Hey, let me try out this word thing. I am writing in Microsoft word instead of the lame internet thing. Yes you can save your email as a draft, but it doesn’t auto save, and I have gotten used to the email saving every minute or so.
Questions:
Really the only place to go for air-conditioning is the buses.
Yes they do have diet soda here (diet coke is called Coca light here, and it really tastes awful, much different then back home). I have not had any soda last week, and we didn’t buy anymore this week, so I think I am just stopping cold turkey.
Did you mean credit cards? We only get one card with money on it (besides personal ones of course). If you have a car though, you get a second card to buy gas and stuff for the car.
Yes we are having fun. The temperature has gone down since Thursday so it has been pretty bearable.
I do not think I need anything, but thank you for the cards you sent… was that what you were talking about earlier? They are fun to get! In our mission, you can email anyone that is not in or around your mission boundaries, though they recommend you limit conversation with everyone but your family. I usually send a shortened version of this
email to Travis and Jordan, then I email Kevin and Peter occasionally, that is really everyone I talk to.
I wanted to tell you a couple things, first, I met Kevin Mitchel’s son out here… I think it is Kevin, anyway, it is someone who you worked with Dad, he is really nice. Small world huh?
Second, Cavaillon (a town not far from Avignon, in our sector) is known as the capitol of Melon, so the best melons here come from Cavaillon. I have had a few, and they are simply amazing! Every single one I have had has been way sweet and just perfect. I have had several caneloups and a water melon. Today we bought a strange looking melon that I have never seen before, so we’ll see if it is any good.
Corn on the cob sounds good. They don’t really sell corn here outside of canned corn. I did see my first ear of corn at the store today. €1.25 for one ear! Really really pricy.
Monday: Saw Olivier, and Cyprien Ughetto. It was Cyprien’s birthday so we gave him cookies and one of the light pens you gave me. He seemed to really like it. Then we pretty much napped all day ha ha.*
Tuesday: Worked in Les Angles, got rated by frère Jeunehomme, and saw Sylvain.
Wednesday: Passed some passbacks (not interested), Got rated by Jeunehomme again, taught English class and Quansah.
Thursday: Met Rémy and taught him, he was fine… a little awkward like he normally is. Worked in Sorgues, had dinner, and passed a guy we met in Les Angles (wasn’t there)
Friday: Weekly planning and studies, got rated by laticia, Called some people and went to les angles again to pass that guy again (not there again)
Saturday: Went to Rémy’s house to teach him again. Saw him naked in his house, and wouldn’t answer the door… remy… Worked in the pontet and made a carnet for the members, a little paper for them to put info
on, so we can know who is who in the branch, and everyone’s callings and so forth. Went to Frère Jeunehomme’s house without an appointment, and he let us in and we were able to talk for a while and share a message. I really like Frere Jeunehomme, and his cats.
Sunday: Good day at church, a good amount of people there (40) passed the veyriey family and talked to them (they are members). Oh, and we taught this new ami Jenveeve. We found her yesterday going to frère jeunehomme’s house. She would have been an absolutely golden contact, only she seemed a little crazy. She told us she would come
to church, and she did for all three hours. She said it was great, and she is going to stop smoking and stop drinking beer and coffee, and start praying and reading and she is going to come to church every week. It almost sounds too good to be true! The only thing is that she is in a mental hospital, she is very nice, and seems pretty much there, because she has quite a bit of freedom. The big problem is
that she is sous totale. That means that the government takes care of virtually every aspect of her life. It is very very very difficult to even teach those people let alone have them be baptized. We’ll see what happens. She is such a lovely woman.
Well that is about it for this week. We did not have many rdvs, but VACANCE IS FINALLY FREAKIN OVER!!! Then everyone will be home, and there are at least three people who have some good potential that will finally be back home this next week. The mission is great! I love it. It is still the most difficult thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Keep it groovy everyone.
I hope that this letter is a little bit better and longer than the
last one.
-enjoy having large cheap stuff, because over here everything is small and expensive.
Je sais qu’il vie mon rédempteur ! Je vous aime, vous me manquez, et je pris pour vous tout le temps ! Dite à Monte et Max que je les aime aussi, et que je n’ai pas encore oublié le bœuf-tec que je les dois. Restez fidèle, bisous ciao ! à le lundi prochaine !
Monday, September 10, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Avignon 7
Wow, lots of questions this week, hope I can remember all of them
Gap is not in our area (mine and elder call's) I went there for exchanges in the past because I was with the district leader, and gap is in our district. It is a really small town made up of retired old people and middle school students. Yes it is in the Alps, and it is very pretty. There is an equipe of elders there, and a branch of about 20 active members. We talk on the phone with our district leader to know when we are doing exchanges, then we can buy the train tickets ourselves or call the mission office who will buy them online and we can pick them up in the gare... er trainstation. Normally we only stay for 24 hours, and one night, so we just carry some extra clothing and toothbrush in a bag with us.
French hot dogs are nothing compared to american ones. There is only one brand (that I have seen) and they are all the really cheap small ones, but ça va. I think it is the heat here, but I really haven't been eating as much. i am not sick or anything, I am eating don't worry, but I rather would just eat a little salad and water than hotdogs or a sandwich or something. I am back on the loosing weight track, down to 230ish pounds!
No I am not district leader, it has now gone to the Gap elders... that will make exchanges interesting, because Gap is about a three hour train ride from every other ville in our district.
We got lost once yesterday, but that actually led to a cool miracle that I'll tell you about in the day to day
Yes we have a "lecture CD" and I love the CDs! They came just in time because Elder Call has no music unlike all my other compagnons, and it is great to listen to during lunch and dinner etc.
Quansah is amazing! He is getting the priesthood next week, and normally should be blessing the sacrament for the first time the week after! We taught him about temples recently and he really wants to go! Really he is the most prepared person I have ever met, he is so Awesome, I hope you get to meet him some day.
I got Elder Call hooked up with a KEbab his first day here ha ha. Though, I think I might be done with them for a while. As I mentioned above, I don't feel like eating heavy stuff like that.
The theatre festivale is done, and there is practically no one in the streets anymore. I guess avignon is still a pretty bussling city, kind of, but compared to the festivale, it feels pretty empty now. Thank goodness they got some people to cut down all the flyers from everywhere, I was worried they were just going to be left up until they rotted off, but they are mostly all gone now.
Day by day
Monday:we walked around centre ville, and got Elder call moved in. Then all our rdvs fell throgh, so we ported for three hours... fun
Tuesday: Spent the morning studying (new missionaries take an additional hour of companion study and an hour of language study, that makes four hours of study a day... lots) with a break to talk to a morrocan who loves america, but was happy being muslim. Then we saw Fr. Jeunehomme. I think he is ready to come back to church, now we just need someone to take him, but everyone is on vacation... it make s things very frustrating at times.
Wednesday: Study, porteing, saw Olivier, who said he would come to church this week (he didn't), taught english class and taught Quansah about the temple and priesthood afterward. He is so great!
Thursday: Took a trip to Carpentras (mark that one off the map, it is just east and a little north of avignon) We worked there from 1h30 in the afternoon, to 7h25... with no success at all the whole day until 7h15 when we talked to one last family on the road who just so happened to want to see us again, and they gave us their number and address, and they come to the city where our church is often, so they already know where it is! Miracles only come to pass after a trial of your faith. that was a really hard day, but the end made it worth it
Friday: Passed Olivier (a different one than the one before, but also a less active) he answered the door, and we chatted, but he didn't invite us in..; sad. then was our great day of less active passbacks, we passed about 8 less actives... and none of them answered. . . another ver long day, but I called an old ami and she set up a rdv with us for today (monday) so that was cool and our miracle for the day.
Saturday: We worked a lot in the pontet again... nothing... lots of porting and nothing.. long hard day
Sunday: Church was awesome, Elder Merservy, who had just finished his mission a week ago, came to our branch with his family as they were visiting the mission etc. I was able to translate for half of his family and a british couple (he translated for the rest of his family). Elder Merservy's family is really cool, and we talked with them a bit after church. He served here in Avignon a year ago, his dad served in Avignon 31 years ago, and there was another visiter who served in Avignon 20 years ago. Like a little reunion or something. I realized that talking with Americans is different than talking with French people, obviously it was in english and not in french, but I don't know... there was something else. Anyway that was interesting.
Later that day we got lost while looking for another less active. We had just passed another one (not there) and we were trying to knock on at least 10 doors before going to the next one. We did the 10 (nothing) Then I suggested we shoudl finish the block because there were only two houses left. The guy at the first door lets us in, and brings his 12 year old son into the room, and tells us they were just talking about the mormons yesterday. This guy Casstien has had quite a few tragedies in his life recently, and also he has some weird ideas about God, but he is very sincere and cool. It was a really cool spiritual experience, and he wants us to come again, so we'll see where that goes. He also humbled me in my French, because he was using tons of vocabulary I had never heard of before ha ha.
So this week has probably been the hardest on the mission, but we had some really cool miracles. I am still happy and still ready to work... we just have no amis, they have all gone and gotten baptised! anyway, I love you all. I'm glad the family reunion went well. It is crazy the next transfer I will pass my year mark! It literally only feels like I have been in France a couple months. It is just shooting by, even this week which was really 'long' has gone by incredibly fast. I am trying to cherish every moment.
It is wierd mixed feelings I have now, because I LOVE my mission, but it is pretty dang hard, so at the same time, I am glad it is going by fast, but I also don't want it to end. GRR I'll just live every moment I'm here the best I can, and then when I come home, I'll live every moment the best I can over there.
One last thing, I really would perfer If I cam home before we all went to France, that way i could be released and everyting. Elder Merservy's stake president wouldn't release him fully , but he still could wear normal clothes and go swimming and stuff... I don't know, it is a weird inbetween state he is in, and he said he wouldn't wish it on any missionary ha ha.
I love you all again! keep the faith! go to the temple. Did you see the new batman movie? I heard about the shooting in the theater in colorado, that is really a shame, has it scared you away from going? See you ;;... talk to you next week!
Avignon 6
Yo everyone! hurry on to the questions:
Yes a transfer is 6 weeks Vedène really feels like a suburb, because it is mostly all houses, but every other village I have been to is it's own thing. It is cool because every ville no matter how small it is has its own little downtown center, and such. Villeneuve is probably 5 thousand people, but it is quite different than avignon which is just across the river.
OK, here are the places I have been that I remember since the beginning of my mission
Geneva, Lyon, Pierre d'Or, Aix-en-Provence, Salon-en-Provence, Vitrolles, Martigue, Gap, St. Cannan, Avignon, Les Angles, Villeneuve, Vedène, Le Pontet, Orange, Le Thor, Mont Favet, Sourge, Livron ... That's all I got for now.
We take a bus to villeneuve and Vedène. Vedene is the farthest out the busses go from here..; pretty much, for the rest we take the train.
Vitrolles Elders have a car because their area is huge and very spread out, and Vitrolles itself isn't a big ville like Avignon or Aix etc.
Yes district meeting is in Aix, we take the TGV train that goes about 300km/hr (230ish mph) and it takes us Twenty minutes. The area we work in in Avignon goes as far north as Orange, and as south as Arles, so it is really big.
It has not rained (at least not during the day) since I have been in Avignon.
I did not get a suit, but I did get two pairs of slacks. Both black, one is nylon poliester, and very good looking, the other is Linen and pretty shiny I look hot in both of them.
I think it would be best if Bruce and Robin give you a check, and I rip up the one I have. Tell them thank you very much from me, and that I love them!
So I am still in Avignon, if you couldn't have guessed. However something did happen that is exciting, Elder Hamilton got moved to Fribourg in Switzerland, and I am finishing training Elder Call! This makes his second transfer in the field. It is crazy that I am already senior companion and training, but there are lots of older missionaries finishing, and a lot of new guys coming in. He rolled into Avignon this morning around 10 oclock. We'll have fun Trying to figure out what to do together ha ha. He comes from some small town in Nevada in between Vegas and St George. he is really nice, and does everything I tell him, so he's a good blue ha ha. Really he is great.
Well I do not have last week's planner, so I can't tell you really what we did each day, sorry. However, Saturday Quansah did get baptised, and he asked me to confirm him yesterday. It was really an amazing experience! He was so so so prepared, we didn't do anything. He then bore an awesome testimony after his baptism... yeah he is great. Elder Hamilton baptised him, he did it on the first try, but he had a little trouble getting him out of the water because he is so big. I'll try to send some pictures soon!
Another cool bit of news is because this is Elder Call's second transfer, I will get to go to Lyon for his blue's conference! I really hope we have a little bit of time where I can visit Julie Loango (remember her?) and Ted the spy. Berongère would also be fun to see... maybe I'll even understand her now ha ha. I would like to see bright, but he has moved about an hour outside of Lyon, so I don't think I'll be able to see him. I am way excited, plus a bunch of Elders from my MTC district will be there as well, and Elder Hamilton because he is finishing training.
Nothing much else this week. We went to Gap for exchanges, so we were gone for about half the week. It is a 2 and a half hour train ride there (we left from Aix after district meeting) and we had a 4 hour train ride back to Avignon directly... lots of fun. We were on a little slow clanky train for those rides. Gap is very pretty, and it was great to see the mountains again. They had a baptism last week too. Fun fun;
I love you all very much. Thank you for the prayers and packages and everything! Keep the faith, go to church and the temple. Are the missionaries still trying to get you to work on the Cherninkos? Missionary work is unique because it is one of the only things where the more joy and love you share, the more you have. The church is true, also in French! Vive La France! Pourquoi tu n'es pas heureur pour moi? Je suis heureur pour toi, car tu es heureur, mais je suis triste, car je sais que ton bonheure ne peut pas durer. Dans ton nouveau royaume, je ne peux pas être ton père, mais où que tu aille, tu seras toujours mon fils! ça c'est un citation du film Les Temoignes! C'est trop bon!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Avignon 5 July 23rd
Hello everyone! So real quick to the questions!
Zone conferences are usually mostly in French, but there are parts
in English as well. SO both... really depending on how the person
feels.
The Roneys have two little boys with them (10 and 12 years old I
think) one who just got back from a mission going to BYU, and a son
and a daughter on a missoion... I think. At least a daughter.
Yeah with the weight loss I can do a lot more things without
getting tired. I have still stayed at the same weight, but my waist
size has gone down. I have been doing lots of weight lifting, so I
hope it is starting to build muscle.
My shoes are doing fine. Starting to crack a little at the ball
of the foot, but still good. The destroyed shooes were Elder Bell's
old pair.
I loved the Bday package! Thank you so much, and it is Ok that
you didn't find all the cat shirts, you sent the best one. Guess
what, that shirt is pretty big on my now ha ha. I loved the cat card
the most. It took me a long time to figure out what the green and
pink things were saying. Make sure to pass the thank you to Bruce and
Robin as well for their card! also they sent me a check... can you
cash those in other countries? There are no Wellsfargos here.
President and Soeur Roney already had everyone's names memorised
when we first saw them, and yes, they did mention that they knew
president Hunt.
I study in French, outside the apartement we speak french (except
P-day), I write in my journal in French a lot, some of it every day,
and I dream in French, I already have trouble talking to people who
speak english because even among other missionaries, we speak
Franglais. It is interesting, but I still remember english pretty
well =)
I'll tell you what I did for my birthday in the daily section.
We do interviews for zone conference usually every other or every
third zone conference, so next time we won't have them. Usually they
only last about 5 minutes an interview because there are a lot of
missionaries.
I titled the email that because they call the wind here "le
mistrale" in english, the title is "the mistrale is angry at us". For
some reason, the wind from the Rhône and the wind from the mountains
mix here, and it gets really windy some times. This whole weekend was
constant strong wind, crazy! All the flyers for the plays that were
put up everywhere are now scattered par tout! The centre ville is a
mess, but there wasn't any damage or anything.
Monday: Elder Hamilton's birthday! I bought a shirt, and then we saw
the fun street performances the rest of the day. (today monday we are
going to a big shopping district to get some suit pants for real.)
Teusday: We saw Mme Didier, a french woman contacted by the
missionaries a couple months ago who said we could come over. She is
some yoga instructor who worships "l'âme" some bhuddist cult thing.
Anyway, she talked again about how love is everything and all the
churches are right and all lead to God, we left her 2nephi 32 to read
which says how you have to be baptised and recieve the holy ghost to
be saved... we'll see what she thinks about that probably this week.
T
After we saw Sylvan the cool member guy for an FHE, and then Elsy a
new ami from cameroone I believe, she was fine, we have tried to
contact her since, but no luck... we'll see on that too.
Wednesday: We worked in Villeneuve then taught Fr, Jeunehomme a less
active member about forgiveness, taught English class (we are getting
7 or 8 people every week now, that is a lot better than what it used
to be... 0) Then we taught Quansah tithing and fasting, he was totally
Ok with it, he is so freaking cool!
Thursday: District meeting. it was fine, it was about finding people
again, how to serve, endear, and teach people in about 15 seconds.
Then Elder Hamilton and I went to Vitrolles with the elders there for
an exchange. I got to be in the companionship with the car, and I
hate it, I feel like I waste so much time driving around. We had a
good lesson with some friends of a member. I also got a call from
President Roney reminding me that it was my birthday. he said, "what
are you doing to celebrate? Tracting?" he is so funny. The Aix
elders made me cookies at district meeting.
Friday: We spent the last night at vitrolles, our train left aroun 1
oclock, so we went to KFC for a real american lunch, also because it
was Elder Hamilton's and my birthday week. European KFC is pretty
good, I would say better quality chicken, but smaller... and it is the
only restaurant in europe that offers free refils!
Back in Avignon, we had a cool miracle with a brazilian guy walking
out of his apartement, actually it wasn't even where he lived, and he
told us that the night before he was praying for help and guidance
from God. We took his number and will see him ... maybe tomorrow, His
name is Marcos. Another Brazilian girl was walking into her
appartement and told us in very broken French that her brother was
about to go on a mission, and that we should come back another time.
Saturday: Went to Vedène to work, saw Didier, who is basically a
member who keeps all the commanaments and knows it is all true, but
isn't baptised because he lives with his girlfriend although they say
they keep the law of chastity, he just isn't humble enought to move
out yet. they would be married, but there is a personal problem that
will hopefully resolve soon.
Sunday: Taught Quansah chastity, and now he knows all he needs to to
get baptised! 6more days! Then we passed that brazilian girl we met
a couple days ago. She and three brazilian friends were their,
invited us in, and fed us dinner! They are so nice, but it was a
little intimidating at first because all of them are in the foreign
legion, so they are all huge and buff, but like I said, they are
really cool. We talked about a lot of things, which eventually led to
the book of Mormon, they gladly accepted a copy and said, "any time
you want to come back, it will be a pleasure to have you!" I love
brazilians! They fed us rice and meatballs with sauté green beans and
other veggies. You would have loved it Dad!
That's all I really have time to write! Je vous aime tous! Soyez
fidèle dans la foi! Dieu vie! J'espère que tout se passe bien là-bas,
et que monte a eu un bon anniversaire! Rappelez-lui que je le
donnerai un beef-tech quand je rentre. Que Dieu vou benisse! Ciao!
Zone conferences are usually mostly in French, but there are parts
in English as well. SO both... really depending on how the person
feels.
The Roneys have two little boys with them (10 and 12 years old I
think) one who just got back from a mission going to BYU, and a son
and a daughter on a missoion... I think. At least a daughter.
Yeah with the weight loss I can do a lot more things without
getting tired. I have still stayed at the same weight, but my waist
size has gone down. I have been doing lots of weight lifting, so I
hope it is starting to build muscle.
My shoes are doing fine. Starting to crack a little at the ball
of the foot, but still good. The destroyed shooes were Elder Bell's
old pair.
I loved the Bday package! Thank you so much, and it is Ok that
you didn't find all the cat shirts, you sent the best one. Guess
what, that shirt is pretty big on my now ha ha. I loved the cat card
the most. It took me a long time to figure out what the green and
pink things were saying. Make sure to pass the thank you to Bruce and
Robin as well for their card! also they sent me a check... can you
cash those in other countries? There are no Wellsfargos here.
President and Soeur Roney already had everyone's names memorised
when we first saw them, and yes, they did mention that they knew
president Hunt.
I study in French, outside the apartement we speak french (except
P-day), I write in my journal in French a lot, some of it every day,
and I dream in French, I already have trouble talking to people who
speak english because even among other missionaries, we speak
Franglais. It is interesting, but I still remember english pretty
well =)
I'll tell you what I did for my birthday in the daily section.
We do interviews for zone conference usually every other or every
third zone conference, so next time we won't have them. Usually they
only last about 5 minutes an interview because there are a lot of
missionaries.
I titled the email that because they call the wind here "le
mistrale" in english, the title is "the mistrale is angry at us". For
some reason, the wind from the Rhône and the wind from the mountains
mix here, and it gets really windy some times. This whole weekend was
constant strong wind, crazy! All the flyers for the plays that were
put up everywhere are now scattered par tout! The centre ville is a
mess, but there wasn't any damage or anything.
Monday: Elder Hamilton's birthday! I bought a shirt, and then we saw
the fun street performances the rest of the day. (today monday we are
going to a big shopping district to get some suit pants for real.)
Teusday: We saw Mme Didier, a french woman contacted by the
missionaries a couple months ago who said we could come over. She is
some yoga instructor who worships "l'âme" some bhuddist cult thing.
Anyway, she talked again about how love is everything and all the
churches are right and all lead to God, we left her 2nephi 32 to read
which says how you have to be baptised and recieve the holy ghost to
be saved... we'll see what she thinks about that probably this week.
T
After we saw Sylvan the cool member guy for an FHE, and then Elsy a
new ami from cameroone I believe, she was fine, we have tried to
contact her since, but no luck... we'll see on that too.
Wednesday: We worked in Villeneuve then taught Fr, Jeunehomme a less
active member about forgiveness, taught English class (we are getting
7 or 8 people every week now, that is a lot better than what it used
to be... 0) Then we taught Quansah tithing and fasting, he was totally
Ok with it, he is so freaking cool!
Thursday: District meeting. it was fine, it was about finding people
again, how to serve, endear, and teach people in about 15 seconds.
Then Elder Hamilton and I went to Vitrolles with the elders there for
an exchange. I got to be in the companionship with the car, and I
hate it, I feel like I waste so much time driving around. We had a
good lesson with some friends of a member. I also got a call from
President Roney reminding me that it was my birthday. he said, "what
are you doing to celebrate? Tracting?" he is so funny. The Aix
elders made me cookies at district meeting.
Friday: We spent the last night at vitrolles, our train left aroun 1
oclock, so we went to KFC for a real american lunch, also because it
was Elder Hamilton's and my birthday week. European KFC is pretty
good, I would say better quality chicken, but smaller... and it is the
only restaurant in europe that offers free refils!
Back in Avignon, we had a cool miracle with a brazilian guy walking
out of his apartement, actually it wasn't even where he lived, and he
told us that the night before he was praying for help and guidance
from God. We took his number and will see him ... maybe tomorrow, His
name is Marcos. Another Brazilian girl was walking into her
appartement and told us in very broken French that her brother was
about to go on a mission, and that we should come back another time.
Saturday: Went to Vedène to work, saw Didier, who is basically a
member who keeps all the commanaments and knows it is all true, but
isn't baptised because he lives with his girlfriend although they say
they keep the law of chastity, he just isn't humble enought to move
out yet. they would be married, but there is a personal problem that
will hopefully resolve soon.
Sunday: Taught Quansah chastity, and now he knows all he needs to to
get baptised! 6more days! Then we passed that brazilian girl we met
a couple days ago. She and three brazilian friends were their,
invited us in, and fed us dinner! They are so nice, but it was a
little intimidating at first because all of them are in the foreign
legion, so they are all huge and buff, but like I said, they are
really cool. We talked about a lot of things, which eventually led to
the book of Mormon, they gladly accepted a copy and said, "any time
you want to come back, it will be a pleasure to have you!" I love
brazilians! They fed us rice and meatballs with sauté green beans and
other veggies. You would have loved it Dad!
That's all I really have time to write! Je vous aime tous! Soyez
fidèle dans la foi! Dieu vie! J'espère que tout se passe bien là-bas,
et que monte a eu un bon anniversaire! Rappelez-lui que je le
donnerai un beef-tech quand je rentre. Que Dieu vou benisse! Ciao!
Avignon 4
The lame computer logged me out again, but it is ok because I just
started writing my email this time.
Yes I have had several madelines, they are really good;
The branch president gave us appricots, peaches and figs, and we have
also gotten tomatoes and pizzas from people (how they got pizza to
grow in their garden, I do not know)
The festivale goes to the 20th I think, or one more week or something,
but it is still going on right now. It is getting kind of annoying
now, because it is kind of interrupting the work.
I got some hot new jeans last week, but not a new suit because
european pant legs are really really tight, the waist fits me fine,
but i can barely get the pants over my legs. We are going to look in
other stores today though, there are bigger people than me who wear
suits here, so they have to exist somewhere.
I get a weekly email from Travis still. He is doing well, he got
transfered to northern Rostov.
Quansah is getting baptised the 28th of July, and there is something
that is really cool that happened at church. He came to church with
his two kids as usual. We asked him how he was, and he said fine,
except he had a "petit souci" a little problem. He then showed us an
email from his ex-wife's lawer saying how she didn't want her kids
participating in the mormon religeon. Now Quansah is going to have to
do some legal junk because he wants his kids to be baptised, but more
than that, he wants his kids to choose for themselves. The cool thing
is he told us that this is just another sign that he is on the right
path, because with righeous living always comes opposition. He is
amazing, and the most prepared person I have met on my mission so far.
I hope that the thing with his kids and ex gets worked out soon and
smoothly.
I met the president at our zone conference last teusday, and I can
write about that in the "what elder crossman has done today" part of
my email
Monday: Taught a new lady about the plan of salvation, and she told
us about her weird buddist cult thing she was in where this guy Swami
Roberto or rodrigo or something is the reencarnated Christ, and that
how all religeons are good because they all lead to God and that the
only thing that god has ever asked us to do is be nice and lovey dovey
to everyone. we were polite, but she was more interested in
converting us than hearingn about our message. Very nice woman
though, and she gave us some pineapple juice that was incredible, I
wanted to ask her where she got it, but I didn't... Then we helped a
less-active clean his appartement. After helping him we tried to teach
the word of wisdome, which he thought was "don't drink... too much,
and don't smoke... that often... and that it would be nice if you
didn't drink coffee or tea, but a little is good for you, but hard
drugs are not acceptable" we tried to tell him that is was actually
none of any of those substances, but he didn't want to listen... sigh,
I love him though.
Teusday: Zone conference with the Roney family! It was great and
really inspiring like all the other zone conferences I have had. This
one though seemed to ... hmm, how do I want to describe it. President
Roney has some very high hopes for this mission, and he is confidant
that we are going to see some great miracles ahead of us. They
presented, or retaught about the importance of members, and "loving
people" into the church. We talked about how to help make church, a
celestiale experience. I really feel that great things are going to
happen, and I am excited for it. Just pour vous dire, his goal is to
quadruple baptisms in the mission. It is a bold goal, but God is
capable of all things, and we are going to work hard to achive it.
President Roney is really cool and down to earth, and his family is a
lot of fun too. I played catch with their youngest son and a couple
other missionaries after zone conference.
Wednesday: I was in Aix again for exchange! we did quite a bit of
contacting, then taught English class, and taught Irma and her
daughters again, that was nice because I was not able to see them
before I got moved to Avignon, and I was able to tak e a picture with
them, so you guys will see it... eventually ha ha.
Thursday: Went back to Avignon. and did lots of porting ha ha
Friday: We went to a town called Le Thor, and passed a couple people
who said they were interested a while ago, and a member, and a couple
less actives... none of them were there. We ended up getting some
good exercize though, we probably walked over five miles. Le Thor is
a tiny tiny country town, so we probably won't go back for a long
time.
Saturday: Again nothing but contacting the whole day. We were
feeling kinda down, so we decided to treat ourselves to a soda at
Subway, the only place in France with free refills. We sat at the bar
looking out into the street trying to make people smile, figuring
spreading joy was good, and it made us feel better. Then one of our
old amis passed by and saw us, so we started talking to him and were
able to set up a rendez-vous. I love inspiered drink breaks ha ha.
Sunday: <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<church, quansah, the
Ughettos (the family who's kid got baptised the other week) and yet
more contacting.
I love you all very much. I know that God lives, I also know that the
adversary is doing all that he can to keep the work from progressing.
It can be really difficult to keep going, but it is so worth it. I
know that we really are nothing, but for some reason God still loves
us, and we are still important for him. I know he will forgive us
whatever we do. I wrote down a few quotes this week that I heard and
liked, and I would like to share them with you:
"Giving up is denying God's power" --one of the quorum of the twelve
(i forget which)
"never give up, never surrender!" --galaxy quest
"Contacting is FUN!" --Elder Hamilton
I love you all. till next week! Keep dating everyone JJ!
started writing my email this time.
Yes I have had several madelines, they are really good;
The branch president gave us appricots, peaches and figs, and we have
also gotten tomatoes and pizzas from people (how they got pizza to
grow in their garden, I do not know)
The festivale goes to the 20th I think, or one more week or something,
but it is still going on right now. It is getting kind of annoying
now, because it is kind of interrupting the work.
I got some hot new jeans last week, but not a new suit because
european pant legs are really really tight, the waist fits me fine,
but i can barely get the pants over my legs. We are going to look in
other stores today though, there are bigger people than me who wear
suits here, so they have to exist somewhere.
I get a weekly email from Travis still. He is doing well, he got
transfered to northern Rostov.
Quansah is getting baptised the 28th of July, and there is something
that is really cool that happened at church. He came to church with
his two kids as usual. We asked him how he was, and he said fine,
except he had a "petit souci" a little problem. He then showed us an
email from his ex-wife's lawer saying how she didn't want her kids
participating in the mormon religeon. Now Quansah is going to have to
do some legal junk because he wants his kids to be baptised, but more
than that, he wants his kids to choose for themselves. The cool thing
is he told us that this is just another sign that he is on the right
path, because with righeous living always comes opposition. He is
amazing, and the most prepared person I have met on my mission so far.
I hope that the thing with his kids and ex gets worked out soon and
smoothly.
I met the president at our zone conference last teusday, and I can
write about that in the "what elder crossman has done today" part of
my email
Monday: Taught a new lady about the plan of salvation, and she told
us about her weird buddist cult thing she was in where this guy Swami
Roberto or rodrigo or something is the reencarnated Christ, and that
how all religeons are good because they all lead to God and that the
only thing that god has ever asked us to do is be nice and lovey dovey
to everyone. we were polite, but she was more interested in
converting us than hearingn about our message. Very nice woman
though, and she gave us some pineapple juice that was incredible, I
wanted to ask her where she got it, but I didn't... Then we helped a
less-active clean his appartement. After helping him we tried to teach
the word of wisdome, which he thought was "don't drink... too much,
and don't smoke... that often... and that it would be nice if you
didn't drink coffee or tea, but a little is good for you, but hard
drugs are not acceptable" we tried to tell him that is was actually
none of any of those substances, but he didn't want to listen... sigh,
I love him though.
Teusday: Zone conference with the Roney family! It was great and
really inspiring like all the other zone conferences I have had. This
one though seemed to ... hmm, how do I want to describe it. President
Roney has some very high hopes for this mission, and he is confidant
that we are going to see some great miracles ahead of us. They
presented, or retaught about the importance of members, and "loving
people" into the church. We talked about how to help make church, a
celestiale experience. I really feel that great things are going to
happen, and I am excited for it. Just pour vous dire, his goal is to
quadruple baptisms in the mission. It is a bold goal, but God is
capable of all things, and we are going to work hard to achive it.
President Roney is really cool and down to earth, and his family is a
lot of fun too. I played catch with their youngest son and a couple
other missionaries after zone conference.
Wednesday: I was in Aix again for exchange! we did quite a bit of
contacting, then taught English class, and taught Irma and her
daughters again, that was nice because I was not able to see them
before I got moved to Avignon, and I was able to tak e a picture with
them, so you guys will see it... eventually ha ha.
Thursday: Went back to Avignon. and did lots of porting ha ha
Friday: We went to a town called Le Thor, and passed a couple people
who said they were interested a while ago, and a member, and a couple
less actives... none of them were there. We ended up getting some
good exercize though, we probably walked over five miles. Le Thor is
a tiny tiny country town, so we probably won't go back for a long
time.
Saturday: Again nothing but contacting the whole day. We were
feeling kinda down, so we decided to treat ourselves to a soda at
Subway, the only place in France with free refills. We sat at the bar
looking out into the street trying to make people smile, figuring
spreading joy was good, and it made us feel better. Then one of our
old amis passed by and saw us, so we started talking to him and were
able to set up a rendez-vous. I love inspiered drink breaks ha ha.
Sunday: <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<church, quansah, the
Ughettos (the family who's kid got baptised the other week) and yet
more contacting.
I love you all very much. I know that God lives, I also know that the
adversary is doing all that he can to keep the work from progressing.
It can be really difficult to keep going, but it is so worth it. I
know that we really are nothing, but for some reason God still loves
us, and we are still important for him. I know he will forgive us
whatever we do. I wrote down a few quotes this week that I heard and
liked, and I would like to share them with you:
"Giving up is denying God's power" --one of the quorum of the twelve
(i forget which)
"never give up, never surrender!" --galaxy quest
"Contacting is FUN!" --Elder Hamilton
I love you all. till next week! Keep dating everyone JJ!
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