Jakes Journey to France

DRIVING TO CHAMBESY AND CHICAGO

Ok I'll explain what I mean by the Chambésy and Chicago in a second..
But first, congrats to my sister, Carly, for getting engaged this last
weekend! I'm proud of you and Camden!! You two will make a dope
couple! :)

So to throw it out there, this week was super busy and full of
driving. New transfers mean changes, which means more work for us
around the mission! This week we were working on getting beds and
desks to missionary apartments that needed them. We calculated and
figured we drove about 2235 kilometers in just this week! That's 1388
miles by the way. But that doesn't count driving within city limits
and stuff. So basically, it takes 1400 miles to drive from Salt Lake
City to Chicago (hence the title). Or that's also driving to
Disneyland and back! Super tiring, but super fun too.

NOUS SOMMES ENCORE DES ESCLAVES DES ESCLAVES
It might feel like we're slaves of slaves sometimes, but I love it! I
got my comp, elder Acheson last Monday! We ate some master tacos (the
best) and then went home. On Tuesday, we went to talk to elder Taylor
about our transfer, and then they needed our help with a bunch of
stuff. All the blues (new missionaries) arrived on Tuesday, but all
their luggage was on a different plane. So elder Boynton (the new
office elder), Acheson, and I went and searched their stuff at the
airport! It was weird being there again and remembering everything
from my first day..

Wednesday was our first voyage. We got a bed, and drove to Limoges! We
left bright and early in the morning, and got back at night. Probably
9 hours of driving in that day. Fortunately, elder Acheson got the
approval to drive! So we've been sharing the driving! Cause last
transfer it was all me.. So it's been nice to have a break!
Thursday, we drove to valence to drop off two desks, we ate lunch with
the elders there, and saw the brand new chapel! 

The Moving Crew

Then we went to
Grenoble to pick up desks, then we drove to Limoges to drop off the
desks. It sounds simple and stuff, but really that took all day haha.
We slept in Limoges for the night, then returned to Lyon in the
morning!

CHAMBÉSY
So we were doing a bunch of crazy stuff in Geneva this weekend. We
closed two apartments, and moved three teams of missionaries to
different spots. It was crazy but super cool at the same time! So let
me give a little background on Chambésy..

Chambésy is a neighborhood in Geneva! The church owns a nice plot of
land, with two nice homes! It's about 2 acres of land. The homes were
built in 1960, and it has been used for housing missionaries and
mission presidents, and moving the work forward in the Suisse Area!

Chambesy Home

We arrived at Chambésy on Friday night, and turns out there were some
people there. It was Brother Robert Orton, his wife, and a member from
Gex who takes care of all the church building work in the region. We
spoke with them for a bit! Brother Robert Orton was a temple president
in St George, a mission President in Romania, a general authority in
the Moscow Area, and now he is a United Nations Representative for LDS
Charities. It was cool to meet them! That night they were looking at
one of the homes for future use. They haven't been in use by anyone
for about 3 years. The building manager from Gex told us that
President Gordon B Hinckley told the managers to never sell these
houses or land! So they have some pretty high value. we moved
two sets of sister missionaries, into the lower portion of the house
of the left. The house on the right was used by the mission presidents
and family, the one on the right was for missionaries and the office.
For one on the left, the sisters will live in the lower portion, while
the upper portion will remain untouched (the upstairs has been blocked
off from inside the house below, so you need a key from the outside to
get in). We were told that the right house will be possibly used for
interns and representatives of the UN; they can work and live there,
and take care of their affaires in Geneva.

As missionaries we wish washing machines. (I think he means dishwasher haha)

But it was the two office elders and us two working for the whole
time! It was actually a really fun move. We got there on Friday night
and we all slept in the old mission home. So it was the first time in
3 years that that has been done; despite the fact that we slept on the
cold ground and didn't sleep a lot, it was really cool! On Saturday we
worked on moving the elders and both sister equipes! We ate lunch at
IKEA too... Those Swedish meatballs are the best! Haha we were able to
finish most of the moving that day. We got home pretty late back in
Lyon, and then we passed out at our apartments. (President knew we
would be late, so it's okay)

D'AUTRES CHOSES

I had to teach Sunday school yesterday to our investigators class..
All the missionaries are in there for that and all their Amis. I found
out I had to teach the class the night before driving home from Geneva
haha but with the spirit, I was able to teach it!

Geneva

We've set some good goals for this transfer; one of them is to work a
lot with the members. We have a car for the moment so we want to take
advantage of that, and visit as many members as possible! Another goal
is for us to make a rotisserie chicken... Stay tuned for that one!


This week we will have a lot more time to do missionary work! We have
a first rdv with a referral we got from some finishing missionaries
last week. So we have a rdv with a guy this Tuesday; we're excited
cause he was like "I'm always free!" Haha so we plan on seeing him a
lot.

I love my mission and I love Christ :) I know that I have been called
of God by a prophet of God! I can see gods hand in my life every day.
If you look at the simple things, you can see it too :)

I love you all! Have a great week!