Hello!
I hope that everyone is doing very very well. This week has been so great. It has been crazy, a bit stressful but so incredible! Of course after getting our calls last Monday I was getting a bit worried dealing with the transfer and organizing the baptism, doing the interview and with a new companion that is fairly young but it worked out splendidly! Of course I will go into the details. I would also send you a picture of Auguste with the baptism but I don't have a way to connect to the computer for the moment, so I will have to send it next week.
Well last Monday we went to see Auguste to give him the last few teachings, organize his baptism, and the interview. It went super well! He was even taking notes. We planned his baptism and scheduled his interview with Elder Cunningham also. Everything we talked about he was just on the edge of his seat just taking it all in but what is even crazier is that when he would make a comment it was so very well put and explained it was basically like he was teaching us. He is going to be such a great member of the church!
On Tuesday, we went and passed investigators and less actives so that Elder Nicholes could say bye to everyone. We also went and saw Frederick and answered a bunch of questions he had about the resurrection and of course invited him to the baptism Saturday. In the evening, we then went to the Haas' house to eat and for Elder Nicholes to say his goodbyes. Organizing the transfer for the next day was such a nightmare. We didn't get train codes to print out our tickets until about 8:30 but we were with the family so on the way home we hurried and printed them out to find out what time to be at the train station and we found out that it was poorly organized and I actually had no ticket so when the Elders in Geneva called we found out that I would actually be by myself for about an hour in Montauban before Elder Fitch (my new companion would get there).
Wednesday, thenkfully Elder Nicholes didn't leave until about 10:30 so we didn't have to be up early or anything so I just waited around for an hour until Elder Fitch got there. We then went home and he unpacked a bit and then we went and saw Tatiana and actually, finally, had a decent lesson with her. After her, we met Mirabelle in a park and talked about and had a good lesson with her as well. She still doesn't quite understand why our church is different or it's important but she loves having lessons and talking about God. For the rest of the evening we went and contacted people and passed different old investigators and less actives.
Thursday was the interview for Auguste, so we had to go meet the Elders of Albi at the train station in Toulouse and then Elder Cunnigham and I went to Montauban and the others to Albi. By the time we got back to Montauban we had to hurry and go to the Red Cross so that we could do our service. Because it is summer vacation, there weren't very many that came. Go figure, these people are coming to get basically free food and yet they have the money to go away for summer vacation... Hmmm.... Whatever. Because there weren't too many people, we headed back home to change and to eat a very late lunch. We did quite a bit of contacting and pass backs until the interview for Auguste that evening. The interview went perfectly and then we went over the final touches for clothes and all of that.
Friday, Elder Cunningham and I headed to Albi so we could re-exchange. We got there and barely missed our bus so Elder Fitch and I had to wait until about 1:20 for the next bus. By the time we got home, we had some lunch and then had a quick meeting with our Branch Mission Leader to verify everything for the baptism. Afterwards, we went to go see Frederick and we talked about the ten commandments and obedience. It was a pretty good lesson. It was one of our investigator's birthdays and we were having a little meal after the baptism the next day so we went and made cookies. We called up Auguste and asked if he had a minute and we wanted to stop by and give him the cookies and Elder Fitch had a CTR ring in French, which is CLB choisir le bien, so we swung by and saw him and had a quick lesson and then Auguste could meet Elder Fitch at least before the baptism. He was doing great. We then hurried and dropped off some more cookies to Elyse for her birthday and then she invited us to a birthday meal that she was having that sunday so we said we would be there and that we would go with Jean Pierre, which is her friend in the Branch that introduced her to us. We then went home pretty tired and crashed.
Saturday was quite a busy day! We hadn't had time to do our weekly planning so we did that in the morning and then ate lunch and then went and did some contacting and passing people. We went and saw Mirabelle again and had a pretty good quick little lesson and then we went and did some more contacting until about 5, when we went and grabbed all of the stuff for the baptism and headed to the church, where Auguste already was. We got everything ready and then had a little bit of time before it started to just take a breather and have a quiet moment. Auguste and I changed into our white clothes and then we began the service a little bit after 6. It was really good, and I didn't mess up any words and he went completely in the water so it worked out the first time! We changed and then went back in and heard another talk and Auguste gave a very nice, simple, sweet testimony. It was great! We finished and then we had a little meal after with everyone that came. Thankfully quite a few members were there and Frederick came too.
Sunday was another good day obviously with Auguste receiving the Holy Ghost but that wasn't until the last hour. He was there for Priesthood for the first time, normally he came at ten but he was there at nine and then we had our investigator's class and recent converts and it was my week to teach. The lesson actually went pretty well thankfully. Then in Sacrament Meeting Auguste received the Holy Ghost and we had a great Sacrament Meeting, the Stake President was even there. After, we waited for a long time and then went with Jean Pierre to the birthday meal for his friend and it ended up being a big latino party. We honestly felt like we were transported to South America! We were totally the minorities. Even the French people were! Everyone was Latin. And of course, most of them knew who we were too. We had some good discussion. Well, it lasted a lot longer than expected and we were out in the middle of nowhere so Jean Pierre took us back to Montauban and we contacted a bit and then went home.
As you can see, or read, it has been such a crazy week but a great one as well. The baptism was incredible and he is just so happy and excited to be in the church! I can't wait to see him continue to progress. Well, I hope that everyone is doing well. I love you all and appreciate you all. I hope to hear from you soon. Have a great week. Bye!
Elder Kirkpatrick
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Hello!
I hope that everyone is doing well. It has been another wonderful week full of blessings and miracles. We also received our calls from President Murdock this morning and my companion, Elder Nicholes, is leaving to Avignon on Wednesday and I will be staying in Montauban and getting Elder Fitch as my companion. I am pretty glad and happy to be staying in Montauban because of some of the exciting things that will be happening.
Well in the evening on Monday, we went and taught Auguste and talked about the ten commandements and obedience. It was a great lesson and he told us that he completely cut out coffee, tea, and alcohol and that he was diminishing the cigarettes. He is making such progress and everytime that we teach something it completely hits home with him and he understands perfectly and wants to follow it. He is incredible!
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I forgot my other planner from the last transfer and so I have no idea what happened those two days.... Haha it is sad I can't remember what happened 6 days ago. Haha! Apprently it wasn't anything too important so I will move on to Thursday.
Thursday was a national holiday, basically their Independence Day here, and so we worked a bit extra in the morning and saw Soeur Galtier, a less active, and then did some good contacting and then we went with a member to another member's house where there were some other families from the Branch and we had a barbecue and had a good time together for lunch and a little bit of the afternoon and then we came back into Montauban and did some work for the evening. There weren't too many people out since it was a holiday and there were concerts and stuff going on so it wasn't too successful but we went back into the apartment for the night and we were able to watch the fire works since we are up on the fourth floor and right in the center of town, up on a hill. It was perfect!
Friday, we did our weekly planning in the morning, had lunch, did some contacting and then had a meeting with our ward mission leader. Afterwards, there is a girl in our ward named Clarisse that wants to serve a mission so she asked if she could go with us for an afternoon to some lessons and for some conacting. So she met us at the church and then we went to go see Frederick and we taught the Law of Chastity, which was interesting teaching with a 16 year old girl and a 45 year old man. But it worked out and he understands and follows it already so it was fine. We then went and passed an Armenian lady and finally she was home! We were able to have a bit of a lesson, which was great because she actually just had a death in her family and really needed some help seeing things in an eternal perspective. We headed back to the church to talk to the Branch President really quick and then Clarisse ended up having a meeting with him so she stayed. It was funny, in contacting, we had one guy who wasn't really rude just insisted that he wasn't interested and Clarisse was quite taken aback. It was kind of funny. But for us, it is very normal but most people aren't in the same situations as us so it would seem fairly shocking. We then walked to see Auguste. We had one major commandment left to teach and it was tithing. It was interesting because as we got in, I asked if he had questions and his question was about how the church functions financially and so it fit in perfectly. He completely understood and agreed that he would keep the commandment. It went super fast and so after, he was looking at the church website and watching videos. It was really cool. Once again, I am so shocked and grateful for Auguste and his progression!
Saturday, we had planned to go to Cahors, which is another city in our area to try to get ahold of less actives to get them to come to church and see what is possible there. We took a train for about 45 minutes and got their and passed a name and address that we got in the mail from the church. Unfortunately it didn't exist, so we stopped at a boulangerie to get something to eat. Right after, heading to a less active, Elder Nicholes realized that he didn't have the phone and we are pretty sure it fell out of his pocket in the train over. Obviously that complicates things. So we passed all of the people we had and only one of them was still at the same address and answered the door. She was very nice but didn't fully understand who we were but she was nice and we shared a little scripture with her. After passing several people, we then headed back to the train station to catch our train back so we could deal with the phone problem. We got back to Montauban and went to the church to use the phone. We called President and let him know and he said it was ok and that he would have the Larsens (the couple missionaries in Toulouse) get a phone to us. We headed out to one of our lessons but on the way we saw her getting in a fight with some guy in the middle of the street on the way to her house, so we kept walking and did some contacting. Haha! We then went to go pass Augusto, one of our investigators whose mom is a member, we had a lesson fixed but he wasn't there. We waited a bit and then left because he never showed up. We headed back into town and then went home for the evening but first made arrangements with the Larsens for getting another phone on Sunday.
Sunday it was raining and we got to church and then Frederick showed up and then at Sunday School Auguste came and then one of the members, Jean Pierre, brought a friend of his to church also. The talks were great during Sacrament and they announced the baptism for Auguste. Afterwards, the Branch President met with him just to get to know him because he has been out of town since Auguste has been coming to church. Afterwards talking to Auguste he was really impressed with him. I also asked him how it was going with the cigarettes and he said he stopped smoking completely and it has been not too hard. He said that because he has such a specific goal in mind it allows him to focus on that and that that's more important than smoking. After church, we went with Jean Pierre, his friend and another member Soeur Larivierre to go and eat at Jean Pierre's house. We had a great time and his friend is very cool and very spiritual. He dropped us off and then Soeur Lerivierre at the train station, because she lives in Cahor, and then came back to the church because he asked us to give him a blessing. We gave him a blessing and he seemed very touched by it. It was very great. He has recently come back to the church after leaving for 9 years. He is in the middle of turning his life around and it hasn't been easy but he is very courageous. I really respect him. After that, we met the Larsens and they gave us one of their phones for the next couple of weeks until we all get new phones the beginning of August. We then went and saw Soeur Korpal and answered some of her deep doctrine questions. We then headed back home and crashed for the night.
Well, we have had a great week and I hope all of you have had a great week as well! Be grateful for all the good moments in life and the difficult ones that allow you to be grateful for the good ones. I love you all and thanks for everything! Thank you for you're prayers for me, my companion, and all of our investigators. I am so grateful and I know they make a difference. Thank you! Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
I hope that everyone is doing well. It has been another wonderful week full of blessings and miracles. We also received our calls from President Murdock this morning and my companion, Elder Nicholes, is leaving to Avignon on Wednesday and I will be staying in Montauban and getting Elder Fitch as my companion. I am pretty glad and happy to be staying in Montauban because of some of the exciting things that will be happening.
Well in the evening on Monday, we went and taught Auguste and talked about the ten commandements and obedience. It was a great lesson and he told us that he completely cut out coffee, tea, and alcohol and that he was diminishing the cigarettes. He is making such progress and everytime that we teach something it completely hits home with him and he understands perfectly and wants to follow it. He is incredible!
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I forgot my other planner from the last transfer and so I have no idea what happened those two days.... Haha it is sad I can't remember what happened 6 days ago. Haha! Apprently it wasn't anything too important so I will move on to Thursday.
Thursday was a national holiday, basically their Independence Day here, and so we worked a bit extra in the morning and saw Soeur Galtier, a less active, and then did some good contacting and then we went with a member to another member's house where there were some other families from the Branch and we had a barbecue and had a good time together for lunch and a little bit of the afternoon and then we came back into Montauban and did some work for the evening. There weren't too many people out since it was a holiday and there were concerts and stuff going on so it wasn't too successful but we went back into the apartment for the night and we were able to watch the fire works since we are up on the fourth floor and right in the center of town, up on a hill. It was perfect!
Friday, we did our weekly planning in the morning, had lunch, did some contacting and then had a meeting with our ward mission leader. Afterwards, there is a girl in our ward named Clarisse that wants to serve a mission so she asked if she could go with us for an afternoon to some lessons and for some conacting. So she met us at the church and then we went to go see Frederick and we taught the Law of Chastity, which was interesting teaching with a 16 year old girl and a 45 year old man. But it worked out and he understands and follows it already so it was fine. We then went and passed an Armenian lady and finally she was home! We were able to have a bit of a lesson, which was great because she actually just had a death in her family and really needed some help seeing things in an eternal perspective. We headed back to the church to talk to the Branch President really quick and then Clarisse ended up having a meeting with him so she stayed. It was funny, in contacting, we had one guy who wasn't really rude just insisted that he wasn't interested and Clarisse was quite taken aback. It was kind of funny. But for us, it is very normal but most people aren't in the same situations as us so it would seem fairly shocking. We then walked to see Auguste. We had one major commandment left to teach and it was tithing. It was interesting because as we got in, I asked if he had questions and his question was about how the church functions financially and so it fit in perfectly. He completely understood and agreed that he would keep the commandment. It went super fast and so after, he was looking at the church website and watching videos. It was really cool. Once again, I am so shocked and grateful for Auguste and his progression!
Saturday, we had planned to go to Cahors, which is another city in our area to try to get ahold of less actives to get them to come to church and see what is possible there. We took a train for about 45 minutes and got their and passed a name and address that we got in the mail from the church. Unfortunately it didn't exist, so we stopped at a boulangerie to get something to eat. Right after, heading to a less active, Elder Nicholes realized that he didn't have the phone and we are pretty sure it fell out of his pocket in the train over. Obviously that complicates things. So we passed all of the people we had and only one of them was still at the same address and answered the door. She was very nice but didn't fully understand who we were but she was nice and we shared a little scripture with her. After passing several people, we then headed back to the train station to catch our train back so we could deal with the phone problem. We got back to Montauban and went to the church to use the phone. We called President and let him know and he said it was ok and that he would have the Larsens (the couple missionaries in Toulouse) get a phone to us. We headed out to one of our lessons but on the way we saw her getting in a fight with some guy in the middle of the street on the way to her house, so we kept walking and did some contacting. Haha! We then went to go pass Augusto, one of our investigators whose mom is a member, we had a lesson fixed but he wasn't there. We waited a bit and then left because he never showed up. We headed back into town and then went home for the evening but first made arrangements with the Larsens for getting another phone on Sunday.
Sunday it was raining and we got to church and then Frederick showed up and then at Sunday School Auguste came and then one of the members, Jean Pierre, brought a friend of his to church also. The talks were great during Sacrament and they announced the baptism for Auguste. Afterwards, the Branch President met with him just to get to know him because he has been out of town since Auguste has been coming to church. Afterwards talking to Auguste he was really impressed with him. I also asked him how it was going with the cigarettes and he said he stopped smoking completely and it has been not too hard. He said that because he has such a specific goal in mind it allows him to focus on that and that that's more important than smoking. After church, we went with Jean Pierre, his friend and another member Soeur Larivierre to go and eat at Jean Pierre's house. We had a great time and his friend is very cool and very spiritual. He dropped us off and then Soeur Lerivierre at the train station, because she lives in Cahor, and then came back to the church because he asked us to give him a blessing. We gave him a blessing and he seemed very touched by it. It was very great. He has recently come back to the church after leaving for 9 years. He is in the middle of turning his life around and it hasn't been easy but he is very courageous. I really respect him. After that, we met the Larsens and they gave us one of their phones for the next couple of weeks until we all get new phones the beginning of August. We then went and saw Soeur Korpal and answered some of her deep doctrine questions. We then headed back home and crashed for the night.
Well, we have had a great week and I hope all of you have had a great week as well! Be grateful for all the good moments in life and the difficult ones that allow you to be grateful for the good ones. I love you all and thanks for everything! Thank you for you're prayers for me, my companion, and all of our investigators. I am so grateful and I know they make a difference. Thank you! Ciao!
Elder Kirkpatrick
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
My sincere apologies to those die hard Elder Kirkpatrick blog readers. I have missed the last two letters because I packed up my little family of 5 and moved to Dallas, TX which is a BIG move for us. We are a bit settled now and I'm back into a groove and realized I forgot about ETHAN!! So sorry little brother I hope you will forgive me. So to all the readers make sure you read both letters, the first is the newest one from the 11th and below that is the July 4th letter. Thank you for understanding (I'm going to assume you all forgive me too).
JULY11TH LETTER
Quelle semaine! It has been quite a crazy week for many reasons and we have really seen a lot of blessings and miracles here in Montauban.
Starting with last Monday, we taught Auguste on Monday night and we decided to just knock out some of the difficult commandments like the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. We taught it and he had no problems with it. He does smoke a bit and drinks coffee but he wants to smoke and he is ready to do everything he can to stop. He also really liked church on Sunday, which was great! Every time we teach something new, he just tells us, "that's completely logical." Everything just makes perfect sense to him.
On Tuesday, we had a bit of a surprise. We were supposed to do an exchange with the Elders in Albi but Elder Enkey was having problems with his back so he didn't think he could take a train to Montauban, so Elder Nicholes and I went to Albi and Elder Nicholes went with Elder Cunningham and I went with Elder Enkey. Since, Elder Enkey wasn't feeling super great we just did some Street Boarding out in the center of town. Basically, we have a big board with pictures and stuff on it and then contact the people that walk by. After a few hours of that he needed a break and so we went back to the apartment for about thirty minutes, and while we did that, President called and told Elder Enkey that he would be sent home because of his back problems. So of course, that was a bit of a shock but not really unexpected. We went back out and passed some old investigators and did some more contacting. At the end of the day we had quite a decent amount of snaps. And when the other two came back to the apartment they actually had just as many contacts as us, and both of them were able bodied! Ha!
On Wednesday, the zone leaders drove to Albi to go and pick up Elder Enkey and then Elder Nicholes and Elder Cunningham and I went back to Montauban. By the time we got there, we had lunch and then went and contacted and then went and passed a contact that we had. She was home so we taught her and her friend. They were both Muslim and the friend wasn't very open at all but the other lady was so we set up anything rendez-vous and then headed out to see Frederick. We taught him the rest of the Plan of Salvation, and it went very well, and then we fixed another rendez-vous for Saturday and then headed out to meet Frère Caplan in front of the church so that we could go to the Haas' house for dinner. We had a nice time and then headed back to the apartment.
Thursday morning, we took Elder Cunningham to Toulouse so that he could pick up a different companion, since his was going home. Our next train wasn't for about two hours so we went to the Mission Office and helped the office couple clean up the office, it is going to become a youth center in Toulouse, which will be awesome. By the time we got back into Toulouse, we went to the Family Van Tonder to do service for them, they are South African but have lived in Montauban for a very long time. We had lunch with them afterwards and then headed back home to change back into our normal clothes and such. For the afternoon, we did some contacting and passing different investigators, until the evening when we went to eat with the family Dieutre and Auguste also. We had a great time and Frère and Soeur Dieutre talked about their conversions and asked Auguste about how he met us and what made him decide to be baptized and it was really really great!
On friday, we had our morning planning and then we had a bit of time so I attempted to make Indian Fry Bread because my mom had sent me the recipe and to my great joy and astonishment, it turned out perfect and they were delicious... unfortunately there are no refried beans here in France, but it's ok, we made it work. In the afternoon we went and saw Frère Truscello and had a little lesson with him and went and passed a bunch of people. Unfortunately, a bunch of our lessons fell through but we did teach Frederick and we had a great lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we were able to engage him for baptism! He really understands all of the principles very well and everything just makes perfect sense. He basically taught the lesson all by himself because he understood so well from the scriptures that he read.
Saturday was another fairly slow day. We had pretty much all of our lessons cancelled and so we ended up doing a lot of walking and contacting but with little success. It was alright, those days happen fairly often. In the evening I focused on preparing for my talk for the next Sunday. They told me to speak for 15 minutes so I was a little bit worried that I would be able to fill 15 minutes. I had quite a few materials thankfully so I went to bed just praying that I would be able to fill up 15 minutes during Sacrament Meeting.
Sunday, we got to church and Frederick was already there! After Priesthood, it was like everybody needed us to do something. The teacher for Sunday school was asking Elder Nicholes to help set up and babysit a movie clip she was showing and then a primary teacher came and asked if we could go into her class to talk about being a missionary, so I said yes. After about 5 minutes in Sunday School, Auguste showed up and then the first counselor asked me if we were going to do a class for our investigators, I just about laughed in his face, after preparing a talk, needing to be in Sunday School, and in the Primary at the same time, there was no way. Auguste came into Sunday school and about 10 minutes later, I slipped out to go talk to the primary class for about ten minutes while Elder Nicholes babysat the TV and got the movie all ready. I came back and sat next to our investigators and heard the rest of Sunday School. Sacrament meeting started and the first speaker got up and talked for about five minutes and then the next one got up and spoke for about ten minutes and of course I was the last speaker so I looked at the clock and had 35 minutes! I was about sweating bullets. I was worried enough for 15 minutes. 35 was going to be impossible! I followed what I planned, my notes and experiences and everything and then when I looked at the clock just before I was going to close, and I had taken all the time except for maybe the last 5 minutes to pray and sing. I have no idea how I took up the much time in a language that I have only been speaking for a year but I would definitely say it was a miracle. I don't even think I could tell you everything I said. But it turned out quite well and I had people tell me that they really enjoyed it, so it worked out. After church, we went back home and ate and then headed out to some lessons and contacting. We had a lesson with this black lady named Mirabelle who is very Catholic. She is nice but we don't think she fully understands everything completely. Oh well, we had a good lesson and the rest of the day we went contacting and passing old investigators.
Voilà that was my week here in Montauban. There were a lot of really great things that happened. There are definitely people ready for the gospel here in Montauban and it is incredible to see that we don't even have to do much because they are already so prepared. I hope that all of you are doing well and have had a great week. I love you all and thank you for all of your support. Au revoir!
Elder Kirkpatrick
JULY 4TH LETTER
This week has been pretty crazy and definitely good as well! We were able to accomplish quite a bit and definitely see some miracles in the work here in Montauban.
Last Monday, after our official preparation time, we went and saw Auguste because he didn't come to church on Sunday, so we weren't sure what happened and why he didn't come. We went and saw him and thankfully he didn't come to church just because he accidentally slept through his alarm. Nothing too extreme. We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation and he had some great questions. He was very surprised to see that everything we discussed was in the Bible as well. We has been reading in the Book of Mormon and told us that he knows that it's true. We fixed another lesson for Friday and then we left.
Tuesday, we went into Toulouse for a Zone Conference and of course to meet our new Mission President and his wife. He is a very very nice man and you can tell that both he and his wife truly love the missionaries and care for us. Of course, they aren't President and Soeur Carter but they will bring something different to the mission and it will be interesting to see how the mission will change and transfer under different leadership. It will be exciting to see what happens in a couple weeks with transfers. Apparently there are going to be a lot of changes happening according to President Murdock. So we shall see what happens. After the Zone Meeting, I went with Elder Cunningham to Albi for an exchange. By the time we got there, it was fairly late but we went and helped a guy that owns an antique shop deliver a table to someone.
Wednesday in the morning, we had a couple rendez-vous that didn't work out but we went and bought train tickets for a bit later to go and see a girl with a baptismal date in a city next to Albi. We went and ate lunch and then took the train for about an hour and a half to get to the other city and teach all of the commandments before her baptism that saturday. It was very interesting. They are actually an Iranian family that the two other siblings are members of the church and they were baptized in Paris and then when they moved to this city about 10 months ago and didn't even know where the church was. The missionaries didn't know anything about them until the Missionaries in Paris finally sent their information about a month ago. The other sister has been ready to be baptized since they were in Paris but was never able to. They are a super awesome family and have such strong testimonies. They all have their scriptures in Persian and read them together and they love the missionaries. After teaching them, we went to the train station to take our train back to Albi, which was another hour and a half. We then for the evening had a few lessons that didn't work out again but we went and did some contacting and ran into a whole bunch of German tourists interestingly enough. We then headed back home and had dinner.
Thursday we went into Toulouse to re-exchange and then Elder Nicholes and I went back into Montauban. By the time we got back, we had lunch and then headed to the red cross to do our service. After service, we did contacting and passed some different old investigators and such. In the evening, we went and saw Simon, one of our less actives, and had a good lesson. Unfortunately he told us that he couldn't come to church because he would have to be working on Sunday.
Friday morning was our normal planning in the morning and then afterward, we went and met a lady named Laurence who we contacted a few weeks ago and she was very interesting about our church. We talked about the restoration and answered her questions. She was interested and said she would read the Book of Mormon but to give her a few weeks because she is very busy so we will call her in a couple weeks to see what she thought. We then went to go and see Patrick, a less active, and his friend Alex ended up being there too. We had a pretty good lesson with them and read out of The Book of Mormon. Patrick has been making a lot of progress and it's really good to see the differences he has made. After him, we headed to go see a new investigator named Frederick. He is a nice guy about 45 and he has met the missionaries in Lille about 10 years ago. We taught the first half of The Plan of Salvation and he said he really wanted to come to church but couldn't because he was going to be with his sister in another city but that he will come the week after. We fixed another lesson with him after he comes back and then we headed to our meeting with the Ward Mission Leader. After that, the ward mission leader came with us to teach Auguste. Getting there, I asked if he had any questions and he said yeah, I wanted to know about how baptism works for you. We said, perfect because we will be talking about that. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which obviously includes baptism, and we engaged him for baptism. He said yes and was super excited. He asked what all he needed to do to prepare, so we explained that and then he asked about the Word of Wisdom and so we talked a little bit of that, and he was totally in agreement with it. He said the coffee thing would be hard but that he would do it. It was so incredible and such a miracle. He has definitely been prepared for the gospel! He said that he would definitely be at church on Sunday.
Saturday, we went to help Frère Caplan move into his new apartment and I had the privilege of hauling up a washing machines up to the fourth floor with another member from the Branch.... yeah, that was fun. Ha! After moving in the morning, we went with Frère Caplan to the Family Haas' house to eat lunch. We then came home in the afternoon and went and contacted and tried to pass some people. There wasn't a ton that worked out super well but it worked out.
Sunday, we of course were very anxious that Auguste would come. He came just before Sunday School and it was a good lesson about the atonement and then we had a good fast and testimony meeting. In the middle of the meeting he turned to me and asked if he could go up to the pulpit and say a few things. I told him that of course he could. So he got up and told them about how his life has started changing in the last 15 days since he has been meeting with us and how he is preparing for baptism and it was incredible! After Sacrament Meeting, the members were very welcoming and the Dieutre Family and Haas Family invited him over with us to have a barbecue with them. All of the members truly went out of their way to include him and talk to him, it was so great. We were so happy with how church turned out with him and how much he liked it and how welcoming the members were. After church, we went and broke our fast and then went to a couple rendez-vous that we fixed but unfortunately, either the person wasn't there or we couldn't find their address. It was a bit of a bummer but after what happened at church, I didn't care that the afternoon was a bit slow. Ha!
Voilà! That was our week. It was incredible and I am so grateful for all of the blessings we have been receiving here in Montauban the last couple of weeks! I hope that all of you are doing well and that your week went well. I love you all and am so grateful for you support and your prays. Bonne semaine!
Elder Kirkpatrick
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