Aix-en-Provance 4.16.12

OK, well the attach file button isn't working on these crummy computers, ho here is the deal, maybe in the next package you can send me some envelopes or something that is a little more sturdy than the average paper envelope so I can send one of my SD cards home.  I think that that might be better that having to stress over whether I will be able to get a computer that works at this café.  Also, while I am asking for things, If you can find my man purse I had back home that I used for school (the green floppy one) that would be great to have, because I like having the accessibility of a man purse to give people flyers on the street and stuff, but the bag the member gave me is kind of small... really small. Nice, but small.  So that would be really cool.  Then of course the normal staples of jerky soup and more of that dessert gum would be appreciated.  I love getting those packages.   I still have one bag of soup left, and lots of gum (sauf that deliciouse apple pie creation, how do they do that?)

    Now on to the questions.  Sorry Dad that I have forgotten to describe my building.  It has that little pavilion thing with lots of young trees around it.  There is also lots of construction in back of it by the auto route.  It is also sort of close to the big théâtre and library that is a cool spiral thingy thing.

    also juste pour vous dire, Elder Skene sends me his weekly emails, and I send him this one.  Which reminds me of a funny story.  For whatever reason, people have a hard time saying my name here.  They always say Grossman, which means fat man so they say something like "OH, Grossman, attention si vous grossirez etc" it is getting a little annoying ha ha.  THen I say "mais, en fait, c'est CRossman, pas Grossman", that usually gets a joke or two as well because Crossman means "hockeyman".  So now I understand why everyone asks me "Tu aimes faire la cross?" Ridiculous!  Another side note, remember how I would always put an "e" on the end of my wordes?  Well French is only going to worsen that, because virtually every word where you pronounce the whole word ends with an "e".

    It is a mission-wide goal to get 20 lessons a week (ideally 8 leçons with a member, 8 leçons without a member, and 4 recent converts and/or less-active.)  This week we got 3 in the presence 2 others and 6 recent converts/less actives, so that is pretty low, but there is still hope.  We had a couple cool miracle contacts last week that might result in New amis.  One cool Indian guy who is working on the first ever nuclear fission plant, a Chinese student, and this family who said we could come back at 2 o'clock today, so we'll see if that goes through.  A lesson should rarely last more than 45min is the rule, but sometimes we go longer than that.  I would say an hour is usually what we do for a first lesson, but we want to try and see people more often for less time.  The lesson with Eva just before her baptism was about 3 and a half hours because we didn't want her to dissapear before her baptismal interview.  Eva is still way cool by the way.  Now her parents have come to church the past two weeks, Eva will be giving a talk next week, so her parents will hopefully come for that as well, and we are going to see them this Saturday.  Right now they honestly are not too interested, but we know that they have been touched by the spirit.  Every time I see them I get excited because I think "this gospel would be so freaking good for you and your family, If only you knew."  I totally think they are going to all go to the temple some day, I can taste it.  I just hope that I am here to see it.  It is interesting, a month or two ago, when we were walking down an empty street I would be singing a babylon song to myself, or thinking of how fun it would be to sit on a beach with a girl (or you mother) and a virgin pina colata.  Now, I find myself thinking about Eva's familly and how we can help them, and praying for them.  I guess the mission is really starting to turn me weird, but it's good!

    How to help your missionaries in your area:  Let me tell you the average missionaries dream: Getting a call from one of the members saying, "hey want to have dinner with us on____ evening? Cool, and also, we are inviting a friend and his family that could really use the gospel in their lives so prepare a good lesson, and we'll be there to bear testimony and support you.  Also if you need anyone to go with you to teaching appointments, just give us a call." I know you are really busy, but just saying, that would make a missionaries week... maybe even transfer depending on how it goes.  That is how Eva was really touched by the spirit... we did find her, and set up the rendez-vous with the family, but having a leçon in a good member's home brings about miracles.  Just one idea.  Of course if you have bum missionaries, you don't want them to give a bad impression to your friends, so maybe have dinner with just them first to see if they're quality which I am sure they are ha ha.  

    Well that is all the time I have folks.  I am enjoying the mission still.  We have only have threeish amis, but there are still people waiting to hear the word of God even in France.  (just so you know, our mission usually gets about 10 baptisms a week take that all ye naysayers who said that France is a "hard mission" you just have to work differently here than other places, and miracles happen if you are doing your best.)  God makes all the difference.  I love you all.  Stay strong in the faith, if you are not in the faith WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Jump in, the water is nice and warm haha.

  La lagune Français, ça vient.  Je peux comprendre presque tout maintenant.  ça c'est un autre miracle, le fait que je peux communiquer dans un autre lagune.  Paix dans l'est milieux!