Bonjour from France!
Last P-Day was my 300th day in the mission. That's almost a year, folks! Wow. That night we taught Sylvain and his wife, Aline. They came up to the church and were frustrated because his anti-Mormon uncle burned their Book of Mormons and prevented them from coming to church the day before. We decided to teach them on forgiveness and Christ. We also skyped the Mexico City Temple Sisters into the lesson, because he's native language is Spanish and he understands it better than French. It went really well, even though I was lost half the time as to what they were talking about haha. But I did realize that French and Spanish are a little similar and also share lots of words in common, so I picked up on a few things here and there. It was a great lesson and they're progressing nicely. Once we get this uncle out of the picture we can get them to church... So let's hope this happens soon!
On Tuesday, the STLs and I set up a surprise birthday party at the Lille Chapel for our District Leader, Elder Crane. After district meeting, we surprised him with a cake and everything. It was a good time. Then we came back and taught Chantal (the most recent convert in our ward-- baptized 10 years ago). We have started to go over weekly now and read from the Book of Mormon with her. She's never once read it, so we started from the beginning. She's started to take notes/ask lots of questions each time. We're almost half way done with 1 Nephi at this point and I think she's really getting a lot out of it. That night we taught Zineb (one of our investigators with a baptismal date) with a couple in the Ward. It went really well and I think she got a lot out of it! This did, however, wind us up in the middle of the ward drama. Brother Broadway found out that we taught her with them and was mad, because she's "his job". And if that made him mad, the next day would make him even more mad...
The next day we had exchanges with the DL and his companion. I was put with the DL, Elder Crane. We drove up to Lille to pick them up and stopped at my bishop's restaurant for lunch. It was really good and expensive :) That night we had dinner and a lesson with Hiba and a family in the ward. We taught her about temples and it went really well. The food was also a huge bonus. Let's just say that Brother Broadway wasn't too happy that we took "his" other investigator away from him. The ward had been urging us to get both of these investigators more fellowshippers, and I agree with the ward. Having only one fellowshipper is never the best option and I honestly think that the lessons are more spiritual with other members present. When we got back, everyone besides my companion decided to have some fun. We attempted to curl our hair in this odd way. It took forever, hurt, and wasn't even worth it. Check out my album for pics. Let's just say that I woke up looking like Shirley Temple and immediately washed them out LOL. Definitely not worth losing all that sleep time for.
Thursday we taught a Chilean family up in Mons, Belgium. It's the lady that came up to us a week ago and asked us to come over sometime. Her sister from Chile (who is an in-active member) was staying over and we thought it would be a great day to drop by. We ended up staying for so long! They made us authentic guacamole and all these other types of South American foods. It definitely brought me back to my HEFY days. It felt so good and they were so nice. Her teenage daughters even came down and chatted with us for a while. It was a great time! And they loved the lesson that we taught. They also said that they'd come to church again soon, so let's hope it happens!
The next day involved a lot of driving, a lot of cancellations, and not a lot of success.
Saturday was busy. We taught Hiba again, with Brother Broadway this time, to try to make him happy. It went well, but we are quickly running out of things to teach her!! Let's hope our temple trip with her ends up being her answer to baptism! Afterwards, we got a text from Sylvain! He gave us two new referrals: his yoga instructor and his wife. They both want Book of Mormons and now we are meeting with them this next week. What a great text to receive. Then we taught Hourya and fixed a baptismal date with her for June 30th! The only problem? She's been gradually watering her coffee down ever since we taught her the Word of Wisdom. She's now at the point where she's able to water her coffee down to only around 5% actual coffee, with the rest being creamer. She just doesn't know how to stop completely. She says it's for medicinal purposes and that the doctor has prescribed it to her. She's actively trying to stop, but mentally can't. She's also already purchased a baptismal dress and all the food for the luncheon afterwards. Let's just hope that her actual interview goes well. Please pray for her! After that we had another lesson with another investigator and then we went to the church for a lesson with Sylvain and Aline. We again skyped in the Mexico Sisters. It went really well again and we taught them about the importance of church and how they have to come at least 3x before they can be baptized. They said that they'd come this Sunday! Saturday was a good day, which I needed, because the past week hadn't been that great and neither would the next day.
Sunday was hard. Not going to lie. I woke up with really dry/cracking eyelids/eye bags. When I washed my face, it had a reaction that was really negative. The skin around my eyes swelled up and got really red. Great, especially right before church. Anyway, during church my eyes only continued to get worse. They started stinging. Sylvain and Aline also didn't show up, so that only made the day worse. After 2nd hour, I decided that we needed to come to the apartment to figure out what I could use. Nothing worked, but we still decided to go back to the church to say "bye" to everyone. Adam, the American, told me that he had Benadryl at their house up in Belgium, so we drove behind them to grab some. While there, his wife made us lunch. The medicine had started to kick in by this point and I was extremely tired. We then went with him to deliver the sacrament to the Kabongo mother who is bed-ridden. It went well, but I just about passed out there. Upon getting home to our apartment, I fell instantly to sleep. My junior companion had to cancel appointments and everything with his limited French ability and I felt so bad. I was asleep from 2 - 8:30. As I was sleeping, my companion came in to wake me up. He said that I had a call from my family. I thought it was a joke at first, but it definitely wasn't. When I saw my mom's number on the caller ID, I knew immediately what it was about and my heart sunk. My niece, Ava, had passed away. Let's just say that it was definitely not a call that anyone would want to receive, let alone wake up to. It was a hard moment for me, but it really only made me more grateful for this church and the gospel.
I know that families are eternal. God loves us all so much and wants for each and every one of us to return to Him one day. Ava had a divine purpose and she fulfilled it. I know that God is watching over my family right now and that there are great things ahead. This is not the end and we will be with Ava again someday. Thank you so much for all of your prayers/fasts on my family's behalf. They mean the World to us. You guys are awesome! Please know that I'm doing fine! Yesterday was hard, but I woke up only feeling love today. I'm so grateful for all of you.
Thanks for all the love and support these past (almost) 19 years. I couldn't have gotten here without all of you.
Love,
Elder Connor Anderson
No comments:
Post a Comment