March 27, 2014

Well howdy everybody it’s just another week just flew by here and I cannot believe that March is gone and April, the best month of the year might I add, is just around the corner!!!! As for my week it was really cool so let’s start at the beginning........ Monday so today was not a normal p-day. We did no shopping and no emails or nothing! We woke up and did some studies like we do every morning and then we headed out the door and I Drove to PARIS, can anyone else say they drove to Paris France, hmmmm. It was only a 2 and half hour drive so not that bad. We had to go to Paris to switch out our car for a newer one. We switched out the Chevrolet Cruise, which is a stick, for a French Opel Corsa, which is AUTOMATIC!!!!! It is a nice car. I will send pictures next week of us with our car. We ended up getting back home around 8:30 that night. That was our day. Plus I got to see the Mission Home for the first time and it looks really cool. Tuesday, so we were going to do our normal p-day stuff today but we ended up having District Meeting. Then I had an exchange with my District Leader Elder Mattson, he is super cool. We worked in Le Mans and it was really fun. I got to teach a family they are teaching and it is a really cool family. They asked like tons of questions and the spirit was super strong. Wednesday I finished up my exchange with Elder Mattson and then we headed back to Alencon. When we got back with Elder Bates we went to the church and did emails really quick. Then we did a little bit of shopping, some basics we needed then ate dinner and then did some porting out in Arconnay, a little city just south of us. That was our day nothing big happened, just a lot of people not answering or not interested. Thursday morning we passed out some flyers that they gave to us from the Easter Conference. We go door to door, mailbox to mailbox putting little flyers in their box explaining our message and that we will be passing back in a few days to talk about it. We went to a neighborhood and passed them out, then we got a call from Phillip and he told us that he could not see us this week so we fixed another lesson with him and then did some contacting in the city till about later in the afternoon. Then we did some porting and went to a less active family’s home and had dinner and taught a lesson. It was really fun but felt pretty awkward because we just felt like the family did not know really how to handle us but by the end we were all laughing and talking so that was great. Friday This morning we did flyers in another city, then came home and did some weekly planning. Then we did some contacting and then went porting in a city where we had done the flyers and it went really well. The people read it and they either let us in or said they were not interested. The one's we got let it were really cool, well most of the them some were pretty scary and not sure if they were all in the head but it was a great day full of little miracles. It just goes to show that Heavenly Father works through small and simple ways to bring to pass the big stuff. Saturday We had our Branch Presidency meeting this morning and then we did some contacting afterwards and then ate lunch. Then we did some pass backs and contacting in the afternoon. Then we went porting in another city where we left the flyers and it was the same thing just like the last town. Sunday was church, then after church we did some porting in the town where we left flyers in on Friday for the day. Then we headed home, ate dinner, and then taught Yves with a member and he opened up to us about prayer. So we got to talk to him about prayer it was a really cool lesson and that was my week.

March 17, 2014

Howdy y'all. I heard that it was a great week back at home and I am so blessed to be a missionary now and see blessings in my life, the life of my family, and the life's of the people here in France. Well on to my week..... Monday was just a normal p-day. That night we taught this lady named Stephanie who we found by porting and she is super cool. We ported her and she told us she had our book and that she wanted to learn more. Come to find out her parents went to Las Vegas and they in fact drove through St. George Utah and visited the temple there and got a Book of Mormon for their daughter and now she has one. So we have begun teaching her. Then we just finished the rest of the night doing some go old porting. Tuesday I did exchange in Le Mans with an Elder named Elder Martin, he is the companion to the district leader and he is super cool. We had a fun exchange. We did some more porting that night and talked to a lot of people and yea that was pretty much the day. Wednesday finished up the exchange. We went and taught some of their investigators and then did some contacting and taught some street lessons. It was really fun. Then we came back home to Alencon and ate dinner then headed back out and finished up the night porting. Thursday we had a lesson with Phillip and he was super cool. We finally met him at his house and he really opened up to us. We had asked what would it mean to him if the Book of Mormon is true and he told us that his whole life would change and that he is a bit nervous of it. We testified to him that God is there for him and wants him to find the truth and he will bless you more than you can imagine. It was cool testifying it to him and knowing what I was telling him was true because of my family. Then we did pass-backs in the evening and went and saw Jimmy who was not there so that was not fun. We came back ate dinner, and then went and saw Yves. He loved Church and told us he could not come this week but he felt warm when he was at church and we plan on inviting him to be baptized soon. Friday we had Zone Conference in Le Mans. We went early and helped 70 missionaries find the church and helped make sure the Conference went great, which it did and it was a great conference. We have this new thing we are doing and it is just like the whole thing we did at Christmas but with EASTER and it is super fun. We are doing our "Easter Egg Hunt" haha it’s really fun and we are slowly seeing miracles from it. Saturday we did weekly planning and took care of some car stuff getting it ready to go on Monday when we drove it to Paris to exchange it for and new one. Then we did some contacting and did some porting that night. We met these two cool young families with the new way of contacting and it was cool. When I introduce myself I say hello my name is Elder Allen and I come from Texas, because everyone knows where it is, and the guy answers back so do I in English and we got to talking and he lived in Houston. It was a really cool night. Sunday we had church and me and Elder Bates taught the first hour and had a great sacrament meeting talking about the temple and eternal families. I got to thinking about home and the great week that y'all were having, then later that day we went to a lesson and then we did some porting and that was our week.

March 10, 2014

Well there goes another Transfer and I am still here in Alençon and my new companion is named Elder Bates and he is from Utah. He is super cool and really funny. So let us get to my week shall we..... Monday, it was Elder Beckstrand's last p-day so we had a normal morning and we did some shopping. Then we headed to the church where I emailed my family. Then we had this little party here at the church with some members and we had a PANCAKE Party. It was really fun and we also played games like BANG!!!! I could not believe that I was playing it or that somebody had it in French! It was cool and then we went home and the branch president took us over to his house where we had dinner and a FHE. That was our p-day!! Tuesday was the last full day of Elder Beckstrand's mission life so we worked hard. We talked to some fun and some crazy people in town. We also did some porting and then we taught two of our investigators. It was really cool. One of them is named Raymond and he started talking about Baptisms for the Dead and he came across the scripture in the bible during his studies and was really intrigued that it was in the bible. He checked all his other bibles and he has 7 different translations of them and they all said the same thing. He was just astonished because nobody else does it but the Mormons. He started asking why and he could not understand so we got to talk about the restoration and the apostasy. It was such a cool lesson and he was totally ready for it. It was perfect. Wednesday, well it was the big day TRANSFER DAY! I got to go to Paris and said goodbye to Elder Beckstrand. Then I waited for my new companion and we headed back to Alencon together. We got back around 4:00ish and headed home and ate dinner. Then we went to the church where we had our Branch council meeting and that was our day. Thursday we got the car today so now we a have a car. It is a Chevrolet Cruise. It is a nice car but I cannot drive stick so Elder Bates is now teaching me so that is always fun, yea for Driving!!!! Friday we did some weekly planning and I also went to the city hall and exchanged my license. So I now have a French one!!!!! Then we did some porting and we talked to this cool mom. So hopefully something happens with that. Saturday was a day we just spent finding and we were outside like all day just contacting and walking around town talking to people. We found some potentials and then that night we did some porting. That was super fun and it turned out to be very cool. We met this lady who did not have the time now but she agreed for us to come back to that will be really cool. Sunday was church and then after church we did tithing and then we went home and grabbed the ward sheet and contacted and visited less actives telling them all about church and just trying to make the feel loved and feel like they are important because they are and our branch needs them to come back. And that was our week

March 3, 2014

Well howdy y'all! Life has just been moving along here in France. Another transfer has come and gone and I am staying here in Alencon for another transfer. So that is really cool!!!!! So let’s get to my week. Monday was a super fun p-day. It was a normal p-day. We did all the normal stuff in the morning and then during emails it was cool because we decided to look at our genealogy and come to find out that me and Elder Beckstrand are related like 5 generations back! We have the same man who had some sons and my line goes back with one and Elder Beckstrand's goes back with the other, it was super cool. The rest of the night we did some porting. That was super fun because for once it did not rain on us and second nobody yelled at us! So it was super cool even if nobody let us in. Tuesday we had our last district meeting which was super fun, pictures will come. We even had a burrito fête, a burrito party, and that was super cool. Then we got back here in Alencon and headed over to this area where we passed by some pass backs then had a rendez vous with Jimmy, one of our investigators and then Raymond. When we went over to Raymond's house he had a beard and we were like whoa Raymond what is up with the beard and he was like oh let me tell you. I am not shaving so I can get direction for my next project. That I want to do and Raymond likes coming up with ideas to help the world so he said he is not shaving till he has one. We just laughed and he said it’s a beard, like Nephi's beard, and we just could not stop laughing after that. The lesson went super well he is loving the Book of Mormon. Wednesday was a very full day. Since it is Elder Beckstrand's last week we have been trying to visit all of our investigators and all of the potential investigators we have found. Today we had a lesson with an investigator named Paul-Patrick. Then we headed to Damigny, a city just north of Alencon where we passed by all of our investigators and the potentials as well. That night we were walking in town and this guy we always see in town like every day. We both felt like we should go and talk to him because there was a reason we see him around town. So we did and that was really cool. We taught him but he said he did not want to change religions just learn more about us. So maybe over time he will come around. Thursday we did some more pass backs and got to see a lot of people. We also passed by Philippe and he said we could see him on Friday. So we then left and were in town and this 18 year old kid comes up to us and says that he is Muslim and wants to talk. So we sat down with him and he started asking us questions and we asked him questions and soon we started teaching him and he told us he wants to learn more. So that was really cool, then that night we just did some porting and then went and visited a less active. Friday we had weekly planning and then we went and saw Philippe and also another less active. Then we did some porting and we went over to Yves' house. He fed us and we had a lesson with him discussing what he had read in the Book of Mormon. It was super cool. Saturday was another finding day. We just went porting and also tried to swing by some potentials but they were not home and that really was our day. Sunday well it was fast Sunday and guess what? I had to conduct the meeting because our branch president was not here and that was fun! I got to welcome everybody in and then I also had to bless the sacrament and as well as play the piano with just my right hand because I do not know the left and nobody else in the Branch could play!!! Let’s just say it was stressful but super fun. After church we stayed out by the church and did some porting. This guy even let us in and we discussed with him why we are here and stuff and he said he did not have the time. We will try him later. Then we ate dinner and then we went back out to the same place and ported some more till the end of the night and that was my week for ya.

February 17, 2014

Well HOWDY Y'ALL!!!!!! Well this week was super crazy let me tell you, i think the weather here is crazier than back home and you will hear all about it so let’s start at the very beginning shall we...... Monday, so it was a normal p-day and just full of stuff like shopping, Elder Beckstrand wants to get a suit before he goes home so we have been looking at suits. We also had some time and we went to this park and walked around. It was fun we even got to see some little animals like bunnies and goats and peacocks in this park. Then that night it poured rain on us while we were porting. Tuesday, rained all day so for most of the day we did some work in the area book calling old investigators and setting up lessons with them. Then we did some contacting when the rain stopped and then that night we had lessons with two of our investigators named Jimmy and Raymond. Wednesday we had district meeting in Le Mans and then when we got back into Alencon we headed over to a lesson we had with a less active. When we were walking over there we just felt this huge gust of wind and then we saw dark clouds coming and then it started raining. Then it just started hailing and it hurt these ice chunks were hitting us so we ran and found cover and looked out to the parking lot and it was all white it was crazy. We eventually got to the lesson and then after that we were walking home and it rained on us again. But after the storm we saw these rainbow's and I sent pictures and I think you can see the second one but the bottom was super bright. It was crazy and super cool. Then that night we just ported the night. Thursday, nothing special happened today. We did a whole lot of finding and we had a couple of lessons as well, we are trying super hard to find people to teach. There is a lot to do but we also need to find people. Friday, VALENTINE'S DAY<3, so today we did some weekly planning. Then we visited this less active and did more porting in the night. It has been difficult this week nobody has let us in or even wanted to talk to us, some weeks are really hard. Saturday, we did some morning contacting then after lunch we did some porting. We were in this neighborhood and just doing our thing and this one door we knocked on this guy answered and told us no thank you and then he told us that we should hurry it’s going to rain soon. Sure enough it started raining and then pouring, then hailing, it was not fun. Suddenly this car came up and told us to get in and it was the guy who just shut the door and told us to hurry and he took us back to his house where we got to talk to his wife and two little girls it was super cool. So hopefully something happens with that. We plan on going back, it was our miracle for the week. Sunday we just had church and then spent the rest of the day porting. We also had a lesson with our friend Yves he is so much fun and that was my week.