Strange Eatings

 

Hey all ya'll!

Christmas time is here! France is so good at decorating their towns for Christmas. Each ville has lights going down the boulevards. It's so pretty! I just wish I saw more Nativity stuff. They don't really like religious stuff here, and even more, religious holidays.

KC (Bethany’s cousin) has put his mission papers in?!!! How come nobody told me?!!!! I'm sooooo freaking excited that he and I will be out on missions at the same time!!!! Also, tell him congratulations on graduating!

I can't believe the college students are going to be home already. I guess I do kind of remember you saying that the winter break was going to be long this year. Mom, you should have those good smelling Christmas candles burning when you get home from picking up Laura. I always liked that.

It's good that the Byrd Springs Ward gets to use Laura when she's home. Good thing she loves playing the piano so much. The Relief Society always has me play on Sunday morning and it’s so embarrassing because I'm so bad, but no one else can do it that early. They reverse the order of the meetings on Sunday here.

Tell Brianne Hunt I said congratulations on little Zophia!

This week was “transfers” and we weren’t going to St. Merri because neither of us is transferring. However, our roommate, Sr. Alley, found out that her bleu (new missionary), Sr. Thibault from Canada, is still waiting for her Visa. But she still had to go to drop off Sr. Ingraham, who was going home. So we had to go with her so we could accompany her on the way back. We've been in a threesome since then, she picks up her bleu tomorrow though.

It's been interesting getting to know Sr. Alley’s area and amis while she gets to know ours. Funny story. She came with us to teach the Djaffar family. They fed us pig intestines and liver!!!! It was soooo gross, like it has been marinated in hair, but they are so poor that we couldn't say no to their offer. Sr. Alley managed it by swallowing it whole and not chewing. I ate as much as possible and then covered my plate with my napkin so they couldn't see what I didn’t eat. Sr. Soares slipped the food into her purse. I laughed so hard afterward. Luckily, the lesson afterward was so spiritual. We're a little afraid to go back though. (Note: We are going to put extra money in Bethany’s bank account and have her put together a Christmas food basket for this family, with better meat!)

We also got to attend two Ward Christmas parties. Torcy just has a little show with not a lot of food so we just stayed long enough to say hello, watched a few performances and then left for Nogent where they had a Christmas dinner. I ate shrimp with eyeballs! It was so cool that I took a picture of it. Afterward we taught a great lesson to one of Sr. Alley's amies, Justine. She said the only reason she was putting off baptism was because she wasn't ready to change her relationship with her boyfriend and follow the commandments. She wants to one day, but not yet. We testified of how much happiness following the commandments would bring her. I hope she was touched. Sr. Alley will have to keep us updated.

 

Delphine is doing well. She gave the opening prayer at the Christmas party and everyone has been really welcoming. She and Mailys were both there on Sunday too. Mailys loves meeting with us every week and has a growing testimony. She wants to be baptized, but keeps putting it off because she wants to finish the book she is writing. She wants to have an open mind as she writes and thinks that being baptized will mess that up. The bishop asked about her and when we told what she said. He just said "I'll talk to her next Sunday". What a great bishop! Until then, we look forward to our lessons with her. She is just a powerhouse right now. Her atheist brother is also becoming interested and even participated in a fast for a family friend of theirs. In addition to food, he didn't drink or smoke for 24 hours!

N___ is also going well. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she understood it completely. She did say that it was a lot of new stuff to think about, but we just told her to pray to know if it is true. That is such a great thing about the church; we know that you can know for yourself if it is true! Don't take our word for it, we're just the messengers, we can't convince anybody of anything. Only the Holy Ghost can do that. As we were finished, I had the strongest impression to invite her to be baptized. She said she wasn't sure and would have to think about it. That's really all we want for now. Being a Muslim, this is all so new to her.

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season! And the vacation! Eat well and remember Christmas calories don't count. Oh and I have a new favorite food, sugared dates! Such a good Christmas tradition!

Bethany

Pictures: 1. The two companionships in Bethany's apartment. 2.Our Christmas tree, not totally finished yet. Sr. Alley says it looks like something from Dr. Suess. I agree and I like it even more because of that. 3. At the Nogent Christmas party. 4. Shrimp 5. The leftovers from the dinner.

Torcy Again

As you will soon read, Bethany will be staying where she is through Christmas, so her current address is still good. Missionaries always love a card or letter! Her address is:

Soeur Bethany Paxton

Les Missionaires

33, rue Maximilien Robespierre

94120 Fontenay-Sous-Bois

FRANCE

Here are a few personal notes Bethany sent along to us before writing her “public” email.

Yes, by the time I leave I'll have been in Torcy for 6 months. I don't really mind though. I probably won't be serving around Paris much after this so I'm going to appreciate it while I can. There are still so many places I want to visit! Sr. Dremeaux didn't like going to famous places because she's French and is used to it all. Soeur Soares however LOVES visiting places and we can't wait to see more. Today we're going to the Louvre!

By the way, someone told us that Disney Village is free to visit because it is separate from the parks. The village is where most of the gift shops are. We're thinking about going there so we can at least say that we did something at Disney and to take pictures. Whoo hoo! Maybe I'll get to keep up the Paxton/Disney missionary adventures after all!!!

Wow, seems like the Ward is really having you do a lot. Setting up Tithing Settlement, over-seeing the Christmas party, singing in Choirs, stake activities. Jeesh! Well, I suppose they figure that you have enough time to do all that since you are empty nesters (I referred to you two as that to President Poznanski and he had me explain the definition to him. Then he wrote it down. I thought it was pretty funny.)

I'm a slightly stressed over Skype-ing with you on Christmas. Nobody has invited us over yet for Christmas yet. I'm actually not really worried about that at all because I know they will. What I'm worried about is if the family who does invite us over will have Skype. Last year Soeur Soares was only able to call her family and not Skype because for some reason it wasn't working. She doesn't really care either way, but it's kind of important to me that I see your faces. Although, I suppose I should just be grateful if I get to hear your voices.

 

Hello everybody!

Well, I'm staying in Torcy again. By the time I leave I will have spent 1/3 of my mission here! I'm very grateful to be in a ward that I know so well for Christmas. The Torcy ward is so great and they make me feel at home.

Sr. Alley, one of the sisters I live with in the apartment, has been with me since we both got to France. She just found out that she'll be training a Blue (new missionary). That means she has to be in her Ward (Nogent) for another 2 transfers. By the time she leaves it will be 7 1/2 months. That, plus her two months at the MTC, means that she'll have spent half of her mission in two places: Provo and Nogent. She loves Nogent and doesn't mind at all. Also, Sr. Alley and I noticed that we were both writing missionary friends who live at the same address in San Diego. That's right, Lauren Roberts is companions with Sr. Alley's friend. Small world!

Last week we weren't able to get a hold of Delphine to talk about her baptism for several days. We were freaking out because we thought something went wrong. When we finally got hold of her she said she didn't have her phone all last week, but that she had something interesting to tell us about her family. It turns out that when she told her difficult, church-hating mother about her baptism she didn't get as mad as Delphine thought she would. In fact, she asked if the baptism could be in Torcy so she could attend. It was too late though because tickets were already bought for Bordeaux, plus Delphine knew her mom only said that because she wanted to spite their family in Bordeaux. Her mother got really upset for about two days, which made Delphine sad. However, on the morning that she left, her mother talked to her and said she accepted her decision. And THEN, to make it even better; when Delphine received a blessing, she was told that she would be able to help her mother repent and return to church! Delphine bore her testimony about it at church yesterday and it was so beautiful.

We continued to teach N___, our Muslim amie, until we hear otherwise from President. She's still doing well with the lessons and even said she knows that Jesus is the son of God now! However, there are still a lot of problems in her personal life so we had the Elders giver her a blessing. She said she felt better afterward. And she even came to Sacrament meeting with her kids yesterday!

On a whim we decided to visit some former amis that we found in our Area Book. They live in a tiny hotel/apartment. They are Muslims who converted to Christianity. They are really nice and kept offering us beer to drink as hospitality. Discussing why we choose not to drink alcohol was a great way to start talking about modern revelation/the First Vision. When I told them the Joseph Smith story, the spirit was incredibly strong. We have another appointment set this week. I'm looking forward to it.

Love, Bethany

Turkey Bowl!

Note: Bethany told us she will find out on Saturday, Dec 1st if she will be transfered next week to a different area. We will get out her new address as soon as we hear.

Salut!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Glad to hear everything went well for you Mom and Dad. It's cool that there is a Missionary from Africa in Huntsville.

Whoo hoo! Skylar is home. Normally I say two years gone already!!!, But when you're actually on a mission, it's different. It's nice that he was home right before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was still great even though it wasn't traditional. We had District meeting and then ate a meal with our entire Zone. We couldn't find turkey of course so we had rotisserie chickens. I made brownies. It was a good time. Then we changed into our exercise clothes and played a Turkey Bowl football game for an hour. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was funny how the French people kept stopping to watch the Americans play football their way. Just as we were ending some people stopped us and said we aren't allowed to play organized sports on that field. Sigh, France...haha!

We were invited to eat at a member’s house, but President told all missionaries that we couldn't do that because we already spent enough time doing Turkey Bowl stuff. However, our Ward Mission Leader invited us to do it next week.

Guess what! Delphine is baptized and confirmed!!!!! It happened in Bordeaux so I don't have pictures yet. Other great news is that her friend Mailys committed to be baptized next Sunday! We might not have time to teach her all of the discussions though, so we may have to move it back. It's really only sad because it would be after transfers. But I don't really mind as long as she is baptized.

Sadly, Severine dropped us. She couldn't commit to being baptized again and so we just promised her that if she followed the spirit that one day she would be ready. She was really nice about it all.

Short email today. Sorry ya'll!

Bethany

 

P.S. I'm about to eat escargot for the first time!!!!!!!!

Pictures are the Thanksgiving meal and our trip to Chateau de Vincennes today. Such a pretty place. And the sun was shining!

 

Of Apostles and Miracles

Bethany wrote a short separate letter to us. She said there was a possibility that she might transfer to another area on December 5^th. Here are some excerpts from the letter:

I will tell you my new address ASAP after I found out if I'm moving. I just hope that I can remember to look up the address before the next P-day.

We will be allowed to Skype on Christmas and we'll have to use a member’s computer to do so. As we get closer I'll let you know which family and what their Skype address is.

I've decided to just wear my glasses for the rest of my mission. The packet I got when I got my call suggested I do so, but since I normally wear contacts I figured I wouldn't. However, since I've been having such trouble with my contacts pretty much since I entered the MTC I've taken that as a sign to wear my glasses. I may change my mind, but for now that's my decision. The good thing is that means you don't have to spend any money on contacts for awhile!

Keep the sports news coming Dad! Even though I don't have time to comment on it each time I'm always interested in knowing what BYU is up to.

 

Salut!

This week has been a week full of miracles and I hope I have time to tell you about each one of them.

First, despite having to be blunt with Delphine last week, she happily met with the Bishop on Tuesday so she could get to know him. She brought her friend Mailys and they were both able to sit in to see Christi, a YSA from the ward, get set apart for her mission. Afterward Mailys asked the Bishop if she could take the lessons for herself now. They both found a ride to Stake Conference yesterday and Mailys came up to us and asked if she could set a rendez-vous. That never happens!

Second miracle, we were at the church just for a few moments when a woman came in looking for the Elders. Once they got there, the Elders asked us to talk with her because they couldn't be alone with her anyway. What a blessing it was that we were there because, if not, she would never have opened up to them the way she did with us. N____ had just run away from her abusive husband the night before and has been living in a hotel near the church ever since. She has had such a difficult life. She is Muslim and has never been allowed to make her own decisions when it comes to her marriage, children, etc.

However, she started praying sincerely for the first time 3 months ago for help and to know God better. She is so open to the fact that Jesus is the son of God and her Savior. We've taught her two more times and the last time we showed the Restoration video and she said really felt something wonderful that she didn't understand. She explained that it was the spirit and she said she'd pray to know if it was true. We have to be careful though because a woman in her situation can really be in danger. We've had to work closely with President to make sure everything is done properly and safely.

Third miracle, right after N____ ,we decided to visit a former amie, but we didn't know exactly which apartment number was hers so we just started knocking on doors. The first person said we could come in and teach her. My first time that I had been let in during porting!!! Her name is Lilliane and she loves the Lord so much. We've had a second lesson since then and she likes what she hears. I felt impressed to invite her to be baptized and she said no because she's already been baptized twice (as a baby and then by immersion as an adult) and she says twice is enough! Haha! We don't hear that too often. I'm not worried though.

 Fourth miracle, yesterday, as we prepared for a lesson at the church, three people walked in and said they wanted a tour. Two of them had recently been to Temple Square and loved what they saw. The third, a man, came with them to find out the difference between us and the Catholics (he is one). They were all very nice and interested. We taught them the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and I was able to testify of their truthfulness. We counted it as a lesson! It was interesting because I felt a connection with whatever Sister Missionaries taught them in SLC. We may have totally different mission experiences, but our purpose is the same.

Finally, Elder Anderson. We took a big group photo with him and then all had the chance to shake his hand. Gaaaaa!!! I shook the hand of an Apostle!!! I pretty much died and went to Heaven. And then we sat down and heard President and Soeur Poznanski speak, Elder Teixiera and his wife, Soeur Anderson and then Elder Anderson. Can I just say that the Lord really does watch over us individually? Elder Anderson spoke about exactly what I needed to hear. I don't have time to go into detail, but he said that things were going to be changing dramatically in France very soon concerning missionary work. He said that each of us was here for a reason, even though it is one of the hardest missions in the world.

I would like to testify that God truly does live. He is our literal Father in Heaven. He is mindful of every person no matter who they are. He is so loving and only wants to give us blessings. I have thankful for His son, Jesus Christ. For His teachings and sacrifice. I'm grateful for my knowledge of the restoration of His true gospel. I hope every person who reads this will continue to seek for truth. That's all that Heavenly Father asks of us, to know His will for us and to follow it.

Bethany

11/12/12 Email

Hello Everyone!

This last week was a little slow for Sr. Soares and me because she has tendinitis and was told to stay in the apartment except for “rendezvous”. However, the Lord knew our hearts were in the right place because we were able to have the same amount of rendezvous even though we did no contacting.

We had Zone Conference this week and I had my first interviews with President and Soeur Poznanski. Normally you have them once every transfer, but for some reason they didn't have them my first two. No big deal though. Both of them told me that my French is really good, especially my accent. That made me feel good, because I'm kind of self conscience about my accent. They also said that I'll most likely be training soon because all of the new 19 year old sisters will start arriving in the New Year.

The exciting thing about the upcoming week is that Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve is coming to talk to us!!!!!!!! He's one of my favorite speakers and I'm so excited. I'm really going to be preparing myself spiritually this week for Friday. We’ll be doing exchanges the day before (I'm going to Versailles!!!) and then we switch back with our companions at the conference. I'm sooooooo excited I can barely take it!

We had a second appointment with a less active woman named Sr. Gonzales this week. During our first appointment last week we weren't sure if she wanted us to come over, but now we're pretty sure she enjoys our company and talking about the church. We talked to her about how our commitment to the Lord doesn't end at baptism and that we need to endure to the end. I was so glad to have Sr. Soares there because I was worried about sounding too harsh. But together we taught her lovingly and she responded very well. She even said she would definitely be at church.

We also had to have a difficult talk with Delphine about keeping her commitments and coming to church. She said she heard what we were trying to say and wasn't offended, but we were still worried. We were supportive though and told her that if she came to church the next two Sundays that she could still be baptized the 24th. However, her bus to get to church never came and so she couldn't come yesterday. But she called and was very upset about missing church. Her being upset was a good sign because that mean our discussion with her didn't offend her and she still wants to be baptized. We figured it out with the Zone Leaders though and as long as she meets with the Bishop this week and goes to Stake Conference next week things will be good for the baptism. This will be good, especially since she is going to be baptized in Bordeaux and it would be really hard to change the date.

One miracle that happened this week is that a man approached us in the street on Thursday and asked where we prayed. We were confused and he explained that the Saturday before he heard us on the train talking to a couple visiting from Guadeloupe. He liked what he heard and when he saw us on the street he wanted to know more. The funny thing is that the train we were on and the town we were in when he stopped us are REALLY far apart. It was no coincidence that we found him.

Well, time is running out
Bethany

Happy Belated Halloween!!!!!!!

Dear tout le monde, Happy Belated Halloween!!!!!!! It's my favorite holiday and I was pretty bummed beforehand thinking that they didn't really celebrate it here. However, I got a great Halloween card from you and also from the Activity Girls in the Byrd Springs Ward. What a great surprise! Also, I had been saving the dry mix for pumpkin cookies that you gave me for my birthday to bake on Halloween and they were delicious. Then we also had two groups of Trick- or- Treaters come by. We had left over candy for the first group, but none for the second. The second group smelled the cookies though and asked for them. I gave them the left over chocolate that we put in the cookies (the chocolate chips here are way expensive. It's cheaper to buy a bar and chop it up).  And THEN, we decided to dress up as an apartment and take pictures. Soeur Soares and I wore Boubous (sp?) that our new district leader bought us. Soeur Alley was a hipster and Soeur Ingram was a beggar. It was such a great Halloween because I got to do everything I would normally do for Halloween!! I'm glad to hear that you and dad also had a fun time for Halloween. I'm also glad to know that you'll have people over for Thanksgiving. It'll be pretty tough not celebrating it this year. Maybe an American family in the ward will invite us over or something. Although we only have one... Thanks for sending that picture of Chelsie and Grady, they both look great! I'm also glad to hear that people are getting my cards. You can send me more addresses now if you'd like Mom and Dad. Wow! Michael comes home next month! Crazy that Laura can say that now. And it's funny that he's coming home exactly one year before me, to the day. Dad, we probably run about a mile every day. We go about 25 minutes total, although I normally have to take about 3 walking breaks. Last week we had to go to the prefecture to figure out Sr. Soares' legality and then it rained and now she had tendonitis and can only leave the apartment for rendez-vous for the next week, so we aren’t running now. We're still progressing with Delphine slowly, but surely. We even thought that maybe she would be able to get baptized next week, but she didn't come to church again, which is kind of important. However, during our last lesson I saw that she still has a strong testimony, which was a comfort to me. We just need her to understand the important of her actually getting baptized and coming to church. We randomly found Mireille at the train station on Friday! Turns out she was sick and had to stay in Africa another three weeks. We're going to try to pass by her place tomorrow. We had two really great lessons with Severine and she says she believes everything we teach her except for the fact that she needs to be baptized by someone with authority. However, Sr. Soares says she's seen this many times and often people still get baptized. The cute thing was that her daughters even said they would pray to know if it was true. And one of them asked to have their own copy of the Book of Mormon. Also, Severine gave out two copies of the Book of Mormon to her friends from Togo, although one of them gave it back, it's a good sign though! We've also been working more with some new less-actives that I've never met. We feel really good about at least one of them and maybe another after tonight! Before I finish I'd like to share a special moment that I had with a family in the Torcy ward. They are a family I've become close to, especially since their daughter is my age and will be leaving on a mission to Arizona next week. They're the Peruvian family I told you about a few weeks ago. We were eating lunch with them and a friend of theirs from Spain after church. The mother (you I'd like you to meet someday mom, she's so great) and the friend were talking about gospel related subjects in Spanish while I played UNO with the younger kids. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said, I could FEEL it. There were many tears of joy through out the whole conversation. Then it was time for us to leave and the friend gave the prayer. The prayer was so sincere and so full of love for Heavenly Father and the Savior that none of us could talk for a full minute after. And we started singing hymns for another minute. Moments like those remind me why I'm a missionary. So everyone in the whole world has the same opportunity to feel this happiness. I love the gospel so much. It brings true joy to those that accept it. I hope everyone who reads this is doing well. I love you all! Bethany PS - The attached picture is of Bethany and 2 Sister Missionaries from Germany who had finished their missions and were returning home.

Oi!

Oi! Apparently that's how you say hello is Portuguese! Sr. Soares (Bethany's new Brazilian companion) hit the ground running when she got here to Torcy. The rumor that she never quits is definitely true! She saw that things have been slow, but that didn't stop her. She immediately had me start calling former “amis” and inactives that the missionaries haven't seen in a long time. We've had double the amount of rendezvous that we normally have in a full week in just the past 5 days. And our schedule for the next week is filling up fast. She just has no many fresh ideas on how to find people. I'm learning so much from her. She's also taught me the importance of really getting to know the members. Also, that I don't need to be afraid of asking too many questions when we meet someone, member or not. The French don't normally like being asked even simple questions like "where are you from?" which is why Sr.Dremeaux didn't do it. But I have the excuse of being American and Sr. Soares being Brazilian. Plus, it really doesn't throw people off that much and I think they enjoy the conversation a lot more. We only had one lesson with Delphine again and she didn't come to church. We're worried that she doesn't understand the commitment she's making to be baptized. We have another lesson set for today on respecting the Sabbath and we've decided we need to be bold so she understands what the Lord expects from her. I know she has a testimony and I know that she really does want to be baptized, but it wouldn't be fair if she didn't totally understand what is expected of her. Good news is that if all goes well we might have her baptism next week! Also, she brought her friend with her again!! We also taught a woman named Anne-Marie who is the neighbor of a member. It was very spiritual and I think she understands now that God is our literal Father in Heaven and not just a spiritual being or idea. We committed her to pray about the Book of Mormon which she seems excited to do. Unfortunately, there is a two week holiday for the whole country and she, like everyone else, is going to be out of town. I found out from one of Mireille's daughters that she has been home from Africa for a long time. I'm really confused as to why she won't answer the phone when we call. I really hope her family didn't tell her bad stuff about the church while she was away. The Ward held a classical music concert performed by a very musical family in the Ward. It was actually very professionally done because most of them are professionals. There were a lot of non-members there and we got some contacts. Also, Sr. Soares is a harp major at BYU and had the chance to play the harp afterward. The woman who loaned the harp to the church was there and said she could play it for free when she wanted. She also suggested they do a duet. We're hoping that we can use this as an opportunity to spread the gospel. Well, from everything that I've heard from you and my friends who write me, it looks like I picked a good year to miss BYU football. However, I always want BYU to do well. I liked seeing the picture of the missionaries. (We sent her some pictures we took at the BYU-Georgia Tech game) It's cool that their President let them go. I'm pretty sure President Poznanski wouldn't do that except if it was on a P-day. That warm weather you've been having sounds great! As soon as September hit, it got pretty cold here, probably stayed between 55 and 65 Fahrenheit until two Sundays ago. Then it was very warm and pleasant for about three days. However, ever since transfers on Wednesday, it's been very cold. Two days ago it was 1 degree Celsius! It will probably stay cold until March. However Mom you don't need to worry, I have two good coats, several scarves, gloves and two pairs of boots so I think I'll be fine. I do wish I had nylons that are really thick, but they don't sell them here. They're all really light weight. However, Sr. Soares has given me a pair of thick ones that should be good. Yay, to Brianne for her baby girl! I can't wait to hear when she arrives in December. Only a little more than a month away! That's funny that Donna Andrus contacted you mom. What's really funny is that my roommate Soeur Alley’s sister is married to Donna's brother. I guess when I posted that picture of her a few months ago Donna saw it and told Sr. Alley's family. However, I had no idea she was the teacher for the Lyon mission president’s children. Tell her that it is the 12th of October issue of Elle, pg. 126. I guess she reads these emails so she already knows. So I'll talk to her directly: Hey Donna! How did your Master's Thesis go? I still want to read it when I get back home. I also can't wait to hear where Jesse in going on his mission. I recently read an article in the Liahona about a young man in the Finnish army and how he spread the gospel with others during that time. I definitely thought of Jesse. That's all for this week, Bethany

New Transfer

Hello World! Well, on Saturday we found out the changes for the new Transfer. As I predicted, I'll be staying here in Torcy for another transfer and Sr. Dremeaux is leaving for Cholet on Wednesday. She's been in Torcy for 6 months now so it really isn't a surprise. Cholet is in the middle of nowhere, but Sr. Dremeaux has been in very populated areas since she started so it was about time. She'll also have to use a car because there isn't much public transportation. And in France that means it isreally in the middle of nowhere. However, she just found out that her sister lives in the same Stake (area of the Church) as Cholet so she'll get to see her at Stake conference! Everybody in the Ward said goodbye to Sr. Dremeaux yesterday at church and then again 3 hours later during the baptism of the Mejia boy in the ward. Everybody wrote in her "Soeur Book" and took pictures with here. Torcy really is such a warm and welcoming ward.  My new companion is named Soeur Soares (pronounced as Suarez in Spanish). She's from Brazil and she speaks Portuguese, English and French fluently. And probably Spanish. I recently met Sr. Soares because she and her current companion had to stay in our apartment Thursday night, because her companion (Sr. Pajoul, who's from France) is trying to get her U.S. visa to finally go to her actual mission in St.George, UT. (Just a note from Vicki: Bethany had a friend who recently served a mission in the St. George Temple Visitor’s Center. She told us that they got a huge number of tour buses filled with French tourists stopping there on their way from Las Vegas to all the National Parks in Utah/Arizona. The mission requested more native speaking French missionaries to help with the Temple tours. )I really liked Sr. Soares and was pleased to see that she'd be coming back to the apartment to stay! She's an extrovert like me and has a reputation of working very hard. I'm looking forward to that. The baptism on Sunday was a huge party! The Mejia family is Peruvian and they invited everybody and there was SO MUCH FOOD! There were a lot of non-members there and a lot of Spanish speakers. Where is Uncle Scott when I need him? There was one young woman named Lucille, a friend of the Mejia's 22 yr old daughter Cristy, who was very interested in the baptism and I talked a lot about the church with her. She even took our number and said she would call us. We've talked to her a little before because she's come to church and General Conference. It was good to have a really long time to talk with her though. Sadly, we haven't heard much from Delphine in the last week and were not able to teach her at all. I'm a little worried about her, but I also know that she was sick. I was sick with a terrible cold all last week so I understand how she feels. Hopefully, things will pick up with her this week. We taught Severine again and read the introduction of the Book of Mormon with her. She was very interested in all the people in the book and was glad to know that we don't worship Joseph Smith. When we asked her to pray about the Book of Mormon she said she already believed because it was about Christ. We asked to still pray about and she said she would. Then we asked if she would be baptized and she said no because she's already been baptized. I was wondering when that would come up in my mission. Since we hadn't taught her about Priesthood authority yet, we decided to talk about it more next time. BTW, her 8 yr old daughter was very interested the whole time again, so cute! Mireille was supposed to come back on Monday but we've tried getting a hold of her all week and got nothing. Considering that she normally answers our calls we suspect that she moved her return date back. I guess Sr. Soares and I will try again next week. My favorite miracle happened on a day when I was very sick. I was so stuffed up I couldn't sleep the night before and I did NOT feel like talking to people. As we started contacting I thought, "Heavenly Father I really don't feel like having to think in French" and then the thought popped into my head "if you have the faith to open your mouth I will give unto you what ye shall say in that very minute". So I tested it, and the first woman we talked to said she was busy. However, the second said she only spoke English!! Ah ha! I didn't have to speak in French and Sr. Dremeaux got to see me in my element. I also had a copy of the Book of Mormon in English that I had been carry around for 3 months and wondering if I would ever use it. I even tried taking it out of my bag one day, but I had the impression I should leave it in there. The woman turned out to be a Lebanese Christian convert who lives in Saudi Arabia. After we testified of the Book of Mormon she was very interested because she said she could see our passion for it and knew that we really believed. She promised to pray and look up more onmormon.org. I also warned her that in Saudi Arabia, if the church exists there, she would have to be the one to approach them because it's illegal for members to proselyte. Hope everybody is doing well! Don't forget, missionaries love letters!!! Bethany  Pictures: 1) Bethany with her companion Soeur Dremeaux 2) A family in the Torcy Ward 3) Food for baptism of the Mejia boy in the Ward 4) 5) 6) Photos of the French Elle Magazine article on missionaries in France which includes photos and an interview of Bethany's companion Soeur Dremeaux

These are a few notes for the family that Bethany sent along before she wrote her “public” email.

I did get the package and it was great. We loved listening to the “All-star” song! (A musical birthday card). Haha! Soeur Emilcy sang it all day, on a Sunday!!! It's so great having the black boots. I bought a dark gray jacket from H&M. Good quality and very warm, maybe even warmer than my long coat. I returned the brown skirt I bought.  However, the Sister I did exchanges with gave me a long brown one. Long skirts are allowed now on missions and everybody who saw me wear it Friday night said it looked good. I kinda like it even though I feel sort of like the gypsy beggars on the Metro. Haha!

Soeur Dremeaux has been in Torcy for almost 6 months so she'll probably be leaving on the next Transfer and I'll probably be staying. For awhile we thought there was going to be another huge group of “bleu” sisters (new missionaries) coming and everybody joked that I would have to train since I already knew French. However, recently we heard there will only be 2 coming, so I probably won't train (soooooo glad). However, I'm pretty sure I'm staying in Torcy.

I just mailed off my ballot. I think it should get there in time to be valid. I was able to print off my license and put it in there. The funny thing was that I needed two Americans to witness the envelope and I only had one living in the apartment. I had to wait a couple of days to get one of the Zone Leaders to witness it.

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Bonjour tout le monde!!!!!

This week was THE craziest, best week of my mission ever!!!!!

Quick thing before the really exciting stuff, there is one town where we serve where there are a million businesses, hotels, etc named Paxton. They were pretty ritzy looking too. So weird, right? Paxton is an English name. I enjoyed pointing to my nametag to the people we contacted on the bus while passing the Paxton hotel. I took some pictures and will try to send them later.

Tuesday was crazy because we had to do a lesson, district meeting and exchanges. Our lesson was with a woman we had never met before and we didn't have much hope for because she had already rescheduled twice. However when we got there she (Severine) welcomed us openly and introduced us to her husband and children. A young family!!!! We taught a great lesson on the family which she said really touched her. Her 8 yr old daughter was very interested and was excited when we invited them to tour the church. They forgot to some on Saturday, but we made another appointment with them.

Then we went to District meeting and were seriously spiritually uplifted. The Elders in our District are amazing! Then the sisters from Rouen arrived for exchanges. I went with Soeur Alves (from Tahiti) to Rouen and her companion Soeur Barrero stayed with Sr. Dremeaux. Soeur Alves is very exuberant and fun to be with. We taught a new member and her non-member mother in English which was fun for me. It was also very spiritual. The new member was so happy to have found the gospel. And then the next morning we taught a less-active member of the Church. She was upset with people in her Ward (congregation) and it was hard to get her to forgive them. I hope one day she can move on. I soooooooo want to serve in Rouen sometime.

While I was gone, Sr. Dremeaux had a great lesson with Delphine which made me glad. Then we had another lesson with her on Saturday and she brought a friend, who we had met before. After the lesson, her friend, Mailyse, said she felt the spirit despite the fact that she's always been a skeptic. She said she wanted to cry during the lesson. Who knew a lesson on fasting could cause so much joy?! The Lord did. She says she wants to be baptized, but wants to finish the book she is writing first. We'll have to see about that…. Also, Delphine quit her job so she doesn't have to work on Sundays anymore!!!!!! Unfortunately we had to move Delphine's baptism to November during her vacation from school, but as long as it happens right?

So Saturday night I got a call from a man in the Torcy ward who also works as the church's Public Relations person in France. He said a journalist was going to be coming to church the next day to take pictures of Sacrament meeting and then interview the Sister missionaries. Then he had to go over a few things with me so I would be prepared, like "what is the church's stance on the election in the U.S?" (Answer: there isn't one, vote your own conscience.) Stuff like that.

The interview was pretty simple, especially since I'm not fluent in French. She asked where I was from and if I thought that the church was growing slower in France than in the U.S. I said yes, but really only because the church hasn't been here as long. I just hope she doesn't twist that into me saying that France will be overrun with Mormons in 30 years. Haha!  She kept asking if being a missionary was hard, but we kept saying, “a little of course, but the blessings outweigh it by so much”.  It was funny when she asked if we lived with the Elders. Our enthusiastic “NO!” startled her and she asked if we didn't like them or something. Hahaha! So funny!

Also, the Elle magazine article with Sr. Dremeaux came out Friday. I'm not sure if it will be in the American one though so I'll try to send pictures of the article.

They announced my birthday in Relief Society and everybody kept saying “Joyeux Anniversaire” all day. It was really great. Then after I broke my fast, we ate the amazing birthday cake Sr. Dremeaux made and s'mores with the graham crackers Mom sent. It was a pear and chocolate cake. Mmmmm!

Whew! I think that's all. I hope everyone had a great week.

Bethany

Oct.1

This weeks email will have to be with no caps because this keyboard is weird.

Thanks for the pictures of jenny! she looks so good I really wish I could be there.

that's great about the absentee ballot, glad it came so quickly.

i'm sorry to hear about sandy messervy i know she'll be missed by the ward.

glad you're going to see grandma and grandpa again mom. tell everybody from the family that i love them!

dad i don't think i ever knew that about your mission. what a big sacrifice!

on tuesday we were told that the newish missionaries would be leaving the next day for belgium to do our belgian legality. noramally it's later in the transfer and we have more time to plan but no one told the poor secretary and he had to rush around buying tickets and letting everyone know all in just one day! we got to ride first class for 1 hour and 23 minutes (an elder and i sat by this awesome chilean couple) then arrived, did a little sight seeing and ate delicious french fries, a specialty there, and waffles, where we visited the famous mannequin pis (peeing boy statue). then we went and signed a legal paper and that was it. much less hassle then in france. we got on another first class train and came home. It was a nice little vacation and time to talk to everybody from the mtc. we won't all be together like that again for another year when we have to do more legality stuff.

gues what!!!!!!! we have a baptism date!! we called an old investigator that we found in the Torcy mission records (the area book). her name is delphine, she's 22 and the daughter of members who now hate the church. it was hard to set up an appointment because we can't meet at her house due to her parents, but we finally met her. she said she had been praying for help when we called. she can't wait to be baptised and has been living like a member already while she waited for the Lord to open a window for her to get to the church. she still has the obstacle of working on sundays, but she has faith that it will be resolved. we're going to teach her the lessons (which she pretty much already knows by heart) 3 times a week until she gets baptized on October 20th. 

it will be in bordeaux because her extended family lives there and they are all active members. also, to avoid her parents. everybody wasn't sure if she could be baptized outside of her ward bounderies, but I remembered that Beth from byrd springs was baptized in her grandparents ward, when everybody heard that they decided it was possible.

we also had some success with a less active woman we've been visiting for awhile. in fact, she was the first person sr. dremeaux took me to see in Torcy. we've discovered that she really does have a strong testimony and that she really does want to come to church. sure enough, she was there yesterday!!!

on friday i was asked to give my first talk in church. i really only had about 1 day to write it and then have sr. dremeaux correct my french. i chose to speak about sacrifice, i think it went well, i just hated that i had to read the whole thing word for word rather than speak for naturally. i felt like i was 12 years old and giving my first talke, i kept trying to remember to look up at the audience. however everyone said my accent was good (i think they're being nice) so that made me feel better.