Elder Connor Anderson: 16th P-Day (9th in France)

Hello everyone, it's me again! It's been an eventful week, but I'll try to keep it short lol.

So this week we did A LOT of porting (Knocking on doors. Doors are called "portes" in French) and other things to spread our message. My new companion, Elder Payne, has only served his mission in big villes up until this point, so he is not used to the slowness of a small ville. He's always trying to find something else to do to be productive with our time, even after we've done 3+ hours of porting/contacting and accomplished all of our studies. There is no resting with this companion haha. I definitely wanted to be out working when Elder Asato was around, but this is a bit too much. Sometimes the free time is good and necessary. I've found myself constantly tired this week, so I hope I either get used to this new schedule or my companion allows free time pretty soon.

Wednesday was district meeting. Elder Asato fought for a Thanksgiving feast with our district, so it was kinda sad that he got moved before it actually happened. My mom sent me some canned pumpkin (they literally don't sell that stuff in France), so I offered to make a pumpkin pie for it. The ingredients here are a lot different, but I had to work with what I could find. I also didn't use a recipe... The crust and the top layer of the pie were both completely burnt, so I decided to just put whipped cream over the whole thing to hide it. It worked! It ended up being DELICIOUS. It was a hit and everyone kept wanting more! I'm #Proud right now. Martha Stewart's got nothing on Elder Anderson.

The next couple of days were filled with porting. They were all so slow. We definitely need to get more investigators soon so that we can actually teach lessons. We also need the branch members to have us over for rendez-vous. Life gets hard when you're just walking door to door every day for a whole week haha.

I don't know if I already told you guys, but Elder Payne isn't good at French at all either. He's only been out in the field for a few months longer than me. Everything we've been doing this week has also made me really nervous because now I don't have a more experienced companion to lean on. We both don't understand or speak well. I'm trying to view this experience as a time to grow and learn and not to be scared... But it happens. Keep me in your prayers, people. I'm gonna need all I can get!

We had two rendez-vous this week. One with Alhin and one with the Cuche's, as per usual. Alhin was upset that Elder Asato never told him he was leaving because he liked him so much. It was actually kind of sad. Anyway, the rendez-vous with him was decent. It was still bad because neither of us understood a lot and Alhin had to really dumb himself down for us. But the food was good and that's all the matters, right? Haha.

The Cuche's was really good this week. Because it's Winter, the service is getting easier. We went over early and had a small breakfast with Maria and Emmanuel (the parents). Then we raked leaves off of their lawn. After that, Maria had made a wonderful lunch and we sat and joked around for a while. They also told us about Christmas at their house. They say it will be a big feast with lots of presents, done the Irish way (apparently it's the right way haha). Then the missionaries always play Call of Duty on the PlayStation with the boys and then watch a Disney movie and Skype their parents. Elder Payne (being as strict as he is) told Maria about how this mission president won't let us watch a Disney movie this year. Then she said, "that's so sad! It's supposed to be your day off. At least you'll still get to play Call of Duty". Then Elder Payne pulled up the missionary handbook to prove her wrong. Oh no. The funny thing is that all it says is, "No worldly entertainment". Maria joked to us about how that's open to interpretation and to her, it's not worldly haha. This year, as I previously mentioned, no Disney movie will be allowed. Also, we have to proselyte all day long and member visits can only be 2 hours max. Anyway, then we set up some Christmas decorations. After most were set up, the dad needed something and wanted us to go with him to the store. However, we started talking to Maria and the conversation lasted a couple of hours until our train! We started by talking about her glory days and international fame in Europe. Then she let us know that she's writing a book! Big publishers have already picked her up in both France and America. Be sure to look out for it in 2018! Then her and Emmanuel started talking about why they're inactive. I had been waiting to hear their side of the story since I arrived, but I never knew how to approach the situation. Buckle up, because this is when my email is about to get good.

So apparently the branch here in Epinal used to have 50 active members. It now has about 10. Emmanuel Cuche was the Branch Mission Leader and the missionaries had a car! Emmanuel would set up rendez-vous with inactives/members/investigators and the missionaries would go to all of them. He really helped them out a lot. Missionary work here was THRIVING! Well, one time this woman had just gotten baptized into the branch. Emmanuel set up an appointment with her and the missionaries. The missionaries went to her house for a visit, but one of the missionaries was apparently "super obedient" and refused to go inside her house because there wasn't another "male figure present". This made the old lady cry and she went inactive, because she felt like the missionaries didn't care about her. Emmanuel heard about it and yelled at the missionary for being rude to the woman. The missionary emailed the Mission President (because his feelings were hurt) and the Cuches were "blacklisted" from having the missionaries over. The missionary's companion at the time loved the Cuches and for MONTHS the two wouldn't talk to each other because of what the one did to the Cuches. They communicated only through sticky notes. Then the Branch President emailed Emmanuel and told him, "missionary work isn't important in our branch. You are being released from your calling". Guess what? There's still not a Branch Mission Leader to this very day and there have only been a handful of baptisms since then... That was YEARS ago! The Cuches were blacklisted for four years and didn't even know (this is when the missionaries are forbidden to come to your house). This really hurt Maria, because their family had been having the missionaries over since her and Emmanuel were married in the 80s. They used to come over before church and feed her babies each time she had a kid and a bunch of other stuff. Missionaries have always been a part of their family. Once they found out that they were blacklisted, Maria was so mad. She called up the Mission President and the Branch President and demanded a meeting with the both of them. Apparently the meeting got really heated and everyone was yelling, but they eventually removed the blacklisting. During this 4 year period of being blacklisted, the branch rapidly declined in active members and investigators. Missionary work was at an all time low. Maria also mentioned how the ward never once recognized her and her family's talents (which seems like a really dumb concern), and how if they lived in Utah they would probably be like the Osmonds haha (it's true. People in Utah would LOVE them). She also said that they were all rude to her husband because of the situation with the missionary. The whole branch took the missionary's side in what should've been a personal argument. They all turned on Emmanuel. She said that her and the kids kept going to church, but after months of hearing gossip and rude remarks about her husband she had finally had enough. That's what's so sad... They all have strong testimonies about the gospel... They just feel hated at church. They said that a member of the church actually came to their house and said, "how are you guys so happy? You're inactive!" and "I still love you, even though you don't love God enough". The story continues.

The next day at church was very stressful. I had to give the sacrament prayer on the water and give the second hour lesson with Elder Payne. The prayer was good, the lesson was not. Anyway, after church was Branch Council. During our "missionary minute" in sacrament meeting, I mentioned that we went to the Cuche's house on Saturday. The Branch President brought that up and asked what we do there. We told him that we do service. He told us that he doesn't want us going over anymore unless it's for a "spiritual purpose". I swear this branch wants to lose all communication with this family. Then nearly everyone just started bashing the Cuches, including the Branch President and his wife. That's when Elder Payne said, "I don't know what they did, but you guys need to forgive them".... THEY BLEW UP. They were yelling at us saying, "they're unrepentant and unprogressing" and "they're a very Worldly family". It was awful. The members were turning on us for sticking up for the Cuches. Their rantings went on for like another 30 mins. Later in the meeting, the Branch President asked us, "do you guys get help from the branch"? I replied, "yes, you guys are great to us", only because they were already mad at us and I needed to do some damage control. In reality, I wanted to say, "nope, not anyone besides the Cuches, Alhin, Soeur LaForge, and Frere and Soeur Erhardt". IT'S RIDICULOUS. They really hate the Cuches for some reason and instead of wanting them to come back, they want them to stay inactive. I think some of it is basic jealousy. The Cuches are writing a NY Times Bestseller, Maria was a contestant on The Voice, their kids are extremely well known in France for their talents, and so much more.

Now I know why this branch is so small. The active members are not accepting of anyone but themselves. Any tips on this issue? I hear it's not as uncommon as I may think. We have over 40 inactive people, all because the branch isn't accepting. The fact that we don't have a mission leader anymore because "missionary work isn't important" in Epinal is ridiculous as well. We need help!! haha.

Me and Elder Payne have both decided that this transfer (and the ones to come), we are going to help reactivate all these inactive people and restore the branch to its original glory. I just hope that our kindness can make up for the horrible branch in their eyes. All we can do is show everyone love. I just wish there was a way to fix this problem dead on. Branch council has been all we've been able to think about since Sunday. It's awful. This branch really needs some changing. I just wish we weren't trying to do it all on our own.

Today me and Elder Payne did grocery shopping, looked at the Black Friday deals (yes, they do that here too LOL), and went to the ruins of the old chateau. They've also started setting up the Christmas Marches on the street, so the holiday cheer is well on its way! My lovely mother also sent me lots of packages this week and some of them had the nicest Christmas decorations within. I also got a package from Cassie Knight for Christmas and I can't wait to open it. I feel so loved. Everyone needs to know how great my mom and Cassie Knight are for doing that. IF you want a shout out, you know what to do ;) haha

Big thanks to everyone for the love and support you've been showing me each week. It really means a lot. Sorry if this email was really scatterbrained, but I don't have much time haha. Please remember to keep me updated on all of your lives. I always love hearing about your adventures and I'll always respond to anyone! Miss you all! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Elder Connor Anderson

canderson@myldsmail.net

Thanksgiving Feast