Week 18

Bonjour!

Well, what happened this week. That is always a good question that I like to ask myself when I write these emails. What did exactly happen? In the moment of the week, it is difficult to remember all the things but it is nice to take time once a week and go through each day and actually think about what happened and the real impact and significance of that day.

On Tuesday, the morning started out awesome. We had some time to just go out and do some contacting and we met a woman named Fanny. We talked to her a bit on the street in front of her apartment building and then she asked if we wanted to go into the cafe and continue our discussion in there. She had a coffee and my companion and I had some hot chocolate and we had a great discussion with her. She is not religious and can't find the reasoning of the existence of God (she compared it to the existence of Santa Clause) but we had an incredible discussion with her. She was very intelligent and had a lot of really good questions. In the end she gave us her contact information so that we could set up another appointment with her. It was rather unexpected but so cool. After that, later in the day, we taught a first lesson with someone that I received his contact information last transfer with Elder Mayer but we never had time to contact him and try to set something up. He is Muslim but very very open about religion and he is really just a very nice guy. The lesson went really well and he is super humble. If he truly reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it I know that he will receive a response. We unfortunately didn't have the time to set up a rendezvous with him last week because we were so busy with rendezvous everyday so we actually have an appointment with him tonight, I am super stoked. After we taught him, we ate at a member's house and I gave the spiritual thought all by myself. I asked questions, I responded, I shared testimony. I was fairly proud. It is those little baby steps like that that make me feel like I am progressing. I can't wait to look back in six months and see the change. That will definitely be cool.

Wednesday we had a rendezvous with a man who just moved to France from Algeria, he is a Doctor and he doesn't know anyone here or anything. He actually left the country for some interesting political situations. The lesson went well and he seemed to be very much in accordance with things and very willing to read the Book of Mormon. So that was cool. Afterwards, the rest of the day was a bit disappointing with quite a number of appointments falling through, as missionary work goes but we were able to find a less active woman not too far from where we live. I thought it was a bit of a miracle because it was very unexpected and the fact that she was actually at home, was very surprising. Other than that, the day was fairly normal and we were able to find some good contacts out on the street.

Thursday was a bit interesting. We had some appointments fall through... Nothing too new there but we ended up having an appointment way outside of Marseille and we had to take a bus for awhile to actually get out there. This guy was another one of the contacts that I had from last transfer. When we were calling my contacts back to set up appointments my companion called this guy and I didn't warn him first but he is a bit interesting. He has very very different outlooks on things and some very bizarre views. Namely that monogamy is not a good thing and other such things such as that. We had a very good conversation with him but ultimately it didn't change anything. He was unwilling to pray to find answers in his life. He felt prayer was a waste of time and that he wouldn't do it. Needless to say, we didn't schedule anything else with him and he definitely wasn't interested in learning anymore about our message. Regardless, it was still good and it helped me see how much I could actually follow in French and surprisingly, I understood quite a bit, so I was definitely happy about that.

Friday was a very good day. We had a meeting in Aix-en-Provence with the rest of the zone and a member of a quorum of the 70 Elder Teixeira and his wife came and spoke to us. It was a really good conference and he basically said that now is the time that we need to push. There are so many people that are out here ready for the church but that it is up to us to work even harder to bring it to these people. They are expecting a lot out of us and I know that all of us were thinking... gosh, we really really need to step it up! It was great. We got back to Marseille, had some appointments that fell through and so we pushed ourselves and got a good number of really solid contacts. It was a great day.

Saturday was good but full of appointments that didn't work out. We had 5 appointments scheduled and only one actually worked out. It was with a less active member so that's good but we were a little disappointed that we weren't able to teach all of the investigators that we had planned.

Sunday was good, although it was cold and rainy. It even was hailing for a little while! The only appointment that ended up working out was with another less active member. He is a great guy but hasn't been to church for quite awhile. He actually served a mission and everything. He speaks French but not too great so I can understand why he doesn't like going to church. He is actually moving to Ireland for work this week so we are thinking that will probably be a good thing for him in the long run to be there where church is actually in English. We were excited because he actually looked and found the Branch there and where they met, so I was excited to hear that he already looked for that.

Today has been good, just done some cleaning, grocery shopping and we went to a giant Catholic church that is up on this hill that gives a full panoramic view of all of Marseille and even over to the ocean, it is beautiful. The church is very ornate and pretty intense, including a very gigantic statue of a Golden Mary and baby Jesus on top of the church. I took some pictures so I will have to send them along soon for you all to see them.

As usual, thank you all so much for your continual love and support and your prays. The work is plugging along and everyday is a new adventure in one way or another. The French is coming and progressing, although it can feel slow at times. I have moments where I am surprised at what I understood and that I was actually able to explain myself. It's those little blessings that keep me going. I love you all and thank you for everything! Have a great week!

Elder Kirkpatrick