Toulouse, France


Monday, June 25, 2018

District meeting and It's so hot here!!!

Bonjour tout le monde ! 
This week was crazy hot and humid and super busy! I'll try to remember the big stuff. 
Tuesday we had our exchange in Lyon with the assistants, which went really well. Elder Romer and I taught a bunch of lessons, and I learned a lot about teaching and really loving those we serve! 
Thursday was district meeting by Elder Thambo, which was straight fire - we talked about making good impressions and how important it is to know the doctrine by heart. 
Friday was tough. Elder Johnson was super sick, so we went to the doctor's and he was dead asleep for most of the day. So I got a great study in and plenty of time to ponder, AND I cleaned the apartment, which was very necessary. It was also la fête de la musique here in France, but as I said, we were inside... Look it up though, from what we could tell from our apartment it was pretty awesome! 
Saturday was way busy. We played foot in the morning, directly followed by RCM, which was followed by English class. Then we went and got ice cream because 1) The doctor recommended it and 2) It's like 12,000 degrees here. Good day! 
Church yesterday was very enlightening and pday today was super fun. We played tennis in the morning, then the Elders from Carcassonne came in for an exchange, so we had a picnic all together and played Frisbee. Chill pday, just how I like them. 
Anyways, I'm doing really well. We've talked a lot about the Restoration of the church and the importance of scriptures! I've learned in the last year and a half that whenever I have a spiritual question or need, I can turn to the scriptures and really find answers! Prayer and scripture study, it really works!

Je vous aime ! 
Elder Suisse 

Pics:
Pday with Carcassonne and the Capitole Sœurs
District meeting! 
Me and Elder Romer with a cat we found
MLC last week




Monday, June 18, 2018

Happy Birthday David!!! We love you!


Goodbyes and ice cream!

Bonjour tout le monde, 
This week was awesome! We're in Lyon right now for an exchange tomorrow, so apologies in advance if this email is kind of short. We did a ton of service and yard work this week, as well as playing football on Saturday, so I've been rocking the farmer's tan all week. We've found some cool new amis, and have had a great time teaching them! 
We had our last MLC with Président and Sœur Brown on Friday. Elder Johnson and the rest of his group gave their departing testimonies (they go home the beginning of July), as did the Browns. I'm going to miss them so much! Thankfully they live in Utah, so I'll be able to visit. We're excited to meet Président and Sœur Giraud-Carrier, who will be coming in July 1. Ah, change is weird!
Saturday was way fun! We played foot, had a picnic with a member and got ice cream in the evening.
I'm so grateful for the chance I have to improve and to serve! I'm thankful for my wonderful family and friends, and for this beautiful earth. Most of all, I'm grateful for a loving God who supports me through good times and bad. 
Thanks for everything, je vous aime !
Elder Suisse

Pics:
Birthday ice cream at the Capitole building
Last group picture with our group and the Browns! 

Monday, June 11, 2018

Du feu et de la pluie

Bonjour mes petits choux ! 
This week was about as crazy as it gets. Big reminder that no matter what we plan, it's important to always be ready to go with the flow. 
Tuesday was intense. In the morning we did some service for an older sister in our ward. I ended up using a chainsaw to cut down a tree, but it turns out I'm really bad at that and cause a lot of friction, and the tree ended up setting on fire. Thankfully as soon as the tree was down it started pouring rain, with lightning and thunder to boot. Then on the way home we found out that the metro was canceled, due to flooding caused by the rain, so we had to wait in the rain for an hour and half with like a hundred grumpy French people for a but. Honestly though, my number one feeling was how grateful I am for busses haha. We finally got home and quickly found out that there's a problem with our water heater and we'll have only cold water for the next week. Tough day, but exciting! 
Wednesday was awesome! We had dinner with a family in the ward whose son is preparing to be baptized, so we got to teach him - I love teaching little kids! So humble and faithful! 
Thursday we had some very cool rendez-vous - one was with an old French couple called the Cuveliers, where we ate crêpes and had a sweet doctrinal discussion. Right after that we went over chez an African family - the Sonos. We ate fish soup and African corn paste and acted out the story of Abinadi and it was great! It was pretty funny to see the difference between the two families - I love them all so much! 
Saturday was insane. We played foot in the morning, then spent the rest of the day at the chapel doing service. It turns out that some hooligans swung by the church in the middle of the night and set a motorcycle on fire right up next to the building, which blew in the windows and really damaged the chapel. Anywho, we spent most of the day cleaning that up with a family and doing détective work (not really, all the evidence was pretty burned but we had a good time pretending). 
Sunday we had only one hour of church due to the damages from yesterday, but it was a very good hour! 
Today we played tennis in the morning and caught up on everything we were behind on, had an awesome rendez-vous with a new amie, then we all went and ate at a Chinese buffet!! A much appreciated pday. It's currently pouring rain so here's hoping the metro doesn't shut down again haha...
Anywho, this week was great! Kind of all over the place, but we had the chance to serve and I feel like a better person after it all, and that's what matters!
Je vous aime ! 
Elder Suisse 

Pics:
Us at the crime scene being detectives. The police said they didn't need the helmet for evidence, so we took it home and it's sitting on my desk :) 
Chinese buffeeeeeet! 


Monday, June 4, 2018

Transfers and ice cream parties!

Bonjour !
This week was craaaazy! We've been at the gare all day moving luggage for all those who are being transferred, so I don't have a ton of time, but I'll try to get all the fun stuff :) and now that I think about it, all the fun stuff started Thursday, so we'll start there. 
Thursday was district meeting! Elder Sweet gave a great lesson about planning and learning French as best as we can. THEN we Skyped in with all the other zones and President Brown congratulated everyone for the work we've done with our members, and we all ate giant ice cream sundaes and corn dogs for lunch, in that order. Best day ever.
Friday was transfer calls! Elder Johnson and I are staying together, which means I'll be his last companion, as he finishes in six weeks! Other transfer news, Elder Carman, one of my pals from Lyon, will be one of our district leaders, so I get to do exchanges with him! Also, the Concorde elders were replaced by a pair of Sœurs, which means we'll be sharing Toulouse with two équipes of sisters (and also no more eating dinner and hanging out with the Concorde elders at our apartment Sunday nights...), so we'll see how that goes! Then in the evening we had an awesome rendez-vous with our ami, Joe! We ate some sweet african food chez one of our members, Kobe, and talked about the temple and the importance of coming to church, and it was great!
Sunday we had a devotional for western Europe instead of church. Elder Uchtdorf talked about being real disciples of Christ and what that implies, and it was way cool.
Like I said, today we hung out at the gare all day helping everyone with their bags and welcomed Sœurs Friolo, Tway and Hafen to Toulouse. We're excited to see how everything works out!
We had a lot of really cool conversations with people this week. We were at the gare and ran into some young adults from North Carolina and had a great time talking about America, then had a sweet conversation about the gospel! And that kind of stuff happens all the time - awesome people just randomly bumping into us. I've become a big believer that rien n'est par hazard ! God really is paying attention to even the small things in our lives and He loves us!
Bonne semaine, je vous aime ! 
Elder Suisse

Pics:
Zone ice cream party! 
Ice cream and Chinese food at the Capitole
Transfer day!