I'm Feeling 22!!

Well this week was my birthday week. I may have told Soeur Nielson that chez moi we celebrate for the whole week and she believed me and so CELEBRATE WE DID!! Really I just wanted more of a reason to see so many people that I love and share special moments together. I really have matured and it wasn’t all about the presents even though I did get some good ones! I have decided to list some of the 22 reasons that I LOVE my mission and being a missionary but I will get to that after I summarize the week! 

On Monday we hit up all of the stores in Toul and by ALL I mean 2... Unfortunately things are still too short and so we just left with some cool rings and belts and little things like that KNOWING that we would do a round two in Nancy the next day! We tried to take our photo of the day with our shopping success but too many phone calls kept happening so here are some candid shots! 

Tuesday we had district meeting in Nancy! I was surprised with cake and a cool coke thing that says Soeur. I still have WAAAY too much energy to ever need caffeine but it was cool for the photo! We hurry and came back to Toul after district meeting to teach Slauco and to find some cool people before heading BACK to Nancy for a European sister conference thingy. We had some time to kill and so we decided to go SHOPPING instead of eating dinner.... and I don’t regret it! I won’t show or tell anyone what I bought so that you can all be surprised when I get home. It was this conference for all of the 39 countries in Europe but for sisters only and still no one has any idea why exactly but we aren’t complaining to have apostles speak to our area. But the French translation was HORRIBLE so we decided to try to get it in English on the computer but it was sooooo slow. So selfies and frustration and hunger took over! 

On Wednesday we were just pretty busy and totally forgot to do our photo of the day and so we did it sleeping at like 10:30! It looks legit right? We made the commitment to do this photo thing and so we do it! Thursday was a fun day and we were able to spend the evening with our favorite family! We first did service at the grandparents by transporting LOTS of wood to warm homes in the winter and then went to the younger family to celebrate! Me and Mathelyne have the SAME birthday just 13 years apart. It was too fun! The other kids also have September birthdays so we had plaques made for each one of them! SOO priceless! I am going to start praying that they will serve missions in Utah and then it will come full circle! I guess maybe turning 22 got to me and I lost my memory because I left my bag, keys and camera at different people’s homes so we got home kind of late... 

MY BIRTHDAY!!!  SOOOOOOO much fun! I think it may have gone down as one of my best birthdays yet! I opened up presents and then continued to open up presents during the next few days as they arrived! Too much love! We decided to get sushi for lunch and YUM!! For some reason the sushi is soo much better here than in Provo.... My comp can’t stand the idea of uncooked meat but it was fun anyway! Then to celebrate we got macaroons!! Then birthday dinner at the Backs with the older Benoits! I am tooo tooo tooo spoiled! I got gifts AND to include my comp... She got a few too! It was just too much love and happiness in one day! 

Saturday we had stake conference followed by ANOTHER birthday dinner with our other amis. Another cake with candles and I am hoping that making the same wish 4 times pays off! Louis and Sylvie made it so much and I love them! 

Sunday another round of stake conference followed by making macaroons with the Benoits! Fanny is known for being the BEST cook and she taught us how to make them. So please have all of the ingredients and a good oven waiting for me at home and I will impress you all! We got some solid porting in and found families!! It was just such a good week and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE being a missionary! 

Now for some of the best reasons I love being a missionary..... 

1. ·         I am able to learn more than I am able to teach. 
2. ·         All of the WONDERFUL companions that I have been able to spend 24/7 with! 
3. ·         Being able to live amongst the French people and learn the most beautiful language in the world! 
4. ·         The opportunity that I have to stop random people on the street and tell them that God loves them! 
5. ·         Having a specific time each day just to read and study the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
6. ·         Being so so so so so far away from everyone that I love yet meeting even more people I love. 
7. ·         Getting a two year break from school, work and normal life. 
8. ·         Learning how to be a Mom, Wife, and Sister and Friend. 
9. ·         The fact that I am prayed for hundreds of thousands a time each day! 
10. ·         Having to rely on the Lord more than myself and family. 
11. ·         Seeing people make changes in their lives and the happiness it brings them. 
12. ·         Being able to go into strangers home and leave 20 minutes later like lifelong friends. 
13. ·         Being a sister to everyone! 
14. ·         Having a constant smile on my face! 
15. ·         Feeling closer to everyone at home yet being so far away. 
16. ·         Being guided by the Spirit and lead to where I am needed. 
17. ·         Realizing that we really all are here together to help everyone! 
18. ·         Being rejected, laughed at, kicked out etc. but never being happier! 
19. ·         Changing my perspective from all about me and my life to being an eternal perspective! 
20. ·         Finding a connection with everyone and then building from there. 
21. ·         Being able to wear Christ name on my chest and to be His representative. 
22. ·         Being the HAPPIEST that I have EVER been and knowing it is a true and lasting happiness!! 

I love you and miss you all!!! 

Love

Soeur Emily Johns

LAST and FIRST

September has officially began which means so has my last month as a fulltime missionary. People have told me that it is my session of lasts now but me and Soeur Nielson continue to do a lot of things for the first time. So instead of feeling like an old missionary who has done everything, I feel like a bleu who is learning soo much all of the time!

On Monday we wanted to buy some new plastic baggies for like sandwiches and were sooo proud when we found a cool color of blue. But when we got home we were pretty disappointed.... THEY ARE TO MAKE ICE CUBES!!! So we still can’t take any sandwiches on the go or give any cute bags of cookies to people but we can make a lot of ice! It wasn’t our most intelligent moment but it was our first time buying ice cubes bags and hopefully our last!

Exchanges are crazy and hectic and this was my final one! I am relieved and sad at the same time! I was back in Nancy with Soeur Berge. We are fb friends so feel free to stalk her! We had a lot of fun and it was a nice final exchange! Remember my FIRST exchange when I got left in a Paris metro my first week as a missionary? Yeah I have come a LOOOONG way since then!

On Wednesday I hit my 17th month mark as a missionary and we celebrated it by doing our daily 6am run. The whole photo a day thing sure makes it a bit easier to know what I have done with my life! I have learned sooo much in the past 17 months and know that I have soo much more to learn in these next 3 weeks!

PARIS, PARIS, PARIS! I love that place and it really has a special place in my heart! Waking up at 445 for our train wasn’t the best part but seeing a lot of my friends made it worth it! I gave my dying testimony and may have destroyed the Spirit that was there by telling lame jokes but oh well! It was crazy because I was just in front of like 50 people, mostly all young missionaries, and supposed to give some advice or share what I have learned on my mission but all I could think about was that this is all I want to do! Share what I love with others and stay the happiest! We of course made a trip to HEMA and I bought way too many stickers and pens and cute things that I won’t be using but oh well! Also a lot of people here think that we are nuns. Probably because our name says soeur but I ALWAYS tell everyone that we are not them... well coming back to Paris we saw a companionship of nuns and so of course I asked for a photo! They knew exactly who were were and they said they would pray for us. Too nice!

Friday the Paris and the Lyon mission combined its efforts in a day of finding. We prayed every 30 minutes and we saw a lot of cool things! Soeur Nielsen and I learned a lot of following inspiration and also in trusting each other’s inspiration! We got some cool peoples numbers and were able to teach a lot! We had to take a break in finding to make journals for the seminary students but that was not a problem because I found a lot of cool photos in the liahona including one of someone in my old ward! SMALL WORLD!

Saturday we spent the evening learning about family history and finding pretty flowers with the Benoit girls. Also a lot of good contacting going on. I am probably going to have to start wearing sunscreen because you all know how much the sun loves to turn me red...

Sunday we surprised Slauco with his own missionary badge! He was soooo cute and kept saying that he didn’t think it was possible and he was just sooo happy! We explained that he isn’t a full time missionary but that his plaque is a reminder! He will make a good missionary in the future!

MY BIRTHDAY IS ON FRIDAY!!!! I will be 22 and am sooo excited! I have already received a couple of gifts and am excited to celebrate it with people that I love here!

I love and miss you all! My kind mom has reminded me that I only have 24 days left but not sure how right that is because I am still having too much fun here!

Thank you so much for your love and your support!!

Love

Soeur Emily Johns