Hump Day!!

August 17, 2015 (letter to dad)

Yeah sorry we didn't have much time to write last week, we went out to

a mall and got back later than we had thought then we spent the rest

of the night with bishop Conte going to see members and giving

blessings to people and what not. He also let us eat at his house and

let his kids attack me haha they are a mix family, he is Tahitian and

his wife is Spanish and so they have really tan kids who speak Spanish

and French, but they are super active and run everywhere, but they

don't have a yard like most families here in France so it's in the

house. But the rest of the week we spent a lot of time with service.

We spent most of a day painting Maria's kitchen (our recent convert)

and moving all her things into her one bedroom, then everything back

into the kitchen. You know how small European apartments are I

imagine. Tiny... I think Americans just like their space I couldn't

live in one of these with a family. But we also had to help one of

bishops friend move into a new house so we spent the most part of a

day helping him move as well, he is a really nice guy and made us some

bbq after words which was super nice of him! He is Boucher so he knows

his meats, however he didn't cook the chicken enough it was a little

raw. I don't know if it was safe to eat but I ate it anyway and I'm

still here so apparently it was fine haha. We didn't teach him or

anything, but it was a good exposure of our church and to his family.

They have been to a baptism and a couple other things in the past I

guess, but we will see if they maybe wanna learn more soon. Their

house is really kinda like a Swiss cabin or chalet type thing. I loved

the style on the inside I wanna Swiss cabin style house when I'm older

I think haha but anyway, I saw the hot tub!! And I was like "ELDER

TIHOPU, look how much fun they have without me" and he just laughed

haha just wish you'd made that decision like when I could use it a

little more, but it will be usable for me soon enough. Maybe a new

boat will be next...? 🙌🏼😄  but that and cute Lacy, she is getting

so big and funny! She might be the funniest one when I get back.

School is already starting!! It seems like I just left and school has

been going this whole time... Now things are getting really real, the

downhill is beginning, it doesn't feel like I have been a missionary

for long at all. I thought by a year I would know everything! Ha and

just so you know, it doesn't really work that way. We are always

learning as missionaries, I have learned a bunch but there is always

more I can know. Oh and some advice for Nate, he has gotta start

thinking of campaign ideas right now cause he is gonna run for office.

He could totally win! And for Mary, well... Idk haha it's Mary. She

will have fun and love learning and stuff. Maybe for some teachers it

would be better if she isn't related to me... Jk. But Ashley Denning

wrote me and said she will watch out for Mary, so you got someone

there looking out for her.

Yeah when I get back I can sing a song in French if you want, there

are a lot of cool French songs. The only concern is everyone's ears,

would that really be a smart thing to cause so much damage in such a

short lived moment? Haha i may be a missionary, but I still can't

sing.

Yeah you can tell him I'm doing fine! I would say that is pretty

accurate. I haven't been attacked yet, so all is well here in

Marseille. And I loved the bmw! I am sad to see that car go. Was it

not reliable? And what car are you thinking she is gonna get? A

Maserati? Or maybe a Porsche? I would say a Porsche personally, haha

But yeah it was a good week, Elder Tihopu threw up this morning

though, so we might just be chillin here for the day, we have two

exchanges this week one with our DL and the Zl's  on the other. It

will be interesting to see how it goes. Calls are next Friday! So I

will know if I am gonna do 9 months in Marseille or move to a new

place. Oh and it was elder Wilson's birthday this past week! He is

doing well, we write a little and he is still the great man he was

when he left. Love you all!

August 17, 2015 (letter to mom)

Yeah it's crazy to think that it will have been 365 days since I have

seen any of you people! But it has been a good 365 days for sure!

There are less days ahead of me than there are behind, and that is a

weird thought even though it doesn't seem like I have been here that

long.

Katie and lacy have been at our house a lot this summer, sounds like

you have found a lot of fun things to do with them, and have been

staying pretty busy. Everyone here is jealous of lacy and how cute and

funny she is, you should hear the French people talk about her it's

really funny. But school is starting and the rest of the following 9

months will be a blur and before you know it we will be preparing for

a new college student in myself. Haha I am not too excited to go back

to school, but it is the next step for sure. I will start worrying

about it more when it gets closer and the decision becomes more

important.

As for nates surgery, you are all sure that is the best thing at that

age? Idk cause I haven't talked to the doctors but he will continue to

grow and maybe have to do another. And also it really is a big

surgery, nothing to take lightly. I remember hearing them talk about

it and thinking they were over exaggerating it, when really they hit

it pretty right on the head with everything. But it is up to him and

what his pain tolerance and desires are haha next time you are at the

doctor for that will you be able to ask maybe a little more about me,

cause these surgeries might play a role in schooling and other things

to come. I would just like to be more informed with how we would

proceed with timing on everything. Surgery time, healing time,

rehabilitation time and everything.

So this week as I told dad we did a lot of service actually we spent

two days doing service, one was for Maria and the other one was for

the bishops friends who were moving. We painted Maria's kitchen for

her and she fed us some Cape Verde food which was pretty good, it was

beans and some eggs and other things that I don't know. And then when

we were done with the move the bishops friend made us bbq. The bbq

they used was more like a kitchen burner, not the huge roll around

grill big enough for a football team amount of meat like we have at

home. They could cook like 3 brochettes at a time haha but it was

still good! The rest of our lessons were with Maria's cousins and

uncles who are all real,y nice and really cool. One, José, is starting

to come to church all on his own and he loves to talk to us and

everything. We will be seeing him this week at Maria's house again. It

was actually him who asked us to go and see Maria with him! He has a

bunch of family that come to church so that is really good.

And for district meetings... This is the Lyon France mission, so we do

things a little different here. We don't have sectors that cover like

half a city or little areas, we are spread out across half of two

countries and only like 3 people have cars so we have had to take some

liberties and we don't do district meetings every week. We don't have

the time or resources to do that, for some people it is almost an all

day activity to come to district meeting so we only do them every week

and a half or two weeks. The district meetings are usually held here

in Marseille because it is a very central meeting point and we do it

in our chapel. We meet with our district which is Avignon, Vitrolles,

Marseille and the zone leaders from Aix will come usually. It depends

what we do usually we just talk about what we need to do better, and

how we can do that. This last time we talked about using iPads in

contacting and having them help us in our work with temples and it was

sorta irrelevant to Marseille because guess what... We can't take our

iPads out on the street! (Too dangerous) So we practiced stuff we

won't get to use here haha but maybe if I move I will use those

skills. But yeah we just give insight and listen to the presentation

from our district leader.

Love you all, sorry this I late, our buss was like 30 minutes late

and there was SUPER bad traffic cause there is a forest fire... And

French people are dramatic so they will take their time probably.

Bisous! Je vous love

August 24. 2015

Haha already tired of school? It's been three days!! The only thing I

can compare that to is the first week in the MTC, that first week was

the longest, toughest week ever but the good news is that it gets

better! If he finds friends in his classes or makes friends then it

will make the days seem a lot faster and school more enjoyable. But as

for video games i would think its the same concept, he just has to

find something that he likes to do more than video games. Limit them,

and make him find other things that will spark his interests, I'm not

sure what that would be exactly. The only thing I can think of is

friends haha just friends to keep him occupied, ones that don't just

come over to play video games. And when I get back I can solve the PS3

problem... Haha I paid 2/3 of it so maybe I will just take it with me

when I leave home haha jk. But that is what kept me off of video

games, if I was playing them that meant I had nothing better to do..

That's really cool for Mary, I. Sure it was another great experience

but completely different at the same time! Each of us are so

different, but we all have things that tie us together through the

gospel and even just our human nature, but it's cool to take time and

have focus be out on you and your potential and I'm sure it was great

for Mary to hear all the great and prosperous things she has coming in

her life.

I'm sad you couldn't go to Proctors backyard concert I love seeing

pics from that and hearing about Ted singing haha it's a total summer

highlight every year but so is the cul de sac of fun! Next year maybe

I will make it home in time to go! I imagine I should be there to

share those moments.

This is the last week of transfers and so it could very possibly be my

last week in Marseille, considering I have been here for 30 weeks now!

Haha that's so long.. It feels like I've spent almost all my mission

here so it will be super weird to leave all these families and people

I know at the church. And even a bunch of Amis that we have! Seeing

and knowing these people, sharing their difficulties and helping them

grow really brings your hearts closer together. You worry and wish the

best for these people, we went to visit Dorian this week (it has been

about 5 weeks since we have seen him) and it was so great! He found

work, was super happy and his house was clean! His friends were there

and he was talking to them and callin me Frère the whole time, he

still follows the word of wisdom and tells EVERYONE to stop smoking

and drinking coffee! And she shares the Book of Mormon with everyone

too, we are giving out 3 more to his friends now.. But all said and

done, it is the relationships that you are able to build that I will

miss. But the family of Maria are doing well! José didn't come to

church this week, neither did Maria though... But for the most part

they are doing well and keeping commitments. We are gonna try and push

José a little bit more and ask him to do a little more work cause he

is super awesome and want him to benefit from the blessings of eternal

families. He has a beautiful family and I wanna see them all together!

Haha selfish of me... But I figure it's a good thing in a way.

The pics of cassis, the ciotat and other little cities in Marseille

don't even do to justice how cool these places are! There are huge

beaches tons of people from everywhere and it looks like so much fun!

Haha we will need to come back for sure! The Cote D'Azur is the most

beautiful place, don't know why I got lucky enough to serve down here

in southern France. But Palani will be going to the mtc next week! He

gave his farewell this past week, so I am excited to finally have

another Titan become a part of this mission. Haha it's been a long

time I've been waiting for him to start, and it's finally coming up.

Service this week didn't play a huge role, we went and looked at an

apartment for the sisters in an outer ville and then we had two

exchanges, for one I was in Avignon and the other I was in Marseille.

It's really fun to see other cities and to to other people sometimes

especially when you spent so much time in the same city! But yeah this

week was a good week, I will update the pics a little later when I

have some to share.

Love you all,

Elder Schettler