It sure is fun living next to a mental hospital.

Soeur Johns and Williams with bon bons. 

Hello Everypeoples!
I hope you are all doing fantastic! 'Cause I am. :) Time for me to tell you about this week:
Monday, March 31 -
When we were doing our P-Day shopping last week, I decided that I wanted to try some of the chocolate here, because I hadn't yet. So, I bought some Crème Brûlée flavored chocolate and some Spéculoos (cinnamon cookie-ness) flavored chocolate and they were both really delicious and I probably shouldn't have eaten so much at a time. :D
After P-Day was over, we went and had a family home evening with the Letort family. Soeur Johns had previously asked Soeur Letort to cut her hair, so while she was getting her hair cut, I helped make the dinner - croque monsieurs (pretty much just delicious grilled cheese sandwiches). After Soeur Johns' hair was done, and after we'd eaten, we taught a lesson about how much joy it brings to share the gospel. Then we asked each family member to invite someone to have a family home evening with them on one of the days of the week before Easter, and they said they would. As a side note... Soeur Johns was not happy with her hair. It was a lot shorter than she'd thought it would be (only a few inches past her shoulders instead of halfway down her back) and she is still lamenting the loss of so much hair. Hopefully it will grow back to the length it was before, before she goes back home in six months.
After we got back to our apartment, Lo called and tried to ask Soeur Johns on another date. She asked him if he was coming to our RDV scheduled for the next day, and he didn't seem interested, so we had to tell him to go to the elders if he was serious about learning more about the gospel, and not to call us again. So, I'm pretty sure we're done teaching Lo.

Tuesday, April 1 -
We had District Meeting on Tuesday, as usual. I usually am too afraid to participate very much, but I did a lot more this time. We learned about teaching simply, then practiced. Soeur Johns and I brought zucchini cake and the other sister companionship brought spéculoos cheescake. Both were delicious. And while we were eating, Judas came early to a RDV with the elders and gave the elders all of his ashtrays, because he was determined to quit smoking. He is great! He also took pictures of our district together, because this could be the last time we'll see each other for a while, since the transfer's pretty much over.
After the District Meeting, we went to pick up the Sister Training Leaders at the gare (the train station) for our exchange. I was really worried because since we were staying in Rennes, I had to tell Soeur Hafen (one of the STLs, the one who was my companion for the exchange) about our amis, and I had to lead the way and not get lost going to places. But she was really nice, and I didn't get lost. Yay! We were supposed to teach Frederique, but he wasn't there, so Soeur Hafen and I had a talk on the playground next to his apartment and practiced contacting. Then we contacted on the way home. Soeur Hafen is awesome at contacting, at talking to people in general. She helped me know what to say and to be less afraid of contacting.

Wednesday, April 2 -
Soeur Hafen and I taught Mamie Renaud in the morning. Mamie Renaud is 93 years old, and she's an inactive member only because of her health. She's not allowed to go outside unless the weather is absolutely perfect. She was one of the first three members in Rennes, and she's the coolest old lady ever. We came with a message about faith being an anchor, and about General Conference, and she taught us. She also told me that I needed to only read in French and speak in French, because when I read the article we'd brought from the Liahona out loud (in French) she said I did well. She wouldn't let us leave until we'd eaten some cookies and had some juice. :)
We then went to a neighborhood in our area and put flyers about Easter, about the Resurrection of Christ, that said we would come back later and talk to them about Easter, in the mailboxes. Also, Soeur Hafen made me contact along the way, even though I had no idea what to say and it freaked me out. But I did it. :D She even made me contact a lady who was getting into her car, which was fairly awkward. :)
After our exchange was done, we said goodbye to Soeur Hafen and Soeur Holmes at the gare, then went to teach Sophie. We taught her about Patriarchal Blessings, and at first she wasn't sure she wanted one, but once she understood them more, she decided she did want one. We want to find a way for her to be able to get her blessing in Chinese so she'll understand it better.

Thursday, April 3 -
We did Easter contacting (where we center what we say on Easter and Christ's resurrection) in the morning after studies, and I was able to switch off with Soeur Johns. I didn't make her talk to people that she asked me to talk to. I did it all by myself. :D
Then we met with Nadia, who had met a lot of missionaries, but had never really been taught. She'd met them through an English class taught by missionaries, which we're not supposed to do anymore. She invited us over to eat with her, and she was really great. She only seemed interested in being our friend, however, and not too much in religion, so I'm not sure we'll see her again.

Soeur Cathryn Williams with Nadia. 

After that, Martine (a member who is awesome) took us to find some new boots for Soeur Johns because hers are falling apart. Then Martine came with us to teach Jocelyne, which was a great experience. It was good to have someone there as a friend to Jocelyne, because I think Jocelyne needs to feel wanted and loved. We talked about talents, and Martine talked about Jocelyne's talents and how she could help others with her talents. Martine also offered to help Jocelyne, because Jocelyne is always taking care of her 90 year old mother and hardly ever has time to herself. Martine offered to take her out one day for a little break, and Jocelyne seemed grateful.
When we got back to our apartment, it was pretty late, but not quite time to go back inside, so we went out contacting. There wasn't really anyone outside, so Soeur Johns and I stopped to pray to be able to find someone. We started walking again and there wasn't anyone there, but as we kept walking, we saw a woman and stopped her. She ended up being able to speak English really well, so we spoke English with her. Her name is Victoria and she's from Russia, and she gave us her phone number. I know that Heavenly Father answered our prayer and sent her to us, because there was absolutely no one out, and those who were out were either creepy men or people who didn't want to talk to us. I'm so grateful for the power of prayer.

Friday, April 4 -
We taught Annabelle with a member named Clement, which made it a lot easier because he'd just barely gotten back from his mission and he's a native French speaker, so he was able to explain things a lot better than we can. We taught about the Priesthood, and Annabelle seemed to like it, though she knew most of it already. We just can't seem to help her feel anything. She just thinks very logically and looks at the gospel as another intriguing subject to study. Clement suggested that we talk with Frere Moal, our ward mission president, because he's very much the same way, very logical and philosophical.
We went and taught Sophie again. We had to keep it short because she's really busy preparing for exams. We gave her some more Liahona articles, which she was really excited about, then taught her some scripture masteries from the Book of Mormon.
We went back to our apartment for lunch, but accidentally stayed way too long because our stupid clock is broken :P So, we thought we had an hour left before we had to leave for our next RDV, but when we looked at our phone, we saw that we had stayed 45 minutes longer than we'd planned. So, we hurried to our next RDV with Sasrey, taught a short lesson on praying to confirm our testimonies, then went to our meeting with Frere Moal (which we were 30 minutes late to). Then we went to my first ward council meeting, of which I understood about 50 percent. It was confusing. :P

Saturday, April 5 -
We got to teach Maimouna again! She really is the coolest person ever. She is definitely progressing. We taught her a more in-depth Restoration lesson to make sure she understood. She was really interested and asked all the right questions and had some really good comments. We emphasized the impotance of studying the Book of Mormon, having a real desire to know, and of praying to know the truth for ourselves. She completely agreed that it's important to search for the answer and to pray, and she was excited to really start reading the Book of Mormon. She's a really nice woman with a sincere desire to know, and I love her so much. :) We might try to set a baptismal date with her next time we meet.
Then, after that we went to watch the broadcast of Conference at the church. Thankfully they had a room for us English speakers. We watched the Women's Broadcast and the Saturday Morning Conference session, then we went back home. I love conference so, so much! I'm so glad we have living prophets today.

Sunday, April 6 -
Sunday was pretty much just a continuation of Saturday. We did some planning, then we watched more General Conference. We watched the Saturday Afternoon session and the Sunday Morning session. Sadly, we weren't able to watch the Sunday Afternoon session because we'd have to stay up until midnight, and missionaries aren't allowed to do that. :D Mais, ça va (but, that's okay), 'cause I can just read it when it gets put up on the internets. :) I'm so glad I got to listen to conference. I always feel so much better afterward, spiritually strengthened and uplifted. I can't wait to apply the things I've learned, and I can't wait to read the talks when they come out. :) I especially loved Elder Bednar's talk on how the Savior knows every single thing we go through, how there's nothing he doesn't understand, nothing he can't help us with. I know we can always go to him for strength and succor.
We missed the bus(es) because they don't come very often on Sundays, so we had to walk home. As we got close to our apartment, Soeur Johns pointed out a man dressed in blue who'd jumped behind one of the bus stops. We were wondering why, when a big, white van sped up to the curb by us and stopped. Immediately, two doctors from the mental hospital jumped out and ran to the bus stop, grabbing the blue dude, pulling him into the van, and speeding away. It sure is fun living next to a mental hospital. :D

Here, have a scripture I found, just for you. :D
1 Nephi 2:16 -
"... having great desires to know of the mysteries of God... I did cry unto the Lord; and behold, he did visit me and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father;"
I like this scripture because I know that if we even have just a desire for a testimony, a desire to believe, or if we have a question we want answered, that the Lord will answer our prayers and soften our hearts, helping us believe. He will help us find the answers and the faith we are searching for.

Au revoir! Passez une bonne semaine!
Soeur Williams

I seem to have forgotten to take my camera to yon internet café, so no pictures for you again. Sorry. Maybe next week. :D