Hello Everyone,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello Everyone,

Happy Halloween! I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying Halloween, it isn't as big of a thing here, so enjoy it in the US! I also hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and just this time of year in general. We had a pretty good week here in Aix-en-Provence, especially with the beautiful

On Tuesday we went and did some door to door and met an awesome girl from Poland and she told us to come back so that we could teach her and her boyfriend later that week. In the afternoon we did some contacting and then went and visited Frère Casale, the investigator since 40 years, he is in the hospital so we went and saw him. We then went and passed a less active member named Natalie. It ended up being a perfect time for her as well because she really needed a blessing. It is true that the Lord really does watch over his children. After that we hurried to meet a new investigator, a brother of a member, but he cancelled at the last minute so we went and stopped by and saw Irma and her two daughters.

Wednesday we were supposed to see Franck in the morning but he ended up standing us up unfortunately, so we went contacting and then headed in for lunch and to finish studies. In the afternoon we went and put up the street board and contacted a whole bunch of people out on the street. We were able to meet some nice people and fix some rendez-vous for later. We then went and saw Gerard and had a great lesson with him about the ten commandments. I doubted at first how much he really understood but he is making good progress. We then went to the institute building for English class. There were quite a few people, and only one who is a member of the church, which made it even better.

Thursday we had a District Meeting in the morning, which was really great. In the afternoon we ended up seeing Frère Casel again to drop something off from his wife and then we did some contacting and such until our lesson with Franck. We had a really great lesson with him and he understood really really well. He is making great progress little by little. He really has the desire, which is awesome to see. Unfortunately he works almost every Sunday, which makes it a little difficult.

Friday, in the morning we had a lesson with Ma Fang, a recent convert. She has been having a lot of struggles to know whether God is truly there or not so we talked a lot about the role of God and Christ and our personal relationships with them. I think it really helped her because the spirit was strong and it was very clear. After our lesson, we went back home and did our weekly planning and had lunch. In the afternoon we saw Wan Quin and she really opened up during the lesson about why she sees us and that she isn't ready for baptism but that she is continuing to learn and search. We then headed to the church where we were meeting Erika and Jennifer, the daughters of Irma, because there was a Halloween party for the young adults. They had a great time and we able to meet other young adults.

Saturday, we once again had a lesson fixed with Franck for the morning but he wasn't home (we actually found out later that he was sleeping). We then headed back in, while doing some contacting and then finished up our morning studies. In the afternoon, we had a rendez-vous with the Polish girl and her boyfriend but they were not there unfortunately and so we headed back into town and ended up seeing Gerard and had a good lesson with him and then went and saw Franck and had a decent lesson with him, not the best.

Sunday was a good day, of course with church. Gerard was there and all of us missionaries had to sing in sacrament meeting with a Soeur. It ended up turning out pretty good. After church, we ate lunch and then we went back to the church to wait for a new investigator, he didn't end up coming but we stayed for the baptism of the Bishop, so we could meet some of his nonmember friends, who were very nice, the Bishop was going to set up a time when we could all meet together. After that, we went to go and pass someone and then we taught Irma and her daughters. Erika had a lot of really good questions. It was really good and a nice way to end the week.

All in all it has been a pretty good week. I know there isn't too much detail this week but there wasn't too much big and exciting that happened. I hope that you are all doing well. I love you all and wish you a great week.

Elder Kirkpatrick

OCT 24

Sorry to keep you all hanging....I moved...again and had no internet for a bit, but we are up and running and here is the letter from Monday Oct 24 that I owe you!

Hello Everyone,

I hope that it has been another wonderful week for you. Fall is definitely here and the weather is cooling down, personally I am already starting to freeze. Hopefully you are all enjoying the weather wherever you are. It is a beautiful time of year. This last week was pretty busy and it went by quite quickly.

The week started out pretty busy because on Tuesday, I had to go out to Avignon to do an exchange with the District Leader, who is actually Elder Nicholes, one of my old companions from Montauban. I was really excited to be able to work with him again for the day, we really got along well when we were together in Montauban. I got to Avignon around 11 so we headed to get a bus pass and then went in and dropped off my stuff and then ate lunch and did a little bit of studies before heading out. We went and did some contacting and then had a lesson with an older couple. They were pretty funny. The old lady kept telling us lots of stories and I was next to her and she kept grabbing my leg and my hand and stuff and at the end she sang a song for us. Haha it wasn't the most spiritual lesson but it was rather humorous. We headed back into town a bit and then took a bus in another direction to do some door to door contacting. We met a lot of people that were very nice but no one was interested. We headed back into town and met and Irish man, that the Elders had fixed a lesson with, and his three friends, one from Canada, Germany and I think England. It was quite a diverse group that was there for studies in Avignon. They had a lot of really good questions and they weren't interested to learn more or to change their way of life in anyway but they were very impressed by what we believe and they way we live. They said that that was not at all what they were expecting. It was really a cool and neat experience. It really shows that if people take the time to get to know us they will find out that we are normal people just like them but that we have a strong faith in God and Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, we did studies in the morning and then passed a recent convert and then did some contacting before heading to the train station. By the time I got back to Aix it was about one so we ate and then went out and did some contacting and such, passed some different investigators until English Class in the evening? We did English class and there were quite a few people that showed up, it was really good.

Thursday we did some contacting in the morning and then went to meet with The Sinquin Family. They are a really nice couple that 2 of the daughters of the wife, are members of the church and she has known the church for a very long time. They are very nice and had some great questions. They know the doctrine very well but don't feel like they have ever had a confirmation that they need to join the church. They hesitate about how their children may react and that it might hurt the already damaged relationships. It is quite complicated. We had a great lesson with them and they really honestly have testimonies that it is true, especially Mrs. Sinquin. Afterwards, they invited us to eat lunch with them, so we stayed and then huried back to the apartment really fast before meeting a member to go see a less active with us. Unfortunately, the less active was not there and so we ended up going to do our language study instead. After that, we headed to see Becca, the American member that is here for studies, and we had a good lesson with her as well. We headed to try and see Gerard but he wasn't home so we went and saw Kim, a recent convert, and we had a nice lesson with her. She is so strong in the gospel, she basically taught us! She is great, and even wants to serve a mission. We then headed in for the evening.

Friday was a pretty big day because Elder Caussé, of the first quorum of the 70, came and visited us. We had a great conference and he really boosted and encouraged us to get more lessons and engage more people to baptize, to help them come unto Christ. We all were pretty pumped up after the meeting. After the meeting, it was a bit of a scramble trying to get missionaries to the train station and everything to get back home. After all of that we headed to the institute building to see Wang Quin and talk with her a bit before institute started. Institute was great and Wang Quin really enjoyed it.

Saturday, in the morning, we went to play soccer and then came back in to shower and do some studies. Afterwards, we went to see the Casels' because he was admitted into the hospital, so we went over to help clean up the house a bit. We then went to go see our investigator Franck and we had a great lesson with him. We engaged him for baptism and he said yes! He was super excited about it too. I think he finally realized why everything he has been taught is important. We then went to see Gerard and he is make great progress as well. Since we taught him about reading and praying everyday, he has been doing it everyday and he said that he noticed a difference. He has more energy and strength during the day. He even talked about tithing and how he could pay it. He really made a ton of progress. We talked about the word of wisdom and he said that he would follow that as well. It really was a great lesson. We then went and saw Irma, another recent convert and we talked about the Plan of Salvation and she remembered everything very well. She is from South America so she speaks French/Spanish so I don't always understand absolutely everything that she says because sometimes it is in Spanish but I get the general idea.

Sunday we had church, which was really good and Gerard stayed for the sacrament this week. We then actually all ate together at church for a ward picnic and then we headed back home and dropped off some stuff and then we went out and passed some people. We headed back in to do our weekly planning that we weren't able to do earlier in the week. We then went out to go see Fernando, a member, and we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon, and then we headed back home for the night.

We had another good week here in Aix with some great progress with our investigators as they are slowly progressing to understand the importance of God and Christ in their lives; I love you all and hope that you are all doing well. Have a great week and enjoy all the blessings that you have!

Elder Kirkpatrick

Hello Everyone,

Well it has officially been my first week in Aix-en-Provence and in the last couple of days, the weather has really started to cool down! That does make it pretty nice, summer was pretty warm here so the change is well welcomed. It has been a little different getting adjusted to the new city, and new companion, and just getting into the swing of things in a new place. I am happy to be here and excited to see the things that we will be able to accomplish here.

Tuesday we took care of the things we couldn't on Monday, like grocery shopping and emails, etc. and that took the morning and some of the afternoon and then we went and did some contacting before a lesson with Gerard. Gerard has a baptismal date, he is an older man that is French but lives in Madagascar but is here for some medical treatments. We had a good lesson with him, talking about the Plan of Salvation, I wasn't completely sure about his comprehension level because he has a difficult time really retaining things. It was a good lesson none the less. We then tried to pass a recent convert but she wasn't home so we did some contacting before heading home.

Wednesday morning, we did some contacting and passing a couple people. We came in to eat and then went and had a lesson with a girl named Becca that is here to do her studies for a couple months, she is American, fairly recently baptized and doesn't speak too much French. We had a good lesson and then headed to go and take a bus to pass a brother of a member from Montauban. Frère Dieutre right before I left gave me the address of his brother so that I could try and go pass him... well his brother was not at all interested. Ha, I didn't even get the chance to tell him that I know his brother, I kind of had to yell it at him as he was closing the window. Afterwards we went to meet with a new investigator that lives in the same area. He was a young kid of 18 who was curious because he had heard about us from South Park. We had a pretty good lesson with him and answered his questions. He told us how much he truly respected what we do but at this point in his life he is happy with his life and doesn't really have any interest in changing anything and knowing more. It was still a great lesson and the kid said, I will never ever be able to say anything bad about you guys or any other member of the church because I truly respect the way that you live and values that you have. It was really cool. We then came back into town and did some contacting before heading to the institute building for English class. It was a good class and we had about 8 to 10 people who showed up. We then went home for the evening.

Thursday we contacted to the church and then made a list of less active members to pass later and made some calls with some investigators trying to fix some rendez-vous. We then headed in for lunch and started the afternoon on a less active hunt. We passed about four or five but only one was home. We then went and did contacting until seeing Gerard again. We talked about following the prophet and the law of tithing. He understood pretty well and he said that he would obey the commandments. We then hurried to give a blessing to a man that he and his wife have known the missionaries for about 40 years! They both have a lot of medical problems and don't leave the house often. We gave him a blessing and had a nice talk about the importance of faith when receiving blessings. We then hurried to get to church for our meeting with the Ward Mission Leader to talk about missionary work in the ward. After our meeting, we went to see a member that left Aix a while ago but came back again for his studies. He is a bit alone here, because he is from Angola in Africa and his wife and three kids are still there. So we talked a bit and just got to know each other, it was really nice. It is so important that the church is really for strengthening each other.

Friday we had weekly planning in the morning and then after lunch, we did some street meeting, and that dropped the kit back at the apartment to head to the institute building. We had a lesson with a Chinese less active, Ma Fang and talked about sacrifice. We talked about how coming to church was a sacrifice but that we are truly blessed because of it. It was a good lesson and she said that she would be at church on Sunday. Right after we met with Wang Quin, a chinese investigator, and talked about tithing and fasting. We really focused on the importance of fasting to receive answers because at one point she was going to get baptized but it didn't happen. She agreed to fast with us on Sunday and come to church so that she could receive an answer whether baptism was the right thing for her or not. She left and then said she was going to come back for institute later that evening. We stayed and did our language study that we didn't do earlier and then we had a meeting with the institute council, I guess you could call it, and then we stayed for institute and Wang Quin came. I think she really enjoyed it and then she stayed a bit after too but we had to head back home.

Saturday we went to play soccer with some young adults and with some investigators but unfortunately, only three people came and so we just kind of messed around a little bit and then headed back to the apartment. We showered and then went out to contact a bit, came back inside and then did our studies. We went back out, did some contacting and then met Gerard at the church. We were going to watch the Restoration movie but he had a bunch of questions and problems about tithing, we talked about, stressed the importance of having faith, the blessings we will receive. At the end he kind of said that he would follow the commandment but a bit of an I guess, maybe, so I am sure that the discussion will not be over with. We then went back home really quick to eat really fast and then went to do some service for the Casels, the couple that have known the missionaries forever. Because they both have severe medical problems, they accumulate a lot of things, they also really like to save little bits of nothing. So we helped them clean up a bit and organize for awhile before heading back in.

Sunday we left to go meet Wang Quin to go to church together but she didn't come and didn't answer her phone. So we headed to church and Gerard was already there. We had some great lessons and Ma Fang even came too. Unfortunately Gerard noticed a missed call right before sacrament so he left the room to listen to it and then just left without telling us. It was kind of weird. After church we went and taught Frank, another investigator, the word of wisdom and then headed home to take what would be our meal time, but since we were fasting, it was nap time. We then headed out, passed a couple people, stopped by institute to grab a movie and then went to see Irma and her daughters. Irma was recently baptized the beginning of last transfer. She is a super nice lady from Colombia, I think, and so we watched the Joseph movie with her and her daughters. It was really nice and we all felt the spirit of how grateful we are of the sacrifices that all of the early pioneers went through so that we could have the blessings of the gospel today.

Well, that was my first week in Aix. I hope that you are all doing well and having a great week. Always remember to be grateful in life, even if it is for the little things! I love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Kirkpatrick