Week 5

Bonjour!

This week has been a pretty good week. There was a bit of excitement early on in the week. On Sunday during our Sunday night Fireside. Elder Hansen in our district was talking with a friend and heard rumor that Elder Holland was coming on Tuesday to give our Tuesday night devotional. I was rather skeptical at first but then everything started to fit into place. The majority of the gym has been closed the entire time we have been here because they have been replacing the bleachers and the seats. So they have only had a very small portion open. Well they started to oddly hurry the whole process along and then on Monday night they announced over the Intercom System that the gym would be open for the devotional on Tuesday night, on Sunday and then would close again so that the gym floor could be replaced.... Hmmmm.... Sounded suspicious to me. So that was the first indicator and then on Tuesday we my companion and I went through the hallway that the MTC president has his office and such the bathrooms said closed for special guests only.... hmmm.. So we ate dinner very quickly and hurried to the gym. The devotionals start at seven but they won't let us in until 6:30. So everyone usually waits out front to get a good seat or to even get into the gym at all. We got there about 5:15 and there were already some people there waiting. By 5:50 the are was packed and we were literally squished like sardines for about 40 minutes. It was just body to body and it was so hot!! We got in and found some pretty good seats a few rows back in the center and our whole district was able to sit there. They normally put up on the big screens who is speaking but, not very surprisingly, they didn't that night. Well about four minutes to seven, Elder Holland walked through the doors and of course everyone stood up! It was incredible. It was the closest that I have ever been to an apostle of the Lord. It was incredible being able to listen to him in person. He gave an incredible talk and ended about 20 minutes over. I took four full pages of notes. It was so cool! I'm so glad I was able to hear him while I was here.

We might be lucky and have another apostle come in September before we leave. There is usually one a month. So that was quite the hubbub on Sunday. It was very cool!The rest of the week was pretty much the same as usual. French, Preach My Gospel, and even more French. I feel like my French is coming along well, definitely not incredible by any stretch of the imagination but it's improving. I look at where I was four weeks ago, where I couldn't say anything or form sentences and now I can understand decently and basically communicate how I feel and what I want to say. Not completely but for the most part. I can even switch between some tenses. Which is cool. Although, there are like a million tenses so it is hard to keep them all straight and be able to conjugate for all of them. But I really do love the language. It's beautiful and very expressive. I can't wait until I can speak better. I can't wait to get to France!!

It's interesting, before I had this feeling like, "Oh I'm going to France just because I took a couple years of French in High Schooland so of course they put me with French." But it really hit me this week that there is a specific reason for me to be learning French and for me to be going to France. Waiting for the devotional on Tuesday, there was an Elder who got here last week and he is going stateside English speaking and he told me he took four years of French in high school! And then another one a different day told me that he took three. It has just been continual that all of these different missionaries say that they took French but they aren't going France speaking. It really showed me that I wasn't called to France just because I took that as my language because there are a lot of Elders who took French, there is a lot more to it and a much higher reason that I'm not fully aware of. I feel very blessed and lucky.

Everytime other Elders ask where we are going, they always say, "Not fair, that's awesome! You're so lucky!" And I really do feel very blessed and very very lucky. There are so many different French speaking missions, I had no idea. That also made me feel super lucky to acually be going to France. There is the Congo, Cote d'Ivorie, Madagascar, Switzerland, Fiji, Canada, Tahiti, and a Washington D.C. french speaking mission. I am so very privileged not only to be speaking French but to actually be going to France. I absolutely cannot wait!

The time here is so bizarre. Each day feels like an eternity but each week feels as if it is a second. I have already been here for four weeks. I am in the middle of my fifth week. I am halfway done!!! That's crazy. The next few weeks will absolutely fly and before I know it, I will be boarding a plane on my way to France!! And I'm sure I will feel so excited and so nervous and like I didn't prepare and study quite enough. Regardless, I can't wait. France better watch out because Elder Ethan Tyler Kirkpatrick is almost headed it's way!

Oh and we start teaching completely in French next Wednesday in the TRC!! We have to give the first lesson in French next week. It will be scary, there might be some awkward pauses here and there but ultimately I think it will be alright. I can at least get the message across that I need to. It may not be overly wordy, or eloquent but this gospel is all about simple and plain truths and that's exactly as much as I can do right now.

One of the members of the Branch Presidency was talking to the District Leaders during our meeting on Sunday and he said, "When the Elders get discourage, remind them that they already possess the language skills necessary to perform a mission. They can already bear their testimonies and testify of Christ. Ultimately, that is what is important and what is really needed." Of course that was kind of summarizing but I thought that was an incredible statement and very true. We can already give our testimonies and testify of the truthfulness of Christ and this gospel and that's enough to convert people.So all in all this week has been really good and time is just flying. I can't believe it is P-day again and soon enough it will be P-day again! And then before I know it again, I will be heading off to France. I am so grateful for all of you and your example to me. Thank you so much for the concern and the letters. I love you all!!! :)

Elder Kirkpatrick