9 Jan 1929
John Griffin to Mother / Grenoble, France
The branch here seems to be going along about the same. One Sunday we'll have a good big crowd and then the next we'll have a small, poor crowd. Last Sunday it was real cold so all we had out was 14. The stove was not working so well, and the 'salle' was cold and so were the people. I suppose though that we have to have the cold days to appreciate the good ones.
This last week I have had a terrible cold, and last Monday I stayed in bed most of the day. However Tuesday I was up and at it again and tonight I feel fine, that is as far as the cold is concerned. When I was in Montpellier I busted two teeth or they must have become rotten and in eating they broke all up. they didn't hurt me though and so I didn't do anything about it. The other day while eating some more of one of them busted and exposed the nerve. Boy I about died. I thought it would cover itself up again but after going about 3 days without being able hardly to eat or talk, I gathered up all my courage and last Monday I went to a dentist. Well, he said he couldn't do anything until he killed the nerve. He just about got me too. He put some stuff in it to kill the nerve and for about 3 hours I walked the streets and moaned. However, by night the pain had developed into a dull ache and so I managed to sleep a little. Today I went back to him and he went boring around in [my mouth] and found that the nerve wasn't dead so gave it another shot. It didn't hurt me though, like the first time. The other tooth he is filling all right. I hoped to be able to finish my mission without having to go to the dentist, but it was impossible. That means goodbye to my savings, and with them, goodbye to trips, presents, etc, but I have to talk and eat too, so I had to do it. The dentist is apparently a nice fellow. He has studied over at the U. of Pennsylvania. He doesn't talk English very well though so we talk French all the time. He is a young fellow and very broad-minded. he is very interested in what I am doing and has asked me for tracts. If my tooth holds out long enough I'll have him converted before I leave. I hope that when I get them fixed this time, that will last me until I'm through [with my mission].
Boy it was surely cold this morning (Thursday), perhaps not as cold as it gets at home, yet it froze about 4 inches of ice. the day is right clear and the sun is trying to do its part, without much success. It is now noon and the sun is in the position it is at 6 p.m. in the summertime. When I returned from tracting this morning I found the fruit cake here waiting for me. I had to pay 3 Fr 75 duty. Counting all the tips, fees, and duty it only came to 8.20 Fr. It is surely funny the way they do but from now on it I think it will be best to mail all things and not bother with missionaries.
Last summer I bought a very expensive leather handbag to send home to you. I took it up to Geneva and asked Charles to send it home with some missionary that was going. I think it stayed at Geneva for quite a while. Finally Chuck said Elders Moody and Cope took it home. They arrived home some time after the first of December. So you should have had the bag by now. If you have seen nothing of it, let me know and I'll try to find out where it is.
Monday I received a letter written or rather mailed on the 23rd, and Tuesday I received a letter mailed on the 20th. I was glad to hear that everything was going along as well as it was. I hope that by now things are arranged at the store so that we know where we are headed. I would surely liked to have been home to help eat the turkey. We didn't have any Christmas except the little the 'pension' gave us. However we had a good time New Years, so we didn't care about the eats. The fruit cake arrived in very good condition...
I was awfully sorry to hear of the plight of the Pearts. It surely seems too bad to me - what is the matter with the Church, it is their duty to do something. When we hear of these cases it makes us pretty skeptical about advising the people over here to leave everything they have and go to America. I hope that things will be done for them.
Back