Bonjour de Limoges!

I wonder how many times I will have to say hello from a different ville? Probably a lot. This week I was such a HOBO because honestly I was traveling around France for so long. I was in Chambéry and then Lyon and then Toulouse... and finally Limoges. We got off our four hour train ride (which was just after our other four hour train ride) and walked into the most beautiful train station I have EVER seen. Good first impression. 

The week was pretty good though! Wednesday night we went to Lyon and all the missionaries who were training arrived about the same time (5 sisters and 20 elders, approx) and the office elders took us to McDonalds and it rocked. I love not having to pay for my food :) Plus I got to see a bunch of missionaries that I love and missed. So wonderful. 

The next morning we went to a chapel in Lyon and had breakfast and then... got our blues! So what they do is give them a letter and they go up in front of everyone and read the name of their ville and trainer pretty much like a second mission call. None of the trainers know which blue is theirs so basically everyone is excited. So when a sister read LIMOGES I jumped out of my chair and hugged her :) 

My new blue is Sister Patrick! She is the funniest... I love her so much. She is 19 and from Florida and her dad is a mission president in Canada right now so that is pretty cool! She's been really chill through our crazy week so I'm thankful for that. We showed up to our new apartment with no instruction on anybody the previous Paris elders were teaching or anything about the ward. Nothing. Except a map with some marked bus stops. I maybe should have felt more panicked than I did but I've been rather calm :) 

Always an adventure. We were both sneezing like crazy and started inspecting a little closer and found SO much dust. So we spent a long time cleaning the apartment. We also found a cockroach... a baby one! Sister Patrick tried killing it with this thing of salt and it exploded all over the floor. Yep. Plus our showerhead has firehose water pressure so morning number one I pretty much unexpectedly hosed the entire bathroom (in France the showerheads aren't mounted so... yeah). But we're getting along and it's just peachy. 

Limoges is so cool! Really different from Nice and Gex. There aren't any mountains or ocean but it's a big city and I like it a lot! The buildings here are so beautiful I can hardly stand it. I love the history here... it's everywhere. I've seen a lot of blue porcelain and it is very pretty yes :) The ward is wonderful and they are SO excited to have sister missionaries! It has been 12 years that they have had elders so... they're pretty pumped. And I don't plan on disappointing them.

So I'm content :) I love being a missionary here in Limoges. I like my blue (she is passed out asleep right now, jet lag is a killer) :) I can't wait to get working with the ward and the people here. Most of them don't know the missionaries. Haaa. They will soon enough! 

I love you all, have a wonderful week :)

Sœur Loder 

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Transfers!

The assistants called us this time because President was doing something important. I was pretty sure they couldn't surprise me... well. They did. 

Hi Sister Loder! Guess what?

... what?

Your transfer is the most exciting in the mission right now!

That was enough to scare me a little. So what happened is the Paris stake split and two new areas were added to our mission. So I'm going to open a place called Limoges into our mission and I know nothing about it except there is a river and they are famous for blue porcelain! And here's the other exciting news... I'm training a brand new missionary! 

When Elder Fox told be that I think my WHAT echoed through the small town of Gex. Yep. They got me. The other new ville is being opened by an elder that came out with me and he is training too. Should be fun :) So I'm currently in a place called Chambery for a few days until we go to Lyon to pick up our new missionaries. It has been a very exciting week! 

They also are replacing the sisters in Gex with elders so... we had to prepare the apartment for four new elders. Okay. I think hectic is maybe a better way to describe this week. There was so much to do I just found myself standing in the midst of luggage and not knowing what to do. On top of everything else. 

This week wasn't particuarly exciting. I did an exchange with a new sister who is actually from France... so they taught us some French expressions. She is learning English and we started talking in French. She told me she hopes to speak English as well as I speak French. What a great compliment! I don't necessarily believe her but it was nice anyway ;) She is super funny. I love it. 

It has also been really COLD! I just love it. I'm tired of the sun. I want to wear boots and jackets. Bring on fall in the north of France. Another sister in Gex was transferred to Toulon, right on the coast. She's pretty excited. 

Honestly I can't remember much else. We were able to go out and work a lot this week (until calls) and it was really nice. We did discover that we need a car because the buses just don't work. Sœur Roberts and I tried it out and the normally 15 minute drive from Thoiry to Ferney was an hour because the bus went all the way through Geneva. Yep. Well. At least now we know! 

I think this next transfer will be crazy but I think I'll learn a lot. I'm excited to see what Limoges is like! So look forward to next week when I can actually tell you :) Love you all! 

Sœur Loder 

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:)

This week was pretty okay. Really crazy and went by really fast. We get transfer calls this week and we have no idea what will happen so send letters to Lyon, not Crozet. I'll get them soon enough. And also thanks to everyone who writes me! I love letters :)

 

I had exchanges in Lyon this week and Sœur Witt (my last companion in Nice) was there randomly so we got to work together for the night. Pretty neat! We had fun. We met a guy from New York that said he knew I was from Ohio because I had a bouncy Ohio twang. I don't know what that means, but cool! I met lots of really cool converts over there. I love meeting converts. The terrible part of the exchange was being in the mission office and seeing the transfer board. Each missionary has a picture and the ones going home sooner are at the top and the new ones are on the bottom. My picture was halfway up the board (it's also a terrible picture, so that didn't help). Oh man, where is the time going?

 

We had a fun district meeting too. Coming home on the train, Sœur Christensen and I met a really cool guy and we invited him to the end of our zone meeting. Well. He came! And I think he will probably get baptized but he lives in Lausanne, so the elders there will teach him. Coolest miracle. And on the bus we met an Italian man that speaks perfect English and laughs like a stereotypical French man. It was... awesome.

 

We've had so much fun talking to people lately. I like contacting. People are really funny but they are also my brothers and sisters so, basically contacting is the best! Our amie is doing well. She had dinner with one of our members who also smoked before she joined the church and now they are the best of friends :) I just love when that happens. I know she can stop smoking but it will be hard!

 

It has been a beautiful week in Gex and hopefully I can have another 6 weeks here but anything could happen. We'll see :) I love you all and have a great week!

 

Sœur Loder

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Salut les sisters!

Our DMP (ward mission leader) always says that to us. He speaks english really well but we taught him to say "fo shizzle" yesterday and it was probably my favorite part of the week! He's such a great ward mission leader. I love it.

This week was fun. We were going to Lyon and then hit crazy traffic in Geneva so we missed our train ... by probably 3 seconds. So we had to wait two hours for the next one because we have a French phone and it doesn't work in Switwerland. Thankfully the elders there found us... so I bought some nail poilsh and stickers while we waited :) The exchange was nice even though I was sick.

Okay not really "sick" but my sinuses are going crazy and I cough a lot. Then I lost my voice. Kind of all the way... kind of like, my companion has to do all the talking because nothing comes out when I try. The family upstairs gave me some sweet medicine to try and I didn't cough at all last night and I can sing bass now :) It's getting there. I'm fine.

I wrote down to talk about how it was getting cold and then the next day was probably the hottest of my life. Not Nice status, but hot for here! But now it's getting better. It's all downhill from here! I can't wait for summer to be over. I'm tired of it. Bring on fall!

We had zone conference and interviews with President this week and it was so good! I love talking to President. I answered his questions and then he asked if I had concerns and as soon as I asked him, I was sure he was already prepared to answer them. Such an inspired man. I love it! Then he proceeded to change my life as always. He is my hero, pretty much. Then at the end he asked me the capitol of California because he knew I wouldn't know and he didn't want me to pass with 100%. He also photobombs. If you want to know what President Roney is like :)

As for the work here in Gex, it's going. We are really trying to figure out how to get the ward more involved. We have a huge ward and it's a strong ward... so they aren't necessarily excited about missionary work (and it should be the opposite) so yeah. We have been working with the new church website a lot... hasteningthework.lds.org. WATCH THOSE VIDEOS. We are going to start using them with members and I'm really excited!

Our amis. Thiam went missing again but we just found him... so we will try and teach him this week. Sometimes people in France just leave and don't tell anybody. It makes our job really hard but it's okay. Melissa is doing so well! She really wants to stop smoking and we made a plan with her. At the end we proposed throwing away her pack right then and there. At first she was hesitant but she stood up and courageously walked into the kitchen and threw them in the trash and said, arreter de fumer! Stop smoking! Haha. Then we had a little party with her :) Every day we are talking to her and sending scriptures and whatever we can to help her. I love her so much and I know she can do it!

Other than that, all the people are coming back so bring it on! Finally we can start hitting contacting goals and I don't know... teach people maybe? That would be nice :) I like teaching.

Passez une très bonne semaine et je vous aime!

Sœur Loder

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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

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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

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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

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