1. the first of our photos from the magical forest

2. the best self-timing fail picture ever taken

3. Paris!

4. action shot of where we go running in the morning. just for funs.

5. our fave district of all time. we love them. and now we are all partout over France and not in the same district. :(

6. we found Pride Rock. I'm Nala. Does it comfort you or scare you that I am still just as weird as a missionary?

7. more Pride Rock/Ross Park throwback.

Bonjour bonjour!

This week is going to be photo dump week. Because pictures are worth more than a thousand words and this week I am feeling a little wordless. It was a wonderful week though. Things really slowed down, and it was actually a nice change of pace. We cleaned the old apartment for the new Elders (who are both so so awesome) before they came, and didn't have a lot of rdvs. But we saw so many wonderful things quand meme. I'll just share a few of my favorite moments of the week. 

After cleaning the apartment we went porting and knocked on the very first door and the kindest lady let us in. She is from Cameroon and said that prayer is "the food of her day." She is wonderful and we are teaching her again tomorrow. 

On Saturday we put together a little musical arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives for a woman in our ward. She recently lost her husband and she is the sweetest person. Soeur Bitter played the violin and I sang, and then after we sat in her home and listened to her stories from when she met her husband, when she lived in Algeria, about her 11 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. I love learning people stories. Everyone has one and it is so beautiful to see how people have become who they are. 

That night we went to visit a recent convert named Faith who has been in Africa for that past month. She visited people in the hospitals and just sat with them and talked to them about how they are not alone and that God is there and He loves them. She is one of the calmest, wisest people. As we left her apartment this man waved us down (literally—both arms flailing through the air. It was awesome.) and asked us who we are and what our story is. He told us that he has always had problems with religion and such. He is a big history buff and a scientist and has had a "tumultuous relationship with God," but now he believes and when we asked him who God is to him his face lit up and he started waving those arms again and just yelled "He is the creator of all, the creator of beauty!" I loved it and I loved him. Our new friend Olivier. And now he doesn't think we are a cult because we "are far too nice and normal." Voila. Sometimes when people say things like that I feel like a successful missionary. 

And then today! Best. Pday. Ever. It is yet ANOTHER jour ferie in France, and so we stayed in Melun and went to explore the forest. Yes. FOREST. We go running in the mornings and noticed this awesome chateau up in the trees and then noticed a trailhead and so we went and explored it. We didn't find the chateau, but it was magical and I felt like I was in Oregon and it was rainy and green and I loved it. I love Soeur Bitter. We were just goofy and it felt like I was a normal kid again. I'm a real boy! 

Alright, short and sweet I know. But I love you I love you I love yooooouuuu. You are in my thoughst and prayers always.

Love,

Olivia 

mother's day skype.

Bonjour! 

Talking to you was exactly what I needed to recharge and restart this transfer. You are the best and I love you beyond words. After I got off Skype I walked in the other room and Soeur Egoshkin asked if I cried and then my eyes welled up and then her eyes welled up. And then we drank tea and talked about her favorite restaurants in Paris and it made me feel better. It is interesting—as a missionary you forget yourself and get to work and it is great, but there is always a little piece of my heart that feels like it is missing.You filled it up yesterday. Merci. 

Romain showed up again in our missionary lives, and we had some great lessons with him. I have never seen somebody with a life like his. He is Job. Every time I hear something new I think, how is this possible? And then I read Job during my studies the next day and just kept on nodding my head thinking 'Yep, that's him.' Despite it all, he is searching and trying and he can really feel the difference when he talks to us. Also, when we invited him to be baptized he said that he wasn't sure if he could because he is involved in some things, and we were thinking oh no. And then he said "I am a reggae musician and sometimes I play at venues where people smoke. But I don't smoke, don't worry." We assured him that his music was just fine, and then he shared some great lyrics with us and taught us this Guadeloupe drum thing that we were terrible at. He isn't sure about baptism, but he has recognized the difference in his life. As we were leaving after the lesson about the Plan de Salut he said "So are you saying I can see my Mom again someday?" We replied that yes, families are eternal. And then he got this big grin and says "So WE will be eternal, because we are like a family too!" We love him. Our ex-pro soccer playing reggae musician Job.

We had a bit of a rough week. Worn out and really long. One day we were in this small ville outside of Melun and all of the sudden the heavens opened and it POURED. Like I have never seen rain in my life. And we were in this area where all the houses are gated, so people are not going to answer when it is raining like that. And so we sat under our umbrellas for a minute, until that wasn't even doing anything. And then we saw a field and we threw our umbrellas and just ran through it in the pouring rain. Made me think of the field from "A Room with a View." And may be it wasn't missionary kosher, but it was lovely and I felt like myself. "Love, joy, beauty!" And then we walked barefoot through the rain on the way back to the gare. Sometimes the missionary mishaps like that are the moments that make it meaningful. That was some crazy alliteration. 

Just a few little snippets of our week here. I'll send more news next week. Before I sign off, here is a quote that I have been loving and thinking about this week that Soeur Bitter's friend sent her:

"Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength." — JAMES ALLEN

I like that idea—of fashioning tools with which you build who you become. And every good, bad, hard, joyful experience you have helps you create that, if you live it right. I feel that a lot lately. But I also feel that you can't fashion the tools alone, and when you ask God to help you, he makes your life more beautiful than it could have ever been alone.  I love you! 

xo

Liv

1. P-Days by the Seine/Parisian puppies.

2. Did I ever tell you that my friend Anna came to my ward? It was the best! She lives in Lyon, but was in Paris for the weekend.

3. William and his family.

4. Me and Soeur Bitter and Petula's beautiful family.

Bonjour! 

This week was absolutely beautiful and miraculous and I have never ever been more tired in my entire life. Soeur Bitter and I looked like zombies yesterday. 

We started out the week having an FHE with Petula and her kids. We started out with a little message about loving one another (which was coinciding with the little ones arguing and not being able to sit still) and then we played charades. I have never seen little kids have so much fun in my life. We were laughing till we cried—especially with Jason's attempts to act out Père Noël and a mouse. It really opened up their whole entire family, even the dad who usually doesn't say much. By the end of the lesson he had invited us over to have an African meal with them and then told us that he had ALL OF THE MISSIONARY LESSONS in Congo before he moved to France and that the missionaries lived behind his house. What in the world. Then he said that he wants to bring his whole family to church soon. And now we also have a secret hand shake with their kids, which makes us feel pretty cool. We finally have some street cred in Epinay. Who knew the key to their hearts was charades? 

On Tuesday Soeur Bitter had legality, so we caught the 6 AM train to Paris and spent the whole day there. While Bitter was at legality, they had the trainers go contacting through Paris together. As luck or fate would have it, Soeur Hoover and I got to go together! Soeur Hoover and I were on Study Abroad in Paris together, and it was like a dream being missionaries in Paris together. We decided to go contacting at Luxembourg Gardens, which was one of our favorite places to go when we were here. En plus, it was almost exactly two years from the day that we arrived in Paris for our study abroad. As we walked around contacting, we just kept on looking at each other in disbelief. If someone would have told us two years ago that we would be in this city again as missionaries, I wouldn't believe it. I didn't know then how much this place would define me and change me and become a part of me. And then voila, here I am two years later actually being able to speak this language and talking to people in Luxembourg Gardens about God. We actually had a really beautiful experience while contacting that day. We stopped a woman who told us that she was lost, and then she opened up about her life and her heartache and how her daughter is in the hospital with cancer. We testified of God's love for her, and she just stood there on the street and held my hands and cried. And then off she went into the city again, and we will never see her again. These are my favorite moments as a missionary. They aren't moments that you can measure, they often aren't even concrete. But they are real and they mean a lot to me. They show me that God watches out for every one of his lost children. 

The next day we had exchanges, and I stayed in Melun with a new missionary named Soeur Holmes. Oh my goodness she is one of the most wonderful human beings. I love exchanges. I feel like each time I have had them I just meet a kindred spirit and we have the most wonderful day. It was torrential downpour kind of rain the day we were together and we were sopping wet. We went porting and a woman let us in. She is from Portugal and her husband is from Cape Verde. We have started teaching them and they are wonderful. She is the tiniest petite little Portugeuse woman, and he is this 6'7 man from Cape Verde. Their home has the most beautiful spirit to it, and we are excited to keep teaching them. We also taught a woman named Prisca that I had met contacting the week before. I have never taught a first lesson like that. She is prepared. She talked about how she hasn't been able to find a church that is right, because they talk of God with their lips, but their hearts are far from God. Not a bad way to start out a first rdv, when she is basically quoting the First Vision without even knowing it. We had another rdv later in the week, and she already started the Book of Mormon and when we asked her how it is going she said "Well, I find that it is clearer than the Bible, and they go perfectly together. It clarifies things." We feel like this week a lot of our finding efforts are finally coming through, and it was such a wonderful thing to be able to talk with and teach so many great people. We also met a woman who let us in and talked to us for a long long time, took pictures of us with her kids, and had her kids shake hands with "The first Americans you have ever met!" She said she loves how Mormons live and that we are strong independent girls. It was such a nice change to hear someone say that, when a lot of the time people tell us we are in a sect etc. And then she told us to come to her backyard, where there was an old old old wood chest, and she said that she had something to give us. Out from the old chest she pulls Bibles from the 1800s. They are beautiful and I will treasure it for forever. And now she is following our journey as missionaries, and reading my blog. Hi Zwina! She is fantastic.

Another highlight of my week was that Soeur Pymm slept over at out apartment. We got to talk and catch up and I laughed harder than I have in such a long time. I love her and it was so great to see her again. 

I am always in awe of how many great people I get to meet on a daily basis. This is hard, but it is worth it, and I am so thankful to be here. 

I love you and can't wait to talk to you NEXT WEEK! 

Tu me manque. 

Love 

Olivia