Amis all around!

I LOVE Christmas! Ever since I was a little kid I have always loved Christmas waaay more than my birthday, waaay more than when marathons of Boy Meets World were on, waay more than when I got to stay up late. I just really have always loved Christmas! Then I went on a mission and won’t be able to be with my family for Christmas which I thought would be a bummer and it still is in a way but really now I realize that I am just going to be with my family in Cholet and let me tell you, it is a GREAT family! But once again I am getting waaay too ahead of myself!

So I passed the last few days with Sœur Horn very well! We had lunches and dinners with some of our favorite people in Cholet and just had a great time together! Having a companion that is ending her mission is a lot harder than having a companion that is just ending their time with you. With all of my other companions I have known that I will see them around the mission but knowing that I won’t see Sœur Horn until I am home is not too great. On Tuesday night it was nice because we had our last meal with ThiThanh and she took us to lunch which is like a cross between zupas and golden corral! It was fun and then after we came back and had hot chocolate and watched Mr. Krueger’s Christmas! It was the perfect last evening together!

Then we had to Wake up at like 5 to head to Paris! It was a LONG train ride, but beautiful! Being with all of the other missionaries in Paris was so fun! I just love my mission and really every time we are in big groups of missionaries it is just like a big reunion of all the people that I love! I was able to see Sœur Stahly and so many of my friends! Also with all of the next incoming missionaries I was able to meet three missionaries that went to the Madrid MTC that met my sister Jennifer! It was sooo cool because they had pictures with her and just loved her and really made the world that much smaller! It makes me even more excited for the Christmas conference tomorrow where I will be able to see so many more missionaries and being back in Versailles will just be the greatest!

After passing a lot of time with my friends I took Sœur Hill back to Cholet with me! She started her mission in a really small ville and now will be ending her mission in a similar place! She trained my MTC companion Sœur Denning so it is a lot of fun to be with her and she is such a good missionary! She just spent the last 8 months in Paris so coming to Cholet is a bit of a change for her but she will love it eventually just like I did! We quickly have been going to work and we have been able to see some little miracles already! Also I am a runner again and running at 6:30 in the cold dark is a little hard but worth it! Thank you to my running companions.

On Saturday night was our ward Christmas party! AKA the event of the year! The building was all decorated and everyone was just so happy! The coolest part was that there were 20 nonmembers there that were all invited by the missionaries and members of the ward! Cholet is a small ward and so to have so many nonmembers there at the activity is a huge deal! It was such a fun night and really kicked off the Christmas celebrations!

Christmas is next week and this Sunday is our exceptional Sunday! We have fancy invites to give to people and everything! It is going to be a reunion especially focused on Christ for Christmas and to help everyone remember why we have Christmas! We are excited!!

I know that I say this every week but I really just LOVE being a missionary! I am cold a lot and tired and I get disappointed but then a little miracle happens and it ALL becomes worth it and I quickly forget everything else that was hard and not fun. I really feel SO Lucky to be able to be a missionary at this time of the year!

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support! It really means to world to me!

Love,

Sœur Emily Johns