June 29, 2009

I have to say that changing companions is not something that is easy. it has been an interesting week for me. I am very glad to still be in Nice. i love it here and I love our amis and the ward here. My new comanion is French, this is her first time being a senior companion. She has been out for about 6 months, so neither of us really know the role of senior compaion. I'm glad its her not me. I think Ihave spoken more French this week than I did the whole time with Soeur Mongas. THere have been many times I've opened my mouth not knowing exactly what to say or how to say it but it came out in a way that was understood. Heavenly Father has really helped me this week. On wednesday we had our meeting with the ward missionaries since soeur Bitanga is new and doesn't know our amis I had to talk about each of our amis. I prayed that I could atleast get my point across. I struggled and went slow but when I had finally finished with the last amis Frere Feuga said that I made sense and that I'm really improving. That compliment made my whole day. We did a lot of walking this week. I realized how much I didn't know about the city. but it is all good. We have been trying to pass by inactive members houses this week we have a ward list that is 18 pages long and i would dare say that I haven't even met half of the people on the list. SO in effort to help strengthen the ward we are trying to find the lost sheep. I am grateful we walk a lot because really 30 minutes really isn't much for exercise. Incase you want to knoz a typical day goes as follows: 6:30 wake up pray exercise. 7 get ready for the day8 is personal study. I love personal study. I have finally found what works best for me and how I can get the most out of that hour. That hour of study can make or break my whole day. 9 Is companion study at first I didn't like comp study but really it is the best hour to prepare to our lessons and contacting, and to talk about our amis. 10 Is an hour for French Study. honestly that hour is hard for me by the time i sit for that long I have no desire left to study. but it really is a good time to look up new words and how to conjugate verbs and just practice speaking and reading. From 11 until 9 is prosyleting time. each day is different. some days we have rendez vous all day long and other days we are contacting and passing by peoples houses all day long. needless to say there is always something to do. then at 9 we return and plan for the next day eat and go to bed. There you have it in a nutshell. We are very lucky to have a lot of support from the ward they love to help and love to wteach with us!One miracle for the week. Anastacio has been progressing and doing most everything we commit him to do. But he hasn't been to church for a couple of weeks he kept saying he would come but then Sunday morning would come and he wouldn't be there. well this sunday we were about to start Relief Society I walked out in to the hall and guess who was there? Anastacio§ i was so excited! It was so cool! I do get to plaly the piano a little bit. Soeur mongas played most of the time last transfer but now I get to. We have 2 young men in the Ward that play very well that is what they study at school and lets just say that I dream of playing as well as they do. I hope you have a great week! I love you! THanks for your love and support.Until next time!Soeur Jenni Lake

Pictures from France

Baptism of Violette & Marc

Jenni's very first Saturday in Nice and first Baptism

Sisters L-R - Soeur Lake (Jen), Soeur Mongas (her companion) & Violette

Men L-R - Elder Swanson, Frere Meunier, Frere Pietri, Marc, Elder Miller, Elder Mayo & Elder Suppan

This is the view from Jen's apartment window in Nice
This is our French Baker making a cake from scratch

We received these pictures this last week. Tonight I received a call from a Sister Steenblik from the Salt Lake area, she and her husband have just returned from France from a vacation. Brother Steenblik served in Toulouse France many years ago and they had finally made a trip there. They attended church in the ward where Jenni is serving and they called to report that she is happy and healthy and doing well.

June 22, 2009

As for the weather you could send some of that rain here I would love it! It is getting very hot! I don't know exact temperature but i do know that in our apartment when i went to bed last night my alarm clock said it was 81. For the most part it is just hot right now. The humidity is something else. i feel like i have this oily nastyness all the time on my skin. At night it does cool off a little. And during the day it is always a belssing when the wind of the sea is blowing. I am my mothers child i hate it when my feet are hot Soeur Mongas just laughs when the first thing I do when we come in is take off my shoes. The heat doesn't stop the work. We continue and work and work some more.
I have to tell I had the coolest experince this last week. In the time that i have been here I have witnessed 6 baptism's, 2 children and 4 converts. By far the baptism on Saturday was the best one. His name is John. He met Angilque ( a memeber in our ward) sometime ago. and Through Angie's example started taking the discussion. I haven't had the chance to participate in teaching him but we have had dinner with them a few times. John has been a great help for me and ever so patience to talk wih me. So the baptism the spirit was so strong during the program, then as I saw him walk into the font and Elder Mayo baptize him the spirit was so strong again. It is the nbest feeling to know the conversion story of someone and watch as they make their first covenants with our Heavenly Father. Then while we were waiting for them to get dressed. We sang "Je suis enfants de Dieu" (I am a child of God) I was thinking about the words to the song. Literally we are all children of God. And that he will lead and guide me if I let him. He walks beside each of us. What a great knowledge that is. I am so grateful that he sent me to you, my family. And that we are an eternal family.

June 15, 2009

SO last Sunday we had a dinner appointment with a member. She told us that one of the older ladies in the ward was saying to people that she didn't think I could speak french. It really bothered me especially because I had never talked to this particular sister before. So as I thought about it this week I decided to make a point to talk to her on Sunday just to prove to her that I could speak some French. I know a little prideful but It made me mad that she was spreading rumors and she had never even talked with me before..... so anyway yesterday right after church we had another ward picnic. This time because the Bishops daughter was being baptized. Lets just say the bishop really knows how to feed people. but during the lunch I went and talked with the sweet sister. She was baptized 47 years ago and helped build the chappel here in Nice. Her name is Soeur Carbonne I think that is how you spell it. Now she knows that I can kind of speak french....
As for the work it is going well. All day we are teaching. One miracle for the week was Wilfried. He is a student here, 25 and just starting his finals. Soeur Mongas has been trying to call him for 3 months now and he hasn't responded that was until Monday night he called her back and wanted to see us. he had been taught by some sisters before but didn't have the time to continue to be taught. We got to meet him and start teaching him. He is amazing. He has such a strong faith in Christ. He is very humble and receptive to the spirit and the gospel, and to make it even better he came to church! without an hesitation he was like ya I will be there on Sunday.
I don't know if i told you about Rossni or not but she is a student as well. She has been progressing really well until a couple of weeks ago when we asked her if she would be baptized and she wanted to but she needed to talk with the Mom first. For three weeks we prayed and encouraged her finally she did it!! Her mom gave her the go ahead!! so we will see what happens when we meet with her tomorrow.
I can Everything else is going good. like everyone I have my good and bad days. I continue to see the power of the gift of tongues in just little ways each day. Heavenly Father Provides for his servants.

June 8, 2009

This has been a weird week. We had a "bleu's conference"(conference for all the missionaries that got here the same day as I did) at President's on Wednesday. so tuesday night Soeur Mongas and I went and said with the sisters in the next city. She stayed there while me and Soeur Call went to Toulouse. it was an early morning. the train was supposed to leave at 615am. Soeur call and I were sitting on the Train and they made an announcement that we didn't really understand we got the jist that the train was being delayed for 2 hours. SOmeone farther down the track had jumped infront of the train. No trains were coming or going. That was an interesting couple of hours we had to figure out how to work the payphone because they don't take change you have to buy a special card for them. It was quite comical. The rest of the day was amazing. It was really good to be back with my friends from the MTC. We had so much f un sharing stories. WHen we finally got to Toulouse Soeur CArter had made us an amazing lunch!!! We got some great counsel from President and played a french game. President is awesome! Needless to say felt revived and ready to take on the world. The days are kind of blending together. I can't remember what happens which day. But I love it! We have had some awesome lessons this week. Anastacio continues to progress. I don't know if I told you this but he loves to cook for us. and he is a really good cook! It is a good thing that we walk a lot. This week has really been a testimony builder for me of the importance of the plan of Salvation. We have two new amis that are Jehovah's Witness couple. They are very interesting to teach. Their doctrines are so messed up. I don't get it at all. It is so mentally exhausting. I loved fast and testimony meeting yesterday. THere is one language in the gospel everyone understands and that is the language of the spirit. there is such power in someone's simple testimony. there were many that I didn't understand with my mind but with my heart i kenw exactly what they were saying! It was an absolutely amazing feeling. They do a big lunch after the block. It was pretty fun. everyone Brings something and they have a picnic of sorts. Today we went to Monaco! It was so pretty there. It is a very clean city. We went with some of the elders in our zone. they all went to an aquarium but soeur Mongas and I wandered around this really cool garden and were just outside. For me that was perfect. We were really close to the sea and could hear the waves crashing against the rocks. The Our bishop has a restaurant in Monaco so we decided to stop in and see if he was there. He wasn't but his wife was and she gave us lunch. I had a calzone!!! when I say a calzone it was huge and tased absolutely amazing!! Deb could take some serious lessons. I couldn't eat it all. then she gave us dessert! Basically she gave us a 20 euro meal for free. She is amazing! the Members here are awesome. THey love to feed the missionaries and are always willing to come teach with us. So in answer to someone's question I love the food! I do have to say that some of the cheese is nasty. I love the nutella, and the bread. I do have to say that miss my peanutbutter. They don't have it here and the french people think it is disgusting.

June 1, 2009

This is from todays email from Jenni:

This week has been a good week. I can't believe how fast it went. I have realized how blessed I have been my whole life to live in Utah with so many members and so many temples. Soeur Mongas and I have taught about temples a coulpe times this week the picture we use is a picture of the Salt Lake temple. For the saints here it is mearly a dream to one day go there. Not even to go in but to just see the Salt Lake Temple. We were talking one morning about temples in general and Soeur Mongas Explained that the saints here dream of the day that they will have a temple in France. FOr them they have to travel 7-10 hours to get to the nearest temple. They go for a week and do work every day for that week. I was thinking how at home there are 10-12 temples within a 7 hour drive. Because they are so close we don't realize what a great blessing it is. I will forever be grateful to have the temples close. French is still coming. Each day I understand something new. I finally figured out that if I write it down what I want to say I remenber it better.We continue to teach Anistacio he is progressing really well. I can't remember exactly what it was we were going to teach him the other day but that morning I practiced and wrote down what I wanted to share. Throughout the day i continued to run through it in my mind. When we finally got to his house and started teaching I was able to say what I needed to. It was pretty smooth coming out of my mouth. i know that Heavenly Father was helping me. I realized after taht lesson too how much you grow to love a person that you pray for and study for. You can't really help but love them. I realized that night that it is possible to love people that you don't understand and have know only for a short time. So I have to explain a little about Nice. Everyone here lives in apartments. the first floor of most apartments is usually little shops. These shops are so cool. Above these is apartment 5-7 stories of apartments. there is no such thing as a house here in the city. when you go farther out there are some. So that has been really weird. Our house is a mansion compared to these apartments. I laugh because most of our amis live on the top floor too so if there is no elevator we walk a lot of stairs :) and to get into the buildings it is like on the movies you have to find the name of the person and then push the call button to call up to their apartment to see if they are home. Its so crazy. Another thing I love is each morning along the sides of the road there is basically a farmers market. Everyone is selling their fruits, veggies, or flowers. They set up around 8 in the morning and take down around noon or 1. It really is the coolest thing. Mom you would love it! Most people will go down and buy only what they are going to eat for the day. and do that each day. Things are still going well. I love you! the work is going well I can't complain. I pray that I am doing the best i can each day.