Christmas Eve

A day to sleep in- HALLELUJAH.

Home alone heaven!

I met the missionaries (Soeur Walton, Soeur Wooly, Elder Lattin, Elder Bennett, Elder Branchflower, and Elder ?) at the church building and we went caroling to a few members homes. President Babn and his wife accompanied us as well.
First house- the Soeur yelled at us that she did not want us there... a genuine missionary slam-the-door-in-your-face experience!
A little discouraged, they asked me to say a prayer after we left the building and I whipped out one of my great "French Sandwich" prayers. Starts out with "Notre Chere Pere Celeste, merci beaucoup pour...English....En nom de Jesus Christ, amen"
C'est parfait!

Second house- no answer. Their two neighbors: no answer.
Third house- Vivian was out grocery shopping, but we did sing to a random lady on the street! Douce nuit, Sante nuit is such a beautiful song.
Fourth house- said they were not home so "Abort"

It was a great day of caroling and being a missionary! It has me thinking of serving a mission now. Of course, not until after a good dose of college life because I want to be in a classroom and not be surrounded by children right now.

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Apres le chanton avec les missionaries, je suis alle au supermarche pour du nourriture pour diner et j'ai vu ma voisin. Elle a m'invite a diner ou pour eggnog ca soir. J'ai pense que se fils etaits la mais quand je suis arrive, etaist un fete avec trois persons francais qui ne parlent pas anglais et ma voisin et se copine. Not what I was expecting! Once again, I had to constantly turn down alcohol because one time is never enough to the French. First the bourbon in her homemade eggnog, then champagne, then wine, then more champagne, then rum or whatever, then coffee...Oh la la. Beaucoup de l'alcool!

I was craving sushi so badly and decided that since it was Christmas Eve, I was going to treat myself. I opted for Picard instead of going to an actual grocery store.

*Picard is a delicious DELICIOUS frozen food grocery store that everyone knows and loves here in France. Frozen meals, side dishes, party foods, dinner meals, vegetables, everything! I love Picard. And I discovered that they sell all different types of cuisine like Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Indian, Thai, etc... yum! I brought home gyoza and a platter of sushi that I paired with a huge bowl of miso soup and indulged.

After curling up and watching Elf, I decided to make an appearance at my neighbors. Since she was American, I was half expecting that they would be dining the American way and by the time that I showed up at 8:30, they would be done with dinner. Welllllll, of course they hadn't even started so I said "what the heck, I'll eat diner with them too". Boy oh boy, I am so stuffed now!!

We started off with a giant seashell of some warm, cheesy, baked thing for an appetizer and then they brought out a lobster tail (each!!!). I couldn't even finish mine because I was so stuffed. There was a side of leeks that I tried convincing myself to eat but I just couldn't fit another thing in my stomach. Well, obviously it's the French kind of party, so after dinner, a cheese platter must be brought out! Two cheeses that my neighbor's partner's parents brought from the middle of France were served and they were shocked at how much I loved the cheese. Once again, I was about to burst.

Next up, dessert. Thankfully it was a small slice of Picard chocolate ice cream cake that was easy enough to get down. I am seriously so full right now. Oh la vache.

Well, to wrap up the night, I Skyped with my family at nearly 2 in the morning. All of my nieces and nephews were together and I got to talk to my siblings. Ahhh such a happy time! So glad they are all together for Christmas. Even me being here isn't nearly as sad as I thought it would be for Christmas. I think the stress of my job is what is actually killing me and forcing homesickness out of me. I love it here in France and in my ward! I love the city and culture and life! I just don't like my job hahaha

Well, it's Christmas time for me now (2:28 am) donc..... JOYEUX NOEL!!!