3 Months as a Missionary

 
On P-day they went with Patrick to a small town nearby.

Everything over there is so beautiful.

Elder Gambee in front of the tower they climbed. Jonah said it was a lot of stairs and a big climb, but so cool.

This is the view form the top of the tower. Jonah took a video, it was so fun to see.

 The Maccah's, a family from their ward took them out to eat for Elder Zollinger's last night.  Jonah said the food was great and they had the best barbecue sauce.

Elder Zollinger was a great companion. Jonah is going to miss him.

Jonah sure eats good on his mission.

On Wednesday they took the train to Paris for transfers. Jonah got to go around and sight see with Elder Zollinger for a while.  He said there are so many places right by the mission home. 

Here he is in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

I took this screen shot of a video Jonah took.  At the end of the video you can see the Eiffel Tower. 

I took a few screen shots of the video.

It was so fun to see a video of some of the famous sites in Paris.

Hotel de Ville is the city Hall of Paris. 

La seine is a river that runs through Paris. 

Jonah loved seeing all the sights. 

He loved seeing his group form the MTC. Sister Whitney, Sister Miller, Sister Bargar, Elder Loosli, Elder Blaylock, Elder Kent, Sister Garlock and Sister Bargar.

Elder Loosli, Elder Snow and Elder Church on their way to Chipotle!

I'm not sure why Jonah is making this face, he was so excited to eat at Chipotle. He took a video of him saying, "Honey, I'm home" and then showed the Chipotle sign and showed himself walking in. He also took a picture of his burrito.

Elder Church loves Chipotle as much as Jonah.  They were both excited to spend the afternoon together!

Elder Snow is from Provo as well. He went to Timpview, but he went to the Provo MTC.  Jonah had fun talking to him about Provo and people they both knew.

He loaded a picture of his calendar.  I thought it was fun to see what he had for the day.  It says: 

10-11 AM: Find Peeps

11AM-12 PM: Training Call

12-1 PM: Dejeuner (lunch)

1-2 PM: Mentor Sesh

2-2:30 PM-Daily Contacts

2:30-3PM: Etude en Equipe (study and team)

3-4 PM: A Leglise (at the church)

4-5 PM: call every single dot

5-6 PM- Etude de langue (study language)

6-7 PM: Chez Patrick (at the home of)

7:00-7:30 PM: Counseil de Paroisse (church counsel)

7:30-8:30 PM: Chez Nous (our place)

8:30-9:30 PM: Dinner

Elder Jones is Elder Smith's new companion.  Jonah said he is pretty unique, but he's hilarious. Jonah said it would be hard to be his companion, but living with him is fine.  

Jonah told us that Elder Jones talked them into playing Dungeons and Dragons.  Jonah said he found out that Elder Gambee's new companion is from his class at Diamond Ridge, they weren't close friends, but they remember each other.  Jonah really misses Elder Gambee, he got really close to him while they lived together. 

This is Elder Pelaez, Jonah's new companion. He has been out for two more transfers than Jonah. He is from Ogden and Jonah really likes him.  He said it's been a little hard because they are on the same level with their French, so they struggle a bit to communicate with others since they don't have a companion that is farther along in the language.  Jonah also feels a lot of pressure and like he is the trainer since he has been in the area.  He said he is learning a lot and doing a lot of things that Elder Zollinger used to take care of.  Jonah was discouraged because at least one of their friends that was planning to be baptized is going to postpone it and he's worried Pricilla will postpone as well.  He said it is really discouraging that they are having such a hard time finding people to teach.  He always ends on a positive note and says something like, "but it's okay, we will get there."

Jonah sent grandpa an email that summed things up better than I can:

Hey Grandpa! It made my entire day when I opened my phone and saw this email! I would love to come clean and say that I haven't been sending emails. For some reason I get so busy every week and just do not find a time or desire to write them.  But I'm working on it! And don't worry, the emails will be right here on Gmail. I've always got time to send one to you though, so please keep reaching out! Sorry for putting you to work!

The work here is great! My new companion and I are on the same level of French so although I am technically still "in training," I feel as though I'm the one training him because I have to show him around the area and handle most things.  He is an amazing companion but a little shy.  It has helped me a lot to really carry conversations, and so far so good! It has definitely been one of the most exhausting weeks thus far, but I can see my French has improved so much! I'm at the point where I can make good general conversation and teach a solid lesson as well.  I can't wait until I'm completely comfortable, that will be a good day! 

I think, fast, and pray about you and grandma so much! i also pray that you guys can feel the love and gratitude that you deserve from the family.  We owe everything to you guys! You're the strongest person I know. Please give grandma a big hug for me.  I love you Grandpa.  Please keep reaching out! And I'll do my best to start getting weekly emails out.

Love you!

Elder Loosli