Preaching in Paris

My time in spirit prison is almost done. We have an 11-hour direct flight from Salt Lake City to Paris at 5pm on Monday y . Here we go. It's been a good last week, including a real celebrity siting. So every  Sunday  and  Tuesday  evening we have a devotional, typically with a general authority of the Church, or some member of the missionary board of  whatevers  or  yadee   yadee  ya. Normally they're a little dry, but honestly usually quite good, inspiring, and always very spiritual and  churchy . Anyhow,  this Sunday , the Sabbath day our  Sunday  devotional speaker was Donny Osmond. I honestly thought the guy who made the slides was playing a prank when I first saw the picture and name Donny  Osmand , but then I looked at the stage area and there he was. When I realized it wasn't a joke, I was actually excited because it was a unique and perspective on the gospel that would be very refreshing to hear after ...

First off, a few emails I thought I had correctly I actually didn't have correctly, so if this is you're first email you're getting from me, my bad. This week the stir-crazy cabin fever stuff started to hit me. It's been 4 and a half weeks here in spirit prison, our departure date is just 10-11 days ahead of us (depending on which day/what time we leave), and high-schoolers are starting to get "old" (most other missionaries are 18-19 yrs old). I learned a new term today from one of those said 18-yr-olds: "wafflestomp." He said: "I need to talk to the building manager, I think someone wafflestomped in this shower." To wafflestomp is to---I don't even want to describe it, it involves feces and the grate at the bottom of the shower. So yeah, kids are fun. For the most part though, all the Elders/Sisters in my zone and district are cool and are out for good reasons and we get along and laugh and all that good stuff. Also, when you get t...

More than half way there ladies and gentleman, boys and girls. Normally nothing very exciting happens at the MTC, but this week was an exception. First off, they opened the two new buildings in the MTC, (T3 and T4---very exciting names) and they are pretty incredible. They are not dedicated yet (sometime this fall I think that will happen), but the missionaries are in there fore class. I took some pictures, mostly of the interior, but inside and out it's very very nice. It seems extra nice to me and the other missionaries who were in the old buildings because the old buildings are hideous and prison-like. Dark brick walls, low ceilings, tiny chairs and desks, small windows.  The goal of the new building was for it to be and feel like a temple. No food or drink is allowed in the building, you're encouraged to keep a quiet attitude of reverence when walking the halls (classrooms can be louder) and there is artwork, murals, quotes, questions, photographs, and things of suc...

This week hasn't been as eventful. Probably because I'm more adjusted to MTC life. The food is now getting old and less appetizing. I'm getting into a better exercise routine. We're now teaching two "investigators" (our teachers acting like real people that they taught during their missions) as a time, so we often have two lessons a day in French, in addition to all the classes and other study time. We also started with TRC (teaching real converts), which is when we meet with members of the church and share a message, talk to them, and work on basic conversational stuff in French. Pretty soon we'll be doing that with native French members in France over skype. We're getting better each time at teaching, and at focusing on the needs and desires of the individual, rather than the doctrine, or actual lessons.  The language is coming, it's not as miraculous as I thought it might have been, but I am learning. I had a cool experience when my compani...

I pooped in a cup this week. This week has been pretty full since my last email. Lots of ups and downs, but mostly ups. Quite a bit of French hilarity too. Saturday, stuff happened. I can't remember what. Sunday was really great. In the morning we had a "Match the Message" meeting, the MTC version of "What Not to Wear." I knew I would have issues with the nitpicky-ness of the rules, and I did, and it put me in a sour mood for the morning. It's not even that I'm breaking any of the rules, (maybe my hair is a touch long), but just that whole notion of focusing on appearances just rubs me the wrong way. Always has, always will. That being said, I am trying to be exactly obedient to the mission rules, and I understand why they are there. They just made it seem like if someone compliments your tie, you're a horrible missionary. Yayyyyyy more unnecessary shame.  Don't get me wrong, I love the MTC, I'm doing great, and I'm happy that I...

Hey. So my P-day at the MTC is Friday, that is when I will email while I'm here, at whenever it's convenient during the day (I can just email on my tablet). So far the MTC has been pretty good, but mostly very very organized. Right from the get-go an Elder grabbed my bags, guided me on the sidewalk where approximately 400,000 other missionaries and volunteers stood along the sides, gesturing where to go with their hands and enormous smiles. There were a few volunteers there whose only job was to cut the pocket threads of the Elder's suits when they came in so the nametag could go in. The dude with my bags found me again and then we went to the bookstore where I got all my French stuff. We have a ton of books to use but also the worlds smallest desks. C'est difficile. The residence building I'm in smells like 18-year-old boys and the beds are pretty terrible. There's been a semen joke, "je suis la toilette" mistake, an insult of "oh yeah, well...