Last Tuesday we went finding with no success. One young man even told us, "I don't mean to discourage you, but you're not going to find any young people who are interested in religion at all these days.." and the sad thing is that this guy was kind of speaking truth about our area in France. BUT, I know that there are still people out there that are waiting for us, so it's all good and I'm staying hopeful. We finished the night with service and dinner at the Branch President's house.
The next day we had a lesson set with one of our investigators, Johnathan, the same guy who has major alcohol and drug problems. Well, because of his problems, our appointment was canceled. As we were walking to his apartment, we saw major traffic on the road, caused by him. He had gotten drunk the night before and ended up in a fight with some other people, which left him bruised and in pain. He tried calling for help, but no one helped him. When we got to see why the traffic was jammed, it was because he was sitting in the middle of the road, blocking cars in both directions from driving by. Saying that he wouldn't move until someone gave him a ride to the hospital. Instead of calling the police, one woman called the ambulance and was very kind. Then the whole situation was taken care of, but our appointment was sadly canceled. Look out for a picture of this in my album this week. Later we had apartment inspections in which we passed 100%. Love that. Then we had a Word of Wisdom lesson with Ana and Steve and it seemed as if it went well, as they both committed to trying to live it and stop their addictions. As this email progresses, however, you'll come to read that this was not the case and that the situation is actually more jaw-dropping than we originally thought. Afterwards we had dinner with Brother Bergera. After that we were stopped by a young woman, Celine. She was very anti-religion and told us that we had been brain-washed from our parents to do this. It was a very interesting contact and she didn't change at all (she was actually pretty rude), but we still decided to get a selfie with her for the memory.
On Thursday we got Fish and Chips for lunch (so good) and then went to a Medieval town, Dinan, for some finding. No real success there and everyone was mostly a tourist, but I did get some good ice cream, so I'd say that I'm still happy we went.
The next day we met a cool young guy, Guillaume, and we are hopeful that he will turn into an investigator. We also had an appointment with Emmanuel and Stella, in which they made us spicy African food again haha. I love them as friends, but it's still hard to get them interested in our church specifically. We'll find a way though!
On Saturday we went to Loudeac for a few things. We had a few appointments with people and then we got french fries at the local friterie there (my favorite part of course). Then we had an appointment with a new couple that self-referred themselves, because they want to change before the arrival of their baby. They didn't even know what our church was or anything, they were simply looking for disciples of Christ to help show them the way. The problem was that they lived out in the middle of nowhere. A small village with no public transport, grocery store, etc., at the very edge of our sector. We had no way to get to them without a member helping us out with a car, but even then the closest members live about 45 minutes away. Anyway, Peter and Janice Banks were nice enough to help us get out to that house for our lesson. The dad, Dominique, was heavily into drugs and didn't have a job. Neither does his wife. They also don't have a car, so they can't come to church on their own which is a huge burden for our Branch, but we'll do it if they are serious about coming to church. Anyway, after our lesson he showed us that they needed food. They literally had nothing in their fridge/whole house and his wife is even 8 months pregnant. So when we left, we arranged the English couple to come get them for church the next day and for other members to bring them food. We then ended the day by a lesson with Yvan at Brother Bergera's house.
Sunday was chaotic. It was French Mother's Day and everything started off fine. So many members came through and brought tons of food for the young, starving couple, but the couple didn't wake up. I felt terrible for the Banks who drove all the way out there to get them, just for them to be sleeping. I also felt bad for all the people who brought food for us. Here's hoping that this was a one time event and that they become serious enough about church to be up on time for their ride. Ana and Steve were also there and they were having a visibly difficult time. Ana had previous asked for a blessing after church, so we organized it. As it turned out, however, Steve was talking to members about Ana and spreading lies. So Ana came up to us to tell us the truth. She had been abused and such by him and it was a very ugly relationship. He has paranoia and believes her to be his ex- mother in law and it's honestly a pretty serious situation. When asked if she still wanted the blessing, Ana went off in front of our members and Steve and it got heated. Brother Raveneau, our dear member, stuck with them through it all and mediated their fight. We stuck around with his family as we waited for a couple hours. I felt really bad for his wife, who had to wait at church on Mother's Day, while her husband worked out other people's drama. At the end, they invited us to their house to eat. We were lucky, too, because it was filet mignon! The meal was delicious and we had a great time with them. Playing Uno, Clue, etc., great time. Soon, however, Ana called Brother Raveneau. Apparently Steve dropped her off at their property in the middle of the forest, cut the electricity to their little cabin, slashed the car's tires, and stole lots of things before heading off with their camping car. She was literally stranded in the cold forest all alone with no way to survive. This caused us to jump into action and Brother and Sister Raveneau went with us to go help her about an hour drive away. When we got there, we got her gas for her cabin's generator amongst other things. We ended by finally giving her that blessing. It was a very touching moment. Now we are all very concerned for her and are keeping track on what she's doing. We pray that she can fix her life and get the help she needs.
Caring about one another is something very important. I saw the Raveneaus literally spend the day that was supposed to be all about "mothers and families" in the service of others. It was very touching for me to see how selfless they were. That's the type of person I aspire to be. It's not easy, as I feel like all of us are selfish in some way, but it's something I would encourage us all to become. Life brings so much more happiness when we help others. It's what Jesus taught time and time again. We are all part of one big family, God's family. We need to always be there to help each other out. The mission may be hard, but I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything. I love the people here and I love being able to see all the good that they have to offer.
I love you all, have a good week!
Elder Connor Anderson
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