We found out late last night that we were moving apartments.
An emergency move. They've been wanting to put us in a big apartment for a
while because there are always people staying with us for exchanges, for coming
into the mission, for leaving the mission, and we have not the space! So
finally last night it happened. We threw all of our stuff into our suitcases as
fast as we could and moved a couple of streets over (dramatic, huh) and now
live int he classiest apartment in all of France. Let me just describe it,
because it is soon going to be filled with 10 triple bunkbeds (TRIPLE. they're
turning us into the Lyon Barracks), so I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts! You walk
past a fruitstand and come to tall, thick, double wooden doors. We push those
open into a big marble entry way to the building. There's a skinny elevator and
cold marble stairs that spiral up into the building and an old wooden handrail.
On each floor, there are tall windows, the glass so old it's wobbly and thick
in places. Outside there is a chimneyed house with ivy crawling up the side and
the red tile roof and the brick chimney. The ivy leaves are changing color with
the seasons. And then our apartment--chevronned wooden floors that creak and
that have woodworm lines in them. A bedroom with tall Cinderella windows and
drapes, a fireplace and marble mantle with a huge mirror above it. Old
doorknobs, old keyholes and keys in every room. Beauty-and-the-Beast-tall
ceilings, and another fireplace in the parlor. Lovely. A walk-in closet. Parlor
room window that open out to lacy wrought iron balconycages and a street
beneath lined with big French autumn trees.
That's all, just livin the highlife. :)
Now here are the really beautiful things
from this week:
There's a family that an old missionary recommended we try
to go see. We've gone before, but it's impossible to get into their building.
They live in an apartment, and to get into the building you have to have a
badge that opens the door. In other words there's no way to even ring their
apartment and have them let us in. So we kinda gave up on it. Well a few days
ago we walked back kinda by their house, and I thought, "Maybe we should
just see if the door is open." So we walked by...it wasn't open, but RIGHT
AT THAT VERY SECOND, the man who puts magazines in all the mailboxes came by.
He opened the door and didn't care that we followed him in :) So we went up all
the floors looking for their name on the door. Finally we found it, and they
opened and they are wonderful! They were so happy to see us, and they gave us
their number and we're going to see them later this week! That really was a
miracle though, that of all that night, the one man who would let us in
happened to be there at the very second we were pushing on the door trying to
get in. Best.
My other favorite part of this week was doing genealogy with
a grandpa who is incredible. He called us because he really really wanted to do
his geneaology...so we set up a RDV and oh lala he brought a big folder full of
pictures and letters and driving licenses from the 1910s, pictures of his
school class back in 1940, and better yet, stories. His ancestors
were clockmakers in western France, but then they were forced to moved to
Switzerland for religious reasons (along with many other clockmakers,
apparently), and that's one reason there are so many incredible French
clockmakers that are based in Switzerland. He said these ancestors (we're
talking around the 1800s) had a family clock on the mantlepiece that got passed
from generation to generation, and each generation would inscribe on the back
their name and their life dates...so they got a ton of genealogy info from this
clock! It had generations and generations of father-son carved into the back of
it.
These are my favorite scriptures this week: Doctrine and
Covenants 7:
1 And the Lord
said unto me: John, my beloved, what desirest thou? For if you shall ask what
you will, it shall be granted unto you.
2 And I said
unto him: Lord, give unto me power over death, that I may live and bring souls
unto thee.
3 And the Lord
said unto me: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, because thou desirest this thou shalt
tarry until I come in my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations, kindreds,
tongues and people.
4 And for this
cause the Lord said unto Peter: If I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee? For he desired of me that he might bring souls unto me, but thou
desiredst that thou mightest speedily come unto me in my kingdom.
5 I say unto
thee, Peter, this was a good desire; but my beloved has desired that he might
do more, or a greater work yet among men than what he has before done.
6 Yea, he has
undertaken a greater work; therefore I will make him as flaming fire and a ministering
angel; he shall minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on
the earth.
7 And I will
make thee to minister for him and for thy brother James; and unto you three I
will give this power and the keys of this ministry until I come.
8 Verily I say unto you, ye shall both have according to your desires, for ye both joy in that which ye have desired.
8 Verily I say unto you, ye shall both have according to your desires, for ye both joy in that which ye have desired.
I love verse 8--you'll both have according to your desires,
because they're both good and they'll both bring you joy! When I first read
this chapter, I thought what the Savior was saying in verse 4 and 5 was,
"John desired something better than you did, Peter, so he's going to be
better off in the end." But actually he's just saying, "Don't compare
yourself, Peter! John wanted to do this thing, and he'll have joy in it, and
what you asked for is wonderful too, and I'll give you both what you asked for,
because you're going to find joy in it!" Looks like we can have our cake
and eat it too. Oh how he loves us.
