Day 68: A Perfect Day in Nantes

7 novembre 2009 (Day 68)
Today was an eventful day. I slept in until 8 am. I changed and then I snuck into the kitchen to do yoga. It was a little awkward, doing yoga in the kitchen, but it was nice to have lots of space. I hopped on the tram and headed for commerce. I bought more elstar apples, several bananas, and some brioche (sweet bread) for a cute Boulanger man. Sadly my vendor friend wasn’t there today. I went to a used bookstore afterwards and bought (all of these being written/translated into French): Harry Potter 3 & 4, a C.S. Lewis book, and a work by Guy Maupassant called “Contes de la Becasse” which my teacher recommended. I spent about 10 euros for the three books. I took the tram out to Carrefour to buy more oatmeal (it is the least expensive there). They also have really expensive canned foods, so I bought some beans and veggies, along with pesto sauce. I am excited for the pesto sauce, and it is cheaper than in the states! I also bought some cereal (museli and a chocolate one that ended up tasting more like salt than chocolate). I lugged all my loot to the Talensac Market at 50 Otages and went on a manhunt. It was actually a bakery hunt. There are these delightful treats called coquiettes or something thereabouts. I tried one once and hated it, but Melanie gave me a coquiette one day that I loved. She has a little girl who is quite the connoisseur of these delightful fluffy treats and she prefers them from the Maison Bossard. I found the maison and bought 6 for around 1,75E. They were scrumptious!
I actually shared one with John. He is my Scottish neighbor. I went over to ask him if his internet was working. We ended up talking to each other in the hallways for at least an hour in French. We talked about lots of random things: school, vacation, mean Frenchies, the Maison Bossard, drinking, smoking, etc. Our conversation ended once someone started smoking in the kitchen and we could smell it.
I quickly ate leftover pasta, changed and headed to the church for part one of stake conference. It was really good! The theme of the conference was, “Called to Serve.” The conference was broadcast to several other churches as well. My favorite speaker was from the Quorum of the Seventy who hadn’t spoken French for 5 years! He speaks French quite well (or at least I could understand EVERYTHING that he said because he’s an Anglophone). He told us lots of fun little stories.
The following are some thoughts that I enjoyed from the session: don’t doubt your capacity, the Lord chooses you. The Lord prepares us. Be happy to serve where you are. Don’t ever say, “Oh, they’ll never become a member of the church. It is likely that they may in the next life if not this one.”, Faith will open the door, it is possible to change the direction of the Church in France, but we must do less to do more. Gordon B. Hinckley talked about getting out of debt and saving several years before the economy crashed. Service is like a boomerang, it will always come back to you! Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, omega the last; God is alpha and omega and we make up the middle! I got a ride home (or at least most of the way) from stake conference and had some lovely hot chocolate. It was a nice ending to a nice day.