Chere loved ones, 

This week was one of the most miraculous weeks of my mission. We met so many beautiful, prepared people, and were able to teach some great lessons. Sometimes I get caught up in getting as many lessons in each week as I can, but this week was a good reminder that quality over quantity is always better. 

Remember Romain, the guy that came to church last week? So we invited him to do a family night with us, and told him to meet us at the gare so that we could all just go to the church together. So we are waiting at the gare, thinking he will come in on the train. He doesn't show up so I call him to see if he is coming, and he says he is almost there. Voila, he shows up in a car and tells us to hop in. Sidenote: missionaries cannot ride in cars with investigators, and sisters cannot ride in cars with men. So I decide to try and come up with some roundabout reason like "oh actually we have to go get something so we will just meet you there etc" Mais bref. Honesty is always the best policy and in the end we just said "Oh umm we actually just can't ride in the car with YOU," to which he responded "Ah BON?!" Just one of those fun awkward moments of being a missionary. But we all eventually made it to the church and had a lesson with William and Frere Prunin and Romain. We talked about repentance, and it was the most powerful lesson I have ever been in as a missionary. Romain really opened up about his life and his desire to change and find peace. He said he has been looking for someone to tell him to change. I love the definition of repentance: how through it we see ourselves, God and the world in general in a new light. We had such an open, good discussion about what it means to repent and WHY we repent. At the end of the lesson he held up his hand and said "I've only got about thiiis much faith. Is that enough to work with?" He is so humble and really has that desire to change. Aaand he was a professional soccer player in Guadeloupe. NBD. There is a youth activity this next week where they are playing soccer, and a member asked if he wanted to come. He said "Sure, but it has been a while since I have played, I am a little rusty." They were like, "Oh, so you used to play soccer?" And then he says all humbly, "Yeah, in Guadaloupe." "Are you any good?" "Well, I was on the national pro team . . ." Everyone wants him to be on their team now. 

We had another lesson with a girl named Sarah who we met at the bus stop a while ago. She is from the Ivory Coast and is in her twenties. She told us about how disappointed she was in moving to France—how she misses a people who love God, and build their lives around good principles. She said they live their lives there in thanksgiving all the time. I loved what she said: "In Africa, the second you open your eyes in the morning, you are opening them to God. Everything you see and appreciate is a prayer, because you recognize it as a gift from Him." She told us that her goal in life is to build a stable family centered on God. Ummm, I think we can help her out with that. 

The APs called us a while ago with a referral from a guy that they had met on the metro in Paris. We went to their apartment and he wasn't there, so we called him and he said that he would call his wife to tell her to let us in. She came outside to open the door for us, and the second I saw her, it was like she was just exuding goodness and light. And she has the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, named Rufus. Rufus! So cute. We taught her that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and how the gospel can strengthen her family and give her hope. Throughout the lesson, I noticed that she was a little teary. At the end of the lesson she burst into tears and told us her story. How she had to flee the Congo, and how difficult life has been. After the lesson I just kept on thinking how silly the things I complain about are, and how I just need to turn out and forget myself and focus on others. She is amazing and we are excited to start teaching them. 

Petula is doing really well. Her little girl is on the mend, and we moved her baptismal date for later in May so that she can get back on track to prepare for it. We are having FHE with them tonight and we are making a cobler and playing charades. This may turn out to be another one of those awkward trying to teach French kids how to play a game and them just staring at us blankly. 

This week was so incredibly humbling. We met these beautiful souls who have lived unbelievably hard things. And yet they have this hope and this faith inside of them, and they are just searching for ways to make it concrete and real. In almost every lesson this week we shared my favorite scripture:

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the sould of men, which would make them sure and steadfast always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." ( ETHER 12:4 )

That is my testimony. That this gospel is an anchor to the soul, and that this anchor is available to every soul. And no matter how rough and crazy their lives have been, there is something that can keep them sure and safe, and can bring them lasting happiness. 

I love you and miss you! 

Bisous, 

Olivia

P.S. Big news! We are moving to a new apartment!!!! It is beautiful and new and in centre ville. There are Elders moving in and they get the old aparment. Poor guys. We will be going between the two for the next little while, so you can send mail to either one, but the new address is:

3 rue de l'Abreuvoir 

77000 Melun

France 

Team Jesus

Bonjour mes chères! Oh la la la la la la it was a good, crazy week. We started it off on Monday night, after our P-day in Paris, teaching a lesson to a stud-wearing, cigarette smoking gangster and his girlfriend while we were porting. They saw us porting and he asked us who we were and we told them and we asked if we could talk to them a little about the Gospel. He said "How much is it?" to which we responded emphatically that it was free, to which he responded, "You want a cigarette?" and then we went to their little smoke break corner in the quartier and taught them the Plan of Salvation. (And I guess I should clarify that we didn't accept the cigarette . . . ) He was so sweet and inquisitive and I don't know that we will ever see them again but it was one of those lessons I know I will never forget. The tangible spirit of hope and love that was there was really cool. There is something about  introducing the idea of God and purpose to people for the first time that really brings the most beautiful spirit. So we started our week off with a bang, and it just got better from there. Here is the deal with missionary work: you work all day long, and you see amazing miracles. But in-between those miracles are fun little occurrances that just make you laugh:

— Over the past few weeks we have started to notice that there is a strange amount of q-tips in the most random of places here. On the sidewalks, on doormats, in the train. You name it, there will probably q-tips there. So we have started a little game. Certain colors of q-tips have more points, if you see double q-tips you get tripple the amount of points etc. Just one of those fun little things that makes walking all day fun. And we may or may not get really strange looks when one of us points at a q-tip and yells and claps our hands in joy . . . 

— Remember how I had that New Years goal to become BFFs with a boulangere? Well we have this corner boulangerie by our house, and the girl that works there is so sweet. The other night I stopped in to ask her if she knew of any pharmacies that were open. She said that she didn't think so, but we could try up the street. So off we go, and we teach a lesson and there are NO pharmacies open. So we are walking home, and she happens to be walking up the same street and asks if we found the pharmacy, to which we told her non. Donc, she proceeds to take us to her apartment above the boulangerie and give me the medicine I needed and we chatted. New Years Resolution? Check. We love her, she is une ange. 

— Souer Bitter and I accidentally bought skirts the exact same color and then accidentally wore them the same day. As we were walking up the street this car pulls over and this guy starts hitting on us and says:

"What team are you on?"

 "Huh?" 

"You are wearing the same color! I want to be a part of your team. What gang are you a part of?"

 "We are missionaries for Jesus Christ."

 Yep. We're on Jesus's Team. He left shortly after. 

— Trying to explain the game "Mother May I" to five adorable little Chinese/French children and it TOTALLY failing. A makeshift game was created shortly therafter. 

— One day this week we met a girl who was about 10 years old and she asked us directions to the gare, and we were VERY far away from it, and gave her directions, but we were worried for her safety, so we proceeded to follow closely behind her to make sure that she made it there. She kept on looking behind her and then walking faster and faster, until we realized that she was probably scared out of her mind that these two people were following her. Oops. 

— Eating REAL Mexican food with the American family in our ward, and serving our own plates and talking talking talking. It felt so good. 

— Going porting and having a woman open the door while she is (very indiscreetly) breastfeeding her two year old right in front of you. 

Just a few fun anecdotes to make you feel like you are here experiencing this with me :) 

This Sunday was so great. We had two surprise amis show up at church. One of them is Monsieur Dumas (Remember Marie? Her husband.) and then a man named Romain who came with a friend. They loved it and we were able to set up a rdv tonight with Romain. He is from Guadeloupe and is so sweet and humble. He is in his thirties but reminds me of a little kid: so teachable, and so hungry for knowledge. When we asked him if he was free for a rdv today he was so excited and said that Church made him feel loved. I love that. Then we taught a man name Henri who we ported into. He is Evangelical, but said that he really wants to learn about our church. We taught him about the Restoration, and he LOVED James 1:5. He took notes and wants to come to church next week. 

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how free the gospel makes you. There are so many people bound—by addiction, by loneliness, by sadness, by sin. It is easy to feel like you can never be completely whole, or that no one understands. I love that the gospel is about being free from those things that bind us, and allow us to move forward with faith in good things to come. We taught a less active woman who stopped coming to church because her husband passed away and it is too painful for her. She told us she is lonely. As we sat and talked to her, I felt so much of God's love for her, and for God's desire for her to be free from her loneliness and sadness. There is always someone who understands us perfectly, and when we are lonely we can turn to Him. How beautiful. 

I love this beautiful gospel and I love you. 

Love

Olivia 

here comes the sun

Helloooooo!

Let me just preface this week by saying that contrary to what the past few months of emails have seemed, I promise I am not a hypochondriac, claiming to be sick all the time and making up all these sicknesses. Melun seems to weaken my immune system because guess what? Soeur Bitter and I got a nasty virus this week and were like two wounded soldiers. This virus was the virus king, because it included everything you could ever want in an illness! After a conversation with the mission doctor, Dr. Lazarus (Not kidding. His name is really Dr. Lazarus. "Arise") he advised us to stay indoors when at all possible. Here's the thing: since Soeur Bitter has arrived I have been this sad sickly trainer. At first I was thinking "Come on Rhondeau snap into it, why are you so exhausted?!" But voila. We blame the virus. So a lot of the week is sort of a zombie-like blur to us of missing busses and then waiting for busses in the rain etc etc.  And then yesterday came and it was like a whole new world. It was about 65 degrees, blue skies and sun sun sun! And we felt better! And it was our first day as lively energetic missionary comps together and let me tell you: Soeur Bitter and I have fun when we are actually alive. It is like she said yesterday "We should've known we would be like this when we are healthy. Even when we are sick we were lying on the floor laughing our heads off." Mmhmm. I love my collegue. 

Yesterday was a day of so many beautiful things and miracles. We had found quite a few people to teach, and yesterday we went and stopped by. France wakes up in the sun. It is amazing, almost like a whole different country. In the neighborhoods we were in there were BBQs, and music playing and little kids playing soccer everywhere. We taught a woman named Denise who is from Togo and had a lot of questions about God. I love teaching people who have lots and lots of questions. It makes it more of a discussion, and it was really neat to see her open up. We are going back next week to teach the Plan de Salut. And our BFF Aline from the ward is back after a few weeks in London, and she taught with us and went porting with us yesterday and it was so so fun! She is terrified of dogs, so we would ring the door bell and if she heard a dog bark she would jump and hide behind the car. Oh la la, la vie missionaire. But we walked all over the place yesterday and we didn't even wear coats or tights. I can't express the joy. Six months of tight and coat wearing in France seems to finally be coming to an end! We went to dinner at the Ponelles last night, and their son came to the gate to let us in. Let me just give you a description of this kid: skinniest tiniest little 11 year old guy with glasses, and a heart of gold. As he opened the gate he says, with a very suave look on his face, "I can tell that you are worried. I'm not home alone, so you can come in and don't have to worry about breaking the rules." Favorite moment of the day. And then we ate "Mexican Crepes." I think they are called burritos or something in America? 

One of the highlights of my week was when we stopped by an old ami whom I had never met, but I just kept on feeling like we should go see her. We stopped by and she told us that her daughter, who had taken the missionary discussions as well, recently passed away. She is so heartbroken and sad, and we were able to share Alma 7:11 with her and talk about how Christ lived so that he might heal us and understand us and succor us in need. As we talked to her and testified of the truth that she can see her family again I really felt like we were sent there to her that day to help her. The more I am a missionary the more I feel like there is nothing that I really do. I feel like we are just guided and led to people who need healing and really need the aid of God. We also taught Amma this week and she is doing so well. She really is just one of those people who makes you feel like a million bucks when you are with her. She just exudes love. Aaaand she offered to take me and Soeur Bitter to Africa after our missions! Ha! We told her how we wanted to go visit Africa after meeting so many people here in France from Africa and she said "Well then I shall accompany you. You must have an African there with you." She is the best. 

Petula is still lovely and progressing, minus the fact that she was in and out of the hospital with her daughter Grace this past week with a crazy high fever. And now she has gotten whatever Grace had. Poor thing. 

I am really loving being here. This week reawakened my love for missionary work. I saw the WHY of it all again, and really found joy in talking to people. We are so lucky for having this gospel in our lives. I love you all beaucoup beacoup!!!!!

Love

Liv 

Hello hello! I hope you have had a beautiful week. 

We had a great week. Voila, here I am in Melun with my nouvelle collegue. Her name is Soeur Bitter, she is from Laguna Niguel California and is a Violin Performance major from BYU. Umm we are pretty much MFEO. We have a ton of mutual friends in Provo and we have decided that destiny threw us together here in France because we never met in Provo. Aaand as chance would have it she read my blog before she left on her mission. So funny. She is fabulous, and I can already tell that this is exactly the point I need to be at in my mission. She is so fun and has a lot of confidence in this work, which is a nice booster. It has been a little more stressful than I expected to be a trainer—to be in charge of speaking French, navigating etc. But I have never worked so hard as a missionary as I have the last few days and it has felt good. We have had a lot of miracles and a lot of downers this week. 

Miracles:

— Petula set a baptismal date! We are planning for the 4th of May. Keep her in your prayers that we will be able to continue to move forward and progress with her. She really opened up this week and told us a lot of beautiful things about her spiritual experiences. 

— We have been praying to find an area that we can pay special attention to this transfer, and we decided on a ville called Avon. I love Avon. It is right next to Fontainebleau and has a nice mix of houses and apartments. So we went porting over there, and we knocked on a family's door, and there were a few little kids who were looking at as out the window, but didn't open the door. So we kept on going, but a few days later I felt like we needed to go back and knock on the same door. So back to Avon we went and we went to their house and this time they answered and invited us in to teach them. We shared a quick intro about the Restoration, and then focused on the Plan de Salut. One of my favorite questions recently to ask investigators is who God is personally to them. It is so interesting the responses you get, and often they say "you know what, I don't really know." I love that we get to testify that He is our Father, and we are His children. Knowing that is the core of the relationship makes such a difference. So we testified of that and then Soeur Bitter said the prayer. After we finished he asked if we could say another prayer, because of the "bonne energie" AKA feeling of the Spirit that was present in his home while she prayed. It was such a small, but beautiful moment of sharing truth. 

— We did lotsandlotsandlots of finding and have found a few people who we are going back to teach next week. 

— Soeur Bitter and I like to eat the same things! Which I know sounds like a silly miracle, but franchement it makes me so happy. Our grocery list just makes me happy. 

— Alexis (who disappeared again) contacted us and he has just been so crazy busy going all over France looking for jobs, that he couldn't contact us. But he wanted to tell us that he is still alive, still praying and it was so good to know that he is doing alright. It may be a while before he is able to be baptized, but someday I know it is going to happen. 

Downers:

— The majority of our investigators have dropped us or disappeared so we are back to square one in some ways. I actually think it is a big blessing though, because now we can really start fresh and work together to find new people who are waiting. They're out there, we just have to have faith that we can find them. 

— Once upon a time I bought a baguette sandwich and it tasted fine and I didn't think anything of it, until 5 hours later we are sitting at the church watching conference when all of the sudden that baguette sandwich did not want to be in my stomach anymore. So . . . long story short I had the worst food poisoning I have ever had and felt more sick than I ever have and sweet Soeur Bitter just sat on the floor holding my hair back. As she said "I think this is a really good start to our relationship." It was hilarious and horrible, and today I am starting to feel better. Just another one of those "Well, at least this is memorable . . ." moments. 

So that makes up our last week—lots of finding, miracles, and time spent sitting on the bathroom floor. This week we worked hard, and I am hoping next week it can start moving forward. 

I love you! 

xo

Olivia 

"I can't recall the taste of strawberries, nor the feel of grass."

Coucou! This week I'm afraid the email will be another quick one, as France has decided to have yet ANOTHER holiday. Which means that Soeur Johnson and I have trekked all over this lovely area of ours searching for an open computer place, and we finally ended up in Paris. Everything is going just swell for us over here. We got transfer news this week and guess what? I am staying in Melun! And guess what else? I am training! Both pieces of news are frightening and exciting to me. I am glad I am training, I think it will give me an extra push to work harder. She may or may not be nineteen years old (I will find out when I meet her this Wednesday) so it will sort of be like being with Naomi on a mission, right? I can only hope :) Extra prayers would be appreciated this week, especially as I think of being the one in charge of navigating the hundreds of buses and trains. Wish me luck. They also changed all of the zones and districts. There are so many missionaries coming in it is crazy! I have an entirely different district, and am in a new zone called 'Paris Sud'. The best news is that Soeur Hill got transfered to Evry, which means that she will only be a ville over and we can have Pdays in Paris ensemble! So happy. 

This week we headed back up to Belgium and our train didn't break down! It was one of the loveliest days ever. My MTC Elders and I just spent the whole day talking and laughing and eating waffles. I LOVE Belgium. I really would love to serve there one day. We had to do legality which took about five minutes, and the rest of the day we got some food and went to Grande Place. As we were on the train ride back I realized that my face hurt from smiling so much. Such a great day with some of my bestest friends. So at the MTC we had this joke about Lord of the Rings and we would quote the end of it when Frodo is at the end of all things and he says "I can't recall the taste of strawberries." So Elder Barr and I shared a waffle with strawberries on it and I said without even thinking about it "I have missed this. I had forgotten the taste of strawberries." Full circle moment. And I thought you would be happy to know that the Lord of the Rings parallels continue!

This week we taught our fave Petula and watched Finding Faith in Christ together. It is the first time she had ever heard of or seen the miracles that Christ performed and it was like we were watching the Bourne Ultimatum or something, the way she reacted. Jesus heals the blind guy? Gasps and clapping. Jesus raises Lazurus? "Ah BON?! C'est pas vrai!" It was one of my favorite moments on my mission. Just seeing how completely excited she was about it. And after the movie, she just talked about how touched she was by it, especially the phrase "Thy faith hath made thee whole." I love that phrase so much. That faith is not just a feeling, but a power. Petula and her kids were supposed to come to church, but it didn't work out this Sunday (Blasted daylight savings time!) And we have had a bit of a dryspell of amis coming to church, so keep her in your prayers that we will be able to make that happen! 

We went over to a family's house for Easter dinner yesterday, and it was such a blast. They are the most adorable family and have the neatest story. She was in school to become a nun when she found the church. She converted, was disowned by her family, and then served a mission in this very mission. They have four beautiful children, and one of them is my new BFF. His name is Maxime and he is four years old, and I don't know how I did it but he was smitten with me. It was HILARIOUS. I have never had someone gaze at me with so much love. He sat right next to me at dinner and did not stop talking to me for TWO HOURS. About cars, about his nightmares, about how he can't afford to go on vacation, about how I should get a matching haircut. His Mom said to let you know that I have met someone who loves me unconditionally and that I might not be coming back to the States :) We had an Easter egg hunt too, and it was so classic. Maxime was running around with a look of determination muttering "je cherche, je cherche."  And we got a GIANT Kinder surprise egg. Seriously as big as my head. If I have time next week I will send pictures. 

Soeur Johnson is leaving and I am sad to see her go. We have been through a lot together ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .") and she is such a lovely friend and has taught me a lot. There is a lot of work to do in Melun, and sometimes I feel like I am going to be starting from square one this transfer. I am nervous but also know that with faith and hope and hard work we will see a lot of miracles in the next few months. This morning I was reading a talk by Sister Dalton, and I love something that she said. She talked about how she had a sign in her house that said "I can do hard things." For her talk she changed it to, "With the Lord, I can do all things." I am learning more and more that through the Lord we can do hard things. And not just hard things, but all things. I am always happier when I trust in God, and go and do, instead of doubting God, and lethargically going through the motions. 

I have been thinking about you this week, and this morning when a plane flew overhead, I imagined you all on the beach in Coronado with planes flying over your heads too. Hope you have had a fun week at the beach. I love you and think of you often (slash most of the time, especially when something weird and hilarious happens and I want you to be right next to me laughing along with me) and am so thankful for you. 

Bisous,

Olivia