March 21, 2011
How weird is it that I live in Paris
This week has been almost as adventuresome as my very first week in the field. For example:
-I have no idea where I am the majority of the time. The 14 Parisian metro lines are going to take a while.Brussels
-I am still not used to the apartment fully. Living with three sisters instead of one makes a huge difference, but not in a bad way, it's just different. I have my own desk now! =) In Strombeek we didn't have room for a desk. -we just studied at the small kitchen table that we had. The city noise is a bit crazy to try and sleep through. Stombeek was initially hard because it was silent and pitch black. But now that I'm used to that...I live in down town Paris, across the street from an Irish Pub (St Patrick's Day was pretty epic over there ha ha) and upstairs from a Latin dance club. Ha ha ha yup...our weekends are pretty intense. ;) So to say the least, it's a touch different thanBelgium
-the work is almost 100% different from what I was doing before. It's still typical missionary fun, but Sister Rowley and I work in a completely different style than Sister Thompson and I did and we have a totally different genre of investigators. But, it should be good. It's definitely making me learn a lot - especially with Sister Rowley and I both being so young in the mission.
-French is still very difficult for me. But I was to the point where I could follow a lot of the conversation. I may not be able to respond well...or at all, but I could at least tell what we were talking about in a rendez-vous. And then...I moved. Wow the Parisian accent is SO different than the Belge. I'm serious, it'll be a miracle if I ever get the language thing down. It's a dang good thing Sister Rowley took French in college before she entered the MTC. We'd be up a creek otherwise.
There are monuments absolutely everywhere, and the majority of the time, I have no idea what they are. But somehow we lucked into having a "Paris Eiffel Tower (which we also plan on doing), but we fly all the way to Paris
Happy news! Sister Thompson called me on Friday, and she and Sister Judd set a baptismal date for one of our amis!!! =) Apparently she was super cool about it too. Sister Thompson was totally expecting her to say no at first and had planned out exactly how she wanted to respond. But when she asked her if she would "follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority" she just looked at her and said "uhhh....oui." (as if it wasn't even a question ha ha.)
I'm sure there's a thousand things I could tell you about, but where do I even begin?! Life just keeps plugging away. Sister Rowley and I have a lot of work to do.
This week has been almost as adventuresome as my very first week in the field. For example:
-I have no idea where I am the majority of the time. The 14 Parisian metro lines are going to take a while.
-I am still not used to the apartment fully. Living with three sisters instead of one makes a huge difference, but not in a bad way, it's just different. I have my own desk now! =) In Strombeek we didn't have room for a desk. -we just studied at the small kitchen table that we had. The city noise is a bit crazy to try and sleep through. Stombeek was initially hard because it was silent and pitch black. But now that I'm used to that...I live in down town Paris, across the street from an Irish Pub (St Patrick's Day was pretty epic over there ha ha) and upstairs from a Latin dance club. Ha ha ha yup...our weekends are pretty intense. ;) So to say the least, it's a touch different than
-the work is almost 100% different from what I was doing before. It's still typical missionary fun, but Sister Rowley and I work in a completely different style than Sister Thompson and I did and we have a totally different genre of investigators. But, it should be good. It's definitely making me learn a lot - especially with Sister Rowley and I both being so young in the mission.
-French is still very difficult for me. But I was to the point where I could follow a lot of the conversation. I may not be able to respond well...or at all, but I could at least tell what we were talking about in a rendez-vous. And then...I moved. Wow the Parisian accent is SO different than the Belge. I'm serious, it'll be a miracle if I ever get the language thing down. It's a dang good thing Sister Rowley took French in college before she entered the MTC. We'd be up a creek otherwise.
There are monuments absolutely everywhere, and the majority of the time, I have no idea what they are. But somehow we lucked into having a "
Happy news! Sister Thompson called me on Friday, and she and Sister Judd set a baptismal date for one of our amis!!! =) Apparently she was super cool about it too. Sister Thompson was totally expecting her to say no at first and had planned out exactly how she wanted to respond. But when she asked her if she would "follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority" she just looked at her and said "uhhh....oui." (as if it wasn't even a question ha ha.)
I'm sure there's a thousand things I could tell you about, but where do I even begin?! Life just keeps plugging away. Sister Rowley and I have a lot of work to do.
Just a heads up, our mailman can't get into our building, and thus, can't get to our mailbox. We pick up mail at the post office on Mondays. So far, as best she can tell, Sister Rowely hasn't had any problem getting mail that way. So it should still be safe to send mail to my physical address, but if you're ever worried, the mission home is always a safe bet.
Random Muslim story of the week. Last night, we ran into a guy on the bus, who really creepily leaned over to read my name tag. When I noticed him, I seriously jumped. He explained he was just reading the tag. We asked if he'd seen one like it before. He had, but "on those boys with the ties. Why aren't you wearing ties?" Umm...frére, we're girls. After talking with him for a bit we got on to the Book of Mormon. He told us that he has several copies at his home. That's not a terribly uncommon response, but they are usually referring to the Bible. But after a few more questions, he assured us, he really does have a Book of Mormon. Not only does he have it, he's read it. AND "I love that book, but I have one problem with it. Who were the original people inAmerica
I'm glad things went well with Alan. I can't believe he's home already. Alright random story time again, but this just popped into my head. When missionaries go home, we say that they've died. Alan called to say goodbye to me on Thursday night. At one point he said, "I'll see you on the other side." I made fun of the death reference a little bit at the time, but I didn't even connect that until now. Wow how slow can I be this week?! But technically he's right. We'll both be dead before I see him again ha ha.
Have an awesome week! I love you.
Love
~Kim
Random Muslim story of the week. Last night, we ran into a guy on the bus, who really creepily leaned over to read my name tag. When I noticed him, I seriously jumped. He explained he was just reading the tag. We asked if he'd seen one like it before. He had, but "on those boys with the ties. Why aren't you wearing ties?" Umm...frére, we're girls. After talking with him for a bit we got on to the Book of Mormon. He told us that he has several copies at his home. That's not a terribly uncommon response, but they are usually referring to the Bible. But after a few more questions, he assured us, he really does have a Book of Mormon. Not only does he have it, he's read it. AND "I love that book, but I have one problem with it. Who were the original people in
I'm glad things went well with Alan. I can't believe he's home already. Alright random story time again, but this just popped into my head. When missionaries go home, we say that they've died. Alan called to say goodbye to me on Thursday night. At one point he said, "I'll see you on the other side." I made fun of the death reference a little bit at the time, but I didn't even connect that until now. Wow how slow can I be this week?! But technically he's right. We'll both be dead before I see him again ha ha.
Have an awesome week! I love you.
Love
~Kim