Helllooooo from the beautiful city of Orléans!
I really love it here! Life moves so much more slowly the further you are from Paris. People aren't in a hurry and they actually stop to talk to you!!! We've already met so many cool people.
Being away from the Temple has been quite the adjustment for me. I'm used to being surrounded by so many missionaries, so now that it's just us two in our area, so it's hard not to feel isolated! It's really great though and the distance makes it easier to focus on the work. I'm so excited to be here and am so blessed!
Moving here was quiiittteee the adventure. I'd decided to try to fit everything I owned into ONE suitcase (I usually have two) because I thought it would make traveling to my new area a little easier. While this was a good idea in theory, my upper back and arms are not too grateful because that suitcase was probably 200 lbs and we had to carry it up sooooo many flights of stairs. Needless to say, I was super tired but I slept so well that night.
Since being here in Orléans, I have:
- Taken half my weight in cold medicine, as I have been super sick the last few days
- Been on so many trams and buses and trains (you need to take so many in order to get anywhere)
- Been back to the Temple, hahaha more on that later!
- Read the Book of Mormon with 3 awesome recent converts
- Went to church and met my new ward! Everyone is so nice and they were really friendly. Sœur Dorton was there with her family too, so we got to be in a trio for a few hours!
- Sakura was baptized! I'll attach some pictures. She looked so beautiful and it was such a special day for all of us.
On Friday, we had a rendez-vous with an "eternal" amie named Marie. She's been meeting with the missionaries for 10 years and they've never been able to figure out why she won't be baptized. So, upon meeting her, I decided to be straight-up and just ask her. She told me that she didn't think being a member the Church would bring her anything new. She was already baptized into another religion, so she was set on staying that way.
I asked if she knew about the Temple, and she said she'd first heard about it last week when she did a Skype tour of the Visitors' Center! She said she loved the tour but didn't think she was allowed to go in person. I quickly explained that there was a Visitors' Center and gardens, and I was like... Do you want to go... ? And she said yes!
So yeah long story short, we went to the Temple the VERY NEXT DAY! It was such a special experience and she really loved it. It changed a lot of things for her and now, guess what, she wants to be baptized! The special spirit at the Temple changed everything for her, and this experience strengthened my testimony of the power of the Temple.
That's all the time I have for this week! Bisous!
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| The view from my apartment! |
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| Met a new friend |
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| Sœur Fears and our new friend |
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| Made S. Fears an omelette to celebrate Mother's Day |
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| There is a tradition in Orléans that you go to this bridge and watch the sunset. This was our view! |
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| Some photos from Sakura's baptism! |
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| Me and S. Fears our first day together |
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| Transfers at Paris Montparnasse |
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| My train ticket! Side note: Our train car looked like the ones in Harry Potter. We kept expecting the trolley lady to come by selling some chocolate frogs. |
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