Thanks for all the birthday wishes! This is definitely going to be a birthday to remember. Can you believe it has been a year since I left? Time passes too quickly. Mom, I DID receive your package. It got here on Wednesday, incredibly fast! Thank you! I'm excited to open it. The first Pday of the transfer is Paris Pday and we have pdays saturday so we decided to work for most of today (minus emails) and then celebrate my birthday as a mission:) by going to the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides -there's a World War 2 museum there, and Notre Dame. It should be a fun day. I'm excited!
Chels...how was the lake day? Did you get up on the wakeboard? Babygirl G is going to be an extreme sportist. I have a feeling. When are you going to buy a lakehouse? I'll definitely come vist! Have you seen Melissa and Justin yet? I can't imagine her with a peggers belly, let alone TWINS! Tell her hi for me when you see her.
Hads...how was efy??? Did you have cool counselors? Was Tara Wheatley one of them? Did you learn all the dances? I never could get them down. I loved efy and hope you did too!
Dad, ni hao! How is your chinese coming along!
Mom...you got to go to girls camp! I hope I get to be as lucky as you and serve in Young Women's. How was it? What did you make? How are the Inoyues doing? Tell Karen and Lauren hi for me!
We have had a spectacular week! It's hard to write all the cool things that have happened but I'll do my best. We went to see L Monday morning and it was a powerhouse rdv. She loves the Book of Mormon. We kept reading scriptures that responded perfectly to her questions. She is such a good woman. At the end of the rdv she goes, 'I'm planning on you coming an visiting regularly. Is that ok with you?' Sr Gifford and I grinned at each other. She is such a sweet woman with an incredible ability to be patient.
So yesterday our whole day fell through and we were bummed. We were going to teach M and family but that didn't work out. We prayed and picked an area to go to find some new people to teach and pass by some others. As we were leaving we got a text message from J! He was in Germany for a while and since he has been back work has been insane so we hadn't seen him. Anyhow we met him in the park and had an excellent rdv about the sabbath day. It was so good. Then as we were walking to the train, we saw this guy walking up the hill and we stopped to ask him if we could help him(he had some heavy bags). We started talking about the church and showed him the book of mormon. J jumps right in and starts explaining it and how it can help him in his life and how he loves it. It was so awesome! It was like having a member with us, minus the detail of being baptized! He's back on track and we are excited to see him progress again.
C and C left for vacances for a month. Crazy french people vacating for huge chunks of time. If Dad were the president of the country that would definitely be outlawed:) (I havent ungratefully forgotten all the wonderful vacations, Dad) We'll see him again in August.

MIRACLE! Our rdv fell through again this morning so we decided to go find/passby some other people in the area of the following rdv. We went by two old amis but they weren't there so we headed back to the gare. On the way we stopped to talk to this girl. We asked her about her beliefs and she opened up to us right away. She is only 19 and she recently lost someone that she loves. She said that she has had a hard time believing in God since then. We talked a little bit more and ended up teaching her in a park just next door. We started by singing 'Families Can Be Together Forever' and then prayed with her. She started crying right away. She kept saying, 'I feel so lost. I just don't know where to go.' We taught her the Plan of Salvation and how Jesus Christ can succor us because he knows EXACTLY how we are feeling. It was such an incredible experience. How could we ever doubt that Heavenly Father is in control? He knows this girl perfectly and he knows the best way to help her so he set up how we could meet each other. I don't believe things happen by chance. We're going to see her again next weekend. I love her so much already. I know we can help her find the peace she is looking for. I feel blessed to be a part of the process. Boffed rdvs are perfect finding opportunites, shout out to JO!
We're getting a mini missionary! It was supposed to be Rachel but it would cost A TON to have her come and so they are sending her to Liege. Another incredible city! They girl who is coming is from Angers. She will be with us the 18th-23rd. I think she is 21ish. We talked to her on the phone the other day and she seems really cool. I am excited to convince her to go on a mission! We're not sure if she speaks english so it might be a little difficult to be speaking french ALL the time but it will definitely help. Sr Gifford only speaks French outside of the apt so that has already helpd me a ton.
new favorite scripture isaiah 58:2,9,11. love the scriptures!
i love you all! have an excellent week and eat some dairy queen cake for me!
are you going to the outer banks this summer? has the oil spill affected the beaches there?
i love you
sr powers
be strong, never give up & endure to the end