As for now, I do not have Ethan's new address in Montauban, do not use the Toulon address any longer and I will change it as soon as I can.
Hello everyone!
I hope that everyone is doing well. I am currently emailing you from a new city. I have been transferred to Montauban, which is about 30 minutes north of Toulouse by train. It is a very little city and will be quite a change for me. I have been fairly spoiled with pretty good sized cities, but it will be a good change for me anyway. But of course, I will let you know how my last week in Toulon was.
After I sent my email on Monday, we went to our lesson with Jean-François but he was not there, which was rather bizzare. We tried calling him also and his phone was off, which was also rather peculiar. So, we ended up doing some contacting and we stopped by to see Franck and Clara. They were home and so we went in but the whole atmosphere was different. It was as if everything was better and they didn't really care about fixing their lives and really changing the underlying problems that really caused their problems to begin with. We just stopped by and fixed another rendez-vous because it wasn't exactly the right moment. We then just contacted some more on the way home.
Tuesday, we started out our morning by going to the church to teach Hector a little bit and then afterwards we helped him prepare for his class that he is working on. In the afternoon, we decided to go see Jean-François and it was a catastrophe. The night before of why we couldn't see him was because he took some pills and drank some alcohol to basically put himself into a coma for the night. Everytime the loneliness gets insupportable for him he turns to that just so that he can try to forget but he knows that the pain will come back anyway. It is a very vicious cycle that we are trying to help him break and what was a bit frustrating is that we gave him several ideas to help him get out of his apartment and not be cooped up thinking about his problems and he didn't do them. So we had a lesson with a bit of strictness and the heavy hand but of course with love. He definitely understood and we came up with some solutions that he will actually do, of course with our help. Unfortunately, because of his incident, he couldn't get baptized on Saturday and that just added to his disappointments but he understood thankfully. We then did some contacting and headed out to visit the Michel Family who lives in Six-Fours, which is about 45 minutes away. No, it doesn't mean 6 fours but the translation is actually 6 ovens... which I don't really understand. We taught them a lesson to help them get involved with bringing the gospel to their friends and it went really well. They were all for it and ready to go. After that, we headed back home for the evening.
Wednesday, we decided to take lunch a bit early so that we could take the train to St-Cry-Sur-Mer to go visit Queen. Unfortunately, we barely missed our train and so had to wait another 40 minutes for the next one to get there. By the time we got to her, we were about an hour late but it worked out just fine. We had a really good lesson with her and she told us that one of her good friends in Marseille is interested so she gave us his number so we could pass it to the Missionaries there. Trying to get back into Toulon, we were trying to buy our tickets but this little old lady was in front of us and took 15 minutes, so we missed the train and had to wait for the next one. We ended up having to cancel a rendez-vous with Jean-François and then tell our Ward Mission Leader that it would be impossible to be at the meeting that evening. We finally caught the train and got back in time to get to our lesson with Franck and Clara but they completely forgot and they weren't home. So we fixed another rendez-vous with them and then went and stopped by Soeur Adubea, who lives not too far from them and is less active. We had a nice little lesson with her and then contacted back home.
The morning of Thursday we caught a train to go into Marseille for a District Meeting and then after the meeting, Elder Snickers went with me to Toulon. We passed a guy's house and he wasn't home so we headed to the church to meet Hector. We gave him a little lesson and then helped him with his class and then afterwards, Hector and Laura and Manon came for the English class, which was good for Elder Snickers because he is actually from Quebec, so he speaks French and a bit of English. We then had a lesson with Jean-François at the church with Laura and Manon also.
Friday, Elder Milman came back to Toulon in the morning and we went home to do our weekly planning, knowing very well that our end of transfer calls would be coming. We planned, ate, headed out to a rendez-vous (which the lady didn't show up for and her phone was off after we had confirmed thirty minutes before), waited for her, and then was on the bus headed back into Toulon when we received our calls. I learned that I would be leaving and going to Montauban, which I expected that I would be leaving. It was a bit sad but I honestly felt like it was time, it was the moment to leave and that I had worked hard in Toulon and that it was good to let someone else work there. For the rest of the afternoon, our other lesson didn't work, so we contacted and such and then went to see Jerevox, who had been out on sea for three weeks or so. We had a really good lesson with him (finally!) and in the end he told us that he didn't feel like he was in a moment in his life where he was ready for such a commitment. We left with good feelings and of course an open invitation to come to church.
Saturday we went and saw Jen-François in the morning and had a pretty good lesson. Then we ate and headed to the church and played a little ping pong, waiting for others to come, that we had invited. Just as we were about to leave, Laura and Manon showed up, so we played for about twenty minutes and then we had to leave to get to another lesson. We got to the lesson and the lady told us that she couldn't then but to come back the next week. We taught her really quick, gave her the Book of Mormon and then fixed another rendez-vous. We then did some contacting until our last lesson with Manon and Laura. They were fairly sad that I was leaving and so we had a nice last lesson and then we headed home for the evening.
Sunday, we obviously went to church, and I bore my leaving testimony. It was good to say bye to everyone and a little sad at the same time. Soeur Michel told me afterwards that while I was speaking at the pulpit she saw a future church leader, like an area 70. AHH! Of course that freaked me out a bit. Haha! I said my goodbyes and then told Jean-François goodbye, which he took fairly well, at first it was a bit of a shock. I told him we would stay in contact, which helped. We came home, I worked on packing my things up, which is never fun. We then headed out to try and pass by Michel and Annie to tell them goodbye and they weren't home. I called them and Annie told me she was sad and that Michel would call me later. Right after that, Laura called us asking if we could have one last rendez-vous and since we had our lesson with Franck and Clara get cancelled AGAIN, we said yes. First we went to our lesson with Adriano and his family but he had family members visiting and asked us to come back the next week. We did some contacting and on the way to see Laura, Michel called me to invite us to come over and eat with them that evening. We said yes, so we went and had a last rendez-vous with Laura and Manon, we said our goodbyes and then headed to Michel and Annie. We had a nice meal with them and then they took us home because it was very late. I then packed some more and then went to bed completely drained out.
Today was busy and full of hauling my bags in and out of three different trains across Southern France. Also, we live on the 4th floor in Montauban, and of course there isn't an elevator. Ha! So needless to say, I am a bit wiped out. But I am super excited for this week and for the new city and everything that we can accomplish!
I hope that you are all doing well and continuing to find the happiness everyday! Have a good week! Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
I hope that everyone is doing well. I am currently emailing you from a new city. I have been transferred to Montauban, which is about 30 minutes north of Toulouse by train. It is a very little city and will be quite a change for me. I have been fairly spoiled with pretty good sized cities, but it will be a good change for me anyway. But of course, I will let you know how my last week in Toulon was.
After I sent my email on Monday, we went to our lesson with Jean-François but he was not there, which was rather bizzare. We tried calling him also and his phone was off, which was also rather peculiar. So, we ended up doing some contacting and we stopped by to see Franck and Clara. They were home and so we went in but the whole atmosphere was different. It was as if everything was better and they didn't really care about fixing their lives and really changing the underlying problems that really caused their problems to begin with. We just stopped by and fixed another rendez-vous because it wasn't exactly the right moment. We then just contacted some more on the way home.
Tuesday, we started out our morning by going to the church to teach Hector a little bit and then afterwards we helped him prepare for his class that he is working on. In the afternoon, we decided to go see Jean-François and it was a catastrophe. The night before of why we couldn't see him was because he took some pills and drank some alcohol to basically put himself into a coma for the night. Everytime the loneliness gets insupportable for him he turns to that just so that he can try to forget but he knows that the pain will come back anyway. It is a very vicious cycle that we are trying to help him break and what was a bit frustrating is that we gave him several ideas to help him get out of his apartment and not be cooped up thinking about his problems and he didn't do them. So we had a lesson with a bit of strictness and the heavy hand but of course with love. He definitely understood and we came up with some solutions that he will actually do, of course with our help. Unfortunately, because of his incident, he couldn't get baptized on Saturday and that just added to his disappointments but he understood thankfully. We then did some contacting and headed out to visit the Michel Family who lives in Six-Fours, which is about 45 minutes away. No, it doesn't mean 6 fours but the translation is actually 6 ovens... which I don't really understand. We taught them a lesson to help them get involved with bringing the gospel to their friends and it went really well. They were all for it and ready to go. After that, we headed back home for the evening.
Wednesday, we decided to take lunch a bit early so that we could take the train to St-Cry-Sur-Mer to go visit Queen. Unfortunately, we barely missed our train and so had to wait another 40 minutes for the next one to get there. By the time we got to her, we were about an hour late but it worked out just fine. We had a really good lesson with her and she told us that one of her good friends in Marseille is interested so she gave us his number so we could pass it to the Missionaries there. Trying to get back into Toulon, we were trying to buy our tickets but this little old lady was in front of us and took 15 minutes, so we missed the train and had to wait for the next one. We ended up having to cancel a rendez-vous with Jean-François and then tell our Ward Mission Leader that it would be impossible to be at the meeting that evening. We finally caught the train and got back in time to get to our lesson with Franck and Clara but they completely forgot and they weren't home. So we fixed another rendez-vous with them and then went and stopped by Soeur Adubea, who lives not too far from them and is less active. We had a nice little lesson with her and then contacted back home.
The morning of Thursday we caught a train to go into Marseille for a District Meeting and then after the meeting, Elder Snickers went with me to Toulon. We passed a guy's house and he wasn't home so we headed to the church to meet Hector. We gave him a little lesson and then helped him with his class and then afterwards, Hector and Laura and Manon came for the English class, which was good for Elder Snickers because he is actually from Quebec, so he speaks French and a bit of English. We then had a lesson with Jean-François at the church with Laura and Manon also.
Friday, Elder Milman came back to Toulon in the morning and we went home to do our weekly planning, knowing very well that our end of transfer calls would be coming. We planned, ate, headed out to a rendez-vous (which the lady didn't show up for and her phone was off after we had confirmed thirty minutes before), waited for her, and then was on the bus headed back into Toulon when we received our calls. I learned that I would be leaving and going to Montauban, which I expected that I would be leaving. It was a bit sad but I honestly felt like it was time, it was the moment to leave and that I had worked hard in Toulon and that it was good to let someone else work there. For the rest of the afternoon, our other lesson didn't work, so we contacted and such and then went to see Jerevox, who had been out on sea for three weeks or so. We had a really good lesson with him (finally!) and in the end he told us that he didn't feel like he was in a moment in his life where he was ready for such a commitment. We left with good feelings and of course an open invitation to come to church.
Saturday we went and saw Jen-François in the morning and had a pretty good lesson. Then we ate and headed to the church and played a little ping pong, waiting for others to come, that we had invited. Just as we were about to leave, Laura and Manon showed up, so we played for about twenty minutes and then we had to leave to get to another lesson. We got to the lesson and the lady told us that she couldn't then but to come back the next week. We taught her really quick, gave her the Book of Mormon and then fixed another rendez-vous. We then did some contacting until our last lesson with Manon and Laura. They were fairly sad that I was leaving and so we had a nice last lesson and then we headed home for the evening.
Sunday, we obviously went to church, and I bore my leaving testimony. It was good to say bye to everyone and a little sad at the same time. Soeur Michel told me afterwards that while I was speaking at the pulpit she saw a future church leader, like an area 70. AHH! Of course that freaked me out a bit. Haha! I said my goodbyes and then told Jean-François goodbye, which he took fairly well, at first it was a bit of a shock. I told him we would stay in contact, which helped. We came home, I worked on packing my things up, which is never fun. We then headed out to try and pass by Michel and Annie to tell them goodbye and they weren't home. I called them and Annie told me she was sad and that Michel would call me later. Right after that, Laura called us asking if we could have one last rendez-vous and since we had our lesson with Franck and Clara get cancelled AGAIN, we said yes. First we went to our lesson with Adriano and his family but he had family members visiting and asked us to come back the next week. We did some contacting and on the way to see Laura, Michel called me to invite us to come over and eat with them that evening. We said yes, so we went and had a last rendez-vous with Laura and Manon, we said our goodbyes and then headed to Michel and Annie. We had a nice meal with them and then they took us home because it was very late. I then packed some more and then went to bed completely drained out.
Today was busy and full of hauling my bags in and out of three different trains across Southern France. Also, we live on the 4th floor in Montauban, and of course there isn't an elevator. Ha! So needless to say, I am a bit wiped out. But I am super excited for this week and for the new city and everything that we can accomplish!
I hope that you are all doing well and continuing to find the happiness everyday! Have a good week! Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
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