We got up really early and said goodbye to the Lepores. We wanted to find a market that opened at six but we couldn't find it. So we just went straight to the institute where Terencia was going to meet us. We parked the car and bought breakfast from the boulangerie while we waited for Terencia.
When I saw her from across the street I was so excited, and she was walking with someone I didn't recognize from a distance. I knew it wasn't anyone I had met in Geneva. When they were on the other side of the street about to cross I could finally see her clearly. It was Alexandra, a girl I taught while I was in Geneva. She got baptized while I was still in Geneva but she has moved around a lot for internships. I had no idea she was in Lyon. I nearly started crying I was so surprised. I didn't know who to hug first! We sat on the bench and talked for an hour. It was the best morning I've had in a long time. It was precious. Apparently Alexandra is Terencia's roommate and after Terencia made plans with me she told Alexandra that she was going to go meet up with a returned missionary. She showed Alexandra my picture from the Liahona and Alexandra said, "wait! that's MY Soeur Read!"
Tender mercies come from the smallest things. We visited the institute, and I talked to the secretary, who helped me call Terencia. And all of that resulted in a moment that I will never forget.
It was painful to leave, but we needed to get on the road.
We drove through Annecy to take pictures. When I first heard about Annecy on my mission I wanted to serve there so bad. President re-opened the area with sisters while I was in Geneva but I never got to see the city. It is a gorgeous little town. We got out of the car to see the lake and there was a man feeding birds. He gave me some of his bread and the little sparrows came and landed right on my hand. They were so cute! I wonder how long it took for the birds to trust him. I am sure he goes there every day.
After Annecy we drove to Chamonix, re-entering Switzerland. We had been driving under a constant light cloud coverage which worried us because we wanted to see Mont Blanc. But the people at the ticket booth told us there wouldn't be a problem. Mom decided to stay at the bottom and she did some shopping while dad and I took the cable car up to the top, to the Aiguille du Midi. There were people wearing serious mountaineering gear. One guy carried a backpack that could fit a full-grown man inside. I have no idea what was actually in there. As we took the cable car up we entered into the cloud and we couldn't see anything. The cable car has a halfway point where we have to switch cars to go all the way up. In the second car we still couldn't see anything but clouds until suddenly, out of the constant light grey, the most impressive, white-capped mountains extended on both sides as far as the eye can see. The clouds only sat over the land, blocking all view of the mountains, but above them it was perfectly clear and sunny. And cold. I could barely believe where my father and I were standing- seeing such glorious mountains FROM the mountains is really incredible. And there was a LOT of snow. Our timing with the storms that had passed through days before was perfect.
I thoroughly enjoyed our time up there. I through snow at my dad, ate and icicle and bought a hot chocolate. I also freaked my dad out every time I took my feet off the ground. Jumping up on the railing for a picture or stepping out onto the snow through the gate where the snowboarders come in- no matter that I was always totally in control- dad would shout "Nanu! Get down!" He's more afraid of heights than I am- even though I think hiking half dome is FAR more risky than anything I did. Dads gotta be dads.
We passed through Martigny after we left Mont Blanc. It is a little swiss town in the mountains that has a museum about St. Bernards, which were used as rescue dogs in the mountains for years. They actually have dogs at the museum and if you have lots of money you can pay to go out with them when they walk the dogs. We just enjoyed seeing them an petting a couple. They are such big, cute dogs. They're SO FLUFFY!
We drove through Vevey, a town on the edge of Geneva lake, or Lac Leman, and took a picture infront of the Nestle Alimentarium fork. Its just a big fork statue in the lake.
We got in to Lausanne in the evening. We're staying with the Jaquet family. They were very welcoming to the missionaries and always had us for Sunday dinner. They said we could always come and stay with them. They have a camping car where we can sleep. Sister Jaquet asked if we were going to eat dinner with them. We didn't already have other plans and I couldn't refuse.
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