Day 227: Crepes with Elder Ford (and cookies!)

15 avril 2010 (Day 227)
Today was a lovely morning. The Garon’s dinner table faces their backyard in which there is a gorgeous blossoming cherry tree. I ate by myself this morning (possibly a good thing since my hot chocolate boiled over in the microwave) and had toasted baguette again. I went and checked the bus schedule and while I was gone Joel started the dishes. I eventually convinced him (after much lamenting and lip pouting) to let me do the dishes.
I then headed off to teach Andrea again. She is the cutest girl! Today we went over about two dozen of some of the most basic verbs and we also went over clothing articles. I got home in time to catch the end of lunch, potato and egg omelet and salad. We then had fromage blanc with chestnut spread for dessert. Hannah and I baked our oatmeal raisin and our chocolate chip cookies in our wonderful not-very-French-but-more-American totally awesome oven. The oatmeal cookies had a little too much flour, but the chocolate chip cookies turned out PERFECT. Elder Maxfield did a jaw drop when he saw them.
After we made cookies we went for a walk with Anne. They have this really nice large park/green area just down the street from them with lots of wildflowers and walking paths. We walked by a pond and heard the toads croaking and it was beautiful. Anne was telling us how in May they can hear the toads from their house because it is their mating season. How she said it in French made it sound more like people making love that you can hear and it was just very funny. We walked for a couple miles and then we headed back to the house because the missionaries were coming for dinner.
I went to meet them at the bus stop. Bless their hearts, they missed the stop. I walked to meet them by the next one and took them to the house. The new elder is named Elder Ford. He has red hair and a long crooked nose. He comes from California where his dad is the ward mission leader so he has been on splits before. Bless his heart he is so confused in France and doesn’t really speak any French. I admire his efforts though. Elder Bourgeois didn’t get to play his joke that he was French because when Elder Ford got to the apartment Elder Bourg’s nose was bleeding so he was speaking in English to be better understood. Elder Maxfield is going to be a good father to his son Elder Ford. It was fun watching them give the lesson. You could tell that Elder Maxfield had prepared Elder Ford and where he would participate. Elder Maxfield gave the lesson about trials in this life and how they help us to grow.
Papa Joel made a humongous stack of crepes for dinner. We showed Elder Ford how to eat crepes and that he should not put sugar on nutella crepes. He liked them and he definitely appreciated the speculoos (spelling) which the Elders have decided tastes like cinnamon teddy grahams. My personal favorite creation was speculoos with bananas and whipped topping.
Once the Elders left we had a little music fest as the girls. Anne brought out two jambays and a guitar. Hannah, Anne, and I played the guitar (as a guitar and as a drum). At first we would beat out rhythms and then we started singing as well. Anne taught us an African song and Hannah and I started singing Primary songs to the beat. It was kind of like beat poetry/singing improve, but with the lyrics already decided. We played until we were all exhausted.
I tried calling my dear family yet again, but they did not want to talk to me. I then called my best friend Amber! It was so good to hear her voice. I really think she is my sanity some days. Poor soul can’t run because her lungs are still yucky from her pneumonia. We talked for a little bit and I ate some of my amazing cookies!