Aug 27th

Wow! I didn't think Laura was going to be back at school so soon, but I guess it is the end of the month. Glad to know that she was able to meet up with family. Dad, I was so sad to see that Euro Disney is literally ten minutes outside of my area! So close!!!! (Larry proselyted at DisneyWorld while on his mission in Florida and his brother Charlie did the same at DisneyLand while on his mission to California. It would have been a world wide Disney mission effort by the Paxtons! – Vicki) The weather is much cooler now so I probably won’t need a fan until next summer, but thanks for the offer mom and dad. We don’t have to take a bus to the train station, but we walk just the way that you described Dad, around the Round-About. However, we do sometimes have to take a bus from the station to other areas farther away when we do contacting. This week we had a Sisters conference in Paris. It was great to meet all of the Sister missionaries and to be spiritually uplifted. I learned so much and am now working on having more desire and faith. Also, President told us that we can’t contact men any more. It was ironic because Sis. Dremeaux and I are usually too scared to. However, the day before we finally contacted quite a few men who seemed interested in our message. And then we we're told we couldn't do that anymore. Oh well! Last Monday we taught a woman who was distraught over the death of her beloved husband 18 months ago. She appreciated our concern for her, but absolutely refused to turn to god for help because she blames him. It was a little frustrating because she basically refused to be happy. Even atheists will tell you that you can choose to be happy and our message in even greater because we know the lord is there, just waiting for us to turn to him. She also kept saying that even other women who lost their husbands couldn’t relate to her because they weren’t her. In my mind I kept thinking, exactly! But the Savior does understand. Perfectly! Sadly I could see that she wouldn't listen so I prayed to know what words I should leave her with. I could tell sister Dremeaux did the same thing because we both, without consulting each other, left her with the thought that she has a choice, a choice to be happy, a choice to turn to a loving and waiting God. I hope she realizes that one day. It was interesting because then on Friday we contacted a woman on the street who had just lost her parents and was upset too. But she was willing to listen to what we had to say. Her attitude was better because she chose to think of fond memories of them rather than be angry. Sister Dremeaux told her about how our church was into genealogy and that caught the woman’s interest. I was really mad that I didn’t have my Pedigree chart with me even though I had been prompted earlier that week to do so. However, I was able to help because I was the only one who knew the website address. Both of those experiences have had me thinking about the scripture that says the hearts of the fathers will be turned to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Also, I thought of how someone told me that missionaries leave their families for a little while, so other families can be together for eternity. That's why I'm here! Love, Bethany