Coming to an end.

As life teaches us, all good things must come to an end. My time in Toulon seemed to race by (while at the same time I felt like I was there forever), and I finally had to say goodbye to a lot of wonderful people and places.

The day before I left was a jour férié--holiday! So I packed my bags a bit, and then Guillaume and I went with his sister and bro-in-law, in his bro-in-law's décapotable (convertible) (my new second-favorite French word, right after se balader--to go for a walk/ride [random that it's my favorite, I know, but you just have to say it with the right tone and you'd understand]). I guess you could say that we s'est baladé in the décapotable. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures. Too bad. We had a nice swim in this pristine little lake and the boys tried to see who could do the best dives. Here they are not at the lake, but in front of that lovely fountain. 

We met up with Kevin (friend who we worked with) for a bit to say goodbye.

 As I said, the town decided to celebrate my leaving (good thing? bad thing? haha), so the festivities continued that night with fireworks! The cool part was that they had the fireworks going set to music. It was the first time I've seen that, and I thought it was pretty cool.

They had these cool fireworks going off all around the fort.

 Near the end of the show, I met up with an old friend. It was sure good to see this guy again!!

Eddye was a recent convert in New Caledonia when I was there, and before I left, he had a huge dinner for the three of us who left at the same time. It was good to see, as did Alma with the sons of Mosiah, that he was still my brother in the Lord (Alma 17 in the Book of Mormon). Heart of gold, that one. We had fun reminiscing and catching up.

And then the last day finally came. 

Said goodbye to Daniele, our resident cook and swear-word teacher :)

Last time at the office!

After I left the office, I met up with Eddye and we made our way over to the beach.
There could have been no better way to spend my last afternoon in the south of France than soaking up that sun!

 Thanks to Eddye, who came with me to the beach and watched my stuff while I had one last swim in that glorious Mediterranean! (Side note: Eddye plays rugby for the team in Toulouse, and he sure got some dirty looks from the die-hard Toulon fans while walking around wearing his Toulouse jersey!)

Ca va me manquer! -- I'm going to miss this!

Afterward we met up with Guillaume for some pizza and orangina on the harbor. I don't think I've ever drunk so many oranginas in one sitting!!

 I finally splurged and got the whipped cream on top. It wasn't as climactic as I was expecting.

Guillaume, me, and Eddye. 

As the three of us were all sitting around at my apartment after we got ice cream, and Eddye asked me to share a little pensée spirituelle (spiritual thought). I felt like I was back on the mish! He was saying how he likes to ask returned missionaries what life is like afterward, or how things are different. I just said that the blessings never stop flowing, and it's amazing. All I can say is that I know that Heavenly Father takes care of each of His children, and He blesses us so much more than we deserve. 

The thought that I shared with them was Ether 12:3-4.

(this is talking about the prophet Ether here) "For he did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be destroyed, saying unto them that by faith all things are fulfilled--

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

I think that if we believe and trust in Heavenly Father, we can hope for a better world in this world. I know that my life is infinitely better because of the Lord's guidance and blessings than it would be without. 

I sure had a wonderful summer in Toulon, made all the better by the great friends I was able to make while I was there. I seriously just thank Heavenly Father that I had the opportunity to come here. It's funny because originally, Jacqueline and I were set on going to Paris. It was all planned that we would do this internship in Paris, and we had our study topics all picked out to revolve around stuff in Paris. Then a few weeks before we were set to leave, it suddenly got changed. I, for one, was mad! Who ever heard of Toulon and why on earth would I rather go there than Paris? I fumed. But, as usual, Heavenly Father knew EXACTLY what He was doing, and I just could not be more grateful that I was able to spend so much time in the south of France rather than in Paris. I definitely don't think that it would have been as fulfilling to be anywhere else besides Toulon for the summer. And I know that I met people that I needed and that needed me, and it was amazing to feel that and realize, for the umpteenth time, that the Lord's hand is over ALL. 

Another scripture comes to mind when I think about this:

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." -John 10:10-11.

I can't help but think how abundant my life is. It is just full of wonderful people and blessings and opportunities. But I know that because of the life and sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ, we can all have life, in abundance. If we have faith ("unto repentance") in Him, He will grant us every good blessing in our lives. Those blessings might come at odd times, but they will come.

Thank goodness God is good.