Soiree familiale..

I wasn’t going to update anything but since this is like my journal, I will wonder why there is a gap if I don’t keep record. Today I gave the lesson at family home evening. I shared 2nd Timothy 1:7-8 and talked about the blessing it is here in France to have so many opportunities to be an example, answer questions about the church, and plant seeds for the gospel here. The verse says we should not be ashamed of our testimonies and God does not give us fear, but rather force and a sound mind. I also shared the analogy of the orange juice which tells about the master of a house who invites the Lord and several friends to dinner. The Lord asks the man why he only pours juice for himself and doesn’t offer it to the others and the man replies that he was afraid the others might not like the juice. This symbolizes spreading the gospel and though it’s true that some may not care for what we have to say, it is important to share bits when we have the chance because we know the eternal value that’s at stake. Tomorrow I’m spending the evening with an eccentric colleague from work, Stephanie Lecocque. She is excited to show me around a little bit more and take me to one of her favorite restaurants, and Asian barbeque place and then see a movie called Je l’aimais, based on a book. I’ll be spending the night at her house and am thrilled once again to have an invitation. I am continually amazed at the welcoming nature of the Northerners. Bonne nuit...

Tournai, Belgium & a sweet Sunday

What a day! Church was nice this morning at the Lille ward; there was a new member from Bulgaria who also speaks Russian so…a sister missionary who is still working on French had her husband translate from French to English in her ear and she then translated from English to Russian in the member’s ear. She understood everything. Another proof that the gospel is true.
I had a very unexpected opportunity to share a little of the gospel today. Cédric picked Kami and me up from church and he asked how it went and if the ceremony is the same every week, so I explained that there are three parts: the sacrament, Sunday school, and Relief society, and told him what they were. Then he started asking a ton of questions: do you believe in Christ? Do you believe in the Trinity? Do you believe in the resurrection? Why are you different than Catholics? I answered him the best I could then Kami tried to read the first Article of Faith but since he was driving and wanted to look at it he said he’d look at it later. One of the previous interns had given him a Book of Mormon and he asked if that was our Bible. I explained that it was another book testifying of Jesus Christ that we read

along with the Bible and that reading them together makes a lot more sense. The French don’t like to discuss religion so I was surprised it hadn’t gotten weird for about fifteen minutes but then it did and he changed the subject. But at least I got to tell him that my favorite part about what we believe is that we believe after this life we can be with our families for eternity. He mulled that over and said it was “un grand mystère” a huge mystery to the Catholics as to what happened after this life and who would be saved. Gavin reminded me that in the priesthood blessing my dad gave me before I left he promised me that I would have missionary opportunities. And though they aren’t coming in the same way that those in Paris did, I still feel like I’m planting seeds in little moments like this one.
Well, upon arriving at the Lepoutre home I must say the countryside where they live is situated 20 minutes from Lille and in the middle of beautiful wheat fields. Their house is unlike any I have ever seen. Over a hundred and fifty years old, it used to be a house for sheep, and after that it was a small candy factory. It is not shaped in a square; there are five parts and they all branch out in different direction and in the middle there is a veranda with glass walls and roof. Véronique Lepoutre greeted us-two kisses on the cheeks-and then we met their three daughters: Manon, Camille, and Pia-14, 11, and 5 respectively. They are adorable girls and led us to the living room where we sat down and had juice and nuts before eating. There were thick wood beams traversing the living room and the walls were a deep red brick—argyle. I love the terra cotta floors that are so common in France. After chatting for awhile we went to the veranda for dinner. The ambiance of this outdoor-indoor room was lovely. For the first course Véronique had made tomates farcées, tomatoes stuffed with a baby shrimp mixture. I quite liked it. The second course was a courgette soufflé, a squash, egg, and goat cheese dish that was absolutely delicious. Next she had made her own sorbet with strawberries and crème fraiche which was my favorite part. We had a relaxed meal and then walked around their garden.
Later in the afternoon Cédric, Véronique, Pia, Kami and I set out to spend the rest of the day in Tournai, Belgium. This village dates back to 1100 but ruins were recently discovered underneath the cathedral which suggest even earlier. Belgium has a slightly different feel than France does. We first went through the Tournai Cathedral which is the biggest cathedral in Europe. It is enormous: unbelievably high ceilings and arches. Unfortunately they are restoring a lot of it so I didn’t get pictures of the inside. However, Cédric paid for us to get into the treasury and it was a fascinating room. There were bones of Catholic saints preserved in relics, old robes of bishops from centuries past, enormous tapestries depicting the lives of saints, etc… Next we wandered around the belfry and into the village square where there was a small symphonic band playing and a ferris wheel. Cédric claimed that the view would be better from the top of the wheel so we rode it up and he was certainly right! The cathedral spires at eyelevel and the red roofed houses were breathtaking. After only four times I was sad to see it end but we then went on to taste the specialty of Belgium: waffles. We each carried a waffle around, which by the way are tasty, while we walked through another church and down the streets. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Véronique; she is a classy French woman though she looks older than she really is.
All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a more pleasant day; the Lepoutre family was so lovely. Tomorrow begins another week and I can’t wait to see what it will bring.

Saturday in Roubaix

What a splendid Saturday I had today! I moseyed through museums all day! First, I headed out to a suburb of Lille called Roubaix (Roo-bay) where I had never been before. The train station itself was an enormous stone sight. The town is less crowded than Lille but has a similar style: multicolored houses squished all together, cobblestone sidewalks, etc… Before setting out, I researched the first museum I went to, The Piscine de Roubaix, and looked at the most renowned works. However, a colleague of mine, Stephanie Lodieu, had told me that the traveling exposition there this month was spectacular. Upon arriving, I was pleasantly surprised to know that students entered all museums free that day and they stayed upon through the night! This particular museum has a neat history; in the early nineteen hundreds it was constructed as a public pool and stayed that way until 1985 when it closed down and was changed to house these special collections. Everything the Piscine dates from the 19th and 20th centuries. The neat thing is that the current displays are set up around the pool.
I began by walking through the special exhibition though, which was a showcase by Agatha Ruiz de la Prada. She decided to make dozens of dresses out of everyday items and though none of the dresses are meant to actually be worn, they are fascinating to look at. She used all sorts of materials from grass, flowers, and ribbons, to birdcages, rags, and Styrofoam. I copied a few of the pictures onto here but there are so many unique ones. The ones I posted are made out of white and red roses, beanbag inner tubes, plastic, etc… Next, I toured through the permanent collection of the museum and loved nearly everything I saw! I must admit, the plaster statues blow me away; I don’t understand how so much detail can come from such raw, hard, rough, material. There was an enormous full-bodied statue of Handel, and one of Lully, a friend of Moliere’s who wrote ballet interludes for his plays. Since I love Rodin, I was determined to find the one original statue of his that they had. I finally did, and it was called A bust of Dalou whoever that is. I imagine it was someone important, but should look it up to see what the background is. It could very well have been Rodin’s chimneysweep for all I know. The bronze was very detailed and sculpted thinly; I wonder if he had to heat it to work it. Along with Rodin’s sculptures, there were two by Camille Claudel, who was a student of his. She had promising talent from the very beginning and eventually she and Rodin married. Though, with two passionate artists’ personalities, they were in constant rage with each other and quickly divorced. However, one of her best sculptures is of Auguste himself. In the collection of paintings, I learned that most of the works came from an era called Art Deco. This is when artists started using blunt geometric shapes and stopped toning down their colors so much. I thoroughly these. I could go on and on but I’ll never finish if I keep this pace. After a couple hours here, I went to another exhibit called the Marché des Modes. They had everything from leather leg warmers, to sparkling jewels, to enormous purses, and so on. I loved the lamp table-there were so many creative ones. Picture lamps, hat lamps, phone lamps, short lamps, you name it. It started to rain, but I could not be stopped. I saw a beautiful stone wonder at the end of the street and I just had to see what it was. I trekked closer and found it was the city hall; an enormous chateau is more like it. I wish my photo could capture the detail, but on the top, there are characters who appear to be mill workers. This makes sense seeing as Lille was a strictly industrial region until the late 20th century. Well, it got quite late and my stomach was rumbling so I made my way back to Lille and once in my neighborhood, chose a restaurant at random to eat at. It was a little French provincial place, dimly lit with red velvet chairs and nice music. I sat down and was instantly greeted by an older man named Laurent. He was fascinated with my being American and thus continued to pelt me with questions about where I was from (the state of the Jazz, he said right off). He was about to sit down and eat his dinner with me when the evening rush bega

n and he had to help wait tables. However, he chose me an absolutely delicious meal and stopped every time he passed to chat for a moment. He even brought me an “appetizer”-a piece of a pizza he had just made for his granddaughter. At the end, he brought my check, along with a short-stemmed wine glass. He joyfully said that I could not fully appreciate Lille without tasting the regional Cognac. Long story short, after several insists and several of my refusals and thank-you’s, he disappointedly left. However, before leaving he did say he hoped to see the American mademoiselle come in again often.
Tomorrow, Cédric Lepoutre, the dean’s assistant, is coming to get Kami and me from church and taking us to his home for the day. He hopes that it will be good weather and we can head to a village in Belgium called Tournée; apparently there is a neat cathedral there. I must learn to get to bed earlier! Bonne nuit…

Thank heavens for the weekends! I’m exhausted! But I finally loaded a few pictures on to put them on here. The first is of the Dean’s family; they are absolutely darling. Marie, his wife, is a fabulous artist and her paintings are everywhere in sight so I snapped a shot of one of the corners. Next, while walking home from “English and Beer Night” as it’s called, I passed the Opera house. I had a good time there speaking with several friends of one of my colleagues Amélie Montaigne. She invited me and said most of her friends had visited the states or the UK and wanted to practice their English so each week they met at the bar L’Olibruis and spoke together. I enjoyed meeting new people and hearing their stories. The last picture is just of me while walking back to the Metro in downtown Lille. Oh, I got the written portion of my test back from the university, and surprisingly, I did very well! I took a picture I was so excited. (First page shown below). Thursday was my first night at institute. The teacher is fabulous and he gave a great lesson on eternal marriage. There are about a dozen young adults who come and they have all been so welcoming and inclusive toward me. Last night we all got together for dinner and ironically, of all things, watched High School Musical 3 dubbed in French. :) It was fun though, and both the investigators and members there had a good time. Today is Saturday and I’m exhausted and glad to have a slower pace. However, I’m hoping to go see some museums today since today is the day they call the “white night of the museums.” Basically it means that they all stay open throughout the whole night and they’re free for students! Until later…

Wednesday 5-13-09

Last night Dean Van Peteghem and his wife Marie had Kami and me over for dinner. The French eat late so we began around seven o’clock and finished around eleven. Their home was lovely; Marie is an artist and unbelievable creative. Her paintings are on the walls, in the corners, behind couches, everywhere! She mixes acrylics and oils and gathers all sorts of objects and makes collages and paintings that are so creative. She thought the university’s walls were rather drab a few years ago and now they are entirely covered in her work. She apologized for dinner being simple; however, I thought it was great. She made two tarts: one with tomatoes and goat cheese and the other with zucchini and another cheese I’d never tasted. I had the latter and it was delicious. She also had a salad with avocados, corn, grapefruit juice, and cucumbers. For dessert there were homemade éclairs with strawberries. We sat and talked for hours; Didier and Marie are both well informed people and they were very interested in America’s current events. They are a sweet family with good values; and like most of the French, Catholic but not practicing. They don’t own a television because the channels can be filthy, which I think is a very smart thing to do. The two children are sweet; the girl Agathe (Agatha) is 11 and the boy Charles is 14. Didier is in his second term as dean and has traveled all over the world. It was fun to spend the evening with a new French family in their home.
Continuing on, today was a productive day. It felt a little long but I got a lot done. I think the highlight of the day came this afternoon though. There were a bunch of students taking a French grammar final this afternoon and I ate lunch with the professor who was administering it. She mentioned how this class had a particularly hard time with French grammar and how they complained endlessly, and how she hoped there would be better results than last year’s exam. I laughed and agreed that the grammar is tough but that it isn’t as confusing as English is. Well, then Professor Iagre said, “well, why don’t you take the exam with the students? Then we can compare their progress with someone who studies it as a second language.” I laughed and agreed to do it so at 13h, feeling unsteady with the true ink pen (no ballpoints for the French) I listened. Prof. Iagre dictated a text while we frantically wrote. There were a few words I had never heard before so I just had to invent my own spelling and move on. Then came the multiple choice section: harder, but understandable for the most part. Well, I walked out not really having any idea whether I’d bombed it or passed, but by that point, everyone in the office was interested to know how it went so they all snuck in to take a peek. Monsieur Lepoutre and Madame Blondeau came back looking slightly annoyed wondering how an American intern can score higher than her students that have been studying grammar their entire lives. I asked if they corrected mine and they said not yet, but that at a glance I remembered all the –aient endings when most kept them –ait, and that overall my copy did not look bad at all. Several of the women came up giggling saying bravo and now I’m dying of curiosity to see if I actually got close to the average score. It made me feel really good and brightened my whole afternoon.

Monday Monday..

The days here keep getting better and better. Work went quickly and well today! I had my first student come in to ask about setting up an appointment to have an English interview with me. I’m learning the ropes fairly quickly and I thoroughly enjoy talking with the professors and employees! They are all very intelligent and kind, I am constantly impressed. Most seem to like having me around, a few I’m still trying to have a good attitude about.
Today I saw a girl with those arm crutches, I’m not sure of their technical name, and it made me so grateful I am here with no health problems like Kami is. I have no food allergies, I can walk for miles, I have no anxiety problems, change doesn’t bother me and I adjust well…I am so lucky.
The subject of religion came up today, which it rarely does seeing as people don’t feel comfortable discussing it. But, during lunch I heard one of the professors whisper, “Is she a Mormon like last year’s intern?” Following that, Angelique and I were walking down the hall on a break and she asked me if our cult (in French “cult” isn’t pejorative, but that had to be cleared up J) practiced polygamy because she’d seen a television series about it. I said I was glad she asked since that was a totally distorted representation of our church. I told her it was created by ex-members and anti-Mormons and there many falsities in it. Also, I explained that at one point the church did practice it, but that time is long gone, and those who still do are not part of our church. She wondered how long they practiced it and I was so bugged with myself for not knowing. I’m sure that was something I learned in seminary. Then she asked if our priests are married and I said yes and she said that she thought that was a good idea, then they understand how life really is. Though she herself doesn’t believe in marriage. I told her my dad had been a bishop and she thought it was a good idea that they gave marital advice and things. She had gotten the idea that only parents pay tithing so I clarified that anyone who earns money pays it. Even as kids we pay it on allowance and babysitting money. She thought that was ingenious to instill it in us as children. :) She asked if we believe in divorce and I thought that was a funny question; I said we don’t like it but it yes, that it sometimes happens. However, I added that the rate is much lower in the church than in the US in general (I hope that statistic is still true! :) Well, we chatted a little more and then there was an awkward pause and I told her that BYU instructs us to be careful while discussing religion because our purpose there is not to preach. We can answer questions, but they have had problems in the past with students offending others and coming on too strong with religion. So, I said that I was happy to talk about it but didn’t want to offend her so if I said anything that upset her, to please let me know. She said that there were others that wouldn’t like to discuss religion but that she doesn’t mind. So after the long and the short of it, I hope the subject comes up again and we’re able to talk more concerning my church. Angelique said that Garrett, the intern from last year, rarely spoke about religion so she wondered if we are all equally practicing or if some are more than others, like the Catholics. Haha, that was a hard one to answer, I told her he was probably being careful like we’re instructed to do.
On a totally different note, I have had some good news, that my good friend Scott is engaged! Off I go to family home evening with the ward! What a wonderful thing that the church is everywhere…

First Sunday..

A plate of crusty bread, stinky cheese, and juicy pears on my lap, does it get better? Let alone the fact that I am in the most beautiful country in the world.
This morning I set off to church and though I’d been given directions from an old missionary here, they weren’t correct. I ended up asking a bus driver for help and thankfully he had heard of our church and gave me great directions from the next metro stop. When Kami and I finally arrived, a half an hour late, there was a group of people standing outside the church. A couple missionary greeted us and we found out right away that they were Americans! They are in charge of all the young adults in the stake, which comprises everyone under age 30 whether you’re married or not. They said that we had arrived just on time because every three months, there is a stake-wide conference and today was that day. They invited us to come along so we hopped in the missionaries’ car, there names are Elder and Sister Ahretz. We drove through the gorgeous northern countryside for about 45 minutes until we arrived to a city called Arras. There, we rejoined about 30 young adults who welcomed us with big smiles and lots of conversation! Relief Society was wonderful though due to the extra people we had to sit on primary chairs. The lesson was given by a sweet girl Natacha and afterward I discovered a lot of connections. Aurélie Coppens, the girl I sat next to, is the cousin of Melanie Babin and Valentine Caussé! Two of my friends from Paris! She also lived in my roommate Lydia’s homeward in Bordeaux. Then, we discovered that I knew several of her friends that have gone to BYU. I really enjoyed meeting these northern French girls; we then went to sacrament meeting and listened to a wonderful program! Two recent converts bore their testimonies which were touching, and then there were several short talks and a beautiful musical number. After church, the stake prepared a lovely meal of tuna and cucumber crudités with radishes, then a salad course, and thirdly a course of mushroom meat over wild rice. I ate with a few of the girls I’d met earlier and had a fabulous time talking with them. I discovered that Aurélie actually lives on the same street as I do! Only I’m number 10 and she’s number 125, so technically we’re ten minutes apart. They invited me to institute, family home evening, Friday night get-togethers, everything! It was such a good feeling to be around members; I can’t believe how much I’d missed it! At 4pm we watched Elder Bednar’s broadcast that America got last week. It was a fabulous talk on keeping our minds and bodies pure. One of the ya’s commented that since I had to concentrate to listen, I was the only one that didn’t fall asleep during it. Haha, I think he didn’t believe me when I said I really enjoyed it. Well, the end of a great weekend has come and it’s back to work tomorrow. I guess I have to earn my stay somehow :) À bientôt xo