April 25, 2011
Being a missionary and being sick shouldn't be allowed. Missionary work is just ridiculous to survive while trying to fight off the plague too. I'm not exactly a fan. And if I'm not better by Mother's Day, I will have been sick every single time I've spoken to you thus far. (I promise, I actually have had a few days of health over the past five months...I think. ;) Heaven knows I can't exactly remember those moments right now though.
Luckily I have a couple of weeks until then (Mother's Day) to get better. I've been extremely sick for about a week an a half now. And I don't feel great right now, but over the past couple days I've developed a killer cough. I know that doesn't sound good, but from the way my past couple of maladies have played out, that means I might finally be on the downhill slope now! =) So there is hope yet! I might actually survive and be able to be a normal missionary again! Hooray!
So Mom, you asked if I've been sleeping better yet. I started to adjust a bit, but then this plague caught a hold of me. Whether by Irish pubs, Latino dance clubs, or plagues, one way or another, the world is ever striving to keep me awake during the night ha ha. However, last night was totally different. The weather has been getting pretty warm pretty fast here. Last night we pulled down the two fans we have for our apartment. I don't know if it was just the addition of the "white noise" or slipping back into the many many summers I slept with a fan in my room, but I haven't slept that well since I was at home. So *fingers crossed* I might have found a solution for the moment! Here's hoping it wasn't just a one time thing.
I can hardly believe that this transfer is coming to a close. I feel like I just got here yesterday and started to attempt the ever present task of memorizing the ward, area, buses, metros and amis (much credit going to Soeur Rowley's every ready memory that I could pull from any moment of the day.) But now, it's my turn to help someone else do the same. Soeur Rowley is being transferred toValenciennes
I don't know if I've ever said anything to you about Soeur Williams. Soeur Williams was also in the MTC with me like Soeur Rowley. But, instead of just being in the room across the hall (like Soeur Rowley) Soeur Williams was one of the two other sisters that Soeur Woodruff and I lived with. So once again, we're pretty young in the mission, but I love her! She's just a doll! I would love to not be the one who's supposed to know the area (Soeur Rowley's just far better at it than I am - granted she's been here for three transfers now), but I know it's what needs to happen and things will work out just fine. Change always tends to be a bit stressful in some way, but it's a good thing. She's going to be great with our ward and amis. They're just going to love her! - Like I already do. =)
You asked if I've seen the Louvre yet. I have and I haven't. I've seen the outside plenty of times, and I walked around the grounds with Soeur Thompson, but I have yet to go inside. I figure I'll go in some day, but for right now, it's not the highest on my "things to do" list. The Paris Soeurs (that we live with) were planning on going today. We usually spend P-days together, but Soeur Rowley and I needed to get some other things taken care of before she takes off on Wednesday. So instead we've just been doing a bit of shopping today. So things we've accomplished instead of going to the Louvre today:
-bought matching Boubous (I realize you probably have no idea what those are, but suffice it to say, the first piece of clothing I bought in downtown Paris came from Africa =)
-Soeur Rowley is now the proud owner of the upgraded version of my current camera. Thus allowing her to take her own pictures after an entire transfer of suffering through a broken camera-Soeur Rowley is now the proud owner of the upgraded version of my current camera. Thus allowing her to take her own pictures after an entire transfer of suffering through a broken one;
-Our area book is almost ready for Soeur Williams to see;
-Soeur Rowley's desk has now been sorted into piles of books to be packed;
-We made cookies for the elders who will be moving copious amounts of luggages up and down our four flights of twisty, crooked stairs in a couple days;
-AND I bought a webcam (I'll explain in a minute why)
Speaking of buying a webcam and camera today, I love that our ward clerk is American. I called him today to get his advice on where to go. Such a blessing that he's here. He sent us to this little street that we never would have gone to otherwise loaded with cheap tech shops. This sounds like a lame story, but I have a point. Point being: people are the same everywhere you go! (In a non racist way) the Africans here, 99% of the time, listen to the same music and watch the same MTV-ish channels. Teenage girls are all the same. AND Asians run the tech shops! ha ha Soeur Rowley and I couldn't help but laugh when we got there. =)
Fun news we just got: Soeur Rowley and I get to mother tomorrow! Again, I know that means nothing to you, but when the new missionaries show up, they go to the visitor center/Paris ward house area and go around with another missionary (like Soeur Rowley or me) and get to try out their first bit of contacting. Yay for new missionaries! And I'll get to see Sister Worsham on her first (very jet lagged) day inParis
More transfer news, of the four of us that live in the apartment, I am the only one staying. I'm going to miss those girls so much! Soeur Nielson is going home, Soeur Rowley we figured would probably be transferred, but we were shocked that Soeur Murray is going too. Oh well. Like I said, I love Soeur Williams already. I've heard Soeur Pearce is wonderful, and she'll be training one of the new sisters. So, it should be a blast all the same.
Oh heavens, on Saturday we went and played soccer with some of the elders. To choose the team captains we played a game called "Tomato." I'm sure we looked absolutely ridiculous to everyone else in the park ha ha. The Europeans (all of the elders) acted totally normal about it, but the Americans (the four sisters) couldn't get over how funny it was. I'll do my best to explain it. We stood in a circle with out legs spread apart touching the feet of the person next to us with our feet. Then bent over (yes, all of us have out butts sticking straight up in the air) and we hit the ball back and forth in the circle with our hands trying to keep it from going through our legs. If the ball made it through your legs, you could only use one hand to guard your "goal." If the ball went through again, you'd have to turn around and look between you legs to try and see into the circle - continuing to try and keep the ball from going through your legs. If the ball went through your legs two more times, you were out. And that madness continues until you only have two people left alive - the team captains. Ridiculous though it sounds, it was actually really amusing! =)
Sorry, I realize I've just told you a lot of really random thoughts/stories that don't tell you much about what's happened this week. But they're more exciting for the moment than just the monotony of the week. However, we did have a cool little miracle. I think my second day here, Soeur Rowley and I had a rendez-vous with a Muslim woman who was super cool, very into what we had to offer, and extremely engaged in the lesson. But since that night, we haven't been able to see her. Either she's not been home, she's been in the hospital, or she just hasn't returned/answered our calls. But we called her the other day out of the blue and she was really happy to hear from us and asked us to come over. We were finally able to see her, and she asked us to keep coming back! =) She may be a bit difficult to teach (we've got aLOT of ground to cover) but just that we get to see her is a blessing.
Also, I love Indians! We ended up contacting (or rather they contacted us) five different Indians this weeks. Reason I love them: they speak English. They love the church. And one referral that I called, told us she was busy, but had been waiting for our call, and referred us to her friend that wants to join the church. Why can't all amis be that easy?! ;)
Most exciting news of the week: Soeur Rowley and I got contacted by the TJs!!! Ha ha They taught us their version of the plan of salvation and handed us a pamphlet. We told them we'd take it if they took ours. (Which they did) I've got to say, it was kind of fun to be on the other side of a street contact. This week has just been full of all kinds of random stories unimportant ha ha.
Again, I love you. Have a good week (full of random stories! ;) Those are the best!)
So Mom, you asked if I've been sleeping better yet. I started to adjust a bit, but then this plague caught a hold of me. Whether by Irish pubs, Latino dance clubs, or plagues, one way or another, the world is ever striving to keep me awake during the night ha ha. However, last night was totally different. The weather has been getting pretty warm pretty fast here. Last night we pulled down the two fans we have for our apartment. I don't know if it was just the addition of the "white noise" or slipping back into the many many summers I slept with a fan in my room, but I haven't slept that well since I was at home. So *fingers crossed* I might have found a solution for the moment! Here's hoping it wasn't just a one time thing.
I can hardly believe that this transfer is coming to a close. I feel like I just got here yesterday and started to attempt the ever present task of memorizing the ward, area, buses, metros and amis (much credit going to Soeur Rowley's every ready memory that I could pull from any moment of the day.) But now, it's my turn to help someone else do the same. Soeur Rowley is being transferred to
I don't know if I've ever said anything to you about Soeur Williams. Soeur Williams was also in the MTC with me like Soeur Rowley. But, instead of just being in the room across the hall (like Soeur Rowley) Soeur Williams was one of the two other sisters that Soeur Woodruff and I lived with. So once again, we're pretty young in the mission, but I love her! She's just a doll! I would love to not be the one who's supposed to know the area (Soeur Rowley's just far better at it than I am - granted she's been here for three transfers now), but I know it's what needs to happen and things will work out just fine. Change always tends to be a bit stressful in some way, but it's a good thing. She's going to be great with our ward and amis. They're just going to love her! - Like I already do. =)
You asked if I've seen the Louvre yet. I have and I haven't. I've seen the outside plenty of times, and I walked around the grounds with Soeur Thompson, but I have yet to go inside. I figure I'll go in some day, but for right now, it's not the highest on my "things to do" list. The Paris Soeurs (that we live with) were planning on going today. We usually spend P-days together, but Soeur Rowley and I needed to get some other things taken care of before she takes off on Wednesday. So instead we've just been doing a bit of shopping today. So things we've accomplished instead of going to the Louvre today:
-bought matching Boubous (I realize you probably have no idea what those are, but suffice it to say, the first piece of clothing I bought in downtown Paris came from Africa =)
-Soeur Rowley is now the proud owner of the upgraded version of my current camera. Thus allowing her to take her own pictures after an entire transfer of suffering through a broken camera-Soeur Rowley is now the proud owner of the upgraded version of my current camera. Thus allowing her to take her own pictures after an entire transfer of suffering through a broken one;
-Our area book is almost ready for Soeur Williams to see;
-Soeur Rowley's desk has now been sorted into piles of books to be packed;
-We made cookies for the elders who will be moving copious amounts of luggages up and down our four flights of twisty, crooked stairs in a couple days;
-AND I bought a webcam (I'll explain in a minute why)
Speaking of buying a webcam and camera today, I love that our ward clerk is American. I called him today to get his advice on where to go. Such a blessing that he's here. He sent us to this little street that we never would have gone to otherwise loaded with cheap tech shops. This sounds like a lame story, but I have a point. Point being: people are the same everywhere you go! (In a non racist way) the Africans here, 99% of the time, listen to the same music and watch the same MTV-ish channels. Teenage girls are all the same. AND Asians run the tech shops! ha ha Soeur Rowley and I couldn't help but laugh when we got there. =)
Fun news we just got: Soeur Rowley and I get to mother tomorrow! Again, I know that means nothing to you, but when the new missionaries show up, they go to the visitor center/Paris ward house area and go around with another missionary (like Soeur Rowley or me) and get to try out their first bit of contacting. Yay for new missionaries! And I'll get to see Sister Worsham on her first (very jet lagged) day in
More transfer news, of the four of us that live in the apartment, I am the only one staying. I'm going to miss those girls so much! Soeur Nielson is going home, Soeur Rowley we figured would probably be transferred, but we were shocked that Soeur Murray is going too. Oh well. Like I said, I love Soeur Williams already. I've heard Soeur Pearce is wonderful, and she'll be training one of the new sisters. So, it should be a blast all the same.
Oh heavens, on Saturday we went and played soccer with some of the elders. To choose the team captains we played a game called "Tomato." I'm sure we looked absolutely ridiculous to everyone else in the park ha ha. The Europeans (all of the elders) acted totally normal about it, but the Americans (the four sisters) couldn't get over how funny it was. I'll do my best to explain it. We stood in a circle with out legs spread apart touching the feet of the person next to us with our feet. Then bent over (yes, all of us have out butts sticking straight up in the air) and we hit the ball back and forth in the circle with our hands trying to keep it from going through our legs. If the ball made it through your legs, you could only use one hand to guard your "goal." If the ball went through again, you'd have to turn around and look between you legs to try and see into the circle - continuing to try and keep the ball from going through your legs. If the ball went through your legs two more times, you were out. And that madness continues until you only have two people left alive - the team captains. Ridiculous though it sounds, it was actually really amusing! =)
Sorry, I realize I've just told you a lot of really random thoughts/stories that don't tell you much about what's happened this week. But they're more exciting for the moment than just the monotony of the week. However, we did have a cool little miracle. I think my second day here, Soeur Rowley and I had a rendez-vous with a Muslim woman who was super cool, very into what we had to offer, and extremely engaged in the lesson. But since that night, we haven't been able to see her. Either she's not been home, she's been in the hospital, or she just hasn't returned/answered our calls. But we called her the other day out of the blue and she was really happy to hear from us and asked us to come over. We were finally able to see her, and she asked us to keep coming back! =) She may be a bit difficult to teach (we've got a
Also, I love Indians! We ended up contacting (or rather they contacted us) five different Indians this weeks. Reason I love them: they speak English. They love the church. And one referral that I called, told us she was busy, but had been waiting for our call, and referred us to her friend that wants to join the church. Why can't all amis be that easy?! ;)
Most exciting news of the week: Soeur Rowley and I got contacted by the TJs!!! Ha ha They taught us their version of the plan of salvation and handed us a pamphlet. We told them we'd take it if they took ours. (Which they did) I've got to say, it was kind of fun to be on the other side of a street contact. This week has just been full of all kinds of random stories unimportant ha ha.
Again, I love you. Have a good week (full of random stories! ;) Those are the best!)
We've had to readjust out P-day schedule again for our amis. So, I've got to go and try and make is back to the apartment before we're out too late.
Have an awesome week. I love you!
Love
~Kim
Have an awesome week. I love you!
Love
~Kim