Bonjour!

Quelle semaine merveilleuse! It has been a great week here in Toulon and it ended off in such a great way... but I can't just tell you how it ended now because that would ruin the surprise and it wouldn't go in chronological order!

So Tuesday started out with another District Meeting in Marseille in the morning and then we had an exchange. I went back to Toulon with Elder Wahlquist and Elder Milman stayed in Marseille with Elder Barber. It was kind of funny being back with Elder Wahlquist, who was my MTC companion. We ended up missing our original train to get to Toulon because we got stuck in the Metro in Marseille so by the time we got to the station the train had left but thankfully there was another not too long after we got there. We ended up being too late for one of our rendez-vous and the one right after got cancelled that morning (unfortunately it was Franck and Clara). So we walked around getting some contacts until our first rendez-vous with Laura and Manon and Soeur Wutrich. The week before we gave Laura the commitment of preparing a lesson for us and so we got to listen to her lesson. It was nice because we have kind of hit a brick wall where she has been taught everything and we aren't sure what else to teach. Afterwards, we went to the church to meet with Hector. First we gave a lesson and then we helped him write a letter of recommendation for someone because it had to be in English. He then gave us a ride home.

On Wednesday, we had a rendez-vous fixed for the morning before we re-exchanged but the lady didn't show up so we did some more contacting and then Elder Barber and Elder Milman came into town but Elder Barber and Wahlquist couldn't go back to Marseille right away because there was work on the train tracks so they stayed and had some lunch with us. After they headed out, Elder Milman and I went to go meet a guy named Jean-François. We had received his number and address in the mail the day before from church headquarters because apparently he put his information on the church website so that he could have a Book of Mormon, we called him up and he was very happy to have a rendez-vous. Jean-François is a very nice guy but he has definitely had a lot of struggles in his life and he had started to overcome his difficulties but last December he fell back into his old habits and he said that it has only been getting worse. He used to have a Book of Mormon from a long time ago and he really enjoyed it but ended up losing it but it still had an impact on him and he always remembered it so he felt like, out of desperation, this was one of his last things to try to basically save himself from a completely self-destructive life. We had a very good rendez-vous with him and he could honestly see a ton of good changes in his life if he follows exactly what we will teach him. We then headed to the church to have our meeting with the ward missionaries who honestly continue to surprise me and impress me with everything that they do! Rudi then met us at the church and we went with him to eat and have a lesson. He told us how he was talking to Nancy, his ex, on the phone a few days before and how she was getting upset and blaming him for things and he said normally he would have gotten mad, started yelling, but after the call he knelt down and prayed, and he felt better, and the next day, she sent him a very nice email apologizing for what had happened. It was just another testimony of how he truly is changing his life with the little things progressively.

Thursday, we started out our day by going to see Michel Calderini and his wife Annie, he ended up cutting my hair (he was a hair cutter his entire life up until retirement) and then we had lunch with them. We had a bunch of other rendez-vous scheduled for the day but unfortunately, they all fell through until our English class in the evening. We had Laura, Manon, Christian (the lady who is always there) and Sebastian. After the class, we taught a little lesson to Manon, Laura and Sebastian.

Friday, of course, was weekly planning in the morning and then afterwards we went to see Benedine, the less active member. We gave him "the talk" and told him that we can't keep seeing him because it wastes our time if he is not at all willing to put in the efforts to come to church. We then went to see Jean-François and he was very emotional about a lot of things. We talked and at the end of the rendez-vous he seemed a lot better. We even talked about baptism and he already knew that he couldn't smoke and drink if he was to be baptized. We then invited him to church on Sunday and to Jocelyne's baptism on Saturday and he said he would be there for both. We then headed to the church to meet Elder Barber and Elder Wahlquist and Jocelyne for her baptismal interview. I had no worries about how it would go and of course she was completely ready. After the interview, Frére Sanderre, our ward mission leader, invited us over to have dinner with him and his family and so he came and picked us up. We had a good meal and a good little lesson afterwards.

Saturday was the day of the baptism. Everything had been planned and we had nothing to do except get to the church early enough to fill the font. That is the easy part! Unfortunately I was feeling a little under the weather but the baptism was absolutely beautiful! There was so much member support there and after the baptism Jocelyne came back in with tears in her eyes and the biggest smile on her face! It was so great and Jean-François came too and the members were really good about talking to him. It was great. After the baptism, Jean-François drove us a bit back into town and then we had lunch and went and played a little basketball. Afterwards, our rendez-vous and our back up both fell through but we ended up being able to teach Thomas and we had a fairly quick lesson about the law of chastity and he said he would be at church on Sunday. We then went to the Wutrich's house and had a lesson. I was not feeling very well and was very much out of it but we ended up learning a lot more about Soeur Wutrich and why she won't go to church anymore. It is quite a long drama to be honest. We will see how it goes in the next little bit.

Sunday was great! We had 8 investigators come to church!! Jean-François, Laura, Philip and Sylvie Langell, Rudi, Anthony, and Michel and miraculously Annie Calderini. Annie had never been to church with Michel before but she actually came, and what is even more is that afterwards she came up to me and told me how much she loved it!! She then fixed a rendez-vous with us to eat at their house later this week, which it's not normally her that fixes the rendez-vous. It was such a big miracle in that aspect!!! It was great! On top of all of that, Jocelyne was given the Holy Ghost and officially became a member! She was so happy and once again, had such a big smile on her face and tears of joy. It was so great to see. After church we headed home, ate lunch and then had two rendez-vous fall through, but one we did refix for tonight thankfully!, and then we had a rendez-vous with Jacira and Julien and Jovina. Jacira is Brazilian and a member but no one else is. We had a pretty good lesson and gave them some verses to read. Then we headed home. It wasn't a huge busy Sunday but the fact that church was so incredible, made up for all of it.

I hope that you are all doing well and that life is bringing you the pleasures that you all deserve. Find the happiness, the joy, the successes, and the moments to learn and grow. Don't give up and always continue improving. Life is good, so smile a little more each day. Have a great week everyone and I love you!

Elder Kirkpatrick