Email 11-5-12

Family,

Sounds like life is swell out there in the real world! That’s good! I’m gettin real sick about hearing about all the fishing y’all been doing. Dang. Why didn’t this happen when I lived there eh?  Ha ha. Je blague. Ca va.  Life rocks here as well. Chaque jour est le meilleur. Vraiement. Je suis content etre ici en Chartre! The election is close huh? It’s about time. I’m getting real sick of it haha. Its everywhereeeeeeeee! Like these people should just move to the US of A or something. I’m pretty sure the election is more important here. About 10 times a day we here, "Mitt’s boyz huh... you don’t stand a chance." haha. Not sure how to exactly translate it from French but it’s something like that.

Well I kinda lied about being right next to Paris. It’s actually about an hour and a half train ride. Its not really considered to be a suburb but then again it kinda is. Tons of people live here and work in Paris. I have seen the Eiffel tour a couple of times but not very often. I get to go to Paris once a week for district meeting. The church is in the heart of Paris so it’s always fun to walk by some of the most famous buildings in the world and to learn how to get around Paris. That place is nuts. My ville is pretty small. Way smaller then Charleroi. My new companion Elder Maxwell is a stud. He is from Vegas and has been out for about 13 months. His French is amazing so I learn a lot from him in that regard. He really knows how to talk and communicate with the people so it’s been awesome learning from him in that regard as well. Life is pretty chouette right now. Can’t complain one bit. And Elder Maxwell is huge into golf so that’s obviously a real treat as well. #Blessingz. I never saw Soeur Poznanski on transfer day because I got to Paris a little earlier than most Elders. I am kinda a little camera shy but that’s not the excuse this time. The members are pretty awesome here. They have feed us twice already I think. Not too bad. Our apartment isn’t the nicest but it gets the job done. Elder Adams has done a lil reconstruction on it as well. I cleaned the stove, sink, and shower with some gnarly chemicals. They be lookin like new again. #YouCouldEvenEatOffOfIt. I can’t stand living in a dirty place. One thing I have learned in my short time here is the power of cleanliness. It’s definitely worth it. Dowmtown is about a five minute walk from the apartment. Not to shabby. We have to walk a TON. Honestly like 20 miles a day. Pas une blague. Safe to say my little tootsies are not in the best of shape. They’re bleeding in about three different spots right now haha. But they will live. We have a foot docteur in our ward and I will be visiting him tonight to get another pair of custom orthotics for free. He did some tests lasts week and I failed miserably haha. He’s not really sure what to do because he has never seen feet like mine but ca va. They still get the job done. I could buy new shoes but I don’t want to s[end the money and I don’t really think they will help. I’ll give you more of an update on that next week. I hope I answered all of your questions mom!  #TriedMyHeartest

This week was nuts!  Without a doubt the best week of the mission and my life.  Miracle after miracle has been taking place. I got let into my first house ever while doing port à port! (door to door). It only took about 500 houses before one finally decided to listen haha. And she loved it! We taught the 1st lesson. It was powerful. She was excited to have her own copy of the Book of Mormon and promised us that she would read it. We’ll see here again on Wednesday so I’m pretty pumped about that. She also has two kids and a husband who will be present in the next lesson. #GospelBlessesFAMILIES. And this week we were getting blessed right and left! We taught a lot of lessons and found a lot of new amis de l'église!  The power of prayer, being obedient, and working hard are irreplaceable.  It’s amazing what can happen when we have a goal in mind and work hard  to achieve it! 

And lastly the Français.  My French has come along way but its still nowhere even close to where it needs to be. I can finally talk with people but it doesn’t sound to hot haha. I struggle most days but with time it can only get better. I study my brains out and pray like a madman every day. I can read French without much of a problem now. It’s just my pronunciation that is horrible haha. I am wayyy to American. I don’t know how to say my R's! Its soooo hard. My big head still hasn’t quite figured out how to do it. Sometimes I get a bit discouraged wiff my Français but when i look back its amazing to see how far I have come and how much I have actually learned. It’s not easy but its definitely worth it! Pray for my Français if you have the time! The power of prayer is amazing. 

Well that’s about all I got time for. I could go on for days about all the things I have learned this last week but I don’t have the time. Oh yeah, Elder Anderson is coming to the mission of the 16th.  Every missionary from the mission will be there.  All 170 or so of us. That will be a real treat. Have a good week. Don’t forget to... "Live each day as if you will live forever, for you surely shall!"  That phrase is a life changer.  Think about it. Lovez y’all. 

XOXO... Bises,

Elder Adamz

 

P.S. I missed your other question. Mrs. Guisti is right. There is a huge Cathedral here. Third biggest in the world.  I can’t get enough of it. Sometimes during study time I get lost within its beauty (we have a perfect view of it from our apartment) Its "untrue" beauty but it is still amazing haha. You can see it from anywhere within 50 miles of Chartre I think.  I can’t even explain it, its too amazzzing. I’ll be sure to send some pics. I’ts like the Super Super Super Walmart of any church on earth haha. HUGEEEE.