"Elder Anderson parle comme les Soeurs Missionnaires"

 Bonjour Toutes!

I'm almost ready to wrap up my second transfer!  What the?!  And poor Soeur Creager, she's going stateside in just ten days!  She's trying to figure out a way to stay in France, but I think she's finally accepted the fact that even missions must come to an end (at least full time missions, that is).  I'll find out who my next companion will be on Saturday.

    This has been an interesting week.  Soeur Creager and I managed to have 13 lessons this week, which was quite an accomplishment!  We weren't able to fix a baptismal date yet, but we're working on it.  A family for Christmas!  The lights are being put up ALL OVER Quimper, I think it's going to be like our own personal 'Lights at Temple Square' here in Quimer.  Perhaps we'll call it 'Lights at St. Corentin'? 

    This was also a hard week for us.  The father of one of the Elders in our District was killed in a car accident this week, so he went home to be with his family.  It made for a more solemn Thanksgiving meeting this past Thursday.  Of course we still had fun (the football game was cancelled), but we were all just thinking of our friend.  For Thanksgiving, Soeur Creager and I made enchiladas, and that, combined with salad, chili, mashed potatos, and pizza from the other companionships in our District, made for an awesome meal.  We also had the expostion this past weekend.  It didn't go as well as hoped, but the Lord knows the effort that we, and especially the members, put into it. 

   A random story.  I realized the other day, whilst Soeur Creager and I were walking around, that my foot was wet.  Not drenched, but definitely wet.  This could not be possible.  I was wearing my boots I'd bought just 5 weeks earlier.  This could not be possible.  And yet, my foot was wet.  I'm still inspecting the matter, but it seems to me, that one of the seals along the seam of the boot has broken, and now they are not waterproof.  When I told Sandrine of the matter, she really felt for me.  In fact, she gave me one of her pairs of boots!  I tried to say that she didn't need to do that, but she said it was her pleasure.  So, now I have one of her pairs!  They're awesome.  They're a LITTLE small for me, so I think I'll mostly just wear them on days when I am driving a lot. Love you all!

                    Soeur Bracken

P.S.  The subject line of my email was inspired by Maina, the four year old daughter of Sandrine.  It translates to, "Elder Andersen speaks like the sister missionaries".  She said that after listening to Elder Andersen at the Conference in Angers last week.  Haha, I guess all of us Americans have similar accents.  Smart girl.  Soeur Creager and I decided to look at it in a good light, though- apparently we speak like a prophet of God!

driving a lot. 

The Lexi we know and love

Picture of Soeur Bracken and Elder Christensen...Cousin-in-law

A Thanksgiving Feast...upon the words of Christ

Bonjour all!

   I will try to make this snappy.  Ok, so this past week has been crazy, but great, as always.  We had an ENTIRE mission Conference in Versailles on Friday.  There was absolutely no time for any sight-seeing, of course, but that's ok.  The best sights to see anyway were those of my dear friends, none of whom I've been able to see in the past 2 months.  Soeur Mataalii and I almost cried when we finally saw each other.  I also got to see a lot of the missionaries again who came in this last transfer.  Elder Christensen (who is the cousin, on the other side of the family, of my cousin Reece (who is currently serving in Mexico)) and I were super excited to see each other.  In fact, we took a picture!  I feel bad that we technically broke the 'no single elder and sister' pictures, but not bad enough to delete the picture.  And of course, nothing could beat being able to listen to, see, and shake the hand of Elder Neil L. Andersen.  He is amazing.  He spoke to us mostly in English, but did tell one story in french, to prove he can still speak it.  He also speaks Spanish and Portugese.  He spoke of how our job is to invite others to come unto Christ, whether or not they are already members, of ever end up getting baptized.  Since Quimer is so far away, we spent the night before and after in Rennes, with Soeur Pymm and Soeur Rhondeau (Seour Pymm and my exchange went really well this past week).  Then, on Sunday morning, some members and us drove to Angers for a big combined Stake and District Conference where we got to listen to Elder Andersen...AGAIN!  It made for a very hectic weekend, and very early mornings (Friday we woke up at 4:45, Saturday at 5:30, and Sunday at 5:00).  

  This week we are having a Zone Turkey Bowl.  We will be the first to admit that there are better ways to spend that time, but I guess every zone is doing it.  So this Thursday we will go to Rennes, have District Meeting, have "dinner", and then play some football. :)  I don't know how we're supposed to play football with Elders, but I guess we'll see.    Well, I think that's about it for me, I love you all!

                                                                                Amour,

                                                                                    Soeur Bracken 

Elder Anderson is coming to Town

This time of year the anticipation of a certain someone coming to town in just a month or so gives rise to excitement, better behaving children, hopes of gifts under the tree, and possibly a "wonderful" surprise.
For missionaries, having a General Authority visit your Mission must be much the same.  The anticipation is tangible.  All are excited! Souer Bracken and Souer Creager are doing their best to be prepared to hear him . And like a gift, his presence and message will bring them happiness and inspire them to teach and contact better. Of course the "wonderful" surprise may be the results of that message as it is taken back into the field, and the effects it will generate.
Elder Neil Anderson is visiting the Paris, France Mission this coming Friday. This is a big deal! All missionaries will travel to Versailles for a massive conference and to listen to him speak.

Lexi's week is going to involve a bit of travel. First she and Sister Creager are going on Sister Exchanges mid-week with the Sister Missionaries in Rennes. Lexi and Sister Pymm from Idaho will travel back to Quimper for a couple of days. Sister Creager will be with Sister Rhondeau (who was in Lexi's BYU ward last year) in Rennes.  Then the 4 Sisters will meet up again in Rennes and travel to Versailles together.
Lexi ended her e-mail with something new...."Take Luck"
Am I the only one who has not heard this before??...

I think I've memorized the address of 12 Creperies

Hello everyone!

  Oh la la, what a week!  Last week we had our first District Meeting (and my first District Meeting where I was no longer the newest person).  Elder Price, a fantastic Elder whom I befriended in the MTC is now in my District.  My District Leader is Elder Gubbay.  That may not mean much to any of you, but to anyone in the mission, it's something.  Elder Gubbay has been one of the AP's for about the past six months.  He is going home at the end of this transfer, so our we think he wanted to go out with a bang, doing just normal everyday missionary stuff.  We're really excited.  Elder Gubby is also a mystery to everyone, his mom is from France (she's actually from Brest, here in Bretagne).  Rumor has it he was born in Australia.  He told us he was raised in Spain.  But we think his parents are currently living in Dubbai.  He has the same accent no matter what language he is speaking.  Needless to say, he is intriguing.  For Halloween I wore my orange shirt and brown skirt (I thought about wearing my black skirt, but thought it might be a little over the top as a missionary).

 Since Soeur Creager and I whitewashed Quimper, and she is going home at the end of this transfer, there is about a 99.5% chance that I will be here for Christmas.  In fact, Soeur Fauchi has already invited me (and whoever my companion will be) over for Christmas.  She said we will be having a 'Creole' Christmas, which makes sense since she is from Martinique (in the Carribean).  

 This week has been a week of miracles.  We actually had a mini-missionary stay with us (That is to say, she is a member of the church who wanted to have the mission experience for a few days so she could help decided if she wanted to serve a mission herself).  So from Tuesday to Friday, we had Soeur Calves as our third companion.  She was wonderful in all aspects of our mission.  She really helped us with our pronunciation of the language, and she gave great testimonies.  We, in turn, got to show her all the ins and outs of missionary life.  We also had some great lessons while she was with us.

 I think I have forgotten to tell you a few things.  One, ELDER ANDERSEN is coming to speak to our mission.  We are SO excited, of course.  That will be on the 16th.  On the 18th, he's speaking in a huge Conference in Angers, so hopefully we'll be going with our branch to listen to him again.  We are so excited and want to make sure we are spiritually prepared.  

     Tomorrow is Zone Conference, so we'll be going to Rennes.  I'm very excited.  Also, sometime this transfer I'll be doing Belgium legality, so I'll be getting together with my old friends from the MTC and heading to Belgium.

     Oh, also, I have to speak in church next week.  15 minutes in french!   Thank you so much for you love and support.                

     Love,

      Soeur Bracken