Bonjour à tous!!
A new week, a new city, new investigators, new challenges, that's the life. I hope that everyone else has been thrown some curve balls this last week, just to spice up life a bit. If we didn't get any curve balls, we would just be confortable in our little bubbles. Surprises teach us and help us learn. This week has been a good week, definitely busy and a little tiring.
So last week started out pretty good. I don't think I told you last week but last Monday, we ended fixing a baptismal date with one of the investigators in Toulon. His name is Rudi and he is actually one of the players on the Rugby team here in Toulon, which is apparently pretty famous. It is kind of a complicated situation but the short version is that the girl he loves is a member of the church and she decided that she truly needed to turn her life around and so she started to change her life and decided to leave Toulon to go live with her family in Australia to have that good support system and she is taking their little baby son. She was leaving Tuesday so we went and ate dinner with them on Monday night, it was some really good sushi. She bore such a strong testimony about how she has received such a strong witness of the truth of all these things that there is no way that she could possibly deny it and that she wants Rudi to have that same feeling and knowledge for himself. It was really strong and he really wanted to change his habits and literally become a new man.
On Tuesday, we started out the morning by helping out this guy who has taken lessons from the missionaries on and off but he is a professor and has to teach a class in English and he doesn't speak english so we helped him with his pronunciation of things to read from the powerpoints he has. We taught him and then we hurried to go to a members house to eat on the other side of the city. Actually not in Toulon but in a town just next to it right by the sea. So we hurried and tried to catch a bus that took quite a long time to get out there. We got there and taught a little lesson about missionary work. They are a really cool family. It's a couple in their 50s who have been members for about 25 years and have such strong testimonies but also have baptized several of their neighbors throughout the years and their friends, it's really cool. It would be cool to get that same passion in all the members in France. There would be a big population of LDs members here! We had a very normal French meal, including the baguettes and a course that was just cheese, as is normal. I have definitely grown a fondness for cheese. Ha. Afterwards Frere Michelle drove us back into Toulon and went to a Rendez-vous with us to a man named Pascal. It was a pretty good rendez-vous. Afterwards, we went and played basketball with the guy that the Elder had baptized just the week before and then we caught up with Rudi and had a quick lesson with him. Then, in the evening, we went to a less active member and taught her and her husband and daughter who aren't baptized. It was a pretty good lesson but a little crazy since two of her Brazillian friends randomly showed up.
Wednesday morning, we had a rendez-vous with this crazy young guy that has a baptismal date but he is a little bit just everywhere. So we had a little bit of a knuckle down with him to see if he is actually serious about continuing and surprisingly he did say that he was going to come to Nice on Sunday for Stake Conference. Afterwards we had a rendez-vous with Rudi that was really good. The best thing with him is that he had such an incredible example of the gospel and it's power through Nancy, who was his girlfriend. He saw how much it changed her life and he wants that same thing, he is just definitely going through his struggles right now. After, we had a rendez-vous with the recent convert and talked about the priesthood, then we had a meeting with the ward mission leader and then hurried to get to another rendez-vous. We got lost on the way because Elder Meservy couldn't find it... sometimes I wonder if he has actually been in Toulon for the last five months or not.... haha. We had a rendez-vous with a Brazillian lady who is a bit less active, her teenage daughter, who is very active and then her really good friend who is not a member but comes every single Sunday. The mom is a little crazy and honestly she was hilarious. She is basically never serious, she is just crazy. It's hard to explain. So it was a little difficult to try to direct the lesson, it was definitely interesting.
Thursday, we had a couple rendez-vous not work out but we did have one at the church in the afternoon with a guy named Thomas, it was pretty good. Here in Toulon, they have a lot of investigators but not necessarily a lot of investigators who do anything.... Ha. After, we did some contacting and then went back to the church for English class that we do every week here. There was this weird guy who comes, he loves speaking English and we taught him a lesson before class started because he was super early and he is just a little bizarre... and a little creepy. At English class, we had nine people come, which apparently is the biggest group they have had in a long time. There is this older lady who has been coming to English class with the missionaries for twenty years, non-stop!!! They can't ever stop English class here because she will ALWAYS be coming. Haha. Afterwards, Rudi ended up picking us up and we went to a Chinese Buffet. Haha, a rugby player has to eat ya know? Haha We had a good lesson with him but he can't seem to beat the temptations that he has and then brought up a problem he has with the fact that we don't pray to Mary and he is Catholic so that is pretty important for him. So we kind of tackled that. And then called it a night..... after they rolled us out of the chinese restaurant. Haha the really funny thing is that another player from the team and his family ended up coming in a little after we got there. Haha apparently it's popular among the teammates.
On Friday, we went to Marseille for a District Meeting where President and Soeur Carter were going to be there. It was weird to be back in Marseille, it just felt weird. Like it had been forever since I had been there and yet at the same time, not long at all. It felt so much like home. I guess that happens with your first city. The meeting was really good and we learned a lot of really good things. We got back into Toulon that evening and did some contacting and then met up with Rudi.... this time it was pizza.... Haha. He talked about his struggles, we addressed his concerns and honestly it came down to the fact that he truly needed an answer that everything was true. He feels like it but he doesn't feel like he has received an exact answer yet. I promised him that if he showed God that he was ready to receive an answer, meaning that in the next two days before stake conference he wouldn't break any commandements, that he would receive his answer at stake conference. I honestly can't believe that I said it but it just came out!
Saturday was a pretty busy day. In the morning we had a rendez-vous with a lady who had been to church the last 5 Sundays and the Elders hadn't had a rendez-vous with her yet. It was a great rendez-vous and truly another testimony builder of how important it is for members to talk to their friends about the gospel because she started coming because of a member. She said that once she knew these things were true, she would get baptized. After her, we met an older man who had been meeting with the missionaries for a long time, another friend of a member but he had finally come to church the Sunday before for the first time in all the years he had been an investigator. We had a good lesson and basically engaged him to baptism but haven't yet fixed a date. We then ended up eating with him and his wife for a surprise lunch. Afterwards, we hurried home, changed and went and played basketball with the recent convert, Anthony, and Rudi.... playing basketball with a big Rugby player...Ha! It was fun though. We then hurried home, got ready and then took a bus out to another city next to Toulon where the University is and had a lesson with an incredible student out there who is so prepared to be baptized, it is awesome!! Then, we met a couple guys who had been taught before and had a rendez-vous but they weren't really interested much. Unfortunately, we stayed too long and missed the last bus going home... the buses stop super early in Toulon! We started walking home and decided it was WAY too long so Elder Meservy called a member and thankfully he came and got us.
On Sunday it was Stake Conference in Nice and Rudi was going to pick us up and then drive us there. He called us in the morning and told us that he had made some bad decisions the night before and was not in a state to drive us all the way to Nice. He picked us up and drove us to the church to get a ride with a member and on the way he kind of broke down and told us how the reason he has been struggling is because he honestly doesn't feel like he has any reason to be good or be anything for that matter because he basically lost his son. His son was everything for him and now that he is gone, he has kind of lost the meaning of everything. He dropped us off and we were a little bummed. We got a ride from a member as well as Anthony. We got to Nice and before the conference started Rudi called and said that he really felt like he needed to be there so we gave him the address and he said he was on his way. The conference was good and the talks were all incredible, including the talks of President and Soeur Carter who were there and I was able to see Brigitte from Marseille.I was so happy!! Rudi ended up making it and got there for a bit more than the last half. He really enjoyed and thankfully they had translators so that we didn't have to sit there and translate the entire time. Thank goodness! After the conference everyone stuck around and Brigitte basically was attached to me like glue the whole time. When the people from Marseille left, she shook my hand and just squeezed it and held onto it for a long time. I told her that it would be ok and that we would keep in touch by mail. I always feel bad saying bye to her because it's like breaking her heart everytime. We then left and drove home with Rudi. And that was basically the day. Phew!
It has been a pretty crazy week and we did a lot! I hope that you all are doing well and that you are finding happiness in everything that you do. Have a great week and know how much I am grateful for each and every one of you! Thank you. I love you all!!!
Elder Kirkpatrick
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Week 31
Bonjour à Tous!!!
I hope that everyone is doing well and staying busy. I hope the weather has been nice because the last little while the weather here in the South of France has been BEAUTIFUL! This week has been another busy one and there has been a very interesting and rather bizzare, unexpected change. But, I will get to that later because, naturally, that happened at the very end of my week.
Alright, so last week I spent so long explaining everything that led up to the baptism that I didn't have time to include Sunday in my weekly update. Sunday of course was the confirmation and it was incredible. After Brigitte was confirmed a member and received the Holy Ghost she got up and said "ça fait chaud!" Which means that it was hot. I thought that maybe it was because she was completely surrounded by four big guys and that she felt a little claustrophobic. After Daniel received the Holy Ghost, I went and sat back by Brigitte and she said the same exact thing to me again. So I asked if it was a sensation that she has inside. She told me that the heat started at her head and went completely down her entire body and that they heat was still with her. It was so incredible and such a strong testimony builder for her and for me. It is incredible to be able to help these people find truth and comfort in their lives and how much it opens their eyes. The rest of the day was good and we taught some lessons but that was truly the biggest and most incredible experience of the day!
Monday was a good day and a fairly typical preparation day. We did our normal things and then at the end of the day we had a rendez-vous with Jeorge and his family. They are doing well but he is very much so consumed by the Evangilical Beliefs and it is very difficult for him to see outside of that, unfortunately. But it was still pretty good. It has been weird for Elder Boehme and I now that Brigitte and Daniel are gone it's like starting again at zero and moving our focus. We have seriously been a little unsure what to do because we have been so consumed preparing Daniel and Brigitte for baptism the last few weeks that we are a little lost now. Ha! But I guess that's how it goes.
On Tuesday, we had a first rendez-vous with an American lady that we met a few weeks ago and we had a really good rendez-vous with her. Unfortunately, at the end she told us well I need to take my time so I will read in the Book of Mormon and then call you when I am ready to discuss it. I didn't get the impression that it was because she wasn't interested but because she didn't want to be pressed into anything and that she was going to go about it in a somewhat non-committal way. The funny thing was that her baby woke up from his nap while we were there and of course he was very attached to his mother but he right after he looked at Elder Boehme he freaked out! She told us, "he has never done this with anyone before. I don't know what is wrong with him today." Elder Boehme and I had some good laughs about that afterwards. In the afternoon, we met Daniel and started talking about Priesthood and helping him to prepare to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. After that, we went and met Brigitte at this big park and there is a big horse place right next to it. Brigitte used to work taking care of horses for a big Horse Spectacular show thing and they would tour around Europe and even into Morocco and the spectacular is out of Marseille so that is where they train and prepare and everything. So she took us over there to show us what she used to do. It is sad because she can't do it anymore because she was injured so she is training to do something else for work. But it was really cool to kind of become apart of Brigitte's world and to see all of that. There were some crazy exotic horses and even this very funny looking donkey. All of that is so much apart of Brigitte and it was nice to finally see it all.
Wednesday, we ended up seeing Brigitte in the morning and talking about the Priesthood. She got the Principles of the Gospel Sunday School book on Sunday and it was incredible to see how much she had already read! She had already started marking and highlighting stuff inside of it, it was so cool. It is incredible how much she just has this hunger and thirst for the things of the gospel. She even told us, before she met us, she never used to read and now she reads all the time. It is so cool to see the changes that have gone on her life since we first met her. The rest of the day was a little rough for rendez-vous, so we did some contacting some calls and that evening we ate dinner over at a member's house.
Thursday we did our weekly planning in the morning because we had zone conference Friday morning so we couldn't do our planning on friday like normal. After planning, we went and passed a Romanian family and taught them a bit. It was pretty hard because they don't really speak French very well but we were able to teach a bit. Afterwards, we taught Brigitte again and taught her about the importance of missionary work in her life and how much she appreciates that she has found the gospel and how she can share that with others around her. After, we did some contacting and then went and taught Jeorge and his family again, without too much major success.
Friday was our day for our interviews with President. Because it takes quite a while to interview everyone, he asked the four Elders in Marseille and the Soeurs to be there at 8 in the morning in Aix-en-Provence for our interviews. Ugh! We had to wake up so early to get there on time. ça me fatigue à penser de cela! Haha! I had my interview with President (this is when the weird things of the week start) and he told me how Elder Boehme and I have been working really well together and that we just seem to click. And then he proposed something that I had never thought was an option. Since Elder Boehme finishes his mission next transfer, I knew I wouldn't stay with him because that would mean that I would have to stay another transfer in Marseille after her finishes and that would make six transfers in the same city. Which is unheard of. Well, President said he had been thinking and he asked me if I would want to stay with Elder Boehme for his last transfer and then I would stay a sixth transfer in Marseille. I was quite shocked that he suggested that to me. I told him that honestly I could not decide and that I would give him the choice and allow him to reflect and think about it somemore. He told me that was fine. The rest of the interview was good and the rest of the Conference was good but I was in a little bit of shock just trying to take in what President proposed. If I were to stay in Marseille for six transfers that meant that I was there for 10 months of my mission.... which is a very long time in the same city on a mission. Throughout all the day we had three lessons and it was constantly in the back of my mind. The interview with President really motivated me and made me realize that I could work harder than I had been so that day, I tried to push myself as much as I could and it was great! For a half of a day, less than that actually, we had 3 lessons and a few snaps, it was good!*
Saturday we played soccer and then had our normal weekly meeting with our ward mission leader. The day was a little rough as far as rendez-vous go and all that but it was good. We stopped by the ward activity in the meeting to say hi and to make sure everything was going well with Brigitte, who was there. That was basically saturday.
On Sunday something very peculiar happened. I was showering before getting ready to go to church and when I got out of the bathroom the other Elders told me that President had called and that he wanted me to call him back. I thought that was really weird. Why was President calling me at 8 in the morning on a Sunday. I thought maybe he wanted to see how I felt about what he had proposed to me on Friday but I thought that it was weird. I called him and he told me that the companionship in Toulon was not doing very well together and then he asked me if I would be transferred to Toulon for the rest of the three weeks of this transfer and that we would make the change the next day!! I was completely shocked and absolutely blown again. Of course I wasn't going to tell President no but I did at least want to stay in Marseille for the rest of the transfer. So apparently he had kind of made the decision already and that's what I needed to do. The next thing was now I had to go to church and tell everybody that I was leaving in the middle of the transfer after being there for 5 months and the biggest concern was telling Brigitte. I told a few people and put off telling Brigitte until after church. I told her and she was definitely sad. Elder Barber said he could just tell on her face that she wasn't very happy that I was leaving. I felt bad but I couldn't really do much about it. She made sure to give me her address and so I will make sure to write her and keep in contact. We had some rendez-vous throughout the day and the rest of time I would hurry home and do some packing because I didn't have too much notice. In the evening we had dinner with a member and then I came home and finished packing everything. It was weird packing everything up from my very first city on my mission. It was literally Chez-moi!
This morning I got up and showered and went to the train station and met my new companion, who is Elder Meservy, who was in the MTC with me. It will be good. Toulon is a cool city and there is a lot of work going on here right now. Which is great. I am excited to see what the last three weeks of the transfer will be like. The weird thing is that I thought finally with Elder Boehme he would be my first companion that I would be with for two transfers. But not even, I only made it a transfer and a half with him! Haha! Fourth transfer.... fourth companion. What a reputation. Haha
I hope that everyone is doing well. I want you to know how much I love you and thank you for everything that you do for me, including the prayers! About my address, don't send things to the Marseille apartment anymore because... well, I am not there. I don't have the Toulon address with me so if you just send it to the mission home, they can forward it to me. Thanks! Have a great week. Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
I hope that everyone is doing well and staying busy. I hope the weather has been nice because the last little while the weather here in the South of France has been BEAUTIFUL! This week has been another busy one and there has been a very interesting and rather bizzare, unexpected change. But, I will get to that later because, naturally, that happened at the very end of my week.
Alright, so last week I spent so long explaining everything that led up to the baptism that I didn't have time to include Sunday in my weekly update. Sunday of course was the confirmation and it was incredible. After Brigitte was confirmed a member and received the Holy Ghost she got up and said "ça fait chaud!" Which means that it was hot. I thought that maybe it was because she was completely surrounded by four big guys and that she felt a little claustrophobic. After Daniel received the Holy Ghost, I went and sat back by Brigitte and she said the same exact thing to me again. So I asked if it was a sensation that she has inside. She told me that the heat started at her head and went completely down her entire body and that they heat was still with her. It was so incredible and such a strong testimony builder for her and for me. It is incredible to be able to help these people find truth and comfort in their lives and how much it opens their eyes. The rest of the day was good and we taught some lessons but that was truly the biggest and most incredible experience of the day!
Monday was a good day and a fairly typical preparation day. We did our normal things and then at the end of the day we had a rendez-vous with Jeorge and his family. They are doing well but he is very much so consumed by the Evangilical Beliefs and it is very difficult for him to see outside of that, unfortunately. But it was still pretty good. It has been weird for Elder Boehme and I now that Brigitte and Daniel are gone it's like starting again at zero and moving our focus. We have seriously been a little unsure what to do because we have been so consumed preparing Daniel and Brigitte for baptism the last few weeks that we are a little lost now. Ha! But I guess that's how it goes.
On Tuesday, we had a first rendez-vous with an American lady that we met a few weeks ago and we had a really good rendez-vous with her. Unfortunately, at the end she told us well I need to take my time so I will read in the Book of Mormon and then call you when I am ready to discuss it. I didn't get the impression that it was because she wasn't interested but because she didn't want to be pressed into anything and that she was going to go about it in a somewhat non-committal way. The funny thing was that her baby woke up from his nap while we were there and of course he was very attached to his mother but he right after he looked at Elder Boehme he freaked out! She told us, "he has never done this with anyone before. I don't know what is wrong with him today." Elder Boehme and I had some good laughs about that afterwards. In the afternoon, we met Daniel and started talking about Priesthood and helping him to prepare to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. After that, we went and met Brigitte at this big park and there is a big horse place right next to it. Brigitte used to work taking care of horses for a big Horse Spectacular show thing and they would tour around Europe and even into Morocco and the spectacular is out of Marseille so that is where they train and prepare and everything. So she took us over there to show us what she used to do. It is sad because she can't do it anymore because she was injured so she is training to do something else for work. But it was really cool to kind of become apart of Brigitte's world and to see all of that. There were some crazy exotic horses and even this very funny looking donkey. All of that is so much apart of Brigitte and it was nice to finally see it all.
Wednesday, we ended up seeing Brigitte in the morning and talking about the Priesthood. She got the Principles of the Gospel Sunday School book on Sunday and it was incredible to see how much she had already read! She had already started marking and highlighting stuff inside of it, it was so cool. It is incredible how much she just has this hunger and thirst for the things of the gospel. She even told us, before she met us, she never used to read and now she reads all the time. It is so cool to see the changes that have gone on her life since we first met her. The rest of the day was a little rough for rendez-vous, so we did some contacting some calls and that evening we ate dinner over at a member's house.
Thursday we did our weekly planning in the morning because we had zone conference Friday morning so we couldn't do our planning on friday like normal. After planning, we went and passed a Romanian family and taught them a bit. It was pretty hard because they don't really speak French very well but we were able to teach a bit. Afterwards, we taught Brigitte again and taught her about the importance of missionary work in her life and how much she appreciates that she has found the gospel and how she can share that with others around her. After, we did some contacting and then went and taught Jeorge and his family again, without too much major success.
Friday was our day for our interviews with President. Because it takes quite a while to interview everyone, he asked the four Elders in Marseille and the Soeurs to be there at 8 in the morning in Aix-en-Provence for our interviews. Ugh! We had to wake up so early to get there on time. ça me fatigue à penser de cela! Haha! I had my interview with President (this is when the weird things of the week start) and he told me how Elder Boehme and I have been working really well together and that we just seem to click. And then he proposed something that I had never thought was an option. Since Elder Boehme finishes his mission next transfer, I knew I wouldn't stay with him because that would mean that I would have to stay another transfer in Marseille after her finishes and that would make six transfers in the same city. Which is unheard of. Well, President said he had been thinking and he asked me if I would want to stay with Elder Boehme for his last transfer and then I would stay a sixth transfer in Marseille. I was quite shocked that he suggested that to me. I told him that honestly I could not decide and that I would give him the choice and allow him to reflect and think about it somemore. He told me that was fine. The rest of the interview was good and the rest of the Conference was good but I was in a little bit of shock just trying to take in what President proposed. If I were to stay in Marseille for six transfers that meant that I was there for 10 months of my mission.... which is a very long time in the same city on a mission. Throughout all the day we had three lessons and it was constantly in the back of my mind. The interview with President really motivated me and made me realize that I could work harder than I had been so that day, I tried to push myself as much as I could and it was great! For a half of a day, less than that actually, we had 3 lessons and a few snaps, it was good!*
Saturday we played soccer and then had our normal weekly meeting with our ward mission leader. The day was a little rough as far as rendez-vous go and all that but it was good. We stopped by the ward activity in the meeting to say hi and to make sure everything was going well with Brigitte, who was there. That was basically saturday.
On Sunday something very peculiar happened. I was showering before getting ready to go to church and when I got out of the bathroom the other Elders told me that President had called and that he wanted me to call him back. I thought that was really weird. Why was President calling me at 8 in the morning on a Sunday. I thought maybe he wanted to see how I felt about what he had proposed to me on Friday but I thought that it was weird. I called him and he told me that the companionship in Toulon was not doing very well together and then he asked me if I would be transferred to Toulon for the rest of the three weeks of this transfer and that we would make the change the next day!! I was completely shocked and absolutely blown again. Of course I wasn't going to tell President no but I did at least want to stay in Marseille for the rest of the transfer. So apparently he had kind of made the decision already and that's what I needed to do. The next thing was now I had to go to church and tell everybody that I was leaving in the middle of the transfer after being there for 5 months and the biggest concern was telling Brigitte. I told a few people and put off telling Brigitte until after church. I told her and she was definitely sad. Elder Barber said he could just tell on her face that she wasn't very happy that I was leaving. I felt bad but I couldn't really do much about it. She made sure to give me her address and so I will make sure to write her and keep in contact. We had some rendez-vous throughout the day and the rest of time I would hurry home and do some packing because I didn't have too much notice. In the evening we had dinner with a member and then I came home and finished packing everything. It was weird packing everything up from my very first city on my mission. It was literally Chez-moi!
This morning I got up and showered and went to the train station and met my new companion, who is Elder Meservy, who was in the MTC with me. It will be good. Toulon is a cool city and there is a lot of work going on here right now. Which is great. I am excited to see what the last three weeks of the transfer will be like. The weird thing is that I thought finally with Elder Boehme he would be my first companion that I would be with for two transfers. But not even, I only made it a transfer and a half with him! Haha! Fourth transfer.... fourth companion. What a reputation. Haha
I hope that everyone is doing well. I want you to know how much I love you and thank you for everything that you do for me, including the prayers! About my address, don't send things to the Marseille apartment anymore because... well, I am not there. I don't have the Toulon address with me so if you just send it to the mission home, they can forward it to me. Thanks! Have a great week. Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
Monday, February 14, 2011
Week 30
Ethan resent last week's letter and I posted it in full under this one if you would like to finish it:
Bonjour!
I hope that everyone is doing very well and everything is working out very well. We have been very busy this last week and have seen a lot of really great things happen. And of course everything was centered around making sure that our baptisms on Saturday would still happen and that our investigators were ready. You will see the whole story unfold throughout the week.
On Monday, it was a normal preparation day and we met Daniel at the church to follow up and make sure that he was still prepared to get baptized for that Saturday. Daniel had been taught by the missionaries a few years ago and so we already knew that he had certain difficulties from the last time that he we needed to work out. Thankfully, some of those things had gone away over the two years but there were still some existing concerns. We decided that we needed to go through the baptismal questions thoroughly to make sure where any holes were and what things we needed to try to fix. In going through those, we learned that he had some challenges with things many many years ago long before he even knew anything about the church. With his baptism interview already planned for the thursday and with us trying to make sure that he was keeping the word of wisdom we had to call the Zone Leaders about another difficulty. There was a bunch of confusion back and forth and they weren't fully sure and so our district leader (who normally does the interviews) called President Carter to see exactly what we needed to do. He said that at the interview President Carter would have to talk to Daniel over the phone just to make sure everything was cleared up and he understood. So obviously, that worried us a little bit but there wasn't really anything we could do for tackling old things at this point and so we continued to focus on making sure he was keeping the Word of Wisdom. So we set up another rendez-vous with him the next day just to be sure that all was well.
On Tuesday, we had a district meeting in the morning and then our two rendez-vous right after got cancelled and so we ended up doing some contacting and met a pretty cool guy on the street. After, we headed to the church to have a rendez-vous with Daniel, he was still keeping the Word of Wisdom and we taught him about tithing, which he already knew about but just a nice little refresher. Right after him we taught Brigitte, who of course was still doing awesome. We had honestly taught her everything that we needed to teach her the week before and so we just went over some stuff. She was so ready for baptism. It was awesome. After her, we tried to pass Paul, who is the guy from Ghana. He was not there but his friend that we met weeks ago, Joseph, another refugee from African who is only 17 is actually living with Paul now and so we taught him. He doesn't speak English, speaks French a bit, but he undertstands well. It is a little difficult to communicate but we engaged him to be baptized in the beginning of March, which was cool.
On Wednesday, we had a rendez-vous with the guy that we had met on the street the day before. He is a very interesting guy. His name is Travs and he just goes on random tangents about pretty much nothing. He currently isn't working and really doesn't do much and at the end of the rendez-vous we asked if we could see him the next day and he told us that he needed to check his schedule, he then proceeds to pull out a brochure from his pocket that had the concert schedule for a bunch of techno groups in Marseille, after checking that there wasn't one the next day, he said he was free. It would be one thing if this was like a 21 year old guy but no, this guy is easily 45 if not older. Haha it was really funny. After him, we went and met Daniel just to make sure that the Word of Wisdom was still going well and that he was still on track for the interview on Thursday. We had a quick little lesson with him and just continued to give him our support and our faith in him. We left and headed to go drop off some cookies that we had made to an investigator and she wasn't home but we met an incredible lady on the street. She was very very Christian and she ended up talking with us for at least 45 minutes. Elder Boehme was inspired and brought up baptism and it completely touched her because she said she has not been baptized yet but that she knows she really needs to. It was a great discussion and she took the Book of Mormon and said that she would read the chapter that we gave her.
On Thursday, it was the day of the baptismal interviews but they weren't going to happen until later that afternoon and evening. Before that, we had a rendez-vous with a lady named Caroline, who we met last week. She is very very faithful but she has had a lot of struggles and she has some difficulties within her family and everytime we would talk about something it always seemed to go back to her family. She is an incredible lady and honestly, we could just see how amazing the gospel would be in her life and how much it could help her in her life. We gave her the Book of Mormon and a chapter to read, scheduled another rendez-vous and then hurried to the church because we needed to be there when the first interview happened. We got there right before Daniel got there and his interview lasted quite a long time and then after talking with President for awhile. We were a bit worried that we were going to have to push his baptism date back a little bit but after the interview President said that he was good for that Saturday as long as we went over a principle very thoroughly before. So we tried to schedule to meet with him on Friday but he wasn't available so we said that we would teach him Saturday a bit before the baptism. After that, Brigitte had her interview and she just breezed right through it, it was perfect. After the interviews we were starting to feel pretty good about Saturday, but it was still another day away, and who knows what could happen in that time. We then headed to Paul's house and we taught Joseph about the restoration and then engaged him to come to church on Sunday.
On Friday we passed by the Tahitian lady that we met (Odile) and gave her some cookies and taught her a bit. We headed to teach Serge, the recent convert, but he was sick. We ended up hurrying to drop the information for the programs for the baptism to a member really fast before we met Brigitte so that we could fill out all of the paperwork for the baptism. We ended up spending a little bit too much time over there and then were running late for a rendez-vous. We hurried to the rendez-vous, a lady named Meluka. We already knew that she was Muslim but we didn't know that her husband was a french blind Muslim man. It just took us a bit by surprise. After, we hurried to the train station to meet another investigator. We talked to him for a quick ten minutes and he said he was coming to church and then we hurried over to Dominos Pizza, where we met the other missionaries in Marseille because a member of the ward is American and a basketball player in France and occasionally he will buy pizza for all of us... MMM it is almost like pizza from the US.
Saturday, it was the day! The day of the baptism and about a million other things. The morning started out by us going to play some soccer with some investigators and members, like most saturdays. But while there, I ended up twisting my ankle. It hurt like crazy but I walked it off and it was ok after that. We ended up leaving a little bit early because we needed to get ready and grab everything we needed for the baptism and then go and eat with Odile and her son Jordan (the Tahitians). She made us homemade hamburgers and some french fries. It was delicious! She then made this little round fried things that are made from a thicker crepe mixture but with banana in it. Mmm that was good! After eating with them, we hurried to get to the church for the baptism but the longer we had been sitting at their house, the stiffer and more in pain my ankle was getting.... We got up to leave and I was limping pretty good. We got to the church, and Daniel was already there. We started teaching him and the cell phone kept going off, Elder Boehme would go and answer it because there were all about stuff with the baptism so I would keep teaching and then he would jump back in. After awhile I realized the time and it was 3:30 and we hadn't started the baptismal font yet!!! I ran and started it and then came back, we finished the lesson and then went out into the hall and Brigitte was already there. A couple minutes later, that guy Akhim, who basically lives behind the church in a giant horse caravan, walks into the chapel completely drunk "looking for his sack." We get him to leave and then five minutes later he is back! Urgh! We walked him back to his caravan, I ran and got the keys for the gate so we could lock it so that he wouldn't wander in during the baptism. I ran back out and we got him in his caravan and locked the gate but right after a member drove up in his van to get in so we unlocked it to let him in and ended up leaving it unlocked, praying that Akhim would stay in his trailer. We go back, Daniel and Brigitte and I get changed into our clothes and take some pictures. It is now fifteen minutes after the baptism was supposed to start and the Sister missionaries come with the programs and Daniel's last name is spelled wrong! I felt so bad. We went through a quick run through of how the actual baptism would work and now it was about 4:30 and the font was not ready! We started the service part, with the talks and everything. After the talks we went to the font and thankfully it was full. Daniel was first and I forgot to say his name before baptizing him but I corrected myself and all was good. Brigitte was next and she was a little bit worried about it but everything worked out just fine with her also. In the end everything worked out perfectly and it was a great day.
Unfortunately, I have no time to finish talking about Sunday, my time is out but I will finish this next week. But Sunday was good too and Brigitte talked about how amazing it was to receive the Holy Ghost. Anyway, it was a great week and the baptisms worked out perfect. I love you and hope all is well. Have a great week. Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
Bonjour!
I hope that everyone is doing very well and everything is working out very well. We have been very busy this last week and have seen a lot of really great things happen. And of course everything was centered around making sure that our baptisms on Saturday would still happen and that our investigators were ready. You will see the whole story unfold throughout the week.
On Monday, it was a normal preparation day and we met Daniel at the church to follow up and make sure that he was still prepared to get baptized for that Saturday. Daniel had been taught by the missionaries a few years ago and so we already knew that he had certain difficulties from the last time that he we needed to work out. Thankfully, some of those things had gone away over the two years but there were still some existing concerns. We decided that we needed to go through the baptismal questions thoroughly to make sure where any holes were and what things we needed to try to fix. In going through those, we learned that he had some challenges with things many many years ago long before he even knew anything about the church. With his baptism interview already planned for the thursday and with us trying to make sure that he was keeping the word of wisdom we had to call the Zone Leaders about another difficulty. There was a bunch of confusion back and forth and they weren't fully sure and so our district leader (who normally does the interviews) called President Carter to see exactly what we needed to do. He said that at the interview President Carter would have to talk to Daniel over the phone just to make sure everything was cleared up and he understood. So obviously, that worried us a little bit but there wasn't really anything we could do for tackling old things at this point and so we continued to focus on making sure he was keeping the Word of Wisdom. So we set up another rendez-vous with him the next day just to be sure that all was well.
On Tuesday, we had a district meeting in the morning and then our two rendez-vous right after got cancelled and so we ended up doing some contacting and met a pretty cool guy on the street. After, we headed to the church to have a rendez-vous with Daniel, he was still keeping the Word of Wisdom and we taught him about tithing, which he already knew about but just a nice little refresher. Right after him we taught Brigitte, who of course was still doing awesome. We had honestly taught her everything that we needed to teach her the week before and so we just went over some stuff. She was so ready for baptism. It was awesome. After her, we tried to pass Paul, who is the guy from Ghana. He was not there but his friend that we met weeks ago, Joseph, another refugee from African who is only 17 is actually living with Paul now and so we taught him. He doesn't speak English, speaks French a bit, but he undertstands well. It is a little difficult to communicate but we engaged him to be baptized in the beginning of March, which was cool.
On Wednesday, we had a rendez-vous with the guy that we had met on the street the day before. He is a very interesting guy. His name is Travs and he just goes on random tangents about pretty much nothing. He currently isn't working and really doesn't do much and at the end of the rendez-vous we asked if we could see him the next day and he told us that he needed to check his schedule, he then proceeds to pull out a brochure from his pocket that had the concert schedule for a bunch of techno groups in Marseille, after checking that there wasn't one the next day, he said he was free. It would be one thing if this was like a 21 year old guy but no, this guy is easily 45 if not older. Haha it was really funny. After him, we went and met Daniel just to make sure that the Word of Wisdom was still going well and that he was still on track for the interview on Thursday. We had a quick little lesson with him and just continued to give him our support and our faith in him. We left and headed to go drop off some cookies that we had made to an investigator and she wasn't home but we met an incredible lady on the street. She was very very Christian and she ended up talking with us for at least 45 minutes. Elder Boehme was inspired and brought up baptism and it completely touched her because she said she has not been baptized yet but that she knows she really needs to. It was a great discussion and she took the Book of Mormon and said that she would read the chapter that we gave her.
On Thursday, it was the day of the baptismal interviews but they weren't going to happen until later that afternoon and evening. Before that, we had a rendez-vous with a lady named Caroline, who we met last week. She is very very faithful but she has had a lot of struggles and she has some difficulties within her family and everytime we would talk about something it always seemed to go back to her family. She is an incredible lady and honestly, we could just see how amazing the gospel would be in her life and how much it could help her in her life. We gave her the Book of Mormon and a chapter to read, scheduled another rendez-vous and then hurried to the church because we needed to be there when the first interview happened. We got there right before Daniel got there and his interview lasted quite a long time and then after talking with President for awhile. We were a bit worried that we were going to have to push his baptism date back a little bit but after the interview President said that he was good for that Saturday as long as we went over a principle very thoroughly before. So we tried to schedule to meet with him on Friday but he wasn't available so we said that we would teach him Saturday a bit before the baptism. After that, Brigitte had her interview and she just breezed right through it, it was perfect. After the interviews we were starting to feel pretty good about Saturday, but it was still another day away, and who knows what could happen in that time. We then headed to Paul's house and we taught Joseph about the restoration and then engaged him to come to church on Sunday.
On Friday we passed by the Tahitian lady that we met (Odile) and gave her some cookies and taught her a bit. We headed to teach Serge, the recent convert, but he was sick. We ended up hurrying to drop the information for the programs for the baptism to a member really fast before we met Brigitte so that we could fill out all of the paperwork for the baptism. We ended up spending a little bit too much time over there and then were running late for a rendez-vous. We hurried to the rendez-vous, a lady named Meluka. We already knew that she was Muslim but we didn't know that her husband was a french blind Muslim man. It just took us a bit by surprise. After, we hurried to the train station to meet another investigator. We talked to him for a quick ten minutes and he said he was coming to church and then we hurried over to Dominos Pizza, where we met the other missionaries in Marseille because a member of the ward is American and a basketball player in France and occasionally he will buy pizza for all of us... MMM it is almost like pizza from the US.
Saturday, it was the day! The day of the baptism and about a million other things. The morning started out by us going to play some soccer with some investigators and members, like most saturdays. But while there, I ended up twisting my ankle. It hurt like crazy but I walked it off and it was ok after that. We ended up leaving a little bit early because we needed to get ready and grab everything we needed for the baptism and then go and eat with Odile and her son Jordan (the Tahitians). She made us homemade hamburgers and some french fries. It was delicious! She then made this little round fried things that are made from a thicker crepe mixture but with banana in it. Mmm that was good! After eating with them, we hurried to get to the church for the baptism but the longer we had been sitting at their house, the stiffer and more in pain my ankle was getting.... We got up to leave and I was limping pretty good. We got to the church, and Daniel was already there. We started teaching him and the cell phone kept going off, Elder Boehme would go and answer it because there were all about stuff with the baptism so I would keep teaching and then he would jump back in. After awhile I realized the time and it was 3:30 and we hadn't started the baptismal font yet!!! I ran and started it and then came back, we finished the lesson and then went out into the hall and Brigitte was already there. A couple minutes later, that guy Akhim, who basically lives behind the church in a giant horse caravan, walks into the chapel completely drunk "looking for his sack." We get him to leave and then five minutes later he is back! Urgh! We walked him back to his caravan, I ran and got the keys for the gate so we could lock it so that he wouldn't wander in during the baptism. I ran back out and we got him in his caravan and locked the gate but right after a member drove up in his van to get in so we unlocked it to let him in and ended up leaving it unlocked, praying that Akhim would stay in his trailer. We go back, Daniel and Brigitte and I get changed into our clothes and take some pictures. It is now fifteen minutes after the baptism was supposed to start and the Sister missionaries come with the programs and Daniel's last name is spelled wrong! I felt so bad. We went through a quick run through of how the actual baptism would work and now it was about 4:30 and the font was not ready! We started the service part, with the talks and everything. After the talks we went to the font and thankfully it was full. Daniel was first and I forgot to say his name before baptizing him but I corrected myself and all was good. Brigitte was next and she was a little bit worried about it but everything worked out just fine with her also. In the end everything worked out perfectly and it was a great day.
Unfortunately, I have no time to finish talking about Sunday, my time is out but I will finish this next week. But Sunday was good too and Brigitte talked about how amazing it was to receive the Holy Ghost. Anyway, it was a great week and the baptisms worked out perfect. I love you and hope all is well. Have a great week. Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
Last week revisited
This is the letter from last week in full this time:
Bonjour,
Wow another week has gone by and another beginning of a transfer. I cannit believe that this is already my fourth transfer and that I have been out for six months already! Woah! Time has honestly flown by. It seems like yesterday that I was still in Arizona but also like it has been years at the same time. It is a very odd feeling. This week has been another great one. Depsite kind of a big disappointment that we had but it's really ok and it is all in the Lord's hands.
Last Monday we had a lesson with Walter and we really talked about how important it was to have a personal relationship with God and that pray, scripture study and coming to church were extremely important in creating that. We engaged him to come to church and he said that he would if we could find someone to pick him up before and than drop him off because he doesn't really have any means of transportation and no money for the bus. So we told him that we would find someone.
On Tuesday, we had a very full day with lessons! We started out the morning by passing some people and we contacted this incredible lady who is actually American. She said that she has really been searching lately for a church and really feels like this was God's way of saying, "Ok, it is time to make a decision." And she has a little baby and really wants to raise him with good values in a church. Just after lunch we went to Maria's house and talked about how to really feel peace and calm in this life. With her problems, she is always very up and down emotionally and so we talked about how the gospel can help create a bit of equilibrium. After Maria, we hurried to the church to teach Daniel and we decided that we would go through some of the baptismal questions to see where he had some "holes" in what we have taught and what he remembers from the other missionaries. Well, we ended up talking about the modern prophet but he wasn't really aware of that. Right after Daniel, we taught Brigitte (our two investigators engaged for baptism for the 12th back-to-back) and we watched Finding Faith in Christ with her and talked about the love and power of Christ for each of us. It was really good and it is amazing how truly ready she is for baptism. I have had people engaged for baptism before but I have never felt like that were so completely ready and prepared like she is. It's awesome. That evening we had a lesson with Jorge and his family (the Brazillians). It was pretty big but he struggles with the exactness of laying on of hands and the spirit world. At the end of the lesson he was believing that people can be taught about the gospel after this life, which was a huge step, but there was still so much more work to do.
On Wednesday, We had a lot of rendez-vous fall through all the way until the evening when we had Maria again. We really emphasized with her how when we base our lives on Christ using pray, scripture study, and coming to church that we can withstand the influences of the world. She really liked the lesson and was very pumped to come to church. We used this demonstration using three cups and three knives and you have to be a foundation using all three in a way to hold up something and the cups are placed a certain distance away. Anyway, it's a little tricky to do but it makes a lot of sense with the explanation. So it was a good lesson and it really focused on helping her from the influences around her, which she struggles with.
On Thursday, we did some pass backs in the morning and ended up contacting this incredible Tahitian lady whose best friend is Mormon in Tahiti and she has had a lot of interaction with the Mormon church. It was incredible. She is actually here because her son is here for his studies but he got in an accident and so he is partially paralyzed and now she is here to help him out while he finishes his studies. It was such a miracle that we ran into on the street and she told us to come by their apartment to talk her some more. We didn't have too much else the rest of the day and then we ended up teaching a Jehovah's Witness Lady for a while but it honestly didn't go anywhere. After that, we had another rendez-vous with Jorge and his family and they called us and asked if we could do it another night right as we were in front of there apartment complex but we had Frère Fidalgo with us and this would have been the 3rd time they we tried to have Frère Fidalgo come and they cancelled so we explained and they said it would be ok. We go up to their apartment and there was a random guy there with the family. Come to find out, he is actually a preacher from the Assembly of God evangilist church in Brazil and that he surprised Jorge just the day before and that he would be staying in Marseille to open up a branch there and that he needed Jorge's help! Seriously, our heart's dropped. He told us that we could keep coming by and discussing with him but that he couldn't come to church anymore and that he was going to focus on helping his friend start up this church. So that was definitely a bit of a bummer... especially after he told us that he would have stayed with our church if his friend hadn't showed up.... But either way, it's ok and the Lord has a plan for this family and apparently, right at this second is not the right time.
On Friday, we had our weekly planning and the night before, Maria had said that she wanted to invite us to eat with her for lunch and so we asked if we could invite the other missionaries. After our planning, we went together to Maria's and she opened the door and it was evident that she had completely forgotten about feeding us. It was kind of awkard as we all sat there silently waitng for her to say something about lunch or anything but she said nothing so we just taught her a lesson about faith and then tried to engage her for baptism but she said she wasn't ready yet. We really stressed how that is truly the first step but she still wouldn't quite engage herself. We are going to give her a little bit of time and then get her engaged for baptism. After her, we hurried and taught Alexandre and it was a pretty good lesson and he said that he would come to church the next Sunday. After him, we went and taught Brigitte and did the same thing with the cups and knives and pray, reading scriptures, and coming to church. After the lesson we finalized plans for baptism and everything and she is so ready. Afterwards we all, including the member who was with us, went and had a kebab because we were starving because we didn't really get lunch. Haha! We then went and passed Paul and he had some friends there with him. We really focused on the atonement to try and see if it would push Paul to actually work and engage himself. He said that he would come to church on Sunday and bring his friend with him.
Saturday was another hectic day. We had Soccer in the morning and Paul and his friends showed up... playing soccer with Africans is intense! Afterwards we went to the church for our normal missionary meeting and Frère Fidalgo had prepared lunch to eat with all of us and Brigitte also so that we could all start our fast together just after. Right afterwards Daniel came and we taught Daniel, and a less active member was with us and Brigitte ended up staying too. She was basically the member in helping us teach. It was so cool. The lesson ended and then the member and Daniel left and we waited there to have a rendez-vous with someone who I had taught months ago when I was with Elder Mayer and he had a baptismal date but right after, who acted weird and said he didn't want to continue. One of the members told me that he had showed up at an activity the saturday before so I thought maybe he wanted to continue again so I called him us and scheduled a rendez-vous. Well come to find out he is a Nomad and has some very very bizarre views and opinions about everything. He pulls from every type and belief and pushes them together to make a point and contradict himself and then doesn't really listen when one responds. He definitely didn't want to actually continue and Brigitte happened to be with us and we were worried that maybe he would influence her but not at all. They did not agree on anything, so it worked out. We decided after that to go try and find the Tahitian lady and her son. We found the complex but couldn't find their name in the registry of people in the building. Someone was nice and let us in with them and did find their name and their mailbox inside. They were home and we so we just kind of got to know each other and then taught them a little lesson. Her son, Jordan, is such a nice kid and is so positive despite everything that has happened but he seems to have lost the faith in God. For her, the accident seemed to increase her faith in God. We were with them for quite awhile and then she said that we could come back and she would feed us like the members do in Tahiti. So we fixed a rednez-vous with them and she also sent us home with a bunch of soup. Haha!
Sunday, unfortunately Walter fell through and Maria flaked out on us and neither Paul or Alexandre showed up. Even after making reminder calls with them all! But, Daniel and Brigitte were both there. The baptism was announced to the members and they tried on the baptismal clothes to make sure they had something that fit. It was perfect. After church it was a little tough, our rendez-vous didn't work out but we met an incredible lady out on the street with her daughter and taught her for quite awhile and then fixed another rendez-vous with her. We were on our way to eat at a member's house but we had a few minutes so we decided to stop by Maria's house to see how she was. We ended up getting there the same time has her boyfriend and so he let us in and we kind of surprised her. She really looked like she had a very difficult day. We came and shared a message and it really cheered her up. Even her boyfriend said that she is more happy when she consistently has the influence of the gospel in her life. So we refocused on getting her to church and it ended up being a good lesson. We hurried over to the member's house and ate some pancakes... a good end to a good week.
I hope that all of you are doing well and staying busy. As always, thank you for your love and support and I just want to tell you that I love you all too. Have a great week and see the small blessings in everything in your life, the big and small. Have a great week. Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
Monday, February 7, 2011
Week 29
Ethan has been having trouble with his email lately and we ended up only getting a partial letter this week so sorry it just abruptly ends....
Bonjour,
Wow another week has gone by and another beginning of a transfer. I cannot believe that this is already my fourth transfer and that I have been out for six months already! Woah! Time has honestly flown by. It seems like yesterday that I was still in Arizona but also like it has been years at the same time. It is a very odd feeling. This week has been another great one. Depsite kind of a big disappointment that we had but it's really ok and it is all in the Lord's hands.
Last Monday we had a lesson with Walter and we really talked about how important it was to have a personal relationship with God and that pray, scripture study and coming to church were extremely important in creating that. We engaged him to come to church and he said that he would if we could find someone to pick him up before and than drop him off because he doesn't really have any means of transportation and no money for the bus. So we told him that we would find someone.
On Tuesday, we had a very full day with lessons! We started out the morning by passing some people and we contacted this incredible lady who is actually American. She said that she has really been searching lately for a church and really feels like this was God's way of saying, "Ok, it is time to make a decision." And she has a little baby and really wants to raise him with good values in a church. Just after lunch we went to Maria's house and talked about how to really feel peace and calm in this life. With her problems, she is always very up and down emotionally and so we talked about how the gospel can help create a bit of equilibrium. After Maria, we hurried to the church to teach Daniel and we decided that we would go through some of the baptismal questions to see where he had some "holes" in what we have taught and what he remembers from the other missionaries. Well, we ended up talking about the modern prophet but he wasn't really aware of that. Right after Daniel, we taught Brigitte (our two investigators engaged for baptism for the 12th back-to-back) and we watched Finding Faith in Christ with her and talked about the love and power of Christ for each of us. It was really good and it is amazing how truly ready she is for baptism. I have had people engaged for baptism before but I have never felt like they were so completely ready and prepared like she is. It's awesome. That evening we had a lesson with Jorge and his family (the Brazillians). They called us and asked if we could do it another night right as we were in front of their apartment complex but we had Frère Fidalgo with us and this would have been the 3rd time that we tried to have Frère Fidalgo come and they cancelled so we explained and they said it would be ok. We go up to their apartment and there was a random guy there with the family. Come to find out, he is actually a preacher from the Assembly of God evangelist church in Brazil and that he surprised Jorge just the day before and that he would be staying in Marseille to open up a branch there and that he needed Jorge's help! Seriously, our heart's dropped. He told us that we could keep coming by and discussing with him but that he couldn't come to church anymore and that he was going to focus on helping his friend start up this church. So that was definitely a bit of a bummer... especially after he told us that he would have stayed with our church if his friend hadn't showed up.... But either way, it's ok and the Lord has a plan for this family and apparently, right at this second is not the right time.
On Wednesday, We had a lot of rendez-vous fall through all the way until the evening when we had Maria again. We really emphasized with her how when we base our lives on Christ using prayer, scripture study, and coming to church that we can withstand the influences of the world. She really liked the lesson and was very pumped to come to church. We used this demonstration using three cups a
Bonjour,
Wow another week has gone by and another beginning of a transfer. I cannot believe that this is already my fourth transfer and that I have been out for six months already! Woah! Time has honestly flown by. It seems like yesterday that I was still in Arizona but also like it has been years at the same time. It is a very odd feeling. This week has been another great one. Depsite kind of a big disappointment that we had but it's really ok and it is all in the Lord's hands.
Last Monday we had a lesson with Walter and we really talked about how important it was to have a personal relationship with God and that pray, scripture study and coming to church were extremely important in creating that. We engaged him to come to church and he said that he would if we could find someone to pick him up before and than drop him off because he doesn't really have any means of transportation and no money for the bus. So we told him that we would find someone.
On Tuesday, we had a very full day with lessons! We started out the morning by passing some people and we contacted this incredible lady who is actually American. She said that she has really been searching lately for a church and really feels like this was God's way of saying, "Ok, it is time to make a decision." And she has a little baby and really wants to raise him with good values in a church. Just after lunch we went to Maria's house and talked about how to really feel peace and calm in this life. With her problems, she is always very up and down emotionally and so we talked about how the gospel can help create a bit of equilibrium. After Maria, we hurried to the church to teach Daniel and we decided that we would go through some of the baptismal questions to see where he had some "holes" in what we have taught and what he remembers from the other missionaries. Well, we ended up talking about the modern prophet but he wasn't really aware of that. Right after Daniel, we taught Brigitte (our two investigators engaged for baptism for the 12th back-to-back) and we watched Finding Faith in Christ with her and talked about the love and power of Christ for each of us. It was really good and it is amazing how truly ready she is for baptism. I have had people engaged for baptism before but I have never felt like they were so completely ready and prepared like she is. It's awesome. That evening we had a lesson with Jorge and his family (the Brazillians). They called us and asked if we could do it another night right as we were in front of their apartment complex but we had Frère Fidalgo with us and this would have been the 3rd time that we tried to have Frère Fidalgo come and they cancelled so we explained and they said it would be ok. We go up to their apartment and there was a random guy there with the family. Come to find out, he is actually a preacher from the Assembly of God evangelist church in Brazil and that he surprised Jorge just the day before and that he would be staying in Marseille to open up a branch there and that he needed Jorge's help! Seriously, our heart's dropped. He told us that we could keep coming by and discussing with him but that he couldn't come to church anymore and that he was going to focus on helping his friend start up this church. So that was definitely a bit of a bummer... especially after he told us that he would have stayed with our church if his friend hadn't showed up.... But either way, it's ok and the Lord has a plan for this family and apparently, right at this second is not the right time.
On Wednesday, We had a lot of rendez-vous fall through all the way until the evening when we had Maria again. We really emphasized with her how when we base our lives on Christ using prayer, scripture study, and coming to church that we can withstand the influences of the world. She really liked the lesson and was very pumped to come to church. We used this demonstration using three cups a
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