Hello everyone!

I feel like this week has been the craziest of my life and yet I can't list very many details. So many little stressful, yet wonderful things have been going on to prepare me to invite others to come unto Christ in France.

I was sick this week, but I managed to avoid feeling really crummy by drinkning a TON of water. I really just had to deal with a stuffy/runny/chapped nose. It did keep me from getting a good night's rest a couple of nights, which as a missionary I needed.

I found some gloves, softballs and bases at the field during gym and was soooo psyched! A few elders in my zone were nice enough to throw the ball around with me for a while. I tried to teach them pickle, but they didn't get it. I got a lot of excercise trying though! Then we played a great game of kickball, one of the few things that Elders and Sisters can play together.

I've been having a great time in the TRC. The TRC is where we practice giving the lessons to people acting like investigators, but sometimes they are real. Real people have been baptized because of the TRC!! Even when they're members pretending to be investigators they still use their real life situation/experiences when we talk to them and teach them. We've been teaching a progressing investigator named Hely (if she's fake she's really good). She's a wife and mother who recently moved from California. She has good, responsible children, but still worries about them as every mother does. One of them has disabilities and she and I were able to connect over the fact that I have taken care of Kate. She's told me amazing stories about all the different places she's worked and how she always shows kindness to others. Including bonding with a patient that was totally paralyzed except for his eyes! When I bore my testimony about the Joseph Smith story and the BoM I could feel the spirit so strong! I hope that happens when I'm actually in the field!

In really big news. I'm leaving for Paris this Monday!!!! Everybody else knew when they were leaving a week ago and nothing ever came for me. I kept asking, but the travel office kept saying my departure date wasn't until september. Then on Wednesday a member of the MTC presidency told me I was leaving on Monday. I had a feeling I should make sure they really did have my visa. They did, but they didn't know I was on the 3 week program so it isn't valid until September!!!! They said they were wondering why I kept coming in to ask them and didn't realize I was leaving so soon. Luckily, they caught the problem in time to put the correct date on my Belgian visa, which French law says I can use to get into the country. Of course, I have to bring bunch of other documents to prove that law to them when I get there. At least I'll get there on Monday, actually Tuesday!

I also got to call my family last night for 5 minutes to let them know that I would be calling them monday afternoon while I'm in the airport. I have a 500 minute calling card that I plan on totally using up. I'll be traveling with 14 other missionaries so if anything goes wrong they can tell the mission president.

I'd like to tell a powerful story I heard during In-Field orientation (a friday, all-day meeting for all missionaries leaving the following week). One of the teachers who served in Taiwan said he was serving in a ward where an 92 year-old woman who recently joined the church bore her testimony. She said that in her patriarchal blessing that it told her if Elder White had served a mission she would have been bapitzed 60 years earlier! That story says so much!! Each missionary has a specific purpose and skills that only he/she can bring, if you feel inspired to serve a mission do so! I would hate to be the one accounting myself to God and realizing I could have done so much more to build the Kingdom.Young Men, go on missions! Young Women, pray do see if Heavenly Father has it in his plan for you and if he does..go on missions!!!!!

Today I get to go to the Temple for my only time in the MTC! They've been cleaning it all month. My last time before I leave for France, where there is no temple...yet.

A plus!

Soeur Paxton

California!

 On Fri, 7/20/12, Bethany Paxton 

Hello everyone!

 

As of last wednesday I'm an official California traveler! A total of 6 other sisters and 3 elders went with me to San Franciso. Our plane was delayed and we barely made it to the consolate before they closed for lunch at 12:30. We got there at 12:05. All they did was see if my name and birthday was right, took my fingerprints and picture. Then we went to the fisherman's warf for lunch because they MTC gave us each ten dollars for lunch. We ate at Boudin's met at least 5 LDS families/indiviuals were touring SF and were happy to see us. We explained that why we were there and that we were excited to go to Paris. I'm glad I got to spend a whole day getting to know some of the missionaries I'll be serving with. I was worried that I would get there and not know anybody from the MTC because I wasn't in the same district as the rest. We also met a french woman from Aix-en-Provence at the airport while waiting for our return flight. She loves missionaries and spoke to us in French whenever she could. She was so knowledgable about the church, gospel, temple, new church buildings etc. that you can imagine our surprise at finding out that despite the fact that her late husband and her have fed the missionaries one a month for the past 30 years they never got baptized! She kept calling me "la meilleure eleve de francaise" (best french student) and told the others to stick close to me when we get to Paris. That was definitely a boost of self esteem that I needed for my french abilities.

 

Speaking of speaking French. I finally started practicing giving the lessons in french this week with the two other elders in my district going to Lyon. One of them pretends to be the investigator and the other is the member. I'm the missionary. I was really nervous, yet surprised at how smooth I was. last I checked I was not as good I've been doing so I''m positive it''s the spirit of the Lord helping me where I need helping. Couldn''t do it with out Him! I do have to ask for vocabulary about 8-10 times from the other elders, but that''s not as bad as I thought. Plus, we got three new roommates on wednesday and one is from Paris! She''s been helping me with stuff I dont understand as I read my scriptures in french everynight. Today I have to teach in the TRC by myself in french!

 

Update on my departure date. Everyone else got their departure information yesterday except for me and one other Elder (he has dual citizenship with france so my guess is his departure stuff is coming today) in my district. I have a feeling that I'll have to wait for a sister who can fly with me, but I also don't officially have my visa yet either, but I heard that the church expedites visas after we go to California. So I still don't know what happens after everybody else in my district leaves on the 30th and 31st.

 

I realized last week that I forgot to tell you that my companions are both going to arcadia california on their mission and didn''t know each other before they met on the airplane from samoa to hawaii!

 

This week has had so many spiritual experiences. I wish I could tell them all to you. The one that stands out the most was during choir last sunday. We rehearsed "This is the Christ"" with lyrics by elder faust for tuesday's devotional. There was a line that spoke about how many drops of blood were spilled for me and then was followed by "I too can testify, this is the Christ". I suddenly saw myself sitting on someone's couch testifying of the love of our Savoir. That combined with the beautiful alto harmony was too much. I stopped singing and tried not to cry. The other sisters said "Sister, we need you to sing so we can follow you!"" I was flattered and apologized and explained why. It reminded me of that scripture in D&C where Jospeh and the other witnesses said that they testify that Christ lives. So simple yet so powerful. I can testify of Him and well. I love Him, He loves me and I know He loves each of you.

 

I love you all,

 

Soeur Paxton

I'm Way Too Excited For These Things

Just to let you know. I finally got my FBI clearance the day I did my last post!


You know how girls get excited about clothes while guys get excited over what women call "toys"? Mostly technology and cars, or both. Before you get on a gender role soap box I'll just stop you right now and say that I know that it isn't always that way. I'm proof.

I think the T-Mobile girl is a good combination of both.

Here are a few of the toys that I'm excited to have bought for the mission. I do have to admit that my excitement mostly comes from my feminine side. 

The missionary blanket:

I bought this blanket from Deseret Book for $25 and I'm not totally sold. It's made of suede which is soft and it's large as you can see, but it's also extremely thin. In the summer it will be great, but northern France can get pretty cold in the winter and I'm not sure it will be warm enough.

What really gets me excited is how compact it is! 

It's freaking' smaller than Preach my Gospel! I still think I'm going to have to bring my Snuggie, but the missionary blanket can't be beat in convenience. 

The hair stylers:

These things are all dual voltage, which is great. You can find them at Target or Walmart for pretty cheap. I had such a problem with that when I did my study abroad. My 3rd day in Paris I tried plugging in my iHome and it burst into flames. I almost did that with my blow dryer several times, so I made sure to avoid that this time. The blow dryer has a switch and the straightener automatically adjusts. And for some reason it comes with a tiny one. Any idea of its purpose?

Speaking of power difference, my adapters/converters: 

I'm not sure which name goes with which function, but the large one changes the power from 110 volts to 220. That way things won't blow up like my clock did. The other ones allows the metal tongs to fit into European outlets which are round instead of squarish like ours. You can buy them at Target or Walmart, but a lot of times they're packaged with ones from other countries that you're not going to, which is a waste of money. I got these at a travel store in the mall. About $5 for the small ones and $10 for the big one.


Alarm clock:

I decided to get a clock that used batteries instead of plugging into the wall because then I wouldn't have to worry about buying more converters then necessary. This one was about $12 at Target.


And my favorite thing. My bag!:

I'm not just excited about it in the same way that I get excited about a purse. Honestly, a backpack would be more comfortable, but all European missions require a side bag because they don't stand out as much and are more accepted by Europeans.


What really gets me excited is that it's a SafePac bag. I borrowed one from a friend during my study abroad and it gave me wonderful peace of mind. I knew I had to have one for my mission. This one was about $100.


It had really nice features that prevent it from getting stolen. The bag is made of metal mesh so thieves can't slash and grab stuff as it falls out. The straps have metal wire so it can't be cut from my shoulder.  There is a guard that keeps cyber-thieves from stealing private information from my electronics (not that I'll have a lot on my mission). 

My favorite safety feature is that almost every zipper connects to a hook so pickpockets can't easily unzip my bag when I'm not looking and take things. 

The zipper and hook

The bag also had two side pockets for a water bottle and umbrella. It is smaller than most side bags, but I'm hoping that means it won't hurt my back so much. Plus, it still has plenty of room for a notebook, planner and few other odds and ends.

I can't wait to use all of them starting next week. Next week!