Quatre images d'un jour pendant la vie de mon fils.

La voiture est trop petite pour mon fils! Il marche dans les rues à la place!

La jour de soleil à Calais

Il fait froid, oui!

Un dîner de thanksgiving pour tout les missioniares à Calalis et à Lille aussi.

Christmas Day phone call...

Us: How was Christmas Eve? (feeling very sorry for Tony that he wasn't enjoying our little family dinner that night)

Tony: Well, it all started with a 12 course meal at a member's house (no longer are we feeling guilty). First course was caviar. Second course was goose liver pâte. Next course was oysters...(and he went on to list the remaining 9 french courses...I think he ate at La Caille!).

Us: How is the missionary work? (assuming he is able to actually move and teach after a 12 course meal)

Tony: Très bien. President gave us a challenge to pass out more copies of the Book of Mormon than ever during Christmas. We were able to give 17 away in 2 weeks. Lots of teaching appointments came from that.

Us: What are you doing after this phone call? (again, feeling very sorry that he isn't home to watch our annual Christmas evening movie)

Tony: Oh, we are going to ride this huge open air ferris wheel that looks over all of France in the evening (did I mention we were just going to watch a stupid movie?)

So, in summary...pizza vs. 12 courses, huge success with Book of Mormons, Toy Story 3 vs. a view of the Eiffel Tower at night. Un Joyeux Noël indeed!!

Les amies de les grand parents de Tony

I met the friends of Grandpa George and Grandma Chloe in Lille. I leave to go back there this week for transfer. I'm way excited about it, but not excited about dragging all my bags and Christmas packages on the train. Luckily Ford is coming with me to pick up his new blue so he can help me carry it all. I am living with the zone leaders and my new comp. It will be tight. I don't know where I will have Christmas yet. Last week in Calais we found a lot of people to teach so that will be good for Ford and his new blue.

Note from Ruth: This is the child who wore flannel and sweatpants (together!) Tony is now going pure Parisian with his jaunty purple scarf casually tossed around his neck. If he starts wearing capris and les chapeaux, I am going to fly out to France and have an intervention.

Joyeux Noël de Lille, France

Les missionaires qui travaillent bien ensemble

Novembre est froid mais je l'aime.

Yvana (name on the sign) is a neighborhood prostitute who leaves her name and number on street posts. We called...and she is not interested in the church. But hey, we tried!

So now I am in Calais which is right by England on the English Channel. We can see the cliffs of Dover when it's clear outside. We are on the border of Belgium too. It has actually gotten a little warmer this week here. So that is a plus. But soon im sure it will get cold again. What is Dad going to do without me as his slave this year to go out and shovel all the snow for him?

We had an ami show up to church and we are going to get him a date this next week for the 18th of December. He is way ready to be baptized so I'm excited for it.

The new ward here in Calais has some way cool people, one guy looks like Mr. Magoo, another looks like Cameron from Ferris Buhler's day off. So that always cracks me up seeing those two at church. They are both totally cool though. There is a way big guy that is tight too, and then our DMP is way sweet. He is trying to move though, so when he is gone things will be a little harder here. My best learning experience of the week would just be reading the NT and then studying the Christlike attributes with it all. Its been really good.

Les missionaires de Paris qui sourient toujours

La vie d'un missionnaire en France

Tony and his apartment in the background...nothing like life in a castle on the hill! If only!
The German, Tiny, The Tahitian, E. Long...
"Sitting outside the nunery with a look of rejection. I was flirting with a nun but she wasn't catchin' what I was throwing down."
Paté facial every Sunday...it's so important for a missionary's beauty regime. This from a kid who hated to shower as a child.
P-day on the coast. Rough life.