Bethany found out this week that she is transferring out of Torcy. Below is her new address effective Wednesday, Jan 16^th:

Sister Bethany Paxton
17 bis. Avenue de la Gare
29000 Quimper
FRANCE

Quimper is located in the Finestere (Land’s End) or Bretagne region of France. It is the westernmost point of the country and juts out between the English Channel and the Bay of Biscayne. Her address on Google Maps shows a hotel located across the street from the train station. Busy area of the town!

Hey there ya'll,

Wow! That was a super dumb greeting, but I'm running out of creative ways of saying "hello".

So, I am being transferred. It was inevitable after staying four transfers in Torcy. I'll be going to Quimper (pronounced CAMPAIR) which is in the very west corner of Bretagne. I wanted to serve in Bretagne because of its reputation so I'm satisfied. I hope it will be a little warmer because it's near the coast and a little farther south than Paris. Regardless though, it will probably be cloudier. I'm really starting to miss the sun, sigh, Tant Pis!

Once again, my companion will not be an American, something I like because then people don't get the impression that the church is full of only Americans. She's Sr.Alves from Tahiti. If you recognize her name it's because I talked about her before. I did my first exchange with her when she was serving in Rouen. She's dying this transfer (going home) and I get to be the one to kill her (her last companion). It's a little bit of an honor to kill someone on your mission, I don't really understand why.

The next transfer is only going to be 5 weeks to accommodate the new MTC schedule where missionaries only stay for 6 weeks instead of 9.

Sr. Alley from Nogent is also leaving, which was a surprise because she was in the middle of training her new companion. However, her “blue” had already done one transfer in SLC and already knew French (she’s French Canadian) so I guess the Lord figured Sr. Alley was needed in Caen. This will be hard for us because she and I have lived together since we both got to France. She really had become a true friend and confidant. I plan on writing her until we both go home next December. Luckily she's from Farmington (Utah) so I'll see her after the mission as well.

  

We had more miracles this week. On Tuesday we taught N____ with the Meaux Elders since she's moved into their area. She got along well with them and we felt they would take good care of her. Then on Wednesday the Meaux Elders said they were able to fix a baptism date for January 26!!!! The big hurdle is that she is a big smoker, so our whole district fasted for her. They still haven't taught her the Word of Wisdom yet, but I have faith things will go well. I look forward to updates from Sr. Soares.

On Tuesday we passed by a house to see a woman who had told us to come back later. We thought her name was Mudel, but it turns out it was New Deal. Yes, you read that right! She's 20 and taking care of her cousins while their mother is in the hospital. Her 12 year old cousin Dusty (yes, again, you've read it right) also listened. We've seen them 3 times already and they are progressing very well. Dusty even gave a perfect summary of the first lesson after we gave her the Restoration pamphlet. They both promised to pray to know if our message was true. Yesterday Dusty's mother was allowed to leave the hospital just for the weekend to see her children. She allowed the Elders to give her a blessing. It was such a marvelous experience! I'm sad I'm leaving Torcy at this time and can't wait to hear news about everyone.

  

Here's something interesting I read on lds.org this week: “In the weeks following the missionary age announcement, the Church reported that missionary applications had increased dramatically (from 700 applications per week to 4,000), with women comprising more than half of the applicants. While the number of post-announcement applications is still double what it has been in the past, the total number of men and women who have applied since October is now about equal. Prior to the announcement, approximately 15 percent of missionaries were young women.”

Well that's all there's time for this week. I love you all!

Bethany