Hey,

I hope that you are doing well. It has been another rather chilly week here in Aix! It was pretty busy and the week went by quite quickly. It was the last week of the transfer but I have good news, I get another six weeks in Aix. I am quite happy! That means that at the end of this transfer, I will have spent six months here. It is definitely a good city to be in for six months. For quite a bit of time this week, I wasn't even in Aix, it has been pretty crazy.

On Tuesday I went out to Avignon in the morning to work with Elder Bonnet. The wind and the cold was horrible! It was so windy, I honestly thought I was going to get pushed over a couple times, it was so bad. We actually were able to go out to Orange, a city a bit a ways to work for a little while in the afternoon before going to visit a family that lives there. Orange is little but it is pretty, with a giant roman amphitheater in it. The Dad from the family came and picked us up, thank goodness for the heated car, because they actually live in a little town outside of Orange. It was one of the most interesting eating experiences with members I have ever had because both the mother and the father are deaf and the daughters translate for them. We were able to share a great message with them and have a nice meal together. I wasn't always sure who to communicate with, so I mainly talked to the daughters and let them translate.

Wednesday was another interesting day. In the morning we left for the train station so that we could finish the exchange. There were problems with the trains so my train ended up being an hour and a half late. I got into Aix and met Elder Hughes and Elder L'Homel and Elder Smedley so that we could, all four of us, go to Vitrolles. I had to do an exchange with Elder Smedley but he can't drive but we needed to be in Vitrolles for a baptismal interview, so all four of us needed to be there. We had a good day. We did some contacting in the only real place to do that in their sector and then we had a lesson, each companionship, which went pretty well, and then we headed to the church for the interview. The girl wasn't quite ready yet, she wants to take some more time before being baptized but she knows that it is true. We then did English class and then all four of us ate at a member's house. It was a really good day.

Thursday, we had our last district meeting for the transfer and it went pretty well, even if I didn't have a ton of time to plan it in advance. We then went to the hospital so that Elder Hughes could have the operation on his toes. The operation lasted about an hour and a half and then we had a member, very graciously, drive us home. We then relaxed in the apartment because he was in quite a bit of pain.

Friday we stayed in the apartment, and did not much. We finished the 1000 piece puzzle, yeah! Ha

Saturday we stayed in for quite awhile until the nurse came to change his bandages and then we went out and saw Pilar. We found out, well Elder Hughes did when I was in Avignon, that Pilar is having a hard time accepting tithing. So we talked a bit about that and told her to talk to the Bishop the next day at church about. We had a good lesson about having a living prophet on the earth and she just thought that was marvelous to have a living prophet.

Sunday we went to church and we had Pilar there and our other investigator Sero there as well. It was great because it was the first time he came. Afterwards, we had a ward meal together because it was Ward Conference. We then headed back home and stayed in for a bit because Elder Hughes was quite tired from walking on his crutches. We stayed in for a bit until the other missionaries came to pick us up to go eat at the Kool's house for dinner. We had a nice time, it is always good to pass some time with the members.

So that was our week. There wasn't anything extremely exciting but I know that Elder Hughes is happy because he is on his way to recovery, which is always a great thing. I hope that you have all had a great week. This week has definitely been a week of a lot of patience and so I hope that all of us can continue to increase our patience for others and for ourselves as well. I love you all and am so greatful for you. Enjoy this photo that I have attached showing how cold it has been here. The giant fountain in the middle of town was all frozen and is actually still frozen! I hope it warms up soon.... ha Have a great week!

Elder Kirkpatrick