October 12, 2010
I know that this is a day late but we ended up having zone conference yesterday and they didn't tell us about it until like thursday last week.... missionaries give lots of notice you know. :) So my jour de préparation is today rather than yesterday. This last week has been very interesting for several reasons. We had investigators with dates for baptisms basically tell us that they didn't want anything to do with us anymore but we also had some amazing experiences with other investigators. Not only that but I was able to travel around to some different cities around Southern France.
So on Tuesday we had a district meeting. In our district we have my companion and I and the two other Elders in our apartment (Elder Bowen and Elder Baret), the two Sœurs in Marseille (Sœur Taylor and Strunk) and then the two Elders from Toulon (which is about an hour east of us by train). So we had district meeting which was good and took up the first half of the day and then I had an exchange with the missionaries from Toulon. So I went to Toulon with Elder Cunningham and then Elder Meservy (who arrived in France with me so he is new too.... oh so in France we aren't green missionaries or "greenies" but we are actually bleu... I have no idea why but we are bleus) stayed with my companion in Marseille. Toulon was very nice, a lot smaller than marseille but also a lot cleaner... big surprise. It is literally right on the ocean. I had a good day there but unfortunately our rendez-vous fell through (not too surprising since they were with hobos... haha). We ended up going contacting through the city but the people there wouldn't even stop to listen to you to say no they all just completely ignore you. It was weird. We did have one appointment with a less active (moins actif) and that went well. Basically that was my day in Toulon, nothing spectacular but it was nice to have a day that was different. I stayed the night there and then in the morning went back to Marseille and switched companions again. Wednesday is kind of a blur because really nothing happened so ya.... that was wednesday. Ha.
Thursday we had a lunch rendez-vous with a moins actif (the older funny guy who I mentioned in another letter). Anyway, it was really good and probably my official French meal with all of the courses. We had appetizers of quiche and some pizza type things after that we had a potato salad with some kind of fish in it that was surprisingly good and of course with french bread (MMMMM the bread here is delicious and there are a million bakeries on every street and the smell of fresh baking bread is everywhere... it is terribly tempting for me, ha!) After that, we had a course of cheese and bread.... it was camembear cheese (I have no idea how to spell it) but it was also good. Lastly and the best, we had pasteries that he bought from a bakery and they were so delicious!! There were eclairs filled with chocolate and then some other things that had all of these layers and filling in between all the layers and then crème puffs.... oh goodness those were incredible. I was very stuffed afterwards. But anyway we committed him to work towards going to the temple because he has been a member for three years. After that pretty much all of our appointments fell through which stunk. It's always a bummer when they don't work out.
Friday, ok this was a crazy day! So my companion had a meeting in Aix-en-Provence for all of the district leaders in the zone, so I went on an exchange with the bleu of the district leader in Nice and it was Elder Tudor! I was so excited when I found out because Elder Tudor was in my district in the MTC and he is so awesome. Anyway, so I took the train with my companion to Aix and then met Elder Tudor and we were alone for the majority of the day to get back to Marseille and we had two appointments to get to and teach.... eeks! So we were able to buy tickets and take the bus back to Marseille and we bought him a day transport pass so we could get around the city and we headed back to the apartment to prepare.for the day. We prepared our appointments and had lunch and headed out for the day, excited but nervous at the same time. We walked around and contacted some people and actually talked to a lot of people. We headed out to our first appointment so that we could make sure that we knew where to go because I called a member to meet us and teach with us.... yes, I spoke to a French person on the phone and made plans... woah.... it was a big day... haha. So the metro stop was one of the last ones so he lives a way away from the center of the city. We walked and walked and walked forever but literally could not find the house number!! It wasn't a super great area, there was even a sewer lid that was opening and brown water was just rushing out of it, it smelled terrible! We hurried back to the metro to meet our member and she helped us look but she couldn't find it either. The address literally did not exist.... darn! So, we headed to the next appoinment. And guess what.... that person didn't live at that house either! Apparently when Elder Mayer made the contact the guy wasn't positive of the number but that it was a foyer (which is a place that people live at when they can't afford housing for themselves and stuff, there are a lot of refugees and such there) but my comp didn't tell me it was a foyer so we just went to the building we had the address of and the one next to it and he didn't live there. So we ended up having a really good lesson with the member that was with us and then we hurried and headed to Gare St. Charles (train station) to pick up our companions. The rest of the evening was basically tracting.
Saturday was a lot of people not being there for their appointments also but we had one that was incredible. It was in English because the guy knows French but is better with understanding and speaking English (he is from Uganda). Anyway he is such a great guy and very receptive and feels the love of God in his life. He committed to baptism and was super stoked. That was pretty much Saturday.
Sunday was my first Sunday all in French... yikes! They have their schedule backwards so it is Priesthood and Relief Society first and then Sunday School and then Sacrament Meeting. By Sacrament Meeting I was so tired... I could not focus and basically dozed in and out the whole time... Afterwards we ate lunch at the church because the members did some pot luck thing... I have no idea why, but it was pretty good. Once again, all of our appointments fell through for the day... it wasn't a great week for appointments.
Monday was a great day! We had Zone Conference so everyone in the zone, which is all the missionaries in the Eastern part of our mission, met in Aix at the church building and the APs and the Mission President and his wife were there. It lasted from 10 until 4 but it was so good. I actually understood the majority of it even though pretty much the entire thing was in French. Each day seems to get better. I am even begining to understand my companion... I didn't know that would ever happen! Ha! Don't get too excited it's definitely not all the time but I am understanding more. Afterwards were had a rendez-vous with the less active guy that had fed us lunch earlier in the week and an investigator who is a friend of the less active he has been an investigator since 2005! So we were teaching and I am getting better at following along and knowing when to bear my testimony and actually know what is being said and all of a sudden I just felt like I needed to ask the member a question. When my companion looked at me to bear my testimony about what he said I said "Actuellement, j'ai une question pour Frère Portail. Qu'est-ce que vous avez ressentis après votre baptême?" "Actually, I have a question for Brother Portail. How did you feel after your baptism?" And it was amazing. He bore an incredible testimony about the difference in his life and how he felt such a direct connection with God afterward and I honestly can't even tell you everything that he said but the spirit was there and it was amazing. So the investigator said that he would pray for a date for baptism and it was great. After that, we hurried to meet the guy from Uganda to go to a family home evening with a family. The family lives in Aubagne which takes about 40 minutes to get to by bus. We got out there and they are just a great solid family. She is American and he is French, served his mission in Tahiti and worked at the MTC and went to BYU so they met there, got married and they live in France and have a couple little boys. So we had family home evening with them and watched the Restoration Video and afterwards our investigator said, "I know that I need to be bapized. I know this is the step I need to take in my life, I will be at church on Sunday." It was so amazing! Afterwards, we had dinner with them and the husband drove us home very very quickly.... all of the metric system stuff here means nothing to me at all but I saw his speedometer and it said 200 and he said Elder Kirkpatrick that is 120 mph. OH goodness.. I thought I was going to get in a car crash. This is the second time he has sped us home and it freaks me out everytime. Anyway it was a very great day with a lot of miracles.
So this week has been a bit crazy but a good one. I have definitely had my ups and downs. I am still trying to adjust to everything. It is very different from the MTC. I can definitely see the influence of the Savior in my life and in the life of our investigators. It is remarkable. Once again, thank you all so much for you love and support and I promise I am working on writing back those of you who have written me, thank you by the way!! Je vous aime!!
Elder Kirkpatrick
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