Friday, January 25, 2013

St- Etienne 11

Howdy y'all.  So this week was pretty crazy for us too.  Lots of travelling and sickness etc, we only were able to actually work one day of the week ... well work in St Etienne one day.  But furst, like normal, let's get to the questions:

Yes, it gets dark here about 6 in the evening and we are still out til 9 every night, so it's dark when we get home.

No new amis yet, but some cool progress that I'll tell you about in the day-to-day

No I have not sung at church, but the word is out that I play guitar and sing, and so Soeur Grail (the ward music directrisse) has asked Elder Leau to think about doing something in the future.

I would say that member families here are... well every family is different.  They are French, and that makes a difference, but obviously the gospel is the same.  In some ways they are similar, some ways they are a little ... pessimistic (that's the french side showing) and in some ways they are incredible workers and wonderful people.  President Rony said he loves french members so much because they already do so much to first off stay active, secondly share the gospel with others, and then us americans in our assez cushy lives come and ask them to just give a little more.  They are great on the whole.  It is very inspiring to be around these people.  Somehow they make happy families with good values in a place of the world that, while it might not be third world, is rather difficult to raise a family.

I think that May 2014 sounds like a winner.  I'll leave you to work out the rest of the details about that.

Monday:Kinda, the same old same old for P-days.  IN the evening we had a dinner for all the people who would have to spend Christmas alone, and a few others.  It was really good and fun.  We had lots of various salads and fondu which failed, but still tasted good, and lots of bûches for dessert (like a roll cake thing that's really good and the traditional desert this time of the year.).

Tuesday:  I got to talk with some people on skype that I hadn't seen in a while.  It really was a joy to see you all again, and little monte.  It was too bad I didn't get to see max, but maybe it's better his smelly warty goitery old self stays in memory ha ha., Tell him that I love him too and that all dogs go to heaven, even ones that pee on the floor.  It was fun to catch up with you.  You know what's weird?  I'll be there with you for the next Christmas? Wow, and it will be here before you know it.  The transfers here feel like long weeks honestly and I only have six left after this coming one.  Hélas, There is still much work to be done and much to be learned here in Frog country.  After calls, the same familly just thought it would be easier if we sayed for dinner, so we had round two of deliciouse food.  Mostly Sushi and other rice dishes, thankfully much lighter than the lunch, but still deliciouse!  I know I have said this before, but I want to say it again.  The food here is sooooo so good!  THat doesn't even begin to describe it, it is like magic really ah I love it!

Wednesday:  Went to Lyon for an exchange with the zone leaders.  now those are some hard working msissionaries as in contacting every living thing that they see.  It was a good learning experience.  Not quite the way I work, but then again I still have a lot to learn.  I do talk to lots of people in the road, but ... I don't know, it was a good experience.

Thursday:  We stayed in Lyon that night because we had a zone training the next day.  This is something new that prez started a couple transfers ago.  It is basically the same thing as a district meeting only with the whole zone.  Usually zone conference lasts until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, this only goes until noon.  It wasn't fun, because the night I spent in Lyon i was up all night throwing up and doing other things in the bathroom.  I had a bad fever and terrible stomach pains.  i couldn't consentrate during the conference thing, and I spent most of that in the bathroom as well.  What was worse is I had fasted the day before, so I wasn't throwing up food, just stomach acid, any way not good.  A couple missionary gave me some french meds which stopped my body from killing itself, but like most french meds, it put me out of it pretty bad.  Everyone was asking me if I was ok because i was yellow ha ha.  Anyway getting home was not fun, and the walk from the gare to the appartement was really really difficult.  i was cold and tired and in pain, so I just undressed and went to bed around 5 that afternoon.  

Friday:  I woke up around 9 the next morning, feeling a lot better, but still sick.This whole day was spent in the appartement sleeping and playing monopoly and cards and running to the bathroom.

Saturday:  I felt almost 100% magically, still slept in until 8ish.  We saw Salvator who had a really good lesson.  He agreed to baptism, not with a date, but when he knows it's true he said he'll be baptised.  THen we saw Samuel who was going throught depression because of the holidays (acting kinof like a child honestly).  After that I was feeling really dizzy and out of it so we went home and straight to bed for me... no I took a bath, first bath on my mission (the tub was too small I'm in Europe and everything is so small!) then I went to bed.

Sunday:  Woke up and felt great, good day at church.  Had lunch whith Soeur Grail, her mother, Soeur Galetti and her nice, and a couple other members from other wards.  It was really un dégustation incroyable!  foie gras, bisque aux omars, I felt like I had stepped into France in the fifties, really, it was magical.  soeur galetti's nice is going to get married soon, and since the missionaries were the only male influence there... lots of girl talk about her dress and about how he proposed, it was like a romcom.  Still really fun.  We had to run from that lunch party over to a dinner party at soeur allard's place where we were fed very well also.  Spinach, greenbeans, porkchops, bûche again, and brioche avec confiture d'orange.  Really I hope I can learn to make this stuff for you because it is to die for!  That dinner was much different.  THe last one was a fifties very proper tea party feel, this one... well she is a single mother (a tomboy as well) with three boys, lots of talk about movies and guns, and all that good guy stuff.  It was a fun experience to go between the two extremes like that ha ha.

Now today we are invited  to lunch with a member, and tomorrow lunch with another member... so lots of eating;  Elder LEau and I are going to start running in the mornings.  Ok, I need to go.  I love you all so much Even after all that eating, I still lost 8 pounds after my sickness, ha ha , so still loosing weight.   Je vous aime de tout mon coeur
Je vous embrace fortement!
Elder Luke Crossman missionnaire extrordinaire!  Not really. lol

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