Elder Connor Anderson: 33rd P-Day (26th in France)

Bonjour everyone!

So this week's email is going to be a lot shorter because I left my journal at the apartment and can't remember a lot of what happened. I'll try my best to write all the exciting stuff, but sorry if there's not a lot haha. Lazy readers, rejoice!

So we had a lot of rendez-vous set up this week with people and about half of the rendez-vous didn't end up happening. That was annoying. We never had someone in Epinal just not show up to a meeting that was planned, but I guess it happens quite often here haha.

On Tuesday we drove back down to Cambrai to teach an investigator that we have there. He was young and really nice, but didn't have a lot of time, so we just shared a very short version of the Plan of Salvation with him. He reacted well, so I was happy. Then we drove up to Lille for a late district meeting after some hours of 'finding' in Cambrai. District meeting went well and I'm starting to like my district a little more now which is great!

On Wednesday we had 3 rendez-vous back-to-back and all in different towns, so I was driving around so much! The first one went well and we taught him The Plan of Salvation. He didn't really react, so it's hard to tell where we'll go with him, but he was nice haha. Our second one was with an investigator that we've had for years apparently. He's this African guy who's actually really rude lol. He always corrects my posture and my French. Then we tried teaching him about the importance of the Book of Mormon, to which he said, "I much prefer your magazine, The Liahona. I won't read the Book of Mormon ever. The Liahona is much easier and gives me fulfillment when I read it." He also tried to bash us a little. So I don't know where we can go with him, but it wasn't a good rendez-vous by any means. Our 3rd rendez-vous was with an in-active member. He's this young, African guy with A+ style. He had friends over during our rendez-vous, so we were able to give them all a message. It went really well and was basically the only good part of the day. And who knows... Maybe his friends will become investigators in the future? We can only hope!

The next day we met with an old investigator in this far away town. It wasn't an ideal location, but the outcome was amazing. There are many reasons that I didn't feel comfortable in this town (super sketchy and such), and we were meeting in a laundromat. No one was in the laundromat, but there were windows all around us so people could see in. The man wasn't feeling good at all, so after we taught him a lesson, we gave him a blessing. Right there, in front of all the passerbys. He started crying afterwards and said that we are "really sent from God." His schedule is really busy these coming weeks, so he can't meet with us for a while, but I'm hoping that it goes somewhere in the near future. The Spirit was definitely strong in this rendez-vous and I know he felt it too.

Friday was good. All of our appointments fell through, so we decided to go up to Mons, Belgium and do a finding day up there. It was beautiful. We didn't have any immediate success during our finding, but I did get to try new things. I had my first Belgian fries and waffle. Waffle was amazing, but the fries are overrated haha. Then we decided to have a rendez-vous with a new convert who is also in-active. He lives in Belgium, so it was super convenient. He also lives in a trailer park haha. It's the first one I've seen in all of Europe, but it was high class with a gate and all haha. It was a very interesting rendez-vous (details make this story so much better, but I sadly don't have the time) and we ended up being there for over 2 hours, because he kept getting phone calls. I don't think he'll be coming back to church anytime soon, but he sure was nice, strange man haha. It was definitely an experience! Then we drove back to Valenciennes for our Ward Council. The Ward is really nice and I'm really growing to love them.

On Saturday we had 2 rendez-vous. Both went really well, but I don't think either of them will be progressing anytime soon. With the first one, Elder Larson wanted to teach her the Word of Wisdom, as she's sitting in front of us, drinking coffee. I was shook. How would she react? I couldn't tell. It ended up being super funny, because after we read the verses about the Word of Wisdom with her, she said, "that's good that I drink my coffee and tea at a warm temperature and not hot. I perfectly agree with that revelation. Hot is bad and not good for you." We didn't know how to react to this, so we just moved on. We'll go back and teach it more in-depth at a later date haha. She's also a conspiracy theorist, so that made for an even better rendez-vous. Then our second rendez-vous went well too and we taught him about The Law of Chastity haha. We definitely covered all the hard topics on Saturday with our investigators, but luckily they all reacted well and I can see some progress in their futures.

Sunday was good! We woke up to a surprise text from an old potential (who neither of us knew), that said that he wanted to come to church today and that he also wanted to meet with us right before. So we got ready quickly and got there early. He was this young, African guy who looks a lot like 80's Michael Jackson (and sounds like him too). This was definitely the miracle investigator of the week. He was super interested in our church and asked lots of questions. He stayed all three hours and really participated. Then we set up a rendez-vous with him for this week. I'm hoping it goes well. I think he has a lot of potential. I don't know why it took him so many months before he decided to come to church after being first contacted, but I'm glad that he did so eventually. After church, we drove to a ville and gave an in-active granny the sacrament. That was fun! Then I picked up one of our members and drove all of us to find an in-active member and invite her to church. We found her and invited her, and she said that she'd come back to church if we can find someone to give her a ride #Success! Sunday was a day full of successes, and probably the best day here yet!

Today we went exploring around town and saw lots of pretty sights. Check the album this week for some fun pics.

I think the biggest thing that's strengthened my testimony since I've been here are other people. The mission, just like most things in life, isn't easy. You really have to rely on God to help you through everything. I realized that by doing so, He put people in my path who have really helped me out. From companions to members to investigators to the cashier at the grocery store. I've learned something/grown from nearly everyone that I've interacted with. That alone has really gone to show me that God is here for us and that He will bless you if you put your faith in Him and try your best. I encourage all of you to put your faith in God more. Implement Him into your life every day, and you will see miracles. I know that I sure have and that He's the reason that I'm still out here on my mission today. I have been truly blessed!

Thanks for all the emails/letters/and love. I love and miss all of you. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Connor Anderson

Easter package from mom that I opened upside down