Well,

Here we are, this is now offically the last week of my mission and last week was my last week in Bayonne. It was a very interesting week and full of different emotions, good as well as sad. I am having an incredibly difficult time wrapping my mind around the idea that this is the end and that my life as a missionary is coming to a close. I wish that I had prepared a nice letter with my emotions and my feelings but there is quite simply not enough time (I still have to pack all of my bags before I leave tomorrow morning to take the train :/...) That shows you how little time we actually have.

This week I was able to spend a lot of time with members and really learn about who they are. Their conversions, their stories, their family lives, their testimonies. That is what all of this is about. Being on a mission is all about people. It isn't numbers, it isn't the best contacter, the best baptizer, it isn't about bringing the love and joy of our Savior to everyone that we can. There are some true pioneers here in France. Some people that are the strongest members I have ever met with some of the strongest testimonies. What these people have endured sometimes as members of the church is incredible. These people have to have super strong testimonies or else they would be washed away with the slightest of things. I truly believe that the Lord really watches over his members and definitely here in France. 

To be rounding the corner of two years in serving the Lord, you feel like you did a lot but that it wasn't near enough. Even to serve a mission for an entire lifetime, you continue to learn, to progress, to become better, to struggle, to fight to keep going, always always. I cannot say that this was easy or even that it was always fun, but it was worth it. Every problem, every deception, every struggle, every mountain climbed, added to my growth and my understanding of myself. 

I have no idea what will come in the coming weeks, months or years but I know that these two years have been the most influential in my life and will continue to have an impact on me forever. I must thank you all for the love and the concern you have all had for me. I love you all and appreciate you all. I cannot wait to see you all and I will officially be home on the 13th of August. So I look forward to seeing you all. Have a great week and know that I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer. If you turn towards Him, you will be guided and strengthened, I promise you. Have a wonderful week and never forget your blessings! ;)

Elder Ethan Kirkpatrick

Hello!

Well, this is my second to last email. Can you believe that??? I cannot at all! These two years have flown by. There are moments that it didn't feel like it but it really has. This last week has been a busy one and it will continue until the end of my mission.

Tuesday we passed some people in the morning and got very very lost. In the afternoon we had a lesson fall through so we did some door to door and such before going to see Dominique, who is doing quite well. We then went to our family home evening and had a couple people that were there.

Wednesday we had a lesson with a new guy named Jean-Marc. It was quite a good lesson and he said that he really wanted to come to church on Sunday, so that was great! We then were supposed to have a lesson with Clenilson but it got cancelled but we saw Soeur Guth instead. We then went and visited the Family Koné and had a good lesson with them. We then hurried and caught the train to go to Urt to visit the Nussbaum family out there and we had a nice meal with them and had a nice spiritual thought at the end.

Thursday, we went to do service with brother Miller  for Frère Vierat. We worked in his garden because he has been super busy that he has no time. While we were doing that, we got a text from Jean-Marc saying that he didn't want to come to church and that he didn't want to continue with us. We figure that he talked to a Catholic Priest, it is unfortunate but there isn't much that we can do. We then went home quickly, got ready and headed out for our ward missionary meeting. We then hustled to see Clenilson and had a really good lesson with him and his friend Ricardo, who participated more than any other time. We then headed out to Biarritz to see Soeur Solé and we had a fairly good lesson with her. We then headed out all the way back to the other side of Bayonne to have dinner with the Duriot Family. It was a very busy day. 

Friday we were in Bordeaux the entire day for our interviews with President Roney. So it was the first time that we got to meet him and he is incredible! Truly a great guy. He has such an energy and just a great honesty about it. It is unfortunate that I will only be here for two weeks with him as President but there will definitely be some great things that will happen in the mission.

Saturday we had English class and then headed out to see the Family Ousdale and eat with them and afterwards we had one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever had. We were all in tears at a couple points and that says a lot because I don't ever cry. Soeur Ousdale is so incredible and has such faith but has had so many difficulties in her life. We then had a big fiasco trying to get around because there were no buses since it was the national Holiday here for their independence so there weren't very many buses. We ended up going home for a bit to do weekly planning and then headed out to see Ben.

Sunday was busy because we left early to go meet Soeur Ousdale to make sure that she was coming to church. Church was good and we had some surprise investigators and such, that was good. We were able to teach a little bit afterwards too. We then went home and finished our weekly planning and then passed some people and then headed out to eat with the Seube family to finish off the week. We had a nice meal with them and it was really a great way to finish things off. 

I hope that you are all doing well. Know that I love you and that I miss you. I can say it now since I will be home shortly. :) If you wish to send any letters you need to do it TODAY! Because I am leaving for Lyon next Tuesday and so it is my last week here in Bayonne. Take care and have a great week!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Why hello,

Wow, the clock is ticking. Not much time left and it continues to fly by like crazy. We had a fairly busy week but because of our baptisms, we don't really have a ton of investigators at the moment and we are really trying to go and look for new ones. So we did a lot of finding and worked hard but probably not as much success as we wanted. 

We have been making some good progress with our investigator Patrice who came to the baptism but at the end of the week he completely flaked out. He is someone that seems so promising at times and that could turn his life around with the gospel if he would allow the gospel to do that in his life. He just doesn't allow it as he should.

We have made some progress with Clenilson, the Brazilian but we have kind of hit a wall because of the language barrier. We are praying for a way to figure it out or involve his friend who speaks french well more into the lessons to help translate.

Dominique continues to do well and explained to us how great she felt after she received the Holy Ghost on Sunday. She was very happy!

There really isn't too much more to say as far as the week went. We did some service for a less active member with other members of the ward and it was just an all around good week.

This next week will also be a busy one and we will have lots to do, especially seeing as I don't have much time left.  I love you all, I know I say that often and it is because it is completely true! Have a great week and I will have two more emails left before.... the end. Of my mission of course. :) Ciao!

Elder Kirkpatrick

HELLO!

Well, this has been quite a week. Very busy and very good. We had our two baptisms of Caroline and Dominique (see the attached photos)! What a great thing to have during the last transfer of a mission. Now we just need to find the next one(s)!! I hope that all of you are doing well and have had a great week!

Tuesday we did some contacting in the morning and then in the afternoon we tried to see Clenilson but wasn't there so we stopped by and visited a member. We then hurried to see the Family Ousdale and had a good lesson with them. We then saw Caroline to continue to prepare her for her baptism. She is just so ready that she understands and agrees with absolutely every principle. She already knows it is true! We then had Family Home Evening at the church and we had a little group of about 6 or 7 who came and we watched The Other Side of Heaven and it was really good, everyone loved it. It is better in English but it was good to see it in French too.

Wednesday we saw Soeur Koné and Alban in the morning and then in the afternoon saw Caroline again for the last lesson and had to finish off a whole bunch of things but it went so smoothly and so perfectly. I had no doubt in my mind that she was completely ready! We then had a couple lessons not work out but then went and saw Maria and Ramond and had a lesson with them and then we went and saw Dominique. We had a nice lesson with her and she has just made so much progress since the end of March when I first got here, it is incredible. In leaving Dominique's we felt inspired to head up to a certain way in town and while walking up we ran into Ingrid, who we contacted weeks again but kept having a hard time seeing her because she works like crazy. She invited us up to her apartment and then invited her neighbor to come in too. At first the neighbor was apprehensive, thinking that we were the Jehovah's Witnesses but then she opened up and we had a great lesson with them. It was so incredible! They have so much potential and they really want to come to church. I hope that even with their busy schedules we will be able to see them soon.

Thursday we had District Meeting in the morning, which was awesome, we have two brand new missionaries in the District. Then Caroline came for the baptismal interview with Elder Johnston and he told us afterwards that she was someone so completely prepared for the gospel. She was totally converted through the Book of Mormon and the Spirit that she felt, it definitely was not us. We then headed back into Bayonne and saw Clenilson and his friend and we had a great lesson with them. We then hurried quickly to the church for the baptismal interview for Dominique also with the Elder Johnston, they are so good to us! The interview went well and we went through some logistics of the baptism.

Friday we had weekly planning and then we had our missionary meeting. After that we stayed around a cleaned a bit to get ready for the baptism the next day. Especially cleaning out the baptismal font, so it wasn't all dirty. We then went and saw Dominique and then did a little porting in the evening.

Saturday was the big day!! We had some errands to run in the morning and then Frère Seube picked us up to take us to Pau for the baptism of Caroline. It was a bit disorganized for various reasons but it worked out ok and the spirit was there. We then hurried back to Bayonne to start filling the font for Dominiqe and getting ready. Everyone starting showing up about 15 minutes before but Dominiqe still wasn't there. We were starting to get worried and then at the time of her baptism her and the Millers, who picked her up, showed up.... They thought it started half an hour later.... Oh la!! Ha So she hurried and changed, as did I (she had asked me to baptize her) and then we got some pictures and got started. It was really a great baptismal service and the spirit was very strong. We even had our investigator Patrice there. We were a bit drained after all of that but it was a great day!!

Sunday was a great day at church and we had three investigators there. The confirmation went well and then we headed home and since during lunch we were fasting, we took a nap instead. Ha! It felt so good. We then headed out and did some contacting, passing until we headed out to see Frère Vierat. We had a good lesson with him and ate some very good crepes and then headed in.

It really was a great week. Rather tiring but great! I love you all and can't wait to see you soon. Have a great week and know that I love you!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hey everyone,

Wow, they clock is definitely ticking, my days are numbered.... I have become "Grandpa" as the members in my District call me.... Ha! I definitely have to make the best of the little bit of time left. I hope that you are all doing well and that you have been staying busy this summer, and not melting too much in the heat. We had a rather busy week this week but it was good.

We had a couple lessons on Monday with Christophe, a less active, and Madame Desclos, finally, before going to pick up Elder James who was coming from Switzerland, so he had a long voyage! Poor Guy.

Wednesday was a pretty busy day. We had the Johnstons come in the morning to come and inspect our apartment and then they so graciously took us to KFC afterwards... it was very nice of them. They truly spoil us! We then had a lesson with Caroline about the Law of Chastity. She is seriously one of the easiest people to teach. It took about 15 minutes and she understand and already followed it anyway, just like the Word of Wisdom! We then made some calls and such and then went and saw Clenilson. The Brazilian neighbor of Soeur Guth and had a pretty good lesson with him. Thank goodness for church DVDs in portugese! We then went and visited Soeur Ousdale and her kids and had a wonderful lesson with them! I truly love that family, I hope that they will be able to become active in the church again.... they are just so wonderful. We also got the news that Caroline was moving to Pau earlier than expected and that we weren't going to be able to finish teaching her, which was a bummer but we still planned on going for her baptism.

Thursday was a bit of a long day because almost everything that was planned didn't work out! We did some passing in the morning and in the afternoon we wanted to see Dominiqe but we couldn't get ahold of her, then we went to our lesson with Madame Itois and she wasn't there. So we did contacting and passbacks and etc until seeing Maria and Ramond, who are always there. ha! We then went to try and see Soeur Solé but she wasn't there but two of the kids were so we were able to have a really good discussion with them which was beneficial.

Friday we had a lesson set up that didn't work out, so we did some passbacks and then in the afternoon we had our missionary meeting. We then had Felix, the less active and we finally were able to see him again! We had a great lesson with him, I truly pray that things will start going a bit better for him. We then saw Dominique and had a pretty good lesson with her. She is really doing quite well and preparing well for her baptism. We then went in for the evening to do our weekly planning.

Saturday we had  English class in the morning and then went and saw Clenilson in the afternoon and had a great lesson where his roommate participated for the first time and we found out that he is super believing but has had some struggles lately but we feel like there is so much potential with him!! We then did some contacting and stuff and then did some door to door in the evening and met this great older lady that let us in and was super nice, we had an awesome lesson with her. Who knows what will happen but she was really great.

Sunday was church and Caroline surprised us by being there. Apparently her electricity won't be turned on until Wednesday so she isn't going officially until Thursday so that way we can finish to teach her which we are excited about. And the baptisms for Dominique and Caroline were announced! Exciting!! We then had a big ward meal afterwards and it was great for the investigator to be well integrated with everyone. We then went and saw Frère Vierat and his kids and then in the evening we ate with an American Family that is here for a couple months for work, they are super nice! We even met their neighbors to eat with us! You have to love Americans doing missionary work! Ha! It was a great evening.

It was such a great week and this one promises to be one as well with two baptisms! We are so excited! I love you all and am so grateful for you! I love you and well see you soon! :)

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well. I know that this letter is a day late but we had a little change yesterday. I am still in Bayonne and so is my companion, but we actually have a third companion now! Crazy, right? It will be an interesting few weeks but it will be good. We had a very busy week this last week but it was a good one. Unfortunately, I forgot my old planner at the apartment so I don't remember exactly what happened but I will give you a quick run down.

Stephan, who was supposed to get baptised ended up going to the hospital for a bit. It is nothing too serious but he needed to go so it will be good for him and then when he comes back we will see about fixing another date. Dominique changed her baptismal date for the 30th but she is getting rather excited for it and she continues to progress. Caroline is rock solid and incredible! She is getting baptised on the 30th and she is definitely ready! She finished the Book of Mormon and she told us that she knows that it is true!! She mentioned how she was sad to finish it already but how she just wants to keep reading it to continue to learn and progress, she is incredible. She is such an example of feasting on the words of Christ. The bad news is that she is moving to Pau right after her baptism because she found work, which is a good thing, but Bayonne will be losing such a strong and converted member. Wherever she is, she will be a strength for those around her.

We also found a new investigator named Madame Itoiz, who is pretty cool but we will see how ready she really is for the gospel but you never know. So that is kind of a quick run down on the week. Sorry, not too in depth but I hit the major points and the most interesting as well. 

I hope that everyone is doing well. I love you all and am so grateful for you. I am rounding around that last bend and it is so absolutely surreal. Thank you for your support in these last two years and I will be seeing you all shortly. I still have about 5 and a half weeks left so as they say, "I'm not dead yet!" Ha! Have a great week and hope to hear from you soon!!

Elder Kirkpatrick 

This picture was taken at Lourdes a very famous catholic church.  Ethan says he has some Holy water from there but won't drink it as it has caused stomach issues with some people.  Ethan said it was very cool.  They went as a District so these are missionaries in his District.

Hola! Bonjour! Hello! 

Once again, rain seems to just not want to leave for an extended period of time. It has started back up again. I have a feeling that it will be like this until the end. AT least it is better to have that than to be dying of heat like last year in Montauban... We had a crazy busy week and things are definitely progressing with our investigators. And our three people engaged for baptism!!

So last Monday we had an incredible lesson with Caroline, the girl that I said last week has a baptismal date. She is actually the sister of a recent convert from Pau that brought her to church about three weeks ago. We tried to set up a lesson with her then but she didn't want to and preferred to come to church the next week. We weren't sure that she would come but she was there and she loved it. We were able to set something up for the next day and she had already read at least one fourth of the Book of Mormon. She absolutely loves it and she has already had some wonderful spiritual experiences. It is incredible! So naturally she is so ready for the gospel and we fixed a baptismal date with her for the 30th of June.

On Tuesday we headed up to Bordeaux for a Zone Conference and it was so good!! We learned so much but it was also very sad because it was the very last Zone Conference with President and Sister Murdock and probably the last time that we will see them. They will be leaving in a few weeks. We are going to miss them terribly. I really have come to love them so much. That lasted the entire day and then we headed to Bayonne and ran over to the church for the last little bit of the family home evening before heading home.

Wednesday we had quite a day planned out and full of lessons. In the morning we visited the Koné family and then we ate lunch with the Millers, which was very kind of them. In the afternoon we were supposed to have two lessons with less actives but they ended up falling through at the last minute, so we ported and found some people for a few days later. In the evening we had a lesson with Stephan and Soeur Guth and it went pretty well, not exactly as we planned but it was alright. He is still progressing little by little.

Thursday we did some contacting and passing in the morning and then ate and made some calls. We then went and saw Dominique in the afternoon and had a good lesson with her about how important baptismal covenants are to keep and that it is truly only the beginng, she understood well and is making a lot more head way than before. We then headed out to Biarritz to see Maria and Ramond and had a good lesson with them. She wants to be baptized but they aren't married so it makes things difficult. I am not sure if I told you but Ramond is 91 and so it is almost like some people are waiting for him to kick the bucket so that she can be baptized.... it is kind of sad but the truth. We then headed to eat dinner with the Solé family and had a nice evening with them. They aren't active anymore and it is sad to see how that has changed their lives even though they can't fully see it. One day they will, I am sure.

Friday we had a lesson in the morning that didn't work out so we went scoping for some places to do door to door later at a better moment during the day and then we went to eat and then had our missionary meeting. We then had a lesson with a student named Quentin and we had a good lesson but he just was curious but not wanting to really do anything. He isn't believing and happy with that, so there isn't too much more to do there for the moment. We then had a lesson get cancelled and did a little door to door and then decided to go in to do our weekly planning since we wouldn't really have time to do it later, so we finished the evening with that.

Saturday was a busy day but a tiring one. In the morning we went and saw Caroline at the church and had an awesome lesson with her! We then ate and then headed out to a lesson with a new guy that is Brazilian named Clenilson. It was a pretty good lesson and there was definitely a language barrier but we hope that he at least kind of understood. We then did some pass backs and then saw Dominique. At this time, we were getting rather tired but had a decent lesson with her even still. We then headed out to go see the Vierat family and had a lesson with them before heading home for the evening.

Sunday was a special Stake Conference but it was the Broadcast from Salt Lake and it was really good. The talks were awesome. We had three investigators there and they seemed to really enjoy it. We then headed home and ate and then went out and passed some people and then headed to Biarritz to see Maria. We then went to visit the Ousdale family and had a really good lesson with them. Soeur Ousdale gave an incredible testimony that she has about the Book of Momorn. I was really touched by it. We then headed home. 

Voilà, that was our week. It was rather busy and this week seems like it will always be rather busy. I hope that you are all doing well. I love you and wish you all the best. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to serve in France and share the gospel. These are experiences that I will never forget. Thank you for all of your love and support and that you have given me but that you will always continue to give me with the short amount of time that I have left. Have a great week and talk to you soon!!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hey!

Wow, what a week!! This has been such a great week with so many good things that have happened. It has seemed to pick up a bit. I hope that all of you have been doing well as well and that you have had a great week. 

On Monday, I must admit, my companion and I were tired and worn out and a little bit down but the Lord blessed us with what we needed and we found 4 potential investigators that are all pretty awesome. So that was definitely a small miracle.

On Tuesday we did some contacting in the morning and then we did some calls and pass backs and so forth in the afternoon. In the evening we saw the Ousdale Family and had a nice lesson with them. We are truly trying to do our best to help them because they are such a great family. We then went to our Family Home Evening at the church that Elder Willett did. He did a good job and Dominique was able to come and a few members were there as well.

Wednesday in the morning we went and visited Soeur Koné as usual and then went in to eat. We then had to make a dessert for District Meeting the next day and then we headed out to Biarritz. We visited Maria and Ramond and they are doing well. Still the same for the most part. We then decided to pass and visit the Solé Family because it had been so long since we had been able to see them so we decided we should just stop in because setting stuff up doesn't always seem to work out. Ha! They happened to be there! We had a really good lesson with them and they kindly invited us over to eat with them for the next week.... YAY! Ha By the time we got out of their house it was time to head back into Bayonne on the bus.

Thursday we had our District Meeting in the morning in Pau and the Zone Leaders came so that I could do my exchange with them. So after the meeting we headed back to Bayonne but unfortunately the first way to get back was on a bus so we didn't get home until 4:30! Oh, while we were preparing lunch after District Meeting, I received a phone call from our investigator Stephane saying that he made his decision and that he wants to be baptized! That was definitely good news. We set up a lesson for right after we got back to Bayonne to go over the logistics. So we went to directly to the church to see him after we got back. We have a good lesson with him and fixed a baptismal date for the 16 of June. He has had most of the lessons and has been to church a ton so it won't take too long to get him prepared. He felt good about that and so we are working towards that date. We then went and had a lesson with Dominique and the Miller Family. We had a good lesson and she is making progress. We gave her a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon to discuss for the next time. We then went home for the evening.

Friday morning we got up very early to head up to Bordeaux to finish the exchange and to head back to Bayonne. The train takes two hours each way so we spent a lot of time travelling. It was the entire morning in fact. We then went directly to our missionary meeting and then we headed out to a lesson with Patrice, which was pretty good, even though his friend wasn't able to come this time. We then tried to pass someone and by the time we got home to eat our "lunch" it was 5! After that we went and did some door to door in an area that we had found and we met a nice young guy that is really nice. He doesn't really believe in God but he was interested in discussing another time so we were able to set up a lesson with him for the next week. We then headed back into town and did a little bit of contacting on the way back home.

Saturday was a fairly busy day. In the morning we had English class and then in the afternoon we did our weekly planning that we weren't able to do the day before. And then we had a lesson with Dominique and there was totally a miracle that happened!! She understood so well the entire chapter that we gave her. It was like all of a sudden everything made sense for her. It was great! It was so great that we felt like it was the moment to engage her for baptism and even again a miracle, she accepted and really wants to! Her date is for the 23rd of June, the week after Stephane. It was great and she said that she would definitely be at church the next day. We then went and had a lesson with a new investigator named Ben from Germany. We had a really good lesson with him, he definitely has different beliefs but we will see where it goes.

Sunday was another great day. We had 10 non members at church. The Lithuanion sister brought 6 friends, Dominique was there, Blaise was there and then the sister of the recent convert from Pau was there again but with her mom this time!! It was incredible! We were in a frenzy after church trying to set stuff up with people to be able to see them. After church, we didn't get home until rather late, we ate and rested a little and then headed out to pass by some members to wish them a happy Mother's Day since it was Mother's Day in France yesterday. We then headed back and decided to stop by the Ousdale Families house before going in since they weren't at church. We had a nice impromptu lesson with them to end of the week well.

It was such a crazy week and this week promises to be a great one as well! It started off awesome, we had our first lesson with the sister of the recent convert from Pau, her name is Caroline, and she agreed to baptism! She is super Golden.

I hope that you are all doing well and know that I love you! I hope that you all have a great week!! I hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello everyone,

I hope that you have all had a great week and had a bit of sunshine in your life... because finally we got some sunshine. Thank goodness! We had a pretty good week this week and had a great end to the week, which I will fill you in on at the end. 

Monday after our preparation day we had a lesson with a less active that we have been trying to get ahold of for months! It was a really great lesson and he prayed with us after a couple years of not praying, it was huge!

Tuesday we had to run some errands buying train tickets in the morning for our exchange later and Elder Willett wasn't feeling good so we stayed in a bit in the afternoon so that he could try to get a bit of rest. We then headed out to Biarritz to see Maria and we had a good lesson with her and our investigator  Christian happened to be there too and so we were able to teach him as well. We then went to the Family Home Evening at the church and had a a little group of people, not too big.

Wednesday we had an exchange so we headed to Pau to meet the Elders of Tarbes. I planned to head back through Dax so that we could see our investigator Marie who lives there but our train was cancelled and had to take a bus which took an hour longer to get there and it was too late to see her so we did some contacting in town before catching our train back to Bayonne. We went directly to a lesson with Soeur Koné and her son and then went and saw Felix a less active and really had an incredible lesson with him. The spirit was very strong.

Thursday we finished our exchange and reswapped in Pau and got into Bayonne about 11. In the afternoon we did some calls and had a lesson with someone that we had contacted in the morning and he brought a friend! It was awesome! We then went and saw Dominique with the Miller family and then did some door to door and some passbacks until heading in for the night.

On Friday we had our weekly planning and then ate and had to take some DVDs to a member to give to a friend. We then headed to the church for our missionary meeting and then went and passed a couple people before going to visit Soeur OUsdale and her kids. We had a great lesson with them and then passed a couple less actives before going home.

Saturday we had English class like normal and then in the afternoon had a big block of contacting time. While contacting, we found someone and had a lesson with him but unfortunately he wouln't fix another lesson or give us his number. It was kind of a bummer. We then had a lesson cancelled and then did some passbacks until we headed to Biarritz and did some contacting before our lesson with Maria. We had a pretty good lesson with her and Raymond and they were excited to come to church on Sunday.

Sunday at church little by little our investigators started coming to church and people that we didn't know that weren't members starting showing up and by the time sacrament meeting started we had 7 people there!! It was incredible! We were really blessed. After church we headed home and ate and then went out and visited Frère Vierat and his kids and then headed back into town to do some contacting and then had dinner with the Seube Family. It was all in all a good day.

So we definitely had a good week and were quite blessed and I think this next week seems to be looking like it will be a good one as well. I hope that you are all doing well. Know that I love you and hope that you are all doing well! Take care and hope to hear from you soon! I only have two months left but that doesn't mean that you don't need to write me. :)

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello Everyone,
Well there is a huge giant mega surprise this week.... are you ready?.... I am not sure if you really are but I am going to give it to you anyway... it's..... Raining..... again..... Yup, that was all. It has been raining on and off this week again but the last three days have just been pretty much non stop rain. When I first got to Bayonne I was very impressed with how green it was, now I understand why it is so green. This week has been another pretty busy week even though we had quite a few things fall through, including quite a few lessons. Which was a bummer but things still worked out.

So on Tuesday we had a lesson set up with a lady that lives in Dax which is a city about 30 minutes away from Bayonne so we planned to go out there in the afternoon for the lesson and then work a bit there for awhile, passing old investigators and less actives. We got out there and right off the bat, the investigator had forgotten and wasn't there so she said that she would call us in a little bit when she got back. So we went out looking for people and doing some contacting. We passed by at least 10 to 12 people and only one of them actually still lived there (it has been about 6 years since there were missionaries in Dax.) She never ended up calling us back so we needed to go back to Bayonne so we took the train to headback and at the last minute Frère Seube told us that he wouldn't be able to do the lesson for Family Home Evening so we had to take a bit of time to plan for that. We were supposed to have a nice turn out for family night but in the end, we weren't as numerous but we still had two investigators there so that was good.

Wenesday we went and saw Soeur Koné in the morning so that we could teach her son Alban. Then we ate and headed out to see a less active who wasn't there, so we went and visited Maria and Ramond. We had a decent lesson with them and then tried to repass the less active but they still weren't there. So we went and did some porting before heading in for the evening.

Thursday we had District Meeting and unfortunately the Sisters couldn't come because one of them was sick. So it was just us, the Elders from Tarbes and the Senior couple. After the District Meeting we went with the Senior Couple back to their city, Mont-de-Marsan, which is quite a long drive and then spent the rest of the day with them because I had to do a baptismal interview for a little girl that they were teaching. The interview was at 5 and then after that we headed back with them and ate dinner and spent the night at their apartment because it would be a bit too much for them to take us all the way back to Bayonne and then go all the way back up to Mont-de-Marsan, so we had a nice slumber party with the senior missionaries! It was really nice.

Friday the Johnstons, the senior couple, drove us back home and then we did our weekly planning. In the afternoon we made some phone calls and passed some people before our lesson with Jean-Pascal. We had a decent lesson with him but he hadn't read in the brochures or the Book of Mormon so it was a bit frustrating. After that, we went with Dominique to the Family Miller's house and had a good lesson with her. She even committed to going to church on Sunday and was really excited about it. She is making some small progress. By the time we got done there, Frère Miller really likes to talk, we headed home for the evening.

Saturday we had English class in the morning and only ended up having one member that was there and no investigators, so that was a bummer but it turned out ok. Afterwards, in the afternoon, we did some calls and passed a whole bunch of less actives and old investigators and then did some door to door in the evening and met a great family but they wouldn't set up a lesson with us so we gave them a card and pray that they will contact us! We then passed a couple more people before heading in for the night.

Sunday we had church in the morning and Dominique came!! It was great. Unfortunately I think the rain scared eveyone else away, investigators and members, there weren't too many people there. After church we went with The family Miller and Dominique to the Family Hegoas' house to have a meal. The meal was great but the situation was a little weird without really going into details. By the time that we finally got out of there and started heading back, because they live a ways away, it was almost 6!! Way too late! We then went to see Frère Vierat and had a lesson with him and then we ate crepes with him, as usual and we felt like we were absolutely going to explode!! We then headed home for the evening and then I had a bunch of calls to make for the District and then I was out cold! Ha, it was a long and rather tiring week.

I hope that all of you are doing well and that your week was a success. No matter what happened, it is always a success if you truly look at it correctly. I love you all and I am always happy each time I get to hear from you. I hope you all have a great week this week and put your faith in the Lord!

Elder Kirkpatrick

L to R Elder Miller, Kirkpatrick, Tulley, Willett

My parents received this picture by email  on Thursday.  After district mtg today, Elder Kirkpatrick and his companion Elder Willett came back to Mont de Marsan to do a baptism interview for a young girl in that branch.

Hey!

I hope that everyone is doing well and they had a great Mother's Day!! Mine was great because I was able to talk to my parents and my sister Holly for the last time before I will see everyone in person. Crazy right?? I cannot believe how fast things are going! I don't know if you have felt like these last two years have flown by, but I sure felt like they have!

So Tuesday after doing emails, we had a lesson with our investigator Jean-Pascal and he had read in the Book of Mormon and made some progress so that was good. It is a little interesting so I am not sure how far it will go with him but we will continue to see. Then in the evening we had our family home evening and we had one investigator there which was good.

Wednesday morning we went and saw Soeur Koné and her son as usual and then in the afternoon we had a bunch of lessons fixed and then one right after another... they all fell through. We ended up doing a lot of porting and contacting and then we were able to have actually a pretty good lesson with Maria and Ramond and she agreed that she really wanted to come to church on Sunday, so that was great.

Thursday we did some passbacks and contacting and in the afternoon had a lesson with Dominique that went well. She is making good progress and understanding better now. It is really great. We then did some porting and we were able to have some great conversations with quite a few people. We found a good area.

Friday we did our weekly planning and then were supposed to have our missionary meeting but it ended up falling through. So we went out to Biarritz to do some work out there and we did some passbacks and met quite a few people and ended up getting another lesson in with Maria and then we visited a member and then did some porting before heading home.

Saturday we had English class in the morning and then taught Stephane right after. He keeps telling us that he really wants to be baptized but that he is trying to take his time and figure out when best it will be to do it. So we continue to pray that he will keep moving in that direction. We then went in to eat and we had to wait at our apartment for our propriator to get there because our hot water was broken and it needed to be fixed so they finally got there and said we were going to have to wait until Monday for it to get fixed. Ugh! So we left and had a lesson with Dominique and then got a call saying a plumber was stopping by to see what he could do. Thankfully they were able to fix it enough that we had hot water again. (But they did come back this morning to replace a part in the hot water tank but we should be all good now!) Then in the evening another lesson fell through so we passed some people and did a little bit of porting. 

Sunday was great and we were able to have quite a few people at church which was great! Afterwards, we went home and ate and then headed out to our Ward Mission Leader's home so that we could use Skype to talk to our families. I talked first and was able to see my parents and my sister Holly, and it was so great to be able to see them. We then had our meeting with him and then ate with them and then Elder Willett skyped his family. By the time it was finished we headed home for the night. 

We had a great week. A lot of things seemed to fall through but all in all it was pretty good. We are looking at another busy week ahead and it is going to be great and full of miracles! I love you all and am so grateful for you! Keep loving life!


Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well and that you have had a great week. I am very sorry that this email is coming in a day late but yesterday I ended up having to stay in Tarbes with the Elder there because my companion was coming in so late. SO that is why I am doing my emails now. This last week has been so crazy busy, it was great!

Tuesday we had multiple things that were set up that ended up falling through so we did quite a bit of contacting and it was really cool because we ended up finding three new people and a less active that hasn't been to church in 12 years that really has the desire to come back. In the evening we ate with the family Miller and had a very nice time with them. Each time I am with the members it is incredible to hear their testimonies and their conversion stories and I am always impressed in the way that the Lord always works.

Wednesday we did an exchange with Tarbes and I went out there with Elder Tulley. We had a great day in finding new investigators with not too much success but still we were able to plant some seeds and then ended in the day in a lesson with a recent convert.

Thursday was our last District Meeting all together for this transfer and it was truly a great one. The Sisters and the Senior Couple were in tears during one of the activities that we did. I felt really impressed that we needed to each look at the gifts and talents that we each have and express them together and there truly was such a great spirit there. On the way home we stopped by Dax, which is in our area and there was a lady that had been contacted there a few weeks prior and so we stopped by at her restaurant and had such an incredible lesson with her!! She said that she even wants to go to church and she is so excited to read the Book of Mormon. It was such a miracle. When we finally made it back to Bayonne, we had a lesson fixed that didn't work out and then we went and saw Madame Desclos and had a really good lesson with her about the Plan of Salvation. She really uinderstood and believes that is is true.

Early Friday morning, we got a call from President and he said that Elder Peart was leaving and that I was receiving a new companion named Elder Willett. Elder Peart was sad to be leaving but it is always nice to change after a bit of time. We did our planning in the morning and then in the afternoon had our meeting with the ward missionaries and then had a pretty good lesson with Dominique about the Sabbath Day. She understood well and wants to come to church. We then went and saw the less active that we had found a couple days earlier named Felix. We had a really good lesson with him, he is in the middle of trying to finish reading the Doctrine and Covenants for the very first time. We then went and had a lesson with Jean-Pascal and talked about the importance of reading and praying. He understood well but still had some difficulties putting it into practice. We then quickly hurried to see the recent convert Pascal and watched the Joseph Smith movie with him and he really enjoyed it. 

Saturday in the morning we were supposed to have a lesson with a new investigator but he wasn't home so we headed to English Class and had a couple people there. We ate really fast and then headed out to a lesson with Christian, an investigator that was taught once and then he left. We had a pretty good lesson and engaged him for baptism!! We then tried to see Felix again but didn't have a ton of time so he walked with us to the bus and chatted while we waited. We then headed out to Biarritz so that Elder Peart could say goodbye to a less active named Christophe and then we went to see Maria and Ramond so that Elder Peart could do a final lesson with him. With then headed out to eat with Frère Vierat and then headed home so Elder Peart could start packing.

So Sunday we had a bunch of lessons set up for the afternoon and evening but then we find out that we have to go out to Tarbes Sunday night so that Elder Peart can travel early Monday morning since he was going across France. So we ended up having to cancel our lessons.... Which was a bummer. Church was great though and there were tons of new people and so many great testimonies. It was an awesome meeting. Right after church we went to the train station to get out tickets and as we are printing them off a man comes up to us and says Hi Elders. Come to find out, he and his wife were in Spain and headed up to visit France but they had some trains problems and were stuck in Bayonne for a few hours. He was a mission President in Mexico a few years ago and so they love missionaries obviously. They ended up taking us out to lunch.... we figured it was ok since he was a mission president before. Ha!! We then headed back home so that Elder Peart could pack and then we headed to take a train to Tarbes for the night.

Woah! It was such a busy week! We were truly blessed though with some many great things and lots of lessons. Starting a new transfer is crazy and things keep going faster and faster. The time is ticking but there is much to do!! I am so excited for these last few months to see some miracles! Have a great week for all of you and know that I love you very very much! Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick

New Pictures of Elder Kirkpatrick!

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone is dry.... because I am still wet!!!! We had another week of rain and I am truly praying that it is over. It poured this morning but now is beautiful and I am hoping that it will stay that way. I hope you are all doing well and that you have all had a great week.

 

Tuesday was a pretty busy day. It started out having nothing much planned but we truly ended up being blessed. In the afternoon we had a lesson with a Polish family and it went pretty well. There is obviously a language barrier but we have materials in Polish and that helped. After, we were doing some passbacks of old investigators and found one who let us in and we chatted for a bit. I am not sure how far it will go but he was nice and willing to see us again. We then did some porting and met some very nice people although no one was interested. In the evening we passed a less active family and were able to have a great lesson with them. It started out looking like a long boring day but it ended up being busy and really good.

 

Wednesday we were supposed to see Madam Desclos in the morning but she wasn't there. In the afternoon we saw Sister Konè and then saw Domonique and had a pretty good lesson with her. Afterwards we, again, tried to see Madame Desclos but she wasn't available, she was actually sleeping, she had a surgery recently and was still recovering. We then headed out to Biarritz to visit Maria and Rarmond and we had a pretty good lesson with them. Raymond is still as crazy as ever.

 

Thursday we had to wake up SUPER early to catch a train at 6:20 to head up to Bordeaux for a Zone Meeting and interviews with President. It was great to see everyone and the meeting was awesome. It was sad to have my last interview with President Murdock since he finishes the 1st of July. We were supposed to be home by 6. 30 that evening but we had an emergency problem with our train and didn't end up getting to Bayonne until 8:30 and then home around 9... It was a long day.

 

Friday we went out to Cambo-les-bains, a town about 20 minutes outside of Bayonne to eat and do some service for a family in the ward. They have a beautiful home right at the base of a big hill and it is right at the feet of the beginning of the Pyrenees, it is beautiful!! This is really a beautiful area. After the service, we headed back into town and got in about 6. We cleaned up and headed out to see Pascal, the recent convert, and had a good lesson with him to finish off the day.

 

Saturday we had English class and then we taught Stephane right after. He says that he has really been thinking of baptism and is trying to choose a date personally, so that was truly a tender mercy! We then went in and ate and then saw Domonique and then tried to see a less active who wasn't there and then headed to Biarritz to eat with Frère Vierat and his sons.

 

Sunday was a good Sunday, we had three people there which is always great! We then came in, ate, did our weekly planning and then headed out to see Jean-Pascal again. We had a pretty good lesson with him and things seem to move slowly with him. We then passed some people which took a while with the bus schedule on Sunday and then made a bunch of phone calls to fill our coming week.

 

We had a good week, even with all the rain. I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all and am so grateful for you. Continue loving life and working hard in all of your pursuits! In the Lord, anything is possible! Have a great week, hope to hear from you soon!

 

Elder Kirkpatrick

Well Hello, So I have been requested to think about and write ten things that I have learned during my mission.... I have not finalized the list yet, but be expecting it at some point. This last week, unfortunately, was another very very wet one!! Once again, I am hoping for less rain.... But it was still a good week. Busy, but good.

 Tuesday we did some contacting in the morning and found some new people and then in the afternoon we saw Domonique and had a good lesson with her. She has a hard time always remembering everything but she is progressing slowly. In the evening we headed out to a little village called Urt where we went and visited a family that is partially active. We had a nice time with them and were able to share a good message with them.

 Wednesday we had to wake up really early and we headed to do an exchange with Tarbes. I went to Tarbes with Elder Miller and Elder Tulley came to Bayonne with Elder Peart. We had a couple lessons in Tarbes, one with a family that they found the week before and they are awesome. Really looking for some serious answers in their life, it is great!

 Thursday we headed to Pau for our District Meeting. It went really well and everyone participated. After the District Meeting we headed to catch our train but missed it by 2 minutes. We were in big trouble because it was the last train for hours and we had a rendez-vous in another city that is far away from Bayonne. We called the senior couple in Mont-de-Marsan that so kindly picked us up and drove us all the way out to Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Thanks Elder and Sister Johnston!!! We made it to our lesson with the family out there and had a really great lesson. Afterwards heading to the train station we got drenched in the crazy rain!!!! We were soaked.

 Friday was pretty busy. We were supposed to see Jean Louis but he cancelled. In the afternoon we had our missionary meeting with the ward leaders and then saw Stephane at the church and had a pretty good lesson with him, he is going through a difficult time for the moment. We then went and saw Domonique and had another pretty good lesson with her. In the evening we went and finished some pass backs and had a lesson with Soeur Koné.

 Saturday we had English class in the morning and then in the afternoon we had a lesson with a Polish guy that we had met earlier in the work and then fixed a lesson to see his wife and saw for the next week, yay a family! We then did a bunch of pass backs and stopped by and saw Madam Desclos. We then headed to Biarritz to see Frère Vierrat and his sons and we had a good lesson with them and ate way too many crêpes!

 Sunday was a great day at church and we had three people come. We then went home and did our weekly planning and then headed out to Biarritz to see Maria and Ramond. We had a fairly good lesson with them and then went and passed some less active there but couldn't find any of them. We headed back to Bayonne and passed some other people before coming in for the evening. It was a good week. We seemed to spend a lot of time in trains and such but it all worked out well. I hope everything is going well for all of you. Know that I love you. Have a great week!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello!!

Well let me just tell you all, I forgot my jacket at the church yesterday and of course it had my agenda in it. So, to give you a complete update on the week will be a little bit hard, so I think it is going to just be in a general sense. It was a really good week, even with all of the rain.... Thankfully today the sun is shining and I hope that it will continue for this week!

We had some good lessons with our investigators with baptismal dates, they are progressing fairly slowly but still progressing. We had several meals with members this week that were great. Each time we spend time with members, active or less active, I am surprised and truly blessed by their faith and their love. To be a member of the church presents already some difficulties living in the world also but being in France and not having as many members around for support, makes things even more difficult with temptations and pressures but I am continually impressed and edified by the example of the members that are here. They aren't as numerous as in many other places but they have an enormous amount of faith and trust. I also wanted to give you a little update on Eva. She is doing well and was confirmed a week at church. Her Father and Mother came, which was an enormous miracle and her father even wanted to come back the Sunday after!! I cannot believe sometimes the miracles that can happen but everything in her life has been changing in remarkable and wonderful ways since her baptism and I could not be happier for her! I can't wait to see how the gospel will continue to bless her in her life.

This next week promises to be a new one and I am sure that we will be blessed in our efforts. I know this email isn't long but I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope you truly know how much I love you. You all have been great strengths in my life at one point or another. I appreciate each and every one of you and everything that you have done, do, and will continue to do for me. Have a great week and enjoy every moment that we are blessed to have!!

Elder Kirkpatrick