Monday, April 28, 2014

Priest, Reptiles and Madeline’s!

Have I mentioned that Soeur Wade and I have been having the FUNNEST time together?? It still hasn’t even been two weeks but boy oh boy are we using the time we have to the fullest!

On Monday night we ran into one of our amis who invited us over to teach her and her family... turns out that her uncle was unexpectantly there and he is A PRIEST!!! I have taught die hard Catholics and I have been in some really interesting lessons but I have never actually taught a professional... It was a pretty good time though. We taught about the resurrection of Christ because of Easter and he was just like this is EXACTLY what we believe and wanted to know the difference between our church and his because the base and bible are the same teachings and so finally we had to get a bit bold and bring up authority which was rough because he is a PRIEST! But we did it really nice and there was no offense and he is even going to meet with the missionaries in Vannes to learn more! I LOVE when we can just have friendly exchanges with people because we really aren’t here to convince people or to offend them but to share what we believe and know and invite them to know for themselves and I am amazed at how much I have learned about others and their beliefs from just doing that! It isn’t us that can change the hearts or minds of people but the Spirit and when the Spirit is there that is how it is done! Boy do I love being a missionary!

I have been called a lot of things on my mission and it has never phased me and most things are just funny but this week we were called schizophrenic by someone. She was a young girl and was nice at first but then whatever changed her mind was a big deal. She became really concerned about our mental well-being and thought that we were from the mental hospital that we live next to. It was really interesting but she did it in such a rude way! Usually people say mean things in a nice voice but she was just not liking us!

On Wednesday we visited Mami Renaud! She is 93 years old and dances around her apartment and has such a hop in her step! She made us Madeline’s and wants us to come learn how to make them which isn’t going to be a good idea for our 6 months to sexy but oh well! She was in the first group of people to be baptized in Rennes! She is wonderful and every time we see her we end up getting waaay more out of the lesson than she ever does!



This week I saw THITHANH!! WOO HOO!! We had exchanges in Nantes and I paired up with Soeur Bingham from Nebraska so shout out to Melissa, my sister born there! It was so fun! We did LOTS of contacting but saw lots of miracles too! We met up with ThiThanh for lunch and because she knows me sooo well we went to Kebabs but everyone knows that I will only go to a kebab place that is run and owned by Turkish people and so you better bet that we found one! It was great to be back with her and I love that lady so much! It is hard because we didn’t have much time and so having to say goodbye after a short visit was hard! But worth every minute! We found a beautiful parc in Nantes that even had a goat farm place thingy! I am definitely going to try to implement that in the parcs in Utah! So when we finally returned to Rennes we decided to go on a hunt for our own beautiful parc and we found one! It didn’t have any farm animals but we have found a nice peaceful place!






On Friday there was a little cultural activity at the church! This man who isn’t a member of the church came and did a little fireside thingy! He is a world famous reptile expert and the uncle of a member here in Rennes! He was pretty cool but we had one of our friends come to it! Dominic is from India and is here studying and he brought his friend Christina from Romania and wow we were just like four little kids in the back of the class talking like old friends! I love when we get to be around young people and get to become friends! I am still so determined to become friends with the world and so far it is working out!

My companion sure has taught me sooo much! I should probably be a little bit ashamed for this but I have never really known how to tie my shoes... I am not sure how I survived elementary school or made it the past 21 years but tying shoes is just not my thing. I do it reeeally slow and never the right way and people, including my mom, tend to laugh at me! Well problem solved! Soeur Wade taught me and now I can do it! It only took a whole bus ride but I did it successfully two times! Now the problem is that I don’t have any shoes with laces... but the day that I do I know I will be able to do it on my own! Also she taught me the right words to a song that I have been singing wrong my whole life! I am becoming a whole better person thanks to her!

I am white! I don’t know if any of you have noticed but I have pretty light skin and it tends to just be either white or a darker shade of white and after months and months of wearing tights... my legs are even whiter! So I decided to try to buy tanning lotion but I bought the wrong thing and the Tahitians tell me that I am going to burn but it is okay because THERE IS NO SUN in Bretagne! Not kidding! I wish I was but it just rains every single day but one day there is going to be sun and I will become less white! Wish me luck!

I am so happy! I love my life and really am so blessed to be here at this time with these people!

Thank you allllll for the love and support! I love and miss you all!

Love,

Soeur Emily Johns





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