Americans!!!

I love Americans. I love Americans more now that I am living in France than when I lived in America! The best is when I find Americans in France and remember how much I love being American! In Versailles it wasn’t hard because there were sooo many tourists and so we avoided the annoying, loud, Americans. But here in Cholet were there are only French people... finding those Americans is like a treasure hunt! FOUND THEM!!

So this week we were walking down this street and we stopped a lady named Diane who was walking her dog. Turns out she is from Jersey and has been living here with her French hubby for 2 years! She was sooo cool and we just chatted and it was awesome! I now know why I wasn’t called English speaking because I can just talk and talk and talk but when I have to do it in French... ANOTHER story! We invited her to Church and she even texted us! Also speaking about the gospel in your native language is HARD! Props to all the missionaries that have served in that way!

The second American this week was another reaaaalllllyyyy cool girl! One night this week I was just going through the phone and calling people that I didn’t know. Kind of felt like it did when I was in 5th grade and wanted to call my crush but didn’t want his parents to answer... So I called the people I didn’t know and had no idea what I was going to say and kind of wanted to just hang up and have them call back and act like I didn’t mean to call them. Then I remembered that I am 21 and not 11 and I am a missionary so the whole prank calling doesn’t work... Tangent? SO I call this lady named Rebecca and leave a voicemail in my bad French... SHE CALLED BACK!! We ended up just talking like old friends for a good 30 minutes! She speaks English, French, Spanish and who knows what other cool languages! She doesn’t live in Cholet anymore so that is a bummer but somehow we got on the topic of blogs and turns out... SHE HAD READ MY BLOG!!!!!!!! CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY! The other crazy thing is that she texted us on Saturday and was in Cholet and we were totally able to meet up at the Church and talked! CATFISH????? She is even cooler in person than on the phone! SO here’s for hoping we can stay in touch!

We found a small town this week about 30 KM from Cholet and it is actually France, Italy and Greece all in one. WE found houses that were blue and white just like in Greece or at least what Greece looks like on Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, these pretty Italian looking hills and just cool things! Porting is more fun when everything is pretty; Thanks France!

We had our last district meeting this week as a full district! Transfers are this week AND.....

ME AND SOEUR HORN are staying together in Cholet!!!!!! SOOOOOO HAPPY!!! I really loved my district and will miss Sœur Doyle but she will be in the mission with me for a long time!

SHOPPING.... It has to happen sometime right? Well we decided to give it a try in Cholet. Apparently winter is coming and I NEEEED a coat. The problem is that I don’t know exactly what coat I need. SO I will procrastinate a bit longer. I did find a really cool bookstore in Cholet and you know me and books... Only I am a missionary and the missionary Library is limited. I did find a calendar for 2014 and I CANT WAIT to use it and look at all the pretty months. I had a hard time between choosing between a cool Paris one or one of ONE DIRECTION but then again I remembered that I am a missionary and having a calendar of teenage English singers may or may not be the best idea. I also found the cooooolllleeest thing ever and I hope they have them in America. PAPERBLANKS! They have journals and little notebooks and I want them all. I will save up and get some! Oh and not at the bookstore but at a real store I found mascara so I guess I don’t need my mom to keep sending me that...

This week I tried cooking. I swear that the oven and everything works differently in Cholet because everything I have tried to bake or cook for Sœur Horn has failed and made me embarrassed. SO we tried making brownies for our bff ThiThanh and wanted to drop them off for her. We made them and they were edible so we went to her building and waited to be let in because she wasn’t home... IT was the wrong building. WORTH it though because she loved them!

This week we also went to a Chinese buffet with ThiThanh... YUM YUM YUM! The food was good but the company was even better! Somehow I am able to take the least flattering pictures ever but it is the memories that count right? It was so fun and totally made getting home late worth it! We love spending time with her and having normal conversations as well as teaching the gospel! Being a missionary really is the BEST!

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE THIS WARD!! SERIOUSLY best ward ever! I can say that because I don’t have a home ward in America. But really the people here are soo great! They all know my name and know who I am and maybe it helps that there aren’t too many people in the ward and being the American with big hair makes me memorable. But they are just so nice! Yesterday after Church we had a soirée missionaries and there were role plays and everyone just asked questions and got pumped about the work and being able to part of it! I am excited to see the miracles that come from a united ward!

This week I will hit my 7 month mark! Still the BEST choice I made and I HIGHLY encourage everyone to serve a mission. I am having the funnest time but also the most spiritual time ever! The things I learn in my studies, in lesson and in conversations with people are such a blessing! I LOVE MY LIFE!

Thank you ALL for your love and support! It means soo much to me and I am so grateful for everything!

Love,

Sœur Emily Johns