Called to Serve. Paris, France: Leaving Luxembourg

Moien!

So, as you can tell, I ran out of time to finish everything up. Transfers make life suddenly a ton busier. So, I should probably tell you about those, since I didn't cover that in my journal yet... (Adam sent us photos of his Journal for the past week. We did not include them because they would be too hard to read as photos in the Blog.)

Outside the Church in Luxembourg

First off, I am getting transferred. As hard as that is. Leaving this place is gonna be tough, and I'm already getting all sentimental as we walk around the city ("Oh, remember that one time, right here, when that drunk guy got beer on us as he shook our hands for being such good people? That was a good day...") and I really don't want to leave the members. They're such wonderful people, and they've treated us with so much love here. Having a ward that has a primary, and a youth program, that's been great. And one full of people that serve each other so much, I don't know if you could find another like it within this mission. They're not perfect, that's for sure, but they seem to be truly doing their best.

The culture itself has been amazing as well. As I like to say it, the culture of Luxembourg IS culture. Having a big mix of cultures, pretty much EVERY culture, all in the same city, is something just magical to me. It's not like in America, where we're kind of a "melting pot". Nothing seems to really "melt" together, but just sit side by side, more like a salad or something, to take the analogy a little farther. I've tried to describe what it feels like here, and the two closest things I've come up with are Narnia and the Twilight Zone. It just feels...cool, at least to me, to walk through all the different conversations in all the different languages. It's a feeling I'm really gonna miss, and one I really hope to feel again someday when I come back to visit. ;)

The Long Journey Across France - Again

Now, second, where I'm going. You guys remember Lorient, right? No, not back there, but kind of close actually. I'll be serving in the Rennes (pronounced renn) ward, back in Bretagne! So, that means yet ANOTHER big move across the country. It's a pretty big city, one of the biggest in France, if I remember right, and it has a metro and everything. There are a grand total of FOUR missionary équipes (companionships) in the ward there, so it'll be a little different than Luxembourg. I'll be in a 4 man apartment again (it's been a long time now) with the Zone Leaders. They, my companion and I, and the two équipes of soeurs make up our district, so we'll just be doing district meeting and zone conference in our own ville (makes for a lot less traveling than Luxembourg). If you remember, Rennes is where Elder Evans went to serve after he left Nogent. It's gonna be a really lively place, and a really French place, which is a great place to finish a mission. My French hasn't exactly improved in my time in Luxembourg, so I'm hoping to really dig in with the last 4 or so months that I have to really get good at French.

Third, my companion is named Elder Kelley. I don't really know much about him yet except that it's his second transfer in the field (so he's been out about 6 weeks). That makes the difference between us easily the biggest of any of my companions so far. But I look forward to getting to know him, as well as the new area and members.

So, I'll be leaving Luxembourg Wednesday morning, catching a TGV at 6:40, and I'll be heading back into familiar territory, La France! Let me know if you have any questions or anything. It's gonna be another great adventure, and, as sad as I am to leave Luxembourg, one I'm really looking forward to.

Adi,

Elder Bigler

Photos - Adam was short on letter time this week due to a trip to the 800 Year-Old Vianden Castle in Northeastern Luxembourg for his last P-Day there. Here are a number of those photos from his visit and final days in Luxembourg.