Bonjour de...

Limoges! YES. When President told me I was staying I was really, really happy. When I got to Limoges all the paperwork and everything was a disaster and I had just started getting it organized and in order. If I had been transferred I probably would have just said no because I wasn't finished yet :)

The sad part is that my blue is leaving for Toulon :( Dear Sister Patrick is getting moved away and I am receiving Sister Magleby from Utah! That's all I know so far. I've never met her :) She just finished her training though so this is the first transfer I haven't trained. I have a whole extra hour... how do I be a normal missionary? I don't know. I'll figure it out.

The other exciting news is... I'm a grandma! Sister Roberts, who I trained in Gex, is training this transfer. The mission refers to trainers as moms and dads and their new missionaries are sons and daughters :) So my daughter left and my step-daughter (since I only did part of her training) is having a daughter so that makes me a proud grammy. My posterity is great!

Our ward has a SWEET Halloween activity this week. It was a costume party and we went and had a super time with the members and their friends. Such a good night and we got some referrals so that was really good :) Everyone was incredibly creative with their costumes... Monsieur Mario and a pirate family and our bishop was a Mexican guy and he only spoke Spanish all night. He's a character. So funny. I'll send a picture next week.

It was hard to get ready for yet another transfer but I'm excited. There are also elders coming into Limoges and I know one of them pretty well, so it should be good! It's going to be a really fun transfer. Our amis are progressing and we have about 100 potentials people to visit so... we have plenty to do.

Being a trainer, I've learned a lot about myself. That I need to be more patient. That being a good example is infinitely more important than I ever thought. Everything. I just want to be a better person in every way! Good thing I still have 11 months to get there :)

Anyway, I have about 4 more hours in Bordeaux with my temporary companion and then I'll find Sr Magleby and head back to the city of porcelain! I love Limoges. I love France. I love being a missionary.

Have the best week.

Sœur Loder

Ahoj!

I think that is how you say hello in Czech :) You pronounce it like ahoy, so it's a really great word. Unfortunately I only know one Czech person and he is the one that taught it to me so I don't get to use it that often. 

Transfer calls this Friday... I better stay. That's all I have to say. 

So this week we spent pretty much all of our week traveling or in Bordeaux for exchanges and a district meeting. Bordeaux is nice and all but I'm hoping they center our district higher next transfer so we don't have to travel 3 hours one way for a district meeting. Exchanges were fun. Sœur Mata and I planned a really intense day and everything fell through and on top of that, it POURED all day long. Opposition in all things!

Here in Limoges there was a "manifestation" by the students at one of the schools in town. I can't think of the right word in English... maybe protest? But they were parading through the streets and a bunch of kids sat down in front of our bus. I got off and asked a nice police lady what was happening and she said some young girls got involved in something (didn't understand what that something was) and got expelled? And the students were protesting. Nothing extreme, just really inconvenient especially because we were already running late for a rendez-vous. Darn that freedom of speech! 

This weekend we sat down and literally called hundreds and hundreds of people that were listed as potential in our area book. ALL of them. The previous papers were destroyed and unorganized and scribbled all over... you could barely read them. So we called every person and re-wrote everything. It took about 10 hours total but we found some people to teach so I think it was a success! Except one guy who called back and said he didn't live in Limoges anymore. I offered to pass his number to the elders where he lived and he started talking about love and how he would drive the two and a half hours so I could teach him. I said no. He kept talking and wouldn't let me leave and I was irritated... so I hung up and passed his number anyway :) One of my good friends is serving in the city where this guy lives so he'll understand I'm sure. French men...

Aside from that, the weather has been beautiful! It had been really cold and rainy and I was worried Limoges just passed from summer to winter without fall:( ... but it came around this week and it has been so pleasant! The leaves are beautiful. The city workers have been removing all the flowers (most towns have a "ville fleurie," like a part of town with TONS of flowers) and putting up... CHRISTMAS decorations! I can't believe how soon it is. I volunteered our ward mission leader to have Thanksgiving dinner with us though. He really likes gravy and stuffing :) 

Really this week was slow. But I talked to a member in our ward (from England) who has 18 horses! They just love horses and I talked to her forever about them. So nice to talk to a horse person :) She wanted me to come out and visit and she found out that I do jumping! Turns out, she has a grandaughter (how do you spell that? I don't know) that doesn't come to church anymore and she wants me to come out, make friends, and teach a jumping lesson! Miracle. I am so excited! It's true that the Lord needs us for our unique skills and talents.

Anyway, this week has a lot of promise. Potentially we have a lesson with a large group of adventists this Friday night so I'm excited. Should be interesting. Never a dull moment. The Lord lives and He loves us :) Have a great week! 

Sœur Loder 

Meugler

French lesson of the week! Meugler: to moo. I found it in the dictionary and backed it up with a real French person so it's legit! You're welcome. 

So this week was a miracle week (... et nous attendons les miracles!) and I had a blast. We finally were able to set up a rendez-vous with a friend of a recent convert in our ward. She is incredible and accepted a baptismal date! She actually didn't at first so I asked why and she was worried that she might change her mind tomorrow. I testified like no other that if she continues to meet with us and pray and do the things we ask that she will be ready. She agreed :) First lesson. Love it. 

My dream finally came true... Wednesday I got to do exchanges with Sœur Anderson! We were in the same MTC district and discovered we are long, lost best friends. We both had the thought (as we were planning the exchange) that our junior companions need to be pushed, given responsibility, and have the opportunity to see that they are capable. So Sœur Anderson and her companion came to Limoges for the day, I scheduled out the day and we turned them loose. For Sœur Patrick, she had to finally learn how to use the bus systems and not just rely on me (since I'm super good at buses and all). It was a great experience for her to see that she CAN do things!

Sœur Anderson took some potentials that the previous elders had left and set out to find them. They were literally on opposite ends of our area so we had several hour-long bus rides. The first one we ended up in not a super great part of town AND got lost trying to find a specific house. We had been wandering for a few hours contacting and such when we see this guy... probably in his 20's standing across the street waiting to cross and smiling at us like a fool. Sœur Anderson says, do you know him? I didn't. WELL turns out he is a recent convert of four months from the Czech Rep. and is currently studying in France and just BARELY found the church in Limoges. Super funny, super wonderful. Craziest part... he worked at Cedar Point in OHIO summer 2011. Mind blown. 

Basically exchanges are always full of miracles so despite all our traveling and wandering, we found some solid referrals and had a wonderful time together. We discovered that we both got our mission calls on the same day, in Provo, and opened them at the exact same time... sunset :) I love missions. I love Sœur Anderson.

This week I received four compliments in under an hour about how pretty my eyes are. Why? I don't know. It's really hard to bring a contact back when French men tell you you're pretty... it's just uncomfortable. I'm counting down the days for elders coming to Limoges! I have lots of referrals for them. Sunday was great except just as sunday school was about to start, the bishop and mission leader come to me and say, we're busy. Will you teach the lesson today? 40 minute class. On two lessons I have not studied or read. In French. Okay. It turned out really well :) I think they weren't really busy they just wanted to put me on the spot. They would do that...

Okay that turned out longer than I expected. But this week I have felt so much love from the Lord as I strive to be worthy and obedient. Miracles have happened and I expect even more. I love being a missionary, the hard and happy times too. As my absolute favorite teacher at BYU would say every day, the Lord lives and He loves you... try a little harder to be a little better :)

Sœur Loder 

Bonjour bonjour!

I seriously cannot think of creative titles for my e-mails. I'll try and be better next week so then when people get my e-mail they will actually want to read them. 

This week was a huge growing week for my dear blue! I informed her that we would be teaching a recent convert family the Restoration (the very first lesson). I also informed her that she would be leading the lesson and she was nervous. BUT she did it! And minus leaving out a few major and important things (like Jesus Christ's ministry and the apostacy... ha), it was very good :) This week we're going to focus on talking to people on the street! Because people on the street are NOT as nice as recent convert families. They also talk faster. She'll get there :)

Unfortunately I was feeling really terrible again so I went to a pharmacy and told them that I think I have sinus troubles and they just handed me medicine. France is pretty cool that way! Most people bypass the doctor and just go into a pharmacy and ask... they'll give it to you. I think I'm mostly better but if I'm not all the way better soon I'll actually visit a doctor even though I don't want to. The good part is that since I had no desire to eat I sought out some soup and France has some pretty good soups! But they're all the cheap packet kind that aren't very filling. That's okay. The pastries make up for it. 

We've been contacting quite a bit and sometimes we meet really nice people (like a couple I had a thirty minute conversation with and taught the first lesson) and the guy who just laughed at me when I asked if he met the missionaries. I don't know why... but it kind of irritated me! So I was like, oh so you have? He just started walking away and I shouted after him, so you don't want to learn more?! and he was like, stop! So I was like, fine GOD LOVES YOU! He gave me a dirty look. But it's true. God loves him so I don't feel bad. Then another man touched my face gently when I asked him if he had met the missionaries and said, no no you are very cute but I really am not interested. ... Well. Okay. 

Zone conference was this weekend in Toulouse and it was SO GOOD. President informed us that he thinks we are holding ourselves back and asked us to stop it. I think I will take his counsel. The mission is really revamping how we go about things and I think it has a lot of potential to be super successful! I'm thrilled. I love the work. I love France. 

Then ACTUAL conference! I was really, really excited even though I couldn't see all of it because of time zones. It was so crazy to see the temple in Salt Lake and realize how far away I am when usually I'm just an hour away. I remembered leaving work at the MTC every day and literally staring straight at the Provo temple. Then realizing there isn't one here and how blessed we are over in the states. I'm so thankful for the insane amounts of things I learned this weekend from the Prophet and his apostles! How blessed we are to have their guidance today :) 

I love you all SO much! Enjoy your week!

Sœur Loder