February 10, 2014

Howdy y'all back home hope it was a great week. This week was cold and it rained a TON!!!!! We have rivers over flowing over here and some houses that are close to the rivers or that are in low areas have some severe water damage. It’s insane how much rain we get here. It has been raining every day since I got here. Not all day but it rains like 3 to 6 hours each day. Anyways we did not let the rain stop us so here is my week..... Monday: Was sort of a p-day we had to meet with some of our investigators that day so it kinda of through off our normal p-day but it was still really fun. We saw this guy named Phillip and another guy name Paul-Patrick. After our lessons we did some shopping and then we did emails. Then we ate diner and went out porting. Of course it rained on us so we ended up getting back soaking wet because the wind kept blowing our umbrellas so they turn like inside out sort of. I guess if that makes sense if not you could look up what happens when two missionaries go out tracting with super strong wind and rain on Google and you might find something..... That was our day! We met some people but they told us that they would not let us in because we were so wet. So we asked if we could come back and they still said no. So I doubt it was because we were wet but oh well. C'est la vie! I suppose. Tuesday: Then on Tuesday we had this lesson with this lady and she lives in a laundry mat. The door to her apartment is in a laundry mat. It is super funny and come to find out while we were teaching her that she is already a member who is just moved here and has not been coming to church. When she saw us she was super excited so that was fun. Then we did some porting over in this neighborhood we have found and it was full of older French people so they were home and more willing to talk to us. We even met this lady who has some Mormon friends in Utah! She let us in and we prayed with her but she said she was not going to change religions and that she was going to stay Catholic. So that stunk but oh well, we then had two great rendez vous with some of our old investigators that we got into contact with and both of asked us to leave the book of Mormon with them so they could read it. That was really cool because they said they never wanted it before but our testimonies and our personal experiences with the book help them decide to read it. And that was our day. Wednesday: So today we woke up and headed to the train station and we caught our train and headed to Angers, a city south of us, for Zone Conference. We also had interviews with the President and his wife and it was a really good conference. I learned a lot. Then after the conference we caught our train back and I stayed in Le Mans, another city just south of us, for an exchange and that night we just did some contacting and had dinner. Thursday: So I woke in Le Mans and we did some contacting and did some porting. Then we caught our train back to Alencon and then we had a rendez vous with one of our investigators like right when I got back. So we hurried over there. Then we had diner and finished the night up with RAIN and PORTING!!! Yeah it is just my life ha-ha. Friday: Today so we had weekly planning then we headed out to a town that is like 4 km north called Arconnay and we did some porting up there until like diner time. Then we came back then fished up the night with some porting close to home. Saturday: Happy Birthday Dillon!!!!! And a year ago I went through the temple it is crazy how fast time fly's!! Today we just packed a lunch and then walked like forever away to a town called Pace. We had lunch up there and ported the whole village and it evened hailed on us. That was not fun but the village was nice. Then we walked home for dinner then just ported close to home again that night. Sunday: Today was church and my companion and I were they only priesthood people there. So I conducted the meeting and my companion presided and I also gave like a 30 min talk. It was insane but it was really good. Then the rest of the day we visited some less actives and then ported in this neighborhood we found on Saturday and that was our week

January 27, 2014

Hey y'all well I am in my new city and it is pretty weird that I am here and all but it is great. I love it here! It is a really small town and we have to walk everywhere because we have no car or anything and the public transportation is very bad. But I get to enjoy more of the city and it is really nice. Alençon is known for its lace and apples and I think horses as well. It’s really nice. After this we are going to go and take pictures and stuff. I can send y'all some next week. So my new companion is named Elder Beckstrand and he is from Brentwood California near San Francisco Bay area. He is really cool. He reminds me a whole lot of Derek like seriously these two are twins and its really funny I feel like I am serving with my brother. Elder Beckstrand is pretty old in the mission. This is his last transfer and then he goes home. So they tell me that I am "killing him" aka I am his last companion in the field. Well this week felt like it took forever so I will start at the beginning of the week back when I was in Mulhouse. On Monday it was my last P-day in Mulhouse so we did emails and I found out where I was going. Then we did some shopping and the rest of the day I packed till Diner and I almost got it all done. Then after Diner we went and saw Mariano and his family, some investigators we are teaching, and I got to say bye to them. After that I saw Ricky and Marjan at the church and got to say bye to them as well. Then on Tuesday we had lunch with Patrick and then we met some Elders who gave us our tickets for the next day. Then we went home and I finished up packing. Then we headed over to a member’s home and had diner and that was our day. On we Wednesday woke and caught our train that left at 5H40 in the morning and we got to Paris at 9H07. Then I waited for my new companion with some other missionaries and then I found Elder Beckstrand and with some others but he told us that we had to wait for these other missionaries that we would be traveling with. So we waited for them and I got to see some more missionaries. It was so cool to see them and then we headed to Le Mans. That is a city just south of us by like 25 min by train. We got there and there was a member there who greeted us and welcomed us and gave us crêpes. It was really good then we had to wait there till our next train that came at 5:15pm. So we then caught our train and then went to the apartment and then ate diner then did some contacting in the city. Then on Thursday we did the usual normal stuff in the morning and then we did some contacting and I got to see more of the city. Then we went porting and we had to walk to this little neighborhood out of the city so it took some time. We were there till diner and there was this guy we met who was really cool and he asked us to come by another time so that was really cool. Then we ate diner and then walked back out there and finished up the porting in that area. It was really fun and my feet we very much in pain by the end of the night but that is the life of a Missionary. On Friday we just had weekly planning and some lessons to some of our investigators. I don't really know them yet. Then that night we walked out to the church and started porting and we were about to leave to go home and eat when this lady answered and let us in and we started talking. She then fed us and we left with a prayer and we walked home and visited another investigator and that was our day. Then on Saturday we went out porting in a town that looked very close on the map but it was actually super far it took us 2 hours to walk there but I did get to see some nice fields and the country side. It was nice but my feet killed by the time we got back. We had diner then just finished up the night contacting. Then Sunday was nice. We have a small branch here and I am now the 2nd Counselor in the bishopric! Yea that is how small it is! We have one family, the branch president and he has like 3 kids, three sisters, a funny old lady and an older gentleman and his daughter and that is it. So this is going to be fun. I cannot wait to help them grow. After church we did some porting then Elder Beckstrand was not feeling very well so we went home and ate dinner and then stayed inside. And that was our week.