Graduated From BYU While Living in Paris - April 29, 2013

Dearest People,

I'M GRADUATED. To celebrate such an occasion, we had a graduation party in my honor - French Style. See picture below. It was quite sophisticated and you can all be jealous if you so chose.

Best College of Fine Arts Convocation Ever - Short and to the Point

This week was awesome. Let's start with Romain. Romain was the miracle of last week. He just walked into church and instantly was an ami. Major side note. So new investigators are called "nouveaux amis" or new friends. So sometimes when we are on the train and we're talking to each other or to someone on the phone we'll say "ya! And found two new friends today" and people will look at us like we're really sad and pathetic. Oh those poor girls. Must be so hard for them to find friends. Anyway, so we had an FHE planned with Romain and two guys from the ward on Wednesday. He said that he wanted to meet us at the Train and then we could all go to the church together. We figured he must have forgotten how to get there. Well we are waiting there and we start to think that he has bailed on us. We call him at about 10 past and he says "of course I'm coming". Ya. Duh sister missionaries. Well we are waiting and then we wonder what train he is coming in on because the next one doesn't come for another half hour. Next thing we know, here comes Romain in his car, wearing his aviator sunglasses. Side note: sister missionaries can't ride in cars with anyone but members. He then is like "hop in and we'll head over to the church" we then have to awkwardly say "uhh...we're not allowed". This happened on two separate occasions this week. Our cool new friends will be all nice and offer a ride and we're just awkward little sister missionaries "uhh...we're not allowed" haha it's too much. He was really cool about it. But at this point, we're already 30 minutes late. The other two guys are waiting at the church because we're the only ones who have key's of the 5 of us. He zooms over to the church and we're sprinting there (another mile or so). Soeur Rhondeau and I were thinking "there is no way to recover from this. That was by far too awkward. How do you recover from this??"

Eventually we got to the church though and it turned out to be one of the best lessons EVER. Soeur Rhondeau said that it was probably the best lesson she had had her entire mission. He really opened up and he kept saying "I have been looking for a reason to change" or "my faith is this big" (and makes a mini circle with his hands) "and I just don't know how to make it bigger". He really is the sweetest man. It was a beautiful lesson and he didn't want it to end. We closed and were ready to pray and he just kept wanting to talk about repentance and how to improve your faith. It was awesome. One of my favorite moments though was when Frere Prunin was talking about how they had a soccer team as a ward. He said that Romain should come and play with them. "Do you play Soccer romain" "yeah. In Guadalupe." "Oh are you any good" "Well, I was on the national pro team..." So no big deal. I'm just teaching a retired pro soccer player and he may or may not have offered me a ride. So ya. The sisters are kind of a big deal.

Another awesome miracle happened yesterday. So we got a call from the assistants about a week ago giving us the contact info of someone in our area. They met him in Paris but he lives in our area and wanted to hear about the Gospel. We try to contact him and things just keep falling through. Finally we set an appointment but we come to the apartment building and we can't find him. We proceed to knock on all sorts of doors and no one knows who Cover is. After calling him, he calls his wife who is home (he wasn't) and she comes out and the moment I saw her, I just loved her. Her name is Sephora and she is from the Congo. We decided beforehand to just do a basic overview of the plan of salvation and just get to know her. We have never met either of them before so we just wanted to know more about them and then introduce them to why we were there and what we do as missionaries. The whole time Soeur Rhondeau and I kept wondering if she was starting to cry or just had more glazed eyes. Towards the end of the meeting, Soeur Rhondeau and I talked about how it doesn't matter what your problems, preoccupations or trials are. The Gospel will help you and your family. At this point she broke down and cried. She opened up about her incredibly hard situation. Her story is seriously one of survival and it just made your heart break. Soeur Rondeau and I already love her so much. You can see that she just needs the Gospel and the hope and peace that it can bring. That night the husband called us to apologize that he couldn't be there and asked how the lesson went. We said that we really enjoyed getting to know his wife and son (rufus). He said that he heard it went super. He said he was really excited for our appointment next week.

This week was very humbling. It reminded me of an experience that I had in my marriage prep class. The teacher handed out playing cards at the beginning of class but he told us not to look at our card. At the end of class he gave us permission to look. Mine was the Queen of spades. He went on to say that in this life, each of us is dealt a different card and a different suit. Some of us, from birth, are given a lot. We are born in the church, in a free country, in a loving home. Each of us there had the luxury of a University education. He said that with the higher suit/cards came a higher responsibility. God gave us gifts not just for ourselves but also for his other children. Some are dealt a very low suit and they do the very best they can. This week reminded me of why I am here and why I came in the first place. It reminded me of the things that a truly important and that while this life is sometimes incredibly imperfect and unfair, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect and in the life to come, everything unjust is made perfect.

OH! I almost forgot! We have a new place! I AM SO EXCITED!! We are getting Elder's in our area and Soeur Rhondeau and I have been secretly hoping that we could get the new place. Well at interviews with President on Tuesday he said to Soeur Rhondeau "one more question. Would you like the new place?" Soeur Rhondeau replied very shyly "...maybe..." After he learned of where we had been living (not that it's super bad. It's just above a couffure) he firmly said "you're Soeurs. You're moving." SO WE GET THE BEAUTIFUL BRAND NEW APARTMENT!! It is seriously so nice and it's in a super nice part of town and it's right next to a great little farmers market :). Happy day. I'll attach pics in another email.

New Apartment Includes a Sky-Light

I love you so so much

Soeur Bitter

P.S. I hope you're all doing what the First Presidency asked and opening your mouth about the Gospel once a day! I heard that last week Jon did so he wins the prize!

You know you are a missionary when... - April 22, 2013

Hi,

We had so many awesome moments this week!! And so many funny stories but I don't know if I have time for them all. So let me just start with you know you're a missionary when moments.

You know you're a missionary when:

1. Your purse breaks because your Book of Mormon is so heavy. 
2. When a man comes up to you on the street and says "I like the green you're both wearing. How do I become part of your team? What team are you on?" And you reply "we are missionaries of Jesus Christ" Aka "we're on Jesus's team." 
3. When you become super excited to have an investigator you have never met just walk into church. THAT WAS A MIRACLE! Let's just dwell on this for a moment. So our church is backwards. We start with Relief Society and Priesthood and then Sacrament meeting is last. The missionaries start in Priesthood because we share a missionary moment in the very beginning and then we go down to RS. Well we come in and we see one of our Ami's fathers who is not a member and we become very excited and we sit next to him. Next thing we know, a man walks in who I have never seen before. My first thought "well...I am very new. Maybe I just haven't noticed him before" until Soeur Rhodeau says "I don't know that man". Preface to Soeur Rhondeau: She has been serving here since the end of Dec.. So if she doesn't know them, that means they are not in the ward. We taught 2nd hour (which is like Gospel Essentials) to our two investigators and afterwards he said he really liked it here. We have an FHE set up with him for tonight and he seemed really excited that he was invited...little does he know that the FHE is planned FOR him :) 
4. You keep pictures that little kids draw for you and hang them on your fridge. 
5. You go porting (door-to-door) and a woman opens the door who is brest feeding her child...and not discreetly either. Just teaching a mini lesson about Joseph Smith to a bare chested woman. No big deal 
6. You feel a sense of being accepted when animals are nice to you. 
7. You have dreams about teaching the Gospel. 
8. People ask you why you and your companion have the same first name...at least once a day.
9. You run to the mailbox to see if you're loved at least 3x a day. 
10. When you stalk 10 year olds to make sure they get to the bus safe in the ghetto. 

So our miracles of the week:

Romain coming randomly to church yesterday was an AWESOME MIRACLE! The best was when one of our friend (Stephen) ran into us with him in-between the block. He was getting to know Romain and he asked him "so how do you know the Soeurs" Romain then points to the class and says, "from class". Stephen was so confused.

We taught a man yesterday named Henrie. We met him on Saturday Night while knocking his neighborhood. He has a big family and he is evangelical. He asked us to come back the same time tomorrow (Sunday). We come back and had an AWESOME LESSON. He has such a spirit of love in his home and after starting to teach him he said "I think I should be taking notes" and he proceeded to take notes of the scriptures we used and Joseph Smith's experience. At the bottom he wrote when our next RDV with him was. When he did that, mine and Soeur Rhondeau's hearts just swelled. He won't forget us! (Hopefully)

We went to a couple dinners this week at members’ homes. This first was at the Lusvardi's. They are this beautiful American family (so it was nice to have a break from French). They made us an AMAZING meal but what was the most fantastic was how much warmth was in their home. They had a super cute daughter name Lily (4ish) and a son Jullian (3ish). Let me just preface that lily is the most well-mannered lovely little girl. She's like a mini Audrey Hepburn and she enunciates all her words with such care. Well at one point during dinner she accidentally spilled her milk. She said "oh no. Mommy, look what happened. I'm sorry". At this point I'm thinking "oh no. She didn't mean to! Hopefully she doesn't get in too much trouble" her mom just nonchalantly replied "oh it's not a big deal" and just whipped it up. About 30 minutes later, Lily's friend Carington opened a cupboard and all the books and toys came spilling out. Silence. "Sorry lily" "Don't worry! It wasn't your fault!" -Lily. I just thought of how evident it was how their kids were raised. Things that don't matter--really DO. NOT. MATTER. There was never an unkind word spoken. I'm sure they have their days like everyone else but it definitely wasn't when we were there. Anyway, it was an awesome day and we really felt like we had a little piece of home. We shared a message that "Faith is like a little seed" and we brought a pack of flower seeds to give to Lily and Jullian. When I asked Lily how she waters or gives sun to our faith tree, she said "well sometimes we talk about Jesus" so precious. And we felt so cool because Lily LOVED the seeds we gave her. She said "Umm. Soeur Bitter. Thank you very much for the seeds. I have been wanting to water the flowers outside but mom says their not mine and now I have my own. So thank you very much" I love her.

We went to Maria's house the next day for crepes and she is AWESOME! She is from Russia and has a little boy and girl as well. We shared a lesson with her about God's love for her. Maria has SO MUCH LOVE for everyone. Like SO MUCH. She is looking for opportunities to show her love for others. We just hope she knows that we love her and God loves her too. It was so funny though. Her kids and Soeur Rhondeau and I were coloring before dinner. I didn't know what to draw so I proceeded to draw the Eiffel Tower...one of the few things I can draw quickly. Soon I became a celebrity. :) I can't speak french amazingly but I can at least draw Eiffel Towers for all the kids we visit.

Yesterday, we had a surprise family night. We found out we had it at the end of Sacrament meeting. We hopped in the car and headed over. It was so awesome. They invited over a man who is in our ward who is less active. We were able to talk about how we can see God in all of his creations. He was such a nice man! I hope he is there this Sunday.

Mom: I heard you're really kicking it when it comes to family history. That is so awesome! After coming on a mission I really see the serious importance of family history work...not that I didn't see it before. I think I just have a more proactive attitude towards it now.

Dad: You planted strawberries! The summer I LEAVE?! I feel robbed. Why are you going to CA?  I appreciate your stalking me and giving us weather updates. Sometimes we try to peek at the news and see what the weather will be like the next day...most of the time it doesn't work.

OH ALSO! What in the world is happening over there? Every time people find out I'm from the United States, the proceed to talk to me about the Boston Marathon bombing and another bombing in Chicago? What happened? I feel incredibly out of the loop.

Jon: You're awesome. Way to be the highlight of the week.

Rachel & Mayu--where are you these days?? I want to send you a postcard but I don't dare send it to your old addresses. I never had Rachel’s address in the first place. If you want a postcard, you have to send me your address :)

Mindy: WAY TO BE THE ONLY PERSON TO SEND ME A LETTER THIS WEEK!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!! EXPECT AN EPIC LETTER COMING YOUR WAY..ok...I'm not that cool. It might not be epic. But you'll be getting one :)

I love you all SO MUCH!!

Sœur Bitter

Amazing to have the Eiffel Tower in your area.

Down But Not Out - April 15, 2013

BONJOUR MY FAVORITE AMERICANS!!!

So I have no idea where to start for this week so we'll start with the most important things. THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME!! Oh also, I was told, on many accounts, that I utilize the word 'love' or some deviation too much. Therefore, I will expand my vocabulary in cette email.

So Soeur Rhondeau and I actually got really sick this week. I know I'm laughing and the funny thing is even we were laughing at how pathetic we were during our bout with the flu. It was Thursday or so and I woke up so ill. The week earlier, I had been holding back Soeur Rhondeau's hair during conference. Then we thought it was food poisoning...now...we think we got sick from one of our amis (investigators). Anyway, we had an appointment with Petula that morning (the sister who is getting baptized) and so I thought "DON'T JUST LAY THERE SOEUR BITTER! GET YOUR LAZY REAR OUT OF BED. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SALVATION OF OTHERS!" Well finally Soeur Rhondeau told me that she thought it was best if we stayed in. She was right. About 30 minutes later we both became really good friends with our bathroom. It got to the point that I decided to sleep on our tile floor. Because 1) it was closer in proximity to the bathroom than my bed and 2) because it was really cold and it felt good for my fever. BUT despite us getting sick and being down and out, we had an AMAZING WEEK! We saw a lot of miracles and we met some wonderful new people.

Feeling Under the Weather but Still Going Strong

First, I know this doesn't sound like a miracle but it is! So we stopped by Joel's house yesterday. He asked us to stop by in the late afternoon on Sunday. So we head over there and his daughter answers the door and says "OH THE MISSIONARIES! My dad told us you were coming but he just left! He was really excited for you to come but he should be back later! Will you please come back?" Be cool Sr. Rhondeau. Be cool. "Ya...you know what, that might fit in our schedules. We'll try to make that happen". As we round the corner we're clicking our heels. We go back later and his mother answers the door and says "Oh my sweet missionaries. I'm so sorry. He's still not here but he told us all about you!" (we found him porting. so I didn't know there was much to say) She then said "Me and my whole family are so excited to learn about the Gospel. Will you please come back??" JE PENSE OUI!! That was definitely the best way, anyone could hope to end a week. Anyway, so we have an appointment with them later this week.

We taught Denise for the first time yesterday as well. She had TONS of questions about the Plan of Salvation. Like A TON. "If we were with God before, why would he send us here? And who is Jesus Christ? He's different than God? What is his role?" It was awesome because the investigators who ask lots of questions are definitely the ones who learn the fastest. I am really excited to teach her and she has the CUTEST (either) son or brother. During the lesson, he slipped down from her lap and went and picked a flower from Garden. He slowly crept over to where I was and slid it across the table to me and then ran back to his mom. WAAA FRENCH KIDS ARE SO CUTE! Also...they're adorable because they can speak French. Every time I think "whoa how can they speak French so well?!" Anyway so after I turned to him and I said "C'est pour moi??" which he nodded really shyly and hid behind his mom again. He was precious. I wore it in my hair for the rest of the day.

Also, yesterday I had my first meal!!...with a family. A wonderful family in our ward invited us over for dinner. They have 4 kids and they are so funny and full of energy. Both of the parents served missions so they love talking to us about how it is going and they understand if an appointment runs over (which it did). Anyway, so we brought an object lesson relating to the iron rod! Well Soeur Rhondeau's mom sent her 2 big packages of the peel twizzlers. We decided that we would use one for the object lesson. We would hide the candy and blindfold one of the kids and see if they could find it. Then we would provide an iron rod that led straight to the Candy. THE KIDS LOVED IT! Apparently French kids love American candy. They kept asking "Is it American?? Is it American?!" Yup. Kids love us. Anyway, they are the most wonderful family and the husband used to own a bakery and so dessert was FANTASTIC!! Apparently the Soeurs get spoiled in the French mission. The Elders a little bit but President Poznanski said that the members just love the sisters. SUPERB!

Updates on France as a place, the weather has been all over the place. Yesterday (Sunday) it was GORGEOUS! It was about 67ish degrees and just sunny all day. We loved being outside. Well a couple days before that it hailed and then a couple days before that, we had lightning storms. Always an adventure! Anyway, the weather has always helped us in contacting or porting in some way. The other day, Soeur Rhondeau forgot her umbrella, and since I have a brilliant mother who found me a very portable umbrella, I always have mine with me. So we were walking around Avon sharing an umbrella...we looked adorable of course. Every time we talked to someone, if they weren't interested they would say something like "you are very nice, and very cute...but no" Probably my favorite phrase of the week.

Oh I almost forgot! I don't know if you do this in Orem, but I guess all the missionaries share their testimony their first week in the ward. I was secretly hoping they would forget. Well they didn't. EVERYONE was so nice to me after and kept complimenting me on my French and how the MTC is doing a much better job about preparing the missionaries for the language. That made me happy. :) Again, everyone is so nice.

Oh, also, you don't have to worry about our safety as Soeurs. We have a 190 lb black man who is our personal body guard a lot of the time...aka the ward mission leader. He is the NICEST man. He is a convert the church and he has lots of the love for the Missionaries. And I feel he feels this need to protect the Soeurs...especially since neither of us is taller than 5.5 or over 115. Anyway, his conversion story is awesome but what is even more cool to me is that he has given up his ENTIRE past life. He'll say things like "Ya...I heard this talk about media and music and I decided that my music wasn't inviting the spirit. So I wiped my entire iPod and started new". That's just the kind of person he is.

Anyway, we're in Paris again and I'm just itching to go see things so I must go! I send my love and my good wishes!!

Dad-- Yesterday, when it was super sunny I thought, "I bet my dad knows exactly how warm it is today. I bet he has added me to his phone." Sure enough, your next letter says you've been weather stalking me :) Love it. Also, the garden looks good! What did you guys plant this year?

Mom-- I love your thoughts on Elder Kueker's talk! That sounds like it was such a good talk. It reminds me how people say over and over. We are not looking for a final destination. In this life we are not wanting to attain a house on 3421 celestial lane, celestial kingdom. Instead it is about BECOMING and HAVING a celestial life, a celestial marriage etc. I love that idea of becoming.

Jon-- Good luck these next couple weeks! You are in my prayers beaucoup! DON'T FORGET YOUR AWESOMENESS!! I'm excited to hear more about how everything turns out. Also when do you graduate?

Attention HFAC friends: Is Meg in the MTC? What's her mailbox etc? Also what are the details on Rachel's wedding?? Also Mayu, if you're reading this, I have been thinking about you beaucoup! Just how awesome you are and what an influence you have had on me. I was thinking about love and agape and the Shack the other day and I am so grateful for you and opening my mind to these new ideas. I love you so much. I'll write you a letter soon.

Au Revoir!!

Avec tout mon amour,

Soeur Kari Ann Bitter

OH PS!! I almost forgot! Soeur Carter (my comp in the MTC) Said her grandpa served in Norway and he is about the same age as Grandpa Weber. MAYBE THEY KNEW EACH OTHER!

Last one I promise. So I was sitting on the plane to come here and I relalized that I was in the MTC for 40 days and 40 nights. Perfect. I labored in the wilderness of the MTC for 40 days and 40 nights.

First Week in France - April 8, 2013

FAMILY!!!

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

Today I was studying Jesus the Christ and it talked about all the names that are given to Christ. I thought of all the names that are given to God. Then I thought of that awesome quote that was sent by the Quorum of the Twelve. (I will probably butcher this quote) but it said something like "of all the names given to God, denoting his royalty, his glories and power, the name he asks us to call him is Father". I think that is such a beautiful thing. In Preach My Gospel it talks about how one of the first things to be lost during apostasies is the nature of God and our relationship with him. I can see that here in France. I have this desire to share with everyone how much God loves them! He wants to have a relationship with us like a child to a Father. What a beautiful thing. And I get to share that each day. What a blessing.

And now the events of the week:

Sorry you didn't really hear from me last week. Our Preparation days are on Mondays and since I was traveling, No pday for me! Before I start can I just say I LOVE FRANCE!! I LOVE THE PEOPLE! I LOVE THE FOOD! I LOVE THE WEATHER! I LOVE IT! This is such a step up from the MTC. The people here are so nice. There is no other word to describe them than 'lovely'. They really are. Even if they are not interested in our message, every person always tells us how much they respect what we are doing and they respect our faith. They tell us to have courage and keep going. They really value being polite and I think that's just a beautiful thing.

On the very first day, we get off of the plane and we immediately meet President and Soeur Poznanski. They brought us Pain de Chocolat (The croissant that has chocolate in the inside that mom loves so much). They met with us and talked to us for a bit and then the Assistants gave us a Book of Mormon and took us on the metro to Paris. The contacting begins! Soeur Callister and I met the sweetest girl from Austria. She was about our age and she accepted the Book of Mormon that Soeur Callister gave her! How great. We'll never know what happened because she lives in Austria but one step at a time right? That whole day was kind of a blur. We had a bunch of orientations -- orientations on how to drive in Paris, on how to clean apartments, on how to use your credit cards, what to do on P.days, etc etc. Thankfully I wasn't jet-lagged at all (even though I didn't sleep on the plane). It was funny to watch all the missionaries begin dropping like flies.

I received my first area and companion assignment. She is FANTASTIC! Funny story about her though. My friend in the HFAC said he knew someone who was serving in Paris and that I should look up her blog to see what it is like there. I read her first couple entries in Paris. Well sure enough, she is my trainer. Her name is Soeur Rhondeau. She is from Salt Lake City UT and surprise-surprise -- she plays the violin too! Super! She didn't bring her violin though :( so maybe we'll be able to find one and play a duet in church sometime. Anyway, she is amazing. I keep getting lucky with companions! There is a part of me though that is fearful. I'm getting too lucky...as if all my trials are being saved for a later day and going to drop all at once! She is really hardworking and up-beat. Our area is pretty big and contains a few different cities. It is called the Melun area.

Because the area is so big, we decided that we are going to focus on a few cities. We'll contact on buses and trains and end up in other cities frequently. But we also decided to narrow our finding approach down. The first day, when we were talking about it, I told Soeur Rhondeau that I felt really good about Avon. It was funny because I knew nothing about Avon or the demographic or the people. So off we went porting (door to door. I don't know how to say it in English) in Avon. We came across this house where these cute kids were peering out the windows but they didn't answer the door. We decided that their parents probably weren't home and so we just waved and left. Then the next day, Soeur Rhondeau felt that we should return to that house and see if the parents were home. Sure enough, the dad answered the door. His name is Freddie and he let us in and we taught him the overview of the restoration and gave him a pamphlet for the Plan of Salvation. He was so wonderful! He was the nicest man. We asked him what his conception of God was and he said "it's like he is above us and all around us". We only stayed for about 15 minutes but at the end we asked if we could say a prayer. Before I offered the prayer, I told him to excuse my French because I was new to the language. He asked where I was from and was excited to hear I was from the U.S. I offered the prayer and then after he said "wow. That was amazing. I have such a good feeling right now. Actually, could you pray again -- this time in English? Because I feel the prayer would be even stronger!" HOW AMAZING IS THAT! Sure enough, I offer another prayer. He loved it so much. He works a lot in Germany and France but he told us that he wants us to come back as much as possible. That we bring a "positive energy" that he wants to have in his home. Next time, he said, he has to make us dinner. WIN! I just love the people of France. Anyway, his name is Freddie and we just love him. We are hoping that we will see him again this weekend. Hopefully work isn't too crazy and we are able to teach him.

The coolest experience happened while porting. We were knocking and this man opens the door. The second he opened the door, I felt like love just poured out of their house. He was the nicest man. He called his wife over and she was so wonderful. They were Muslim and not interested in the Gospel but they had strong testimonies that we were all Children of God and that we were all the same in God's eyes. That He loved all of his children so deeply. It was amazing to see a family that loved each other so much that it literally poured out of their home. Did I mention I just love all the French people? Oh, except sometimes, the sisters get hit on by creepy men. That's a fun side note that describes an average day in France. Who can complain though? I mean, honestly. We're in France!

One of the lessons we taught this week was to this awesome lady named Petula. She has a baptismal date in May! The Soeurs started teaching her before I got here. Soeur Rhondeau says that her knowledge of Christ and God is super limited. She had never heard of Christ's miracles before meeting us. They had watched with her the "Finding Faith in Christ" movie and to Petual, it was like watching a cinematic movie for the first time. Whenever a miracle was performed she would just gasp and cover her mouth with her hands. She would turn to the missionaries with a look on her face like "Is this true?" So awesome. She loves all the LDS movies. We watched the restoration with her this week and described the restoration in more detail. She is just such a joy to teach. She has so much faith and is so humble. When she hears truth, she doesn't doubt it. She just believes. I love teaching so much. Each person has so many wonderful spiritual experiences in between visits that they are just dying to share with us. I love it.

CONFERENCE WAS AWESOME!! So here, we watch Saturday morning that night and the Sunday, we watch the next three sessions... the Sunday afternoon is too late for us to watch so we will have to catch it some other time. There is a member in our ward (who is an Angel) who told us if we missed anything; we can come watch it at her place anytime. Also, did you see me did you see??? The MTC choir was on TV!! Did you see us? I didn't because I couldn't watch longer. Let me know!!

France is BEAUTIFUL!! In our area alone there are like 10 chateaus (castles) and in every town there is at least one really old church. The houses and buildings are so cute! Today, for P-day we are going in to Paris. The mission president has changed the rules so that if you are in the area/suburbs of Paris, you can go anywhere in Paris for your P-day.

Speaking of President and Sister Poznanski...they are saints. Sister Poznanski is the sweetest woman. Before she was called to this calling, (about a year ago) she did not know any English. When she got the call, she thought of all the American missionaries who would come to France. She wanted them to feel as welcome as possible so she decided that she would learn English. I was floored when I found this out because her English is INCREDIBLE! The first two days we were with them, they bent over backwards to make us feel welcome. Everyone in the office was put to work in accommodating the new missionaries and making them feel welcome.

Sister Poznanski gave us this mini arc de triumph when we got our area assignments. She told the story of Napolean and gave us this quote that he said. That we cannot return home, except under our personal Arcs of Triumph. She encouraged us that when we finally walk under our "Arc of Triumph" and return home that it is actually with triumph.

So I love you all bocoup de bocoup (that is not a real phrase by the way, so don't say it to a French person). I love that you all sent me emails :) made me feel loved. Go ahead and look up the touristy spots in my area :) -- you'll be jealous.

Well I have to go grocery shopping so we can catch the train to Paris. We're going shopping and to the Eiffel Tower! Again, you can be jealous if you so choose.

Sacré-Coeur Basilica

The Gospel is true. God lives. I heard that the First Presidency recently released a challenge to bear testimony of one Gospel truth per day. That's awesome! DO IT! I know I will :)

Also, the theme of conference this time--definitely the Family and Missionary work. HOW FANTASTIC! I thought of the YSA wards like "hmm...so which should I be doing...getting married or going on a mission.." the thought made me laugh.

Avec tout mon amour,

Sœur Bitter

First Day in France - April 2, 2013

A note from Sister Poznanski (mission Mom),

THE WORK IS HASTENING FORWARD !!!!
Next week is going to be a magnificent week !!! The prophets have said, ‘’God is hastening his work’’ and indeed, with the change of the age of our missionaries, our mission will have the blessing and the privilege to receive 90 more missionaries in the next 4 transfers ! We will become a mission of 270 missionaries (including 10 couples).

Concretely, what does this mean for our mission ?
- Certain little branches which didn't have missionaries before will be able to receive some.
- The amount of sister missionaries will double, which means we will be able to open up some cities to sisters
- Certain cities will be able to receive another companionship.
The allocation of these missionaries is always done by inspiration. It is important that the members desire and show that they are ready to work with the missionaries. Let us not forget that it isn't the members that are there to help the missionaries, but the missionaries are serving the members and the bishoprics to help them fulfill their missionary responsibilities.

Tuesday April 2nd we will welcome 23 new missionaries (a lot of 18 year old elders and 19 year old sisters). Mid May, 40 others will join us, and at the end of June, 30 more missionaries !!!

This also means finding and equipping 25 new apartments for which we have to thank all the members here and there who have helped us and who continue to do so. Without this precious help we wouldn't have been able to do it by ourselves despite the incredible efforts of our missionary couples and President Poznanski’s faithful counselors.

I want to testify to you that our Father’s hand is over this mission. We see it act miraculously every day so that everything is done orderly, effectively, and especially serenely.
The field is ripe for the harvest, our missionaries are ready to walk with faith towards the elect, find them and teach them beside and at the houses of our members who are willing to open their homes to the eternal joys attached to missionary work.
Thanks to everyone who prays and acts to participate in one way or another in this work that is hastening forward. We are so blessed to see this in such an obvious way.
May all these young missionaries be welcomed at the level of all the efforts that they are doing and will do by accepting to come serve and strengthen the church here in our country. May be blessed, all of you, for your support and prayers in our behalf in such a great time.

Sister Poznanski

Sister Bitter With President and Sister Poznanski

Our Incoming Group of 23 Missionaries

A note from President Poznanski:

To the Family of Sister Bitter

Sister Poznanski and I were delighted to welcome your daughter , Sister Kari Ann Bitter , into the France Paris Mission on 02 Apr 2013. She and her MTC companions were enthusiastic and all arrived in good health. She spent her first day eating some home cooked food, napping, visiting with me, contacting non-members in the heart of Paris, and sharing testimonies in our home. We enjoyed her spirit.

The next morning, after a mission orientation, Sister Bitter left for her first assignment to work in the Melun Area with Sister Rhondeau, who will be her trainer. Their apartment address is: 

(send an email to karlabitter@gmail.com for Kari's address).

Any packages or letters you would like to send will reach your missionary at this address.

We feel very privileged to work with your daughter. We also realize the responsibility we share with you to help her continue to grow spiritually as she faithfully performs her duties. May the Lord inspire us all to sustain him in this challenging and exciting assignment. We hope you will join Sister Poznanski and me in praying each day for your daughter , her companion, investigators, and all of us serving in the France Paris Mission.

A positive, supportive letter from home every week does wonders to sustain a missionary’s morale. Proverbs 25:25 states: As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

Sincerely,

Franck Poznanski 

President, France Paris Mission

A look at Melun France