The reason my e-mail last week was so long was because me and my comp literally did nothing last P-Day. We went grocery shopping (which in France is a little chaotic, but I loved it nonetheless... Definitely, a new experience) and did laundry. Other than that, my companion just wanted to sit in the room. I even tried to get him to go with me on a walk around the town, but he refused. He just says it's because he's almost done with his mission and doesn't like sightseeing anymore. How sad? I honestly think France is so beautiful, but I might not be able to explore it for a while if he keeps up with this attitude. And I'm with him for at least 3 months haha. So the last P-day we had a lot of time to write. I promise I won't write any more 23+ paragraph emails anytime soon haha. I am DETERMINED to explore the beauty of this place though, so don't worry. I'll do it eventually.
This week we were barely in our own ville. We had so many things going on each day in villes that were an hour or more train ride away. Because my comp hates traveling, he insisted we pack a bag with all of our clothes and sleep over in other missionaries' apartments so that we wouldn't have to keep traveling back and forth. And in one of the villes we were doing service, so I had to bring regular clothes, shoes, etc. This was a struggle because my over the shoulder bag isn't that big and my comp wouldn't let me bring my carry-on suitcase as well. So I had to shove all my toiletries, garments, shoes, etc. in a small bag. Not to mention one of my suits which aren't wrinkle free. The bag almost broke lol. Oh well, I survived. I'm sure I'll complain less as the mission progresses, just because you get used to stuff like this (even though no one should have to live their lives this way lol).
The ville we were going to do service in is called "Vittel". IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND SUPER CLEAN THERE! We had to take an almost 2-hour bus ride to get there and once we were there, the family texted us and canceled. My companion was bummed and wanted to just sit at the bus stop for 3 hours until the next bus would come. I finally convinced him to walk around and explore the town with me (something he hates, remember) by walking away from him. You have to stay with your companion, right? No matter how stubborn he is, that's a rule he likes to obey. Maybe I'll just walk away from him more often so that he has to follow me? Haha JK. Anyway, I like that ville because on top of being beautiful and clean, the people are amazing. We walked by so many people and only 3 of them didn't smile and say, "Bonjour", to us. I felt loved. If you ever go to France, make sure to hit this town up. It's for sure a long ways out from Paris, but it's definitely worth it. Everyone is old and they have a beautiful, huge park. Pics below!!
After Vittel, we returned to Nancy and went out to eat with the Elders we were staying with. I was so excited to go out and eat, because my comp doesn't like spending money and won't allow me to either. We went to STEAK n' SHAKE!!! I'm honestly so surprised that they had one here, especially because Utah didn't even get one until like 2 years ago. The food has more quality ingredients over here and different types of shakes to choose from (Including a "Smarties" one, which is one of my fav Canadian candies. Not the same as Smarties back in the U.S. haha). I could go on about my first fast food experience here, but I won't haha. It was perfect.
This week we had district meeting, zone conference, and a "new missionary training". District meeting and zone conference were both long and boring in Nancy, France. They were both about Facebook and how to be safe on it because we are now a Facebook mission. All-in-all, each meeting was individually about 10ish hours just listening to common sense rules haha. The new missionary training was in Paris. I was so excited to go back and see my friends from the MTC again! It was basically the same as the zone and district meetings though. Really boring. But the company was worth it.
On one of our train rides this week, there was a young woman sitting across from us listening to music. She looked stress, but she tried to stay calm and collected. I had a prompting to go give her some of my Euros. Doing this would technically be disobeying a "safety rule" on my mission, but I thought about it for a while and determined that she would need it more than me. As I proceeded to take some money out, my companion SCOLDED me. He was infuriated! I ended up not giving her the money and I have never regretted anything more. I saw her walk off into the dark, all alone with no sign of happiness. My comp didn't talk to me the rest of the walk to the apartment, and he sped walked so that I wouldn't have time to "give it to anyone else". Then he said, "sorry for being direct with you. That's how French people are. Living here for almost 2 years, you basically become a French person. But I needed to tell you that it was wrong what you were trying to do". I know that there is a rule and a purpose for it. But, I felt strongly prompted to give it to her. No one else was in the train cart with us, so I definitely wasn't trying to do it to show off either. I just wanted to be a good person and follow what I thought was right in the moment.
Oh well, now onto happier subjects:
Sorry, I don't have any stories about investigators this week!! We left our Ville on Monday morning and didn't get back until Friday night. So we didn't really have the opportunity to teach. On Saturday and Sunday I got a lot of interaction with the Branch members here. They are so nice. I can barely understand them, but at least they're trying to communicate with me and they're easy going. That's all I could ask for. Our branch is so small that there were only 7 members that showed up on Sunday. I had to bless the bread (a little nerve-wracking, but the small crowd helped me nerves out a ton) and introduce myself all in French. The members are so nice and I love them. Because it's such a small Branch, church is only 2 hours! I think that's something that should happen everywhere. Who needs that 3rd hour anyway? haha. Sacrament meeting (including announcements, full hymns, the sacrament itself, literally EVERYONE bearing testimony, and both of the prayers) was only 25 minutes haha. We literally started church at 9:30 and we were in Sunday school by 9:55.
Kinda sucks we were gone all week because I was so pumped to get some French learning in and really build my confidence talking to people. Unfortunately, however, all the meetings this week were in English and my French skills are just where they were last week. Hopefully, next week is calmer and I get more interaction with others.
Although, today me and my companion spent our P-Day doing service for a less-active family in our branch (almost a full 12 hours). They're the ones who live in Vittel and canceled on us last week. They're actually so nice. I was so worried about helping them do a "Canadian" move (moving completely in 1 day) out of their house and into a new one because I don't understand a lot of French. Luckily, the husband is from England and gave all the instructions in English (he served a mission in Paris back in the 70s, and moved back afterward. That's how he knows French). He's so funny too. Communicating with the rest of the family was difficult, but they found ways to help me understand... And they'd use the dad as a translator as a last resort. The 21-year-old son was smoking up a storm the whole time and I'm pretty sure I got second-hand smoke from working with him so much, mais je suis en France lol. At least he's a good person and he was very funny. Picture with them will be in one of the following emails! BTW, we helped them move into a 200-year-old Chateau in the French countryside that they just bought. It has 2 acres of land and is 1,250 Square metres (in American terms, it's around 13,454 square feet). I wish I got a picture of it. He's wanting to renovate it and resell it for a high price before he dies haha.
One funny thing you'll definitely notice if you ever come to France (or have been before) is that even the homeless people dress nicer than most people in the states. When people say that French people have style, they are not kidding. And it's literally everyone. Not just a few of them. It's so cool haha. Even the people in small villes will not leave their house without looking good. So funny. The dad of the family we helped move even studied "Fashion Design" at university in Paris after his mission. I'd say it's the best place to do so if that's what you're interested in haha.
I just want to let everyone know that I have a huge testimony of the gospel and that if you come unto Christ in hard times, He will make everything better. I've definitely noticed that on my mission. I'm so grateful for the relationships I can have with both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Thanks again for all of your emails throughout the week, they really mean a lot to me. Feel free to keep them coming! :) I'm loving the food and the people here in France, so do not worry.
Elder Anderson
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