Bonjour toute Le Monde!
Alors, this past week...I'm not even gonna be able to do it justice.
It was seriously insane! We started off by doing our usual Jazz on
Pday-they're pretty low key here compared to Paris. We just walked
around and went shopping. And I ate my second famous mitriette
sandwich! (They're these super big sanwiches filled with meet and
frites and covered in sauce...), basically a deep fried heart attack.
Yeah, it tasted real good:) And after Pday had finished, Soeur Hansen
and I had the fun experience of taking me to another doctor
appointment, because I have been super sick. It was seriously the
sketchiest thing of my life!! First off, this Doctor André Lémoine is
his name...or something French like that...he has is office only open
from 5-7 at night. Super trippy. Second, we walked in the building and
we are shuffled into the waiting room with pea green colored carpet;
where there is absolutely nobody, and end up sitting there for twenty
five minutes until this short little man with eyebrows drawn on by
crayon walks in and starts pointing a flashlight at me. It was a long
night to say the least...but the good news is, I am feeling much
better!
Well. With that aside, Tuesday...we had district meeting. The STL's
came and stayed with us and did an exchange with Soeur Facer and Soeur
Cornetta. And we got to go to FHE with the J.A.'s chez Elder et Soeur
Redd. Then, Wednesday morning we had a rdv with our Bulgarian recent
convert named Kristellina. She has cancer and we haven't been able to
see her much because she has her chemotherapy in Brussels. But it was
really cool because we taught with a member from Romania named Krasmir
who speaks English as well...so we had me and Soeur Hansen and Krasmir
who were speaking English. Him and Kristellina speaking Bulgarian. And
all of us speaking French. Just one big triangle! Bah, it was pretty
sweet! After every time he would explain something in Bulgarian, both
Soeur Hansen and I would just give a big thumbs up and say bravo!
Haha...he is a boss of a teacher! Well, from what I can tell:) So,
after our rdv...we met up with the STL's at the Liège gare...okay,
this is gonna be the crazy part of the story...donc, bear with me! So,
we get there and we are waiting around for our train, and the big
board shows that apparently the one that we are supposed to be taking
to Brussels has had a grev (strike...which has been happening a lot
lately) and the other one coming is supposedly going to be 45 minutes
later...which created another problem for us because we were supposed
to catch a connecting train from Brussels into Villeneuve D'ascq where
our exchange is supposed to happen. So, either way we're all gonna
have to change our tickets to get into France. This is around 4:00...
...we end up taking the 45 minute later train...and run to try and
exchange our tickets because we're not sure when the next one into
Lille is going to be, and we were all four of us scheduled to have a
rdv with a family around 6:30. So, we're all basically freaking out!!
We talk to this cool Belgium lady who tells us that there is a train
coming in ten minutes that will take us in Lille direction but it
somehow cuts through Belgium and stops in the ville of Ghent. She also
tells us that there is another train that is set to leave in 15
minutes, but it is another 45 minutes behind schedule. So, basically
we all end up deciding on the Ghent train; so, we book it from the
ticket office up to the voie where the train is...and we hear a
whistle! So there we are...4 sister missionaries, carrying our huge
exchange duffel bags running down the platform; shoving people (so
Christlike I know...); and running head first into the train. We all
tackled each other and barely made it with less than five seconds to
spare! Prayers were heard that day!! So, we ended up spending fifteen
minutes in the other mission. We're super rebellious:) But...the
craziness doesn't end there...oh no. So, we are sitting there next to
the train doors looking like hobo's (because there isn't four open
seats for us), and the ticket dude checking our train ticket comes and
tells us that all passengers riding into Lille direction are going to
have to get off because the train we are on is going to split and go
further towards a different destination! So, I swear it felt like
five seconds later...we're all jumping off the train again, running to
the never ending end of the train trying to find the last three cars
that are supposed to go to Lille. Okay, I dunno if you know this...but
I'm really short, so my tiny little legs were barely hanging on. And I
was still a little sick so I was feeling like I had just been
steam-rolled. You can get the idea...
So, once we finally found the end of the train...we are sitting there
along with like two other people. And we are just praying that this is
the right train. And the announcer dude comes on the intercom and
starts speaking. And we are all listening and looking blankly at each
other and not understanding a word that he's saying-so, our anxiety
continues to heighten when we realize that we are sitting there in
Ghent, Belgium...listening to announcements in Flemish.
But then the dude sitting just derrière de nous starts speaking in
French and says that he is going to Lille and then we all started
laughing. We were able to make it to our rdv around 7:00 with a Hindu
family who showed us how to eat food with our hands:) it made for a
good time after our running and worrying was over. I had a good
exchange with Soeur Rasband. We were in the MTC together so we already
knew each other. We did every kind of missionary work and had a ball!
We walked through a strike; ate baguettes; walked down a canal without
knowing it...until the smell hit us; contacted and prayed with a ton
of people and finished off etching beautiful macaroons in a gorgeous
park! What a dream I live! It was amazing to get to go back and visit
Lille. I miss it so much! Even the smell of the dirty metro full of
gypsies;)
We ported a ton this past week. No luck just yet. We got some
potentials though...we'll see what happens;) we helped our ami Sandra
set up her new 48' screen tv. Oh the skills I didn't know I would
learn on the mission! I also gave a talk yesterday in sacrament
meeting. The bishop came up to me beforehand and asked if I was ready
and I pulled the "Oh crap! Was that today?!" card...he thought that
was funny...well AFTER I told him I had one prepared:) I talked about
prayer and amazingly enough I got an answer to my prayers because I
didn't throw up in front of everyone. I'm glad it over! We have zone
conference and interviews with President Babin and stake conference
this weekend. It's gonna be a busy one again. Bring it on!
I got the exciting news that I am an aunt today! I am so excited to
set my new little niece Emmaline Jean! Thank you for all your love and
support! The past few weeks have been harder for me and it's nice to
hear from you. I love you all! Have a great week!
XOXOXOXOXOOXO
Soeur Nelson
Us without seats, after being thrust into the train...
Alors, this past week...I'm not even gonna be able to do it justice.
It was seriously insane! We started off by doing our usual Jazz on
Pday-they're pretty low key here compared to Paris. We just walked
around and went shopping. And I ate my second famous mitriette
sandwich! (They're these super big sanwiches filled with meet and
frites and covered in sauce...), basically a deep fried heart attack.
Yeah, it tasted real good:) And after Pday had finished, Soeur Hansen
and I had the fun experience of taking me to another doctor
appointment, because I have been super sick. It was seriously the
sketchiest thing of my life!! First off, this Doctor André Lémoine is
his name...or something French like that...he has is office only open
from 5-7 at night. Super trippy. Second, we walked in the building and
we are shuffled into the waiting room with pea green colored carpet;
where there is absolutely nobody, and end up sitting there for twenty
five minutes until this short little man with eyebrows drawn on by
crayon walks in and starts pointing a flashlight at me. It was a long
night to say the least...but the good news is, I am feeling much
better!
Well. With that aside, Tuesday...we had district meeting. The STL's
came and stayed with us and did an exchange with Soeur Facer and Soeur
Cornetta. And we got to go to FHE with the J.A.'s chez Elder et Soeur
Redd. Then, Wednesday morning we had a rdv with our Bulgarian recent
convert named Kristellina. She has cancer and we haven't been able to
see her much because she has her chemotherapy in Brussels. But it was
really cool because we taught with a member from Romania named Krasmir
who speaks English as well...so we had me and Soeur Hansen and Krasmir
who were speaking English. Him and Kristellina speaking Bulgarian. And
all of us speaking French. Just one big triangle! Bah, it was pretty
sweet! After every time he would explain something in Bulgarian, both
Soeur Hansen and I would just give a big thumbs up and say bravo!
Haha...he is a boss of a teacher! Well, from what I can tell:) So,
after our rdv...we met up with the STL's at the Liège gare...okay,
this is gonna be the crazy part of the story...donc, bear with me! So,
we get there and we are waiting around for our train, and the big
board shows that apparently the one that we are supposed to be taking
to Brussels has had a grev (strike...which has been happening a lot
lately) and the other one coming is supposedly going to be 45 minutes
later...which created another problem for us because we were supposed
to catch a connecting train from Brussels into Villeneuve D'ascq where
our exchange is supposed to happen. So, either way we're all gonna
have to change our tickets to get into France. This is around 4:00...
...we end up taking the 45 minute later train...and run to try and
exchange our tickets because we're not sure when the next one into
Lille is going to be, and we were all four of us scheduled to have a
rdv with a family around 6:30. So, we're all basically freaking out!!
We talk to this cool Belgium lady who tells us that there is a train
coming in ten minutes that will take us in Lille direction but it
somehow cuts through Belgium and stops in the ville of Ghent. She also
tells us that there is another train that is set to leave in 15
minutes, but it is another 45 minutes behind schedule. So, basically
we all end up deciding on the Ghent train; so, we book it from the
ticket office up to the voie where the train is...and we hear a
whistle! So there we are...4 sister missionaries, carrying our huge
exchange duffel bags running down the platform; shoving people (so
Christlike I know...); and running head first into the train. We all
tackled each other and barely made it with less than five seconds to
spare! Prayers were heard that day!! So, we ended up spending fifteen
minutes in the other mission. We're super rebellious:) But...the
craziness doesn't end there...oh no. So, we are sitting there next to
the train doors looking like hobo's (because there isn't four open
seats for us), and the ticket dude checking our train ticket comes and
tells us that all passengers riding into Lille direction are going to
have to get off because the train we are on is going to split and go
further towards a different destination! So, I swear it felt like
five seconds later...we're all jumping off the train again, running to
the never ending end of the train trying to find the last three cars
that are supposed to go to Lille. Okay, I dunno if you know this...but
I'm really short, so my tiny little legs were barely hanging on. And I
was still a little sick so I was feeling like I had just been
steam-rolled. You can get the idea...
So, once we finally found the end of the train...we are sitting there
along with like two other people. And we are just praying that this is
the right train. And the announcer dude comes on the intercom and
starts speaking. And we are all listening and looking blankly at each
other and not understanding a word that he's saying-so, our anxiety
continues to heighten when we realize that we are sitting there in
Ghent, Belgium...listening to announcements in Flemish.
But then the dude sitting just derrière de nous starts speaking in
French and says that he is going to Lille and then we all started
laughing. We were able to make it to our rdv around 7:00 with a Hindu
family who showed us how to eat food with our hands:) it made for a
good time after our running and worrying was over. I had a good
exchange with Soeur Rasband. We were in the MTC together so we already
knew each other. We did every kind of missionary work and had a ball!
We walked through a strike; ate baguettes; walked down a canal without
knowing it...until the smell hit us; contacted and prayed with a ton
of people and finished off etching beautiful macaroons in a gorgeous
park! What a dream I live! It was amazing to get to go back and visit
Lille. I miss it so much! Even the smell of the dirty metro full of
gypsies;)
We ported a ton this past week. No luck just yet. We got some
potentials though...we'll see what happens;) we helped our ami Sandra
set up her new 48' screen tv. Oh the skills I didn't know I would
learn on the mission! I also gave a talk yesterday in sacrament
meeting. The bishop came up to me beforehand and asked if I was ready
and I pulled the "Oh crap! Was that today?!" card...he thought that
was funny...well AFTER I told him I had one prepared:) I talked about
prayer and amazingly enough I got an answer to my prayers because I
didn't throw up in front of everyone. I'm glad it over! We have zone
conference and interviews with President Babin and stake conference
this weekend. It's gonna be a busy one again. Bring it on!
I got the exciting news that I am an aunt today! I am so excited to
set my new little niece Emmaline Jean! Thank you for all your love and
support! The past few weeks have been harder for me and it's nice to
hear from you. I love you all! Have a great week!
XOXOXOXOXOOXO
Soeur Nelson
Us without seats, after being thrust into the train...