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Dear Family and friends, It's ok that you send long emails now because I have more time out in the field. Congrats to Ben Madsen for his mission call! And mom it's so great to hear about your cousin Linda. Was she able to finally get you some powdered coconut pudding? Was that meeting last minute? I don't remember you talking about it when I was home. How were Olympics? How did the US do? I've only heard about France's stats. Good news is that Mireille said she would get baptized! She's a shy woman and doesn't want to set a date yet, but she loves coming to church and has made several friends in the ward. She’s really excited for the single adult opera fireside happening tonight. This Sunday a woman named Madeleine came to church for the 2nd time. She came to say goodbye to the sister I replaced, Soeur Worsham, who was visiting the ward with her mother and sisters. However, since Madeleine had called a week before to say she no longer wants to see us unless she calls first,we considered it a miracle. She said she would be back next week. It was also lucky that we ran into her at the RER (railroad station) so we could tell her Soeur Worsham was coming. She's kind of a crazy lady, but she has a good heart. This week I had my first district meeting and met all four of the Elders in my district. They're amazing, fun and really dedicated! Picture to follow. We didn't have a lot of appointments this week because in August the whole of France goes on vacation. We spent a lot of time contacting. I'd like to tell you about two interesting experiences I had; one good and one...interesting, but informative one. The first is the interesting one. I saw a woman on the sidewalk and felt I should talk to her, mostly because I thought she was an American tourist. When she turned toward us she suddenly look very frightened, which surprised me because no one has ever been scared of me before. Annoyed, angry, curious, but never afraid. I heard her say something in French about a "cult" and her father and assumed her father had joined the church and she didn’t like it. Soeur Dremeaux kind of got upset and began explaining how we're normal people and what our message was about. After we left her Soeur Dremeaux told me that the woman’s father had taken a card from some missionaries and then killed himself soon after. She blamed the only people she could think of: the missionaries.I wish I had understood what was happening. Instead of being angry I would have said how sorry I was and testified that I know families can together again. It was a very good learning experience for me. I hope I'll be better prepared next time. That same day we were going to door to door and kept getting turned down. I kept having a feeling that someone was searching for what we had to offer. Finally at the 23rd house a woman who was gardening actually came over to the gate to listen to us! She had some good questions and as we were explaining her husband came out with his own questions. Once again I couldn't understand everything, but I could tell they were suspicious questions, even slightly accusatory. Luckily my champion of a companion pressed on as best she could with me doing my best to say what I could. After a while I realized that the type questions he asked indicated that he was searching for truth and had been hurt and betrayed by religion before. Soon, when he saw our sincerity, he softened. He listened to our testimonies and took a Book of Mormon! He also thanked us for being sincere and asked if I would teach his children English! How's that for a 180? I remember how often Katelyn would say her mission was the hardest, best thing ever. And it really is. I've been so exhausted yet so strengthened in my life. And it's only going to get better from here! Until next week, Bethany PS the pictures are me in front of modern art, more funny street art, me in front of lillies like Monet, me in font of hagrid's hunt (trash bin building) holding an imaginary wand and the Elders in my district.