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