Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I certainly did, I probably ate too much, but it was great, I will give you the details a little bit later in the email. We had a pretty good week and we have an awesome new investigator that is great. It has started to get pretty chilly here as I am sure it is doing a bit everywhere. It is nice but now I am going to have to start wearing my warm jacket and my gloves and scarf and such. I am sure everyone is starting to get into the Christmas season and remember what a wonderful time of year it is to help others in a spirit of giving. I absolutely love this time of year.

This week started out pretty good on Monday because we started teaching a new investigator named Jinane on Monday and she is awesome. We had a great first discussion with her and she is full of questions and she is very open.

Tuesday we did some street meeting in the morning and we met a couple of cool people and then even set up a rendez-vous with someone later in the day. After lunch we did some phone calls trying to get back into contact with people the missionaries have already contacted. Afterwards we headed to meet the guy for our lesson and forgot but he headed to where we were going to meet after I called him. We started to head out to a place where we could talk together and about 2 minutes after we start walking he just starts running in the opposite direction but Elder Coenen kept walking so I was kind of stuck in the middle. I yelled at Elder Coenen and by the time I got his attention, the guy was completely out of sight. I am not entirely sure why he left but he said something about appointment with a doctor. In any case, he is a little crazy and actually lives in the hospital. We then did a bit of contacting until going to see Jennifer and Erica. We wanted to regive them all of the lessons because they kind of had them with their mom but not really so we decided to start over basically. So we started with the restoration but didn’t get too far because they really like to talk. But it was still a good lesson.

Wednesday we were supposed to teach our investigator Mehkat but she ended up being super late and then was able to make it and then we had to go to the institute building anyway to meet Jinane, so it didn’t really work out. We started the lesson with Jinane and she had read all of the introductions all the way to the tenth chapter of 1^st Nephi in the Book of Mormon!!! It was so awesome. She had so many questions and so we basically spent the time responding to her questions. It was really awesome. We then ate lunch and did our studies that we missed from the morning and then we went out and did some contacting before seeing the Sinquin Family. We had a good lesson but unfortunately the member who was with us completely took over the lesson. It was so frustrating! We weren’t able to teach what we wanted, but it was ok and the member did bring up some pretty good points. We then, being late, hurried to English class to give a spiritual thought afterwards and then we headed home.

Thursday we did some pass backs in the morning and then ate and saw Frère Phillibeaux. We had a good lesson with him and it is great to see someone even after 30 years of inactivity in the church, because of his work obligations, talk about how he also has a testimony and how much it continues to grow. We then went and did some Street Meeting and then did some phone calls and then went out to see our Ward Mission Leader at his house for our meeting because he was having back problems. We then headed to the eat Thanksgiving at the Gerard’s home. And oh my was it delicious. It was a traditional Thanksgiving: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, etc. Even down to the pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream. It was all homemade and so delicious. It was so kind of them to do that. They really put in a lot of work to make some Missionaries feel like they are at home even being far from their family and their country.

Friday morning we saw Jinane again and was able to teach the whole restoration lesson and she had some great questions. She is really hungry to know as much as possible. We then did some contacting until going home to eat and do our weekly planning. After planning we went to do some Street Meeting and met a couple of really cool new students that we should be seeing this week. We headed down for a meeting with the young adults but it got cancelled. So we did some contacting up to meet the Myuldermans for a “thanksgiving” at a restaurant. They decided they wanted to take us out to eat so we had a thanksgiving with traditional French Cuisine. Mmm that was good too. I had an entrée of a little salad with two mini éclairs filled with chevre cheese, a type of goat cheese. Then for the main dish I had boar that had been cooked in a sauce of red wine and chocolate for 6 hours and then I had a dessert that was a crispy wafer with three thick layers of three different types of chocolate on a bed of street cream. It was all absolutely delicious!

Saturday was a rather long day and not too much happened honestly until the end when we had a rendez-vous with Jennifer and Erica. Unfortunately we were a little bummed because they weren’t going to be able to come to church.

Sunday my companion and Elder Smith, from the other companionship, went up to Manosque for church and so Elder Baret and I stayed in Aix. Church was good and we were able to teach one of their investigators and a recent convert after church before the other missionaries came back. We then did some contacting and went to share the Joseph Smith movie with Soeur Chipouka and her kids and it was really great. The spirit was really strong in seeing all of the events of the restoration. We then headed back in to finish off a pretty busy week.

I love you all and sincerely hope that you had a great week in remembering all of the blessings that you have during thanksgiving. We all have reason to give thanks. Have a great week and remember to keep the spirit of thanksgiving and Christmas alive during this wonderful time of year!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello,

Well, another transfer, or six weeks, has gone by and I am honestly stunned. I cannot believe how quickly these last six weeks have gone. I have no idea where they went! To add to it, Christmas is basically right around the corner, my last Christmas in France, crazy! I am sure this next transfer will fly by. I hope that you are all doing well and have had a great week as well, getting all prepared for Thanksgiving and everything. Good news, we are invited for "thanksgiving" with a family in the ward and then we are also invited for the night after for a second "thanksgiving." The members are very nice and caring towards our American holiday, and probably because they all like to eat too. Ha!

After emails last Monday, we had a good lesson with the Sinquins, we basically answered their questions and their difficulties that they were having with certain things. It was really good and they understood and the spirit was really there. Afterwards, we went and saw Irma to tell her goodbye before she left on Tuesday to go to Honduras for a month to visit her family who is there.

Tuesday was a pretty long day. In the morning we had a lesson but he didn't show up, so we had a little lesson with the member that was going to help us and then we ate and then did some contacting and then passed Frère Casale who was in the hospital still. We then did some pass-backs, door to door, lots of different things to try and find some new investigators.

Wednesday morning, we wanted to do some street meeting and so we went to go to where we do it often and the other missionaries were already there! We went to another spot, but there wasn't much going on, so we moved to another spot and in about 40 minutes we had three lessons fixed for later. It was awesome! We went in for lunch and then went out and did some contacting before seeing Frère Philibeaux, he had an appointment with his doctor so we gave a little lesson and he asked us to come back the next day. After him, we did some contacting and passing people until English class. Normally, we have at least 6 people but no one showed up! Just as we were about to leave 4 people showed up so we ended up having English Class anyway, thankfully.

Thursday we had a district meeting in the morning and then we all ate together and then we did a little bit of contacting before seeing Frère Philibeaux, and we had a good lesson with him. He talked about how much happier he is since he has come back to church and even all the people that he has been able to share the gospel with in the nursing home that he is at, it was pretty cool. We then did some pass backs before going to our meeting with our Ward Mission Leader and then we tried to pass by the daughters of Irma but they weren't there.

Friday in the morning, we met with a new investigator, Mehkat, which we had contacted a few days before. We had a good lesson with her and then we went back to the apartment to do our weekly planning. After lunch, I headed out to do an exchange in Avignon with Elder Bonnett, the "greeny" or in french we actually say that they are blue. They had some lessons fixed that didn't work out so between that and all the studies that the new missionaries do now, they have added an extra hour of studies for all new missionaries everywhere in the world, we did have much time to do other things.

Saturday I was with Elder Bonnett until about 2, when I headed back to Aix. We ended up doing some contacting, passing by a member, and then had a really good lesson with Irma's daughters. They even said that they would come to church the next day, we were really excited about that.

Sunday, in the morning, Erica, one of Irma's daughters sent us a text saying the couldn't come because someone was passing by the house at 11 and they needed to be there to sign some paperwork but they promised they would be there the next Sunday, and then we fixed a rendez-vous for that evening. Church was good but none of our investigators were able to come. After church, we gave a blessing to Frère Casale and then headed back home to eat. We then passed by a member and had a lesson with them before heading over and seeing Erica, Jennifer and also a friend of Irma. We had a nice discussion and then headed home.

Voilà, that was our week. I want you all to know how much I love you and how much I am grateful for you. With Thanksgiving this week, don't forget to think of all the blessings and all the thanks that we need to be giving. We are truly blessed in this life and I hope that you all see it every single day, not just at thanksgiving. Love you! Au revoir!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello,

Wow, it has really started to cool down! My fingernails were blue this morning! Ha! But at least the sun has been shining, so that has been a very nice change from the week before. We had a fairly busy but good week this last week, and I hope that you all have had a good week as well.

On Tuesday, we started out the day doing some street meeting, which I am actually beginning to like a bit more now. We have been able to meet a lot of really nice and interesting people using the street board. After lunch, we went and did some pass backs until we saw Becca and we had a lesson with her. She shared her experiences of being able to share the gospel with some of her friends since she has been here and she has been able to have some great discussions. Afterwards, we did some contacting until we went and saw Irma and had a great lesson with her and her daughters, especially Ericka, who asks great questions and is really searching to understand.

Wednesday was a day full of eating with members because it was the birthday of Elder Claflin in the other companionship and so for lunch we went with a couple members, two being members I knew from when I was in Marseille, and we went and ate at a restaurant called Flunch. We had a nice time and it was great catching up with them. After lunch, we had a rendez-vous but he didn't show up and so we did some contacting and we did some pass backs and such until about six when the other missionaries picked us up to go to the home of the Kool family to have dinner. It was very nice and we had some great spiritual thoughts, because the husband of one of their daughters is not a member and so the other missionaries have been teaching him so we got to have a cool lesson with them.

Thursday was going to be quite a busy day with a lot of rendez-vous but not long into the day, we had a bunch who cancelled. In the morning, we did some contacting, and then after lunch, we did some more street meeting. We then saw Ma Fang and had a pretty good lesson with her. We then tried to see Gerard but he wasn't available so we fixed a rendez-vous for Saturday and so we did some contacting before we went to the church for interviews with President Murdock. They went well and afterwards, we all had an opportunity to give President a blessing for his health, which was a very neat experience. Definitely something unforgettable.

Friday morning we had a Zone Meeting and everybody else had their interviews with President. Afterwards, we went and taught Wan Qing and had an interesting lesson with her. She isn't really too open to her own efforts to know if the Book of Mormon is true and she kind of puts up a wall when we talk about that. We will see how it goes but it wasn't the best lesson. We then went out and did some street meeting again and again met some really great people. Afterwards, we saw Irma and finished talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her and her daughter, it was really a great lesson.

Saturday, there was a baptism for an investigator of the other companionship and so we went, we were supposed to have possibly three investigators there, one was for sure. Unfortunately, none showed up. We then headed home, ate lunch and went to see Franck. Franck had completely forgotten about the lesson and was not home. We went back, doing some contacting and then did some more street meeting, once again being able to talk to some really great people. Hopefully with all of this, we will be able to get some new investigators this next week! We then went and saw Gerard and had a nice goodbye visit, since he is going back to Madagascar until March tomorrow. We again encouraged him to testify to his wife about why he wants to join the church and he agreed. We will see how it goes. We then went out and passed a couple people and did some contacting.

Sunday, we went to church, which was the Primary Program, so it was of course, enjoyable. We then headed in to eat and then went to a rendez-vous with a new investigator named Rodrigo. He is from Mexico and is here for his studies. We had a pretty good lesson with him and he had a ton of questions. Afterwards, we did our weekly planning and then had to go run an errand to the institute building before heading back to finish our planning.

Voilà, that was our week. It was pretty good. This next week we are really trying to focus on finding new people to teach and getting new investigators. We already have some lined up so it should be pretty good. I am looking forward to it. I hope that you are all doing well and know that I love you and am grateful for your support and prayers. Remember always to stay positive even when everything seems to be falling to pieces. Heavenly Father is always there for you and cares for you. I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello,

Well this last week it has basically been raining cats and dogs everyday. Or as they say in French, it has been raining ropes. So we have been a bit wet but thankfully it should be clearing up this week and already today has been a lot clearer than it has in the past few days. Even with the rain, we had a pretty good week. I hope that you have all had a great week as well.

Unfortunately, last Monday started out a little sad because Gerard cancelled his baptismal date because his wife did not approve. Of course we are not going to encourage him to do anything contrary to what his wife wants him to do but we told him that when he gets back to Madagascar, next week, to talk with his wife and testify to her why he wants to get baptized. He agreed and said that he would. It was still a bit of a bummer, but it is ok. After that we did some contacting until meeting the other two missionaries in Aix to go with them and a member and her non-member husband to a haunted castle since it was Halloween, don't worry, we had permission. It was the first time I went to a haunted house in a REAL castle, it was incredible. It wasn't really scary, it was more geared towards families with kids and such but just the environment alone was very cool.

Tuesday we started the day by doing some Street Meeting, and we met some great people! It was awesome. We then headed in, and then went back out to pass some old investigators and some less active members. We basically did that and contacting until the evening when we met the other missionaries again and headed to eat dinner and with the Roll family in the ward. We had a nice time and then headed back home.

Wednesday we started the day by doing some more Street Meeting and we met some more people interested. We headed in to eat and then went back out to meet a member and then meet a new investigator that I had contacted the day before. Unfortunately, the member was late and so we were about ten minutes late from when we were supposed to meet the investigator, so either she didn't show up at all or she did but left because we were late. It was a bit of a bummer, but it worked out. We then went and passed several other people and then had a lesson with Gerard. We had a good lesson and then went to institute to get ready for English Class. We had a good English class and then headed in for the evening.

Thursday we had District Meeting in the morning and then we ate and we were going to do some more street meeting but it was raining so we went and passed a few people and we ended up passing an older man that I had contacted the day before. We had a good lesson with him. The poor guy has lost everything in his life and needs the gospel so much, it could help him so much in life. In the evening we went to a meeting with our ward mission leader and then went and saw Franck and talked about the ten commandments and how important it is to come to church.

Friday,we had the normal weekly planning in the morning and in the afternoon we passed a few people and then we saw a less active member who has been making a lot of efforts to come back and then we went and saw Gerard again and had a quick little lesson with him. We were supposed to have a lesson with Wan Quin but she cancelled and so we did some contacting until institute.

On Saturday we were super excited because we had a full day planned with lots of lessons and everything. We did service in the morning and then in the afternoon we went to try and see our new investigator with a member but unfortunately, he was not there. We then went and taught Kim, a recent convert, and then we met a member, Thierry, to go see Franck. We taught the law of Chastity which was a bit of a problem for him. We talked about it and he said, after plenty of explanation, that he understood and that it made sense why it was important. He said that he would keep it, at least for now. We then headed to the other side of town to meet a new investigator that we were really excited about. It ended up being very peculiar. The guy that we met on the street gave us a name, address, and telephone number, when we arrived, all of these things corresponded, except the person. In the end, he said that it was probably one of his friends that did that as a joke. The guy knows the church very well, has family and friends that are members but he himself is not interested, a bit of a bummer. We were going to head out to see Irma when we got a call to meet the other missionaries to go to a members house for dinner. So we went with them out to a members house, where there were some other members, and we had a nice lesson and a meal.

On Sunday, it was raining some more and unfortunately it kept some investigators from coming to church. Church was very good even still and then we stayed for the baptism of the other missionaries. It was an 85 year old lady, it was really great. She actually had to be baptized three times because the first two she didn't get completely submerged, the poor lady. In the end it worked out and was really good. After that, we went with one of the Chinese members to pass two chinese girls that Elder Coenen had met last transfer, they ended up not being interested. We then went and visited our eternal investigator, at the hospital, and then went and visited Irma. At the end of the day we headed back home around nine pretty tired from the week and the rain.

We had a week that was a bit difficult, but it still was good. We still had some good success even if we didn't see the results right away. I hope that you are all doing well and know that I love you all and appreciate all of your support. Have a great week this week and count your many blessings!

Elder Kirkpatrick