Well, this has been a very interesting week with a lot of transitions and changing around. As I mentioned last week, I was waiting around for my new companion to arrive to Marseille. He didn't arrive until almost seven at night so I basically was waiting around all day. It wasn't too bad because Soeur Strunk (also from Marseille) and Elder Bus (in Aix) were waiting for their companions also so we spent some time going around the city and doing some site seeing and such which was cool because we never had anytime before that to do any stuff like that on our preparation day. It was a good day.... especially because I ate some ice cream that was so delicious. Haha I always have to add in the little tid bits about what I ate. :)
This week has surely been a week for appointments that have fallen through and to be honest, not too much exciting has really happened this week so I think I am just going to hit the highlights rather than talking about each and every day. The first day that is really significant in my mind is actually not until Friday. So on Friday, we ended up having to go to Toulon so that my companion, Elder Keadle, could do a baptismal interview for someone that the Elders had been teacher. Well, unfortunately she didn't show up and they haven't been able to get ahold of her for a few days. So we ended up spending part of the morning and beginning of the afternoon in Toulon. We missed a rendezvous that we were suppposed to have and they didn't answer their phone when we called to tell them that we couldn't make it. We got back to Marseille, and they called us and asked if we could come by that evening because they still wanted to hear our message. This contact was a guy, older twenties and his girlfriend, who Elder Mayer and I contacted on the street the week prior. We showed up and they also had a friend there. It was very interesting, because the guy had a very interesting "mystic" belief in what he thought God was, his girlfriend was raised Jewish and their friend, she was raised Catholic. Quite a combination of differing beliefs, but it was very cool. They were so interested in hearing our message and what our beliefs were all about. They asked tons of questions and when they would make comments it ended up leading straight into the next point of doctrine, it was incredible. After finishing the lesson, we kind of talked about some of their prejudgements of what they knew Mormons to be and so we cleared some stuff up for them and gave them a couple copies of the Book of Mormon and they were super excited. Towards the end, three more of their friends showed up and so we had a big discussion with all of them, it was awesome. We set up another rendezvous with them for this week and we are super stoked. I hope that all three of them will be able to be there.
The next big thing was a baptism! Marlon, an investigator of the Soeurs, was baptized on Saturday. We were a bit worried early in the morning because apparently Marlon's wife called the Soeurs and was not happy that he was being baptized and she just yelled at them and told them how terrible everything was. After that, we weren't sure what would happen, but Marlon would not let anything stop him from being baptized. He called the Soeurs about 2 hours before his baptism and he just said, "Can't we just do it right now? Do we really need to wait?" It was so cool. It was such a nice baptismal service and he was just absolutely thrilled and delighted for his baptism. It was so amazing to see how happy he truly was. It was incredible. Oh, so a couple funny things: In the middle of a talk before the actual baptism, a less active member was there and her cell phone went off and she proceeds to answer it in the middle of the talk. Thankfully she ended the call quickly, but just has she hung up, the Bishop's cell phone went off! Haha he was so red in the face and one of the members of the Bishopric could not stop laughing. It was pretty funny.
Sunday, was a fairly normal day, but I will be honest, I was looking at the week that had just passed and thought, "hmmm this wasn't such a stellar week, we need to make some changes." I had a ton of contacts from last transfer that I never got around to contacting because we were so busy all the time so we took some time and made calls and fixed 14 rendezvous for next week already. Our week is pretty much full every single day. I guarantee that we will have many that won't work out but the fact that we have so many at least for the get go, is a good sign. Also, I was quite proud but I fixed a ton of them all by myself on the phone! It is like every week I can see small little improvements and it gives me hope that I can learn this language. I was pretty excited. But, probably the biggest thing that happened was I gave my very first blessing in French. We went over to a member's house whose roommate (who isn't a member) was having some health problems and she wanted a blessing. The other companionship of Elders were there also and they had met her before so I figured she would ask them to do it... Well, when we asked who she wanted, she asked Elder Bowen's new companion, who is bleu but he is from Paris so he already speaks the language, to annoint the oil and then if I would do the sealing and then give the blessing. Oh my goodness was I absolutely out of my mind nervous. I was like, I can't speak this language, how am I supposed to give a blessing to someone! My companion could tell that I was mortified and he kept saying, "Are you ok? Are you sure?" He also reassured me that I could do it and that I would be fine. Well that was nice and all but I was still frightened. I went to do the blessing and I can't say that I was calm but I wasn't shaking and I was at peace. I just knew that the words that I said did not matter at all but that it was the spirit and the will of the Lord. I know that it wasn't a grand, marvelous, beautifully worded blessing, but I do know that it was simple and it was direct. I have no idea what caused her to specifically choose me to give that blessing but I am grateful I had the opportunity. So, that was my Sunday. I can definitely say that it was a good day and a good way to finish the week.
This week wasn't overly exciting but there were many small little things that were good. Each day, I try searching for the small little miracles and the small things that just made me smile. There are long days and there are tough days but there are so many things to be grateful for each day and so many amazing things that I get to witness and take part in.
Thank you so much for your love and your support and definitely for your prayers. I know that they help me each and everyday. I hope that you all are doing very well and that you are able to see the small miracles in each of your days as well. I promise you that if you search for them, you will always be able to find them. Have a great week and I love you all!
Elder Kirkpatrick
No comments:
Post a Comment