, and this one lady gets up and starts talking about how there are false friends in church who lead you to perdition. yup. oh she said it. And then continues (oh yes, it gets even better) by saying that as members of the church we get the Holy Ghost that gives us the right to judge people "like God." Just to set the mood better, she also has kinda shadowy eyes, opens them super wide at very precise moments, has a crackly old voice, and was slightly swaying behind the pulpit. I was just waiting for the moroccas to break out to start the "tribal ritual dance welcoming the devils among us to perdition" to start. Was a little disappointed, actually, when it didn't happen...but yeah, never a dull moment!! (and ever so grateful I wasn't the bishop who got to get up at the end and be like, "So just to clarify....we get the Holy Ghost...." He handled it tactfully, but still funny.)
Best public transportation experience of the week: some dude asked me for a drink of my water. I'm fairly certain the first words out of my mouth were, "wait, seriously?" Once I ascertained that he was, in deed, quite serious about the request, I just opted to give the water bottle to him.
Best English class quote of the week: Elder Cutler likes to start out the class by having everyone introduce themselves and answer a random question. The question this week was, "if you opened a restaurant, what would it be called?" I think by far the best answer was this one guy, in all seriousness, saying that his restaurant would be "heavenly Father's Italian McDonalds Restaurant." I think everyone could find something to their taste there, wouldnt you agree?!
Well, I'm gonna try to find time to write you later, because it is Sister Powers' birthday and I think the sisters are having lunch in paris together and then we have an early RDV scheduled. But Ill try!!!! Love you guys lots and lots!!!! Miss you!!! Can't wait to get the pics! Hope you have a good week!
love, jordo
nana--i seriously loved the package!!! i have already used some of the CTR rings!!! and I love your e-mails!! i print them and read them all week. thank you so much. love you so much!!!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Just Keepin' On
Hello Dearest Family!!!
How are you doing?! I guess I hadn’t quite put it together that you were starting in London because of Wimbledon. der. But that is cool that you might meet Tsonga and Gasquet AND Monfils!! Did you eat with Nadal again?! (seriously that is still one of the most hilarious experiences of my life--turning around and seeing Rafael Nadal standing in the line to get food behind me.)
It is so crazy to me that half of you are just like an hour away and that I will see you in a week. You can be in person witnesses to how my social skills in English are on a steep decline. And yeah....world cup is crazy!! It's a great contacting tool cuz you can just play dumb and be like 'hey how did that game turn out?' and everyone is more than happy to elaborate, and then it's like you're already fast friends. Except a bit scary when the U.S. played Algeria. We got warning calls to make sure and speak French all day and be smart about where we went after the game. Super great that our church is in the ghetto and we live in like little africa. but, hey whatev!!! at least the US won!
So, I have a lot of random stories to share about the adventures of the past couple weeks that don't really relate to each other in any way, shape, or form. (Meaning, you'll have to be patient with the lack of organization and grammar.)
Like I said, last week I did exchanges in Lille, but I forgot to share the highlight. (Surprisingly it wasn't getting stood up by a new investigator and traipsing all over the city doing pass-bys with an older lady member along for the fun.) We had English class that night and this little old Asian lady is the only student that night. She speaks English pretty well, but I think she comes mostly because she is lonely and the missionaries are her "friends." Anyway, she was just full of hilarious comments, but I think my favorite was her explaining that she wanted to take us shopping for clothes because "I want to help you, because you have no taste." Ok, that I can take (let's be real--sister missionary call packet pictures--enough said). But, the situation warranted at least a stifled giggle because this comment was preceeded by her giving Sister Curran this one-of-a-kind floral print cotton nightgown (we're talkin worse than Aunt Kirstin at Lake Powell...hehe-sorry Kir!). Evidently this was "tasteful" sleepwear. Needless to say, I was very grateful for her styling tips and definitely took note!
Somehow we found ourselves in the middle of a whole lot of racial contention this week. For example, we had a rendez-vous with a new investigator who explained how she hates French people mostly because they are super racist. Following which, she told us that she doesn't like St. Ouen (where our church is) because there are too many Arabs and "blacks." Huh.....that's interesting. (But she is like BFF with sarkozy's first two wives, so she's still pretty cool.)
Another example--we were contacting one night and we started talking to this man. He put an abrupt end to the contact, however, by saying, "I will believe when Sarkozy is dead," and then walked away. I just didn't know where to go with that. No follow-up questions were coming to mind! Or, a souci that I have never heard before (I guess that's what happens when you grow up in Provo)--a very drunk man came up to us (when we were outside the church with the elders and some members doing a porte ouverte type thing) with a cigarette, can of beer, and another bottle of some clear alcoholic substance in hand, and had all these very boisterous concerns about how he was the son of a slave and how Jesus was white and had blue eyes. So ya....contacting is always an adventure, no matter how many hours you do a day! But you know what? I don't know where people get off saying WE are the weirdos! If they only heard some of the things they say! Priceless.
So besides being educated in racial prejudice, we are also being introduced to many different world religions. We were contacted by a TJ missionary this week in a metro station, trying to get us to come to some scripture study thing. I mean I'd venture to say we probably aren't the most effective contacts, but it was really quite endearing, because she was like our age and her hand was shaking as she handed us the flier because she was way nervous!
We also set up a Rendez-vous with an old investigator, but all the fiche indicated was that she had muslim origins or something. Well, it didn't take us very long to find out that she is very much a fully practicing Muslim. She welcomed us in and then said she was about to pray, so we said okay. She pulls out her special carpet and beads and began to pray. I know I will probably be like struck down for saying this, but I'm fairly certain i saw like a half-downward-dog pose in there somewhere. (She's probably in really good shape.) Anyway, it was a really interesting way to start our lesson. And at the end we asked if we could kneel and pray with her, and she was like, "yeah...do you want to use my carpet?" Very generous of her if you ask me.
In other news, it is now officially summer and it is SUPER hot! We spent like 4 hours traipsing around St. Denis (had to go during the day too cuz it's kinda a sketch area of the 'neuf-trois' and definitely involved people bathing naked in the canal with dish soap...just FYI) the other day doing pass-bys for old investigators, and let me just tell ya--I have the beginnings of some super awesome tan lines. And yeah....we didn't make contact with a single one of the people.... so that was a fun afternoon! haha.
Sister Smart and I went and volunteered at the Red Cross a few days ago, while our companions were at the secret combinations mission council, and it was a really great experience. Kinda sad to see and full of some interesting smells, but also a great place to spread a little cheer. I had strict instructions of how I was supposed to serve the food and what they were allowed to touch and stuff, but my favorite part was just smiling at the people I served meals to. It felt like they weren't the kind of people who got smiled at very often, so I was really grateful for the opportunity!
So we've been teaching this Haitian family (parents, 3 kids, and two of their kids' friends) and this week we found out that one sure way to get people to church is to show up at their doorstep half an hour before church starts to see if they need any help! And, after a lot of little kids running around in towels and a big one running around without a shirt (uhhh....), we all piled into the car and went to the sauna-of-a-church together. I'm really glad the kids enjoyed primary, because after the priesthood and sunday school lessons on repentance and how we are all sinners, and the sacrament meeting with, what had to have been, the hand picked crazy people in the ward speaking about Joseph Smith, I was maybe starting to stress a little... Good thing the church is true! hehe. But, this family is great. The 8-yr old son, Andrew, loves helping in lessons by reading scriptures in the Book of Mormon, and the 11-yr old daughter, Woodlyne, is a pretty precocious chica and asks all the right questions--like "where did we come from" and "why isn't there just one BIG church?" I know...it sounds scripted! The biggest problem is that the Dad is very involved in his evangelical church and the mom feels like she has to follow the dad, because unity is important. But, we'll just take it a step at a time and see how it goes.
So the most awkward "Elder moment" of the week is too good not to share. I was talking to an elder at expo and asked him how his area is and how things are goin, etc....and he responds that things are great and that he has decided he "wants to marry someone like Sister Wilson.....or you." HAHA. Well thank you, you sweet, dear and incredibly innocently awkward elder. I was all about diffusing the situation and helping him not feel stupid, but Sister Bellini was all about embracing the awkwardness, so all-in-all, it was just a good moment.
Most disgusting public transportation siting of the week: someone using Q tips and then examining the contents that were procured from his ear canal (which, was way too much by the way).
Okay, and on a different note (haha im so sorry that this e-mail is such a hodge-podge of nothings), I love zone conferences. We have this new system where we rotate zone conference, interviews, and leadership trainings every month (ie we have one of them every month. so, for example, we have interviews every 3rd month), which is kinda sad, because they are so great. But, also necessary because our mission is really big now (we will be getting smaller over the next few months, but right now we have the biggest mission in europe (after combining us with Belgium) by like 45 missionaries).
Anyway, one of the things Sister Staheli talked about this past conference was how we are a team and we're doin it together. How our individual obedience and efforts are all part of the team effort. She said, "so when someone asks you how many people you have baptized, you say 'well last year I think we baptized about 122 or something.'" It reminded me a lot of the scene from Miracle when the coach says that the name on the front of the jersey is a heck of a lot more important than the name on the back of the jersey. Anyway, I loved that idea. And President Staheli shared a really neat experience where he received the revelation that he had to pass on--"Tell the missionaries to not be discouraged. What they are doing is very much appreciated. They are not wasting their time." I am very grateful that we have such a wonderful and inspired mission president. And I am grateful to be a little part of such a great work! Things are just keepin' on over in these parts!!!
I hope you are having great summer adventures! I can't believe I am going to see you in less than a week. I miss you and love you lots and lots and lots, but I gotta run!!!!
Love, Jordan
p.s. matthew--you will for sure beat brian folley next time. and you'll have to let me know how Nana handles the "firepower" (think night at the museum) demo at lake powell!!
pss liz and cals--your letter made my week!!! and i want pics of (dang i forgot their names already.......).....the fish. and you're probably right--they will probably live longer without me overfeeding them! They just always looked so hungry the poor things......
psss. dad i am starting to understand what you mean by the "acquirement of a taste." I don’t mind dijon mustard so much anymore. actually, sandwiches don’t really seem right without it now. Perrier, however, will never be an acquired taste!
psssss. if you brought it, you should wear your new blue pin-striped suit to the fireside! hehe.
and tara, sister dearest whom i love so much, how would you feel about calling rebecca and asking her for her address?
How are you doing?! I guess I hadn’t quite put it together that you were starting in London because of Wimbledon. der. But that is cool that you might meet Tsonga and Gasquet AND Monfils!! Did you eat with Nadal again?! (seriously that is still one of the most hilarious experiences of my life--turning around and seeing Rafael Nadal standing in the line to get food behind me.)
It is so crazy to me that half of you are just like an hour away and that I will see you in a week. You can be in person witnesses to how my social skills in English are on a steep decline. And yeah....world cup is crazy!! It's a great contacting tool cuz you can just play dumb and be like 'hey how did that game turn out?' and everyone is more than happy to elaborate, and then it's like you're already fast friends. Except a bit scary when the U.S. played Algeria. We got warning calls to make sure and speak French all day and be smart about where we went after the game. Super great that our church is in the ghetto and we live in like little africa. but, hey whatev!!! at least the US won!
So, I have a lot of random stories to share about the adventures of the past couple weeks that don't really relate to each other in any way, shape, or form. (Meaning, you'll have to be patient with the lack of organization and grammar.)
Like I said, last week I did exchanges in Lille, but I forgot to share the highlight. (Surprisingly it wasn't getting stood up by a new investigator and traipsing all over the city doing pass-bys with an older lady member along for the fun.) We had English class that night and this little old Asian lady is the only student that night. She speaks English pretty well, but I think she comes mostly because she is lonely and the missionaries are her "friends." Anyway, she was just full of hilarious comments, but I think my favorite was her explaining that she wanted to take us shopping for clothes because "I want to help you, because you have no taste." Ok, that I can take (let's be real--sister missionary call packet pictures--enough said). But, the situation warranted at least a stifled giggle because this comment was preceeded by her giving Sister Curran this one-of-a-kind floral print cotton nightgown (we're talkin worse than Aunt Kirstin at Lake Powell...hehe-sorry Kir!). Evidently this was "tasteful" sleepwear. Needless to say, I was very grateful for her styling tips and definitely took note!
Somehow we found ourselves in the middle of a whole lot of racial contention this week. For example, we had a rendez-vous with a new investigator who explained how she hates French people mostly because they are super racist. Following which, she told us that she doesn't like St. Ouen (where our church is) because there are too many Arabs and "blacks." Huh.....that's interesting. (But she is like BFF with sarkozy's first two wives, so she's still pretty cool.)
Another example--we were contacting one night and we started talking to this man. He put an abrupt end to the contact, however, by saying, "I will believe when Sarkozy is dead," and then walked away. I just didn't know where to go with that. No follow-up questions were coming to mind! Or, a souci that I have never heard before (I guess that's what happens when you grow up in Provo)--a very drunk man came up to us (when we were outside the church with the elders and some members doing a porte ouverte type thing) with a cigarette, can of beer, and another bottle of some clear alcoholic substance in hand, and had all these very boisterous concerns about how he was the son of a slave and how Jesus was white and had blue eyes. So ya....contacting is always an adventure, no matter how many hours you do a day! But you know what? I don't know where people get off saying WE are the weirdos! If they only heard some of the things they say! Priceless.
So besides being educated in racial prejudice, we are also being introduced to many different world religions. We were contacted by a TJ missionary this week in a metro station, trying to get us to come to some scripture study thing. I mean I'd venture to say we probably aren't the most effective contacts, but it was really quite endearing, because she was like our age and her hand was shaking as she handed us the flier because she was way nervous!
We also set up a Rendez-vous with an old investigator, but all the fiche indicated was that she had muslim origins or something. Well, it didn't take us very long to find out that she is very much a fully practicing Muslim. She welcomed us in and then said she was about to pray, so we said okay. She pulls out her special carpet and beads and began to pray. I know I will probably be like struck down for saying this, but I'm fairly certain i saw like a half-downward-dog pose in there somewhere. (She's probably in really good shape.) Anyway, it was a really interesting way to start our lesson. And at the end we asked if we could kneel and pray with her, and she was like, "yeah...do you want to use my carpet?" Very generous of her if you ask me.
In other news, it is now officially summer and it is SUPER hot! We spent like 4 hours traipsing around St. Denis (had to go during the day too cuz it's kinda a sketch area of the 'neuf-trois' and definitely involved people bathing naked in the canal with dish soap...just FYI) the other day doing pass-bys for old investigators, and let me just tell ya--I have the beginnings of some super awesome tan lines. And yeah....we didn't make contact with a single one of the people.... so that was a fun afternoon! haha.
Sister Smart and I went and volunteered at the Red Cross a few days ago, while our companions were at the secret combinations mission council, and it was a really great experience. Kinda sad to see and full of some interesting smells, but also a great place to spread a little cheer. I had strict instructions of how I was supposed to serve the food and what they were allowed to touch and stuff, but my favorite part was just smiling at the people I served meals to. It felt like they weren't the kind of people who got smiled at very often, so I was really grateful for the opportunity!
So we've been teaching this Haitian family (parents, 3 kids, and two of their kids' friends) and this week we found out that one sure way to get people to church is to show up at their doorstep half an hour before church starts to see if they need any help! And, after a lot of little kids running around in towels and a big one running around without a shirt (uhhh....), we all piled into the car and went to the sauna-of-a-church together. I'm really glad the kids enjoyed primary, because after the priesthood and sunday school lessons on repentance and how we are all sinners, and the sacrament meeting with, what had to have been, the hand picked crazy people in the ward speaking about Joseph Smith, I was maybe starting to stress a little... Good thing the church is true! hehe. But, this family is great. The 8-yr old son, Andrew, loves helping in lessons by reading scriptures in the Book of Mormon, and the 11-yr old daughter, Woodlyne, is a pretty precocious chica and asks all the right questions--like "where did we come from" and "why isn't there just one BIG church?" I know...it sounds scripted! The biggest problem is that the Dad is very involved in his evangelical church and the mom feels like she has to follow the dad, because unity is important. But, we'll just take it a step at a time and see how it goes.
So the most awkward "Elder moment" of the week is too good not to share. I was talking to an elder at expo and asked him how his area is and how things are goin, etc....and he responds that things are great and that he has decided he "wants to marry someone like Sister Wilson.....or you." HAHA. Well thank you, you sweet, dear and incredibly innocently awkward elder. I was all about diffusing the situation and helping him not feel stupid, but Sister Bellini was all about embracing the awkwardness, so all-in-all, it was just a good moment.
Most disgusting public transportation siting of the week: someone using Q tips and then examining the contents that were procured from his ear canal (which, was way too much by the way).
Okay, and on a different note (haha im so sorry that this e-mail is such a hodge-podge of nothings), I love zone conferences. We have this new system where we rotate zone conference, interviews, and leadership trainings every month (ie we have one of them every month. so, for example, we have interviews every 3rd month), which is kinda sad, because they are so great. But, also necessary because our mission is really big now (we will be getting smaller over the next few months, but right now we have the biggest mission in europe (after combining us with Belgium) by like 45 missionaries).
Anyway, one of the things Sister Staheli talked about this past conference was how we are a team and we're doin it together. How our individual obedience and efforts are all part of the team effort. She said, "so when someone asks you how many people you have baptized, you say 'well last year I think we baptized about 122 or something.'" It reminded me a lot of the scene from Miracle when the coach says that the name on the front of the jersey is a heck of a lot more important than the name on the back of the jersey. Anyway, I loved that idea. And President Staheli shared a really neat experience where he received the revelation that he had to pass on--"Tell the missionaries to not be discouraged. What they are doing is very much appreciated. They are not wasting their time." I am very grateful that we have such a wonderful and inspired mission president. And I am grateful to be a little part of such a great work! Things are just keepin' on over in these parts!!!
I hope you are having great summer adventures! I can't believe I am going to see you in less than a week. I miss you and love you lots and lots and lots, but I gotta run!!!!
Love, Jordan
p.s. matthew--you will for sure beat brian folley next time. and you'll have to let me know how Nana handles the "firepower" (think night at the museum) demo at lake powell!!
pss liz and cals--your letter made my week!!! and i want pics of (dang i forgot their names already.......).....the fish. and you're probably right--they will probably live longer without me overfeeding them! They just always looked so hungry the poor things......
psss. dad i am starting to understand what you mean by the "acquirement of a taste." I don’t mind dijon mustard so much anymore. actually, sandwiches don’t really seem right without it now. Perrier, however, will never be an acquired taste!
psssss. if you brought it, you should wear your new blue pin-striped suit to the fireside! hehe.
and tara, sister dearest whom i love so much, how would you feel about calling rebecca and asking her for her address?
Monday, June 21, 2010
That's What I'm Talkin' About!
What is up Gang?!
Nice work at the sectional J&M!! Mom--your week just sounded too exhaustingly productive if you ask me (granted anything that involves the word "caulking" would warrant that opinion from me)! Dad-- alright already i get the point about your missionary work rant! hehe. and please tell me that that was you and josh who decided to stop and get those wyoming fireworks. oh and happy Father's Day next week! "why dont you get yourself something real nice" and then ill have a real gift for you here. ha. Tara--i started a letter to you today and was so excited to get another one in the mail. Joshy--i want to hear how you like the feel of your new racquet? thats pretty sweet! halle--girlfriend!!! i absolutely loved loved loved the picture you sent me of you on the podium with your medal! so cool!
Well, the work goes well. We set out this week determined to teach 20 lessons. And yeah....it didnt happen. BUT, we taught over twice as many as the first two weeks of the transfer and we set a baptismal date! That's what I'm talkin' about!! (If I may borrow Dad's new favorite phrase.) Her name is Nadia Lopez and she is from Cape Verde. We were mining the area books a while back, and it was kinda a mystery why the missionaries said she didnt seem interested and stopped teaching her, so we decided to investigate and find out what the story was. She was way excited to meet with us. She doesn't have much religious background, but she says she just feels good when she comes to church and when she has the missionaries over. So, it is so fun being able to teach her why she can feel that difference. In a lot of ways she's like teaching a child (like she had never heard of moses or abraham or read any of the Bible), and it is so refreshing! I know that for the honest and earnest seeker, all big concerns about our church and being baptized can and will be resolved (hullo truth on your side gives you a little edge up), but sometimes people get these crazy ideas (example--being re-baptized, even with authority, would mean that they didnt believe in Christ before or something) that really limit their progression. But Nadia is totally open and willing to do the work and make the changes necessary to be a member of the Church! And there are some other people in our ward who are from Cape Verde as well and they have already been great about welcoming her, teaching with us, and are getting excited about coming to her baptism on July 3rd. Hey, our zone is "Dreaming of White" and miracles happen every day.
I haven’t actually ever heard it from President myself, but I guess his “miracle of 2010” came about because one night he woke up & just felt the spirit really strong. So he went to his office & prayed, & I don’t know how he described it, but something like somehow he felt like he “felt” the keys he was given, for his calling as president of this mission, turn. And that he kind of had a revelation of where things could go. You know how I said that there have been > 100 baptism already this year? That might not sound like a whole lot, but when you compare it to the fact that, that’s more than ALL of last year, it’s sayin’ something! Anyway, I don’t know the details, but good things are happening in the mission.
Last week we had FHE with a two sisters (marie and kiki is what they have us call them) in the ward, and one of their non-member sons, and it was awesome. It probably helped that she didn't force feed us, but mostly it was cuz after the lesson and dinner, we were talking and Sister Nikiema said something about dancing in Africa. And so I asked her to show us and teach us. (Hey gotta profit from bein in a very African area!!) And I think she loved it cuz she got up and turned on some nice chill african style music and man she went to town. I was really glad her son had left, because we had an awesome girls dance party! (keep in mind these sisters are like 50 years old, but dang they still got it. they got some moves!!)
Another good night this week was when we were teaching English class to a bunch of men (mostly African) and I know I sounded super dumb when I asked if they knew the ABCs. haha. But, no, they didn't and they didn't know how to say the alphabet in English. And you know--that's kinda a good foundation to have! So we practiced and then we sang the song a couple times. And they loved it! They asked to sing it again next week even. I can only imagine how hilarious that would have been to pass by a bunch of old African men singing the ABCs with these little American missionaries. The things we do as missionaries. gotta love it.
Speaking of old men. There is this super cute, TINY old man in our ward named Frere Micale. We're talking he might be a few inches taller than me...maybe. He drove Nadia and us to church in Versailles on Sunday (it was Stake Conference), and when he came to meet us at the gare, the cute thing still had the huge sticker showing the size of his pants on the bag of his leg. He lives all alone, had obviously bought new pants, and didn't have anyone to tell him that he needed to take the tag off before going out in public! I know it probably wasn't super dignified, but I couldn't help but just being endeared to him and squatting down to give him a hand. You know how I have a weakness when it comes to cute old men!!
Two best public transportation sitings of the week:
1. little boy using the wall inside the train station as a urinal while mother stands by waiting for him to finish. for real.
2. little girl getting bored while standing and waiting for her mom to finish talking on the phone. So she sees a little crumb of food on the ground and picks it up and puts it in her mouth. oh how i wanted to cry!!!
Well, sorry I dont have very funny stories for the week. I love hearing about your adventures from home and am glad things are going well! I dont remember her name, but one of the church leaders who spoke at the conference yesterday (transmitted from Salt Lake), talked about 3 ways to be virtuous and strong or something (dang i need to pay attention better), and they were reading your scriptures every day, praying every day, and smiling!!!
Mom I loved that you talked about laughing in your e-mail, because it's so true--laughing and smiling give us power and make life so much better! I know I sure have a lot to smile and laugh about. I'm grateful for you guys and I miss you, but I am so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary. I am sure blessed.
Love you lots and lots,
Jordan
ps ive been waking up with these new huge bug bites every morning and it is so not a comforting thought!!! hello im in Paris, France, not Guatemala....I am so NOT okay with it!
ps mom your little dialogue on being funny made me giggle. i am not concerned about you, but after this e-mail maybe i should be concerned for myself.
pss LOVE YOU!!!!
Nice work at the sectional J&M!! Mom--your week just sounded too exhaustingly productive if you ask me (granted anything that involves the word "caulking" would warrant that opinion from me)! Dad-- alright already i get the point about your missionary work rant! hehe. and please tell me that that was you and josh who decided to stop and get those wyoming fireworks. oh and happy Father's Day next week! "why dont you get yourself something real nice" and then ill have a real gift for you here. ha. Tara--i started a letter to you today and was so excited to get another one in the mail. Joshy--i want to hear how you like the feel of your new racquet? thats pretty sweet! halle--girlfriend!!! i absolutely loved loved loved the picture you sent me of you on the podium with your medal! so cool!
Well, the work goes well. We set out this week determined to teach 20 lessons. And yeah....it didnt happen. BUT, we taught over twice as many as the first two weeks of the transfer and we set a baptismal date! That's what I'm talkin' about!! (If I may borrow Dad's new favorite phrase.) Her name is Nadia Lopez and she is from Cape Verde. We were mining the area books a while back, and it was kinda a mystery why the missionaries said she didnt seem interested and stopped teaching her, so we decided to investigate and find out what the story was. She was way excited to meet with us. She doesn't have much religious background, but she says she just feels good when she comes to church and when she has the missionaries over. So, it is so fun being able to teach her why she can feel that difference. In a lot of ways she's like teaching a child (like she had never heard of moses or abraham or read any of the Bible), and it is so refreshing! I know that for the honest and earnest seeker, all big concerns about our church and being baptized can and will be resolved (hullo truth on your side gives you a little edge up), but sometimes people get these crazy ideas (example--being re-baptized, even with authority, would mean that they didnt believe in Christ before or something) that really limit their progression. But Nadia is totally open and willing to do the work and make the changes necessary to be a member of the Church! And there are some other people in our ward who are from Cape Verde as well and they have already been great about welcoming her, teaching with us, and are getting excited about coming to her baptism on July 3rd. Hey, our zone is "Dreaming of White" and miracles happen every day.
I haven’t actually ever heard it from President myself, but I guess his “miracle of 2010” came about because one night he woke up & just felt the spirit really strong. So he went to his office & prayed, & I don’t know how he described it, but something like somehow he felt like he “felt” the keys he was given, for his calling as president of this mission, turn. And that he kind of had a revelation of where things could go. You know how I said that there have been > 100 baptism already this year? That might not sound like a whole lot, but when you compare it to the fact that, that’s more than ALL of last year, it’s sayin’ something! Anyway, I don’t know the details, but good things are happening in the mission.
Last week we had FHE with a two sisters (marie and kiki is what they have us call them) in the ward, and one of their non-member sons, and it was awesome. It probably helped that she didn't force feed us, but mostly it was cuz after the lesson and dinner, we were talking and Sister Nikiema said something about dancing in Africa. And so I asked her to show us and teach us. (Hey gotta profit from bein in a very African area!!) And I think she loved it cuz she got up and turned on some nice chill african style music and man she went to town. I was really glad her son had left, because we had an awesome girls dance party! (keep in mind these sisters are like 50 years old, but dang they still got it. they got some moves!!)
Another good night this week was when we were teaching English class to a bunch of men (mostly African) and I know I sounded super dumb when I asked if they knew the ABCs. haha. But, no, they didn't and they didn't know how to say the alphabet in English. And you know--that's kinda a good foundation to have! So we practiced and then we sang the song a couple times. And they loved it! They asked to sing it again next week even. I can only imagine how hilarious that would have been to pass by a bunch of old African men singing the ABCs with these little American missionaries. The things we do as missionaries. gotta love it.
Speaking of old men. There is this super cute, TINY old man in our ward named Frere Micale. We're talking he might be a few inches taller than me...maybe. He drove Nadia and us to church in Versailles on Sunday (it was Stake Conference), and when he came to meet us at the gare, the cute thing still had the huge sticker showing the size of his pants on the bag of his leg. He lives all alone, had obviously bought new pants, and didn't have anyone to tell him that he needed to take the tag off before going out in public! I know it probably wasn't super dignified, but I couldn't help but just being endeared to him and squatting down to give him a hand. You know how I have a weakness when it comes to cute old men!!
Two best public transportation sitings of the week:
1. little boy using the wall inside the train station as a urinal while mother stands by waiting for him to finish. for real.
2. little girl getting bored while standing and waiting for her mom to finish talking on the phone. So she sees a little crumb of food on the ground and picks it up and puts it in her mouth. oh how i wanted to cry!!!
Well, sorry I dont have very funny stories for the week. I love hearing about your adventures from home and am glad things are going well! I dont remember her name, but one of the church leaders who spoke at the conference yesterday (transmitted from Salt Lake), talked about 3 ways to be virtuous and strong or something (dang i need to pay attention better), and they were reading your scriptures every day, praying every day, and smiling!!!
Mom I loved that you talked about laughing in your e-mail, because it's so true--laughing and smiling give us power and make life so much better! I know I sure have a lot to smile and laugh about. I'm grateful for you guys and I miss you, but I am so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary. I am sure blessed.
Love you lots and lots,
Jordan
ps ive been waking up with these new huge bug bites every morning and it is so not a comforting thought!!! hello im in Paris, France, not Guatemala....I am so NOT okay with it!
ps mom your little dialogue on being funny made me giggle. i am not concerned about you, but after this e-mail maybe i should be concerned for myself.
pss LOVE YOU!!!!
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