Saturday, March 27, 2010

Bonjour ma famille


Bonjour mes petites pallies!!!



So I want to start off by saying we only get 30 minutes on email.  In fact, there is a little timer in the corner, and it shuts off after 30 minutes.  I feel like I'm on a game show....



AH le MTC.  It's a different place, that's for sure, and I mean that in a good way.  But my first day was literally a headache.  I got there earlier than I should have, so they took me to the "early arrivals" room.  I was the only sister, and it was kinda weird because I'm used to being around boys and talking to them.  They were not so sure what to do with ME, however, so I was placed in a corner by myself.  After a while a Samoan sister showed up, and I was no longer alone.  MAIS-- there was ONE elder that I had a class with at BYUI!!  How chouette is that???  Class that first day was a tough monkey too because I was running on about two hours of sleep, and all I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and sleep.  No such luck.  I met ma tres cher collegue (my dear companion) at class, and the rest of my district.  Our district is composed of 9 missionaires, which is apparently a large district.  Tous les missionaires vont aller (are going) a France-- there are four, including me, going to Paris, and five going to toulouse.  The elders going to my mission... well, let me start with ma favorite (not.).



Il y a (there is) an elder who thinks he is la Shiz.  No joke.  Took a giant semester full of French and now thinks he is AWESOME!!!!  Yeah, maybe he is.  But I have a hard time getting past his giant ego to really get to know him.  Actually, he must be a decent man because he is now (joy) my District leader.  But I've decided I will never criticize his leading skills.  We're all inexperienced, and he was called to that position.  He corrects to prove he is right, but not out of love.  And he's wrong half the time.  Honest.  He made this big deal out of our pronunciation of our purpose.  For those who speak french (Comme Scott) you will get this.  He says "EEnveetay" pour "inviter" and "SANE" pour "Saint" et "FEEEN" pour "fin".  Honest?  Got on our cases for not saying those words that way.  Well, I leaned over to my companion and said (because I was still at a point where I wanted to just let him be the teacher and I'll be the humble student) and said, quietly "I'm not sure that's how you say those words.  I think you say it "anveetay" and "sannn"  and "fan"."  She said "I don't know."  So I said, "me either."  Well, our real teacher came back after our personal study and heard us using this elder's pronunciation.  He swiftly corrected us.  Guess I was right.  Huh.  BUT-- and this is for Mom-- I did not say "HA!" or "I TOLD YOU SO!".  I just turned to an elder next to me and said, "did you catch that?  Is that how we pronounce that?"  So I'm pretty sure this elder is going to keep me on my toes.  I no longer worry about being the know-it-all, because all I have to do is observe this elder and NOT do what he's doing.



There's another elder that has taken it upon himself to be chums avec les soeurs.  Why?  His companion is a lot less mature than him.  The first day of class, all he could do was look shocked at what his companion had to say.  But I've noticed, now that they sit next to les soeurs, all is well.  Je pense it's because we encourage his companion to be less of the world and a little more mature.  He treats us with such respect, and we weren't even trying to help him.  I guess that's just how our district works.  BUT-- I must say this "worldly" companion has serious strong points.  When he focuses, he makes the most amazing comments, and can lead any conversation with an "investigator" to the gospel.  What a skill!!  I think I admire it so much because I do not posses it.  Which leads me to my next topic:



I always thought I was a people person, but I've found it tres difficult to speak with investigators, and not just en francais.  I am so very humbled by this inability to take conversations from the person to the gospel.  I also seem to have lost the ability to truly talk about a person.  This skill has been in my prayers lately.



Everyone talks about the spirit being here, but it took me a few days to notice the specific way in which I've been blessed here.  I realized yesterday that my mind hasn't wandered one bit, and I mean not one bit.  When it does go from the topic at hand, it strays to other missionary topics.  To some, it may seem like "duh."  But pour moi-- c'est merveilleux.  I have NEVER been able to focus like this.  Ever.  What a BLESSING it has been!  THere are so many things I've done that I've never been able to do.  Like stay completely awake during class, and loving roommates that are especially grating on my nerves.  Thank heavens, and I mean that in the most literal sense.



TORI-  thanks for the letter.  You are getting one from me this week.



Mere et Pere: you also are getting letters.



BETH: don't worry, I won't let the elders push me around.  I also won't let myself push them around.  and I see BREE every SINGLE NIGHT!!!  I lovvvee it!!



My time is up.



Au revoir.



Je vous aime.



Soeur Barros



PS-- I'll have photos next week, but I forgot my camera today.

We are 4-Square champions.

No comments: