To feed and be fed

Our letter from Elder Ferguson this week mentioned one of my favorite things.  Feasts! 

"Yesterday we met a new amie (friend).  His name is Max and he is awesome.  He seemed "hungry", so we gave him the first Lecon (discussion) "sandwich".  We also ate a member's house.  She is so gentil (nice).  First we had a huge salad and then the soup course. After that came the main course.....she made hot dogs for me, which I loved.  The dessert came next.  I was so full.  Then they bring on the cheese.  I nearly died.  Haha.  That was really fun though. 

So it seems to me that along with "feeding" those who are hungry for the gospel, my boys getting fed.  5 courses at a time in fact.  :)

He also shared the following.....

" We have taught a grip of peeps.  14 lecons  (disscussions) to non members and fixed a baptism date for one of our amies.  (friends) His name is Zhang Cheung Zhing.  I don't know how to spell it in English.  :)

I study my scriptures everyday. I have so much gold from that but I am treasuring it up for now so you will have to wait for that.  :)  The countryside is so pretty.  Fields of sunflowers and mountains and catherdrals.  Ces dope.  ( I love how he infuses french with his own "language") I just learned that Grenoble is one of the hardest villes for missionary work and that Elder Han and I are killing it.....I thought it was easy.....we work miracles here.  haha  

I have to run for now.  I will try to write more later.  We are going fishing in the alps with one of the members. That should be fun. I love you so much and thank you oodles for writing me.  I miss you but the time is flying by.  I can't even believe I have been here for 3 weeks."

Since Ryan has been in France his emails have become shorter but I am grateful for every word I receive and am so glad that he seems to be losing himself in the work.

He's a cool kid.  I'm a lucky mom.  

I have not been a very good missionary mom blogger and so i apologize and promise to do better. Somebody snitched on me to my missionary :) and so I have been given specific orders to "get with it".  

Here is the latest and greatest..........

Elder Ferguson has made it to France!!

His dad and I got to talk to him during a layover at the airport in Chicago.  That was pure awesomeness.  He sounded great. He told me great stories and spoke french for me.  I loved every minute of our conversation.

We were so lucky to receive a letter and picture of him from his mission president, President Roney, on the day he arrived.  I was so happy to receive that.  I knew that he was safe and in good hands.  Here is a picture of the group he traveled with.....

He looks good right?  I think so too.  

Here are some snippets from the first email we received from France.

Traveling was super hard and I'm just barely getting over my jet lag. The mission home was tons of fun and I went contacting right when I got there.  I got yelled at by some Muslims.  They probably just said that they loved me.  I don't speak Arabic.  

We were examined by a doctor when we arrived and so now I am "legal" in France.  I am living in Grenoble in a 4 man apartment.  It's just me and my trainer, Elder Han, so that is awesome.  

Grenoble isn't a big deal.  Just a little city surrounded by the french alps.  Ya know, no big deal.  hahaha

Every night we sleep with our french doors ( or as we call them here in France...........doors) open.  It's like camping but you stay clean.  Dad would love it. haha

I can understand the language really well.  The 2nd counselor in the bishopric and his wife are from Utah. They are here for work, so she translates for me a little bit but the kids are impossible to understand.  Haha. Impossible!  

I got spit on by a french lady because she told me to go back to America but i told her i was Scottish and then she apologized.  That was funny.  In our city we get a BMW! Bus, metro and walking. 

Here are some pictures of life in France that he sent.......

Ryan and his first companion. A young man from Cambodia named Elder Han.

So beautiful!

What a beautiful place to live and work. 

Here's some fun stuff from our 2nd email from France......

I am sending you a picture of the french keyboard.  It's all messed up. To put a period you have to hold alt and shift to use it,,,,,,,so, no, you will not receive a period from me for the next 2 years,,,,,,Even for the numbers you have to do that.  You can however have commas.  haha

My french is coming along great.  It gets easier and easier each day.  I already think to myself in french but don't even realize i'm doing it.  Even when I speak english it's more of a franglish. 

The style here is interesting. Addidas, man burses, cork mandals, hats all the way tight resting on top of their heads, jeans tucked into socks. 

I also sent a picture of me doing some door to door tracting, or rather intercom to intercom. 

It seems like Ryan is getting settled into his surroundings and we look forward to hearing about all the work and experiences he is having. 

I'll keep ya posted....I promise.  :)  

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