Mormons! Latter-day Saints!

We were walking around the little town of Ferney when we hear someone shout Mormons! We were a little worried because, usually when people yell at us it isn't good. So we kind of look and keep walking when he shouts Latter-day Saints! What? We decide to go over and talk to him. Well. He is a pretty cool guy. He's a philosophy teacher but he is really into religion and really believeing. We talked to him and his friend a little while and they were pretty cool! Then we turn the corner and some guy says, "Sisters!" What? Oh. Just an RM (South America) from Utah visiting France and randomly ran into the sisters. His name is Chris and he is the COOLEST. How often does that happen? Never.

Contacting has been hard because... in August everybody goes on vacation. Once populated cities become ghost towns. We drove to the other end of our area (about an hour away) and it was literally empty. 2 hours of work and we only saw 3 people. It was creepy... pretty much a scary movie waiting to happen.

In one town we had a really funny experience with a guy we contacted. We said hello and asked how he was doing and he just starts getting REALLY upset. A lot. We were prepared for the worst but he starts asking us the name of our church in a huge rage. Sœur Roberts and I knew we could not say Mormons or he would flip a lid so we just kept repeating the full name of the church even though we knew that wasn't what he meant. Eventually he just yelled UTAH! You're from Utah! We looked at each other and I said, I'm from Ohio and she said, I'm from California? The poor guy was pretty confused. He's like, I've been to Utah and saw your building! The Mormons! We were like, oh yeah, that's us. He must have been a little confused. After that we had a jolly conversation and he bid us farewell with the biggest smile. It was really kind of funny.

Another fun adventure I've been having is driving a stick... in the mountains of France. There is every obstacle that makes your life a nightmare. PLUS driving in the mountains. Basically you have to learn really fast or you will just sit on a hill with people honking at you forever. We turned up this one hill and I accidentally killed it... and could NOT get it up the hill. One time it started but we hit some rocks and the tires spun... and it died. So bitter. It worked out eventually. Once I was basically back at the bottom of the hill from rolling backwards so much. Yeah... it was my first day. I'm better now.

Also, we happened to find a little stable and I got to spend some time with a beautiful horse and her baby! So precious. She's a jumper too... perfect. I love it here.

Right now we are teaching a really sweet girl named Melissa. She has Muslim background but really has a desire to believe in Christ and be baptized. She has a date for September 7 but she is trying to quit smoking. She is incredible, isn't she? I love teaching her. I love being a missionary!

This week at zone conference we talked a lot about faith and missionary work. We watched the Mormon Message, "Mountains to Climb" (watch it if you haven't) and talked about how much we need to have faith and rely on the Savoir even though the hardest times in life and as a missionary. It was really perfect. The mission has been struggling since everybody is gone and there aren't a lot of people, but it's been okay. We keep working :)

I love you all and I hope you have a super week!

Sœur Loder

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Je suis Mormon, et vous?

There was a member in Nice that had a shirt that says that... he wore it all the time and he is kind of eccentric so I found it really funny :) Kind of random but I'm not feeling super creative this week. Or ever.

So guess what? I love Gex! I forgot that I should tell you how to say it because it is easy to say not correct and then nobody knows what you are talking about. So it is like Jex, but the J makes the sound like in pleaSUre. It's really French, I know. Good luck!

Right, so the weather here is kind of really nice. It's summer but not really that hot and it actually rains and gets cooler! It rains pretty often, which I like. I actually sleep in a long sleeved shirt and use a blanket at night! Which is a lot nicer than I remember :) It's also really fun to go contacting here because there aren't so many people you can't handle it. We go out for several hours and maybe see 30 or 40 people but we get to talk to ALL of them and take the time to do a good job. I LOVE it. Plus the people are generally nicer and speak slower since we are right next to Switzerland.

There are stables everywhere and I have seen several dressage letters and jumps. I'm going to study up on some horse vocabulary and we're going to go make friends with stable people and teach them/love their horses and maybe do some service! We have to get creative around here since there aren't tons of people. I'm not too upset about it :)

Our leaders here are really cool. Our district leader calls every night to see how we are, how our day went, if we have questions or need help with anything. He is incredible! He also gives us challenges every couple of days. Fun things like making people laugh and contacting ladies in red dresses. It has been so much fun and we have had a great time making people laugh even if they say NO to us. It makes us feel better too.

This week we worked with members a lot to help set up a wedding! We set up tables and chairs and decorated cupcakes and cleaned. It was actually really fun to do some real service. Members are sometimes too nice to let you help them, but I'm telling you. The missionaries want to help you! Let them! Okay thanks. We sadly had to miss the wedding because we went to Lyon for Blue's Conference again but it was great. I got to see some people I love and be uplifted and take a train ride :) Really good.

Yesterday was rough. Two members fed us... lasagna. Lunch was with our upstairs members. They are Italian. Legitimately Italian and I have never had better lasagna in my life and I'm sure I never will. They fed me so much and I just took it because it was so amazing. Well, dinner was also lasagna from a family from Argentina. It was also incredible, but I struggled. This was the biggest piece of lasagna I had ever seen. Somehow I did it. Sœur Roberts helped me out... I'm not sure how because she is a tiny little thing. Too much food. It's been a day and I don't want to eat ever again.

The wonderful Italian family is thrilled that I studied Italian and still remember quite a bit. They have been reviewing with me and it seems a lot easier now that I have studied another language. Plus we actually need Italian a lot more than I expected. They told me I have a really good Italian accent and coming from Italians... I was flattered. Ha.

Anyway. I love you all. The church is so true. I love the work and Gex and my companion :) Have a good week!

Sœur Loder

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Bonjour de GEX!

Yes. Transfer calls got me this time! Everybody in Nice was convinced I was staying but the call said otherwise.

"Hello Sister Loder. How are you?"

"... good..."

"Well you're leaving. To Gex. Where you'll be senior companion to Sister Roberts. Are you ready to train?"

"Yes, President!" ... was all I could say even though really I was freaking out a little bit. There were a lot different feelings. It felt so right, but I love Nice so much! Thankfully we had Niçoise food just before I left so I had that experience. I'm not even sure what it was but it was pretty good :)

Plus we were able to teach Sacha a few times and he is doing so well. He is SO cool so he'll probably be baptized eventually. There are some good sisters working with him in Nice so I'm not worried! But here's what I won't miss... creepy kids on the street telling us we're pretty. It's not as much as a confidence boost as you might think. Ha.

But yes. Our weekend was full of packing... I didn't even try. I just dumped eveything into my luggage and called it good :) Some of the elders in Nice have served around Gex so they told me it was super great! So I was excited and not feeling too sad until I had to get up in front of the ward and give my farewell testimony. Then I cried. I love those sweet members so much and they took such great care of me as a little missionary. Saying goodbye is the worst!

Come Monday morning I hopped on my train and took the 7 hours to Geneva. Yes, Gex is that close to Switzerland! We live in the basement of a member's home (it's wonderful too) and I love it. This place is heaven! We live on the side of a mountain and we can see the Alps and there are horses everywhere. I can't even believe how I love this place already. Look up some pictures!

The sister I'm training is Sister Roberts! She is from California and I'm finishing her training. Intimidating? A little :) But she is SO sweet and I'm really excited to work with her in this ward. Here's the fun part, our sector is several different small cities so we have a car. So I get to REALLY learn how to drive that stick, and in France, even better. :) I'm so happy to be here though.

Here's the new address:

Sœur Carson Loder

18 Impasse des Quatre Saisons

F-01170 Crozet

France

Hope to hear from you soon :) I love you all and I love being a missionary!

Sœur Carson Loder

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.