Happy Valentine's Day, world. We were in La Rochelle for Valentine's Day and had McDonald's for dinner, and I thought it was funny to see the restaurant completely full of young couples taking their dearly beloved to have a meal with Ronald McDonald. What says "love" more than fries and a Big Mac? I'm picking up dating tips left and right for when I get home. To celebrate the holiday, I got myself a Mcflurry.
Anywho, last Monday after writing the email, we went over and had dinner with the Elder and Sister Bousseau, who just joined us in the office in January. They had Catherine over with us for the meal, who was baptized in December. Catherine showed up early to help prepare the food and set the table, then insisted she be the one to make the trips between the kitchen and serve us. The Bousseaus commented that they need to have Catherine over more often. She's great.
We had yet another airport trip on Tuesday morning, which normally requires us leaving around 6:15 am and getting back around 9:30ish. Luckily, we got to the airport in time for the flight, and barely had time to get checked in before being whisked out of the corner of the terminal by soldiers taking care of an abandoned suitcase. After getting back to the van, we found that someone had parked behind us and boxed us into the spot. By the time we got out, we were excited to get home, but the traffic out of the airport stopped to a halt for an hour and a half while the taxi drivers were having a strike on the freeway, restricting the flow to a single lane. We eventually made it back, but I'm just glad we hit all the problems after we got the Sister on the plane.
We took a 10 minute break after the airport, then left to fix a Sisters' apartment in Paris again. Those Sisters just always want their electricity. Don't they know they can just use candles? After a quick lunch, we went down to good ol' Ikea and loaded up on furniture for a new apartment in La Rochelle. No Taylor Swift encounters this time, though.
With all the furniture in boxes in the van and a newly dismantled couch stacked on top, Elder Christensen and I took the van to La Rochelle on another 6 hour drive while Elder and Sister Prince took their fully loaded car. We all got there just before dark, and since the apartment had no electricity, we rushed to get everything in the building before everything got pitch black. Four Elders in La Rochelle met us at the front steps, and they had half the van unloaded before I could even get out of my seat. Almost.
And so it was that we stayed in La Rochelle for two days after that, sleeping in the new apartment, building furniture, and living with the Princes. It was fun, and we got everything done pretty quickly. We went to a Chinese buffet one night for dinner, and I accidentally took and ate a helping of deep fried frog legs. I figured I'd eat such a thing during a fancy French dinner, but I guess I can check it off my "to-eat-before-I-leave-France" list now.
We drove around La Rochelle for a good chunk of the day on Friday in search of a Conforama store (like R.C. Willey) so we could buy a rug, but to no avail. We eventually gave up the search, and went home defeated. Elder Prince sent us out the next morning in search of a cable for the stove and after stopping the car in the parking lot of the electronics store, I looked up through the windshield to come face to face with a huge sign for a Conforama store across the street. Thanks, La Rochelle. That was a nice slap in the face.
Elder Christensen and I drove home soon after that, and I was getting tired so we stopped at a gas station to take a nap for a few minutes. I closed my eyes and after what seemed like a half hour, I woke up to notice that my companion was gone. In my half-asleep state, I panicked and thought, "I lost my companion! He ran away and is hitch hiking through central France alone." I jogged into the gas station to check if he was there. He was perusing the Pringles section, and I must have shown a sign of relief, because he said, "Elder ... It's only been like two minutes since you started sleeping." Time flies when you're taking a nap, I guess.
Other than that, we had a big zone conference in Paris, stopped in Orléans to make a delivery, went to the dump, did research for apartments in Luxembourg, had an exchange, and even went tracting, too. Life is crazy, but it's close enough to the end of the transfer that President has officially started making his, "You're getting transferred soon, Elder Wilson" jokes. "Yeah, but you don't have to worry about that, because you'll be in Brest in two weeks." We'll see, we'll see.
Y'all have a great week.
Elder Wilson
