11 November 2013 Bonne Apres Midi

No photos from Bethany this week. Due to the Veteran’s Day holiday in France the Internet Café was closed and the computer they used at the church was slow. But we have attached a scan of a postcard she mailed us of the Chateau that is only a few blocks from her apartment. We also received a  touching email from her Mission President telling us how much he appreciated working with Bethany during the past 17 months. And he pointed out all the wonderful qualities she has developed. It made this mom tear up for sure!

 

Bonne Après Midi!                                                                    11 November 2013

 

Well, it's afternoon here even if it's not where you are, and you don't really say that as a greeting. But I'm running low on greetings here guys!

So, Soeur Bernhardt found out that her visa petition was granted, but we had to spend several hours on the computer filling out more information and then getting on the phone to make the appointment at the American Consulate. She had me do it because she thought it would only be English (I knew it wouldn’t be.) Turns out that everybody I spoke to was French, but I did it anyway.

We set it up for this Wednesday at 7:30 am!! Tuesday we're going to be in Angers until 5pm for Zone Conference and then we take a train to Paris. The Consulate is not far from where I lived in Nanterre so we're going to stay there Tuesday night. If all goes well, Sr. Bernhardt will be on a plane on either Monday or Tuesday next week.

Also, I got some news from my trainer, Sr. Dremeaux (now home from her mission). She's engaged!!! To an Elder who served in our mission too. They had dated before, but it ended several months before both of them started their missions. She told me she didn't care about him anymore, but I knew better. ;) I'm just glad neither of them restarted anything while still on the mission. I just sent her a big email saying "I KNEW IT" over and over again. I'm so excited for her!

And it's cool because Sr. Dremeaux, actually she's Amandine now, worked before her mission in the same town where Sr. Bernhardt grew up, Albi. Sr. Bernhardt and I were able to scream and jump around together when I found out.

So Blois is just the prettiest town you've ever seen. Especially when you see it from across the Loire River. I love seeing it when I'm on the train. When I go to Angers tomorrow I'm going to try to take a video of it. It looks like something out of a Disney movie. Actually, a member just told me today that Chambord was the inspiration for the castle in Sleeping Beauty.

We actually taught lessons last week!!! One was with a very Catholic grandmother who had some really great questions about the Family Proclamation. Another was with a young mother that the other Sisters had found a month earlier. Turns out she wasn't that interested, she said so from the very beginning. We were both going to just say thank you and leave, but something told us to push and find out why she was so hesitant. It's turns it's mostly rooted in Joseph Smith being a prophet and the Book of Mormon. She didn't understand why we needed more from God in our day, when we already had the Bible. We bore testimony about both of them for two lessons in a row and while she still wasn't sure after we left the 2nd time, I was so happy.

The Spirit was strong during both lessons as we testified. I know she felt it, you could see it on her face. She knew that she had to at least make the effort to ask God to know if it was true or not. I realized how much I'm going to miss testifying everyday with my authority as a missionary. I can still testify every day, but I won't be set apart. It is a privilege that it so wonderful and I sometimes took for granted. But I will miss it so much.

 

Love, Bethany

4 November 2013 I'm in Blois!

Bonjour from Blois!!!!
Oh.....my......gosh!!!!!! Blois is exactly the type of ville that I always wanted to serve in. Just the cutest, oldest, neatest town EVER!!!!! It was probably the smallest town I've served in, which scared Soeur Bernhardt and me when we first got here, but it's bigger than it looks.
It's a medieval type town and is surrounded by a lot of chateaus. One of them is right in Blois and is literally our neighbor! We went to it today. The chateau I really want to see is Chambord. However, there is only one bus that goes at 1PM and another that returns at 5PM. That would mean no time for emails. So we're still trying to figure out how we're going to do it.
One thing that surprised me about Blois is how many Muslims and Africans are here. Normally, little towns like that don't have that many, Arras and Quimper had like none; they mostly stay in the bigger cities. Being in St.Ouen was good for me because I got a LOT of practice teaching them. Nothing new for me.
The Branch is not terribly small; about 30 people at church every Sunday (Quimper had 15 on a good day.) And they have their own building too, a nice one. They like talking about how terrible it was up until four years ago, when they used to have to meet in an apartment. The members were really welcoming and are excited to have 4 sisters. There are quite a few investigators at church which was wonderful!
I met the President’s (of the mission) mother and was a little surprised at her greeting "So, are you a slaver?" Yup, because she heard I was from Alabama. It was a joke……!
There seems to be a lot of problems with people (in the Branch) getting offended here, but that always seems to be the case in Branches. I think it's because it's so small and easy to get on people's nerves. I like them though!

We live at 60 rue Denis Papin 41000 Blois FRANCE if you want to write me, but keep in mind that I'm leaving France soon. Our apartment is right in the middle of Centre Ville which is the area that most towns in France like to keep looking old for tourist reasons. However, despite the fact that it looks old it's probably the best apartment I've lived in or visited my whole mission. It's got a really nice layout. It's a little cramped with four sisters, but it's not that bad. I'm sleeping on the couch and there is an extra mattress for Soeur Bernhart. We had to spend the first few days buying stuff for the apartment, like a bar to hang clothes on, coat hangers, drawers, etc, so we would have room for all of our stuff.
We're living with Soeur Judd who is in her 24th transfer here and Soeur Doyle who is also new to Blois. Both are from Utah. We have SO MUCH FUN with them!!! I'll have to show you pictures of them next time. Soeur Bernhardt and I also get along great! I LOVE having someone to ask French questions to again. She doesn't really like practicing English, but I make her practice lessons with me in the morning. It's also cool to have the same acquaintances from Arras. I've been able to get the updates about the members that I wanted, especially the YSA serving missions.
So Soeur Bernhardt was really confused when she found out that she was leaving Evry after only two weeks. She thought that she had done something wrong. However, the Assistants told her that the President strongly felt that she had things to do in Blois. We also found out from Soeur Judd that she had been praying for another set of missionaries to come to Blois for three months because she feels that there is work to be done in Blois. Soeur Bernhardt and I feel a little pressure from all of this, but we also feel comforted to know that the Lord had told more than one person that we're needed here.

It's kind of daunting to come to a town and not know anybody, not know how to get anywhere and not having ANY investigators. We decided to start small and grow big. We prayed that we could just fix one appointment with someone our first day. And we did!!! With a family! And then the next day we called someone the other Blois sisters contacted a month ago and set an appointment with her! And THEN our third day, after having a very interesting lesson with an old Muslim couple, I felt I needed to talk to a young woman passing by, and SHE was interested too! We got one appointment every day that we've been here; if we keep going like that we'll have LOTS of appointments. Of course, it won't be like that every day, but we still know we have the Lord on our side.
We've also managed to make appointments with former amis that the other sisters had to stop teaching because they stopped progressing. Many of them were interested in meeting with us again when they heard a real French girl on the phone! NOW Soeur Bernhardt knows why she was needed. Also, there have been several less active women who know Soeur Bernhardt and agreed to meet with us, when the other sisters were unable to do so.
Bethany