Monday, July 1, 2013

A Day at the Spa!

So how was that cliff hanger from last week?! The French spa…. So I say French spa but it really is just like a regular spa but super nice! A lady in our ward who we LOVE owns a spa in Versailles and invited us over. It was GORGEOUS! SOOO calming and just a peaceful place! I could sleep there and never have a bad dream! We weren’t quite sure if we were just there to look but then she gave us treatments!! I am not suuuper girly or into the pampering thing but after this visit I think I have changed. I got this amazing manicure and I am not sure what she put on my nails but I still have perfect nails and it has been a week! I think it may have been super glue but they’re perfect! Still washing dishes in the bathroom and being a missionary WITH pretty hands. Who would have thought!? She also did my makeup. I am not a makeup expert and just know that I need something on my eyes to make my eyelashes not blonde but she really wanted me to stand out. As missionaries we should try to look our best but not draw too much attention but it was the spa and PDay so who cares right? I have blue eyes in case any of you didn’t know so I guess sometimes blue eye shadow is what will accent my eyes???? It was a bit too much for missionary but definitely fun and I loved every minute! Mom you will definitely be treated to the spa more when I get home!








SOLDES! So every July and January France goes on Sale! Literally! ALL the shops and stores and everything is on sale. It’s like a month long thing and the first week everything is like 30 percent off and the amount off gets bigger and bigger until the end when there aren’t as many things left but it is cheap! So that is how we are going to be spending our next few PDays! We will be getting even more tired of wearing the same clothes all the time soon so why not enjoy the perks of France and shopping! I have always HATED shopping with a passion and don’t know how I will do without having my mom and sisters forcing me to do it but I will be more open this time! I hope to get more skirts and stuff! We will see!
I figure I will get a good amount right now and then again in the winter and a final one next summer before I come home! I feel so girly doing spa days and shopping sprees on Pdays! Missions change people!
So when my cousin David was on his mission in Germany he may have pimped me out to a lot of elders and I wrote lots of elders and some I am now good friends with. Well this week I got a letter from an Elder serving in Ohio that I do not know. This one elder who is serving in S. Melville’s homeward saw her picture and wrote her and her last comp made him fill out a writing application so when I got here I wrote him the acceptance letter of his application to write my comp. Turns out I wrote a pretty good application because the companion of the guy who is writing S Melville wrote me this past weekend. A bit strange but oh well! He has NO idea anything about me or what I look like and so we had some fun and on Saturday night we found these old ugly clothes that have been left in our apartment, did bad makeup and hair and took photos to send this elder who wrote me! So enjoy the photos! We will see if the elder writes me back with the photos I sent...


















Our apartment is still pretty broken! On Tuesday we had to spend the day at the new apartment for the Elders coming to Versailles. It is brand new. Sisters usually have the best apartments and elders get what is left over but not in our case. It was so clean and new and made us jealous. But I love our apartment in Versailles when everything is at its best! So before they arrived on Wednesday we did our laundry at their place to test out their machines and because we can’t do anything at our place. It has been interesting to be doing dishes in the bathroom but not as bad as I thought. We try not to cook with as many things anymore because it just builds up and isn’t fun. But today we had the senior couples come over because we really need to do our laundry and get things fixed. So they made a list of everything we need and we will be having an apartment like the Château in no time! We thought our kitchen sink was fixed so we finally were able to wash the towels we used when it broke and left to do our grocery shopping… When we returned home it was quite the sight! Our washing machine runs through our sink and during the cycle the water from the machine goes through the sink and so it flooded. We aren’t quite sure what we are going to do but hopefully we figure it out soon! Being a missionary is so exciting!



Friday night for non-missionaries is a pretty cool night right? We try to make it cool but usually it just the same as any other night. This past Friday is an exception! So we were at a train stop in Paris around 8 to get back to Versailles. I tend to be in my own world and only really pay attention to things when I have to. Our train comes and I hear my companion answering some guys question about where she is from. No big deal. We get asked where we are from all the time but he was a guy so it was a bit different. She answered and we took our seats. End of story… or so we thought! He sits down kiddy corner to her and for the whole train ride it was just like no big deal. She kind of felt a bit iffy-ish but not too concerned and I was still just in my own world playing snake on our phone. So we get to the stop before our stop and he takes out something to read so we realized okay he isn’t going to follow us we just happen to be in the same train. We get to our stop and leave and then he leaves and we were like what? He was getting comfortable.. Not leaving. We start our walk from our gare (station) to our place when we hear someone say ‘’excuse me’’ and turn back and it is him. I momentarily get out of my own world and get a bit nervous and so does my comp. We realized okay he is following us kind of. He asked a few questions about who we were and my companion was answering them in a very missionary way but being nice but not too friendly to a man. So we all head in the direction and I go back to being in my own world and kind of know what is going on but not caring too much. We get to the awkward place where we have to turn to get home and so she was like okay well nice meeting you and he was like oh I actually live a few stops back but I can walk with you also my comp tries to get out of it awkwardly but not rudely so we all head toward our place ISH. I get out the phone and text the elders saying this might be our last text because who really knows what is going to happen and I needed some excitement so getting them involved made it more entertaining for me to watch! He asked her if she could marry someone who isn’t American and someone pretty much just like him and so she went to the best backup plan and said she was engaged. He then asked to take her to coffee but she declined. I would have totally been happy to be third wheeling it to see that happen! So we were all heading right to where we live but we couldn’t get too close to our complex because people shouldn’t know where we live especially men. His name is Hani and he was a sharp man about 27 and really nice. Not creepy at all. So we needed to leave and get home on time but weren’t quite sure how to get out of it. He was definitely interested in my companion but a little of the gospel too. So we couldn’t be too rude because he might be ready. So I tell the elders to call us and act like we need to leave so we did that and were able to leave but before leaving us obviously invited him to church! All weekend I was soooo excited to see how this story would end with Hani being in love with my comp and meeting her at church with flowers but he didn’t come to church so now I am just hoping that we run into him again! It sounds a bit lame telling it but it really was super exciting and the high light!

We now have three companionships of elders and us in our district! It is so fun! There is one new blue in our district and so I am not the youngest and worst at French anymore! He is awesome and will probably pass me up in no time! But I will keep trying to not be the worst and be my best! On Saturday we were able to watch the conference on missionary work that was held a few weeks ago! It was so great and really emphasized the member’s role in missionary work! I hope that members here get to see it and be more on board with us and together we can all help people become closer to Christ! I encourage all of you to watch it and to try to work better with missionaries and help them!

This week has been a good week! We had some solid lessons but now that July is here it will be different. Literally everyone in Paris and surrounding areas including Versailles leave for July and August on Vaccance. We will find people though and the work will continue. The people we have met will just have to pick up after they get back. I love being a missionary and really have learned so much. My French is coming and now that I am in my second transfer I can really see the improvement I have made and hopefully continue to make. I really want to speak this language and to be able to part of this culture and the people. I love the people here and know that when I can understand the people better and they can understand me that the Love will just explode! I love the gospel and the Book of Mormon. My testimony gets stronger each day and sometimes when we are talking to people and testifying I know that they probably aren’t learning too much but I am! Each time I try to share the gospel my love for the gospel increases! Helping others with their testimony and relationship with Christ really helps yours as well!

I love you all!! Please remember me and all the missionaries in the world! Thank you so much for your love and support!

Love,


Sœur Emily Johns

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