Week 18 "There is no better time than the present!"

Since Soeur Holmgren left last week, I have been reflecting a lot about life. Life is literally always changing. The minute we get comfortable with something... life throws at us a big fat ball of change! I loved being with Soeur Holmgren. I learned so many things from her. And I didn't even realize how much I loved her until she left (I guess that is just how life is). Sometimes I think about my future. When I will be home from my mission... Or fin- not even that far... just like where will I be NEXT transfer? But then I remember that right here, right now, I am in Nice. With Soeur Allen. And there is no better time than right now. There is no better time than the present. I love being a missionary. Seeing Soeur Holmgren go home made me decide that I will actually just stay out on my mission forever. I love France. I love the people I have met here. I know that right now, this is where I need to be in my life.

Soeur Allen is my new companion. She is from Birmingham, England... so yes she has "the accent." I like to imitate her after she says something. "Excuse me, could you please pass me the suggaaa for my cup of teaaa." Hah jk she actually doesn't say stuff like that but it is pretty awesome to have a companion with an accent. Soeur Allen is a little more on the shy side. Which means I have had to really step it
up a notch and speak more French here. Which is good for me. All the sudden all the members are coming up to me saying, "Woah, you're French has progressed so much." And I think it is just because now I am forced to speak French. Soeur Allen is a good listener and is very real. At home she played rounders (kind of like baseball for girls) and she also plays the cello.

It has been really good for me to kind of lead the area. Even though I am not senior companion or whatever that is, I am the one who knows the area, the bus routes, the amis, the members. It has really pushed me a lot this week to be confident and just speak French. This week has been a little hard but I also feel like I have never grown so much in one week. I was seriously so worried that when Soeur Holmgren left I would just not know how to do anything. But I realized "Woah, hey... I'm doin it! I am speaking French to people on the streets and I am making phone calls and arranging Rdv's all by myself." I'm growinnnn upppp Mom (Soeur Holmgren)!

There is a cute little old lady (96 yrs) named Clémence Carbonne who is a member here in Nice. I LOVE HER. Every time I go to visit her she tells me the same 2 stories. 1- how she used to be Catholic and then became Mormon. 2- how she met her husband in the army. She is so sweet. She will look at me in the eyes and say "Ohhhh Je t'aime." And
then pick up my hand and kiss it and then press my hand against her cheek. She is so full of life and energy. I sometimes just sit there and play with her skin as she holds my hand. Her skin is so squishy and stays in whatever place you mold it into. HAHA! Just trying to paint for you the relationship I have with the best old lady in the world. My favorite part is when I walk out of her apartment, and am
going across the street, and I hear "yoooooo hoooooo" up on the balcony. And there is Madame Clémence Carbonne flailing her arms around and blowing kisses from the fifth floor balcony.

This week we had our Noël activity with our ward. It was way too much fun. Donna cooked. Enough said there. And our Ami's "Q" and "A"  came! There was such pretty Christmas music, delicious food, and amazing people. Our ward is literally insane. There were these pinecone decorations on the table, and members started throwing them at each other during the meal. Then the bishop tried to take control of the situation but everyone started throwing pine cones at him! Hahaha. And it was like a food fight of pine cones. I keep thinking, hmmm, this is not what I thought of when I imagined France.

The bishop, his wife, my comp, and our ami ..

Our rondevous with "Q" went great this week. We read Alma 32 with him (the faith is like a seed chapter) and I think it really helped him understand more WHY we are asking him to read the scriptures on his own. It was so good to just follow the spirit during the lesson and go so slow. He said a prayer at the end and his prayers are getting more sincere every time! I really hope that he can pray and read on his own this week. We also committed him to baptism. He says he is not ready yet but will think about it. Elton was also there during the rdv and that was really helpful. Teaching with members is powerful. Everyone back home, go teach with the members. It is such a cool experience and we (missionaries) NEED YOU. Like before the mission, I thought I wasn't allowed to come teach with the missionaries or something? But guess what, you actually are allowed to. So do it! You will realize how simple the gospel is!

Pday was so fun today. Soeur Allen and I went to the view point of Nice. Then we went to the Noël marché! There were all these tiny wooden huts selling different trinkets for Noël. We also accidentally bought 24 churros. Sooooo... yeah. We ate 12 of them. HAHAHAHAH. I don't really know how that happened.

 I just went up to the lady and asked "Je vais prendre les churros avec nutella s'il vous plait."  And then all the sudden Soeur Allen and I had 24 churros in our hands.
Don't worry, they were not the regular size Costco churro that you have in America. They were cute and small and delicious. We ate them as we rode around and around the ferris wheel.

Love, Soeur Jones

 Photos

Noel Marche


Me and Felix (he forgot his teeth today at church)






The creche I made for the primary. Donna needed help since she is the Primary President. I thought Eliza and Madeline would appreciate this. I was going to draw a hampster for Madeline...but I don't think a hampster was at the nativity:)