Week 26

Bonjour!

I know I am a bit late this week and I am so sorry, not that I imagine that any of you hang on the edge of your seat each week for this but still. It has been a busy couple of weeks with a lot of work to be done. Which is great! I will fill you in on the week before because if I give you all the updates then I will only have a couple days to fill you in on next week. Yikes, this will be a bit tough to remember everything very well.

So after our crazy week of snaps, it is rather needless to say that we had a lot of work ahead of us, which was definitely a good thing. We were truly blessed with many miracles in a lot of different ways. So last monday (the 10th) after emails we had planned on seeing our investigator Stephanie who had told us before that we couldn't see her anymore because of her boyfriend but still agreed to meet with us anyway. Well she ended up calling us and telling us that she couldn't come. We were a bit bummed but it was ok and we ended up just doing some contacting and then we had the rest of the afternoon and evening the was pretty nice and relaxed.

On Tuedsday we had a District Meeting and then I went to Toulon with Elder Meservy on exchange, which is usually an adventure of some sort or another. It wasn't too crazy but we did some contacting and then met a crazy Muslim man who we had a little lesson with and then we had a rendez-vous with a family that they have been teaching and we ate some cake (always have to throw in the good food that we eat haha). That was about it. I could spend more time on them but ultimately they aren't our investigators so most likely I won't see them again. Although there is a member in Toulon who I have met several times and she is this funny little old lady and I don't know why but she basically loves me. She told me that she was sure that one day I would be coming to serve in Toulon. Haha I am not so sure about that but no one ever knows.

On Wednesday we were so busy with filled up schedule with snaps and they were pretty much all snaps that we had found during our crazy week of snaps but unfortunately we found out that quantity does definitely not always mean quality. Haha All of the rendez-vous fixed with those people did not work but we were able to last minute call Stephanie and have a rendez-vous at a member's house. She said that she didn't care what her Boyfriend thought and that she was going to do what she felt was right and what she knew was right and that she still wanted to continue towards baptism for the 29th because she could just feel such a difference since we met her. At the end of the lesson she asked for a blessing and so I gave her a blessing this time and it was really good. She was able to recognize the Spirit. Our other rendez-vous was with Jeorge, our Brazilian investigator with his children. It was a pretty good lesson although the member that we brought talked way too much, which wasn't a good thing.

On Thursday we had a quite a number of rendez-vous but thank goodness they were a bit more stable. In the morning we met the Recent Convert Serge and had a nice lesson with him. He is such an example of love and humility for the Savior, it is incredible. In the afternoon, we taught Brigitte who is a lady we met a few weeks ago. She is super nice, a bit timid but very open about the message. We started the lesson and then everyone got out there Book of Mormons and we were absolutely shocked to see that she had put tabs all over the Book of Mormon marking every single chapter and she had verses highlighted as she was flipping through it, it was incredible. We were surprised and so stunned to be honest. We asked if she did it because both me and my companion thought maybe she found it or something but no she did it all herself. It was a really good lesson and she promised us that she would be at church. After we had a rendez-vous with Daniel, who is an old investigator of the missionaries and he randomly showed up at church on Sunday so we fixed a rendez-vous with him. We talked about how he could receive his response about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and he said he would be coming to church. That evening we had a rendez-vous with Amine who my companion and Elder Cunningham had a rendez-vous with when I was in Toulon. Amine actually contacted us the week before when we were on the metro and during the first rendez-vous he asked the Elders how he could become Christian. Of course they engaged for baptism and he accepted the date. So we taught the Plan of Salvation with him and he was still ready for his baptism on the 29th.

Friday was a little bit of a tough day. We ended up not having one rendez-vous and so we were a little bit bummed but we got some snaps that we had been missing out on during some of the other days.

On Saturday we had soccer and we ended up having a huge crowd of people there!! We ended up having our whole African group of guys come which was really cool. Of course that made all of us white American boys look even more terrible than we are. Ha! After that we ended up having some rendez-vous fall through until that evening when we taught Jeorge and his family again. It was a good lesson and they promised us that they would be at church and that the Rotterman family we meet them in the morning and go over with them.

Sunday arrives, the big day of whether our investigators would pull through on promising us that they would come to church. The morning started by Elder Boehme and me getting ready fast and heading to meet Jeorge and his family. They were running a little bit late, actually all the kids were ready but Jeorge wasn't, one the daughters came out and said he won't be ready for a few more minutes so if it's too late you can go and we will come next Sunday. Of course we very ernestly assured them that we could wait. They got ready and we headed out, we walked with them aways and then ran to the closest metro so we could get to the train station to meet an investigator there. He didn't show up so we hurried to the church. We got there and none of our investigators ended up being there yet. After awhile Jeorge and his kids made it, and then later Brigitte made it, and then Daniel made it, and then finally Amine made it. It was incredible!! With all of them (including Jeorge's children) that made 8 investigators at church!!! It was amazing and a miracle. We were so absolutely grateful! The day continued to go well and we had a couple lessons but there was still one more miracle. In the evening a member from the ward called us and gave us the information of a woman who showed up at the church that evening because her son dropped her off in front of it (beacuse our church is right by a big park) and so she was curious and came in. The member answered some questions and she had to hurry and go but she took every pass along card that the church had and he gave her our number and she gave him her number to give to us. We didn't have time to call her that evening but we were actually walking home that evening and we passed a lady and she stopped us and asked if we were the Mormons. We said yes and she started to tell her story and then I asked if she was Maria and she said yes and was a bit shocked and wondered how I knew her. She was the woman who had come to the church and she actually had lost the card with our number on it but it was a miracle that she happened to be out on the same road at the same time that we were walking. It was incredible. She was so interested and has so many questions and she wanted to talk more so we fixed a rendez-vous with her for the next evening.

It was such a wonderful week that ended with so many little miracles. I am so grateful for all of the tender mercies that we have seen and for all of the success that we have had. We have truly been blessed. I hope that everyone is doing well and that life is good and that we can all see all of the small blessings in your life each day. I love you all very much and I am so grateful for your love and support. Au revoir!

Elder Kirkpatrick