Pay It Forward

As I may have mentioned before, there have been some big hiccups with INSEEC, the French business school where Burke's classes have been for the past two months.  I won't go into all of the problems, but will settle on saying that there have been many.  One of the largest issues has been with our housing.  As you probably remember, Burke and I were told a month prior to our move that we would be living in an apartment on the Champs Elysees, but the day of our arrival in Paris we were told that the apartment wasn't ready for us and we would be spending a week at Cite Universitaire (our tiny dorm room).  We were surprised, but rolled with the punches, even when we found out the day before our move that the apartment would not be available at all anymore and the dorm room would be our permanent home until our stay in Paris was over.  I was pretty frustrated, but my sweet non-confrontational husband reminded me that we were rarely at home anyway and that it would all work out just fine. 

So we got used to our little room and I began to love our quiet area.  All was fine and dandy until Burke got an email from the lady at INSEEC informing us that our room at Citie Universitaire was booked for July and would not be an option.  She said she had found another apartment for us, but that it would be about 750 Euros (about 1,000 bucks) for 2 weeks!  This time I was pretty darn upset and screeched, "Burke, this is unacceptable!"  I just felt that something like this would never fly in the US.  If you are promised a certain housing setup and have budgeted accordingly, then the people at the school who set it up should have to follow through on it, don't you think?  We had a week to try and figure out what we were going to do and we began praying for a solution.

So, here is a side story for you that will connect in a moment...this is a picture of our Sunday dinners at the Shurtleff's home.  Richard and Elaine Shurtleff (standing in the back) are an amazing couple who have been living in Paris for the past 3 years.  Richard's mother lives in Burke's hometown of Parowan and we came out here hoping to meet them and have them show us the ropes of the city.  The first time we met them at church, they had invited us to their home within a couple of minutes and that day we took the metro to their apartment after church and stayed for 6 hours!  They are the most hospitable and gracious people you can imagine!  Every Sunday since then we have been invited over for Elaine's incredible feasts with anywhere from 10-20 guests at the table.  The day we took this picture we were quite the international group from Venezuela, Mexico, Pakistan, France, a missionary from Switzerland and the rest of us hailing from various parts of the United States.

When we got the news about our living situation, our thoughts went to the Shurtleffs and their constant reminder that if we ever needed anything to let them know.  Burke and I discussed the possibility of calling them and asking for their help, but we blanched at the idea.  A fault we both posses is that we feel very uncomfortable being on the receiving end of service.  We also felt that we had already been helped beyond belief from so many different people since we decided to go on this trip and we did not want to have to ask for help!  However, about a week before we were supposed to move, Burke and I were doing our scripture study in the Book of Mormon and we read about how the Lord wants us to have joy and is ready to give us every blessing imaginable if we only will ask for it.  When we finished our study, Burke got up and straight away went to call the Shurtleffs.  His cheeks were flaming red as he talked to Richard and I was crying as I heard words like, "I'm so sorry we even have to ask...are you sure?...is there anything we can do in return..." knowing that of course this Christ-like couple was taking us into their home without a moment of hesitation.
When Burke got off the phone he told me that Richard could tell how embarrassed we were to even ask and he reminded Burke that this was an opportunity for them to serve and he was confident that we would have opportunities to pay it forward in the future.

It has been over a week now since we have been staying at the Shurtleff's apartment and it has been incredible to be here!  Elaine takes such good care of us and they have so much life experience and wisdom that we are trying to soak in at every opportunity.  It is incredibly humbling to realize that they are in a position where nothing we could give them could possibly express our gratitude, but I know that I will never forget their generosity as long as I live.  I am full of hope that Heavenly Father will allow Burke and I to have opportunities to serve others in the future and pay the service forward.