Babyfoot

Each Monday for Family Home Evening with the JA's we have a lesson and then a game followed by some yummy snacks. Elder Harper has been in charge of the games lately and last week we played human foosball (babyfoot in French). He and the others begged me to play with them this time although I usually don't play ball with them. I finally, unfortunately for me, agreed. Well at the end of the game, I got the ball kicked at me from about a 3 foot distance and it hit me right in the knee. At first it really hurt, but I thought it would get better. However after a few days it started to get worse and worse until now it hurts so much that I can hardly walk. I have to do steps one at a time without bending the one knee and I am limping around. I do have artificial, titanium knees, so it's not the actual knee itself that is hurting, but something in there really, really hurts a lot. I am heating it and taking ibuprophen for the swelling, but I am still up most of the nights in pain. Poor me. I guess I just need to complain a bit. I usually have a really high tolerance for pain, but something must be kinda bad in there. I just hope I will recover really soon so I will be able to function pain free.

Train problems

We had just finished lunch and were cleaning up a little and getting ready to go to teaching appts, when Pres. called and told us that due to the 2 train crash in Brussels yesterday 2 of the sister missionaries, Sisters Bagwell and Clark were stranded in Mouscron at the Gare. They had come to France yesterday to do their legality and had to spend the night to finish up today. After they were done they took the train, but it detoured and went to Kortrijk instead. Someone told them to take another train and then transfer 2 times, but the first train actually stopped in Mouscron and they were told that there would be no more trains today at all. So, Pres. asked us to help them out. He actually had to cancel our appts. for us because our Belgian phone doesn't work in France and vice versa and our appts were in France. We happily picked up the Sisters and drove them to Saint Ghislain where Sister Brubaker, pres's wife, met us at the half way point and picked them up. We had a nice ride together and had some fun conversation- an unexpected but pleasant afternoon.

Valentines Day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
I hope you have all had a really great day.
Our day began very early. We left the house at 7:00 and went to Calais. Dh had to do financial stuff and an audit with the ward financial secretary, the Bishop, and some other people. They began at 9:00. Then they went to Sacrament where Dh gave a great impromptu talk. Back to work after Sacrament until 4:00. That was a lot of work and took quite a bit of time.
We finally left church about 4:15 and drove for 2 hours for a Valentine's Soiree with our friends the Janda's. We had such a fun time together, eating, talking, telling stories, and laughing. We finally arrived home shortly before midnight.
I love their lovely home( a former parsonage). Here is a picture of the front of it. Kaye was wearing her sari because it is pink. She looked very nice.

The table setting was so pretty with little Valentines cards at each place and hearts scattered about.

After appetizers and sparkling peach drink we had a delicious dinner.

It started with shrimp in an avacado with a tasty sauce.




Then we had Coquilles St. Jacques, Cauliflower au Gratin, and green beans.

This was followed by salad and then an assortment of cheeses.

Dessert was mango or framboise sorbet and chocolates.

It was all so yummy.

Changes

We have had some interesting news today. Our mission is having it's boundaries changed. The Dutch speaking and the French speaking will now be in 2 separate missions. We are now going to be in the Paris Mission. The changes are taking place on March 1, 2010. We are not sure of anything else. Our new mission pres is President Don Staheli. He will be making all of the decisions. Pres. B. thinks that our calling will probably remain the same, but we will have to wait and see. We don't even know if we will have to move or not. Either way will be great.

District Meeting -Feb 2010

Each week we have district meeting when our district gets together. We discuss our goals, our activities, investigators, make plans, and have a lesson. This weeks lesson was on companionships. D&C42:6 "Ye shall go forth in the power of my spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God." Sisters Gappmaier and Kohler were the guest lesson givers today. They did an excellent job. Some of the concepts that we discussed were that companions should support one another in proclaiming the truth and bearing witness of it. They should help each other work and grow and also help one another in times of difficulty. They should study together, pray together, and try to serve one another. They also should celebrate their successes. They had several activities for us to do. One of them was a game to see how well we know each other. Each companionship also had to make up a victory dance or handshake that they could do when they had a success. Oh, it was so funny. Even Dh and I had to make one up. We made up a short little dance and the missionaries got a big kick out of us. Can you just picture us? Everyone had a turn and it really was fun. We got to laugh and clap for each other. Sisters Kohler and Gappmaier.

Sisters Nielsen and Carson.

Elders Bertrand and Carpenter had quite a long and a bit complicated set of moves.

Elders Harper and Porter loved this activity.




Elders Paoli and Shaunig were going to a service project after the mtg, hence their attire. These two love to goof around, but when it's time to teach the gospel, they are serious and awesome missionaries who really have the spirit.

We have been blessed to have really great missionaries to work with. We are in awe of the knowledge and testimony of these young men and women. They are just wonderful. They are clean cut, hardworking, fun loving young men and women who love God and Jesus Christ. They are talented in so many areas and they are a pleasure to be with. I know the Lord is very pleased with their work and their efforts.

We have had a busy week again with lots of lessons to teach. I even surprised myself this week by teaching several concepts in French to a young couple. She just was not understanding the concepts that the elders and Dh had taught her previously although they did a great job. I explained things to her at a very basic level (in French no less:{ ) and she finally understood. I think it's because she had to listen so carefully to even understand my French that she "got it". Also because she is a girl, she could relate a bit better to me and because I spoke slowly, she had time to actually think about what I was saying. I know the Lord was helping me as I was trying to speak in French.

I have also been doing some repairs and alterations for the elders. January is a months of huge sales in France and so the missionaries had some fun shopping on their p-days They all love the chic, french styles. So, I have had several pairs of pants to shorten or lengthen. I also get to repair rips and tears. Good thing I brought my trusty needle.

Interviews 2/10 and Institue (Pay Back)

We had the best mtg last Thursday. The Zone leaders prepared a great lesson and while the Pres. interviews one missionary at a time, except for the couples who go together, the rest listen and participate in the lesson. While he was interviewing we talked a lot about the war in heaven and how that war is still continuing on today. We need to know what our weapons are against Satan and his wiles. Here is a short list of some of the weapons each of us has; the spirit(sword), our companion, scriptures, prayer, power of the truth, testimony, a living prophet, prophecy, desire, priesthood, knowing truth from error, and being able to choose the right. We expanded on each of these and discussed how they could help us. It was so interesting and uplifing to know that we have the power and the knowledge to do what is right and to be able to teach others correct principles.
For lunch 2 of the sister missionaries fixed Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice, and green beans. Sister Kohler's mom made these cute aprons for them. Then Elders Bertrand and Harper just had to wear those aprons as they cooked scones. They goofed around posing and acting silly, but their scones were d e l i c i o u s. We have soooooo much fun with the missionaries. They are so nice and good to us. We just love them.

Elders Shaunig(Austria) and our 2 French missionaries Paoli and Darguence. All 3 of them are speaking English now. Shaunig perfectly, Darguence getting there, and Paoli (he's new) coming right along.

Soeur Kohler, and Sister Brubaker.

Elder Carpenter is just the nicest. He is an awesome missionary.

The clean up committe in the background and Soeur Carson and Soeur Nielson.




You can see how much these companionships love each other. They even buy matching things to wear.

Each thursday for institute I prepare a meal. This week it was burritos, chips, and banana bread and cupcakes for dessert. The young adults love everything I make. They tell me I should publish a cook book. They are very kind. Our JA membership is growing happily. We have a few investigators attending and a few inactives coming out again. We are so happy.

Once a month the high councilors meet with the stake president and they are always happy if it's in our bldg because after the mtg, they always come in to see "what's cooking". As you can see they love to eat the food too. I very rarely ever have anything left over. They eat every last crumb. One of the men, Pierre, our old Bishop came into the kitchen and told me that he was not going to eat because his wife was holding dinner for him. Before I knew it, he was holding the empty banana bread pan and was scraping out the crumbs with a spoon and eating them. :)

Now for my pay back story. Several month ago we went to the party for Manu and Anne Louise. At that party Brother Vanaquer, our institute director, laced one of the cream puffs with lots of tobasco. I was the lucky recipient of that cream puff. I took one bite and it was oh so hot. I asked Dh how his cream puff was and he said it was just so delicious. Not wanting to make a scene, I quietly asked him to take a tiny taste of mine. He did and said that indeed it was very hot. My mouth was actually burning for a long time after that. I was holding the cream puff not knowing quite what to do with it when I noticed that lots of people were watching me. I quickly realized what was happening and they all burst out laughing. Well, I told Brother Vanaquer, "faites attention (be careful)" because he would get his turn. Since then we have joked about it quite a bit and he occasionally would look at some food I made and ask me, "tobasco?" "No," I always answered, but "faites attention". Well Thursday was pay back day. Soeur Carson was helping me frost the cupcakes and we sprinkled a lot of salt on one of them. Also we mixed salt into the frosting for that cupcake. It was going to be gross. Elder Bertrand came over and said that there was not enough salt. So, he carefully moved aside some of the frosting and sprinkles and with a toothpick made a hole right in the center. Then he filled it with salt and put the frosting back so that it looked as good as new. So the plan was in motion. That evening I was going to give it to Brother Vanaquer. Many of the JA's were in on the plan because they already knew the story. Finally after eating the burritos we served dessert. Luckily 2 of the JA's had a birthday, so I took the tray with the cupcakes and Virginie held 2 of them (the special one and a regular one). After singing Joyeux Anniversaire she gave one to Brother Vanaquer and one to the JA next to him. Then we all watched expectantly except he was sooooooo slow finishing his burritos. Just before he was to eat it, I unexpectantly got called out to talk to the Stake Pres. Oh no, what bad timing that was. I didn't want to leave. This is what happened next. He finished eating and then he got called by one of the high council guys to talk to him. So, he stood up and said, "Noone eat my cupcake." But then he paused and turned around to take a bite to ensure that noone would eat it. As soon as he took the first lick/bite he got his surprise. I then heard a lot of laughter and told the Pres that I would be right back. As soon as I walked into the room, he looked at me and pointed at me and said, "You, you're the one responsible." Everyone was laughing so hard. "Oh yes," I said. "It was me and the missionaries." He told me that as soon as he had that first lick, he immediately knew what was happening. He told me that, "You got me good". We laughed several times during the evening about it. Then he told me that I was the salty girl and he was the spicy boy. It really turned out to be lots of fun. I am not a person who plays jokes on people and in fact this was my very first time and I was glad that he took it well. He does, however, like to play jokes on people often. He also held up 2 thumbs and told me one for one. Soooo, I guess I'll have to wait and see if this is the end or not.:)

Dominique and little Kelly

Yesterday we visited Dominique. She is a very nice young woman from Gabon. Kelly is her little daughter. I am surprised how many people have come to France from other countries. There are many, many people here from Africa. I guess things really are very, very bad in many areas in Africa and people want a better life for themselves and for their children. Kelly has it pretty tough. Recently she is got a job and is working in a little clothing store. However, the job is just part time and temporary. She is also taking some sort of training for further employment. For a while she was spending her days going from door to door looking for a job so that she could earn money. She is one of those who wants to work for what she has. She does not want to depend on the dole. I feel sad that it's so tough for her. She has all of her family back in Gabon. Her little brother left for South Africa when he was 5. Yes you read that right- 5 and he has been living there all these years. She says there is nothing Gabonese left in him. I don't know his story, but imagine he was sent there to live with someone. How does a 5 year old leave his country?

Dominique was found by the sister missionaries last year and they taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. She told us that she has been to many churches and that they all wanted her to be baptized, but she never felt right about it. Then she started attending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said that she felt a warmth in her heart and a very good feeling when she prayed and she knew that this was the church she wanted to join.

She wants to do genealogy, but it's difficult for her because the men (her father and grandfathers) have many wives and no dates for marriages or any other events. Apparently when they like a woman, they "take her" in a tribal ceremony and they become a wife. The only concrete dates that she has are death dates. She is going to try to record those.

In spite of all of these hardships, she is happy, pleasant, hard-working and a fun young woman. I sure have to hand it to her and wish her the very best. I know the church will be helping her to make a good life for herself.