Monday, December 20, 2010

Partir la-bas!


I found a two disc set of disney songs in french for fifteen euros.  you better believe I bought it.  Partir la-bas is the name of "part of your world" in french.  I listen to them during language study.  I must say, I never knew disney translated so directly sometimes.  Teeheee.
 
First off: Package.  Received.  No underclothing that I ordered however was found within.  does that mean they are still sitting in california, or did someone break into my box and steal my undies?  jerks.  They aren't that cute.  I'm kind bummed though... I was looking forward to those things. Sooo, if they are still sitting at home, after Christmas, could you send them to me?  I really do need them.
 
so it snows here.  A LOT. and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO over it already.  This place gets darker earlier than even REXBURG.  I may need to take some vitamin d pills or something to stop from going crazy.
 
I'd love to say that I am already in love with this ville, but the truth is that I am seriously overwhelmed.  We do serious finding every day, and SOMETIMES have RDV's.  The ward is SUPER spread out, and the weather is horrible, thus no one can come to anything.  the ward party got cancelled because of snow, and then... okay, I could find a million things to complain about.  I'm just.... new.  I am so new at this.  And my companion doesn't really speak french, so she deosn't know anyone, where anyone lives, how to use the transport, or... sheesh, she's just a newbie.  So I feel like we just whitewashed this ville in the middle of winter.  I have had some serious prayers about needing some help, because I know I will be here at least two transfers, and I'd love not to hate life.  Thus, Soeur Edgerly and I are doing an experiment.  WWe are taking 24 hours to pray and ponder about what the LORD wants done with this area this transfer.  If He wants us to go door to door six hours a day, then we'll do it.  if He wants us to hunt down every inactive member in the tri city area, then we'll do it.  If He wants us to stand in the road and flag cars down to give them the messge of the gospel... I'll do it.  But we are tired of doing what all the other missionaries here did.  We want to know that whatever we're doing is the Lord's will, and not us running out of ideas.  Because we've been trying, folks.  I don't think I've ever had a harder fourd days on my mission, the first four included.  All I could see was a bleak bleak winter with no one who will talk to us and a ward that can't support us because they live in the literal middle of nowhere.  Soooo, I knoiw that the Lord prepares a way for all things which He commands to be accomplished.  thus, we want to know what His command is for Valenciennes.  We, as His servants, are entitled to that.
 
Funny stories of the week: my package got to melun two hours after I left.L  Thankfully, because there was this four hour block of no trains to Valenciennes, my old companion was able to take the metro up to the gare and give it to me.  It was there that we discovered that something was missing.  Everything else though is very cute and christmasy.  My new apartment is void of all christmas stuff, which is different than melun because we went christmas deco crazy.  But, thanks to terrible traffic and elders who don't know what they are doing on the streets of paris (yet... they're new), I actually got it!  Then, we went and had a RDV with this lady that my new comp, Soeur Edgerly, ported into.  She said "She told us that she was a jehova's Witness, but she would read the Boo of Mormon anyway."  Excellent!  Well, we got to her house and, shocker, no one was there.  We knocked again.  And we stood and waited.  Then Sr Edgerly looked over and into the window and said "... I don't know if this lady is jehova's Witness...."  "Oh no?  Why not?"  "Come look...."  In her window was a giant christmas tree and santas and other such christmas things.  Hmmm... this is fishy.  I told Sr Edgerly that she must have caught the woman in the act of robbing this house, and she thought that if she said she was JW, then we would leave her alone.  Little did she know that we do not get discouraged easily, seeing as one of our recent baptisms up here used to be JW.  Soeur Edgerly just looked at me and said "She was like 90 years old!"  I replied "Crime doesn't discriminate, why should I?  Don't be an ageist, soeur..."  We had a good laugh over that.
 
BTW- TORI do you remember our religion class with brother Palmer?  Guess who sat in front of us the whole semester?  SOEUR EDGERLY!!!  She started telling me some of the classes she took and she said that one and it clicked. "YOU are the one who sat by that other girl and talked the whole time!"  hahaha, I replied "that would be my sister.  We apologize, but most of our discussions were about the New Testament."  and then she said, "Do you remember bryan barrow?  he was so cute..." and then my mind just filled with memories of that class with you.  Sooo, just so you know, I did apologize to her for our joviality.  If that's a word.
 
okay, I love you all.  Christmas is going to be.... slightly bleak here.  but I'll let you know how it goes down.
 
LOVE!
 
Soeur Barros

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