Called to Serve. Paris, France: Inspired Pizza

Dear Family,

One of the common conversational topics among missionaries when we get a new companion is what jobs we've had in our life. When Elder Lloyd and I got put together, we found out that we had both worked at pizza places! He at Little Caesar's and I at Papa John's. So, we talk about pizza occasionally, but, we hadn't really had a chance to buy it before.

Sunrise over Lorient

This past Saturday, we ended up at a bus stop just next to the local Domino's. It had been a hard day. Iona had told us that she wasn't coming to church, and our rendez-vous for the evening had fallen through with that. And we were hungry. It was Samedi Fou (Crazy Saturday), which means that all of the pizzas, in any size, were all 8 euros! With how hungry we were and how good it smelled, it only took a moment for us to get pulled in. We took our pizza down to centreville, at the big plaza next to the Hôtel de Ville (town hall, kind of). There were a lot of people walking around, since the match was about to start, so we just kind of sat and enjoyed looking at how decked out everybody was for the game while we ate our pizza. As we finished up, and the game got going inside the stadium, a man behind us grabbed our attention and asked about where we were from. His name was Albano, and he was super cool with us. He was just in town for the evening, but he let us talk with him long enough to explain our purpose as missionaries and what we believe. Towards the end of our conversation (right before we left him with a prayer en fait) another young guy, Leo, showed up and asked what we're doing here, so we had Albano explain, which he did really well, telling him that we're here to help spread honor and respect. Let me tell you, it's really cool to hear someone say that, in their own words, about you. After we finished up that conversation and left them both with a prayer, we headed off, planning to go home for the evening, when we felt prompted to change our route a little bit to go past two women sitting on a bench together. And...we ended up teaching them as well! What started out as an impulse for some hungry guys turned into a truly inspired thing, that helped other people feel the love of God.

Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of time today, we're catching a train to Rennes tonight so we can be on time for our conference in Angers tomorrow. I'll just leave you with some other highlights. :)

Tuesday evening, after our conference, and at the end of what had been a seemingly perfect day, we were driven home by the Malagash family, and had them drop us off at the church, which ended up being a tour of the church for them! Even better, Frère Fontaine just happened to be there, and he helped us out a ton!

Thursday evening, we had planned a soirée familiale with the famille Moulis. What we had planned for 7, with just us and Iona being invited, somehow turned into us getting there at 6 with her grandparents in tow. Soeur Moulis however, was so so kind to us, and let us come inside and ended up even making extra food at the end for everybody. To me, that was a miracle. Not the food necessarily, but the way that someone could be so kind and patient with two young missionaries who are nowhere near perfect. It was so great for us.

And last night we happened to be visiting our Brazilian family when their younger daughter, who hadn't been home in 4 months (she has her own apartment) just happened to stop by! We ended up teaching her and inviting her to come to church on Sunday. :)

We really have so many opportunities to see little miracles out here. Actually, scratch that, a member told me once that there are no LITTLE miracles. And it's true.

This morning, we ran to the beach and this time, finally, I had my camera! So I was able to see (and record) another beautiful miracle, the start of a new day. It's one of those things I've learned to appreciate more out here. The power of a new day, how each one of them is an opportunity and an invitation to change and become more like our Savior.

Thanks so much for all the love you guys send, I really feel it in your letters. They made me smile a lot today, and I really felt at home while I read them. :)

Keep up the good work!

Elder Bigler