Transfer 13 (12-5-16)

Monday: We had President's p-day! It was super fun. Sister Brown ordered pizza, and we just played a lot. Some Elders and I played basketball with President. It's super fun to get chill with everyone in Lyon! Afterwards, we did emails and ate dinner at Sr. F's house. It was really good. I found a cool bull thing.

Tuesday: We had lunch with our mission nurse, sister Kemp. She is so sweet! We love her lots. She is kind of like my grandma here. I don't have any living grandparents anymore, and I miss them sometimes. So having Sr. Kemp is really cool. I had a Thai salad at lunch! It was good. Sr Kemp had the same thing. She took five times longer to eat it than I did haha. I also had crème brûlée for the first time in France. Meh.

After lunch we met a new ami named G! He is Albanian, and he is a referral from an old ami named E. G is E's uncle or something. G went to church a few times in Albania, and he liked it. We aren't completely sure why he's seeing us but we are happy to see him. He accepted a baptismal date for December 31st. On verra. From that, we went to our bishop's house and ate dinner! The bishop's wife and daughter are fun, it's always entertaining watching them interact. A lovely family. I didn't eat the goat cheese they gave me, and they asked why. I always get diarrhea from goat cheese. I have too many diarrhea stories from my mission...anyhow. I forgot how to say diarrhea, so I just said "caca pas bon" to say "bad poop" and Sr. P and L, her daughter, went nuts. They laughed and laughed and laughed. It was pretty funny. Sometimes I get away with stuff because I'm a missionary. From there we went to the assistants' apartment to have a sleepover. It was super fun as always. Elder Wade and I were able to have a really long conversation about the Atonement and remembering the Lord's sacrifice for us. It was actually one of the more spiritual experiences I've had on my mission.

Wednesday: Woke up, mangos, had some stölen (a German cake that elder Menzel's parents sent) which reminded me of my grandpa, interestingly enough. Good memories. Or maybe it was the sugar. Blagues. They drove us back to our place, where we studied. Then we went to Perrache to eat lunch with a cool priest named E Z. He's awesome. His friends were going to come too but they all cancelled. He is a fearless missionary already! The kebabs weren't too good but being with E was great. Afterwards, we went to the C's house to do a little service. We raked their lawn, and visited their friends, the B family, across the street. Elder Burri knows them well, and I got to know them as well. They are really nice! M (the grandpa) gave me a random book about William Faulkner because I sparcd him on his book. We shared the Christmas video #lighttheworld with them. They didn't care much, unfortunately, but they loved our visit. After, we went to the office for a coordination meeting with the Lyon zone leaders, the office elders, and the assistants. Then off to the family B's house for dinner. They were really sad to see Elder Burri go. I hope I have the same relationship he has with them by the time I leave!

Thursday was good, we had RCM and lunch with our DMP and his wife. They are the best! We saw a few friends of Elder Burri afterwards. We had Ward council and then we saw the S family.

Friday was good too. We got transfer calls! Elder Burri is returning home with honor, and I am staying in Ecully and receiving a good friend, Elder Ramsey! He's awesome. He's the coolest guy!! We were around each other in Bordeaux, and we were in the same zone again in Nice. I couldn't be more excited. After calls, we ate lunch with the L family. They are one of our favorites in the Ward. Then we helped Br. H's mom figure out her phone (she's old), then off to downtown to weekly plan. We got dinner at Chicken Chips, a new place in Lyon! It's like HFC in Bordeaux. It's super good. We shared with the office elders and the Porte des Alpes elders. Then we had a RDV with S and M, Fr. Z's friends we met at their thanksgiving party. They are awesome!! We had a perfect retab. The assistants came too and we had dinner all together. They are coming to church and they are reading the Book of Mormon! They are so cool. Unfortunately they are in another sector, so we'll have to pass them next RDV but we might see them at our church if he goes with the Z family. Their family is so full of love. They already live the gospel very well.

Saturday was good too. Not too much to share. We closed the night out with dinner with two sisters in the ward, Sr. S and B. It was lovely!

Sunday was normal as usual. Elders quorum was a bit crazy, so that was entertaining. Afterwards, we did the numbers with E Z, which was super fun. Then we translated some of the miracle into French and went home. Elder Burri packed, and we had pizza to celebrate the end. It's sad to see your companion go. Elder Burri has become my favorite companion, and I will miss him but I am excited for the future.

I love you all!
Elder MacArthur

Lunch with the Z's!

Cleaning the church on Saturday!

The bold rooster