little town, full of little people

the bestest district.

Bonjour mes chères,

 

I don't know why this never feels normal, but it still feels a little heartbreaking each time. Transfer email just came in, and I will be leaving Versailles. I have never been so sad to leave a ville in my entire mission. I have met so many people I love who are becoming best friends and family and man I hate goodbyes. I will be moving to Blois. I went there on my study abroad and it is a magical little place. It reminded us of Beauty and the Beast, and Claire and I sang the songs all the day long. So here's to new adventures.

 

But what a beautiful week to end on in Versailles. It is was so so beautiful. At one point Sœur Stahly said "One of us must be leaving next week, because everything has been too perfect and beautiful."  I don't know if I have ever told you about Luce? Well, Luce has been taking the discussions for a few months and is the kindest, happiest person you will ever meet. Last week she told us that it hasn't always been like that, but that since the sœurs knocked on her door she has been filled with light. She has stopped yelling back when her family is arguing, she has stopped feeling stuck in her circumstances, and she feels a new joy and purpose. One night after a really hard day and after people had yelled at her, she went to her room and she colsed her eyes and she said that all she could hear were hymns. Hymns she has never heard, but that were the most beautiufl thing she had ever heard, and her soul was filled with peace. And then our visit with Manon at the hospital — she said that she had her doubts about 'vous les mormons', but the second we talked about Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, the Spirit filled her heart and made her feel at peace. And each time we come she says she feels the same thing, and every time she prays she feels the same thing too. And then she said, "So it must be true! When I feel like that, I know that it is good and right. "

 

So the theme of this week was peace. I often feel that peace is the most beautiful and often-felt manifestations of the spirit. Maybe our life wasn't changed and we didn't get some huge thundering response; maybe we are still unsure of the future or still have questions unanswered. But what we do have is peace. An assurance that God is there, that He is mindful of us, and that if we just hold on and keep going, all will be well. And not just well, but beautiful. "He makes everything beautiful in His time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

 

Like right now I kind of want to cry about leaving ("I don't want to be dramatic or anything...") but I have  a peace knowing that all is well. And I know that is true for all of us. It is all going to be okay. Pray for peace, and no matter the heaviness of circumstances, you will feel light.

My favorite baby in the whole world. Her name is Serena, and while we teach her Mom the Plan de Salut, she sits next to me and holds my hand.

The weird kryptonite orb. Why not.

 

On a light note, this week Sœur Stahly and I were on what we call the fancy bus (comfy chairs, nice music) and it was late and dark and the bus said it was going all the way to Versailles, so we just sat down and got comfortable and started talking. And then everyone gets off the bus and we are like hmm this is weird, it's just us and the bus driver. And then we realize how fun it is that we have the bus to ousrselves. So we keep talking talking talking and then all the sudden the bus driver is singing and it seems that he is unaware of anyone being on the bus ... turns out he was. And it also turns out that we missed the terminus and we were heading to the bus depot! So he is SUPER alarmed (sort of like when you are singing super loud and you don't think anyone is home and then someone walks in the room and you are like "How long have you been here?!" and then you overreact.) Well, he realized we were on the bus and then he dropped us off on the side of the bus. Thought we were trying to swindle our way into spending the night at the bus depot.

Me and Sœur Holdrinet (who is one of the coolest people in the world and traveled around the world to find the truth, and then found it in Versailles through two elders :)) and her friend Herminia who we had an FHE with.

 

It was the Christmas concert last night, which was beautiful, and the Tavares family came and they are just the most incredible people in the world. We told Frere Tavares  that one of us might be leaving and he was NOT happy, and asked to talk to the President. We thought he was kidding ... until 5 minutes later he had tracked down the AP and was drilling him about how he cannot move one of us. The conversation went like this:

 

"Well, I can promise you that at least ONE of them will be visiting you this week."

 

"No. It doesn't work like that. Rhondeau Stahly, Stahly Rhondeau. We can't have one without the other."

 

Il a raison! We don't want to be separated. Unfortunately his pleas didn't work, but ça va. Mission friends are eternal, right?

 

Today we are going to the Christmas market at the Champs Elysee. Yaaaaay! And we are definitely going to be filming the rest of our documentary. Final scènes on the Arc de Triomphe. Oh yeah.

 

I love you, I love the gospel, I love Paris.

 

xoxo

Olivia

Me & Stahly with our Thanksgiving meal. Seriously one of the best I have ever had.

Hello family!

 

Had the happiest Thanksgiving week. We spent the day before walking a million miles, trying to find people (we never found them), but we did find out a lot of fun things about each other. Something I love about missions is the time you have to talk to just one person. You would think that after two months of non-stop togetherness you would know everything there is to know. Not true. Always more. Like one of my favorite Jane Austen quotes,

 

“But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.” 

 

That night we got home late after an emergency call to go help someone do their home teaching ('on call' takes on a whole new meaning as a missionary), and we hadn't baked a single thing and somehow came up with a banana cream pie and pumpkin cake. We all met in Paris for Thanksgiving and we took the RER C, which means we got to see the replica of the Statue of Liberty, which just made me especially thankful for America and freedom and home. The day of Thanksgiving was spent with our amazing zone (and zone leaders ... who are Canadian ... and organized a the whole thing. Bless their hearts). We made feather headdresses and ate food and played games and sang and talked. It was just the most beautiful day. 

The district. Hats with thankful feathers. You each made it on there.

I left feeling so full of happiness and home and light. It was something you just wanted to have forever, you know? I think what was so wonderful was that we were all together and there were no distractions and we are pretty much all any of us has here. We don't have our family here, so we create one. I think that is what eternity is. Being with people you love, with no distractions or fears. And I love that this Holiday stems from gratitude. That we remember what we have been given and who we are. Some days it feels like nothing is happening or that I am not becoming. But this week helped me just stop and remember.  I love this quote from Elder Eyring:

 

"Remembrance is the seed of gratitude which is the seed of generosity. Gratitude for the remission of sins is the seed of charity, the pure love of Christ. And so God has made possible for you and me this blessing, a change in our very natures: “And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.” (Moroni 8:26)"

 

And then I remember Mom and Dad and Naomi and Daniel and E and this person and that person and suddenly I am full of hope and gratitude. And I remember God, and how He has this plan and how we have this beautiful gift of change. And through Christ we can change and be filled with perfect love, until that day when "all the saints shall dwell with God.” All of us together! That is eternity. And there is always something new to be observed in each of us, because we change and grow and will continue to get to know eachother and I just think it is beautiful.

 

So this week just remember. Remember all of the beautiful blessings of life and that you are known and loved by God.

 

The rest of our week is a bit of a haze because of the nasty virus I caught, and spent a lot of dizzy days in bed. But I'm back and all is well, and am just happy for this week.

 

I love you.

 

xo

 

Sœur Rhondeau

Marylline and Serena! Look at my hand that mysteriously morphed into an African hand. We laughed for a long time.

Me and Prisca! Visiting her was so wonderful. Her family is doing so well, and she is just glowing with happiness.

Happy Real Thanksgiving!

Salut!

 

Over the last few weeks, Sœur Stahly and I have been convinced that Thanksgiving occured on the third Thursday of every Novemeber. We were telling EVERYBODY. The nice old lady on the bus, our sweet American-obsessed amie who was sure it was on the 28th, every member of our ward. Feasts were scheduled, paper turkeys were made. And then we found out it was this week. Oh the shame. Confessionals were made, dinners rescheduled, I can't believe how many times my pride has been smashed on my mission. It is hilarious. Happy Thanksgiving though!

 

We had some really cool lessons this week. We focussed a lot on listening. I think it is really amazing what you can discern and understand about someone just by listening. So often we are so focussed on being understood that we forget to understand. We went to teach Manon this week about the Premortal Life. She loved it. As we talked about it her face just got brighter and brighter. We asked her what this meant to her, to know that she lived with God before she said, "It means that He knows me. It means that He loves me. It means that He made a plan and we made a promise." I loved that. The idea of a promise is so beautiful. We have taught that lesson a few times this week and it is one of my favorites. When we asked our amie Luce the same question she said, "To me it means that all of us are really good at heart. And that maybe our goal in life is to find or refind that goodness and make it brighter." It is such an innate feeling. It just feels right that we existed before this life, and that God knows us.

 

A few months ago I started talking to a girl on the train from Maldavie. We hadn't been able to meet with her, due to a lack of communication skills (i.e. last time we tried to set up a rdv with her, she was at the Eiffel Tower waiting for us ... ) but yesterday she came to Versailles. We went to the Church and ate dinner together and then taught a lesson. Or attempted to. We hadn't realized how little French she spoke or understood (the Eiffel Tower incident should have been our first clue ... ), so Google translate came to the rescue. And it was the coolest thing ever. It was like watching someone be uncoded. We would just wait for her response to our questions as she tapped them in. She has the most beautiful testimony of Christ. Her mom died two years ago, and she was in a place of a lot of sadness. Then she said she prayed and found God and knew that Christ understood her pain. She grew up going to Church with her mom, but the rest of her family doesn't go anymore after she died and now she is the only one who is still praying and hoping. She is so cool. My favorite part about Google translate is that it takes a few seconds for it to analyze what is being said, so before you finish one word it tells you it means something else. My favorite? "Jesus Buckwheat" always appeared before it changed to "Jesus Christ." It's the little things :)

 

Today we are heading back to my old area to go visit Prisca! I can't wait. So good to see old friends.

 

I love you. Have the happiest Thanksgiving.

 

xoxo

 

Sœur Rhondeau

Me & Thithanh

Dear family,

 

Remember when we were in New Zealand and Naomi and Daniel got lice? And remember how it was my biggest fear and I was paranoid for weeks and weeks and would check my hair every night even though I was just fine? Well apparently that wasn't funny or scarring  enough, so the fates decided to give it another go. Cue the following statement that was said to me not once but TWICE this week from two different investigators:

 

"Sorry the house is such a mess, I am so tired — all my kids got lice this week and I have spent all my time trying to get rid of it."

 

Cue Sœur Stahly and I exchanging glances, and me quickly puling my long hair up. Then my head starts itching. And then I am at the pharmacy buying a special comb called the ASSY 2000. And then Sœur Stahly is combing through my hair while I read her stories from the Bible in French. I lived my life in fear for three days. The anti-climatic and very happy end to this story is that I am lice free. But I am apparently still very paranoid.

 

And that sums up our week nicely. Random and funny, but sometimes a little ridiculous. The highlight of my week was last Pday when we went to Paris to meet up with one of Sœur Stahly's old investigators from Cholet. Her name is Thithanh, and I had already heard so many stories about her that I thought there was no way she could actually live up to the stories. She did. In fact she exceeded everything I had heard. She has lived one of the saddest craziest lives in the world. Sœur Stahly contacted her on her birthday. She let them come right up to her house. She said it was the first time in her life that she felt loved. She has been homeless, she has been a drug addict, she has been a parachuter in the army (so cool!) and she has been abandoned. When we were at lunch I asked her how she found God. She said she was in the hospital one day ready to just give it all up, when she prayed and God told her that life was worth living because He loved her. And I am so happy He did, because she changed my life. There is literally not an OUNCE of judgement in her and she is like a little kid. Just happy to know you and easy to laugh and so kind. We walked around Paris and laughed so hard at all of her crazy crazy life stories. Like when she was a kid she was in a roller derby in Paris that would do all these crazy race courses on Trocadéro. Or how she decided to be a parachuter (sp?) because she had always wanted to be a bird. Or how when she prayed to God to ask her what she should do about her family, the response was "Love them anyways." And so she does.  I love spending time with all of these unsung heroes of the world. They are teaching me so much about what it means to be Christlike. They are teaching me what it means to love. There should be movies or books about them.

Stahly & Thithanh chatting.

Chantale et Chloe. Wonderful recent converts who made us delicious African food last night. They are the best.

 

That night we had a family night with the Taveres family. We talked about eternal families, and how what we have on earth is not just here, but it is a relationship that is eternal. No one they have lost is really lost, and what they have can be for forever. I love that every time we ask someone on the street what makes them happy, or what the meaning of life is, the answer every single time is family. And I am so thankful to know that because of the Restoration we are eternally bound together. Such a beautiful thing. I loved something that Frere Taveres said about the reason we have families. He said, "La famille est l'école de l'amour." Yes yes yes. They came to Church again yesterday and it is such a joy to be with them.

 

We also had exchanges in Paris this week, and Elder Osguthorpe and Elder Ridd visited our mission and it was WONDERFUL and there is never enough time to tell you about my week. One day not too far in the future we'll chat about it around the table. I love you and miss you. Beaucoup beaucoup beaucoup. Wishing you all a happy, lice-free week.

 

Love

 

Olivia

Pretty Paris turning into winter.

 

1 The theme of our District this transfer is Harry Potter. We were sorted into houses and everything. The gospel parallels are great. And we WILL win the house cup. Wands whittled by Elder Wilson.

 

2 The whole group.

 

3 Us and Silan after our RDV. She let us ride her bike and I haven't been that happy in a long time.

 

Voila! Bonne semaine tout le monde!

Mes chères,

 

You know those periods of time in your life when you sort of feel like you are in a rut? Like you want to have the desire to be and become and learn and grow, but you just can't quite seem to muster up the strength to do it? You are just tired. I have to admit that the week before this one, that is how I felt. Just kind of worn out. And it worried me a little bit. I don't want to just sit and watch time pass. So I was thinking and praying about this, when I found a lovely little quote:

 

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of other cannot keep it from themselves.— J M Barrie.

 

I like that. That you cannot possibly share light with others, without keeping it from yourself. And it's true! I really felt the difference this week in looking for even the smallest ways to share sunshine (sounds like a cheesy phrase, but whatevs. I also really dislike the song "Scatter Sunshine" and now it sounds like I am skipping down the streets of France singing it. But I digress ... ) with people around me. And it is fun.

 

Remember that woman we contacted who then took us to her house to show us where she lived? We have been teaching her, and I just really really like her. She is very calm and deliberate in how she learns about the gospel. And just answered the question to be baptized with "Well if it is true, then what would be stopping me?" That is a pretty courageous way to live. The women that I have met on my mission are just the coolest. I wish everyone knew them.

 

We went to visit Manon this week with our friend Silan from the ward. We all sat on the hospital bed while we taught and laughed at how hilarious this situation looked. And then Manon cried about life and Silan was so sweet in comforting her, and I just felt happy again.

 

The family Taverez who came to Church last week came again and they are a rockstar family. A member accidentally mistook me for one of their daughters and then they offered to adopt me and I almost said yes because I love them that much. They are a breath of fresh air. Fun and sincere and it is so cool to see the people that God has prepared. This ward is lucky to have them.

 

Also, one of my favorite moments this week was when we were in St Germain to meet an amie there. I LOVE our African amies. With all my heart. And I love the instructions that are sometimes given to us on how to get to their house.

 

"Just go to the hospital and then the apartment is by there."

 

 "Do you have an address you could give us? We only have a map."

 

 "No just ask someone where the police station is and you will find it."

 

 "Wait I thought you said the hospital?"

 

 "Well it is a few streets away from there."

 

"Ummm ... "

 

So we walked around in the pouring rain for an hour and we never found it. May be one day we will meet Sophia.

 

Each one of these moments just made me feel happier again and regain the desire to keep on keepin' on. And it is the little things we do that and that other people do that make our days brighter.

 

Je vous aime!

 

Sœur Rhondeau

rice cakes. nothin but rice cakes.

Salut!

 

The past few days have been hilarious and stressful. My stomach has been going crazy and so I am living off of rice cakes. Transfers are this week and we really had no idea what was going to happen. Usually you can kind of guess because of who is in what transfer etc, but since Stahly and I are the same age in the mission, it was impossible to guess. And we wanted to stay together SO badly. We have been planning our Thanksgiving dinner for weeks!  AND since we live in the ward with the APs and the office elders, they know EVERYTHING days in advance, so avoiding them was SO stressful. We couldn't even look at them. Dramatic? Yes. But we just didn't want to know. And then we checked the email and STAHLY IS STAYYYING! We jumped up and down and hugged and the Elders were all like, "We have been wanting to tell you this for DAYS. This is ridiculous." So here we are, starting another transfer in Versailles.

 

Everyone is on vacance (Again you ask? Yes, again. And almost always.) so we didn't really have any amis to teach. Luckily Florence needed us to finish up the carpet, and with the help of the Elders, her apartment looks brand new! Along the way we learned some fun French games from her little girls, and I now know how to rip up carpet and lay linoleum. Useful life skills you never knew you would learn, and never knew you needed.

 

So we went out and searched for and found people who need some extra light and hope. And we found 'em. One day while we were in Suresnes, we were knocking on doors in an apartment building, and we knocked on a door, and a man with crazy hair answered. He lit up when he opened the door. We told him we were there to pray with him, and he let us in. He lives in a tiny apartment  and he has one book shelf with two books on it. Guess which two books? The Bible and the Book of Mormon. He told us that he met the missionaries in the South of France years ago and that they gave him a D&C too, but he gave it to a friend and never got it back and has always wanted another one. We read a scripture about coming to Christ and being healed, and he just smiled as we read it. He is such a broken soul. After we prayed with him, he asked if he could ask us a question. He said, "How did you come here? Was it just random, comme ça?" And then Sœur Stahly bore a beautiful testimony of how God had sent us to him that day. That of all the millions of doors in Paris, we knocked on his for a reason because God loves him. And then he says with tears in his eyes, "You think so?" And the only way I can describe it, is that suddenly, in an instant, I had new eyes.  He wasn't a broken, mentally ill man that smells like smoke. I saw him as a child of God, that God loved infinitely. And that is the most beautiful thing about being a missionary. There are no ordinary people.

 

We went back a few days later, and he had the Book of Mormon layed out on his floor, and he said that he has reread that verse about Christ healing us about a thousand times, because it is the only thing that brings calm and peace to his heart. We passed him over to the Elders to teach, and I am so glad they can start teaching him. In that same area, we were contacting and we started talking to a woman and she started walking away, and we were like what is happening? And then she turns around and says "Follow me, I am going to show you where I live and then you can come and teach me about God." Whaaaaaat. This never happens.

 

It was a week full of lots of beautiful miracles. So happy to be in Versailles and so happy that Sœur Stahly is staying! I will leave you with some words of wisdom to contimplate  from our friend the drunk man at the gare: what does avion stand for? A- appareil V- volant I-immitant O-oiseau N-naturel.

 

I love you!

 

xoxo

Olivia

1  me and stahly and the eiffel tower in the distance

2  us at Luxembourg gardens last week.

surprise service

Bonjour ma chere famille!

 

This week was action-packed. So many adventures and good things happened. We taught District Meeting, went on exchanges with the Paris Sœurs (Elizabeth, I went with Sœur Roney — she is incredible, I love her!), got smashed in the doors of the metro, and I locked the keys in the apartment. Yay!

 

Last week we met a woman named Florence. We called her this week to see when we could come over to visit her. She told us that she was in plein travail, and there was no way she could meet with us. We asked her if she needed any help with the travail. and she was like OUI. So we put on our jeans (yessssss) and went over to Florence's house and scraped up carpet. With our bare hands. And sharp blades. Her daughter recently has been suffering from bad asthma because of the carpet, and she is getting it redone, but she has no money and they told her it would be 800 euros to get the carpet up. She told them that she would do it herself. They laughed at her and told her it was impossible. Then she said "God will send angels to help me." It was the best. And we are totally going to have it done by Friday.

 

After Church on Sunday we went to the hospital to stop by Manon. She welcomed us in, and explained to us that she had been wanting to call us, but didn't know how to explain what has been happening. There are some sad sad things happening with her children in the Congo. Her eyes were welled up with tears, and she expressed how helpless she feels. She is in another country, in the hospital, and has no moyens of helping them. And then she said, "But God is good, and all is well and the only thing I can do is have faith and put things in His hands." And the thing is, with her these aren't just words. She really believes it and trusts God. I love visiting her, she just fills up that room with light. Keep Jemimah and Calro, her little ones, in your prayers. We had planned on teaching the Restoration, but as soon as we got there, this scripture just kept on running through my head, and we decided to share it:

 

 14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not. 15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Her face just became brighter and brighter and she said, "How did you know? God sent you to me."

This week I think I recognized just how often God sends people to help me, and how often we need to try to be guided so that we can help others. I love that scripture. That our "walls" are continually before Him.

I love you all and hope you have a great week,

Love

Olivia

1 Winter has officially arrived in France. We are freeeezing. 

2 Paris

3 Me and Nannick 

I also tried to send the first installment of the missionementary but it didnt work SO SAD. We will see what we can do and try again next week 

Bonjour tout le monde!

 

This week was, as the French say, trop bizarre. But bizarre also makes things a little more interesting and adventurous. Lessons in hospital rooms, every single one of our amis canceling lessons, wading through cold baptismal fonts, playing a violin in a parking lot, becoming friends with the Spanish guitar player on the metro etc. See? Bizarre, but fun.

 

On Wednesday we got a call from the Paris sisters that they had met a woman a while ago who wanted to meet with us, but she was recently admitted to a hospital in our area. So Sœur Stahly and I headed to Le Vésinet hospital, which turns out looks more like an estate you would see on Downton Abbey. We searched for her room and had to make our way up multiple different staircases, but eventually we found it. It is a hall specifically for young single immigrant moms who are pregnant and cannot take care of themselves alone, and need some extra care. Her name is Manon and she is from the Congo. She is soft-spoken and kind, and just calm. She sat on her hospital bed and listened as we talked about The Plan of Salvation, and then we listened as she told us her story. She still has two young children living in the Congo, but she can't get their paperwork, so she is here just waiting and waiting and working. She said she feels alone and sometimes she asks herself why she ever even left Congo. She said, "We come here searching for a better life, and then we wonder why we ever left our home." The whole time her eyes were just welled up with tears, and then she started talking about Jesus. She believes that with him all is possible and that she will be happy again. Her roommate was curled up in the bed next to her just listening to the lesson. She will be there for 7 MORE MONTHS. Your heart just aches with them.

 

A response we get often when we talk about God and hope to people is, "I can't believe there is a God when there is so much bad in the world. There is too much suffering, too much evil. I mean, I look at people in Africa suffering ..." And then I want to say this: those are the people we teach, who are full of more hope and love and faith and goodness than anything or anyone I have ever experienced auparavant (before). It is not their suffering that takes them further from God, but closer. Their example is what has brought me closer to God and to feeling His love. So believing in God isn't about having an easy life or a naive life. It is about living a hopeful life.

 

After we visited Manon we stopped by to say hello to my Host Mom from study abroad, who lived really close to the hospital. She was thrilled to see me, and I was so thrilled to see her. She pulled up right as we walked to the door and she said "C'était le Saint Esprit qui vous a guidé chez moi aujourdhui!"  We sang a hymn with her, and drank tea in the house that hasn't changed one bit since I lived there. It was such a fun little moment to see how nothing had changed, but so many things had changed. It was also great to actually be able to speak to her this time around! She was SO excited to hear news of Claire as well :)

 

There were two baptisms at the Versailles ward this week, both of which were for other wards in the stake, and both of which Sœur Stahly and I were in charge of getting ready for. So we get there early and turn on the water to the font, and I go and practice my violin in the chapel. 15 minutes before the first baptism we go to turn off the water only to find out that it is only about knee deep, and the water is freezing cold.So Sœur Stahly takes one for the team, and goes into the font to try to fix the drain. A few pots of boiling water and a miracle later, the little boy was getting ready to walk down the stairs into the water. I leaned over to Stahly to ask her if she had warned them that the water wasn't hot. And her eyes got reeealy big. Oops. She replied "Well, at least his face will be memorable when he gets in the water?" It sure was. The second baptism of the day was for a girl who found the Church through reading Rockstar Diaries (a blog written by a mormon). She is an adorable French girl, and was so so happy. Cool huh? Lots of ways to be a missionary. I played the violin for her baptism and it went really well. Theeen we had the ward talent show and the missionaries did an absolutely disastrous rendition medley of "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission." As one of the Elders said, "I got stage fright! I panicked! I didn't know what to do with my hands!" I think we all did. It. was. hilarious.

 

So there you have it. A few small stories from our week bizarre. Someday I will tell you the rest of them when I have more time. I hope you are all doing well and are happy and healthy. I love you avec tout mon cœur.

 

Love,

 

Olivia

 

p.s. I just received news from Sister Chaston that Elder Chaston had a heart attack this week and is in the hospital in Nancy.  Keep them in your prayers please!

1. Me and Marc Jenny 

2. Berries from the trees! (JK I was just trying to freak you out. They are grapes.) 

3. Me and Soeur Stahly in les jardins 

4. Marc Jenny and Claudine

Soeur Stahly and I have started a "missionamentary" with video confessionals every night. Stay tuned for a full version coming chez vous soon. This week was SO. MUCH. FUN. 

We started out the week by visiting the Chateau de Versailles, which we discovered is FREE for student-age EU dwellers. So we walked a million miles and had so many adventures through the gardens of Versailles and were over the moon excited about the animals at Marie Antoinette's farm. There were BABY GOATS. And pigs. And we ate berries off the tree! And we are still alive! (don't panic Dad, I know this is bringing back memories of gerbil hospitals ... ) It was a magical day. 

That night we went to Simone's and had a lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited them to be baptized and Simone said yes, and Marc jenny said he would like to really pray about it first. Later on in the lesson, Marc jenny had his head down and we asked if he was okay and he said, "Yes, I was just praying to know if I am ready to be baptized." The problem now is that they have a nurse that comes to their house every day to check his blood, etc. And so because of that it is near impossible to come to church. Simone looked at Marc jenny and explained to him that they needed to pray with all their might that he would be healed enough to come to church. It was the most sobering thing to see that this was the most important thing to them. Then they got a hold of my camera and went a little crazy with it. You can thank them for all of the pictures. 

I think the most amazing thing that happened this week was General Conference. I Loved Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf and Elder Dyches. And I haven't even seen the Sunday session yet! There were multiple times where I felt so many personal questions answered. It is beautiful that everything was so personal. I know so many people who were blessed individually because of the words that were said. I think one of the most mind-blowing things I have come to know on my mission is how God knows people individually, and how He is very aware of us. We had a lot of moments this week that reminded me of this. Like how we taught a girl at the gare who decided to be Christian THREE WEEKS AGO, and is looking for a way to follow Christ. Or the soccer player who is recovering from knee surgery and and said that it was bizarre that we knocked on his door because he has been thinking about starting to pray to God again lately. Or the lady that I met on the train yesterday from Switzerland. We started talking about her day and then eventually how she had visited Salt Lake City before, and how she is from Bern. I mentioned that my parents were married in Bern and she was so dumbfounded and excited about it, and I was able to tell her about Papa being a mission president there, and about why we are here etc. Or the girl we contacted last night who was on her way back from Messe, and so open to our message. Our week was full of all sorts of serendipitous moments like those, and they were such reminders of how there is a pattern and a purpose to this all. 

We are out of time for today, we are going to search for a coat at the secondhand stores around here, which would probably be a good thing with the winter months approaching. 

I love you all beyond words. Sorry for the short email this week. 

Love

xoxo 

Olivia 

Bonjour!

 

So we take the bus to the church this morning to write emails, and we get to a stop and the door won't open, and suddenly we are all stuck in a bus and people. started. PANICKING. All the sudden we realize that we had put our lives in the hands of Versailles public transportation, and oh la la what were we thinking?! So I get up and try to yank the door open with this 70ish year old French woman, and then we just start laughing. Everyone starts laughing. And suddenly we are all just humans stuck on a bus. Public transportation: the greatest human equalizer.  Eventually the door opened and all was well.

 

Versailles is a wonderful place and we had lots of good adventures this week, too many to write. I think my favorite thing was when we went to visit Simone and her family. As I mentioned, her son is diabetic and so things have been really really difficult lately. Despite that though, they are the smiliest, happiest people. And those children are so bright. I have taught families before, and usually you have to make a big effort to make sure that the kids are involved and interested, but with this family, they sit on the floor and stare at you while you teach and listen with such real intent and then ask such beautiful questions. We taught the Plan de Salut, and talked about baptism, and when we said "You have to be eight years old to be baptized," Marc-Jenny starts bouncing and smiling uncontrollably and gasps and looks at his mom and says "MOM! I am eight and a HALF!" I used to be somewhat skeptical about if children can REALLY understand the gospel, or accept it. But that has all been swept away in teaching this family. When the kids make comments, it blows me away.  We taught with a couple in our ward, and after the rdv he gave Marc-Jenny a blessing, and after the blessing he says, "I feel better already!" Become like a child. Childlike faith. So beautiful.

 

We had lots of rdv's this week, including one with our amie Marguerite, who was supposed to get baptized yesterday. She got scared and backed out, but she is so ready, and we are hoping we can help her overcome her fears. She just wants everything to be perfect, and when it's not, she gets scared. We taught her with a recent convert named Alain. Alain is a 6'5'' African man who is skinny as a rod and never not smiling. During the lesson he talked about how he found the gospel. He said,

 

"So before I found the gospel I was shipwrecked in the ocean. The waves carried me everywhere and I was drowning. And then a big log came by. It wasn't pretty at first, and it wasn't even easy to hold onto, but I held onto it, and it took me to land, and it literally saved my life. What if I had not recognized that the log could save me and I had waited for a little duck floaty? The ducky's not coming Sister Margeurite. And God wants to save our lives. So hold on to the log!"

 

So I love this for so many reasons. 1. Because he said the phrase "little ducky floaty" and 2. because that is such a great analogy. How often do we want things to be absolutely perfect and are looking for a very specific answer the way WE want it, so that we miss the answer we are given? Or things aren't working out the way we want, and so we just give up, or get angry. We're waiting for the ducky floaty, so we miss the log! I love the Elder Holland quote that says,

 

"With any major decision there are cautions and considerations to make, but once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now."

 

Mmhmm.

 

Yesterday we had church and then after we went to visit a less active girl who lives in the countryside an hour away. We went with a member and it was so fun to see the beautiful green-ness.  Versailles actually reminds me a lot of Charlottesville! Lots of green and forest and pretty houses. And then we got home last night and Soeur Stahly and I reaaally wanted to watch a movie, and we chose  (out of our huge dvd collection of Legacy, the Testaments, and Preach My Gospel) to watch "Together Forever." A lovely little 80's film about eternal families. Hilarious, A favorite line from one of the songs:

 

"Like an awkard dancer on a crowded floor, I'll learn to dance once more."

 

Yes. SO. GOOD.

 

I love you and miss you so much! Have a lovely week.

 

xoxoxo

 

Olivia

stolen teapots and economists.

Bonjour ma famille,

 

Well, I have left my dear friends in the east and spent the last week in my new area in Versailles. Leaving Nancy was rough, and goodbyes were sad. That being said, I have loved it here so far. My new comp is Sœur Stahly and we get along just swell. We laugh a lot and teach really well together and she is an incredible missionary that I am learning a lot from her. I am so happy to be back in this region. There is just something about it, and just so many little details of it that add up to make it Paris. Where one minute the streets smell like pastries  Here are a few of them:

 

— On transfer day we were carrying all of our huge luggage all over the metro — up stairs, down stairs, back up and down the stairs because you went the wrong way, etc. — and I was catching my breath at the top of the stairs. A woman in a fur coat, red lipstick, super high heels comes up and says, "Oh ma cherie, this is terrible, please let me give you a hand. I know how awful it is trying to get your suitcases around this place." And so she helped me. High heels and all.

 

— At an RER stop at St. Cloud you can see the Eiffel Tower.

 

— People really do carry baguettes around.

 

— We are teaching a woman named Simone, whom Sœur Stahly met a week or so ago. She is from Haiti and has three little kids. Her oldest boy who is 8 was just diagnosed with diabetes, and so things have been especially trying in the past few months. They contacted her when she was on her way back from the hospital where her son was staying, and they went up to her because she looked cold, and offered her their coat. I was talking to Simone at Church and she said, "When your collegue came up and talked to me, I knew it was God who had sent them, because people don't just do things like that." They all came to Church yesterday from an hour away, and I got to sit with the kids at Church and color with them (yesssss.) and then we went out to teach them. I asked what they learned in primary and it was INCREDIBLE. They retained everything and had a million questions about it. We all watched the Restoration video and they loved it. They are a beautiful family.

 

— The busses and trains are crazy here and sometimes we get lost and end up walking like 8 miles to get to a rdv.

 

— We found a big pile of things outside of a big house that they were throwing out — china, pictures, etc. They had the coolest teapot and plate, and so we took it and were walking around with them to take them home. Which was fine until people started asking us about them. "Where did you . . . did you pick that up off the ground?" "Well . . ." Apparently that is not smiled upon here in Versailles.

 

— The less active American woman who is from Northern California and is obsessed with natural foods and makes you soup and then you play a game where you can't look at the soup but you guess how many vegetables are in it (there were seven). And then she asks if you want to jump on her mini trampoline. "So do you have this for when you exercise?" "No. Just for when I want to let loose." So I bounced.

 

 — Last night we were waiting for the train, and a man comes and sits next to us and starts talking to us. Turns out he is a prominent economist (which you wouldn't know because of his crazy scientist hair and organic bag and clothes) and he told us lots of cool things about the economy and bottled water and linguistics and then he gave us huge bunches of lavender and rosemary, because he appreciates anyone who is on "un mission — because that is what life is all about after all: finding out your mission and living for it."

 

— We tracked down a referral who lives up on a giant hill that overlooks Paris, and there were sheep! Sheep and the Eiffel tower.

 

— Having a girl come up to me in our ward who was good friends with E in London! It's a small world after all.

 

Each transfer is so good because it stretches you in different ways and I have really felt that this week. I have been thinking a lot about faith and how I can make it a more living, active part of my mission, and my life in general. Before I act (or decide NOT to act) I have been wondering if I am making a decision out of doubt and fear, or out of faith. Dad sent me a talk a while ago about the concept of faith as a decision. I have been focusing more on deciding to have faith. To act, and not to be acted upon. Naomi sent me this quote that I have thought about every day:

 

"As an abstract principle, faith is nothing. It is of no more worth than an abstract principle of mathematics. But faith in the heart of man — a living, vibrant faith — can raise the dead, create worlds, and save souls. — ELDER BRUCE R. MCCONKIE

 

I think a faith like that — that really lives in our hearts — is what makes that difference in our lives. I see that faith over and over in the lives of people I meet here. They really do have this vibrant, purposeful way of seeing the world and of living. That's how I want to live too. I don't ever want to start with fear. It's the opposite of faith, and it cripples it. But when we decide to have faith and make it something living inside of us, that  is when we change.

 

Hope you enjoyed this scatterbrained summary of a week in Versailles. In my defense, we have been dog sick the past three days, and my head isn't super clear. I love you beaucoup!

 

xoxo

 

Olivia