Cuckoo! That is how French people say hey. It makes me laugh every time, especially when it is out of a 3rd story window when we are porting. Just like a cuckoo clock.  I don't even know how I can summarize this week. It was rough and exhausting and rewarding and fun and disappointing all wrapped into one. 

A few highlights:

Wednesday. It has quickly become my favorite day because that's when we get to see Lucy. She had had friends over at her house and they had a big discussion about religion which brought up a lot of questions for her. She asked how it is possible for her to know which church is true. We then talked about how that was exactly what Joseph Smith's question was, and discussed the First Vision again, and the principle of prayer. She is une ange. Wednesday is also the day we get to see Gwenole and Raymond, so of course it was entertaining. They have their apartment all decorated for Christmas now. And the furby is wearing a scarf. 

We met with a 17 year girl from Connecticut who is here doing an exchange program.  She found the church when, one day at her school, her friend said "Hey, wanna prank chat the missionaries on Mormon.org?" Her first question was who are Mormons? and then as they prank chatted she saw all of the things on the website and became super interested. When she got home she looked it up and started taking the missionary discussions, She was at a time in her llife where she said that she knew something was missing. She grew up with no religion at all, but her parents were always supportive of her being interested in it. She went to just about every other church she could find in her area, but she said it was when she found the church, that it felt right. She wants to get baptised, but her Dad won't let her until she is 18. She said she was planning on coming to France and just 'clearing her head for awhile' and forgetting about it, but when she got here she couldn't stay away. So she called the missionaries, and I am oh so happy she did because I just think she is the greatest. I can't believe how amazing it felt to speak in English. She reminded me so much of our family, in fact I kept on trying to figure out who it was that she reminded me of and I realized it was Aunt Julia! So obviously I loved her. We are going to meet with her once a week and just talk about her Book of Mormon reading and possibly do so while eating crepes. Apparantly she is like Naomi and is a baking genius. 

We have been trying to find a recent convert who stopped coming to church, and we could never get a hold of her. We went to her apartment building and could never get a hold of her, but last week we finally did. She is a single mom and has the most beautiful family. We went over on Saturday to bake a cake with them and talked to her about how she has been doing. After that we went to get lunch in town before an appointment and we stumbled upon a Christmas Market! Magical. Only word for it. As we were walking to the metro we heard singing, and so we followed it and came upon a gospel choir. In the middle of France. Dad would have loved it. We started talking to one of the guys about the Book of Mormon, and he was sure that it didn't testify of Christ, but we talked for a while and eventually he calmed down and ended up inviting us to sing with them next Friday and then talk to him after about the Book of Mormon. We told him we aren't African and so we can't promise that we will add much to his choir, and he said "God doesn't see us differently, so I don't see you differently. Come sing with us!" I never thought I would be singing in a gospel choir in France. Love it. 

We have been porting like crazy this week. One night we went porting by the soccer stadium and there was a match going on, so as we ported there was chanting and screaming and we were laughing so hard because it was like they were cheering us on. It was like hurricane weather that night and our hair was crazy, but it was so much fun. Nobody wanted to talk to us, but it was an epic night of porting.

 

Sunday lunch at the Sala's. They are the sweetest Swedish couple in the world. 

I suppose the hardest thing about this week was feeling like we had worked so hard, and then counting up our weekly numbers and it looking like we had done absolutely nothing. I read an article in the Liahona this morning about a man who is a farmer in Argentina. Each day, month, and year he works hard on his crop, but he can't see the results every day. In fact some years he doesn't even get money at all, becaue regardless of how hard he works sometimes the weather is just bad. But he just keeps on working.  When he plows, he always looks at a tree as his point to make sure his plough stays straight, and even when it gets bumpy and rough, he knows exactly where he needs to get, he has something to guide him. That's how I feel right now. It feels really bumpy and hard, and I can't see the exact results of what I am doing. But I have something to guide me and I know that it does have a purpose and that although I can't exactly see it every day, I will. And every single day I see miracles and I see how God is there. I am so thankful for that.

Hope Las Vegas Thanksgiving was lovely. Thanksgiving here consisted of chili, enchiladas, mashed potatoes and pizza. Maybe the most unique Thanksgiving dinner I will ever have? It was a good day, but really sad because an Elder in our Zone found out the night before that his dad died in a car crash, and  went straight to Paris to fly home, so the mood was quite somber and we nixed the football game. I can't even imagine that, I felt sick all day just thinking about it. But it was really great to all be together. My first holday sans the family. I missed you. 

Today we are going back to the Christmas market, and hopefully I will find some fun things for you all. I love you and miss you incredibly. 

xox

Olivia 

you can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apples in a seed.

Chere Family,

 

This week flew by and was filled with so many good things. On Wednesday we went to teach Lucy the Plan of Salvation. She has been really struggling with losing her mother and nephew especially after her experiences growing up in a small town in Peru, where she has a memory of a little boy dying and the priest saying that he would never be saved because he hadn't been baptized. As we explained the Plan, her face just lit up and she couldn't get enough of it. As I taught, I really felt the truth of the plan and the fairness of it all. That night we went to visit a recent convert Gwenole who is deaf (we think she is actually not deaf because sometimes she can't hear what we are saying and other times she totally hears exactly what is being said.) and her husband Raymond. It was one of the most hilarious moments of my life. You can't even put it into words, but this small tidbit sort of sums it up: "Gwenole! Put that Bible down! You CANNOT touch a dog while holding a holy book!" And they have a pet furby. And she offered to let me wear her wedding dress someday. And we sang Chrsitmas songs around the table. I love them. That night we went to a recent convert named Yanns house for dinner, with the Marguerite family. Soeur Marguerite is from New Caledonia and married a Breton. Her house reminded me so much of New |Zealand, and she reminded me of the members in our branch. Her husband is the kindest guy as well. Yann and his mom Jocelyn joined the church recently and are the most inspiring people. They were so sweet and fed us more food than we could stomach (and it was sea food, which I like but poor Soeur Pymm can't stand it. She took it like a champion.). The Grandmother is living with them, and looks like she is about 90 years old. She was quiet throughout the whole dinner, but then as we were leaving she told us her story and it is so beautiful I just have to tell you about it:

 

When she was about 19 it was the middle of WWII and she was living in France. At her girls school they started a program where you write someone in the prison camps in Germany, to lift their spirits etc. She started writing a soldier and they wrote letter after letter and she fell head over heels for him through his words. One day months later she heard news of the Americans liberating the very camp that this boy was in. She said she remembers wishing so hard that one day he would come and find her. Only days later she heard a knock at her door and it was him. They got married and he became a chef in France and they lived happily ever after. Umm shouldn't that be a movie?

 

On Friday we went to Paris to hear from Elder Andersen. It was an entire mission conference, the first one they have had in over three years. As we got off the train in Paris we were running to catch the RER to get to Versailles where the chapel is, I heard "Rhondeau!" And there in the middle of the gare was my dear Soeur Hill and Elder Wallace. Seeing them was like Christmas/being reunited with my family. With each person from my MTC group that came it was the best reunion ever. Elder Andersen's talk was incredible and was exactly what I needed to hear. He talked about how he knows very well that missions in France are hard. He talked about how you can't base your success off of baptisms. He said that our goal should be to strengthen, whether that mean strengthening members, less-actives, your companion, someone on the street. He said to serve more broadly and to love more broadly. Our purpose is to become disciples of Christ and help others become disciples of Christ. He then went on to talk about what the doctrine of Christ is. Underneath all of the doctrine of Christ he said there is one simple phrase that can answer our questions of how to be a disciple: Follow me. As we follow Christ we recognize the need to love others, to strengthen because we love them, and to live a life full of faith. The fruits of this are what make life meaningful. He then read Galatians 5:23-25, which talks about the fruits of the Spirit. It really made me realize that as I try to follow the example of Christ every day for the rest of my life I can see these blessings and hopefully help others see them too.

 

That night we made our way back to Rennes. We had made it to the gare about 10 minutes before our train was leaving and hadn't eaten in hours, so we decided we would be really quick and grab some food. We got some baguette sandwichs and then with 7 minutes to spare we made our way to voie 2 car 18. As we had almost made it to car 18 one of the Quimper Soeurs looks at our tickets and says "Uh-oh. We are supposed to be on void one. We have three minutes." We started sprinting through the train station, and I happened to be carrying a bag filled with things Soeur Pymm's mom had sent her—brownie mix, vampire teeth for Halloween etc. As I ran vampire teeth are falling right and left, and people are staring confusedly. With about 45 seconds to spare before the train pulled out we saw the Elders hanging out of car 14, ready to help us jump on and get past the ticket controller since they had our tickets. It was ridiculous. When we sat down we just started laughing at it all. Vampire teeth are now scattered across the Paris Montparnasse train station.

 

Yesterday we had Stake Conference and we went with an adorable Swedish couple, Brother and Sister Sala, from our ward. They are the sweetest thing and had made us a gourmet breakfast to eat on the way. Stake Conference was really good, and it was so powerful to see all the members of the church gathered together. They are few in number, but their faith really is powerful. On our way back to Rennes with the Salas, we got to hear all about Swedish Christmas traditions and there adventures on road trips through Eastern Germany with their kids, and faulty cruises to Russia back in the day. The whole time we were driving through all of these random country towns and backroads because their GPS was faulty. It was so hilarious. We would literally be right next to the highway, but it would be this tiny road covered with trees on both sides. She would yell "Ike! Get on the highway it is right there!" "No, we wanted to take the beautiful way." They are my favorite. When we got home last night we went to visit a girl we ported into a few weeks ago. She is from Romania and is a student here. We talked to her for a while and found out she is really lonely. She is so beautiful and fun and my heart just broke for her as she talked about what she misses about Romania, and how cold the students here have been to her. We found her a Romanian book of Mormon and she was so excited about it. We shared some scriptures with her and are going to stop by next week again to talk about it. As we walked back to our apartment Soeur Pymm and I talked about how it is such an amazing opportunity to find these people you would have never known otherwise. These people who are lonely, but such amazing people who deserve so much to be appreciated and loved. I love that through this experience I get to learn how to love more broadly, across borders and barriers. I realized that it is a tiny particle of what God must feel about loving his children. They are all so diverse, but he loves broadly and completely.

 

Today we are going to the market to buy stuff to make for our Turkey Bowl with the zone on Thanksgiving. We'll see how it goes . . . Thanks so much for the package I got this week! This week was like Christmas with all the things I found in my mailbox. I know I have said it before, but you really have no idea how great it is to get mail. It gives me this energy, so merci merci!

 

I love you and miss you. Have fun in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. I'll think of Dan playing soccer and you can think of me playing football in France with 4 sisters and 20 Elders. Yikes. Love you!

 

Bisous,

 

Olivia

st malo, etc.

Last week we went to St Malo and it was magical. There is something about seeing the sea after being in a sea of concrete every day. The sun was shining and it was absolutely magical. We wandered around on the beach for a while and then through the cobblestone streets, I ate a caramel crepe and then we hiked to this little island and sang Coldplay's Violet Hill on the top as the rain came in, and then For the Beauty of the Earth. Because pourqoui pas, and how many times in your life are you going to be on a green island hill off the coast of France? 'Twas lovely and is our new happy place. Only 15 euro train ride, 45 minutes away. We are tempted to go every P-Day. 

The last photo is of our appartement. But soon it will be empty because they are taking away all of our furniture for the older couples! It was hilarious, Soeur Poz came and just had a list of things she was taking and we sat there all helpless. It really is nbd, because missionary apartments usually don't have anything in them, anyways. Just classic. This is our before pic; next week I'll send the after. And we will be sitting on the floor. 

Also I have more time, because the pictures are taking forever to load so I will add a few things about our week. Sorry my email was so short and unispiring. We had dinner at a member's house this week and we had raclette, and it was delish but also hilarious because they have 8 CATS. 8. And in the middle of dinner I heard someone say Sourri! Which means smile, but also mouse. I thought they were saying smile so I just smiled and then I looked down and the cat is chasing this giant mouse and it was hilarious and also unappetizing. 

Family,

I can't believe all of the snow you are getting over there! Zut alors! We don't have any snow here, but it definitely feels cold enough to have snow. Remember the type of cold when we were in Zurich that one winter? It feels a little something like that. It just seeps inside of your bones, you know? But I don't know why I'm talking about weather at a time like this. On to more important things! Another week has gone by in Rennes and it feels a little bit like a whole year. We are constantly amazed that we have only been here 3 weeks, as it feels like I almost can't remember NOT being here. We are starting to feel more confortable with the city and know the metro and bus so much better now, that it makes our missionary work a lot easier. 

The sad news of this week is that our investagator that we met last week who was 16 can't meet with us anymore because her parents think we are a cult. Which is sad. It is almost hilarious how many people think we are a cult. Yesterday someone asked me "Do you live in a normal city? Can you go to school?" For a world that is so open minded, people don't seem to think very open mindedly about Mormons. The good news is that we met another girl from the Congo who is fantastic and she came to church with us and is so happy about the gospel. She has been through a lot in her life, and she is in such desperate need to feel belonging. I loved seeing her at church with everyone and how happy she was to have people around her getting to know her. We met another family on the bus and got off to talk to them. They are French and have six (Six! in France!) kids and were very curious and friendly although they are both atheist. We went over to teach them yesterday and it turns out he is the most believing atheist I have ever met. Although he kept on saying he was atheist, he continually basically quoted the Book of Mormon without knowing it. He is only interested in being a part of a church where Christ really is the focus. I loved what he said at one point when he said, "Christ must be fundamentally important, because he defined sacrifice. Before him and after him, we haven't seen anything quite like it." I'm really excited to keep on teaching them and help him realize that he actually isn't atheist. After we gave him a Book of Mormon he jumped up off his couch and said "If you are giving me a book of inspiration, I must give you one as well." So he gave us French poetry books. A French-Italian who reads French poetry, has six kids, thinks he is an atheist and has posters of 2Pac on his wall. Awesome. 

We have been doing a lot of porting this week, and it is probably the hardest thing for me to do as a missionary, so I have tried to just make it fun. We started going to a small town called Bruz right outside of Rennes. The other night we went out to a smaller town to deliver a Book of Mormon someone had requested online. We pull up to the address, and it is this heavily gated building in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. We try to get in. No luck. Then this guy was going in, so we followed him and we enter the building and it is sterile and like a hotel and so bizarre. All I could think of was Rich and Martha and our days of watching LOST because you guys, it was literally like The Others commune. I kept on expecting Ben Linus to walk around the corner. And then we try to leave and we can't get out because you need a key and so we are just stuck there. Eventually I had the bright idea to hop the giant fence, because I couldn't find another way. So I climb my way up it and get over and then slip and am literally dangling from the fence from my scarf. It was hilarious. When we finally got over the fence we just ran to the car and laughed till we cried. So bizarre. Another highlight of that night was being proposed to by this old African man on the metro. I told him I was already engaged and had someone in the US (this is usually good because then they leave you alone) and he said "That doesn't matter, you can be the wife of my spirituality." Weird. Also great was when we were porting and it was pitch black and no one was answering the door and all the sudden the window swings open and a shirtless man is hanging out of it. "Oui?"   

This week is going to be great because President Anderson is coming and we all get to go to Paris to hear him. It will be so fun to see everyone and to hear from him. I love you beyond words. I miss you always, and am so thankful for each of you. 

Love,

Olivia

Family,

Hello hello from France! This week was full of a million good things and a million not-so-good things, laughing till I cry and then crying till I laugh. Let's just say this week was insane. INSANE. As a little precursor let's just say that someone tried to cast a spell on me. In classic Rhondeau form I will give you the highs and lows of this week:

HIGHS:

We met with an investagator named Lucy who the Elders before us had been teaching. She is from Peru and is just an incredibly lovely person. She had us over to her apartment for tea and we got to know her and talked about the Book of Mormon. She is so sincerely searching the gospel. She had such intelligent questions about it and said that at this point she just feels like she needs to profoundly understand the why behind what we are teaching. We talked about the Word of Wisdom, and she still isn't totally sold, but she said she understands it. AND she came to church on Sunday! 

Yannick and Helene and their family. They have been the miracle of my hard week. We went to teach them on a particularly rainy and cold and unsuccessful day and the second we walked into their apartment I was just filled with peace and comfort. They have been taking the discussions for almost a year and know that it is true. They just have to get married and then they want to be baptized. We read Alma 32 with them about cultivating and nourishing your faith. We had a really good discussion with them about what faith is and what it has brought them. At one point Soeur Pymm asked, "What does this gospel feel like to you? What has it brought you?" Helene just looked up at us and said "It feels like liberation." I loved that description so much. I am just edified by them every time I am with their family. The whole time I was there I was just overwhelmed. That is the only way to describe it. When we left I started crying and I was like what is my problem, and then I realized why: their house felt like 1920 Yale Ave. Their little apartment on the top floor of this building in Rennes France felt exactly like my home in Salt Lake. I realized I hadn't felt that feeling since August 22nd when I left. I was hit by this overwhelming sense of homesickness, but also an overwhelming sense of love and thankfulness. I love that this is what the gospel does for families, and how lucky am I to come from a family where it feels like this? They said they want to come to church but Helene is always so worried about her boys behaving in Sacrament meeting. We told her that it is a good thing that there are two sister missionaries because now she has two babysitters. So Sunday they came! Pymm and I watched Liyanick and Ilan the whole time and they were so adorable. The best is when I gave Ilan my mini hymn book and he would open it during the hymns and just belt out random notes. 

One day we were out porting (Editor's Note: I assume this is a Franglais term for the typical missionary door-to-door routine) and had had about 100 doors slammed in our faces. We went to anopther batiment and tried to get in, but here you can't get into the buildings unless someone buzzes you in. We were about to just call it good for the day when I said we just needed to try for one more hour. Right after I said that we started walking down the street when this little boy comes biking towards us screaming "Excusez moi! EXCUSEZ MOI! Do you need to get into that building? I have a key." He hops off his bike lets us in and then bikes away. Soeur Pymm looked at me and said "Third Nephite anybody? There has to be someone we are supposed to teach in this building. So we walked to the very top floor and started at the corner door. We knocked and no one answered but Souer Pymm said to wait. Right as we were about to leave we heard someone at the door. A teenage girl answered and we gave our spiel and I was getting ready to have her say "I'm not interested." Instead she said "I want to hear more; come in." She is sixteen and from the Congo, but has been living in France since she was little. She said she always wants to talk about religion with people but no one her age is interested in it. She had a million questions and it was my most powerful teaching experience yet on my mission. We had answers to her questions! It was the coolest feeling. At one point she said "I believe you. I feel sad for you that you are going to try to tell people this and they won't believe you. But I do." After our lesson we set up another one for Saturday.

Hearing music on the metro. Sometimes Pymm and I will just stop and take in the beauty of a Coldplay song. It is the little things. 

Roasted veggies and cheese and baguettes. NO MORE MTC FOOOOD! 

LOWS:

Being new in Rennes means sometimes we feel very very lost. We haven't gotten to know members very well yet, the Elders do their own thing, and somedays we feel like lost puppies just wandering around with people staring at us. While I know I have told you about some great lessons we taught, that counts for about three hours of a seven-day week. Which doesn't make them any less great, it just means that there are lots of hours filled with walking and freezing and knocking. On one day we were in a rather sketchy area to teach someone the Elders taught. We had a rather scary experience with a guy who started yelling at us and trying to get us to come into his apartment and poking our badges, and we were definitely being protected and watched over because the elevator opened and we hopped in and away to safety. In that same building we were looking at mailboxes and Pymm was on the other side, when I could tell that someone was behind me. I turned around and there was an old Arab guy and he started waving his hands around my face and speaking a different language and it was like Harry Potter speaking Parseltongue. Not even kidding. I ran over to Pymm and the tears just came. We sat outside and I just cried and I was so overwhelmed and was thinking WHAT AM I DOING HERE. It is funny now, but in the moment I just felt kind of alone. And don't worry, Mom and Dad: we are going to steer clear of that neighborhood from now on. I guess this sums up the lows, and is just to say that it has been hard, but Naomi sent me this scripture today and it is perfect: 

Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy bretheren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give you success.

I feel like there were more than a few times this week when my heart was depressed and there was nothing I wanted more than to turn back. To turn back to what was easy and safe and comfortable. But I know despite the crazy and hard things, the good things, like being able to share this with people, makes it worth it. And I am comforted by the Lord. I know that even when I felt alone and scared this week I was being watched over. One night, when I was especially discouraged, I came home and opened to this scripture is Psalms:

Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, one the Lord.

So I will wait and keep on working and take the advice of what I hear from people every day "Bonne courage." Which means good luck, but literal translation is good courage. I need to remind myself everyday to take good courage. Thank you so much for your emails and love and prayers. I love you all so much and sometimes what gets me through the day is knowing that I am the luckiest girl in the world, that at the end of all this I have 1920 Yale and my family waiting for me. Today we were supposed to go to Mt Saint Michel with some members, but they got sick so Pymm and I decided we are going to the gare and try to go to St. Malo. An adventure, yay! I hope you are all doing well. Love you and miss you all!

Olivia