Jordan's Thoughts and Ideas

My Petites Madeleines....

2011-12-01T22:44:00.001-08:00

I am really excited for this weekend! I am going out of town with some of my best friends to just have fun. With a birthday looming in the near future I feel a little nostalgic, once again...

I am sitting at work, just waiting for the change of shift that will happen in 16 minutes. This is the part of my night when I just sit and watch a movie, or read or just think. I have already done a personal planning session for tomorrow's events, I have talked to all the people riding in my car about when I will pick them up and I have spent some time doing a little catch up reading. This is when I decided to check my email one last time. I remembered that I needed to respond to an email and I did a search for it in my inbox. Three emails popped up, one being a reminder for a FLSR FHE (Foreign Language Housing "family" home evening) activity in Provo... That email dating back to my most recent life in Provo was a "Petit Madeleine" that caused much refection to the last few silent moments of my shift.

During the summer semester I spent at BYU I was introduced to a lot of wonderful philosophies that I hadn't studied before, one being Proust..

"She sent for one of those squat, plump little cakes called "petites madeleines," which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell. And soon, mechanically, dispirited after a dreary day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory - this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. I had ceased now to feel mediocre, contingent, mortal. Whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy? I sensed that it was connected with the taste of the tea and the cake, but that it infinitely transcended those savours, could, no, indeed, be of the same nature. Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it?... And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom , my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it; perhaps because I had so often seen such things in the meantime, without tasting them, on the trays in pastry-cooks' windows, that their image had dissociated itself from those Combray days to take its place among others more recent; perhaps because of those memories, so long abandoned and put out of mind, nothing now survived, everything was scattered; the shapes of things, including that of the little scallop-shell of pastry, so richly sensual under its severe, religious folds, were either obliterated or had been so long dormant as to have lost the power of expansion which would have allowed them to resume their place in my consciousness. But when from a long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection."

If you read French, find this is French! I have a copy I can scan and send, it is great... For English readers Go here for the full text.

Sometimes I have those little "cookie" moments that can just transport me to a different place. A place that I loved, but didn't fully appreciate until it was over, now that the moments have past, the summer has ended and the people have been scattered from China, to the Middle East to Cedar City, Utah. Now I appreciate and long for it, my soul is "remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection."

pros and cons

2011-10-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

A week off... 7 days of not going into work, no processing forms and no paperwork. Not all bad! But... not all good

Pros:
- relaxing and regrouping
- spending time with family and friends
- catching up on Grey's Anatomy
- corresponding with people that I miss
- taking a good look at my life
- Time to make new goals
- time to play with the puppy
- getting to make dinner and eat dinner with the fam
- sleeping in and never hearing that horrid alarm

Cons:
* loosing my routine
* wasting hours of by life on netflix, pintrest and facebook
* overwhelming myself with to do lists
* watching myself turn into frump girl
* only wearing my PJs all day
* major guilt from realizing that there are people I love that I haven't talked to in months
* the looming darkness of the end of the vacation
* you try telling teens to wake up on time and do chores after they have been on vaca for 8 days
* Catching up on Grey's
* I can't believe the addiction is back!

Maybe a week off is too long... but it sure was needed!

Update

2011-10-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I the other day I ran into good friends who live in New York but were visiting family in Cedar and it came to my knowledge that I haven't told anyone where I am, what I am doing or how it is going.

I don't have a ton of time because I am at work but I have a few minutes to say...

-I live in Cedar

-I work at a private boarding school, the same one from before

-I LOVED Provo with all my heart, met some of my best friends there and learned a ton

-I have been applying for jobs, not to run away from my work or my hometown, but to start a new adventure

-Conference rocked my socks but because of sessions and mission reunions, I was not able to stop by to see friends.

That is all. I will up date again in 5 months :)

NEW FAVORITE MOVIE

2011-08-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I fall in love with a movie... and I want to watch it over and over... Some of you may remember the 2 months of me watching only Everything's illuminated at the first of the year... Well, it happened again today! Thank you Netflicks Instant Streaming!

This movie is wholesome (nothing even borderline inappropriate at all!) It is a wonderful story full of family values and a look at different cultures. I love it!! I know that I am an independent film lover, but I promise, this one isn't weird....

And once you fall in love with Arranged, go give Everything's Illuminated a chance.

FINALS

2011-08-10T06:48:00.001-07:00

Finals are never fun, but this week has been very interesting.

I randomly ran into a guy from the FLSR who just happened to be thinking about me this morning when he read an article by Camus that kinda changed my paper for the better... Thank you James!

Jared refused to let me quit... That in itself deserves an award

My roommates and 2 of our honorary (jeff and Paul) had raqulette last night... enough said!

I have an oral exam and a paper to finish today...

I have 2 finals tomorrow...

Then I am done. It will be sad to leave the FLSR because I love it so much... It will be good to work again... It will be sad to have an end to this era... But exciting to see what happens in the next.

My journal...

2011-08-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

So.... I have worked really hard on my journals this semester and I kinda feel like it was a waste of time because I worked hard for one person to read it... so I am going to post 2 of my Journals. No one (that I can think of) Speaks French... so.. It won't make sense.. But I just need to feel justified as I prepare for finals! Stop reading

Now :)

J'ai pensé à ce parti de journal pendant des jours. Je l'ai réécrit deux fois déjà et quand j'ai demandé à un ami de le lire, il m'a dit que ce n'était pas bien fait et que je devrais recommencer. Il n'a pas dit cela d'une façon méchant, il été honnête.. C'est pourquoi j'aime parler avec lui, il est toujours honnête, certains pourraient dire «to a fault», mais je trouve cela rafraîchissant.
Ma vie quotidienne; Comment puis-je écrire à ce sujet et où dois-je commencer? Plus que j'ai pensé, plus j'y ai réalisé que je n'ai pas de vie quotidienne. Je pense que j’en suis fière de. S'il vous plaît, comprenez-moi bien. j'ai ma routine. Je me réveille tôt, je fais mes devoirs, je parle avec mes amis, je vais en class, puis je rentre chez moi. Oui, je suppose que ce sont des choses de tous les jours, mais l’un de mes talents est de trouver le bizarre et le comique dan la vie banal.
J'aime rire. Honnêtement, c'est mon passe-temps favori. Rire et parler, ce sont des choses ce que je préfère chez les gens c’est leur rire et leurs sourire. Aussi, j'aime de savoir pourquoi les gens disent ce qu'ils disent, ce qu'ils font et sentir comment ils se sentent. J'aime écouter des histoires et apprendre des gens, mais mes choses préférées d’une personne sont leur rire et leur sourire. Je crois que de rire est le remède contre l'ennui. Je sais, ça sonne très Robin Williams / Patch Adams, mais ce n'est pas du tout comme ça. Je ne suis pas trop intéressée par les blagues et je n'aime pas les clowns, mais j'aime entendre les histoires de la nie courantes. C'est une façon d'apprendre à connaître quelqu'un. Mon professeur en 362 nous avait lu un essai et l'une des citations que j'ai vraiment aimé est «Nos perceptions, sensations, émotions et idées se présentent sous un double aspect». Je pense que si on pense que chaque chose qu’n homme fait a un double aspect, on peut voir un peu plus de ses intentions. Nous ne savons pas pourquoi une personne est comme il est, et comme il pense. Mais quand j’écoute leurs histoires, leurs triomphes, leurs désastres, et leurs désirs, j’ai l’impression de savoir comment les aider pour qu’ils s’améliorent.
Ok, qu'est-ce que cela a à voir avec ma vie quotidienne? Rien. Et c'est ce que j'aime de la vie quotidienne. Elle n'existe pas. Elle a des rebondissements, des éprouves, l'amour et le bonheur. Comme Emerson a dit: « Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays ».

#2

J’ai un amour qui a commencé jeune. Ma mère joue du piano et du clarinette, et nous avons toujours eu un piano dans notre maison. Ma mère aimait écouter Mozart et Beethoven, et je me suis habituée à écouter de la musique classique. Ma mère aussi me transmis son amour pour des groupes comme Donny et Marie et les Carpenters. Mon père a toujours écouté de la musique des années 60, 70 et 80. Je ne sais pas si mes parents en voulu induire mon obsession pour la musique ou si c'est juste moi, mais j'ai commencé à aimer la musique et je n'ai jamais arrêté.
Quand j'avais trois ans, j'ai vu une documentaire télévision qui parlait des violonistes. Je ne sais pas pourquoi j'ai décidé que j'avais besoin de jouer du violon ou comment j'ai manipulé mes parents de me laisser commencer, mais je l'ai fait. À trois ans, j'ai commencé à développer un amour pour la musique classique et aussi bien pour l’écouter et en jouer.
Maintenant j'aime écouter un peu de tout, de Mahler et Vivaldi à Kanye West et Jonny Cash. J'écoute la musique country, Rap, R & B et tout le reste, sauf pour le Funk. Je n'aime pas ça.
J'ai d'autres goûts en dehors de la musique. J'aime la plupart des légumes à l'exception des tomates. Je ne les ai jamais aimés, mais bizarrement j'aime la salsa et la sauce tomate. Je suis très difficile quand je mange du poisson. J'ai une théorie que nous ne devrions manger du poisson quand on peut ne voir pas un océan. Donc, normalement, je ne mange que du poisson en Espagne et à Hawaii. J'aime la couleur verte. Je l'ai toujours adoré. Je suis attirée par toute chose verte.
Si je pouvais partir en vacances en ce moment, j'irais dans le nord de l'Espagne dans un petit village de pêcheurs appelé Lekeitio. J'aime la plage et le climat. J'aime écouter des petits vieux hommes basques parler quand ils jouent aux cartes et j'adore être aussi sur la place du village. J'aime aussi Paris. La chose drôle est que je détestais le France avant ma mission, surtout Paris. Je n'avais jamais été à Paris, mais j’avais passé quelques semaines dans le sud de la France un été et je ne m’étais pas amusée. Je me suis promis que je ne reviendrai plus! Lorsque j'ai reçu mon appel en mission J'étais tellement contente de ne pas aller en France, la Belgique semblait être un endroit parfait pour moi. Au milieu de ma mission les frontières de la mission ont été ouvertes jusque Limoges. J'ai été rapidement transférée dans une paroisse juste à l'extérieur de Paris et j'ai été mortifiée! Mais après quelques jours dans ce lieu béni, j'ai commencé à apprendre à aimer la France, Paris, et la culture. J’ai appris à l'aimer de tout mon cœur et je retournerais demain si possible.
J'ai beaucoup d'aspirations. Certains d'entre eux sont : obtenir une maîtrise (et éventuellement un doctorat), et commencerai une école privée. Je travaille dans un pensionnat pour jeunes à risque. J'aime mon travail énormément. Grâce à mon travail je veux obtenir une maîtrise en counselling. Je voudrais ouvrir une école du même genre de celle ou je travaille.

Hark! Hark! Hark! ’tis children’s music

2011-07-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

I went home for the weekend...

First thing: I went to the farm

And had a water fight with my dad....

That night I played with awesome people...

Then I watched the best TV show with my parents and brother

I won... And if you don't try and say Arc de Triomphe with a french accent... you get a minus 5 points! But... if you can recall the metro stop that you take to get to the Arc... you get bonus...

At least in my world it works like that....

On Saturday I worked... really hard...

We went to St. George

and had a scavenger hunt and played at the park then we ate at...

I went crus'in with Enna, Jill and Joe... Then I went to the best place ever... with my family... but my phone died so I don't have pictures of my Gran's cabin... But trust me!! It is HEAVEN!

Sunday was my favorite holiday of the year...

I did not make this cake... but it inspired me to start cake decorating again!

Lindsay and Bree: Please ignore your parental responsibilities and come decorate with me!

Don't be shocked that I used to decorate cakes! Remember! I am from Cedar City and I was the queen of iron county 4-H for many a year...

It rained that night so Suz, Steph and I went crus'in!

On Monday I had another Hard day of work...

I went to St. George...

and saw

Then I ate at

Then I went swimming...

My dad and brother made amazing Steaks for dinner, then I went to see

With Enna-bear and Liz.... But as we were driving we saw

24th of July fireworks taken in the rain and threw my car window...

Today I went to get my hair cut at

By Lindsay Brito... She does a great job and it is fun to chat her!

I went to

with Jamie and baby Carson. I am so sad I didn't photo document that! It was wonderful to catch up with my Warby friends!

I ran errands, hung out with my grandparents, Chatted with the Wood family and went to Brad's to get a coke... all before 4pm

then I came back to Provo town and had dinner with my beautiful roommates and Jeff (an honorary roommate)

Then Jared and I attempted to do homework and got distracted by...

I loved this weekend!!

Le Quatorze Juillet

2011-07-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Today is a wonderful day full of joy and excitement. At least last year it was...
Today is Mongu's birthday... I miss her... I miss that whole family.
Last year Flood and I wore matching outfits
Last year Flood and I watched the fireworks from the Eiffel tower and Disneyland... at the same time
Last year I was living in a crummy apartment
Last year I remember sitting on a window seal and loving everything about my life

I am going to do everything in my power to make THIS year AMAZING!

i love the 4th

2011-07-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

perfect 4th of july! parties, denny's, shooting, 3hrs sleep, bbq, bowling, slurpee run, slc, fireworks, now stuck in traffic with good music and friends! I couldn't ask for more!

Bonjour! Je m'applle Jordan

2011-06-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

I want to preface this post with this statement:
I have no problem with Sarah Palin. I like her a lot and respect her, This post is not political at all.. It is more the concept of the last 3 min of the video.
Just watch...

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

This is how I feel about my advanced french grammar class everyday... I feel like my prof just pulls random words out of a hat and then says "Ca va?" I know those 2 words solve all problems, but just like always... There are exceptions and irregulars... And her class is that! I am so glad that I have the roommates I do, and live where I live.

I love my other classes! I love grammar too, but I do like my civ class is AMAZING and I want to study French philosophers for the rest of my life.

little update

2011-06-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

I had a problem the other day...
It really was that bad....

But my friend and I were completely unharmed and we should have been really hurt... So all is good!

I am back in Provo, I start classes tomorrow. We shall see where life leads me. For now it is leading me on foot, until I get a car! :)

Hope everyone is loving their summer!

Day 3- Me being shamefully honest

2011-04-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

Day 03 -A picture of the cast of your favorite TV show.

Don't judge me......

I love the TV show Christy....

This is something that not many people know about me... I have loved this TV show since I was 10. I know it is dumb.. I know that I am the only person who watched it... but I love it. I love the book, the show and everything about it.

For some reason my pics won't upload... but I am being honest!

Day 2

2011-04-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

Day 02 -A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.

That is hard!!! There are two! And for some reason I don't have a single picture saved on my computer of me with them!

Bree is about 2 weeks older than me. She grew up exactly one block away from me and we have always been friends. My mom said that she would feel bad dropping me off at nursery because all the other kids cried and didn't want their moms to leave.... I ran up to Bree, hugged her and started playing- never blinked! Bree married my 2nd cousin and so now we have the same last name! I love it!

Lindsay
Is about 5 months younger than me. She is my cousin (no matter what her husband says) and she has been through it all with me... boyfriends, high school, orchestra trips, 4-H... You name it and she did it with me. When I think back to all of my capers in high school, she was sitting right next to me in that Celica. She was my Tonto. She is the best little mom ever and has the cutest kids.

My sister, my best friend and my cousin....

2011-03-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

I love the Kusseling family!!

Photo blogging... my sister, my best friend and my cousin (along with most people on facebook) are doing the 30 day photo challenge. I was going to do it on my facebook, but then I realized that not everyone wants to be bombarded with my photos on their update feed, but I thought it would be fun for me to do it; a way of self discovery, if you will!
So, here goes!
Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts.
1. You probably will never know how much I loved my mission
2. I love speaking French
3. I have naturally curly dark brown hair with light blue eyes
4. I hate spiders
5. I have a self-defeating attitude...sometimes
6. two very handsome brothers
7. I was held down by one of my brothers as the other one wrote number 6
8. I get nervous speaking French with Americans
9. I was a DJ
10. I love the Hukilou Cafe with all my heart and soul!

As I walk around town I hear a lot of weird things and see many bizarre things.

2011-02-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

Today it is snowing. Not just flurrying, but actually snowing. I feel that it is possible that Cedar was relocated to Russia last night. Communist plot.
Well, as I walked to my French class I noticed a blue young man. His face, his arms, his legs all a smurf-ish color, Schtroumpfs in French. try saying that word 5 times fast... actually don't. I tried for 16 months and never succeeded.) I wanted to run up to him and yell "do you know that it is 16 degrees above 0 and that you are dressed like it is Aug 6 in Cancun. WHY?" I am freezing so I don't understand this try and look cool thing. I am in a long sleeved shirt, a sweeter, my awesome scarf that Jonny brought me back from Florence and a coat that goes to my knees. I also spent 10 minutes and was late to class because I had to dig out my french Marche boots from the bottom of my closet. I was not going out without protection!
The man behind me is trying to indoctrinate his girlfriend with pro homeschooling propaganda. He just made the statement "yes, it is true that we loose out on some social interaction, but ask anyone who they want as their science partner and they will say a homeschooled kid." I can honestly say that I have never though about that... I am not against homeschooling, just kinda intrigued by his reasoning.
I have to get to my class now. I am sure many weird things are to follow...

Good friends...

2011-01-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

I have amazing friends who...

help me find a job
keep inviting me to things even though I am a social recluse
go to the gym with me
text me random facts about Elders from the mission
fly to France just to see me
lived with me for 5 months and don't hate me
prof read a paper for me
write letters of rec for me
sit up watching movies with me
drinks caffeine for me
go to the temple with me
keep me updated on their lives
let me cry about how much I miss France and Belgium
Seem somewhat interested when I explain french phrases
learn french words to be cool with me
take me to social things and force me to be in public
call from France just to say hi
read my emails from the mission
play genealogy with my mom
encourage me to find my own adventure

There are SO many other things that you have done, but I just want you to know that I appreciate you!

December 06, 2010

2010-12-06T03:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Family,

So, the week has been crazy and busy. We had stake conference and it was far away in a conference center... So it was hard to get people to come. The ward did a great job of getting our recent converts there so we were really happy with the turnout. Some members who live by us drove us. That was nice. It saved us money and we got to have a normal Sunday morning, instead of waking up at 5h30 and leaving at 6h30. It was a nice ride and fun to talk to them. They both served missions so they gave me a lot of advice so that I don't go into depression when I get home.

I just got a RDV with our Internet man. He just walked up and said hi and I told him that I am leaving and he got really sad. I have been secretly teaching him the gospel for the last 9 months... maybe he is ready now.

Simone.. Have I told you about her? She is this adorable little French woman who is 64. She is so funny. She is CATHOLIC... But hasn't been to mass since her oldest Granddaughter was baptised. But... Simone is praying!!! I don't know if you can even understand why that is a big deal, but just know.... It is. It has been 9 months and to hear her pray and have her tell us she is praying every night. It was a huge miracle.

We had a lot of RDVs fall through. The snow makes life hard for people. It is hard, but it always happens when the weather gets bad. We just keep going.

So, the first day that we signed for our new apart we went over and made videos of it and reveled in the goodness of the next place. As we walked out of the apart we saw a little old lady taking out her trash. I asked her if I could help her and she told me straight up NO!.. Well, people have that reaction to us a lot, no biggie. Then a few weeks later, when I saw her again she let me help her. Since that day I felt like we needed to meet her. So... The other day Soeur Woyak wasn't feeling well so I made one of the cookie mixes that mom sent and we took it to her. She is the neatest lady. She was a part of the French Resistance during WWII. She was 15 when she started in it with her Father. She told us stories about what she did to help Jews fudge their papers and how she danced to Jazz music with the American Soldiers the day they came through Paris. Her father had been a soldier and his post was that the Eiffel Tour. Then he went up to the North during the war and he had to escape with the British to England. Her stories were so cool. We told her about what we do and we talked about prayer with her. We told her we would love to help her decorate for Christmas... And she is going to give me a recipe for my favorite French Christmas desert.

Things are so good. I am so happy and I love it so much.

1. Do you need us to do anything before you arrive home? Is dad's number still the same.. If I get snowed into Seattle I would like to be able to contact you. I do have Gen's number on her card, in my wallet and I have Thadd's office number on my toothbrush.... But yeah
2. Have you found any new investigators? Yes
3. How's your luggage? Anything that makes it out of Charleroi alive comes out a little damaged and looking a little older... Me, my luggage, my clothing...
4. Anybody that we should let know about your arrival home date? The family... Soeur Hulet... She is still in denial that this is happening...

November 22, 2010

2010-11-22T04:51:00.000-08:00

Hey family,
I am so excited for Jared! I was thinking Spain, but Honduras sounds really cool!!
Well, my life just keeps getting busier and busier. We are teaching a lot, some how I look like someone who can put a thanksgiving feast togeter for 9 Elders and 5 sisters... I do not know how I got volunteered for that....
THEN this morning I was putting the grocery's into the caddy and the phone rang. Soeur Woyak answered it and the next think I know she is handing me the phone with a worried look on her face.. Saying... ''IT IS THE ASSISTANTS!'' So, there I am, putting the groceries away and my dear friend Elder Jurrus saying ''Sister Hulet, we have know each other a long time and I have a question to ask you. Will you play the violin at the Christmas zone conference. If it is too stressful, I understand, but we, along with President, would like you to do this.'' I politely declined and told him that with all that is going on and with another baptismal service that week(I will fill you in on that later) I just can't. He then said '' Well, you really don't have a choice. I really want to hear you play and I know that if I pull the friend card again you will do it for us. Not as the assistants but as your friends.'' I tried to get out of it again, but I am now going to be doing something for the conference. AHHHH. Mom, I really don't want to put a lot of time into practicing. Can you get my Mannheim Steamroller book out and scan the Silent Night violin and piano for me? If you can do it today I can print it off tomorrow. This conference is next week. I just al going to keep busy and not think that there is an end. So far it is working... I got a little sad yesterday when I was sitting with Jennifer (the girl that we baptized in June) and she looked up at me and said ''je t'aime soeur Hulet'' and that is when I realized that I am counting down the weeks of French and my fun Congolese friends... But I am not thinking about it now and I won't until I wake up in St G.
I am fine with anything after the flight. I don't think I will be too with it after all of the layovers and all of the flying...
Soeur Woyak and I have been on a gluten free hunt all day. We have about 10 Kilos of rice cakes. Today has been a little stressful for me...
Ok, so... We are going to have another baptism by the end of the transfer. Her name is Mary. She is super cool and she wants to be baptized. Be praying for her. We are setting the date this week and she is so great.
Hmmm... What else is going on.. We went down town the other day. We took some new investigators to an institute activity. So much happened this week but I can't remember any of it... I

I need to buy new strings for my violin and some peg dope. I don't know the technical term for peg dope in English so... to say that in French... It will be interesting.
Has anyone heard from Chelsea Jones? I thought about her the other day and I haven't heard from her since I came to France.

Scooby is doing very well.

I love you all. Be good. Don't want me to come home too much.

Soeur Hulet

October 17, 2010

2010-10-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

HEY family,
CONGRATS UNCLE CLARK AND AUNT PHYLLIS!!! I am so proud of you. I have been so blessed to serve 7 transfers with couple missionaries around me and I have a testimony of couple missionary work. There is nothing better than the couple missionaries and they raise the bar for us and help us to be more mature. Oh, you will LOVE Italy.
Things are great. Chara and Kader are getting baptized!!!! I don't know if I have explained this story well enough... So, here it goes.
There is a member who is a convert of 5 years. She is from Camores. This is a small muslim country/group of islands near Madagasgar. She moved to France, her husband left her for another woman and moved back to Camores where their 3 oldest children were living with their grandma. She had her little 2 year old baby and that is when she met the sisters. She joined the church and now that 2 year old is 7. Last year Her son, Salim, came up here with 2 goals:
1. Go to university
2. Convert his mom back to Islam
Salim received the Melchizedek priesthood 2 weeks ago and is preparing for a mission.
So, her daughter, Chara, came here a month ago with 2 goals
1. Go to college
2. Convert her mom back to Islam
She is getting baptized the 6th
Kader, her cousin, came here with 2 goals
1 Go to school
2. Get a Navigo (bus, train, RER and metro pass)
He is getting baptized on the 6th as well....

The other day Chara bore her testimony and it shocked me how strong she is. Their prayers are so great and they act like they have been members for years. Things will not be easy, it never is for converts from Muslim to Christianity, but they are receiving blessings so.. They are willing to go through it all.
Salim will baptize both of them.
We pushed back jean claude's dates to the 14th. He feels good about it. He is so great.
Things are going well. I am so happy.
I learned something very important from the bad example of the Utah Jazz... Don't start thinking about what you're going to eat for dinner after the game... in the end of the 4th quarter. It is the end of the 4th quarter for me and I am going to sprint to the end and not try and think too much of unnecessary things. No regrets here.
Love you all,
Soeur Hulet

1. Did you like the stockings? YES. I am wearing them now. Love them.

2. Were you able to use the items in the package? Haha funny story. Yesterday we had a 7 year old come to church, the neighbor of a member and he was bored during the talks. He was right next to me and I could see that he was about to start making mischief... So, I handed him the little pocket brush you sent... .new formula.... 7year old + Pocket brush= 19 minutes of silence. Thank you for that.
I have been able to use everything. Soeur flood makes fun of my fish oil hahahha I loved the whole box

3. Are you healthy? Yep

4. Do you see the protests and strikes that go on in Paris? (We watched a new report on elders and students protesting the retirement age in Paris) Really, the only terrorists I have met in the area are French people on strike... It makes us immobile and late for things and AH. They vote on Wednesday. Yes... The 16 year olds ditching school and walking around the city have been very noticeable. Really, they are the only things I have to complain about... Opposition in all things, right?

5. Does the Relief Society in Paris have Souper Saturday? Super Saturday, out side of Utah, is an activity for the youth of the stake... No, our Relief society does yoga together on Wednesday nights.... they are so funny.

6. How was Sister Flood's birthday party? It went well. We did a birthday week. Full of everything she has ever wanted in a birthday.

The weather is cold, but ça va.

pictures taken this week end with chara, kader and salim !!thank you for everything you are doing for chara

October 10, 2010

2010-10-10T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

Oh, I love our Internet shop friends. They are from India. They say that we can go visit their house in India... But they also give me 3 hours of Internet time when I pay for 1 just because they think we are nice. They are good people and I keep trying to teach them the gospel... but I cannot read their language at all...

Jake never wrote me back about the Russian I needed... So I guess I can't make the gift for my friend. That is sad.

So, last week... what happened....

We had RDVs all over the place. We had a fun birthday party for Salim, the brother of Chara. Chara said the prayer for the dinner. She did a great job and I am shocked at how well she is progressing.

We taught Fran and Stan with Soeur Noeubolibona. She is AMAZING. She did a great job and it was just like we were teaching with a third companion. I love teaching with her and she is such a trooper. I hope she can teach with us again on Wednesday.

We are also teaching the sister in law of Hilde now. Hilde told her she needed us so... She is meeting with us. She has a lot of health problems and has a lot of questions. I like her a lot and I hope her health gets better.

Hilde is great. I feel like we haven't seen her forever. She has problems with her passport so.. She is trying not to stress and just focus on school.

Val and her kids... They did not come to church yesterday... I do not know what to do with her. I just hope one day she really does want to change...

Jean Claude came to church yesterday. He made really good comments in gospel principles. We talked about the importance of work and it was a nice lesson. In our ward the class is taught by the 18 year old boys, to get them ready for missions and then the ward mission leader just comes and helps them out.

We had a RDV with a member who is having a hard time right now. We got there and we taught the lesson and then she told us that she wanted us to stay for RACKLET(favorite thing ever) and to meet three of her friends. It was nice, but we got home a little late because of the buses and that is NOT fun.

Well, that was a spastic run down of our week. It went well. Oh!!! We went over to a member's house who is starting to be reactivated the other night. Her son asked us to help him write is testimony. We gave him some ideas and we then taught his mom. The next day they came to church!!!! and he gave a great testimony. AND we had 500 people at church. There were not enough chairs. Really, it was just a great day.

Love you all,

Soeur Hulet

1. Did you get the package? YES, Thank you so much. I loved the M&Ms and the fish oil... hahah I was getting low on the vitamins so that was so good to get them.

2. How is the apartment?Great, almost put together. Elder and Sister Davis are going to help us hang the kitchen cupboards this week

3. How is it going with your companion? Great

4. Are you doing well? YEP!!

5. Is the 26th of December okay?You make the plans

September 13, 2010 9:33 AM

2010-09-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Things are going well. the first order of business is...
SOEUR LINDSTROM HAS HER MISSION CALL!!! To the Baltic States. I am so excited. I hope that you added her to the list like I asked. I am so proud of her and I am so excited to write her. I may have to go volunteers at the TRC or just happen to go to the same temple session one day... I am so excited for her.
Things are good. We had a busy week. Things are going well and we have been very busy. Things with Suzie, Val, and Jean Claude are really picking up and I will mail home a very long letter I wrote today with all the details.
Our new apartment is just outside of the 12° sector of Paris. It is in the Ile de Frace and that means that it is considered Paris. It takes just minutes to get to the Notre Dame et the Eiffel Tour. But my ville is called Nogent. I am right next to the Forest of Vancenne. The Floral Park of Paris is right next to my house.
The Apartment is 45m² and has a bathroom(with a tub and shower), a water closet, a nice little kitchen, livingroom and bedroom. It is a large apartment in an older building, but the building is well kept. We love it and it will be really nice once we get dressers and things like that to organize. I kinda think I will just repack my suit cases and get ready for the transfer in 2 weeks. I doubt I will stay in Nogent, though I like it a lot and would love to. The apartment has nice clean, fresh white walls and has beautiful wood floors. The only problem is... We haven't had electricity for most of the time we have been there. We had an electrician come today and he fixed most of it. I am glad that we got into it, even though I won't really get to enjoy living there for much longer.
Things are good. We had a lot of changes last week. One of the Elders got midnighted, meaning transfered with no or little notice. He opened a new equipe and the newer Elder is training someone who had visa problems. The newest elder is nice, has a hard time with French, but a lot better than I was my first week... So he will be fine. This is a good ward to be new in, a lot of work and a lot of members who speak English.
We had a lot of miracles this last week. We also had a run in with some members of another church who like to bible bash and are not very sweet.
Elder Harris is cool. We had a nice chat about the livestock show. He told me that it would help his mom to know that there are a lot of us from Cedar out here.
There is an aribic man who is mute sitting next to me and he is doing sign language to his girl friend online. He keeps asking me for help with his computer and I really don't know how to help him.. But I think he has figured it out. Everyday is an adventure.
We didn't get a pday today. We had RDVs because today is the only day that anyone can see is. We haven't had a real pday in 3 weeks and that is kinda draining, but I think we will get home around 8:30, so we will get 30 minutes of a dinner... Maybe I will just go to bed early..

1. Tell us about your new apartment. déjà fait

2. Were you able to see the stock show pictures? yep. The boys looked cute

3. What is the weather like? today it is a little chilly, but nice. The sun is out and that is a change. It has rained a lot

4. When are transfers? 2 weeks

5. Are you healthy? Yep

6. Do you need anything? Nope

Have fun, I hope you are all doing well.
Love,
Soeur Hulet

September 6, 2010

2010-09-06T02:46:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

I didn't hear from dad. I hope he is doing well.

Well, this week has been good. We had a great Zone conference where we talked about Moses going to the mountain and what we can learn from that story. We also had a training on personal testimony and on progressing covenants. It was a nice day.

We also had a very nice and special sisters day. Kind of a conference for the Soeurs. There are a lot of us, but we are in 2 different countries. We were invited to the mission home and we had trainings on finding balance in our lives. It was nice. We also went to a special hill that has a lot of symbolism for the Paris mission and we were given necklaces. It was a nice day.

We are moving today. We have packed everything and we will go up to our new apartment at noon to wait for the gas man. The Elders will all meet at our old place and start moving. Then we will go down and start moving, after the gas gets turned on. We are super excited and have gotten a lot done today and yesterday.

We had a great day yesterday. The night before I had been so worried because Hilde told us she wanted to come, but we couldn't find anyone to pick her up. I was fretting over it but then I remembered one family that I didn't know very well, but they are both RMs... So, I called them at 21h10. And they were more than happy to do it. Hilde walked into Relief society and I was so excited. After that a less active member that we have been working with walked it. She has changed a lot since the first time we saw her, so that was a huge miracle.

Things are going well. We are going to be teaching a lot this week, and that is a blessing.

ALSO, the mom of the kids I told you about last week got out of Jail. Whoot.

Love you all,

Soeur Hulet

1. How did the tortillas work out? My companion didn't realize that they were there for a special purpose... And so she ate them.

2. Did you move into your apartment? TODAY

3. Do you have pictures of the new apartment? Yes, but my camera is packed

4. Do you need anything? More Tortillas

5. Have you thought about Foreign Language Housing this summer? Nope, haven't thought much about anything

6. Are you healthy?Yes

7. How is Frosty Scooby? He is great. He is a good little missionary.

July 18 2010

2010-07-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

What a busy crazy week. Mom, do you know a Dr Lane Loyd? All is well. Dont worry about me.

Last week was crazy. We had a flood at the church and we spent most of Wednesday cleaning that up. There are some great pictures that I will send of us. The Elders with their pants rolled up, our investigators with mops. It was stressful and fun.

We might have a new apartment by this time next week. President OKed the one we found and so now we just need to sign. It is all out of our hands and so all we can do is pray. The dr said the my allergies are from the mold in our apartment..

That leads me into the Dr story. So, Soeur Flood had an appointment at the American hospital for her dental situation-that is a story in itself- but I went to the Dr the same day and I met Dr Rose. He is from Ohio. He is great. He knew the missionaries before, when he was in med school. He was a great Dr and he wants to do a follow up this friday. That works out because Soeur Flood needs her Xrays for her operation on Friday. At the end he told us that he knows we are here serving people so he wanted to serve us.... So my 100 dollar visit was free. He is a great person. I suggest that if anyone ever needs a Dr in Paris, go to him.

We went to Lille for legality. It was fun to see Sr Curran. We have to go back for our RDV on Wednesday, then go up to Brussels for legality on Thrsday. We will be traveling a lot. It sure is stressful to releagalize in 2 countries.

We went to the Louver today, then to get Falafels and bagels in the Jewish quarter and then we spent some time with the Stovers at the institute building. They are the senior couple there. They are great.

Oh, my dream came true. I got to be the primary pianist for the day on Sunday. That was fun.

Mom, if you could send Ranch dressing that would be great. I want to make that casserole for English class before Ieave Nogent.*

Sorry that this is scattered. We have to run.

Love,

Soeur Hulet

July 5, 2010

2010-07-05T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

I hope everything is going well. Wow, I have so much to tell you.

So, Lets start with last week.... No real work got done in my city because of apartment finding. Then on Thursday morning I had to say goodbye to my 'daughter' and that was sad. She is excited to go home and start her mission papers. Elder Watson of the 70 came and spoke to all the missionaries in Paris. It was fun to see him and his wife. They are going to Tuachann next week and the promised to think of me as they drive by Cedar. All of the talks that day were really good and I learned a lot. I met up with my new companions there. Sister Wilson and Sister Howell. It is so sad that I only get to serve with them for 6 days. They are wonderful and I love having 2 other companions. We laugh a lot. Soeur Wilson is an opera singer and so she is always off singing and that is fun. We have just had a good time and I love the Melun ward. I have never been welcomed into a ward like this. Last night we had a 4th of July BBQ at a members house. It was very nice of them. We had watermelon and all. Oh, it was fun.

I will not be transferred from Nogent. my little 'vacation' to melun will end on Wednesday morning and I will be serving with Soeur Flood. She and I have not been around each other for a long time. She left Bruxelles when I went and so it will be fun to see her. She is great and about as tall as me and we have had a lot of fun together. Soeur Otron and I served and exchange with Soeur flood in Leige once.

I am excited to get to work... But first we have to find an APARTMENT. AHHH . Not fun, but neither is death by mold and that is the other option.

Kalvin's baptism is Saturday. WHOOT. We have been praying for this for 2 months and now it will happen. All is good. I will make the program today and then we will be on our way. His interview is on Wednesday and then all will be ready.

There wernt any questions to answer... So I hope all is well and you liked all the pictures I sent last week.
Have fun,

Soeur Hulet

June 30, 2010

2010-06-30T02:03:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

Well, Monday… The plumber told us that he could leave that day that it wouldn't be a big job… Then he found out that there are cracks in the mortar of the shower and so the walls behind the shower were completely molded through. He had to rip off all of the tile and that night we sprayed it with bleach then he put up new tile. The few hours turned into 3 days of plumber sitting. He was a nice man but missing 3 days of work was not fun. President told us to just work on finding a new apartment closer to the church. We were told by the Davis couple that if this would have happened in the USA then we would have had to evacuate due to the mold and wait a week… Souer Lindstrom has had a funny cough for the last few days… I hope she didn't get TB from the Mold.

On Thursday we went up to CHARLEROI. Wow, was that fun. We had a blast and I got to work with Soeur Kohler all day Friday. She is such an amazing missionary and we had a really good day. It was weird how normal that city felt. I know that I am supposed to be here, but I felt so comfortable in that city. I guess it helped to be visiting people I taught and members I love, but still… Just getting around was so normal. We started out our day with a CHF (you haven't seen that for a few months, consecrated hour of finding) then we went to see the family Ypersia. Oh, how good it was to see them. We just had the best chat and then we talked about member missionary work. Their dog, chippy, died.. .That made me sad. She was my little friend. But the family is doing well and will be going to Vegas in November.
After the Yperisa's we went to see Claudia but she wasn't home so we passed by a lady I had taught with Soeur Santos, but she wasn't home so we went to the Lafineur's house. As we were walking the school bus passed us and all 3 of the kids were on the bus. They were so excited to see me and as I walked up the steet the youngest was yelling "she's back, soeur Hulet is back" We had nice little lesson and they were very touched that I would want to see them. They asked about Soeur Santos and Soeur Welch. I didn't have much to tell them, but they were happy with any news.

After we went to sing to a little old woman who can't come to church. It was good to see her again and I she was so happy to see us. I doubt she remembers me but she was happy to have us over.
We went to the family Wery's and Agnes was there with Naomi. We had so much fun and they had us stay for their BBQ. It was so good to be with them again.

After we went to get frites and then to Claudia's. All 3 of the kids were there and we had such a nice lesson and they are all doing well. Claudia told me all about doing baptisms and how it was so fun to go to the temple. She is so great. Jimmy is going to do a mini mission in July. He will live with the Namur Elders for a week and work with them.

That was our very eventful day in Charleroi.
We got back Saturday afternoon and had a baptism to go to and then a few lessons. All went well. Church was great. Kalvin and Simon came with us and they both had a good time. Soeur Lindstrom gave a talk and it went very well.

Here is the breaking news. Soeur Lindstrom is leaving on Thursday but the transfer isn't until the next Wednesday, so we are closing Nogent for a week and then I will come back with my new companion. I am excited to work with Soeur Howell and soeur Wilson next week.

We have found some really neat new people to teach over the last few days and even got a member referral from Torcy. All is going well and I love it here. I am so thankful that I could have the best of both worlds with Paris mission and the BBN.

I have to run, Love you all.

Soeur Hulet

This is my Zone right now… Except for the creepy Frenchman standing in the window… Some of you may recognize Elder Rogers from Cedar City. It is fun to be in the same city as someone from home.

This is when Loli met the family at the Eiffel. It was fun

Me and my uncle… With another uncle in the background

Fun picture

Does it look like I am excited to be 'home' again? How I love Charleroi… It really was as good as I remembered.

2 of my favorite people EVER. Soeur et Frere Ypersia

Oh, this is a great family. Family Lafineur

There are no words… I just love them

Happy birthday Elder Rogers

Hi Family.

June 21, 2010

2010-06-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hey family!
This week went by crazy fast. I cannot even comprehend that it is Monday again. Wow, today is not our regular Pday, because we are taking Pday on Wednesday… But today is a special day… Today is Plumber-sitting day. Yep, I have to stay inside all day and just sit. We have plenty of things to keep us busy, but I would rather be out working. Oh well, at least the Elders are nice and all of them are going to take shifts sitting in our apartment tomorrow so we can get some work done. Thank you Paris-Est Zone.
We had Zone Conference this week. Every so often President tells us some ‘neat secretarial tidbits that help’ or he sometimes will tell stories about the 12. It is neat to hear the inside scoop on people. The assistants are so lucky… They get to meet all the neat people who come to stay the night at the mission home, and there are a lot.
At zone conference we all had a copy of a thank you letter from president Monson to all of the missionaries in the Paris mission.. President told us that Sister Monson had fallen a few times so he got online and sent a ‘oh that is nice’ sized vase of flowers to President Monson’s office for her from us. The response he got back was that it was a ‘wow! That is huge’ from the secretaries and the letter had some neat advise to us from the prophet. He thinks that the person at the flower shop added a few things in that he didn’t pay for… Hey, I would do it too if I was making a present for the Prophet’s wife…. I think that he wouldn’t like that… but the letter was cool.
The work is going slower than I am used to, but the French and their vacations… Everyone is telling us to call in 3 months. That is hard, but I am trying to stay positive and Soeur Lindstrom is a positive person, so that makes it a bit easier.
President called me the other day and told me that because Soeur Lindstrom will leave on the 1st Someone else will just come in and they will close a sister city and I will probably know who my new companion is next week.
Kalvin fixed a date for his baptism. Whoot. He will be baptized on July 10. He is so ready and we have taught him all we possibly can, so it is good.
We did an activity for the ward BBQ. We put on a treasure hunt for the primary. We used scriptures and the kids had to figure out where the scripture was telling them to go. There were little activities like sing I am a child of God or answer a trivia question. The kids liked it a lot and were just thrilled. The moms seemed to be impressed by it and some of them asked for a copy of the scriptures. It was a great day.
All is well! I love you all and I let you know next week of all the changes.
Love,
Soeur Hulet

June 14, 2010

2010-06-21T02:53:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

This week was very different from last week. We had a lot of people who just decided to not follow through with appointments and commitments, but this week we found some AMAZING people.

On Saturday we were running to get to the train station to meet up with someone for a church tour and there was this woman who was with her child. We were talking about the tour and how to get the man to stay at the church for stake conference and I did not contact her. As I got off the bus I started to wish that I had. Then I saw her in the Gare and I walked up to her and asked her where she got her Boubou. She told me that it is from ‘chez moi’ Her place. I asked her where that is and she said… CONGO. My favorite. So I used the Lingual that I know and she was happy to hear her native language. She took a book of mormon and we will be talking later this week.

Conference was great Saturday night. It was mostly on missionary work. Also, there was a concert after the conference session. We had a few investigators come and they loved it. Well, you’d have to love it. Soeur Smart, soeur Willson, Soeur Sheppard and Soeur Bruff did an amazing job. I recorded some of my favorite so I will send them. They played Meditation-my senior solo song- and I was in heaven to hear it again. Mom, if you want to send a copy of that music next time you get a chance; that would be great.

After conference we were at a bus stop and a young woman asked us about our church. She is super cute. She is extremely Christian but not any specific Christian and she was looking for a church that is closer to her home- like ours. Whoot. She is great.

Yesterday we were doing some passbys before meeting up with investigators for the young single adult FHE. We walked by a huge group of people trying to change a tire, with one of the Jacks that is like the one for the Jetta. The person was not home and we decided to walk passed the travelers again. As we did we saw some pretty crazy tire changing. Well, I haven’t done a lot of this myself…. I have always had a dad or a brother somewhere near, but Dad did come to young womens once and teach us how to do it.. and with the Jetta tires, I sure had seen it done a lot… so we went to help. The 2 men wanted to be real men and fix it. One was in charge of the jack the other of the the tire. Wow, lets talk about a dysfunctional French moment. I have never seen 2 people as lost as I did in that moment. The Jack man would raise the car up, then the tire man would bend the hubcap because he didn’t know how to use the key for it, so we tried to help him, he got a little bit of pride hurt by the 2 american girls telling him how to do it, but we were right and we saved the hubcap from utter destruction. Then the Jack man just decided to put the car down… We don’t know why he did this but they hadn’t got the tire off let alone the new one on… The man trying to take the lug nuts off couldn’t figure out how to do it… Then we suggested they raise the car back up and all went smoothly until the Jack man just put the car down randomly again. We suggested it go back up, by this time they were sick of our ideas but knew we were right. It was a circus but hey, we got to see real French manly men in action. Haha

Things are going well. Today we were going to the sewers of Paris tour, but we decide to go to Sacred Coeur. Tour of sewers will be another week. I am super excited to do that. Paris has the largest, oldest underground system.

Oh mom, I was talking to sister Davis, the happy little couple soeur in our district, and she told me that her son is gluten intolerant. I told her about how you have that good bread recipe and that you have a bread maker with some kind of special bread setting for it. She asked me to ask you for the recipe, the name of your machine. Also, can you send some of your recipes and in your next box will you send some of the Chibi bread? You and her would be best friends.. .She hates all things Gluten and has started to rage a war against it. She tells me horrid stories of colon cancer and such. Ah, Not fun but yes… Kinda like talking to you about gluten.

Thanks for the update on Belgium. We have many french speaking missionaries still there and they cant stop speaking french there because in cities like Charleroi, Liege, Namur ect... NO one speaks anything but French and Aarab. So... Yeah, those duch speakers.. Always causing problems. I get to go to Charleroi on the 24th for an exchange with Soeur Kohler. We are all very excited for that. I get to see everyone and go 'home.' Oh, how I love that blessed city.

Well, I have to go, but I hope that everyone is happy.

Love,

Soeur Hulet

May 9 2010

2010-05-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I have tons of videos and pictures to send you of the apartment, the louver and Paris... But I forgot my camera cord. The Louver was amazing. I loved it and could have stayed much much longer, but we knew that we had to get going. I got lost in the Spanish art section.. I learned so much in Madrid on my trip with everyone, I am excited for Josh to do it.
French is hard but it is fun to sit and understand. I'm thinking that is my favorite part.. I just love to just hear people talk and understand what they are saying. I know that sounds creepy but hey- there was a time that I never though I would be able to do that.
It was so good to talk to everyone that I got a hold of, I was sad that I didnt talk to Grandma and the Hulet Aunts, but their emails have been so sweet- I miss you all too. It was sad not to be able to talk to Paul for longer. I have lots to tell him.
The neat thing is that I have realized how happy I am. I really do love my mission and even though I miss everyone, I am happy that I am where I am.

I love you all,
Soeur Hulet

May 2, 2010

2010-05-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

Hey!
I dont even know where to start. It has been a very busy week. Here are some highlights.

Monday-
We played volleyball and then worked on a less active project all night until 10h20. We are really trying to get these people back to church.

Tuesday-

Interviews with President. We had a really nice training by the zone leaders and then each companionship got to teach President and Sister Staileh a lesson on prayer. It was a role play, but it went very well. Presdent said that he enjoyed it a lot and I could tell that he felt it went well. We are on a hunt for a new apartment. The whole shower in the kitchen, only one sink and living over a butchers shop thing isnt that great. I know that Jake and Seth are now thinking that I have it good, but heck.. It is time for a move. So after a quick look for an apartment we had a RDV with an amazing investigator. She said that she would be baptized but she is very active in her church, helping with music and the children's choir. We challenged her to pray for help and we have been praying too. She is great.

Wednesday-
We had a meeting with the RS president about the less actives that we are working with. She is so sweet and she helped us with our French a bit. It was nice.

Thursday
We met with a member in the morning who is super cool. Thgen we had a few other really great RDVs. It was a members one year mark from being home so she worked with us all day. It was good to talk to her about the things she learned on her mission and it was fun to learn from her.

Friday was a miracle day
Hortonce is from Cameroon and she has been living here for about 10 years. She met the sisters in December and she was interested but then her baby was given only a slight chance of living from a whole list of medical problems. The members have been great with her and have been there to support her and give blessings to her and the baby. The baby just took her first steps and is almost completly out of the woods. Hortonce has wanted to be baptized but she was just too busy with her daughters problems. The other day we were able to set a date for her. Her friend was over too and she said that she has seen all of the blessings because of the gospel in Hortonce's life and now she wants to be baptized. We will start teaching her next week.
We were asked to all fast for a temple here in France. That would been so good for EVERYONE. I would love it. We have been asked to keep that in our prayers for the whold month. Oh, that would be so good. That right there is the real goal, not baptism so It would be so nice if it was so close.
Well, I love it here. I have had a lot of fun. I hope that things are going well.

April 26, 2010

2010-04-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

Funny thing..My shoes. They are.. well, there is no tread left on my black shoes. Yesterday I fell down the stairs going to the RER. It was a sunday afternoon, so there weren't a lot of people, but still... Yeah.
Mission shoes are the most abused things on earth.

Things are going well with all of our baptismal dates and our investigators. Our numbers were pretty low last week with Zone conference and vacation for all the schools, but things are steady so that is all that we can ask for.
Zone conference was so great. Elder Txchara from the 70 came. He spoke on how to be more effective missionaries. Also, President changed the standards of excellence. They were REALLY low and our old ones were high so now... They are all high. I love high goals. I got to use my Portuguese. Also, I got to use my Lingual yesterday at church. I really wanted to learn it well enough to do a full contact, but I can just say hi, how are you... The joys of Brussels.
Weird thing! Yesterday we were walking down this street and a girl asked us how to get to the church. She looked a little familiar, but I didn't know why. Then she told us that her sister has served in the BBN. It was a sister that I have never met, but she was soeur Orton's companion and Soeur Santos loved her. I felt like I knew her just because of how much everyone talked about her. She called her sister and I got to meet her. It was so fun. Wow, that was cool. Mom- she was the sister that made that video for me with Jen in Brussels.
The work isnt slower, just different. It has taken some getting used to, but I love the ward and the DMPs are so great. We had a blast last night at an FHE with one DMP's family and some recent converts.
Well, I have to get to go. We are playing volleyball as a zone. Yep, Week 2 without the Effiel. haha.
Love you,
Soeur Hulet

Paris in the spring time

2010-04-12T03:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

We have had a lot of neat things happen this week! Marie Clair is doing so well. She came to a baptism on Friday and was very excited. She told everyone that she will be baptized. She is so great. Marie is doing well too. She came to the baptism and loved it. It was the first one she'd been to, even though she has been meeting with the sisters for almost a year. Magalie is also doing very well. She has finally KICKED HIM OUT. Whoot. We are all very happy, esspecially her.

I had my exchange in Paris. Soeur Lee is amazing and we were good friends in the MTC. She is from Vegas and is just a lot of fun. We got to Paris and went right to work. We had 2 RDVs set up at the church, a recent convert and a really fun congolais girl. We set a baptismal date with the investigator and it was way cool to see how happy she was. The apartment is small. The shower is in the kitchen and that is kinda strange. But the apartment is still very nice and clean. We went running along the Sein river. Wow, so Parisian!

I came back to Brussels and back to a lot of fun work. We had 3 baptisms in the other ward and it was so cool. I know 2 of the 3 very well and have become their friends at FHE. They are both super people who are really ready. So fun. One of them is actually the son of a family in Charleroi that I know very well. It was fun to see everyone.

On Saturday we got to check our email and get transfer news. That is a very different rule from the old mission; but kinda makes sense. I was shocked that I was going back to that city that I served in on my exchange. CRAZY. I am excited though.

We met up with Rachel at the Louise church and had a lesson there. We then practiced our musical number for church and then we ate Foufou with the zone leaders and a lot of their investigators and recent converets. It was a good night.

On the way home that night we met Merida. Now we meet a lot of people everyday but she just stood out. She is from Ecquador, lives right by us and is very believing. She belongs to a south american church that believes that Christ appeared to the people in Central America, after his resurection... hummm;....interesting- me too! We shared the BOM with her and told her that we would bring her one in Spanish. She is so excited and Soeur clark has been reading Spanish pamplets to learn the words to she can teach her in Spanish. She really is cool. I am sad that I wont get to know her better.

Church was nice. It was good to talk to the members and say goodbye to them. Rachel, Soeur Clark and I sang in church. It was fun to do it.

We were invited over to dinner with the Barackets family. He is from Congo, she is from Rawanda. They are the NICEST people ever: They lived in Utah for 5 years and so we had a lot to talk about. It is crazy that they lived in Provo when I did. Wow. She taught me to make FouFou. Yep, I am the FouFou campion and he helped me to perfect my foufou respecting skills. She gave me her recipe for the pork ribs and cabbage she made. She said that you can make it anywhere, even Utah. I think Uncle Kerry would really like it. I might send it to him. wow... I LOVE AFRICANS.

We were supposed to go to a concentration camp today, but with packing and shopping and all we just didnt have time. I had to buy a new suitcase. Lets just say that my old one lived through Russia, Ukraine, Brussels and Charleroi... Really, anything that makes it out of Charleroi without acid rain damage should be respected... so I am sad to say that it is going to the Monde des esprits (spirit world)

Gota run,

Soeur Hulet

March 8 2010

2010-03-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

Well, another week! I just cant believe how the days fly by. I am loving the nicer weather. It is still cold but we do have a lot of sun so that makes it nice.

This last week was so fun. Sr Burgoyne and I got to meet up with the other sisters in Brussels and we went to dinner at Rachel s house. we got to eat African food with our hands and she gave us both African headdress things. I forgot their name but I defiantly don't look as cool as she does when I wear it.

On Wednesday I went to pick up Sr Clark from the gare. We got her a little settled in and then we went to see Marie Clair. We taught about prophets and we used some fun visual aids. things like that help me learn and Marie Clair seemed to understand that better than she did before. Sr Clark and I teach very well together. A lot of that comes from the fact that we served together before and that she was trained by Sr Bagwell. It has been fun to see how much she has grown in just 6 weeks. We are having a lot of fun contacting everyone we meet. She likes to keep track of the countries that ppl are from and I didn't realize how diverse everyone is until last night when we were going through her list. Crazy! I finally found the explanation point but I haven't found the apostrophe yet.... but I did find spell check and that makes it nice.

We decided to really try hard to do everything that the area presidency has asked, including setting dates of baptism on the first RDV. This is scary. I get so nervous, but we want to be obedient so we do it. We set another baptismal date with a lady named Julie who is AMAZING and then a lady named Patricia V said that she needed to pray about it and then she will. We are working hard and it is so fun.

Are Jake and Dusty study partners? That is funny. Tell them all hi.

Things are great! happy birthday to Graham, Jenni and Jamie. What a good day!

Love you all,

Sr Hulet

Picture of Jordan

2010-02-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

New email address, new mission, same old me

2010-02-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

Breaking news! My new email address is: jordan.hulet@myldsmail.net

Things are pretty crazy around here! With a baptism next week and zone conference and exit interviews… and the sisters sleep over at the mission home tonight… We are busy! We have met a lot of wonderful people this last week. Do you remember me telling you about Constance? She is the one that I stopped on the street doing a consecrated hour with Sr Grandfils. Anyway. She is progressing and is so cool. She had to work today but is so excited to come with us to church next week.

Nadege was so happy today at church. She is so ready to be baptized. She and I sat together at church and she just read her Book of Mormon and prayed and was so attentive. I love her. She had her interview and Elder Caywood said that he was shocked by how strong her testimony is and how strong she is in the gospel. Please take a little time and pray for her this week. The week of baptisms are always rough and a lot of opposition tends to happen.

This last week I got to go on an exchange with Soeur England (she’s the one who emailed you for me). We had so much fun and we had so many miracles. Rachel came on a few pass bys and we got to teach the restoration to a girl from Rwanda. She lost almost everything in the genocide. No movie or documentary can even begin to help you understand what she went through. She watched her father slaughtered. She has siblings that they haven’t heard from since childhood and it is just her mom, her and her brother. Her mother was attacked back then and is partially paralyzed on one side. When I asked them who God is to them…. They bore the most beautiful testimony of Him. “He is EVERYTHING to me. I have so much because of Him.” I was shocked. They are elect and I am excited for the Louise sisters to continue to work with them.

All of the sisters are going to Bruges tomorrow to see what there is to see and be together one last time with Sister Brubaker. We are going over to the President’s house right now.

I am starting to come to terms with it all but I am not sure how to take it. I just hope that I can find the good from this and be positive about it. I love the Brubakers, but I can honestly say that I have tried to do everything they have asked of me my whole mission…and since he has asked me to learn to love this new president, I will.

We have Zone conference this week. We will meet our new president and have short interviews. Crazy stuff

I have to run!

Love you

Sr Hulet

Final P-Day in Belgium Mission

2010-02-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 21, 2010

French Sisters Share A Precious Moment in Time

All the sisters wanted to spend their last P-Day in the Belgium BrusselsNetherlands Mission by going to Brugge, Belgium. Brugge is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and this would be their last opportunity! They invited me to go with them. Soeur Bagwell put a bug in my ear when we were inCharleroi for interviews. She asked me if it was possible for the soeurs to spend the night at the mission home. All trains go to Brugge through Brussels, so it just made sense to provide a place for them to spend the night! Right!

Tonight was such a special time for us all to be together. I love my sister missionaries!

my new address

2010-02-14T23:49:00.000-08:00

As of March 1st my address:

Soeur Jordan Hulet
Paris France Mission
23 Rue du 11 Novembre
78110 Le Vésinet
France

Until then please use 87 Brand Whitlock

February 14, 2010

2010-02-14T23:10:00.000-08:00

Hi family,
Well, I sure have a lot of news! It is strange to be writing this early…. Well, On Wednesday I was having a terrible, no good, very bad day. We took the wrong tram, I lost a filling, I swallowed that filling and I lost my companion. One of our baptismal dates decided to not see us anymore and then our phone rang. It was Elder Caywood and I knew that he would say something very positive so that I could be in better mood…. However…
On February 3, 2009 I was called to serve in the Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission. I was prepared at the MTC to preach the gospel in the French Language. On February 10, 2010 I received a new call. I will now be serving in the Paris France Mission under a new mission president.
The ironic thing is that on Monday I was thinking about Jake and how he had a hard time switching mission president half way through his mission and how grateful I was because I have become very attached to the Brubakers and I knew that I was so blessed to not have to switch because they are brand new.
I am sure that this change will be for the best. I know that the first presidency decided this and that there are a lot of really wonderful things that will come of it. But right now I am just a little triste, not sad, really triste. I feel justified because no matter how sad I am, soeur Brubaker is still more sad. She hasn’t stopped crying and that makes us all cry and then all the sisters in Belgium and the North of France start crying. It makes for some interesting phone calls.
They are dividing our mission and all of the French missionaries will be serving under Paris and the Dutch will stay the same. This is also sad because we have made a lot of friends on the Dutch side and now we wont get to see them on legality trips. Also, the Temple is on the Dutch side and I wont ever get to go. It will be a tough transition and things will be crazy for a while.
But the work goes on and great things are happening all over, so it is easy to still stay focused on the work and get things done.
On other news, today is the legality trip to France for all of the 2nd transfer missionaries (except for Sr Burgoyne) and so I get to spend the day with Sr Shannon and have a lot of fun here in Brussles. That is why I am on here so early- Sr Bagwell stayed at our place last night and she needed to go down to France to solidify her legality before the change. Since we were at the office and in pross we decided to just stay and check our mail.
Things with Nadege’s baptism are going well. She is so excited and she just is a little ball of fun.
Also, I… for the first time… spoke up (in French) in Relief society. The Sisters got into a pretty heated debate about the fall of Adam and then false doctrine started getting flung around so after about 15 minutes of fighting and about 100 looks of terror from Sr Burgoyne. I finally raised my hand and with all the courage I could muster I told everyone to go to 2 Nephi 2. I think the false doctrine experts in the ward weren’t too happy at first but at least we were able to move on. It’s a lot harder to speak French to members than it is to investigators.

Little Pictures

2010-02-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

January 31 2010

2010-01-31T09:19:00.000-08:00

Hi Family;
Well it has been a very busy week. I got to go to a special meeting for only missionary leaders. I got to represent the French sisters. My comp for the day was a sister from the dutch side. We set our goals for the year for the whole mission. I got to meet a lot of really neat people and it was a meeting and a day that I learned so much. I loved every minute of it. Wow. It was just amazing.
I got to see how nurses and how police officers work in Belgium this week. That was fun to see both of my parents jobs in action. A recent convert- nini- her husband had pectoral angina and so we went to see him in the hospital yesterday. It was fun to chat with him and he is starting to soften up to the gospel. Then… my wallet got stolen on Friday night so I had to go spend most of my pday in the police station. The officers were nice and between their English and my French; I got it worked out. I only had 20 Euros in cash so now the only problem is that I am cardless. I do have 100 dollars and some 2 dollar bills that I am going to exchange today so I can have money for the next 3 weeks. Thanks dad and Paul
We have a lot of wonderful new people to teach and so many great people progressing. Teaching in both languages is pretty crazy but starting to get better. I had a cold and that turned off my ability to speak in one language at a time. I speak a lot of Frang-anglais as it is but I would start a thought in ,y head in English and finish it in French. I had a rough weekend teaching in one language. Today was writing the word Personal Items on a form of things that were stolen and wrote Personal Idems.. Idems means diddo in French. It has continued to be rough between the languages but I feel all better for sure.
I have to run. We are going to get dinner with the other Brussles sisters and then we are going to FHE with some of our investigators. Oh- if you have written me in the last 2 months and I haven’t written you back know that I caught up with all my letters last week and was going to buy stamps but that is not an option without a card so you will get in 3 weeks.
No carbondixoide checker… not even a smoke alarm but the apartment just needs a washer and I will be so happy
Soeur Hulet

Mission Pic

2010-01-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

January 17, 2010

2010-01-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

Hey,
Wow. I have a lot of news. To start off with…. I had an exchange in Brussels last week. It was a lot of fun and I met some neat members. I found out that we Charleroi soeurs have been keeping up in our numbers with the Brussels soeurs. I was shocked…. Zone conference was amazing. President is incredible. I love the Brubakers so much. At Zone conference I had to stand up for my birthday and people had to say nice things about me. People pretty much just talked about how much I love this city. I do. I came home to my dear, sweet Charleroi. We had a busy week. We have date de bapteme with Agnes. WHOOOT. She is so prepared and I am so happy for her.
MARIE CAME HOME. She is back and I am so happy. You have no idea.
On Saturday Elder Rackatone hurt his leg so he couldn’t play the piano. I went in to practice the hymns for a bit. The Bishop came in and made a comment about how I had reclaimed my place at the piano. I didn’t get to run through all the hymns but I felt confident about the sacrament one and that is the most important anyway. Well… We get to the last song and it is God Be With You Till We Meet Again. And that…. Is when I knew.
Last night I was on the phone with an Angry French District Leader and we were bantering back and forth while I gave him numbers. Then… The other line beeped and I saw presidents name appear. I went to hand Sr Bagwell the phone… Because EVERYONE knew that she was going to leave Charleroi… But I hung up on Perez and answered. President and sister Brubaker were on speaker phone and he said "Is this sister Hulet? I have some exciting news for you." This is when nausea hit. "The Lord has called you to be senior companion to Sister Bergoyn in Strombeck " This is when I started to cry. After about 15 seconds of science "Are you there? Are you ok" The only words that I could say without it sounding like I was crying was "Yep" and "Oui" Wow…. I am leaving…
Sr Bagwell, sr Clark, Elder Perez, Elder Bodane, Elder Stowers and Elder Racatone all get to stay… Now they are opening up another set up Elders in Ch2… And me and Elder Rutman are getting kicked out…
I am excited to go to the miracle city of Brussels. I will have metros, trams and an amazing ward. I get to work with all of Sr Ortons miracles. It is crazy. Things are changing. Elder Rutman will be District Leader in France To Elder Rogers, he cant get rid of people from cedar. But we have been together practically since the MTC so that will be weird that I wont even see him at zone conference.
Well. I have nothing else to really tell you. Send everything to the Mission office because I will be there a lot for district meeting and such… If you have sent stuff to Charleroi, I will be back down here for Pday in 2 weeks for Sr Bagwells birthday.
Well, I love you all.
Soeur Hulet

January 10, 2010

2010-01-11T03:34:00.000-08:00

Wow. I cant believe it has been another week. The end of the transfers always seem to go the fastest. We are doing a lot of work, but our numbers get lower with the temperature. We saw a lot of miracles happen, even with the snow.
We had a really great RDV with Agnes and Noami. Kevin Wery taught with us and it was incredible. He is such a good teacher. He really helped Noami because he is around her same age and she trusts him a lot. He will be an amazing missionary next year.
We had an exchange with Liege. It was so fun. Sr Clark, Sr Powers and I were here in Charleroi and Sr Bagwell and Sr. Shannon were up there. It was fun to work with Sr Powers. She is a great missionary. We spent most of the day working in Thuine, an AMAZING little city outside of Charleroi. We found a new amie named Jill! She is great. We are excited to meet with her this week. After our Hour in Thuine and a RDV with Anne we went back to Charleroi on Bus. We change buses at the hospital. We got to the hospital after dark and I was so thirsty and Sr Clark was scared and Sr Powers was hungry so we went into the hospital to get something at the little store they have at the front. We all went in and got drinks and a pan aux chocolate and were getting ready to leave when I looked over and saw an inactive member that we have been trying to see but she hasn’t been answering her phone. I ran up to her and she started to cry because no one has come to visit her and she has been in the hospital for 3 weeks. We went up to her room and talked to her, then we sang with her. I talked to her roommate and she said that he son hasn’t come to seen her since SEPTEMBER. I told her we would stop by. The next day we took Paulette a Book of Mormon and her roommate one too. They were really happy.
We found some really neat new amies from the area book. One was taught forEVER but she is very Catholic. The record made it sound like she was mean but we called her and she was so excited to see us. She is a little old lady that is alone and she needed us to come over. She made it clear that she is not willing to change…. But then she talked about how she hates the Pope and how the Catholic Church is corrupted… Who knows but she is very kind. The other is an African lady who just finished nursing school last year. She has a little boy and a little girl and is going to have TRIPLETS. She is great. We didn’t get to talk with her husband because he was at work but her sister came over. We have a member who is great and would work really well with her so we are going to go over there on Saturday with her. It will be perfect.
We had ward mission leader meeting (do we have a name for that in English?) with Charleroi 2 on Friday. The Vanboytons made us Tacos. They were SOOO good. It was a fun night and the meeting went well. I love that family. Especially Vanessa. She is McCalls twin.
Last night we were doing a consecrated hour in Charleroi 2 area. We had a lot of success and had taught 4 lessons that hour. People were really willing to talk to us even though it was negative 7. We knocked on a door and a man opened it and said "come" Sr Clark thought we had a huge miracle on our hands but she didn’t realize that it is the 2nd counselor in the bishopric of that ward. We all had a laugh about that. It was fun and they gave us hot chocolate and we shared a scripture. It was really good for them to see us working in their area and having lots of success. They were surprised by how many of their neighbors were willing to talk to us. I think everyone would be surprised at what their neighbors would be willing to talk to them about… anyway. We left their house warm and ready to knock some more doors. The NEXT door was a lady who lost her husband and her daughter, has been searching for God in her life and is unhappy with her church…. We are going over this week to teach the Plan of salvation. SO GOOD. And we have a member family next door who can teach with us and support her. Such a miracle.
Love you all,
Soeur Hulet

I am having a white christmas.....

2009-12-21T06:31:00.000-08:00

I have been singing the soundtrack to white christmas for the last week. The sisters song is esspecially fun to change the words to... It fits well in our situation. Please... Watch that movie for me.
I am hoping that Patrick got the carpenters christmas... This is the first christmas without it and I am having withdrawls.
This is SR Bagwell and Elder Rutmans first real winter... I dont think it snows much in the south of France either... So I am the only charleroi missionary who knows how to through a snowball... Well I guess after this last weekend they have picked up the skill but I think it it so weird that they have never built a snowman... I think we should put colored water in spray bottles and spray the snow... Jake and I used to think that was the coolest thing in the world when we were little.
Wow. It sounds like everyone has had a lot of fun this last week. I am so proud of Josh. That is so neat. I cant get the exclamations to work on this computer.. Or any of the formatting. Sorry. It may be an interesting email.
We had the ward Christmas parties this weekend. It was stressful because Charleroi 2 had to try and outdo Charleroi 1 and so they did it on the same day. We started at 3h at CH1. We had 3 amies come and it was good for them to feel the love of the ward family. The amies are Claudias daughters and Chris, a boyfriend of one of the girls. They really liked it. One of the members pulled them aside and really gave it to them. He can say things that we just cant do…. I think it is using the TU form that really gets to them… And we aren’t allowed to. But They are coming along. We have a family night planned with that members family and he will pull out the boys and we will stay with his wife and the girls and that will really help… I love that ward. We sang The first Noel with Elder Rackaton on the piano. It was nice. We had homemade bread babies. I will try and explain that on the phone. But they were the best things EVER. There was a baptisim after. The elders have been working with a less active member with a 9 year old. He is great and really knows his stuff. I really like having Elder Rackaton around because I get to lead the music more and that is a lot less stress… But don’t worry mom. My calling in RS is still the pianist so I get to play a lot.
The CH2 party was… Extravagant. They hired a papa noel…. We sang there too. They gave us CDs. Yeah. Sometimes I wonder where they get all this stuff. They bought their bread babies… Though they were good and the size of my head but they weren’t amazing. There are members in that ward that I just love… There is Guy and his wife Rose. He is so kind and always says very nice things to us. He speaks English so I love to talk to him. Haha The DMP and his family is so amazing… I think it is mostly their party committee that gets crazy.
Sunday morning came and it was a whiteout. We couldn’t see our hands infront of our face. People just shouldn’t go out in that…. But there we were walking up to the church at 9 for ward council. It took us the 35 minutes to walk the one km to the church. Yeah. It was rough.. we made it there and looked at our phone. The assistants called to tell us that church was cancelled. WHAT?? We are already here. Well the Elders were too. Then We walked in and guess what…. So was everyone else. Ok, not everyone but we had 40 people come to church. We had all 3 hours. It was a huge Christmas miracle. Everyone in the ward choir came. It was amazing. They even used the good baby bread for sacrament. It was amazing. The spirit was really strong and people were so united. One less active member couldn’t drive because of the snow so she and her son walked over 2 Quartiers to get to church in the whiteout. She got there after the bread had gone around but one of the men at the table saw her walking in and they waited for her. I know that in writing that out it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it meant the world to her… and to me too. I felt bad. When the CH2 Elders called to make sure we made it home ok… we were in Sacrament. Their ward was cancelled and they did studies at home. I felt bad for them because it was the Sunday before Christmas….
It was a hard week to teach.. A lot of people just don’t want to stand at the door in below freezing weather… But we are trying to be creative. The other day we pulled out our hymn books and walked up to a door. When the man came we just started singing silent night. He listened and talked to us. We are going back over to visit with him and his family this week. Whoot. So cool
Please call me at TEN AM your time. Sr Bagwell is from LA and her fam is calling at TEN AM in Cali. I have 30 min.
The Stake DMP came to CH1 yesterday. He is very nice and I have become very close with his family. He was very concerned about us being busy for Christmas. I guess he had a bad experience on his mission with people not inviting the missionaries over… He made sure we have lots of members taking care of us.
Love you all,
Soeur Hulet

December 6, 2009

2009-12-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

GUESS WHAT…. I am staying in Charleroi! Team Bagwell Hulet will continue on. There are a ton of changes, but I am so happy to be here for a few more weeks. The last Sunday of the transfer is when people get calls about training and opening/closing cities. After that people start calling around and start piecing together who will be where. We got a call at 10h05 from Elder Stowers screaming <> and then he hung up. We figured he would train. That will be fun to have someone newer than me in the district. Last night we thought we would stay together; but we kinda thought that someone would come up with us. This morning Elder Perez called and told us that we are staying together. One of the Elders in our district is going up to the office and one is going to Lille another is going to be our new Zone leader. It is sad to have changes, but it is all for the best. It has been an amazing transfer.
Plans for my birthday kinda fell through with so many people having to pack today. Soeur Bagwell and I went to Carrfour and I got a new SD card for my birthday. We are doing something later, but it is nice to have a day to prepare and rest… Last week was insane. We had exchanges. I stayed in Charleroi and Soeur Gagon came to work with me. Then we had Zone conference. Yesterday we had Stake conference in Brussels… So we feel like we did more traveling than missionary work, but it will be nice to get back to normal this week.
The Elders returned everything last night. Thank you all so much for the GPS. I love it!!! I love the body wash that the Gen, Kerry and Miss sent. I used it this morning. I loved it all. Thank you. Merci Beaucoup.
Conference was good. Elder Caussè spoke. He is in the 70. He talked about how our flame needs to be in the Gospel and not the church. He talked about how sometimes people are active in all the different aspects of church but don’t have their testimony rooted in the gospel… that is why people can get offended and stop coming to church. That happens a lot here. I have never see anything like it. It gets crazy because bishopric members get offended by a Sunday school teacher and they stop coming. Hopefully people listened to the talk. I sure did… but that is because he is from Paris and speaks so fast that I had to hold onto the edge of my chair to understand. I decided to listen in French and not get a translator set. I need all the practice I can get.
This morning, during companion study our phone range and is was Sr Brubaker. We thought that was odd so we answered it and she asked to talk to me. Then she and president started singing the real French birthday song to me. That made my day. I love them and I am so glad that they are my mission president. They are so busy, with missionaries in 3 countries and 4 languages but they still call to say happy birthday to each one of us. I really look up to them both.
Tell Sophia Hi for me. I cant believe that her little missionary is home. That is great. I try not to think about how much time has gone by.. Jake is right. This does go too fast.
Well, there is a lot more to say, but I don’t really know where to start… so I guess I will end and try and send pictures. I am sorry that my emails have been a little crazy over the last few weeks. We are so busy I just don’t know where to start… and if you have written me a letter.. I promise that I have written you back… I just keep forgetting to buy stamps. I really need to just buy 50 E in stamps and just not worry about it. Sorry it has been so long.
I was hoping to hear from Jill... I guess she has forgotten about me. I hope she is ok.
Oh! Anne is great. She is really progressing in the gospel. Dominique is quitting smoking so he can be baptized and the Elders have just fixed 2 baptismal dates. This city is on fire. I love it.
Love you all,
Soeur Hulet

November 30, 2009

2009-11-30T08:49:00.000-08:00

Dad,

I can see how it can be hard for people to introduce their friends to be taught. Especially in Utah. But sometimes we take opportunities for granted. Things like firesides, special days at church and ward dinners are amazing ways to invite people. I know that it can sometimes be awkward to invite people to just come over and have a lesson but inviting non members and missionaries over for a dinner and then having the missionaries share a thought on the restoration, is a great way for non members to get a good idea of who Joseph Smith is. That may be a problem with a lot of my non member friends. I don’t think that they get the restoration. Once they have that first resto lesson it gets a lot easier for the non member to start talking with the missionaries. But… Warning the missionaries that you are going to have a non member there would probably be the best idea. :D

We are so busy that I don’t even know what to do. We have every moment of our day scheduled out. We are both trying really hard to be worthy of these blessings. Claudia’s brother is amazing. He told us that he had a dream where an angel came and knew all of his sins and told him that he needed to change his life and so now we are teaching him. He is so elect. I don’t even know how to begin.

About 7 weeks ago Sr Bagwell and I had a consecrated hour on a street and I felt really good about going to a door. When I got there they had a Basque welcome sign on the door. I was so excited. They weren’t home. The other day we had an hour by there again and we walked down their street. Sr Bagwell contacted the lady in front of the house. She listened and took a plan of salvation brochure and told us to come back. She was born near Grannys cousins.

I have to run. People are getting uppity

Jetaime
Sr Hulet

November 30, 2009

2009-11-30T08:37:00.000-08:00

WE FOUND A BASQUE LADY who wants us to come back. She is so cool. She and her husband have 2 little kids. Such a cute family.
What a week. I don’t even know where to start. Last Monday we had 2 of our amies, Agnes and Naomi come to FHE. They are the ones who have been <> by their neighbors. We are making a lot of progress with them and things are great.

Last night we had a HUGE miracle. Claudia, our recent convert, never stops amazing me. Elder Perez invited her to district meeting a few weeks ago to talk about how having members support her helped her. She told Elder Beniditti, Perez and I that she wanted her mom and brother to understand why she joined the church. She asked me for a plan or salvation brochure and a testimony of Joseph Smith and she took them to them. Last night she invited him to our RDV and we talked about the plan of salvation. He is just as elect as his sister. He has decided to move here for the next month so we will be teaching him. He is amazing.

Today we had district bonding. Everyone came here and we went to a science museum that Paul would LOVE. It was a lot of fun. We built water damns, learned about genetics and what kinds of clothing you can make out of corn. We had a blast. Then we went and got pasta and everyone went back home. Luckly we are home so we wont have to waste our day on a train.

Thank you so much for the packages. I got them last Tuesday. I opened Granny’s before I knew it was a present and I LOVE the scarves and gloves. I opened the Thanksgiving package next. The Elders stole my birthday presents and took them to their house. I am not allowed to open them until my birthday and they didn’t think they could trust me. They are planning a <> birthday party for me but Sr Bagwell let it slip. I guess we are going to mons for an all you can eat Chinese buffet on the base. Going to little America for my birthday. Not a bad idea.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. Sr Bagwell and I set up the turkey and table cloth and then we ate the dinners mom sent. The day was so busy that we didn’t have time to get together. We woke up early the next day to decorate the apartment for Christmas with the GREAT Christmas tree dad sent. I love it. We plan with it on every night. Also, other sisters left a few decorations that we set up. We wore Santa hats and listened to Christmas music. It was fun. On Saturday we had our thanksgiving dinner at Patrick’s house. We did turkey breast in Elder Rudman’s crockpot. Elder Perez made French mashed potatoes. The member on the base sent us up a can of cranberry sauce and 2 boxes of stuffing. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to get together for a few minutes and eat with all 7 of us. I will send pictures soon.
I have more than one more week. I think I will just chain myself to Charleroi. I don’t think I am leaving. Everyone is guessing that I will go to France. But usually the opposite happens of what everyone thinks. I wont be shocked if I stay. I know that I am very happy and comfortable here, but I can still pray to be not have to leave. This place has really turned into my second home.

Love you all
Soeur Hulet

November 2. 2009

2009-11-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

Ok. Sorry about last week. It was a crazy day and I am lucky I got an email in at all. This week is a lot less stressful in some ways.
So the package was great. We are reaping the benefits for sure. We have crock pot every day and it really makes the cold easier to handle. The soup is so good and the other day I just put in some chicken, broth, carrots and potatoes and we had a casserole of sorts. It was good. We are going to have a district fast next week so I will make the enchiladas for that. I am SO SO SO ex cited. I am going to make ranch bowtie casserole this week. It has been nice to have real food.
We have had a lot of members ask to feed us lately. That is bad because just the French are known for being thin the bleg are known for being not so thin. They are the creators of the perfect french-fries and every meal has potatoes and beef. A little less healthy but very very good.
I am so proud of Josh. That is great. I am sure he is doing well. I am glad that Jake is having fun with Whitney and Danelle. They are fun girls. He is only taking 2 classes?
So, a fun story! Yesterday we were contacting and a lady was going to close the door on us but she said something about being from Spain. I asked her where she was from. She is from the North. Je suis Basque! So she kept the door open. Then as we talked she told us how her husband is sick, he son is depressed and how she is having a hard time. It is crazy how just making a small connection with someone really helps them trust us more. We are going back over this week. She is so great.
Tell soeur Orton that she is missed. The members are sad but they are happy to talk with her on facebook. I talked to her old companion last night and they are doing ok. Liege is doing well.
It was a hard week but now it is a new transfer, a new planner, new msf money and I and sure that more miracles are on their way.
Je vous aime.

President Brubaker Letter

2009-11-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas is fast approaching. In order for your missionary to receive a christmas package in time for Christmas, please mail package by mid November to the mission office. The address of the mission office is:

L'´EGLISE DE JESUS CHRIST DES SAINTS DES DERNIERS JOURS
Soeur Jordan Hulet
87 Boulevard Brand Whitlock
1200 Bruxelles
Belgium

Here a few ideas for gifts for your missionaries.

smart wool socks (or socks with wool blend
scarves
gloves-not ski gloves
hand warmers

We want our missionaries to stay warm, and these things will help.

Have a great week!!!

President Brubaker

October 25, 2009

2009-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

This will be a short one. I think u got Elder Petersons email. I dont know what it said but we found time to write.
My exchange with soeur orton was so great. I learned a TON. She is amazing and I hope I can become like her one day.
I get to stay in my CHARLEROI! I dont think you can understand how happy I am. I asked president to leave me here... he said no but that he was glad that I like it.
Claudia and Jimmy are the newest members of the ward. I love them. They are great and the bapteme was great. Elder Peterson Baptized I gave the talk on the bapteme and the fam wery did the rest. Oh, I played the violin and the missionaries sang.
Everyone thinks I am latin. I dont know why but at least once a day some one asks me or they speak spanish to me...
My new cousin is sure cute! that is great that everyone is happy and healthy.
Is anyone saving my emails? I hope so I want to read through them one day.
soeur orton is not happy to go home but shes ok... I cried more than she did. I miss her already.

October 18, 2009

2009-10-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well. Another Pday on a French Computer.. I am stqrting to get used to it now. I am in Brussles. We were in Brough today and now the sisters are meeting at 5h30 for exchanges. I will be with.... SOEUR ORTON! I couldnt believe it! So I will be in Liege for a few days.

I got a great coat. I am warm. I need scarves but I will hold out for now.

A lot happened this week, but I dont know where to start. We FINALLY got our apartment painted. It is now Utah Jazz blue. I love it!

The LEpine baptem is this week! Their interviews went well. A lot of our week was taken up by things like Painting and interviews but it is all stuff that we had to do. This week is taken over by exchanges and Zone conference.

I will be REALLY sad if I leave Charleroi. I love that city. I can now communicate with the members and so I dont want to leave yet.... I also really like Soeur Bagwell so I just hope I can stay put and not have a new companion for a bit.

Sorry this letter isnt great. It has been a long couple of days. I am loving every minute.

Love you all
Soeur Hulet

October 11, 2009

2009-10-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

So… working in two wards is over, kinda. We had interviews and President said that we are assigned to Ch1 and not Ch2, but if we have time we can work with them… he said at the most we should be going up there 1 time a month. It is very different than back home. The Elders and Sisters in Utah, and in a lot of the states have cars so they can be in multiple wards and stakes, but I have an area the size of Iron County and only have a very touchy bus system and it would take about 8 hours to walk to the other ward from our house. That is a lot of time wasted… also, I know that they will be closing a few of the Elders equipes so I am guessing that soon we will loose the CH1 Elders and only have 4 of us in Charleroi, I hope that doesn’t happen…
Well, our DMP and bishop are amazing. Yeah, don’t worry… they totally went to visit the fam Lafinure just to see how they are doing. That is the most wonderful thing I have ever heard. Yeah, they are amazing!
The Lafinures are not doing too hot. The Bishop thinks that he is going to die soon. We have a RDV with them in a few hours so hopefully we can get talk to them. I am worried but they need to have an eternal view in their lives more than ever now… The date for bap is still set for Nov 7,
The L’epines are AMAZING. Claudia and Jimmy are set for Oct 24 and the girls just need a little more time. I love them. We talked about Tithing and fasting on Saturday. Claudia came to church with her envelope all sorts of happy. She has a lot of faith and she works to really understand the gospel. I think she knows more than me now!
We found some pretty neat people doing area book finding. We have RDVs set and they were really happy that we called. 2 of them had bap dates but for one reason or another they didn’t go through with it. We’ll see how it goes.
It is now cold here. Really cold. The rain is REALLY cold. I didn’t know I could be this cold…. And it’s only October! But the colors on the trees are really pretty and it doesn’t rain in the mornings as much.
I want to see the colts! Send pics!
Elder Avitia is shot with dark skin and black hair? Why? He’s from Texas. I wrote him today. WHY?
1. Is everything going well? Yes.
2. Did you get the package yet? Nope. If you send it to the mission home then I will get it at Zone conference or interviews because I am in the middle of nowhere and so no one comes here to bring us stuff.
3. Are you well? All Aces
4. What have you been doing? Working hard
5. Did you get a coat? GET ONE! I did not
6. How is the French? Funny story ! On Saturday we were meeting the Wery’s at the church to go to the L’Epines to teach with them and the Elders came with Patrick, a member, to teach there at the church and so everyone was talking and I asked Sœur Wery a question and we chatted for a minute and then it hit me that I speak French… Not well, but I do… That was weird. I wish I could have not spoken French yesterday in Sunday school the teacher got a little crazy… but it was funny. I am also writing Thankyou notes to ppl in French when they work with us or feed us or what not.. That helps,
7. Is the food good? Yep !Esspecially when members make it… Jake- what did you eat, other than pasta and frozen pizza ?
8. How is Suzanne? I haven’t heard from her. I sent her a letter last transfer, so I should hear from her soon. She’s training and really busy !

Did Dusty get the card I sent him ? did you get your card for your birthday ? I never heard about it. If you see Jill ask her if she got my card for her birthday… I wrote Anne a letter and sent it to the MTC, I hope she gets it.
Love you all !
Sœur Hulet

September 21, 2009

2009-09-21T03:21:00.000-07:00

Things are good here. It’s been a crazy week! I’m still in Charleroi. It’s great. The days have been warm and the evenings are getting cooler, but everyone says it’s hotter than normal. Soeur Bagwell is great! She’s from California and it’s different living with an American! Haha. I do miss Soeur Santos a lot though…
So, so weird things that happened this week… On Soeur Bagwell’s first day we were at our bus stop and a New Orleans Jazz Marching band came walking down the street. The Trumpeter was REALLY good. I thought of Jake and Josh. They would have Loved it! I thought it was neat. Yesterday, when we were porting, we knocked on a door and a older gruff looking man answered. We started talking to him and Soeur Bagwell asked him if he believed in God. He got all crazy and started shouting about how he was a communist…. I had to hold back laughing. He was making a scene and I really thought we’d just have to walk away. He said that God never helps him so there is no God, Soeur Bagwell told him that maybe God sent us to help him and that’s when he shouted something in a language closer to something Jake would understand and slammed the door… That was… unusual. Today on the way to emails a man asked us to help him with the ATM, we tried and he kept yelling at us because he didn’t know his pin. He kept telling me that I didn’t know how to use the machine so I used it and successfully took out my grocery money and then he asked me to do it again for him. I tried but he still didn’t know his code so he said something in Dutch and asked someone else. As we walked away we overhear the same conversation going on with the other person trying to help him. Weird things are happening this week.
I feel a little stressed. I don’t know the city as well as I’d like, I don’t know the language even half as well as I’d like and to top it all off we just got assigned to both wards in the city and so our work doubled, but the day still only has 24 hours in it. I don’t know how it’ll work out, but I know it will.
We can now afford food! We just found out that the grocery store across the street is the most expensive in town so now we are going to go shopping with the elders today. They say that they were spending the same amount on food that Sr Santos and I did for all 4 of them and sr. santos and I didn’t eat anything b/c everything is too expensive. We will still buy our water by our house b/c we don’t want to carry it across town.

September 14, 2009

2009-09-14T05:01:00.000-07:00

How’s life? I hope that every one is safe and happy. How’s the swine flu? I guess it’s coming back… everyone keeps talking about it and the NEW DMP’S wife made a fuss.
That’s right! We have a DMP and he’s amazing! We have a ward mission plan! We have ward missionaries being called and they have an outline from PREACH MY GOSPLE of their responsiblilites that the new DMP made. He’s a lot like dad and he gets things done, so that’s so good.
The sad news…. Soeur santos leaves in 2 days. I helped her pack last night and I just helped her send her travle plans to her family… AH… Last night Soeur Frich(the french sister in Lille) called to tell us she’s training again(she is with Soeur Curran my MTC comp) and that soeur Curran is going to Duncurk, the city that was supposed to close so that meant that one of the dunkurck sister was leaving… and had a feeling she’d come here and this morning Elder Lamoreaux called to tell me that Soeur Bagwell is coming! I am excited, but a little sad. She’s the ONLY sister that is in this mission that I don’t know at all. A little exciting!
We have 5 bap dates set, and we’re going to be extending 5 more in the next week. If all goes well- we could have 10 bap in October. We’re praying and trying to be really obedient so that happenes.
I loved the news of the stock show, Josh sounds so responsible clipping and washing all by himself. How’s school going for him? Is he loving his senior year? I sure did. I’m so glad that Jake is going to the firesides and having fun with his friends at Starbucks. It almost sounds like something I’d do. Haha I wish I could have seen some of my old co workers faces that day.
Holy cow mom! A Million people came to the reunion! Parker’s picture looks SO nice!Lyd looks so cute and so does Graham!
Hannah at curves is amazing! Hiking zions at that age! She’s amazing! I loved talking to her, tell her hi. Tell Boyd Goodwin hi for me. He’s a good kid. Did Shelly get the pic of Bryce?
Soeur Orton is going to Leige. I’m happy for her. She’s going to serve with a sister that was in the 176 ward at BYU with me and she’s training. I think she’ll train soeur Powers because they are a lot alike. She’s great . I get to see Soeur Orton a lot but now not as much because she’ll be in a little city and so will I. I will see her a few times before she goes home though. Are there any pics of me on the blog. I have no idea what’s on there, but soeur brubaker is sure cute for doing that
It’s been a hard week. We’ve found a lot of single men that are interested in hearing more. We get their addresses and numbers and tell them that the Elders will call them. They still seem interested even after that, so that’s good ! The Elders are so busy that I don’t think they’ll have time to call until after transfers on Wed. But I’m glad that people are willing to listen !
I tried to send pics; but they didn't work. sorry! I'm sad I didn't get to write individuals! I hope I'll have time next week!
Love,
Soeur Hulet

September 8, 2009

2009-09-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

We are so busy! Ah! Transferes are next week!!! I am kind of freaking out. I don’t know who will come here. The elders think I’ll train the new native french sister. I laughted at them and said that it’d be a snowy day in Brazil before that happens! I may have to chain Soeur Santos to a chair and not let her go home! Family Lafinure set a bapteme date! Whoot! All five will fair le bapteme on Oct 3. They’re so great! I love them a lot. They are so cute. We have another family, Family L’pine. They are so cool! It’s a single mom, a son and 2 daughters. All are reading the BOM on their own and reading the “assignments” We give them together at night when they have family prayer! They’re great! The mom is already in Alma 30 and she started last MONDAY! Yea! I know! They’re amazing! Last night, Jimmy asked us if he could serve a mission and when! We told him that he had to be a member first and then he had to be 19, he was excited to hear that it’s really that simple! He’s so great! One daughter is being too cool for us, but sometimes she forgets because she actually does like us and trys hard not to. Haha, she’s cute and she’ll come around- she’s just being 13.
Here’s a quick french lesson
“Il ne faut jamais dire ‘fontaine, je ne boirai pas de ton eau’ “(never say never)
“La plus belle fille du monde ne peut donner que ce qu’elle a… “ (We can’t give something we don’t have)
“On ne fait pas d’ometette sans casser de oufs…” Just translate that one,it is funny
“C’est l’hopital qui se moque de la charite.” Don’t be hypicritical
“l’enfer est pave de bonnes intentions” the path to hell is paved with good intentions
This one is for dad- comne on fait son lit on se couche” You’ve made your bed, sleep in it
We had a member named patrick come to district meeting and help us with some french, then we had some centers and we did some practicing writing in French, defining words in French and then Patrick worked with each of us a bit on pronuciation. I love my district. They’re great! We call Patrick the One… that’s because he’s one of the 3 nephites . He randomly drives by when we need a ride, he has a spare key to the Elder’s apartment when they are locked out and he’s always willing and available to go on splits or be a member present at a lesson for the Elders… He’s so great! He really tries to help me with my french. A lot of the members do. I forgot my cord for my camera or I’d send some more pictures. Marie made a sound clip for you. She’s the one who was bap 2 weeks ago. She LOVES to come out with us- even to go door to door! She’s great!

Well, if you want to send a hand held GPS with Belguim and France loaded on it… that’d be great. I’m constantly lost. A lot of the Elders in Brussels and Lille buy them over here, Elder Dousette is really worried about me and says I need one but I don’t want to spend that much money.
Well, I have to run !
Love you !
Sœur Hulet

Bus Strike

2009-09-07T01:53:00.000-07:00

Soeur Hulet is doing very well. there is a bus stike today and she can't get to the internet café today; she'll email tomorrow.

sister santos està bem. ela não pôde enviar um e-mail HOJE porque ouve uma greve de ôribus aqui. mas, não se preocupem, ela vai enviar um e-mail amanhã! bom dia!

-elder lamoreaux (thier district leader)

Pictures from France

2009-08-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

This week has been SO cool! I love my violin! I’ve gotten to play it a few times. We had Marie’s baptism on Saturday! SO COOL! She’s amazing. She got to talk to Sister Orton on the phone right before. It’s neat that she and I got to work with the same amie!
Life is so good. We are very happy and healthy. We work really hard. We have a family of 5, family LaFinure that’s really ready for the baptism! It’s looking like it’ll be Sep 12! So neat.
We had exchanges on Friday. I was with Soeur Thrasher, one of Soeur Orton’s old comps. That was fun to be with her here. We met a lot of old amies and talked to some lessactives that she worked with.
So much happened! I don’t know where to start. We met a man during our concecrated hour that had been praying about going back to church, but he wanted to find a new church. We knocked- he’s now reading the BOM. He’s great! His last name is Stein and he looks almost exactly like Kevin Stein, the professor at SUU and Brittany’s brother. That’s funny.
Danny is still being Danny. But he’s still coming to church.
We had a district lunch at the church today. We never have enough time in the day, but esspecially on Pday.
Well, I have to run. But the new blog site is belgiumbrusselsnetherlandsmission.blogspot.com
I don’t know what will be on the site, but President sent it to us today.
Anyway, I love you! Don’t worry about me…
We wake up at 6 :25 and go running. Then we come home and one of us showers and the other one eats and starts studies, then we switch(when I get my crock pot I’ll throw things in at this time.) Oh ! Elder Douesstt and Elder Peterson went to the army base the other day and they brought me back a present of Ranch Dressing mix ! I’ll be making pasta ranch casserole this week !
We have person study, Comp study, then language. We leave at 11 and then have RVDs, meetings or tracting. We come home for lunch for an hour and then we go back out for RVDs, meetings for tracting. We come home at 8pm and have dinner, then planning for an hour. Then journal time and bed. That’s just not a normal day, that’s every day that we are in Charleroi.
I really want to write letters, but we need to go buy a new shirt for zone conference and then try to find the Brazilian store.
Yeah, so people keep talking to me and I don’t understand. This letter would be longer if I didn’t have to stop ever 3 words to try and talk to ppl in a language I don’t know. Haha
Well, I hope you get the pictures ! I hope it works. I hope Jake is loving SUU !!! I’m glad he’s going to the firesides. I hope Josh likes school !
Love you !

Jor

August 24, 2009

2009-08-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

So! This week has been insane and the week to come will be too. We had to go to Lille for Legality, in just a few weeks I’ll be legal in France and then Belgium. I guess I’m legal, I can be here for 3 months without a visa. I just got back from Brussles, I got a violin. The Elders in the office searched for the cheapest one in all of Belgium… But I found out today that I’m turning into Jake… I hate spending money! We never eat out and we are now working hard to keep an even tighter budget then the MSF fund gives us. Both Soeur Santos and I have had budgeting problems in the past, so we are really working on it.
Marie is getting Baptised on Saturday. I’m playing the violin at it. She’s so great. Soeur Orton started working with her, and now I’m working with her a year later.
Family Lafiner is almost ready for baptisim. ALL FIVE of them! Parents, 2 boys, 1 girl! Such a fun family! They were found 2 months before I got here, but they had their first lesson about a week before I got here…. So I feel that I’ve actually helped. They are fun, and we get to use a lot of games and pictures to help the kids understand. The teaching aids that Mary Jane Rogers made are AMAZING! They love them and I’m making a copy for their family. – Mom, a LDS picture book from the distribution center would be amazing! If you can send one I’d appreciate it!
We invited Danny to be baptised on Sep 12. He Said no. It’s a weird situation. He knows the book of Mormon is true, LOVES to read it. Asks amazing questions and always comes to church… but he’s catholic…
The Brazilians are all doing well! My comprehention in Protugues is coming along. Soeur Gaygan was in my situation and now speaks both French and Prot. I may be on my way to learning a third lang.
I’ll write a letter about Elder Nelson, it was amazing, but I don’t have a lot of email time left.
I stayed at Soeur Orton and Soeur Kohler’s last night! They are so fun!

bonjour

2009-08-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

Great news. I have formed a great relationship with the mission dr! I could have athsma, but I dont think I do. I had a really bad allergic reaction to a cat named Felix... so that got me all sorts of sick and then last night with the dr called he got mad at me for not telling my mission president's wife sooner... I didn't think it was a big deal.

I'm so happy! It's great here! I'll try to figure out how to hook up my camera in a minute so you can see pictures. I'm serving with Soeur Santos from Brazil. She's so great! She learned French and English in her first year here, I can never complain again!She's going home in one transfer, as are all of the other sisters that have ever served in Charlerio except for Soeur Orton, so I really need to learn the city well now b/c no matter who they send here next transfer, they won't know what's going on--- I know you are all very frightened for the wellfare of this city now!!! I sure am!
On day one President and sister brubaker picked us up and we went to the office. We had an orientation and then we went to the mission home and took a nap. I fell RIGHT asleep! I woke up to a wonderful surprise of Sister Orton jumping on me and saying Gutten Morgen! hahah, just like Austria! Well, we all chatted for a minute then we went contacting in the Grand plaza in Brussles. Soeur Kohler and I contacted a crazy man that knows Obama very well and they hang out on the weekends... well, after that we talked to a nice old man and then we went to dinner at a greek place. The same place Chase Leavitt and I went to when we were in Brussles. It was fun. Then we went back to the house and opened our first call letter! The next day we got ready and went to the trainstation. It was fun to meet the other missionaries.
I met soeur Santos and the Elders and then we got on the train. One of the Elders said "Welcome to Charleroi, I sure hope you play the piano, becuase you're the new ward pianist..." Soeur Santos said "You'll learn how to do all the missionary work here b/c the members leave it all up to us!" So, that's what I'm doing. President wants me to find a violin ASAP.. we'll look today and then ask soeur orton to look in Brussles, find the best deal and I'll let you know how much it'd cost.
The city used to be a very industrial city with lots of coal factories but... now the factories are closed and everyone is on wellfare, so door to door contacting is very effective b/c everyone is always home! Yeah...
It's a fun little place and the members (all 50 active ones) are very nice. We do have a small problem... we don't have a DMP... I would tell you what that is, but I don't remember the word in English... um- dad is the DMP of our ward back home. Yeah, we honestly have members who don't pay their tithing so they don't have to serve. Can someone ask Aunt Janet and Uncle Ken what they did to light a fire in the members in Austria... really, does anyone have an idea. I really don't know what to do.
WHIT GOT MARRIED??? TO WHOM? I already feel so out of the loop. Wow! Tell the holts hi for me! How's dad's hand? How's the well. I am so proud of Jake, tell him that BYU is way hard and he should be so proud! I'm glad he will be home soon to help Dad and Josh, they are working too hard! How's Mac? How's the farm? Pics of the farm would be nice b/c members were really excited to hear about that. Tell the Ortons that Soeur Orton looks AMAZING and her French is so great!
We have one bap date set, and a few we'll be setting soon. We taught 25 lessons last week, so I guess we're doing a lot! It sure feels like it.
Lets be honest, my french is not amazing, but it's ok. It's coming. At least I'm not learning Russian, Jappanese, what ever language Seth is learning this week, or trying to figure out the language in the back woods of Kentucky!
Leaving the MTC was kinda hard. It was an emotional night! hahah even Elder Skousen got a little misty eyed...that will only mean something to a few people... but know that it was shocking. We were all so close and happy there, but it's so good to be out!
I love you all! I pray for you all! I'll try and send pics soon!!!
Je vous aime!
Soeur Hulet

Safely to Belgium

2009-08-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here is an excerpt from a letter sent by Jordan's mission president:

Sister Hulet has arrived safely!She looks excited and enthusiastic about her mission. We are delighted to have herwith us. Her first assignment will be in the city of Charleroi.Her address will be:

2D, Rue du Moria Bte 2

6032 Mont-Sur-Marchienne

Belgium

Here are some pictures of her shortly after her arrival.

With the Mission President and his wife.

Missionaries in Belgium.

July 10, 2009 Letter

2009-07-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

What a crazy week! Good news! We got to watch the fireworks! Our 4th was a normal day and that made me a little sad b/c I love the 4th in Cedar... But then we had a special fireside that night about the reformers. Though REALLY cheesy, it was interesting. We are so lucky that they worked so hard to keep the bible going. So cool. Then we got to stay up "late"(10:45) and watch the fireworks. It was fun. We were all dressed in Red White and blue- Mom... can you look at JCPenny's and see if you can find the shirt I'm wearing in my 4th pics. It was Soeur Cockerham's and I LOVED it!

Sunday was nice. It was fast sunday so we had mission conference. We had a fireside from Brother and Sister Taylor... Well, her talk didn't make sense. I wish you could have heard it. It was very well intended but she talked about Peter Pan, Zambia,Cididles, prisons and Mission work. We really don't know what it was about. We tried to talk about it as a district and it was just too bizare. His talk was really good. He talked about how he had this amazing trainer. He was a wonderful person, studied the scriptures until midnight, woke up at 5 and studied. He was energetic and also wrote a wonderful letter home to Brother Taylor's parents. This trainer made a huge impact on his life and he knows that he is a better person for knowing him.... then, in the end, the tainer got "blown to pieces" in Vietnam... yeah... Bizare. I know that this isn't going to sound as weird to you, but it was seriously the weirdest thing ever.

Monday we stressful. Mom, you're right. I have made a lot of progress in French, but there are only 2 of us who have never taken french before and it's hard to not compare to the people who know what's going on. It's hard. Monday was a really rough day.

Tuesday was another fireside. It was really good. It was Elder Abrea of the 70. He was amazing. His wife was too. I got a cold on Tuesday.

Wednesday was long because I was really excited to leave the "compound." I was a little stressed all day from French, but then I went to Tutor and that helped. After tutor he told me I wasn't allowed to think about French for the next 2 hours, so Sister Andlin(Jake's mission pres's neice) and I went and got a Cello and a violin. It was the MOST AMAZING THING EVER. We just played for 45 min. But it was the best release. I was so happy after that. Thanks to everyone who suffered through my violin playing! If I would have given that up then I would have probably gone crazy on Wednesday. Mom... will you send me my shoulder rest? PLEASE?

Thursday was San Fran. I still had a cold but I HAD to go to San Fran or else I wouldn't have a Visa. So... There were 4 of us that went. Now, I am not the best world traveler and my companion was telling us about how she can navigate through New York- no prob "San fran won't even be a problem." She had us lost in about 23 seconds. I'd get us back on track(but made it seem like it was her b/c she gets really upset if she's corrected) and then she'd start to take charge again and then... I'd have to get us back on track. AH! I wanted to freak out. So... after we had been to the consulate and were just walking around the wharf she started off in some random direction... 45 min later I realized we had to meet our shuttle at in and out and she said "ok! Lets just walk 3 blocks this way (pointing in the OPPSITE direction of the wharf). That's is when I kinda snapped and took over. She was a little offended that I took over, but I REALLY tried to be kind about it, but I was NOT going to miss my flight home and get kicked off my mission because I was worried about her pride.

Our airconditioner doesn't work and so our room is about 80 degrees every night. Last night, with cold, I decided to sleep on the floor next to the window. I was hoping that I'd cool off.
I'm not going to the temple today. I don't want to give my cold to some cute little 92 year old worker my sickness. I am getting tested for H1N1, but I don't think I have it... If I do...I'll have Soeur Curran write you.

I have a picture for Bently Snow, can I get his parent's address. He is a really nice guy!
I'm glad that 4th was nice! Josh would run a dunking pond.

I'm doing my best to always keep the rules. Oh! At the French Consolate I got to see the Tour! Go team Basque! I pretty much have everyone cheering for them! Please let me know how they do!

I love you all lots!
Je vous Aime,
Soeur Hulet

The Prophet

2009-07-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

Oh! I met the prophet! We had a chat about Belgium. He's pretty cool. So was president Eyring. That was exciting. Pres. Eyring didn't go on a mission b/c of the war, but he had more success with baptisms in the air force than his brothers did on their missions... something you may not have known.

Posted for Jordan by Kris

and she's gone!

2009-06-03T20:32:00.003-07:00

Today is Jordan's first day at the MTC...Wahoo! :)

Wish her luck and keep her in your thoughts & prayers (we don't want her getting the swine flu or anything...)

I wake up to find its another 4 aspirin morning and I dive in....

2009-06-02T00:51:00.001-07:00

I have nothing to say... So I won't say goodbye, I'll say see you around.

Any other name... wouldn't be a sweet

2009-05-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

There are 104,191 people in the U.S. with the first name Jordan.
Statistically the 518th most popular first name.
82.35 percent of people with the first name Jordan are male.
So the other 17% of us are the real deal....

There are 1,164 people in the U.S. with the last name Hulet.
Statistically the 24067th most popular last name.

I know that there are 2 Jordan Hulets in the state of Utah. He went to BYU about 2 years ago, graduated right when I got there, so I had a lot of people ask me if I knew him... and a lot of student librarians get confused between the 2 of us.

Remember how...

2009-05-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

I'm down to 16 days!
wow....

.Feelings of nostalgia are running through my brain..

2009-05-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

First off... I am mad a bloger b/c there are about 4 blogs that I have tried and tried to add to my feed and it never works....

I'm in a really weird place in my life. With only 24 days until the mission I am excited but still feel like it'll never come.
We went to St. George to see my Grandma for mother's day. On our way back the family stopped at the farm for a minute. I took a walk around and noticed things that were not there when Jake left. That made me sad and excited.
I am sad that I won't be around for the changes in the constants in my life, but I'm excited that what I'll be doing will be bringing blessings to those things I hold dear. It's all weird. Excited and nervous, sad and happy, hyper and tired...
My friend, Suz, left on a mission a few months ago and she would just start to cry randomly. I now know why. It is weird... but when all of these conflicting emotions start to emerge, the only thing to do is cry.
I am so excited to leave and I have a lot of peace in all of this, but still... there's a little 7 year old in me that never wants to leave home.

"Only a fool is offended, because they must take offense. Offense is taken, not given."

2009-04-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love Brigham? He's so blunt, so straight forward. I have so much respect for him. Can you imagine the pressure on his back as they were getting ready to leave for Utah? Not fully knowing where he was going and only being a member of the church for as long as many of the people following him. Such a hero! So inspired! What a prophet! Another quote of his says that it is a sin to take offense when none is meant.
Now, this is something that I have had a problem with for the last 24 years. I have always prided myself on the fact that I am not easily offended, but I am often hurt by comment. Now I see the error of my ways.
I know that it is human nature to be "foolish" at times, it's that darn natural man thing, but I need to chill out. I need to see that just because someone decides that they don't want to spend their time with me, it's not a big deal. Just because someone took something I said out of context, it doesn't matter AND if someone deletes me off facebook, it's not the end of the universe.
Here's to not caring about petty foolish things and here's to seeing the eternal perspective! It's liberating not to be consumed with offense and hurt feelings! I suggest to everyone to let go of those old chains and forget about it.
This is not to say that I can be distasteful, or hurtful... or that others should, but I will vow to think before I speak and listen before I fly off the handle and "delete someone from my life" (the person who says that all the time: I love you.. lots :D)
So.. in conclusion, I don't care what's happened in the past. Clean slate starting now. I hold no grudge. (except to the Aussie hair product company for discontinuing my favorite product) If I've hurt your feelings, please come and talk to me about it, I'm sure we can chat and I'll be able to see the error of my ways. If you don't want to now, maybe in 18 months you will, or maybe you never will... but I'll always be willing to chat about it!
Love,
Jordan

Dear Elder: A Tutorial

2009-04-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have see this already, but for those of you who haven't... you're in for a treat!

Lets say you want to write my dear friend Sister Suzanne Wood, but beacuse she's a missionary, she can't get emails from you. It takes a lot of time to sit down with paper and pen, then find an envelope and a stamp! But with this site you can just type a letter and it gets to her, in the MTC, the next day!

All you have to do is go to DearElder.com, click on "Write a letter." A page will pop up and you can then add in addresses and type your letter! Press send and it'll be sent! Free!!!

Now... Lets say that you had a friend who was going to... lets say.... Belgium on a mission. That makes writing a letter by hand REALLY complicated! You have to get paper, then find a stupid pen that works. You finally compose a letter and realize you need to buy an envelope. A few weeks later you finally remember to buy a box of them and by this time you have found out that:

you are having a baby

you mom has become a groupie for Korn

your boyfriend proposed,

you decided to move Tulsa to peruse a career in warehouse management

Or finals are over

So now you have rewrite another letter to catch your Belsh missionary friend up. Now you have to find a stamp, but you can't just use a regular stamp, you have to go and buy one of those $0.94 stamps. And by this time you are sick of this and you may never write her again.

Dear Elder is once again the solution! You can go on the site, add money to you account right off of your Debit or Credit card and then you can continue writing! How great is that? I thought so! It's great!

If you didn't get the underlying message here, I want you to write me!

It may be the sleep deprivation laughing

2009-04-08T03:28:00.000-07:00

I made a big mistake tonight. I drank a code red, then I went to the gym... Now I can't sleep. There are many reasons why this was not smart... but the one positive thing is that I found this:

I was laughing SO hard that I was crying. Yes. I am sitting in my bed laughing out loud. Elizabeth and Katie: if this woke you up at 4:30, I am VERY sorry!

Parent trapping

2009-04-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today I watched a movie that I was obsessed with in middle school:

There has been much debate in my family over the 1998 version and the 1961version.

I don't like the person Ms. Lohan has become. I don't think she's an amazing actress and as a customer at starbucks, she is atrocious, but in this movie she is young innocent and does not have an odd fascination with vanilla soy lattes. I give it an 8! The old one is odd and the girl looks scary....

She looks a little like Ron Howard when he was on the Andy Griffith show...

My family members think that the old one is a lot better. I think that they like the guitar playing and singing off key....

Does anyone disagree?

It's all part of the plan...

2009-04-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well, My plans have once again changed. Not a lot, but some.

Amendments:

I have changed the elementary school concert to April 24 so that I don't have to come up and down.
Jake comes home in 10 days!
I have a mission president!

Rebecca and Scott M. Brubaker

Scott McDonald Brubaker, 57, and Rebecca Patterson Brubaker, five children, Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission; Valley View 10th Ward, Salt Lake Valley View Stake. Brother Brubaker is a former public affairs missionary in the France Paris Mission, bishop and counselor, high councilor, stake and ward Young Men president, Scoutmaster, and missionary in the Belgium Brussels Mission. Partner, Smith Brubaker Haacke Development. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joseph Junior and Helen Sims McDonald Brubaker. Sister Brubaker served in the France Paris Mission with her husband and is a former ward Young Women president and counselor, stake and ward Young Women camp director, counselor in a stake Relief Society presidency and ward Relief Society president. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Alma Thomas and Chesla June Seely Patterson.

A Whirl Win of activities and utter boredom...

2009-03-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

Small update on life:

1. My Starbucks career is officially at an end. It is sad to say it is over. I have met so many neat people working there and I enjoyed everyone so much. The job was amazing, the pay was better than anywhere else in Utah County and if I remembered to ask for it, I could get the schedule I wanted. My manager says she'd hire me back when I get home and I may take her up on that! She's amazing, the people who work there are amazing and I can't imagine what the last 3 years would have been like with out it.
This brings a lot of used time. I practice my french, I watch movies and I go to the gym. Today is my turn to cook and that is exciting! But other than that-- I have no life! I hope I'm not driving my roommates crazy!

2. I'm getting everything in order to move home. Things have been crazy, but I think I'll be able to move home unofficially on April 9, 2009!

3. My 6th graders have their monster concert on April 8. It will be fun, but I'm nervous. We have a lot of ground to cover in a very short period of time!

4. Our Brookside Concert is on April 29, 2009 at 6:30-- Now you may ask- if you move home on the 9th, how can you teach on the 29?
4a. I will move home on April 9. Jake gets home on the 13. I have spring break from the 9-20. I will come back up on the 21 to teach. I'll teach the 21, 22, 23. I'll drive back to Cedar on the 23 then I will come back up on 27 and teach the 28, 29, and 30 then I will drive back to Cedar on the April 30 and stay for good.
4b. Parker and Christine will move back to their home on the 23 so I will probably stay at my Aunt's house. I'm not sure yet. The commute from Sandy to Provo isn't bad, but I don't know if I want to make that everyday. That's a lot of gas! humm.... it may just be cheaper to get a hotel. would it?

5. I have all of my Visa stuff in! There was a lot of it b/c I will be serving in both France and Belgium. Lots and lots of red tape!

6. I hate shopping. So far I have nothing. Blah. Cross your fingers for me!

7. I'm so excited to go on a mission!!! My friend is in the MTC right now and her letters are so positive! Whoop!

That's what is going on in my world!

MISSION CALL

2009-02-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

So, a lot of you know so I thought I better blog about it!

On February 4, 2009 I drove home to go to the UMEA conference and to hopefully get my mission call. My dad had talked to the mailman and he said he'd call us at 6:00am to let us know that the call came and that we could pick it up.
On Thursday February 5, I woke up at 5:45am and waited until 6:15am I was so sad when the phone didn't ring. My dad came down at 6:20am to tell me that it was probably not coming because he hadn't received a phone call. About ten minutes after that Josh came running down the stairs screaming. The call was waiting at the post office!!
My dad drove me and Josh pick it up. We drove home and my mom was waiting with the camera. Just like we did with Jake, my dad taped it and my brother and mom watched. I ripped the envelope open and found the paper that said....

That’s right! I will be going to the Brussels Belgium/Netherlands mission! I will be teaching in FRENCH!

I can’t believe it! There was screaming and jumping and crying and calling people. It was fun.

So Here’s some exciting facts about this mission:

-There has been 4 girls from my home stake called to this mission. Lindsey was out a year when Nikki got her call, Nikki was out a year when Jen got her call and Jen has been out about year and I just got my call!

- Jen was my roommate in Austria

-Jen and I did some backpacking with our other roommates and we went to Northern France, Belgium and Then Netherlands together.

These pictures are of my roommates and me in Belgium and the last one is a random city that is in northern France...

-My mission covers a lot of ground! Northern France all the way up to Netherlands!

-There’s a good chance I won’t even see the Netherlands in my 18 months.

-I have to get a visa for both France and Belgium.

- I leave on June 3

V day 2009

2009-02-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say that this has shaped out to be just like most valentines days in my life. Not the worst, not the best but just there. I think I will go over some of my most "classic" valentines days:

For the Longest Time...
As a freshman in high school I was the nerd girl who was one of the only 2 freshman to take the Biology class during A2. I sat on the front row and would try not to stick out becuase half of the senior cheerleading squad was in my class. On valentines day the boys and girls AcCapella group would get sell roses and songs that could be delivered in class. That fateful day came and when the door to Mr. Newman's bio class opened I thought that a rose would be given to one of or all of the 8 cheerleaders in that room. Nope... Me... one the front row. I wanted to die.

Baby it's cold outside.
Last year's valentine day was a snowy one. I had to teach that morning at 7 and then work at starbucks right after. I had my day planned out! On my drive to school I noticed that my car was having issues excelerating, but i thought that it had sometime to do with the cold, or snow. I had class, got in my car, put it into reverse and nothing happened. I thought I was stuck. A few moms helped me out but the car wouldn't move. The transmission went out on my little Jetta. I was crushed and had no way to get to work. One of my student's mom's gave me a ride home and I had to call into work.
The good news is that the next day my dad was my knight in shinging armor. He drove up to Provo to bring up the van and tow home the jetta. He bought me a new cell phone and took me out to lunch.

Changes!

2009-01-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

1. I have decided to serve a mission for my church.
I'm really excited to do this. I have a lot of friends and family members of my faith as well as other faiths who have done religious missions and are great examples! I know this will be a huge growing experience and I’m excited to start!

2. I moved out of my apartment.
I am somewhat "homeless" I need to find a place to stay for 2 weeks until I get my call so I know when to put in my notices to quit. This will be hard because I love both of my jobs and everyone I work with at both.
I had a horrible living situation. I had roommates who would say one thing, do another. They encouraged inappropriate activities that would put not just their standing at our strict private school at risk, but mine as well.

3. Someone tried to swindle me.
Luckily I have a retired police officer for a father and a lawyer for an Uncle. I was pretty set. I am done with that situation forever and because of the advice they both gave me I don't have to ever think about it again.

4. I will be putting my degree on hold.
I AM NOT QUITTING! I do understand that I need a master's degree. I love my degree and I’m excited to finish it (I have a semester, an internship and exams left) It may seem crazy to take 2 years off but my reasoning is that I don't want to graduate and then have a "2 year religious vacation" on my resume. I want to be able to come out of school prepared to go right into a good job. (I'll be 26 when I graduate and I'm really glad about that!

5. I will be teaching and making coffee as long as I can
I am not going to quit and run away, I'm going to get my mission call and decide if I should put in my notice or if I should buy a contract and stay up there for rest of the semester to finish off my orchestra teaching. Don’t worry too much about Starbucks and their future. I’m not…

6. I'm really happy!

Don't make me...

2008-12-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have some news... I'm moving back to Cedar.
Now don't think that I fail at life, or that I'm becoming a monk or that I have decided to forget grad school and forge a new path, I'm just taking a sabbatical. If you want more info, feel free to call and we can chat, but it's not something I'm going to announce over a blog, so that's that.
I don't know when I'm coming back. I have a contract for my apartment until April and 2 really fun jobs up in Provo, so by that standard I should probably just stay up there even thought I most likely won't be in school next semester... but on the other hand I have a lot to do and the people I want to spend the most time with all live in Iron/Washington County.... with the exception of a few people in Piute County... anyway, I guess I should move down to be with them...
All of these decisions and everyone has an opinion that they feel is right... except for me b/c I'm torn between the people I love and the jobs and people at those jobs...
I am headed back up to Provo... a land where I rarely fit in, have very very few people I can trust and will sit around alone on my birthday... I do have a few things to look forward to: My really AMAZING aunt and uncle are giving me a birthday party on Saturday, that's going to be really fun and Kris and I are going to an ugly sweater party on Friday... both will be outside of Provo... I think it's a sign...
Anyway, I have had the best thanksgiving ever and I miss Cedar and I'm still here... If I didn't get to see you (brianna!) I miss you and will see you soon! For everyone that I did see, I still feel I didn't see enought of you! We will play again soon!

Jor

The best day of all

2008-11-03T13:52:00.001-08:00

Angie's birthday was a few weeks ago... we gave her a surprise breakfast!

Halloween rocked! It was pretty much the best one ever

I got to spend last Saturday afternoon with my BFF Lydia! It was an amazing day and I documented it with pictures! Here are a few!

The perfect productive day!

2008-11-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

Today has been so productive! I woke up early, went to work, got off at 11, went to the library, came home, did homework and now taking a break. I've also been able to talk to Lindsay, Jill and Ang, and on top of all of that I watched the TV show Christy. So good. I love this day!
Jor

Cafe Rio Ranch Dressing!!!

2008-10-28T13:18:00.001-07:00

The Creamy Dressing:
1 pkt. Hidden Valley Ranch Mix
8 oz. Salsa Verde Green Salsa (La Victoria Brand)
1/2 bunch of cilantro with the stems
2 cloves garlic
3/4 c. mayo
3/4 c. sour cream
1/8 tsp. hot sauce
lime juice from 2 small limes
Mix in Blender. If needed, thin with Buttermilk

SO good! It's not perfect, but it's close!

my weekend and my walk of shame.

2008-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend was supposed to be full of sun and fun in Lake powell, To answer Ashley's question, she will love lake powell! It's really warm down there and it should still be in 80's when she goes... But this last weekend there was flash flooding and rain in and around Lake Powell. My family decided about an hour before we were to leave that it would be a smarter idea to just stay home. I guess it was a blessing, but still I wish I could have gone.
I drove down with Courtney, my neighbor's granddaughter who is super sweet. It was fun to get to know her and have a buddy to ride down with. I enjoyed the trip and the hours flew by.
I got to Cedar later than I'd expected, so I didn't get to see a lot of the people I wanted to. Ang came over and we watched Rescued, another one of my mom's "Fabulous" LDS films.... Then we went to St. George with my family and had dinner. After dinner we went to Costco. We went home, watched more Christian films.
Conference was so amazing. I watched it with my family. I enjoyed all of the talks and found a little more direction in my life. I hung out with Jill between sessions, and Angie and Enna after the sessions. More christian films were watched and we fell asleep.
Sunday was more of conference and then I had to leave to make it up to Provo in time for bed. When I got to Scipio I turned to Courtney and said "don't tell your Grandparents that I broke the Sabbath" and then I stopped to get a coke. As I got out of the car, I realized that my homeward stake pres was standing there. How does that happen? Really??
We got home safe and I got a great nights sleep!
Good weekend...

Good news, and ok news

2008-10-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

Okay news:
I took a test yesterday that I thought I aced... but I only got 85%, I know that a B+ is good, but when you think you're getting an A and you get that... it's sad

New Kids on the Block as has a new CD. It's not that special, but It's something!

Good news:
I got 10 hours of sleep last night... and I didn't sleep in! I went to bed at 9pm! That's right! I went to bed at 9!

I'm going to Lake Powell This weekend!

I'm going to clean my car today!

I'm going to the Library today!

I made the CUTEST bulletin Board EVER today!... I'm feeling crafty today

MY AUNT FIXED MY BLOG!

2008-09-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

Isn't that great! I'm so happy!

The weekend rocked. I had a blast.

Saturday I went to the game and saw old SUU friends. That was fun

Sunday I went to Suz's talk and listened to her family sing/argue/sing. That was fun

Sunday I went to church with my parents and listened to their awesome lesson on the creation and played with Playdough. That was fun

Sunday I got sick and went to bed at 7:30pm. Sick- not fun. Sleeping for 12 hours- SUPER fun!

Monday I hung out with Jill. that was fun

Monday I went to lunch with my mom. That was fun

Monday I hung out with my dad. That was fun

Monday I hung out with Suz and Steph. That was fun

Monday I drove back to provo.. not so fun...

I'm glad I got to go home for a few hours.

tissues

2008-09-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I gave in. I went out and spent 5 dollars on tissues. Not just any kind... two boxes of Puffs Plus with lotion and Vicks sent. I have one in my car and one that I cuddle with at night. I think I'm on the mend... but it still sucks to be sick.

Sorry to those I didn't see this weekend. I spent the weekend sick in my bedroom and I didn't want to stop by and make you, or your children sick. I miss you all and hope to be home again soon!

Coming up on a crazy weekend and week!

2008-09-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend will be marathon, not a sprint. I will be going going and going.. I work tomorrow morning from open-11, then homework from 11-1, Football game from 1-4ish, Luau from 4-8:30, Drive to cedar 8:30-11, sleep from midnight-8, Suz's fairwell 9-10, my parents ward 10-12 and then I will drive back to Provo in time to get to be early and then wake up to do.....
MORE HOMEWORK!
I'm stressing about the homework thing, but I know that it'll be a ok and that I just need to stick with it.
I'm at work right now. I really love my job, it's kinda cray how much I like working at a coffee shop, especially when I've never even tried the product we sell the most of. I'm glad that coffee has never been an issue for me, I know if I were to drink it I'd be hook, fast. But I have no desire. I'm hoping we get our tea pots in soon, I know really want to get Granny one for her cabin, a cute one that will look cabin€-ish.
This semester has been SUPER stressful, but I plan on finishing my online math class by Oct first... scratch that... I WILL have that class done by then, so I can relax and enjoy my other classes.
I have to go back to work. I suggest to you all that you register a starbucks card online today. That way you get free wi-fi at any store, you get lots of free stuff and well, you can always have a good old hot chocolate with it

A cry for help

2008-09-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

I need help. A lot of it. But today I just need help getting that ugly love thing off the top of my blog. No matter what I do to change it I can't. Does anyone know how? Help

2008-08-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

Kris wanted pictures... Here are a few...

Lets communicate

2008-08-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

I have found it! My true pet peeve! I have at times stated things like the words semicolon or moist, people not doing dishes. But those have nothing on my one true pet peeve.
In 23 years of informal study of interpersonal communication and the 4 years of formal study of theory I have spent a lot of time thinking about levels of communication. The layers of self disclosure, dramatization and media framing all help to understand how we act and see the world. But how this collides with my petpeeve is how people communicate with oneanother.
I love my cell phone. I love it with passion. It is hard to find me without it and if I don't have it there is a reason why I chose to leave my "friend" at home. It is my connection to friends and family, to things outside of utah county. The thing that bothers me more than anything else is when people put their phone above those who are present.
I understand that there is a hottie in California that you're wishing was closer, that there is a friend from high school who you love to talk to. I am the queen of keeping in contact, phone calls, emails, blogs and texts keep me close to many people from around the world. But there is no reason at all for me or anyone else to sit in a group of people and talk on the phone. There is no reason for people to answer their phone while they are at dinner with their friends and there is no reason for people to spend their time isolating themselves and everyone else by driving around on the phone with a car full of people.
Leave the room, excuse yourself from the table or just tell the person you'll call them when you're not driving with others. Just have some resepct for those around you.
Show those who are around you that they are worth your time, that they are worth talking to. Show people that you really love them by making them a center of attention.
There are proper places and times for distance communication, but make sure that you are not making others feel isolated and unimportant.

Dillon MT, Part II

2008-08-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

I sure hope I haven't forgotten anything... wow! It's been a whole week since I left! My last week was incredible. The morning was chill. I slept in and didn't go to breakfast, but the extra hours of sleep did more for me than any food could have. Nate(my co) sent me a text that morning telling me that he saved me a seat at the table, but I never came. I went to business meeting and got info for the week. Afterward we went to try out for solos. I had never tried out before and I didn't want to regret never trying, but I also didn't want to sing a solo... I auditioned, but then backed out of it. there were plenty of girls who were much better than I so I knew it wouldn't be a big deal. About 2 hours later Jess, the BC, pulled me aside and said that she really needed me to do it. I told her I couldn't (after the screamo concert that Ky and I gave the whole group on Saturday.. there was no way I was singing in front of anyone!) A few hours later I was singing. I was so scared. I was freaking out. Thinking about it now makes my heart race. It was SO awful. luckily nothing went horribly wrong. I may not have been good, but it was done....

My BC was Amber. She rocked my socks. I love that girl a lot. Our BC Group was made up of Kylee and Sarah A. We had SO much fun. It was great to learn from all 3 of those women and make good friendships with them.

After that I started to really get to know my 16 youth. Thats it! 8 girls, 8 guys! It was such a good set up!My girls were all very talented people. They were confident in what they could do and I would classify all of them as "popular," in one way or another, back home. Our guys on the other hand.. were awkward. The weird part is that we had 4 outgoing and confident boys, and 4 awkward and shy ones. that was apparent.
As my get to know you question for them I asked them to tell the group one thing they like about their moms. When it got to me I said that I enjoy making fun of awkward wedding announcements with my mom. This started a discussion and then a underlying theme for the week. I have more weird wedding announcement photos with Nate than I will ever have again in my life with anyone!
We struggled on Monday and I was worried about that. On Tuesday we had classes and then the dance... Before the dance the counselors give dance instruction. I remember when my counselors did it for me when I was 16 and how funny it was... I have always tried to recreate that and it has never gone well. During this week we ventured off topic, but it was the most exciting one EVER. After the basics, nate took over with this:

After that we went to the dance. It was so fun! We goofed off and my girls were a hoot. our guys were being guys, but for the most part my girls stuck together. I danced with a few fun counselors. I can't believe that I waltz. I make fun of people who waltz.. but I guess I used to make fun of a lot of things that, because of EFY, are now normal to me. The Devo went really well. My readiness activity was about the crystal hunting we did and I tied it into obedience. My BC came and observed me that night. She said that it went well. I was so impressed by all of the comments my girls had. I only gave a fourth of my lesson because of all their comments. They are such amazing girls!

I was on musical program again this week. It went a lot more smoothly. The BC over it was Matt and Jess and Brennon were the other counselors. We had so much fun. Nate got all of our youth, except for 3 drop outs at the end, to be in it with us. We had a choir of about 70, for a session of 115. There were more counselors sitting than there were youth! It as so neat! I loved working with Matt, Jess and Brennon. We had some really good times.

On wednesday I sluffed classes with Matt. Since I was on musical program, I didn't get lunches or free time, so when I didn't have to be somewhere I'd be laying in the hall or sitting at the info table. Wednesday night is always game night. My girls headed our banner and our cheer b/c the guys were being guys. It ended up being really cute... and I think it should have won:

Games were fun and once they were over we went back for devo and pizza night. Sister Hoffling, the session director's wife, came to it. The devo went ok. Not as good as others, but that is b/c the girls were still really worked up. I think towards the end they started to really get the lesson on charity. After devo we had pizza night. We had 2 huge pizzas for it and we had weird make-up, we danced around like crazies, made a pizza box sign for our boys, and told stories. It was great to have sister Hoffling there. I loved it!

Thursday is always the best day. Modesty wasn't an issue at all and that was a stress reliever. We had gospel study in side b/c it was cold outside (Yes! It is Aug) after that we went to a devotional and then to the Living Christ activity. I had to run errands during the devo, but the Living Christ was amazing. I love it. My girls were so into it and learned so much.

The afternoon is when we have the variety show. we had a few people in it and that was fun. I was so tired so I almost fell asleep in it. A few sisters from the Dillon 2nd ward came to support us. It was so nice of them. After that we had dress rehersal for musical program and then we preformed it. It was fun and it went smoothly. After that, Jess, Matt and I went outside to eat our dinner, then we went back to the fireside. It was a very good one on the atonement. After that we went to testimony meeting. It was a great meeting and, other than a very awkward counselor's testimony.. it went flawlessly.

Friday was a few day. we had a taking it home break out and For the Strength of Youth classes. I taught a class on Friendship. It was fun. After that we had lunch and then we had the service project. That was a blast! We got our hats done, some of the guys sang a song to all the female counselors and Nate and I teased the whole time. It was great.
For free time we got ready for the dance and then went to the banquet. After the banquet we went to take pictures. It was such a fun group, so pictures (though my least favorite part of the week) were good.

I was on duty for most of the dance, but we had fun. the devotional went well... we were all sad, but it was good. I couldn't have asked for better girls! The week was perfect.

I went to Amber's to write notes for my girls and to chill. It was fun. Ky, Amber and I just talked. I went to bed around 2 and woke up late(6:00) and had to be at the bus by 7. I got everything packed and then taken down to the bus. Sarah saved us seats at the back for her and Nate, Me and Matt, Ky and Sara. We had fun sitting together and some of my girls were on the bus with us. That was really fun! The ride would have been the trip from H**L if not for Matt. After 20 minutes on the bus everyone was asleep, after that Nate and Sarah were Kunoodeling, Ky and sara kept sleeping and so I would have been stuck with those where were singing... I was in no mood to sing. Matt entertained me the whole way. He's so sarcastically funny. Whenever I have a bad day I will just think back to funny things Matt did or said during that week, or crazy things Nate came up with.... and my life will be happy again!

Dillon Montana was amazing. It was the best way to end my EFY. I love everyone who went on that trip, I love that we went on that trip and I hope that I get to go back!

Dillon Part II

2008-08-08T21:30:00.001-07:00

Dillon Montana = Heaven Part I

2008-08-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

wow... Where do I start? Dillon is amazing. Fabulous and great. Here it is from the beginning.
Dillon 1
Nothing could have gone right this week. I was late getting to Provo on Sunday. My Aunt and Uncle took me back and I got to Provo just in time to drive to SLC airport to get Myles, because his ride backed out. y the time we got to campus my car was freaking out.
On Sunday night Tristan called me and asked me to call him monday to let him know when we got to Montana. I told him I would but only if he told me the names of my girls. He did, and though this was cheating I thought it'd be a good idea. This is when my life exploded. My computer freaked out, my printer wouldn't print and I realized that I left my backpack in Cedar.
I didn't sleep at all that night. I wasn't feeling too hot. We got to the bus at 5:30. My car still freaking out. The trip was 7 hours of cramped, hot and bonding. I got to know Sarah Atkin on the bus and I was hoping that she, Grant and I would be Cos at some point. I got to know some of the girls and found out that some were in my group.
When we got there Tristan helped me bring my stuff in and then I changed into counselor clothing. I found out that my roommate and Co was a girl named Kylee and she was a lot of fun. Through that week I made a new best friend. She's amazing.
Meet your counselor was rushed and didn't really happen. I had 12 girls. Jasmine, Sayer, Maren, Hailey, Melissa, Katherine, Annie, Ashley, Savanna and Eliza. It was really fun getting to know those girls.
My other Co was Corry. he had some of the neatest boys ever. I loved everyone of them. We had a great week. There were lots of funny things that happened. Everyone thought that the place was haunted. I never saw anything. I loved the buildings and I got to be really close with some of my other counselors.
I had a few moments of insanity. That is all I have to say. But I know that I was just stuck in no where Montana and went insane for a minute. I didn't have a lot of duties because I was on Musical program. The program has a lot of issues. The music is too difficult for a choir of 14-18 year olds to learn in just a few days. The program means that I didn't have any freetimes or lunches. I was so excited for the version of I am a Child of God. It was beautiful. In the middle of the song the DVD started to skip and started to have issues. I was so upset. I turned around to find Glen(the BC in charge) laughing and Tristan looking panicked. That's when I started to cry, but I couldn't look upset b/c the choir was about to cry as well. It was intense. Finally we sang it ac Capella, Tristan found a different DVD and we went forward. Some say it was the most powerful program of the summer... but I was still upset.

The next days flew by. Then came Saturday. Goodbyes were said and Ky and I went back to bed. our business meeting was at 10, so we were good to sleep for a good 2 hours. Then we didn't wake up. People came to get us, we were so embarrassed. It was awful! Then I decided to go to the store and then to bed. Ky talked me out of the bed part. She was going hiking. I ended up going and LOVING it. We went to two ghost towns, attempted to go swimming, mined for crystals and drove around the hills of Montana. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it. We got back, went to dinner with the new session director and his wife, chatted it up and then watched a scary movie. half way through the movie one of the counselors got too freaked out so I went with her to knit. We had a nice chat, finished laundry and went to bed.
Church was great the next day. The ward was amazing, so friendly!! We knitted, ate, knitted, talked, called family and friends and some watched a movie as I straitened my hair.
At the fireside we talked about Isaiah and that was intense but really good. There were some distractions since people were starting to get a little too comfortable with one another, but it was still great. My Co for the next week was Nate. I was nervous because he is a Coordinator in Rexburg, so I thought he'd be too good to be a counselor and make me feel inadequate, but it was the opposite. Our teaching styles were different and didn't always mesh, but our kids loved us and it all worked out. I have tons of stories about this last week... I'll write a part II tomorrow!

Mid year resolutions, thougths and anatomy

2008-07-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

My roommie, Suzanne, introduced me to Grey’s Anatomy last summer. After we successfully watched all ten seasons of Friends in less than a week she pulled out the GA. I had another week of summer break and I realized that other than waking up at 4:15am and working until 11am, I really had nothing to do. At first I wasn’t impressed. I had many friends rant, rave and shout ravings from the roof tops, even a few who forced me to sit and watch an episode or two with them, but it wasn’t until I started listing to the intros to the show, that I really learned to love it. A particularly poignant one stuck with me, but I never understood it until tonight.

"A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

--- Meredith Grey:

I don’t know why this one has stuck with me. I guess it has something to do with the fact that it applies wholly to my life. I have three fears; failure, rejection and making a decision. I have many stories, experiences and moments I’d rather not remember because of these three bedfellows. There are many hours, days, weeks and, I shutter to think, years wasted on my unneeded trio of fears.

Fear of Failure

When I was a freshman in high school, I thought I could keep up with anyone. I thought that I was smart enough to take the advanced classes, that I was cool enough to hang out with the popular kids and for some reason, I thought I was athletic enough to play sports. All of these myths were debunked in less than a year. I felt that I had failed because of the B+ in the advanced biology class that I was one of the only 2 freshman. I thought that because the cool kids didn’t always invite me to their parties, I was a looser and I thought that because I wasn’t as talented in athletics as my friends and some family members were, I wasn’t good enough.

Today my dad changed my prospective in my little fourteen year old mind. I was joking with him. He told me that he was proud of me because I could answer the phone. I told him that it was ok; I understood that he was never proud of me. He told me he was proud of me. I was expecting him to say that he was proud of me because I’m at BYU, because I’ve got amazing jobs, because of my music… but he said he remembered a time that he watched me hit a homerun my freshman year and he was so proud of me. Maybe I should be offended that the only time my dad has been proud of me was nine years ago, but at that moment I realized that I’m not a failure. I did something worthwhile. That year wasn’t a waste of my life. It’s sad to think that it was, that I was completely worthless throughout high school because some of the cool kids didn’t adore me, because my grades weren’t 4.0s or because I could have possibly been the worst left fielder in the world…

Sometimes it doesn’t matter about the over all destination. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the difference. How cliché is that? I guess I’m just slow at picking up cues, but now I realize that it doesn’t matter what my GPA is, it matters that I’ve learned then conceptualized and internalized that knowledge to better myself. It doesn’t matter if the cute guys are beating my door down, but it does matter that I treat people well and that I have meaningful friendships. It doesn’t matter if I’m the thinnest, the prettiest or able to scale tall buildings, I just need to be comfortable in my own skin.

My first resolution: Fear failure less, work more.

Fear of Making a Decision

Why do I fear decisions? Depending on the situation, I can sometimes fear everything from the fast food restaurant I tell friends to meet at or the route I take to work. Most of all I think I fear that the “small and simple thing” will end up reaping huge consequences and then I’ll be stuck in some mundane task that I drudgingly do everyday. But decisions are the greatest part of life. We get to make a difference. I get to change the world! Think of the butterfly effect. Everything is interconnected and I get to make my imprint. I get to say yes or no, Café Rio or Wendy’s.

Decisions are supposed to be “edgy.” They test us and help us see where we need to improve. How incredible is it that we get to have that sense of limbo. We get to sit on the brink of destruction and then wake up knowing more than we ever could have.

My second resolution: Make one decision each day that makes me go out on a limb.

Fear of Rejection

Over the last year I have felt that this fear has started to subside. Dealing with criticism, changes and chaos helped me to see the good in myself… as a friend put it- “help me to see what others already saw.” But with further retrospection I see that I’m not as afraid of what others think of me; my biggest fear is that my dreams, my hopes my triumphs, my choices and those things that I have spent years building will reject me. That one day I’ll wake up and realize that not only have I failed, but I have been left alone. Here is where my last resolution will come into play… in the words of my dear fictional friends, Meridith, “At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don't keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That's how we're made. So, you can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.”

I’m crossing lines now. I’m not putting it off. I’m doing it. What is the worst that can happened? I scratch my knee? I loose my keys? No. The worst that can happen is that I could get hurt, I could get my heart broken, I could spend another night crying over someone… but no. Not any more. I have spent my summer preaching, teaching, and praying that others know that they don’t have to feel that way. They don’t have to fear. I just never let myself know. For some reason I thought I was the exception to the rule. That for some reason it was ok for me to fear and worry and wonder. That’s not my problem. My responsibility is to live, to work, to laugh, to play, to study, to learn, to meet, to understand and to love. That’s it. That is my life now. This will not be an over night process or a one night epiphany, these are life resolutions, ones that I will work on for the rest of my life. These resolutions will define me and help me become the person I deserve to be.

And with this little editorial I now say… I’m done sleeping, not knowing and especially done with never trying.

What up- C-Town!

2008-06-23T23:43:00.000-07:00

Well, Tonight has been nothing short of intense. I have had the most incredible time in Cedar. From walks with the fam, breakfasts with high school buddies, BBQs with friends and meeting random men on drugs, I feel that I have lived a full day.
My parents woke up me up to go walking with them. this is something we do a lot of. There is a trail that runs by our house and then up the canyon. It’s one of my favorite things about Cedar. I hate walking slow so I got ahead of them and as I was contemplating life, they turned around without me and I kept walking up the canyon. I guess it’s better for me all in all. On this little jaunt I decided that I am going to move to Spain and get my 2nd masters degree in Basque. Why not!?!
Because of my introspection and contemplation, I lost track of time. Ang was going to pick me up at 8:45 and at 8:50 she found me walking down the street. I ran into my house, changed into jeans, grabbed my phone (with about 30 missed calls) and ran out of the door. Breakfast was slow to start, but once everyone was there, with husbands, wives, and babies; we were every waitress’ worst nightmare. It was good to see everyone, even better to see how they are in a great place in life for them, but NOT one I envy. Not yet at least. The best form of birth control is to play with all of your friend’s kids and realize that they have to change diapers; you just get to play and then hand them back. It was so fun to catch up with everyone and to chill.
After breakfast I went to the farm with my family. That was fun. I love it down there. The hay is the most beautiful color of green and the world just seems to be a little less hectic. I think that’s the way life should be.
Jill had a BBQ at her house where there was the most random splattering of people in the world. We all chatted for a few hours, then dispersed for various family home evenings.
After FHE, Jill and I met up with Lindsay, Pete and Lyd. It was fun to be with them and to hear pete’s lesson on family and guidance from the holy ghost. We all love that guy. Lindsay is so cute with Lyd and it’s obvious who rules in that house. :D
Jill and I drove around and talked. That’s mostly what Cedar is about. We were driving around the “ghetto” of town when we saw a storage unit lit up with music playing; we decided to investigate. We parked in the lot, listening to the band practice. They were random and weird. Lost of drug references and antiwar slogans.. That is when we met Joe. Joe is 39, high as a kite, plays in a punk band and REALLY wanted us to get out of the car (his band is called Drug Dealers Inc.). He chatted with us through the small crack of the window whilst we sat in the car laughing. He invited us to his “after bar party” on Saturday… There is nothing in this world that would make me happier than to go to a party with Joe-who is old enough to be Jill’s dad.--- No thanks
Jill and I went to the gas station early tonight. We decided we’d hit it up before the 2am rush. We chilled CCPD’s finest and then came to my house where we proceeded to blog and play on facebook.

That is my night!
And aren’t we rad!

PS: it's very early in the morning and I have one last word for you...
Wal-Mart

Heather Tagged me... AGAIN! :D

2008-06-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

How To Play This Game of Tag:Post these rules on your blog.List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself.Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

Okay, so here goes!
THREE JOYS
1. Horses. Sometimes I forget how much I love them. It's not in a creepy Rosa Art kind of way, and no... I don't wear pony tshirts and sweaters, but I grew up on a farm and today I went down and saw my horses and I remembered how great they are. I'm excited to go riding on Monday.

2. I know that it's weird... but I LOVE EFY. It really is a joy. It's such an amazing feeling and the other counselors are so great!

3. I love traveling, but especially backpacking in Europe. It's an incredible feeling.

THREE FEARS
1. Not being remembered
2. never falling in real love
3. The dark

THREE GOALS
1. Backpack through Eastern Europe
2. To be debt-free.
3. Cook real mexican food

THREE CURRENT OBSESSIONS
1. The new coldplay CD
2. kissing... Not that it's happening in my life, but the thought of meeting someone I would want to kiss and would want to kiss me
3. tanning

THREE RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS
1. I've been to more countries than to states.
2. I'm basque... that's why I'm brown.... but I'm also swiss german and english
3. I love John Wayne movies

Okay, I'm tagging these five people:
Ash
Robyn
Kristin
Suzanne
Aunt Kris

I love my life and I don't mind being a nerd

2008-06-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

The last 3 weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, energy and relationships. As I read through my journal I see that my life has changed tremendously and I don't know how to react to it all. I have learned to love every one of my girls and I have learned so much from them.
I started out sessions with a devotional from our director, Brother Anderson. It was amazing. He spoke on some very interesting topics and made me excited and nervous for it to start. My Building Counselor was Caramia and she rocks my planet. She taught me a lot and helped me reach my girls. My Co-Counselors were Myles, Reo and Sam. They have become some of my closest friends.
My first week was 14-15. There were 8 wonderful girls who came from very different backgrounds and I was really scared when I went to work check in, but then I saw two of my girls moving their stuff in and this calming feeling rushed over me. I couldn't do anything but love those girls. They became my girls right then and most of them hadn't checked in yet!
Over that week I became very good friends with those girls. They helped me to have the confidence I needed to work here. They are amazing and I can't believe how wise for their years they are.
I had an amazing roommate, Jessica. She's top notch! Jess has done EFY for a few years, so she helped me stay in line. She was an amazing roommate just in the fact that she was so willing to talk and get to know me, and be my friend.
The end of week one was so hard. I spent a lot of it crying. It was sad, but I'm so excited for those girls to learn from teachers and friends and take it home.
Week two was hard. That's all that can really be said. I didn't connect as well with these girls and I felt disconnected from my group. As the week went on things got better and I learned to love those girls! They were amazing.
The weekend was fun.... full of crushes and EFY parties... topped with roommate bonding. I should have slept more!
Week three is now coming to a close. I have become very attached to my 17-18 year olds. They are incredible. They are so strong and know so much that I sit in awe. Our session directors are so amazing. They are Brother and Sister Hall. I loved their talks. They were funny, but to the point. The spirit was always present and both participants and councilor were able to learn... and that's more than anyone can hope for.
The boys in our company were punks. I labeled them from the first second I saw them. San Pete County boys running around, talking loudly and making inappropriate comments; wana be thugs, jocks that were too cool for EFY and nerds who had better things to do. But as this week has gone on I now see how incredibly smart, talented and fun they are. They'll make the greatest missionaries.
I miss all of my kids. I love them all. They have been such a comfort and it's amazing that I get to work and pray and eat and teach! I love my life and I don't mind being an EFY neard

wow!

2008-05-24T10:23:00.001-07:00

So, sometimes I forget I have a blog and I have to have Kristin or Suz remind me that I need to post stuff. I just feel that I'm not as witty as I used to be, but I guess I should at least update the thing from time to time.
I am starting EFY today.. It's crazy that I won't be around my apartment anymore or working at starbucks. I will sure miss that place. I'm glad I can come back. I love my manager and my partners freaking rock.
I am hoping that my EFY kids give me some funny stories to share. I will keep you all updated. Please pray for me... I'm not always the best teacher on the block!
Peace out

I just jumped into the pool fully clothed

2008-05-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

I really do love my life today. Rach and I decided to go see if the pool was open. Then when it was, we decided to lay by the pool and get a tan. Then we decided to swim, but to go change would have been too much work... so we just jumped in. Fully clothed. Swam for about an hour and then came back.
Now we are drying...
What a great adventure

Blessed!

2008-04-22T23:25:00.001-07:00

Today I realized that I am blessed. Not in the way that I'm alive and what have you, but I really do have it good. I have enough to get by and I'm on the verge of a great adventure.
A year ago I thought I had something that I never did. I thought I was happy and I wasn't. I thought that things were going to go smoothly and well- this has been the bumpiest ride thus far.
I wouldn't trade any of it. I'm glad that things changed. I do miss some people that aren't a part of my life, but I'll always have memories of parenting clarity and margaritas on cinco de mayo. I could not have asked for more. I had friends who picked me up and drug me out of a stooper that I didn't see an end to. They helped me and then our paths diverged.
I have a lot to do by the end of the week. With school, work and moving I'll be busy and crazy!

quote

2008-04-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.

~ C. S. Lewis

I'm now a video editor haha

2008-04-12T02:08:00.000-07:00

The ward video!

wow

2008-04-12T02:05:00.000-07:00

Things were going along great... and then 10 minutes ago happened. Ya know how you sometimes forget that something has an effect on you and then in a blink of an eye it has control of your life again... even if for just a minute. Not to say I'm unhappy... or that I wish things were different. I'm just a little dazed. nothing more. wow

Jordan's Thoughts and Ideas

My Petites Madeleines....

pros and cons

Update

**NEW FAVORITE MOVIE**

FINALS

My journal...

Hark! Hark! Hark! ’tis children’s music

Le Quatorze Juillet

i love the 4th

Bonjour! Je m'applle Jordan

little update

Day 3- Me being shamefully honest

Day 2

My sister, my best friend and my cousin....

As I walk around town I hear a lot of weird things and see many bizarre things.

Good friends...

December 06, 2010

November 22, 2010

October 17, 2010

October 10, 2010

September 13, 2010 9:33 AM

September 6, 2010

July 18 2010

July 5, 2010

June 30, 2010

June 21, 2010

June 14, 2010

May 9 2010

May 2, 2010

April 26, 2010

Paris in the spring time

March 8 2010

Picture of Jordan

New email address, new mission, same old me

Final P-Day in Belgium Mission

Sunday, February 21, 2010

French Sisters Share A Precious Moment in Time

my new address

February 14, 2010

Little Pictures

January 31 2010

Mission Pic

January 17, 2010

January 10, 2010

I am having a white christmas.....

December 6, 2009

November 30, 2009

November 30, 2009

November 2. 2009

President Brubaker Letter

October 25, 2009

October 18, 2009

October 11, 2009

September 21, 2009

September 14, 2009

September 8, 2009

Bus Strike

Pictures from France

August 24, 2009

bonjour

Safely to Belgium

July 10, 2009 Letter

The Prophet

and she's gone!

I wake up to find its another 4 aspirin morning and I dive in....

Any other name... wouldn't be a sweet

Remember how...

.Feelings of nostalgia are running through my brain..

"Only a fool is offended, because they must take offense. Offense is taken, not given."

Dear Elder: A Tutorial

It may be the sleep deprivation laughing

Parent trapping

It's all part of the plan...

A Whirl Win of activities and utter boredom...

MISSION CALL

V day 2009

Changes!

Don't make me...

The best day of all

NEW FAVORITE MOVIE