Day 6

Well I am now writing from the perspective of a 22 year old. Wow I'm old. It doesnt feel much different. It was a good day.

In the morning our host mom drove us around the neighborhood to show us where everything important(and not so important) was. She was a crazy driver and by the time we got back tot he house I was car sick. Not unusual for me seeing as I get motion sickness anytime we are on a metro for more than three stops. Maybe I will get use to it.

We met Michael for lunch and he took us to a little chinese place that was quite good. It was so awesome to get to see him and be with him on y birthday. I took a couple videos of him just eating and talking and I am going to put them up on facebook.

We had our first class at 13h00 and it was two hours long. It was our religion class and I think it will be interesting, but it just seems like such a waste to be sitting inside for that long when there is so much to see out there!

After that we made a stop at a patisserie. I had something with almond in it and it was my favorite food I have had here so far. It was like a bear claw basically. Way good!

We had our civilization class at the BYU apartment and we cooked ratatouille. Pretty good, but not my favorite. We had our whole group there and we do our own FHE, but it ends in time to go to the FHE at the institute so guess where I was five minutes to 7:00. Thats right. With Michael again!

His new investigator showed up as he said so that was really good. Especially since yesterday he had four rendez-vous set up and all but one fell through. But this new guy...I cant remember his name-something like Estibon? Maybe?

FHE was awesome though. So fun! There were about 15 locals and 15 of our group, 4 elders and 2 sisters. We had a lesson which Elder Maxwell translated to English for us and then we played Signs! So fun. Our group was so big that we had to split into two groups. Michael and I were in the same group and everyone seemed to have a really good time. My roommate Allyson was in the other group with Estibon and she said that he was shy but by the end he was smiling and having a really good time.

After FHE Allyson, Taylor and I went to get fallafels with a four of the young adults from the ward. It was fun to just hang out and wonder down streets. The fallafel was quite good. Afterwards we found a metro stop and hopped on. We found our way back home and that was the day.

Reading Michael's letter was so funny for me! I like know who he is talking about and have been there for some of the cool stuff, like when that guy was just there and then Michael talked to him and found out that he wanted to meet with them. Michael sat with him through sacrament meeting. Also I loved the part where he says I have never been left speechless. I guess it is true. I love that boy! It is so fun to be hanging out with him!

We tried a different way to school today and ended up coming out of the metro to this site. So amazing to be living here!

After lunch with Michael and my birthday present. It is a cute Paris frame with the picture that we took that first time we saw each other.

Allyson helping cook the ratatouille that we ate for dinner.

Eating our fallafels!

We happened upon this beautiful church in our travels through the night.

I just cant get over the things we accidentally run into. It is just incredible!

Day 5

As I started to think about what I was going to write in this post a song popped into my head..."Let's start at the very beginning a very good place to start." Random, but true-so from the beginning.

We woke up late this morning. Typical I guess, but it stinks when you live 45 minutes away from church, it starts at 9:30 and you get up at 8:50. So we got a late start-not the end of the world. We got ready, ate breakfast, and were off.

We took the metro in. Our stop is Boulogne Jean Jaures on line 10. We have to change lines to the 4 to get to the church. We did this yesterday and once we get out at our stop on line 4 we can't figure out what exit to take. Today we tried a new way and still ended up slightly lost. I have a pretty good sense of direction and with Allyson's help and a few nice strangers along the way, we usually make it.

We were about to turn onto St Merri, where the church is, when our cell phone rang. Allyson answered it and said something about I'll let you talk to your sister. It should have been so obvious to me that it was Michael calling at that point, but I'm not really use to that so it didn't register until I grabbed the phone!

He called to ask me if I was going inactive after just the first week. I told him we were just about to turn the corner and he said he was standing at the door. I saw him and we went into church. He asked if we wanted English or French and I said French of course!

He showed us the room and I shook his hand and said thank you Elder Helvey hehe We went in and Allyson and I sat down and Michael sat across the aisle from me! I got to sit next to Michael at church (well kind of)!

As sunday school was half over, a man walked in and Michael went and shook his hand, then he sat down next to him and shared his scriptures with him. It was one of his investigators. It was so cool to see him in action! Some of the girl in my group told me at one point to day that my brother was so cute and it looked like he was such a good missionary.

After sunday school there was sacrament meeting. There was a man who was in sunday school that michael said he didn't recognize and he went to talk to him before sacrament meeting started. Michael ended up sitting by him in the meeting. After the meeting I was talking to his companion and Michael said that he was recently from Spain and he wanted to meet with them and come to FHE tomorrow night. I bet that will be in the letter tomorrow. I guess I should have said spoiler alert :)

My great aunt and uncle, Herb and Sharon Cutler, also came to sacrament meeting! They have been in Europe for 5 weeks and were in Paris this week. It was great to see them. Michael thought it was funny that he hasn't seen any of his family on his mission and now in the same week here are three of us in sacrament with him.

Tender Mercy: The opening hymn was Ensemble a tout jamais-which in English is I have a family here on earth. How appropriate to be singing that song in the same ward as my brother!

Michael had four rendez-vous today so he was off. Herb, Sharon and I went to lunch at a little cafe by the Seine and then we went to the Musee d'Orsay. It was so great to be with them and see some of Paris together.

I headed back to Notre Dame to meet with my group and we listened to the organ concert, which was amazing. It was so awesome to think that I live here and that I can just go and sit down and be in this amazing cathedral any time I want for the next 12 weeks! Wow!

Allyson and I headed back home taking a long scenic tour of a few metro stations, but we made it. We had dinner with our host family, this time only one and a half hours...still four courses. They speak in french unless we (most the time I) don't understand. Tonight we had to try to explain in French we don't believe in polygamy. The french are very well-informed and there had been an article in a magazine about this 'latter day saint' and his five wives. That was fun. What I really wanted to say was well we can have my brother come over and explain it all to you...I'm not that comfortable yet!

So tomorrow begins a new day. I keep forgetting that I am having a birthday! I'm sure it will be an awesome day! Michael has a P-day so we are going to lunch. Its also my first day of classes, and I have two FHE's to go to. One with our group and one at the institute with the French young adults and the Elders!!!

At church together! There might be a very similar picture coming form Michael tomorrow!

The cafe where we had lunch.

Another look at Notre Dame

During our wanderings to a metro station.

(Palais de Justice)

Day 4

Let me just start by saying that this blog might get boring. I will not be offended if you don't read it all. Mostly this is my journal and so my Mom and my Grandmas can enjoy it hehe When pictures come it will hopefully get better.

I can't believe it has only been one day since I updated. No wonder I am exhausted. Well no pictures because I cant figure out how to load them at my host family's house but when I can I will add the day's pictures to each post.

When I posted yesterday I was at the Etap Hotel in Bagnolet. We were all in the lobby waiting for taxis to get there so we could go meet our host families. Allyson and I were one of the last to leave. Driving on the streets here is crazy! Its like they have no lanes and no laws! We were cutting through cars left and rights and it's not like it was just taxi drivers doing that. The buses even do it!

We got to our host family's host at about 8:15. We are living with a husband and wife and their 25 year old daughter. They are awesome! The mom is so sweet and nice and tries to make sure we have everything we need, but is not pushy and in your business so it will be great. The daughter could not be any cuter. She is this petit, thin, beautiful french woman. Her name is Aude. Adorable!

Speaking french is hard but it is getting easier. Allyson is way better at speaking than I am, but it's nice because my family talks to me and makes me say stuff and ask for stuff in french. I need the practice and they help me along. I might actually learn how to do tenses while I'm here! That would be a miracle.

When we got to the house they showed us around and then we started dinner. We started at 9:00 and didn't finish till 11:00. I knew they ate for a long time but it was still crazy. We had four courses. First we had cantaloupe and tomatoes. Next we had fish and potatoes with cheese. Third course was cheese(goat, bree, and one other one) with bread. Last came a pear for dessert. It was quite good!

We were surprised to find out that we each have our separate rooms! We thought we would be squished in a tiny room together. My room has a queen size and Ally's has a twin. We decided that we wanted to talk so we both just slept in my room. I think that Ally's room will just be a room for her clothes!

Today we got up and I showered. That was an adventure. They have a tub with not curtain or door and a little shower head with a hose that sits on the faucet. I know this is how most places are in Europe, but if any one has figured out how to have a reasonable bathing experience with this thing I would love to hear about it!

We had breakfast, which consisted of cereal with room temperature milk(weird, but not terrible) orange juice, and bread with honey and jam. It seems to be very french and I think that it will be a good way to start the day.

Our host mom walked Ally and I to the metro stop this morning, which was super nice of her. I know how to work the metro. I absolutely love it, so we have no problems there, but once you get off the train and try to figure out which exit to take out of the metro, we run into some problems. We got a little lost on our way to the institute building/church, but we ended up just having a nice little walk in Paris. Neither of us minds getting lost and just roaming the streets.

We met with our group-nothing really to report there just walked around and stuff. Slightly boring. The big group really slows you down. We did get a ten minute break from the group and we went into the Eglise de Madeleine. Some one was playing the organ and it was incredible. It was nice because unlike Notre Dame it was not very crowded, so it felt more like a church than a museum.

After we were released from the group Ally and I walked around the streets and found a nice little restaurant on the street where we ate lunch, people watched, and talked. So fun to be living in Paris. I had my first french-chinese meal. It was yummy.

We headed back home to Boulogne. We rested for a little bit. When I say rest and mean sat on the bed and tried to plan our trips to Italy and Greece. It got complicated, long, and pricy. We took a break from our break by going out to explore the neighborhood we live in. There is a huge park by our house. It is miles long. We explored for a little while, all along practicing speaking in French to each other.

We got home and decided we were starving so off we went to the petit supermarche for some groceries. The owner was so cute and old. We could tell he liked us because we were trying so hard to talk and read stuff in french. We decided that we want to become regulars and be his friend.

For dinner we cooked our own four course meal for the two of usl! We started with half an avocado each, with lemon juice and dried garlic. Next we each had half a piece of baby bell cheese. (at this point it was kind of goofy to me eating a piece of cheese smaller than a ping-pong ball, but we were having fun!) For our main course, we made pasta with tomato sauce, garlic, and some herbs from provence. It was tasty, but the best was when our host mom walked in and gave us this cheese cake with jelly frosting. It was amazing! I was much lighter than I was expecting and I really enjoyed it. We ate from 8-9. We are doing an okay job of being French.

Well I'm going to call it a night. I have to be ready for church tomorrow at 9h30. I get to see Mook again and be at church in a different language for the first time. What an adventure!

Eglise de Madeleine

Adorable French twins on the steps.

Macarons for the group!

Allyson and I eating ours!

Mookie!!!

I saw Michael! I was in the court yard of the church and he came walking in from the street. I explain in the video, but I ran. Dropped my bag, dropped my flip flops and ran to him! I hugged him so tight for a good full minute. I cried of course as my whole group watched me. Haha I turned around and said, "This is my brother, Elder Helvey!" We got to talk for a little while and we are going to see each other at church because we are in the same ward and on Monday for my birthday and his P-day we are going to lunch! Then we have FHE together that night. He has my phone number and my host family is living in his area. Here are some pics. I cant get the video to work, so try to check facebook. Im working on downloading it right now.

This is the church courtyard.

This is where I first saw Michael walking. I saw one missionary walking toward us and his companion was blocked by the wall and then Mook came around the wall! It was one of the best moments of my life I think. There are few times that I have been happier.

The best!!!

Day 3

Well its 6:30 am right now. I woke up at 5:30 and could not go back to sleep. So I'm starting the blog for the day. I'm not able to upload pictures from my host family's house, which is where I will be tonight, so until we find a wifi place near the house I won't be getting too many pictures up. But hopefully that will be within the next few days.

I guess I could go back to my 24 hours of traveling. That was an adventure! I was scheduled to fly through Miami and my plane was leaving from SFO at 6:10 in the morning on Tuesday. Flying internationally I thought it would be a good idea to get there with two hours to spare. My parents were going to drive me, but Granddad and I insisted that he drive, because both my parents had full days of work the next day, whereas Granddad is normally up super early anyways and he could take naps later:)

We left the house at 3:30 in the morning. I had got ten minutes of sleep that night because I had been doing last minute packing and it was hard to fall asleep because I was so excited to just go! We got to the airport at 4:00. I checked my 1 bag weighing 48 pounds (yes, this is the part where you should clap), and then I waited for the security checkpoint to open at 4:30. I made it down to my gate and within a half hour of take off time they informed us that there was a maintenance problem and they had no idea what time it would be fixed. They said that they would be calling us to the podium if we needed to be rebooked. There were 103 of us with connecting flights to catch.

I was one of the first ones called up and they re-routed me through JFK. I was then scheduled to leave from the next gate at 7:30. So I waited for another while. Finally we all boarded, seat belts fastened and ready to go. The pilot then informed us that there was a leaking break and the plane needed to be jacked up to fix it, but we were too heavy, so we all needed to de-board.

At this point I was just laughing out loud. I decided that I could have been mad that I sat at SFO for an extra couple hours, or I could take it in as part of the experience. So I chose to find it quite fun!

We finally got back on and took off around 9:00. I slept for the first two hours and then read books on my new Kindle that Grammy and Grandpa got me for my birthday. I am loving it! Going through New York ended up being a tender mercy. It was a beautiful day in New York and as we landed we could see the whole city out the window. I saw the Statue of Liberty and the skyline. It was a wonderful way to say good bye to my country that I won't see for three months. I love New York and Lady Liberty makes me feel very patriotic.

My next flight was straight to Paris and it was a red eye. I slept for four of the six and a half hours, which was awesome. When I sleep on planes I just lay down on my lap and my favorite part of the flight was when the lady in front of me decided to recline lol that was a nice bump on the head!

We landed in Paris at 7:10 am on the 8th, which was actually two hours before I was suppose to get in. Normally this would be good, but I was meeting Taylor from my group at 1:00 so I had awhile to wait. I went through customs, which I wasn't even aware I was doing because it was so casually, and then went to baggage claim. The bags started coming and that sinking feeling in my stomach started in when everyone gradually started to get all their luggage and move on. Eventually it was me and the four other people who were on my original flight to Miami that were left there. Not a good sign. I wasn't super worried seeing I had 6 hours to figure it out. As I got on the pay phone to call my parents our bags decided to show up. Im not sure why they were in some secret hiding place that it took them an extra five minutes to get out, but it all worked out.

As I settled in for the six hour wait with my kindle, three army guys with machine guns passed me. That was the first real sign that I was not in America anymore. It was kind of scary, but they were all cute so I got over it :)

I found Taylor around 1:30 and we headed off to the hotel in the taxi. We met our director after a little while and she gave us our metro passes and took us into the city. The pictures I posted on the first day are what we saw. Can I just say that I love the metro! Subways have got to be one of my favorite things, along with maps, which I have plenty of right now. It is going to be an amazing three months!!!

Day 2

Once again I am completely exhausted. We have been going all day. The rest of my group arrived in spurts through out the day. Most of the girls hung out in my room from 10-12 because we couldn't check into our other rooms until 12. As you can imagine having 8-10 girls in that room was not an easy feat! A few of them showered and then we went shopping at the supermarche. Most people wanted to sleep, but I insisted we take an Eiffel Tower trip! Eight of us went out on the metro and explored. It was so awesome!

We then went back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group and we headed off back into the city on the bus. I can now say that I highly prefer the metro. The bus took way longer and I got bus sick (that's car sick in case you wondered). It might have had something to do with the fact that it was 6:30, we were heading to dinner and all I had eaten was some bread and butter for breakfast with an 4 euro orange juice and a banana and apple for lunch. This big body needs a little bit more than that to go all day!

Dinner was weird...I think I might lose weight here after all! The salad dressing was weird. the hamburger maison and the frites were good though! Then we headed back to the hotel on the metro(thank goodness). Now we are back at the hotel and I am so ready to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow and we meet our host family tomorrow night.

My roommate's name is Allyson and she is super cute! She seems to know everything that should be done in Paris and all of Europe so I will be following her around! We are also taking all the same classes by accident and we have an awesome schedule! We only have classes on Monday and Wednesday so we are going to be doing a ton of stuff. We decided that we could do London, Brittany, or other close places on Tuesdays and take our longer trips Thursday through Sunday. It is going to be incredible!

More soon!

We walked out of the metro station to this site. You can not even imagine what it was like. We were all trying to act French, but at that point we started laughing and jumping and all of the silly things American girls do. Embarrassing but I couldn't help it!

Me and the Tower

Paris!

Well I made it! I'm in Paris, France! Here are few highlights of the first day. I'm conquering jet lag so I'm off to sleep now!

The Big Blue Doors that Michael and I are going to meet on Sunday! I'm all ready!

The hotel room I am staying in and I am paying a ton for it!

The bathroom-I'm not even complaining because the shower was so nice after the 24 hour plus traveling.

So our hotel is not in the best part of town by any means. Our director told us that we should be in by dark in this area, but we walked around for a little while during the day and there are still amazing buildings here. It is so France!

This was the first view we had of Notre Dame and it was so surreal.

Taylor and I both came in today so we got a head start on the city.

Notre Dame

Hotel de Ville