Rain

picture 1: Isabelle, a member taught by Rich Harris, a family friend who served in France a "few" years ago.

picture 2: My former comps Sr. Bowman, Sr Russell & then Sr. Warren and I.

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hello everyone!

So this week was a little less sunny than in the past but i am still so grateful that it doesn't last and that its not permanent! this week I went on my first exchanges as Sister Training Leader with the sisters from Carcassonne and Aix en Provence which means… yes, I got to see two former comps. Sister Bowman and Sister Russell! It was soooo great! 

So my exchange with Sister Caldwell (Carcasonne) was awesome, it was here in Montpellier and ALL of our rdv's feel through that day... we had like 5 planned... that is unreal!:) haha but they all fell through!:( But it was sunny and Sr. Caldwell is awesome so we contacted and passed people all day and it was wonderful! We found super cool people that unfortunately are busy until after the holidays (which is everyone's excuse) but it's a good one so I will take it:)  But then the next day we went to zone conference in Aix and it was our big Christmas one... it was AMAZING!! I have the coolest mission president... just saying! He bought us all watches which say... Lyon France Mission... "Watch" us Baptize… unreal right? Oh my gosh sooo cool! We ate burritos for our meal because Aix has like the only burrito shop in all of France and every missionary knows about it! The guy got his idea from Utah and has a Utah license plate in his shop; love that! So we ate burritos and they were soooo good! I got all of the packages from my loved ones. Thank you all so so so much! I feel so spoiled! I am still trying not to open them... my boyfriend was smart and wrote... Don't open until Christmas... knowing that I may open it to see if it was wrapped:) I didn't open anything Beau... don't freak out:) I am excited to open them all Christmas morning! 

Then we stayed in Aix and I did an exchange with Sister Russell... It was cool to see how much we had both grown since being with each other... She is a WONDERFUL missionary! Oh my gosh! Unfortunately they are not having the success they deserve but we met some really cool people and we tried to find different ways to get the work going! She is sooo awesome! Only bad thing, it rained the WHOLE time we were there! We were in Aix for Thursday, Friday and then left Saturday morningand it never stopped raining! haha I dislike the rain but it was still super fun! I didn't bring my umbrella and I slept on the floor for a couple of nights... (hashtag) life of an STL haha but so fun! 

Then Saturday we had our Christmas party for the ward and we were informed that we had a solo... Sr Warren and I... thankfully we pulled the "we have been sick" card and didn't have to do it... so one of the elders sang and played the piano and I was amazed! Then a member gets up there and sings and plays the piano and looks just like Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles and I was DYING!!! I was thinking "oh my gosh you are too cool!" I think it was a great success! Church the next day was just wonderful... our sacrament water was spiked with some sugary substance... they do it a little differently here in France but the church is still true:) Like I said, church was great and there was a family from St. Etienne that was visitng family in Montpellier and they surprised me and I started crying I was so happy to see them! It was like seeing my real family… oh life of the mission! This week was great! We weren't able to do a lot and I still don't know Montpellier very well but it will come! 

I can't wait to see you my cute family in a couple of days! It doesn't even seem real… it's crazy! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and know that the meaning of this day is literally the best thing that ever happened to this world... our Savior was born! 

love you!

Sister Mod... the one in France and on the beach:)

Tomber Malade:(

Well.. my first sickness on my whole mission... it's the worst!!!! Ahhh I think I just have a cold but my oh my was church MISERABLE yesterday! oh la la! My companion got sick at the beginning of last week. Then our apartment was Hotel Montpellier for everyone going to blue's conference and leadership council so we had 12 sisters in our apartment for 3 nights in a row so she didn't have anytime to recover:(   Then voila... I fell sick too! My voice was/is completely gone... try contacting people in french with no voice... every response was "je n'ai pas compris" (I don't understand) I said yah, I know. :(

Butttttttt Tuesday we went around trying to pass (contact) tons of people and help me get used to the ville and we got like 10 numbers that day! Soooo many people were open and wanted to talk more! it was crazy!! People are much more open and nicer here in Montpellier! And this city is GORGEOUS!!! oh my gosh! And soooo sunny and soooo warm! I am in such a better mood when I contact people! With every person I talk to I say "il fait beau aujourd' hui n'est pas?" (its beautiful today isn't it?)  They say welcome to the south! haha So we ended up passing no one really on Tuesday because every person we stopped, talked to us for like 20 minutes! It was crazy! It was the fastest day of contacting ever and my companion is the BOMB at contacting! Oh my gosh she is an incredible missionary! I have much to learn from her!

Then Wednesday we stayed inside all day because my comp was super sick and she slept most of the day. I played in our apartment... it was a longgggg day! I could never be disobedient... that was the longest day of my mission because we didn't' get to do any work! When my comp woke up, we planned our exchanges for the transfer... we are sooo busy!!  oh my gosh! We have plans to do 2 exchanges a week! I feel really weird doing exchanges with missionaries my same age or older because I feel we know just about the same about being missionaries but I am going on exchanges with Sister Russell this week:) We are in charge of the Aix sisters which means I will see my baby blue Sister Bowman and Sister Russell, my two old comps! It will be so fun! 

Then Thursday was Leadership Council so we went to Lyon and I got to see Sr. Stevens!! You know I love her! She actually stayed at our apartment along with a million other sisters this week!:)  Leadership Council was amazing! President and the assistants trained us for the whole day and shared with us the vision for the mission next year and how we will change our secteurs.  It was so cool to be apart of; but kinda weird because it was me and Soeur Stevens surrounded by all of the greatest missionaries in the mission... all of our heroes!!  I felt very under qualified but it really was so amazing.

The weekend was me falling sick and us trying to keep working but failing because we were a mess! we were like coughing and sneezing and trying to talk to people and they were thinking "you are a petri dish, please stay away from me"... haha i was like ya i know:( sorry! 

So unfortunately my first Sunday... which should be the best because you want to meet all the members you can... was miserable. It was the worst day so far of this sickness. On top of that, an Area Seventy came to our ward and spoke to us and he was incredible!! He then talked with the missionaries and told us we should be teaching 15 to 20 lessons a week... I was like what??? That is soooo many! So we are trying to do that! Unfortunately  after that little meeting, I really felt SOOO SICK! A member took us home and I slept the rest of the day. Then we set up our week! So not a super productive week unfortunately but I feel a little better today so that's good! I got my doterra oils going and that is good:) It's helping a lot! Anyway that's my week!

Sorry it's not too exciting but just know I LOVE Montpellier!! The people are soooo wonderful and it's beautiful here and sooo warm! It's just where I need to be for the winter... we all know how much I love the cold... :) Anyway, I love you all!! Have a good week!

Sister Mod

Repands du soleil (pour thé sun!)

Transferred….

Yes, you heard me... I left Zion and I came to paradise.... literally soooo sunny here I need my shades! I haven't seen blue skies like this in.... 6 months:) as long as i was in St. Etienne! I can't believe I left! It seems very surreal like i am just on an exchange or something but it's for real! The first sister to come to St. Etienne in ten years has left! This weekend was so incredible saying good bye to all of the members but we will get to that!

So the deets: I am not training:) Yay! I love training but it's very tiring after 4 transfers:) and I finally got a companion older than me on the mission. She only has two transfers left and her name is Soeur Warren. She is really really cool. We are the sister training leaders (STL) in Montpellier. We have 4 equipes of sister training leaders in our mission and Sister Stevens is another one in Bordeaux... so I will be seeing her at Leadership Council this weekend... whatever that is... on verra bien (we will see)!! But yes I am in the south of France... literally on the beach and this town is soooo beautiful from what I have seen! I will have more details next week after I have spent more than 3 hours in the city! Some of you might remember.. this is the city that I went to my first transfer for an exchange and I almost got arrested... so hopefully my warrant is up!!!  #mcfellan:) 

So some fun facts from my last week in St. Etienne... we found and committed another Chinese guy to baptism.. #january18.   But I don't know how much he truly understands the commitment... he understands the importance but maybe not the commitment.. but he will soon see #wordofwisdom:) Our DMP asked me if I was trying to start a Chinese ward and I said yes because French is too hard to speak:) That was fun for my last week there! His name is Yangdon or Justin... they pick English names because they think we can't say their names:) 

Then on Thursday we were in Lyon for our last district meeting before transfer calls.  After that I met up with a girl that Nichel met on study abroad to give her Crest Whitening Strips (thank you mom!) and she is DARLING! She is engaged with a MASSIVE ring! Beau, I told you I want a simple ring... but I've changed my mind! This thing was beautiful! #katemiddleton Anyway, we got hot chocolate and chatted and unfortunately she is very Catholic but she is really cool and we are going to keep in contact.  So I have a cool Catholic friend in Lyon who one day will convert, I know it! Nich.. you started the preparation process! way to go! 

After we got transfer calls, we basically just went around to members and said bye.  I told them they'd changed my life and they told me I had done good work here... which as a missionary is like THEE best compliment to get.  Especially with the Chrystelle thing... I was worried they would remember me as the missionary who brought in the Antichrist but it was not so:) I had my last meeting with the Elders and the ward missionaries and our ward mission leader.  One of the ward missionaries, her name is Lisa, was like can I say something really quick?  We said sure! She bore her testimony about how I changed St. Etienne and that her first experience with sisters was me and that her life has been changed because of it.  She said that I push her to be better and that she WANTS to serve a mission now... she was baptized a year ago! I was dying!! It was so sweet! She is incredible and we both started crying. It was probably one of the most magical moments on my mission.  It's crazy the spirit we have as missionaries that we don't even realize... I am going to miss that when this is all over!  Anyway the members were more than incredible and when they asked me to share my testimony before I left they said, "and we are turning the time over to one of our own, Sister Mod." ahhhh ya my testimony was a cry fest... I don't know if they understood any of what I said but it was great!

Mom I passed out those cards you made... I have to admit.. you're right... they are pretty cool! (this is Sandy #toldyaso) and everyone loved them! And we also have a place to stay when we go to st. Etienne after my mission... we will have to spend the night at each member's house though... to spread it around.  And Beau... they all know who you are and they have crept us on Facebook... so they told me to bring our cute kids back after the mission too:) hahahaha I love St. Etienne! je suis stepanoise:) (English translation: I am Etienne!) Anyway! thats it! I am pumped to be in Montpellier I will update more next week!

Love you all and miss you!

Sister Mod... the one that eats snails instead of raw meat:) 

(s/o to Sister AKMod)

Qian and Bei.. they made me chinese dumplings before I left! (new converts)

Yves.. one of our VERY catholic amis! he cried when he found out i was leaving and then he gave me a stuffed dog that i had to leave in st. etienne

me and sophie... the friend of nichel's! she was sooo pumped about her crest whitening strips:)

eating my last dinner with my grandpas.. frere professo

The family cadet! and luc and gabby

Saying good bye!

A week of thanks!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! It is actually really funny because none of us knew if Thanksgiving was this last Thursday or the one before it... so many things you actually don't know before your mission.  Anyways we had Thanksgiving at the church with a bunch of members and it was awesome! minus that Frere Professo told us that he would bring the turkey... well ya so he did which was great but it literally could have fed me and thats it... it was TINY!  We brought mashed potatoes but more people showed up than we were expecting and moral of the story.. we had one tiny turkey (which i am pretty sure it was chicken) and some mashed potatoes and some sweet potatoe thing that this lady in our ward made... not sure what it was.  And some cookies... to feed like 20 people! haha so ya I was STARVING! There is a first for everything... first Thanksgiving that I have gone hungry… it's good for me! I eat way too much French chocolate and nutella!:)

But to start from the beginning.. I slipped running this week and have a gnarly bruise on my forearm! Reflexes from snowboarding... never fall forward and try to catch yourself with your hands... just fall flat:) That's what I did and if I wouldn't have, I would have broken my wrist for sure... I fell hard!!!  It doesn't really hurt surprisingly... it looks worse than it is. I then had lunch with Heidi Heras and her awesome husband! It helped so much to have a fun lunch and just chat... I needed a little break like that and it was perfect and I was so grateful!!! After that we went out and worked and we found two more cool interested Chinese people! haha I think if China would have been opened when I got my call, the Lord would have sent me there... but since it's not, I am trying to convert all the Chinese people here in Sainte!:)  Needless to say, we had lots of miracles this week and it was much needed! The sun is still hidden a lot of the time and it's FREEZING, but I had some retail therapy this week and I am happy and warm:) Thank you H&M and Zara! (and Big B):)

Friday I was on exchanges with Sr. Sarmiento from Valence and Sr. Cherry went to Valence! It was a good exchange and I profited from her help.  I took her to see Chrystelle! She pretty much took over the lesson and was really bold with her and it was good.  She didn't change but it was nice not to have to respond to the same hard questions... I let sr sarmiento do it:) She is really cool though we had a good exchange! When Sr Cherry came back I said, "How was your exchange?" and she said ".... good"  After talking for awhile, she told me how grateful she was for me because their styles were very different.  I said well exchanges are good for something... you realize i am not that bad:) but in all seriousness, she and I get a long REALLY well and we have the same desire for the work.  I am forever grateful for the support she has given me this transfer!!! I couldn't have been with anyone else.  She was so perfect and so inspired... if we split this next transfer I will be really sad! 

Saturday we were really really busy and we taught lessons and we ate with a member who is just awesome! Her son showed us pictures of his girlfriend so I naturally shared mine of my cute Beau and we may have gotten home at like 10:45... oops! I called the zone leaders and they were like again? I am said "sorry I am just trying to do the work of the Lord and that goes past 10:30sometimes:)" Sunday we had no heating in our chapelle soooooo they cut church short... which means we work more outside... fun:) #fastsunday! We were busy though and we didn't eat until 10 that night! I love being busy and being a missionary!!! The Lord blessed us with lots to do to get my mind on other things and I feel much better now!  So for all of you who may have thought I was suicidal based on my emails to Sandy Mod,  I am doing much better:) Thank you for ALL for the notes and love!! They have helped so so so much!! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! With it being Thanksgiving, I want you all to know that I am so grateful for each of you and for all the prayers in my behalf and in Chrystelle's. They were much needed! I am grateful to be a missionary and to be here in France amongst the strongest members you will ever meet. My eyes have been completely opened to a new world in the church and it has changed me forever!!

Love you all!

Sister Mod 

Pic 1: Dr. Heidi Heras taking McCall and Soeur Cherry to lunch in St. Etienne

Pic 2: Too cold to have much more excitement than this.

Pic 3: November Zone Conference